^< If.
..-.'•• ^:Xj
... J*^~
r^m:
H\'
Ex Libris
C. K. OGDEX
O
U
%
a,;^''^^!
y
/a ^.^^^ -• ^^^
/7 /^a/ ^^i:^^ ^^'^^^'^ ^ ■^'^^ y
E:
C. K.
HISTORY OF BRIGHTHELMSTON.
—^O'
-'J
HISTORY
ov
BRIGHTHELMSTON
OE
Bri^Ijton as | ^ii^to it iiuir oi\m$ |lncto it,
wrrn a
CHRONOLOGICAL
TABLE OF LOCAL EVENTS.
By JOHN AOKERSON KI^REDC^E,
('Author of '■'■The StudentiC Hand Book," ^c.)
BRIGHTON :
PRINTED B7 E. LEWIS, "OBSERVER" OFFICE, ;2a, NORTH STREET.
1S62.
PEEFACE.
The publication of the Ilistory of Brighton had
proceeded, with the most gratifying success, through
ten monthly numbers, when it was suddenly interrupted
by the lamented decease of the Author — Mr. J. A.
Erredge. Death came upon him, not stealthily, but
in its most awful form. It sui'prised him literally at
the desk. Whilst talking cheerfully to the publisher,
the hand of Death was laid upon him, and he fell
dead to the ground ; — the ink of these pages was still
wet whilst the Author was extended on the floor a
corpse. So terrible an occurrence for a brief space
delayed the publication of the work, but fortunately for
the family of the author, the MS. was nearly completed,
and his sons were enabled, fi'om the materials left by
theii' lamented father, to compile the few last pages and
send the two concluding numbers through the press.
The History of Brighton is now completed, and what-
ever shortcomings may be detected in the two con-
cluding numbers, which had not the advantage of being
corrected by the Author, will no doubt be pardoned
by a generous public,
2000291
COTTTENTS.
Chapter I. — Titf; Romans at Brighton .
„ II. — Situation, Soil, Geologt, anb Climate op
Brighton
,, III. — The Etymology, and Early History op
Brighton .....
„ IV. — After the Conquest, to 1513 .
,, V. — Ancient and Modern Government op the
To^^^J ......
„ VI. — The Book of all the " Auncient Customs.'
„ VII. — The Tenantry Lands ...
„ VIII. — The Bartholomews ...
,, IX. — The Vi^oRKHousE ....
„ X. — The Attack on Briqhthelmston ry the
French, in 1545 ....
,, XI. — Fortifications of the Town
„ XII. — The Incursions of the Sea on the Town
„ XIII. — The Dower op Ann Cleves .
,, XIV. — The Parish Church, St. Nicholas.
„ XV. — Dr. Vicesimus Knox and the Surrey
Militia ......
„ XVI. — The Old Churchyard .
„ XVII. — Martyrdom of Deryk Carver
,, XVIII. — The Escape op Charles II. ^
„ XIX. — Persecutions for Conscience' sake.
„ XX. — The Birds and their Haunts in the
Neighbourhood of Brighton .
Pagf.
1
11
15
21
26
45
50
52
61
63
73
80
82
92
102
118
124
134
139
VUl. COJJTKNTS.
Page.
Chapter XXI. — The Wild Flowers and Mosses about
Eeighton 158
„ XXII. — Brighton Camp and the Tragedies of
GoLDSTONE Bottom . . . . .168
„ XXIII. — The Sa:EiNE and its Tributaries . 182
„ XXIV.— The Theatres 206
„ XXV. — Brighton from its simplicity io its
present renown . . . . .217
„ XXVI. — The Marine Pavilion AND ITS occupants. 251
„ XXVII. — On and ABOtJT the Eace-course. . 280
„ XXVIII. — Past and Present Pastimes . . 295
,, ,, The Historical Street of the Town 329
„ XXIX. — The Public Institutions, Charities,
AND Endowments ..... 336
,, XXX. — Churches and Chapels. . . . 359
! „ XXXI. — Hove and Cliftonville . . . 371
Chaptee I.
THE ROMANS AT BRIGHTON.
Althougli there is no doubt that the vicinity of Brighton at a
very remote period was occupied as a Roman military station, it is
not the intention of the compiler of this -work to date, merely on
supposition, the origin of the town, coeval as it might have been
with the landing of Julius Caesar in Britain. The "Magna
Britannia," published in 1737, mentions: — " As to the antiquity
of this town, there is reason to believe it to have stood a vast tract
of time. From the accounts our historians give of it, for some of
them speak of it ever since Julius Caesar's arrival in Britain, and
affirm, that this was the place where he landed his legions ;
(August 26th, 55 B.C.,*") but since others assert his landing to
have been at Hastings, we shall not be very positive, yet may
justly insist upon it as most probable, because there is good anchor-
age in the bay here ; and besides, there appears ou the west side of
this town to this day, for near a mile together, vast numbers of
men's bones, and some of them of prodigious size, which plainly
proves that there has been some warlike engagement neai' it." As an
illustration that what has been transmitted to us orally, especially
of remote periods, cannot be relied on, there is told the following
talo of "Csesar's Stile" : — Dr. Stukely, or some other antiquarian,
was travelling through England, when he heard that on a certain
hill there was a stile called Caesar's Stile. " Ay," said the doctor,
" such a road, mentioned in Antoninus, passed near here ; and the
traditional name confirms the possibility of a Roman camp on this
• Temple Sydney's History of England, published 1772, at Shakespear's
^cad, No. 17, Paternoster Ro\v, Loudon.
2 HISTOEY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
spot." Whilst he was surveying the prospect, a peasant came up,
whom the doctor addressed thus — ''They call this Caesar's Stile, my
friend, do they not?" ''Ees, zur," said the man, " they calls it so
artcr poor old Bob Ccesar, the carpenter ; rest his soul ; I holped
him to make it, when I was a hoy."
The "Burrell MSS." state that :—'' There are three Eoman
castra, or camps, lying in a line over-thwart the Downs from
Brighthelmstone to Ditchelling, from south to north. The first, a
large one, called the Castle, about a mile from Brighton, eastward,
and a mile from the sea, on the summit of a lofty hill commanding
the sea-coast ; the next, a smaller, called Hollingbury Castle, nearly
about the middle of the Downs, also commanding fr-om a lofty hill,
by Stanmer, the whole western sea-coast of Sussex ; and a third, a
large one, called Ditchelling Castle, containing between twelve and
fourteen acres, is the highest point of the Downs thereabouts, and
commands part of the sea-coast, and all the northern edge of the
Downs, and the wild underneath it." A military Eoman way was
discovered a few years ago, on St. John's Common, and in the
enclosed lands adjoining, in the parishes of Keymer and Clayton,
fully confirming the opinion of Camden and Stillingfleet that the
JPorkis Adurni of the Eomans was at Aldrington.* On the
west side also of Glynd Bridge, near Loavos, a paved Eoman
causeway was discovered, lying three feet beneath the turf, upon
a bed of silt, or blue clay, twenty feet thick ; and near it was found
a large brass coin of Antoninus Pius.
By whatever name Brighton was then known, there ia no
doubt it was a place of some note in the time of the Eomans, as it
was peculiarly favourable to all the purposes of the fisher and the
hunter. Eomish coins are still frequently found in its vicinity, and
in the year 1750, near the town, an uxn was dug up, which con-
tained a thousand denarii of different impresses from Antoninus
Pius to the Emperor Philip ; and since that time there have been
* 4. Jac— Sir Edward Belliugham held freely to hirascif and his heirs
lands and tenements in Aldrington, as of the Manor of Atlingworth.— Howe's
M.S., p. 156.— 6. Hen. 6. Dc quarta parte feed, milit. in Athelyngworth iu
Hundr. dc Fysliergate dicunt quod sit in manu Trioris de Lewes et est dec. —
Ing. capt. ap. Lewes, G ILen, 6.
THE E0MAN8 AX BEIGHTON. 3
found in some of the burghs or barrows to the east of the town,
ashes and fragments of human bones, enclosed in urns of Roman
manufacture. In preparing the ground for enclosing of the Old
Stein, in 1818, several Roman coins were turned up by the work-
men, on one of which, round the impression of the head, was the
inscription, " IMP. ALEXANDER PITTS, A. Y. C," and on the
reverse, " MARS ULTOR," with the initials S. C. between the
figure of Mars. The date, however, was illegible. In forming the
Race Course to the south of the Stand, — since restored to its original
state, — several urns of Roman fabrication were dug up ; and since
then, to the east of the town, ashes and fragments of human bones
have been found enclosed in Roman urns.
