The Victorian Christmas Waits, 1848
Illustrated London News December 1848. (Cleaned up to remove bleed through text). From medieval times up to the beginning of the 19th century, every British town and city of any note had a band of waites. Their duties varied from time to time and place to place, but included playing their instruments through the town at night, waking the townsfolk on dark winter mornings by playing under their windows, welcoming Royal visitors by playing at the town gates, and leading the Mayor's procession on civic occasions. As a result of the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, waits were abolished, though their name lingered on as Christmas Waits, who could be any group of singers or musicians who formed a band in order to sing and play carols for money around their town or village at night over the Christmas period. It is these largely amateur musicians who have today become associated with the name 'waits'
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Photo credit: © Historical Images Archive / Alamy / Afripics
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