Relicts of the ancient Britons, before the time of the Romans
in Britain, have at various times been found in the vicinity of
Brighton. The most perfect were those discovered in a Barrow in
Coney -burrow field, Hove, in January, ^856. In this field was a
mound about 20 feet high, situated north of the pathway from
Brighton to Hove, about N.N.E. of the church of St. John the
Baptist. Some 40 years since, this hillock was covered with furze,
and was a burrow for rabbits ; but at a more recent date, when the
habitations of men became erected contiguous, and the human
family extended thither, the colony of rabbits dispersed, and their
abode became the rendezvous of rustic games. Our higlily res-
pected local antiquarian, Barclay Phillips, Esq., thus describes it,
and the incidents connected with it : —
" Rising from a perfectly level plaiu, aud being uuconuectcd with any other
hills, it always presented the appearance of an artificial mound, and therefore,
when, some years ago, a road was cut through it to the Hovo Station of
the Brighton and Portsmouth Railway, I was anxious to learn whether any
antiquities had been met with ; but not any were then found. Now, however,
all doubt on the subject has been set at rest, and the hillock proved to be a
Barrow, or monumental mound erected over the remains of an ancient British
chieftain. Labourers have recently been employed removing the earth of this
hill, and last week, on reaching the centre of the mound, about two yards west of
the road leading to Hove Station, aud about nine feet below the surface, dug out
a rude coftin between six aud seven feet long. On exposure to the atmosphere
tlio boards immediately crumbled away ; but a few of the knots i-emained, and
prove to be of oak. The coffin contained small fragments of bone, some of which
I have seen, and the following curious relics : —
" 1. An Amber Cup, with a handle on one side. It is hemisphoriirtil in shape,
s 2
4 HI3T0EY OP BEIGHTHELMSTON.
rather deep, with a lip turning outwards, and is ornamented merely with
a band of fine lines running round the outside about half an inch
from the top. From the fact of the rim not being perfectly round,
and the band before-mentioned not passing over the space within the
handle, and its being marked oif at each end with a line seemingly cut
across, we may conjecture it to have been made and carved by hand.
" 2. Head of a Battle Axe, about five inches long. It is in perfect preserva-
tion, and made of some sort of iron-stone, the wooden handle, having of
course, long since decayed.
" 3. A small "Whetstone, with a hole neatly drilled through one end, so that
it might be suspended by a thong to the person, and earned about.
" 4. A Bronze Spear Head, very much oxidised, and so brittle that it broke
into halves as it was being taken out of the ground. Two of the rivets
and fragments of the spear handle still remain attached to the lower
end of the blade.
"The workmen described the coffin as resting on the natural soO, which is
stiff yellow clay, while the mound itself bears every appearance of having been
formed of surface earth and rubbish thrown up together. I minutely examined
the sections of the hill, and myself picked out several specimens of charred wood,
and was informed that such fragments were very abundant.
" The manner of sepulture and all the relics, excepting the spear head, in-
dicate this mound as havmg been the burial-place of a British chieftain before the
time of the Eoman invasion ; — the spear-head certainly more nearly, though not
exactly, resembles those used afterwards. The mound was of the simplest and
most ancient form, and therefore I am inclined to think we may reckon it as at
least 2000 years old, perhaps more ! It has now disappeared. The last clod
of that earth which so long covered the bones of a British chieftain was this
afternoon carted away ; and coffin, bones, and earth have been thrown pell-mell
to form the mould of the future rosary of Palmyra square."
At a meeting of the Archaeological Society in London, about
a month after the opening of this barrow, the cup, &c., were
exhibited ; when Mr. Kemble and other celebrated antiquaries gave
their opinion thus : — " The cup is the only known specimen of so
large a size, and the battle axe is superior to any similar object in
the British Musum." Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Franks, who have the
care of the antiquarian departments, both declared the " find "
in this barrow to have been the richest ever known. These rare
specimens of local antiquity, through the loudness of Sir Francis
Goldsmid, of " The AYick," on whose land they were found, form
a prominent feature of the Brighton Museum, at the Royal
Pavilion.
SmrATION, SOIL, GEOLOGY, AND CLIMATE. 6
CiLlPTER II.
SITUATION, SOIL, GEOLOGY, AND CLIMATE OF
BRIGHTON.
Brighton is situated ia 50**. 55'. N. latitude, and about 3'. W.
longitude, on the eastern side of a shallow bay of the south coast.
The centre of the town is in a valley, which at the north diverges
to Preston in two courses prominently marked by the London road
and the Lewes road, HoUingbury Hill intervening. The cast and
north-west portions of the town are on acclivities, that to the east
terminating abruptly at the south in cliffs ranging from 60 to 80
feet in height ; and that to the north-west gradually sloping to the
sea-shore. The southern front is bold, and commands an extensive
view of tho British Channel from Bcachy Head to Selsea BiU.
The sou to the east and north-west is principally a thick sub-
stratum of chalk, covered with a thin layer of earth. The subsoU
of the centre is marl and shingle ; and to the westward there are
large beds of clay of very irregular character. Dr. ManteU, in his
valuable work, " The Geology of the South-east of England," says :
— " The town of Brighton is situated on an immense accumulation
of water-worn materials, which fills up a valley, or hollow, in the
chalk. Tho diluvial deposit is bounded on the north-west by the
South Downs ; on the east it extends to Rottingdean, and is there
terminated by the chalk ; on the west it may be traced more or less
distinctly to Bignor ; on the south it is washed by the sea, and
forms a line of cliffs from 70 to 80 feet high; these exhibit a
vertical section of the strata, and enable us to ascertain their
nature and position."
" The soil of the Downs," says Young in his Agricultural Survey
of Sussex, "is subject to considerable variation. On tho summit
it is usually very shallow, the substratum is chalk, and over that
a layer of chalk rubble, and partially rolled chalk flints, with a
slight covering of vegetable mould. Along the more elevated
ridges there is sometunes merely a covering of flints, upon which
the turf grows spontaneously. Advancing down the hiUs, the soil
becomes deeper, and at the bottom is constantly found to be of very
6 HISTOET OF BBIGSTHELMSTON.
sufficient deptll for ploughing : here the loam is excellent, generally
ten or twelve inches thick, and the chalk rather broken, and mixed
with loam in the interstices."
Coombe rock, — a provincial term, — which greatly abounds in
and about the eastern part of the town, is geologically known as the
Elephant bed ; and, according to the same authority, " is composed
of broken chalk, with angular fragments of flint, imbedded in a
calcareous mass of a yellowish colour, constituting a very hard
and coarse conglomerate. It is not stratified, but is merely a
confused heap of alluvial materials ; where it forms a junction
with the shingle bed, a layer of broken shells generally occurs :
they are too fragile to extract whole : they appear to belong to
the genera modiola, mytilus, nerita, &c. It varies considerably
in its appearance and composition, in different parts of its course.
In the inferior portion of the mass, the chalk is reduced to very
small pieces, which gradually become larger in proportion to their
height in the cliff : at length fragments of flint appear ; and these
increase in size and number as they approach the upper part of
the bed, of which they constitute the most considerable portion.
These flints are more or less broken, and resemble those of our
ploughed lands that have been long exposed to the action of the
atmosphere. In some parts of the cliif, irregular masses occur
of an extraordinaiy hardness; these have been produced by an
infiltration of crystallised carbonate of lime. Large blocks of this
variety may be seen on the shore, opposite to the New Steine,
where they have for years resisted the action of the waves. This
bed also contains water-worn blocks of siliceous sandstone, and
ferruginous breccia. Small nodular masses, composed of carbonate
of iron in lenticular crystals, interspersed with brown calcareous
spar, have occasionally been found at the depth of ten or twelve
feet from the summit of the cliff. The organic remains discovered
in this depasit are the bones and teeth of the ox, deer, horse, and
of the Asiatic elephant* ; these occur but seldom, and are generally
* In April, 1822, a large molar tooth of the Asiatic elephant was discovered
in Lower Eock gardens, in a well fifty feet deep ; and four very fine and perfect
ones were dug up by the workmen employed on the foundation of the walls
for the esplanade-, at the Chain Pier, in 1831.
SmrATION, SOIL, GEOIOGT, AST) CLTITATE. 7
more or less -waterwom* ; but, in some instances, they are quite
entire, and cannot have been subject to the action of the waves,
The -wells in the less elevated parts of the town pass through
the calcareous bed, shingle, and sand, in succession ; upon reaching
the chalk, springs of good water burst forth, and these are said to
be influenced by the tides. f
The sinking of the "Warren Farm "Well, at the Industrial
Schools, has formed a very interesting subject to geologists, aud on
the 5th of November, 1861, tho Surveyor, Mr. George Maynard,
made a report to the Directors and Guardians, as to the state of
the well, wherein he "wished it to be undorstood that he was
neither a professor of geology nor an hydraulic engineer." It
stated that the work was commenced on the 22nd March, 1858, and
had been continued since without intermission: — "In sinking the
well (says Mr. Maynard), I have found that the different strata
perforated have been thicker than is generally set forth by pro-
fessors of, or writers upon geology, proving that tho dip of the
strata is greater at this particular spot than is commonly found
elsewhere, especially the gault, which is now being perforated.
I have ascertained that the shanklin, or lower green sand, forming
the bottom portion of the glaucomic strata, appear on the surface
at Heuficld, and continue near the base of t'le Downs as far as
Albourne, thus proving, from the depth attained, that a considerable
vale is formed in the strata between Hcnfickl and Bcachy Head.
The well at the Industrial Schools lies nearly in a direct line, and
not far from the centre in distance, between Henfield and the point
at Beachy Head, at tlie base of which water is continually flowing
between the malm and gaidt strata. Hence arises the fact of the
gault stratum being so much thicker than was contemplated ; but if
the shanklin, or lower green sand is reached aud penetrated, there
* I have (says JIantell) specimens of the teeth, found in a -well fifty yards
inland, at the depth of forty-six feet, in the Coomba Rock, and immediately
above the bed of shingle.
t Some wells at Tetney (a village on the coast of Lincolnshire) that are
sunk in the chalk, are also affected by the tide ; the wells overflowing with a
greater flui at the time of high water, and particularly at spring tides ; showing
that the water in the chalk communicates with the sea." — Geolog. Tram. vol. iii.
p. 394.
8 HISXOEY OP BRIGHTHELMSTON.
is little doubt an ample and continuous supply of water wiU be
obtained, which in all probability wiU run up to the level of the
land at Henfield (from whence the supply will originate), or above
the bottom pump in the well. I have tested the quality of the
stratum now being penetrated, and feel pursuaded that if water is
obtained it wiU be of a good quality. I have already reported my
interview w^th Sir Roderick Murchison and other professors of
geology, at the Institute of Practical Geology, in Jermyn Street,
London, at which meeting I was encouraged to hope that water
would be obtained at a depth not far distant from that which the
well has already been sunk; they, at the same time, expressing
their surprise that the shanklin sand had not been reached before,
and also kindly giving me valuable information how to proceed
when that stratum was penetrated. The stratum in which the
men are at work at this present time is very soft, so much so that
if boring was determined on, it would be requisite to insert iron
pipes, which, in my opinion, would be more expensive than the
present mode of digging and steining. The depth of the well now
attaiaed is 1,080 feet."
Few organic remains have been found near Brighton. Dr.
ManteU mentions but a fragment of a bone resembling tbe femur,
and a grinder of a large size, decidedly the latter that of an Asiatic
elephant, in the brick-loam at Hove ; the jaw of a whale in the
shingle bed,; the antlers and bones of the red deer in a bed of
loam, in sinking a well near the cavalry barracks ; the remains of a
deer in the diluvium at Copperas Gap, by the Eev. H. Hoper ; and
similar remains in digging a weU near the "Western Eoad.
"With respect to climate, medical men, who have made it their
study, have divided the town iato three districts. In 1845, Dr.
"Wigan, then in medical practice m the town, published an elaborate
treatise, "Brighton and its Three Climates," and in 1859, Dr.
Kebbell, Physician to the Sussex County Hospital, produced his
valuable book, " The Climate of Brighton." The former considers
the north-west part of the town the most salubrious, as it is exempt
from the keen easterly winds, and is generally free from the fogs
and smoke of the central district. It is free, too, of the marine
exhalatioiis to which that district is subject, The air of the east
SIIITATION, son, OEOLOGT, AND CLIMATE. 9
division is bracing, and likowdso exempt from the saline particles
which impregnate the atmosphere of the lower part of the town, a
district which differs but little from any inland town in a low
situation, and possesses none of the quality called bracing. Fogs,
night and morning, frequently hang about the middle district, which
may be termed the business quarter of the town.
Dr. KobbcU says : — "Brighton, in respect of temperature and
the sensation of cold, offers great variety of climate according as the
situations are more or less elevated, sheltered, or exposed. The
observations of myself and others go to prove, that the elevated
portions of the Montpelicr districts, in the neighbourhood of All
Saints' Church, are decidedly the coldest, being exposed to the
full effects of the strong currents of air from the Downs. After
this come the north-eastern districts, including the upper part of
the Marine Parade, Kemp Town, and the portions of the town
behind them on the north side of the Bristol Road, which are
also very much exposed to the cold winds and draughts from the
downs. The central parts of the town, from the Old Stcine to
St. Peter's Church, are the most sheltered from the winds; both by
the downs behind, which protect them from the north-east winds ;
and by the buildings in fi-ont which break the force of the south-
west winds ; but being on a level surface and enclosed between
hills, it is damper than any other part of the town ; and I have
noticed that in the autumn and winter, the night mists return
earlier in the afternoon, and are dispersed later in the morning,
than is the case in the more \ elevated and exposed districts.
The low level or valley of the King's Eoad, though exposed to the
full force of the south-west -winds, is still more sheltered from the
cold north-east winds by the great mass of buildings and the hills
behind, and is decidedly the warmest and mildest part of the town,
offering a very marked contrast lo the cold elevated part of the
Montpelier district. Sir James Clark speaks of the "West cliff as
being * somewhat damp,' * but I am at a loss to conceive how this
can be so, taking into consideration its sloping surface, the general
porous character of the soil, together with its direct exposure to the
* Clark on Climate, p. 219.
10 HISTOEY OP BETGHTHELMSTOK.
rays of the sun. In point of warmth, the first half or third of
the Marine Parade ranks next to the valley of the King's Road.
Further east, towards Kemp Town, the air becomes colder and
more bracing, and the draughts from the downs are more keenly
felt. The parts of the town between the "Western Eoad, and the
line of Tipper I^orth. Street and Montpelier Terrace, occupy, in point
of climate, an intermediate position between the valley of the King's
Eoad, and the cold and exposed portion of the Montpelier district.
I cannot conceive any place enjoying greater natural advantages
than Brighton, and it is incumbent on those who think it unhealthy
to state from what source the insalubrity can have its origin, always
excepting those artificial and preventable causes of disease which
it creates within itself. For upwards of half the year the inhabit-
ants breathe an atmosphere which has traversed the surface of
several thousand miles of the great Atlantic Ocean. This at all
events must be entirely free from all sources of disease. The staple
of the land upon which the town stands, and for several miles
round, is composed of chalk and sand, intermixed with flints, with
the dip of the strata towards the sea, which, with the absence of
any dense foliage in the surrounding district, has the effect of
rendering the atmosphere of the place remarkably dry and bracing.
JN^either is there any low-lying marsh land, where the fresh and sea
water mix and infect the atmosphere, or exposure of mud at the
mouths of rivers at low tide, or, in fact, any source of malaria
whatever within any distance of the town, which can possibly to
any appreciable or injurious extent affect its atmosphere. The
winds from the laud side, therefore, are, probably almost, if not
entirely, as healthy as those from the sea. Brighton has also no
tidal harbour, nor any exposure of mud at low tide containing
decaying vegetable matter, which at many sea-side places, and some
much frequented by the public, is not only very offensive, but very
injurious to the health."*
* The " Climate of Brighton," by William Kebbell, M.D., Physician to the
Sussex County Hospital.
ETTMOLOGT AlTD EAELY HISTOEY. 11
ClLVrTEE III.
THE ETTilOLOGY AND EARLY HISTOHY OP
BRIGHTON.
The obscurity respecting the etymology of Brighton, or
more properly speaking Brighthelmston, is much to be regretted.
In the Domesday Book it is written Brighthelmstun, evidently
derived from BrigUhelm, the name of some person of eminence,
to whom it belonged, and tim the Saxon of town or dwelling.
Bailey says that the name was given to the town by St. Bright-
helm, a Saxon. Skinner says the town was so named from
Brighthehn, a canonised bishop of Fontenoy, who lived about
the middle of the 10th century. Stillingfleet and other authorities
state that a Saxon bishop of that name resided here during the
Heptarchy, and his name was given to the town. The last opinion
is most to be relied on, as, when Ella and his three sons — Cimen,
"Wicncing, and Cisa, — landed in Sussex, at Shoreham, in 447,
Bishop Brighthehn accompanied them ; and one of his successors
resided at Aldrington, the Partus Adurni, or port of the river
Adur, (where, near Fishersgate, till within the last forty years,
was the entrance to the harbour from the sea),* and. held a
considerable portion of the land thereabout until 693, when he
was killed in battle ; but where the battle was fought no mention
is made.
Dr. Relhan says : — " The light sometimes obtained in these
dark matters from a similitude of sounds in the ancient and modern
names of places, is not to be had in assisting the present conjecture.
Its ancient one, as far as I can learn, is no way discoverable : and
its modem one may be owing either to this town's belonging
formerly to, or being countenanced in a particular manner, by a
Bishop Brighthelm, who during the former government of the
island, lived in this neighbourhood : or perhaps may be deduced
from the ships of this town having their helms better ornamented
than those of their neighbouring ones."
* The harbour's new mouth was opened on the 2oth of January, 1819.
12 HISTORY OF BKIGHTHEIMSTON.
The earliest record of the modem name, Brighton, is to be
found in the BuiTell MSS. :—
" 17. Henry lY. Thomas Seynt Clare holds the manor of Brighton with
lands and messuages in the same."
The following is quoted from the same authority —
" 2. Mary. The queen on the 27th day of Nov. let to farm to "William
May, valet of the kitchen, the manor of Brightelston with all its appurtenances
for 21 years, from the feast of St. Micha?l last past, for the annual rent of
61 13a 4d."
Mr. James Charles Michell, who re-publishcd Dr. Eelhan's
"Short History of Brighthelmston, in 1761," mentions it to be
met with in the terrier to the tenantry land, dated 1660.
Domesday book states that two of the three manors of-
Brighthelmston had been held by Edward the Confessor; but
it has been aptly observed, that, notwithstanding, they might
not have belonged to that prince ; for the Normans, who de-
nounced Harold the Second as an usurper, invariably substituted
the name of Edward, when jurors were empannelled, in order
to make an accurate return of the several manors within their
respective hundreds, putting down that of Harold, as the statutes
of the republican parliament of the 1 7th century are all references
to Charles II. It is therefore fair to presume that the whole,
or most of the town and parish belonged to the ancestors of Earl
Godwin many generations prior to the Conquest, if not ever since
the establishment of the Saxon power in this part of the island.
They were styled Thanes, or noblemen of considerable possessions.
The only Thane whose name, qualities, and achievements have
been made known to us, was TJlnoth or "Wolnoth, the father of
Earl Godwin and lord of the manor of Brighthelmston. This
nobleman was appointed by EtheLred II. to dii-ect the equipment
of, and afterwards to command, the ships sent by the county of
Sussex in 1008, as its quota towards the national fleet which the
king was then collecting to oppose the Danes, who were come a
second time to levy contributions on England. Godwin, his son
and successor to the manor, was banished by order of Edward, who
took it with other possessions. He regained them by force, and
retained them till 17th of April, 1053, when he was suddenly
EmrOI/OGT AKD EABLY HI3T0EY. Id
taken ill while dining at Winchester, where the court of Edward
was then held, and died four days afterwards.
Earl God-win was succeeded in two of the chief manors by
his son Harold, who, upon the death ^f Edward, in 1065, was
chosen king : but, from some secret arrangements between the
king and William, duke of Normandy, the latter made a claim
wliich he asserted by force of arms. Ho landed at Pevensey.
Harold at the time was at Stanford Bridge, near York, where
he had defeated Toston, his unnatural brother, and Hai'old Harfa-
ger, the king of Norway; and hearing of William's arrival, he
immediately proceeded southward, and with the addition of some
levies hastily collected at Brighthelmston and his other manors in
Sussex, encamped within nine miles of the invader. On the 14th
of October, 1066, he joined battle with the Normans, and after
performing all that valour and judgment could do against a brave
enemy, he closed his life in the field of battle, near Hastings,
having been pierced in the brain with an arrow.
Harold's possessions at Brighthelmston having fallen into the
hands of WUliam the Conqueror, the town was conferred on his
son-in-law, one of his generals, William, Lord de Warren, in
Normandy, who was created Earl of Surrey.
In 1081, when the survey of Sussex was made by com-
missioners under order from William the Conqueror, the manor
of Brighton — Brighthelmston-Michelham, — had attached to it
four haffa, or tenements, in the town of Lewes, for which a sum
of twelve pounds a-year was paid. These /wy<c were places of
resort for protection in seasons of danger from feuds between
neighbouring hcptarchs, oi' fi'om the ravages of the Danes, Lewes
being the fortified borough under the lord of the barony, then
William de Warren. The manor of Brighthelmston-Michelham
was held of the king by three Aloarii, or joint tenants of tho
same manor, who owed no suit or service to any superior, but
"might go where they pleased," that is, in the feudal language
of Domesday, were attached to no lord in a seignoral, but to tho
king alone in a civil capacity. This manor defended itself for six
hides, and one yardland. One of the tenants had an aula, or
manor-house on his part. Tho shares of tho two others were
14 HISTOEY OP BEIGHTHELMSTON.
used by villeins, or slaves. The whole formed but one manor,
and contained five ploughlands of arable. After the conquest,
this manor was held by one "Widard, under William de "Warren.
He had one ploughland an^ a half in his demesne, or immediate
possession; and fourteen v«7i^6;/ws, and twenty-one hordars, ovhordarii,
occupiers of cottages, used the three other ploughlands and a half.
It also contained seven acres of meadow, and wood enough to afford
pannage, or mast and acorns for twenty-one hogs belonging to the
villeins of the manor, three of which the lord was, by the general
custom of the county, entitled to. Lady Amhurst is the present
lady of this manor.
The manor of Brighthelmston-Lewes was held after the
Conquest, by Eadulphus, a IS'orman adventurer, under "William
do Warren, and defended itself for five hides and a half of
land. Eadulphus held in demesne half a carueate, or ploughland,
the whole arable land of the manor being three carucates. Eighteen
villeins and nine bordars used the rest of the arable land, for the
cultivation of which, and the lord's half carueate, they had three
ploughs, and one servus, or villein en gross, under them. The
*" gablum," or customary rent of this maritime manor, was four
thousand herrings or mackerel. To this day, if demanded, the
fishermen of Brighton pay to this manor six mackerel for each boat,
every time they return from mackerel fishing. The fish thus paid
is called "Revo," or more properly "Eaves," which signifies rent
or tithes, from the Saxon verb, resian, to exact. When the Eeve
Inn, Upper Edward Street, was first opened, the sign represented
the lord's reve on horseback, Mui'rell, — who at that time held the
New England farm, the site of the present railway works and land
contiguous, — receiving of a Brighton fisherman six mackerel. In
1081 the manor was worth £12 a year. Mr. Charles Scrase
Pickens and Mr. Thomas Wisden are the present lords of this
manor.
The manor of Atlingworth was held after the Conquest, by
William do Wattoville, imder William de Warren. He used one
ploughland in demesne, and thirteen villeins and eleven hordars used
tlic other. The church stood in this manor, which was, at the
grand survey, valued at £12 a year. In the reign of Stephen,
APTEE THE CONaUEST. 15
Ralph de Cheney was in possession of this manor, and he gave the
Priory at Lewes the advowson of the church, together with all his
lands in the parish ; and in process of time the whole manor became
the property of the Priory. Mr. Somers Clarke is the present lord,
and Mrs. Penelope McWhinnic is the present lady of this manor.
By a decree of the High Court of Chancery, made on the 21st day
of October, 1760, a partition of this manor of Brighthelmston was
made between Thomas Friend and Bodycombc Sparrow, the then
proprietors of it, and the present lords accordingly possess the soil
of it in distinct moieties. In 1771, October 7th, Charles Scraso
bought (Henry) Sparrow's moiety.
" Atlingworth, Adelingworth, Ablingworth, Atlielingworth, or Addlingworth
(Tower Records, No. 50,) manor lies in the parishes of Brighthelmston and
Lewes ; it is the paramount manor, and extends over the Hoddowu (Lord Pel-
ham's estate), formerly a Warren." — Burrell MSS.
Besides the three principal manors, there aro within the town
and parish two other small manors, viz., Peakcs and Harccourt ; as
also parcels or members of the manors of Old Shoreham, alias
Vetus Shoreham, alias Rusper, and Portslade ; but the boundaries
of them are at the present day very undefined. Mr. Harry Colvill
Bridger is the present lord of the manor of Old Shoreham.
CniriEii lY.
AFTER THE C02TQXJEST, TO 1513.
It is highly probable, from the surnames of some of the most
ancient families in the town of Brighthelmston, the phrases, and
the pronunciation of the old natives, and some peculiar customs of
the people, that the to>vn had, at some distant period, received a
colony of Flemings. Tliis might have happened soon after the
conquest, as a great inundation of the sea took place in Flanders
about that period ; and such of the unfortunate inhabitants of the
IQ HISTOEY OP BEIGHTHEIMSION.
deluged country as wanted new habitations, could not have any-
where applied with a greater likelihood of success than in England,
as Matilda, queen of William the Conqueror, was their country-
woman, being daughter of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders.
Being thus settled in Brighthelmston, the Flemings were led
by habits and situation, to direct their chief attention to the fishery
of the Channel. Besides obtaining a plentiful supply of fresh fish
of the best kind and quality for themselves and their inland
neighbours, they, every season, cured a great number of herrings,
and exported them to various parts of the continent, where the
abstinence of Lent, the vigils, and other meagre days, insured them
a constant market. There is no doubt, but, from time to time,
additions were made to this foreign colony, from Spain, France,
and Holland, as the names of some of the oldest families of the
town verify ; namely, Mighell (Miguel), Gunn (Juan), Jasper (Gas-
pard), Jeffery (Geoffrey), Gillam (GuiUaume), &c.
The inhabitants were now classed into landsmen and seamen,
or mariners, and they profited respectively by the advantages of
their situation. The former, whose dwellings were on the cliff
and part of the gentle acclivity behind it, drew health and com-
petence from the fertile soil ; while the latter, who resided in two
streets beneath the cliff, found a bountiful source of subsistence
and profit at the bottom of the sea. In process of time, the
mariners and their families, principally descendants from the new
comers, the Flemings, had increased in numbers so far as to com-
pose more than two-thirds of the population of the town, and they
had a proportionate share of the offices and internal regulation of
the parish.
The Flemish, on their arrival, though received in all probability
as vassals, found their condition an improvement on the general
staie-villeinacfe ; aad the indulgence shown to foreigners was
eventually extended to the natives ; and the disfranchised land-
holders gradually emerged from the most abject state of feudal
dependance, to one less precarious, that of tenants by copy of
court roll. Once registered on the rolls of a manor, with the
consent of the lord or his steward, their title became indefeasible
and descendible to their heirs, except in case of neglect or violation
AFTER THE COlV'arEST. 17
of the definite and recorded duties of their tenure. Thus settled,
the husbandmen of Brighthelmston had every inducement to
marriage, and they toiled -with pleasure in their patrimonial field.
The mariner also, freed from feudal caprice, braved the dangers
of the deep, not only for his subsistence, but as a future provision
for his family; and transmitted to his posterity, controlled by
manorial custom, his ship or boat, his cottage, his capstan and
garden, and other monuments of his paternal solicitude and
industry. The town being, as now, a member of the port of
Shoreham, — all boats of the town register at Shoreham, — was
obliged to furnish some seamen for the royal navy ; and no
other tax or service was imposed upon the inhabitants, till the
levying of a poll-tax in the reign of Edward III.
In 1313 Brighthelmston had become so considerable as to
need the public accommodation of a market ; and John, the eighth
and last Earl de "Warren, obtained a charter of Edward III. for
holding a market every Thursday.
The mariners about this time, in the Lower Town, or under
Cliff, increasing in number and property, extended their habitations
to the Upper Town, and began two streets westward of the Stein,
named from their situations, East Street and West Street, forming
the inhabited limits of the town in those du-ections. After East
Street and "West street had been continued some considerable way
towards the north, the landsmen, who were also becoming numerous,
found it necessary to build intermediate streets, parallel to those
already constructed ; and the proprietor of the north laines, finding
it more convenient to have their barns, and finally, their own
dwellings and the cottages for their workmen, at that extremity
of the town, formed North Street.
Most of the ground now occupied by Black Lion street and
Ship street, and the intermediate space, ai-e, in all the Court Rolls,
called the Hempshares ; and were, even after East street and West
street were built, plots or gardens for the production of hemp, for
the use of the fishermen of the town. The name of the ropemakcr
who constructed all the cordage for tlie supply of the fishery, Avas
Anthony Smith, who, in 1670 sufiered great pei'secution from
Captain Nicholas Tattersal, a personage who assumed great power
c
18 HISTOET OF BEIGHTKELMSTON.
■when basking in the smiles of royalty, consequent upon his effecting
the escape of Charles II. to France. Smith was more especially the
object of his malignity, fi'om having been the occupier of the house,
in "West street, where the king sojourned preparatory to his flight;
he happeiiing to recognise His Majesty, yet having too much
loyalty to betray him. Jealousy actuated him ; as he was desirous
of claiming all the honour in the royal escape. He in consequence
kept all the merits, which were really due to Smith, in the back-
ground, and took all the honour to himself, and the reward to. In
process of time, as the population increased, and the sea made
encroachments on the lower town, two streets were erected on the
site of the hemp-shares or gardens. In the most eastern street of
these, with one front to the High street, — that which passed along
the verge of the Cliff, — stood an Inn, with a Black Lion for its sign ;
and in the other there was an Inn, with a Ship for its sign. The
two streets of the hemp-shares were soon distinguished by the two
signs, and are the present Black-Lion sti'eet and Ship street. The
Black-Lion Inn on the east side of the street, was converted into a
private residence about the beginning of the present centuiy. The
Ship, the oldest tavern in the town, is now, and has b-jen since
1650, known as the Old Ship, to distinguish it from the New Ship,
a more recent erection. Besides the hemp-shares, the ground to the
west of the town, which was afterwards brick-yards, and is now
termed the Brunswick Square and Terrace district, was devoted to
the growing of flax for the use of the fishermen.
The prosperity of the town received a check about the
middle of the fom'teenth century, from the ambitious projects of
Edward III. against France, which exposed this and other fishing
towns of the southern coast to the occasional retaliation of that
kingdom. The inhabitants' boats were taken, and their fishery
frequently interrupted. In 1377 the French burnt and plundered
most of the towns from Portsmouth to Hastings ; but no particular
injury to the to^wn is recorded of Brighton, at that period. When,
however, there was the least appearance of danger, the coast "Watch
and "Ward, called in the king's mandate VigilicR minntce, ware called
into service. Their duties were nocturnal, and seldom exacted, un-
less an immediate descent was apprehended. The watch consisted
AFTER TITE COXQTrEST. 19
of men at arms, and hohilers or hoblers, who were a sort of light
cavalry that were bound to perfonn the service by the nature of
their tenure. They were dressed in jackets called hobils, and were
mounted on swift horses. The bold stand made against the French,
in 1377, when they landed at Rottingdean, was piincipally by the
watch and ward-keepers of the coast, which had been divided into
districts, entrusted to the care of some baron, or religious house, by
certain commissioners, called Rectores Commitatus. In the annals of
the Prior of Lewes, and the Abbot of Battle, we find that those
personages were several times placed at the head of an armed
power, to oppose actual or threatened invasion. Certain borough
hundreds were also obliged, under pain of forfeiture or other penalty,
to keep the beacons in proper condition, and to fire them at the
approach of an enemy, in order to alarm and assemble the inhabi-
tants in the "Weald.
From the constant alarm of the people and the ruin of war,
Brighthelmston generally expenenced a considerable share of the
public distress ; as, besides contributing some of its best mariners
for manning the royal fleet, the town was deprived of its trade and
fishery. In 1512, in consequence of war being declared by Henry
VIII. against Louis XII., all the maritime industry of Brighthelm-
ston suffered, and its buildings were threatened with plunder and
conflagration. At this time. Sir Edward Howard, the English
Admiral, having made several successful attempts on the coast of
Brittany, and being joined by a squadron ol ships commanded by
Sir Thomas Knivet, went in pursuit of the French fleet, under the
command of Admiral Primauget, Knight of Rhodes ; the real
intention being to destroy the town of Brest. The French fleet,
consisting of thirty-nine ships, was in the harbour of Brest.
Howard, having been misled by the information and advice of a
Spanish Knight, named Caroz, as to the strength of Primauget' s
force, entered the bay under the fire of two strong batteries, which
commanded the entrance, with only a barge and thi-ee galleys, and
took possession himself, of the French Adniral's. But the French
soon recovered from their panic, the two fleets met, and a furious
en_;agement ensued. At length Prir. auget's ship was set on fire,
and determining not to perish alono, he bore down upon the
c 2
20 HISTOET OF BBIGHTniXMSTON.
English Admiral's, and, grappling with her, both ships soon became
involved in the same inevitable destruction. This dreadful scene
suspended tlie action between the other ships; but after some time,,
the French ship blew up, and in its explosion destroyed the English
ship. "While the conflict was at its height, and the deck was
streaming with the blood of his brave companions, Sir Edward was
thrust with a half-pike into the sea and perished.
After this misfortune, the English fleet returned home ; and
Primauget's being reinforced from Brest, and being animated with his
recent success, he sailed for the coast of Sussex, to wreak that
vengeance on the inhabitants which was due to Henry alone. He
accordingly, in the night time, landed some men, who plundered it
of everything valuable that they could remove, set many houses on
fire, and wantonly slew many of the inhabitants. The rest flying in
terror and confusion difierent ways, the country became alarmed as
far as Lewes and the "Weald. * The French re-embarked the next
morning, with their booty, before' the country people could assemble
in any force to annoy them. Sir Thomas Howard, brother of Sir
Edward, whom he succeeded, soon after, with Sir John "Wallop,
made a descent on the coast of Normandy, and desolated no less
than twenty-one towns and villages, inhabited by people who never
did, and perhaps never wished to do, any injury to their fellow men
on this i.dde the Channel. Such is the fortune, and such are the
advantages and distinctions of the royal game of war.
Holinshead mentions an attack upon the town by the French,
about this time; and there is the probability that he refers to
th(' same invasion, as he terms it a nocturnal visit from some
* The Weald of Sussex is an extensive vale that occupies the centre of the
south-eastern part of the county, and, running parallel -mth the Downs, forms
their northern boundary. It was anciently an immense foi-est (called by the
earlier colonists, Coid Andred, by the Romans Silva Anderida, and by the Saxons
Andreadswald), which, even in the time of Bede, was a mere retreat for deer and
swine : the greater part is now in an excellent state of cultivation. It consists of
various beds of clay, sand, and limestone, and is comparatively of low elevation ;
its breadth is from five to ten miles, and its length from thirty to forty miles ; it
is estimate 1 to contain 425,000 acres. The surface is intersected by raimerous
valleys, which generally occur at the outcrop or basseting edges of the harder
strata, and form channels for the numerous streams that are tributary to the
rivers in their vicinity. Tlic whole tract rises with a gradual sweep from the
foot of the Downs, and unites with the higher lauds of the Forest Eidge.
APTEE THE CONQUEST. 21
French eliips, but commanded by Prior Jehan, tho high admiral.
He says: "but when tho people began to gather, by firing the
beacons, Prior Jehan sounded his trumpet to call his men aboard,
and by that time it was day. The certain archers that kept
the watch followed Prior Jehan to the sea, and shot so fast
that they beat the galley men from tho shore, and wounded many
in the fleet : to which Prior Jehan was constrained to wade, and
was shot in the face with an arrow, so that he lost one of his
eyes, and was like to have died of tho hurt, and therefore he
offered his image of wax before our Lady at Biillogne, with the
English arrow in the face, for a miracle."
According to the BurreU MSS.,* in 1589, strict orders were
given for maintaining beacons in all accustomed places, with orders
to the watchmen, that if the number of invading ships did not
exceed two, they were not to fire the beacons, but to cause larums
to be rung from church to church as far as the skirts of tho JiiU
reached from the sea shore, and no further ; and to send a post to
the nearest justices : but if the ships exceeded two, they were to
fire both their beacons, which were to be duly answered by the
corresponding ones, and thus rouse the "force of the shire." Five
discreet householders in the neighbourhood, were assigned to each
beacon, one to keep watch constantly. In 1590, the beacon watches
were ordered to bo discharged till fiu'ther orders.
Chaptee V.
ANCIEI^T AND MODERN GOVERNMENT OF THE TOWN.
When king Alfred divided England into shires, tho shires into
hundreds, and tho hundreds into tithings, tithing men or heud-
• The BuiTell Manuscripts were compiled by Sir William Burrell, a great
antiquarian, who for many years spared neither attention nor e.'zpcasc in collect-
ing and arranging the materials for preparing the antiquities of Sussex ; and the
county looked for their completion with the utmost solicitude. The death of the
worthy Baronet, unfortunately, rendered it incomplete, and the ten folio volumes
9i his rare and scarce manuscripts were deposited iu the British Museum. A
tablet, by Flaxmau, to the memory of Sir "William, adorns tho wall of Cuckileld
church.
22 HISIOEY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
boroughs — ^heads of boroughs — were the only guardians of the
peace, and dispensers of justice within their respective districts, the
original limits being the residences of ten creorles or freemen, with
their families and slaves. Uader the Saxon constitution, Brighton
had two headboroughs ; a proof that its population, even then, was
far from being inconsiderable, These headboroughs sat alternately
or together, at the borough court, at which the decenners, or free,
or frankpledges (friborgs) as had no causes to be tried there, attended
as jurors or sworn assessors to the presiding officer. These free-
pledges were the origin of the Society of Twelve, which continued
in Brighthelmston to the commencement of the present century.
By the statute of Winchester, 13th Edward I., the borough of
Brighthelmston had a constable appointed for itself exclusively, an
indication of its respectability at that period. According to Alfred's
division, the hundred to which Brighthelmston belonged, contained,
besides that borough, those of Ovingdean and Rottingdean, called
in Domesday, Welesmere. The boroughs of Preston (Prestetune)
and Patcham (Patchame), which were originally hundreds of
themselves, were, under Edward I., united to the borough of
Brighthelmston, and composed a new hundred, called Wellshourne,
since corrupted into Whalesbone. The boroughs of Ovingdean and
Eottingdean were then united to the small hundred of Palmer,
under the name of JEwensmere.
Wellsbourne took its name from a stream which till within the
last few years ran, in the winter time, nearly the whole length of
the hundred. It rose near the upper end of Patcham street, and
entered the sea at the Pod, — Pool Yalley, — in Brighthelmston.
Within the last thirty years it burst out with so large a current as
to inundate the Level to the north of the town, and even the
greatest part of the Stein. In the spring of 1806 it laid the
north of the town under water. After the last inundation, in the
winter of 1827-8, a large sower, called the Northern Drain, was
laid down from the northern boundary of the London Eoad, to the
sea, its outlet being in front of the Albion Hotel. The source of
this stream or bourne, being the well at Patcham, it had its name
from that circumstance, and lent it to the said hundred.
The leet or law day, the ^dew of frankpledge for this hundred,
ANCEENI AKD MODEEN GOVEEKMENT. 28
was held on Easter Tuesday, when all the ofSicers of the hundred,
except the headborough of Patcham, were elected. The Constable
of Brighthelmston was always chosen by and out of the Twelve of
the town. The headborough, afterwards styled the constable of the
borough of Deane or Patcham, was nominated in rotation for that
office, according to the particular lands he held within the borough.
From and after 1618, by arrangement between the two classes of
inhabitants, the fishermen and the landsmen, " Twelve out of
the ancientest, gravest, and wysest inhabitants of the town, eight
fishermen and four landsmen, were selected for assistants to the
conestable in every public cause." The constable was then termed
the High Constable, and his twelve assistants were called Head-
boroughs. The constable of Brighthelmston served at Quarter
Sessions, musters, and other public services for the whole hundred,
the constable of the Deane being only his assistant or deputy within
the borough of the Deane or Patcham. There was also chosen at
the leet or law day for this hundred, which is in the deanery of
Lewes, an ale-conner and a searcher or scaler of leather. Since the
town became incorporated, in 1854, no headboroughs have been
chosen; but Mr James Martin, who was appointed at the last
annual Court Leet of the Earl of Abergavermy, by the steward of
the Leet, F. H. Gell, Esq., on Easter Tuesday, 1855, continues the
High Constable of the Hundred of Whalesbone : his duties however
are very trifling, merely consisting of taking charge of the Parish
Jury List, and presenting it to the Clerk of the Peace for the County.
The following is a list of the Constables who have served the
Hundred as far as the records of them are made in. the Town Books,
or other proofs are given : —
1691. Richard Harman, senr.
1692. JohnEUgate.
1694. Thomas Stanbridge.
1695. Richard Masters.
1589. Henry Giinn.
1597. Thomas Jeffery.
1618. Richard Stoneham.
1660. John Brooker.*
1670. Nicholas Tattersal (Captain). j 1696. Henry May.
1683. Richard Harman. 1697. George Beach.
1690. Richard Masters. 1698. Henry Stanbrid;^e.
* To commemorate his appointment he had small copper tokens oast, ■with " John
Brooker, I'jiiO," on them, and " Brighthelmston, J. B.," on the obverse. A specimen of
this coin, in the possession of the compUer of this book, is in an excellent state of pre.ser-
vation.
24
HISIOKT OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
1699. John "Woolger.
1751. Thomas Roberts.
1700. Thomas Gillam.
1752. Philip Mighell.
1701. Isi-ael Paia.
1753. Thomas Kent.
1702. Jonas Hunn.
1754. David Yallance.
1703. Joseph Buckall.
1755. Thomas GiUam.
1704. Thomas llidge.
1756. Hugh Saunders.
1705. John Gold.
1757. John Lashmar.
1706. Jonathan Wegeram.*
1758. Thomas Measor.
1707. "WilUam Gillam.
1759. WilHam BuckoU.
1708. James Friend.
1760. Edward Smith.
1709. Nicholas Roberta.
1761. Richard Tidy.
1710. Richard Masters.
1762. William Lucas.
1711. Thomas Roberts, jun.
1764. John Tuppen.
1712. Thomas Bewman.
1765. Henry Beach.
1713. Richard Legate.
1766. Francis Carter.
1714. John Peircy.
1767. William Chapman.
1715. Israel Pain, jun.
1768. Stephen Poune.
1716. Dighton Elgate.
1769. Stephen Flemming.
1717. Richard Roggers.
1770. Beach Roberts.
1718. Henry Stanbridge.
1771. Harry Stiles.
1719. Thomas Swan.
1772. William Bradford.
1720. Philip Mighell.
1773. Robert Davis.
1721. Wilham Heaves.
1774. James BuckoU.
1722. Thomas Scutt.
1775. Richard Willett.
1723. John Masters.
1791. Robert WilUams.
1724. Nicholas Sanders.
1792. JohnKirby.
1725. Samuel Dean chosen, but dying.
1793. Thomas Tilt.
Edward Heath served.
1794. William Wigney.
1726. Thomas Simons.
1795. John Baulcomb.
1727. JohnTuppen.
1796. James Vallance.
1728. WiUiam Bradford.
1797. AVilham Chapman.
1729. Henry Paine.
1798. Stephen Gourd.
1730. Thomas Wood, alias Dine.
1799. Richard Lashmar.
1731. William Friend.
1800. Cornelius Paine.
1732. Richard Lemmon.
1801. Stephen Wood.
1733. Richard Harman.
1802. Philip Vallance.
1734. Richard Masters,
1803. Daniel Hack, who afiEirmed.
1744. Hugh Grover.
1804. Thomas Newington.
1745. James Ridge.
1805. Thomas Saunders.
1746. James Brooker.
1806. Thomas Saunders.
1747. Thomas Sanders.
1807. William Newbold.
1748. Richard Mighell.
1808. Adam Maiben.
1749. Israel Paine.
1809. JohnMiUs.
1750. William Grover.
1810. John Hargraves.
* In the Town Book the same name appears written "Wigram and Wiggram.
ANCIENT AND MODEEN GOVEENMENT.
25
1811.
1812.
1813.
1814.
1815.
1816.
1817.
1818.
1819.
1820.
1821.
1822.
1823.
1824.
1825.
1826.
1827.
1828.
1829.
1830.
1831.
1832.
1833.
1834.
Harry Colbron.
Edward Blaker.
Alexander Baldey.
Kobert Ackerson.
William Williams.
George Richardson.
John Williams.
Richard Bodle.
Richard Humber.
John ;Mj-rtle.
George Wood.
George Wigney.
William Blaber.
William Boxall.
Samuel Akehurst.
Thomas West.
Edward Hill Creasy.
James Cordy.
Thomas Palmer.
J. G. Sarel.
D. M. Folkard.
Samuel Ridley.
John Poune.
William Hallett.
1835. JohnYeates.
1836. John Ade.
1837. T. H. Wright.
1838. John Bradshaw.
1839. Henry Smithers.
1840. William Barnes.
1841. Thomas Fuller.
1842. Edward Humphreys.
1843. Edjnundus Bum.
1844. George Chittenden.
1845. Robert Williams.
1846. William Catt.
1847. William Towner.
1848. William Lambert.
1849. George Cheesman, jun.
1850. Charles Smith, who appointed
his brother George to serve.
1851. M. D. Scott.
1852. William Beedham.
1853. H. P. TampUn.
1854. P. R. Wilkinson.
1855. James Maitin, who continues to
be the High Constable of the
Hundred.*
On the 5th of April, 1793, at a Yestry Meeting held at the Town.
Hall, it was ordered : '' That in future the Constable (High) be
allowed twelve guineas, to be paid in full, for all expenses during
his oflfice, including four guineas for a dinner."
It was customary at the Court Leet, each Easter, to choose
a High-Constable Elect, but he was not always appointed at
the next Court; as, in 1814, Mr. Ackerson was chosen, although
Mr. "VT. "Williams was the elect.
• Anno 13 and 14 CnroU II., cap. 12, sec. " XV. And whereas the Laws and Statutes
for the apprehending of Kogues and Vagabonds have not been duly executed, sometimes for
■want of Officers, by reason of Lords of Manors do not keep Court-Leets every year for the
making of tlicm : Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That in case any
Constable, Ifeadborough, or Tythingmon shall dye or go out of the Parish, any two Justices
of the Teace may make and swear a new Constable, Headborough, or Tythingman, imtil the
said Lord shall hold a Court, or until next Quarter Sessions, who shall approve of the said
Officers so made and sworn as aforesaid, or appoint others, as they shall think fit : And if
any Officer shall continue above a year in his or their Office, that then in such case the
Justices of Teace in their Quarter Sessions may discharge such Officer;, and may put another
fit person in his or their place, until the Lord of the said Manor shall hold a Court as afore-
said."
28 histoet of beighthelm8i0n.
Chapteb YI.
THE BOOK OF ALL THE '' AU:N'CIEN'T CUSTOMS."
In consequence of the perpetual jealousies and strife betsveen
the fishermen and landsmen, a commission was sent to Brighton, in
1580, to settle every difference, assess the town rates, and arrange
the public concerns of the parish. The Earl of Arundel, Lord
Buckhurst (Lord of the Manor), Sir Thomas Shirley, of Preston,
and Henry SheUey, Esq., were the commissioners. The number of
landsmen who at that time paid parochial rates and taxes, was 102 ;
while the number of fishermen amounted to 400. The decision of
the commissioners gave satisfaction to all parties till 1618, when a
fresh arrangement was entered into The orders and regulations of
these two commissions were directed to be " written in two several
bDoks of parchment," one of which was to be delivered to the Earl
of Arundel and Lord Buckhurst, the other was to "be kepte in a
cheaste locked with three locks, in some convenient place in
Brighthelmston." Provision was made also for the safe custody of
the key of the chest, and for the annual reading of the regulations
by the Vicar, " openlye in the presence of all the fishermen and
others of the parishioners, contributaries, in some convenient time
and place."
The " Book of all the Auncient Customs," is dated 23rd July,
in the 32nd year of Queen Elizabeth, 1580; and is kept in its
original shape in a spacious box, at the oflS.ce of Messrs. Attree,
Clai'ke, and Hewlett, solicitors. Ship Street. It is in black letter,
on parchment, and is in a state of good preservation, although the ink,
from age, is very yellow. An engrossed copy in corrected modern
authority, is deposited with it, and is as follows : —
In the Manors of Brighthelmston, as Parcel of the Barony of Leives, the following
Feudal Customs, 2)artly of Saxon origin, but established for the most part
bg the Norman settlers in this country, have, by immemorial usage, governed
the Courts there : —
1. The lands of copyholders ia these manors are descendible, on death, to the
youngest son, or to the j'oungest daughter if there be no son, and so on to the
youngest relatives collaterally. ^
2. The widow of a purchaser of a copyhold estate to which he has been
Veteres Rotuli Curioo
ANCIENT CTTSTOMS. 27
admitted, or the widow of an heir by descent, though unadmitted, may, after
three courts to be holden next after her husband's death, claim her vsidoiv's
bench, and shall be admitted for her life, even though she marry again, she
paying the lord a reasonable fine, not exceeding one year's value of the land.
But if the hu.sband, even on his death-bed, make a surrender of his copyhold, the
widow shall not have her bench, nor the widow of a purchaser unadmitted, nor the
widow of a tenant in reversion.
3. All the tenants of these manors, except such as were discharged by deed, or
held by knight's service, held their lands by mite ofcoufl, the copi/lwlder from three
weeks to three weeks, and to bo of the homage : the freeholders were to appear only
twice a-year, viz., at the courts holden at Easter and Michaelmas, where, if they
knew of any wrong done to the lord, they were bound by their oath of fealty, to
make it known to the court. But they (the freeholders) were not to be of the
homage, because they performed service at juries at the barony court, held from three
weeks to three weeks at Lewes ; fio**cwhich service the copyholders were exempt.
The defaulters at each court were to be essoyned (excused) or msirred (fined) in
proportion to their offence.
4. Surrenders made out of court, and presented at the next general court holden
for the manor, are good.
5. Ttie heir in possession of a customary tenement, being above the age of
fourteen years, or he or she to whose use any sun-ender shall be made, being of the
like age, not coming into court on or before the third half-yearly proclamation, shall
forfeit his or her estate.
6. If a copyholder leave an heir under the age of fourteen years, such heir is,
during his or her minority, to be committed to the care of the next of kin who is
able to answer for the profits of the land, and to whom the land cannot descend.
At the age of fourteen years the heir may choose a guardian.
7. Heliefiini Heriot were due to the lords of these manors on the death of
every freeholder, not discharged by deed, who died seized of an estate of inheritance
of soccage tenure.
8. On the death or surrender of a tenant for life, no heriot is due, except for a
stinted cottage ; nor of a joint tenant : or if a tenant in fee surrender to one of his
heirs, part of his customary tenement, and reserve another part to himself and heirs,
no heriot is, due, because he is still tenant of the heriotable tenement.
9. No more than one heriot is, by custom, claimable for any number of
tenements in one manor, belonging to the deceased.
10. The copyholder was to keep his customary tenement in repair, and for that
purpose, may cut down on his copyhold the necessary timber, in case the lord, his
steward, woodward, or reeve refuse to assign him any for that purpose.
11. If any tenant, free or customary, aUen parcel of his tenement, and the rent
be apportioned in court with the lord's or the steward's consent, it concludes with
the lord and tenant. Otherwise the lord may distrain any part of the tenement for
the whole rent.
12. The heir of every tenant, being fourteen years of age, after the death of his
ancestor dying seized of customary lands or tenements, as also a purchaser, upon
surrender of such lands cither in possession or reversion to bis use, coming info the
court at or before the third proclamation, and desiring to be admitted, shall have a
reasonable fine assessed by the lord or iiis steward, not exceeding one year's value of
the land; which fine the tenant is to pay on his admit iance, or shortly after;
otherwise he forfeits his estate.
13. If a tenant let to farm his copyhold for more than one year and a day at a
time, he is to come to the lord's court for license, which the lord is to grant, the
tenant paying him four-pence, and no more, for everj' year so granted, with a
reservation of the lord's customs, duties, and services. Also the copyholder, having
28 HISTORY OP BBIGHTHELMSTON.
a bam on his copyhold, is to pay the lord four-pence, or less, but never more, for
every wainload of corn or hay that grows on his said copyhold, and is carried out of
1'ho manor with license, or to any freehold within the manor. But the tenant may
carry com or hay from one copyhold to another on the same manor, without license;
■where the two copyholds have equal estates. But if one be a guardian, or a tenant
for life, and another tenant in fee, and any manure he removed fi'om the former estate
to the latter, the party, so doing, shall be amerced.
14. If a copyholder alien his lands by deed, pull down his building without
license, or wilfully suffer it to fall, commit any wilful waste, let his tenement for
more than one year and a day without Ucense, obstinately refuse to paj^ his rent, or
a reasonable fine upon admittance, or absent himself, without sufficient cause, from
the lord's court after lawrfal summons, or, being there, will not be sworn of the
homage, without satisfactory excuse, or carry all his corn from the copyhold, if ho
have a bam there, he is for any of these offences, liable to forfeit bis estate in the
said copyhold.
15. Strays, found within any of these manors, and proclaimed according to the
statute, after a year and a day are passed, become the property of tlie lord of that
manor, by prescription. Every lord is to maintain a common pound within his
manor. But, of latter time, all strays within the rape and liberties of the barony of
Leives, have, by consent of the lords, been presented at the law days or leet holden
for the hundred in which the strays are found.
16. In each of these manors there was a Reeve, who was the lord's immediate
officer. His name and institution are both of Saxon origin. The Thane who
generally presided in person at his own court, had at first no other officer belonging
to it than the Gerefa or Reve, who generally received a settlement on the mauor, in
consideration of his services ; and thus, in most manors, did the office become pre-
dial, or attached to some particular lands. In some manors however, it was not
confined to one denomination only, but imposed on several of the tenants in rotation,
by virtue of their tenure. This officer's duty is to account to the lord or his stewardi
for all the ancient quit-rents both of freehold and copyhold, and all the heriots that
fall due within the manor, together with the fines, leviable amercements, and all the
other casual profits within the same. But he is not bound to audit out of the manor,
unless the lord will recompense him for his pains ; nor even then, unless he chooses
it. Being an officer of great antiquity, he is not bound to collect any but old rents,
which were payable before the eighteenth year of Edward the First.
17. The majority of the homagers sworn at the lord's court, for the better pre-
servation of order, have, time beyond all memory of man, with the lord's consent,
used to make bye-laws for the establishment of the common good, and for preventing
of public annoyances : and such laws made with reasonable penalties and clauses for
distress for such penalties, have been immemoriaUy binding and concluding to all
tenants of the manoi, provided such laws or orders cross not the general laws and
statutes of the kingdom.
Thougli many of the following Customs and Regulations are
now become obsolete, they are in general too interesting to be
ommitted in the History of the town.
Upon supplication^ by the ancient fishermen of Brighthelmston, unto the
Right Honourable tho Lords of the Council, for remedy and redress of certain
disorders in their town, touching the annual payment of certain money called a
quarter of a share, heretofore of ancient time usually paid out of every boat ia every
» The first Town IJook, or Costnmal of Brighthetmston. In transcribing thii book,
tli0 spelling is modcrnizeit.
ATscnrm citstoms. i9
fishing voyage, to the churchwardens there, towards the maintenance of their
church, and other public charges about the necessary defence of their town ; and for
a contribution by the rest of the parishioners, not being fishermen, toward the
bearinjr of the said charges to bo had and lened : and after cO' amission by the means
of the Lord B'wkhHrst, for the purposes aforesaid, obtained fiom the Lords of her
Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, imto the Right Honourable Earl of
Arundel, the said Lord Bucklturst, Sir Thomas Shirley, Knight, and Richm"d
Shelley, Esquii-e, or to any two of thcui directed, bearing date the 12th day of
February, in anno Domini, 1579, it pleased the said Lord Bnckhurst and Sir Thomas
Shirley, by authority thereof, to will and command certain of the said ancient
fishem.en to set down in writing their ancient ciLstoms and orders, concerning the
true making, payment, and employing of the said quarter share, and the certainty
thereof; which they, the said ancient fishermen, being assembled together, have
done accordingly in manner and form here following.
The Ancient Custom used for Tvckxet Fare. — '^'^ Imprimis, there have
used, time out of mind, between February and April yearly, certain small boats
called Tuckers, to go to sea upon the coast for plaice, of the burden of three tons or
thereabouts. Every of these boats have used eight or nine men, or thereabouts, and
two nets. Every man hath used to take for his body in this voyage, a share. The
boat, the nets and necessaries thereto belonging, hath used to take fuui- shares : and
besides, one other share hath been used to be made, whereof half is due to tHe
Vicar, a quarter to the master, and the other quarter to the Churchwardens, for the
use of the town : so that every boat in this voyage, having eight men, taking a share
a man. maketh thirteen shares, viz., for eight men eight shares ; for the boat, the
nets, and necessaries, four shares ; and for the Yicar, the town, and the ma-ster, one
share ; and if there be more or less men, then the shares are more or less in number,
according to the number of the men proportionably."
The Ancient Custom used in Shotxet Fare. — '■'•Item, there have yearly,
time out of mind, from April to June, used to go to sea for mackarel, other boats
called shatters, of diverse burdens between six tons and twenty-six tons. Every
boat of the burden of six tons, and not above ten tons, hath used to take two shares ;
and above ten tons, and under eighteen tons, two shares and a half ; and from
eighteen tons to the biggest, three shares. Every man having above four nets going
to sea in this voyage, hath u.sed to take for his body, half a share, and not above ;
and every other man hath used to take for his body, a share, and not above : and
the nets have accustomably contained in length between thirty and twenty-foui-
fathoms, and in deepness two ranns, every rann fifty moxe-s deep, whereof every
four nets have used to take a share ; so that every boat in this voyage, taking two
shares Aui a half, having ten men, taking a share a man, and having four score nets,
maketh thirty-three shares and a half, viz., for four score nets twenty shares ; for
ten men, ten shares; for the boat, two shares and a half; for the Vicar, the town,
and the master, one share ; and if there be more or less men, or the boat be lesser or
bigger of burden, or have less or more number of nets, then the shares ai-e more or
less in number, according to the proportion of the boat, men and nets."
The Anci'mt Custom used in Scarboeough Fare. — "Item. There have,
since t ho memory of man, yearly, from Juno to September, other boats of divers
burden between eighteen and forty tons, used a voyage to Scarborough to fish for
cod (boing about forty years agon). Every boat in this voyage, of the burden of
eighteen tons, .md not above twenty-eight tons, hath used to take four shares ; and
from t venty-eight to the biggest, five shares. Every man in the biggest sort of
these l.oats, biinging with him a line, a lead, four lines of hooks, and two norward
nets, containing twenty-four yards in length, or thereabouts, hath used to take for
bis body, and the necessaries aforesaid, one share : and in the smaUest sort, every
30 HISTOET OP BEIGHTHTILMSTON'.
man bringing with him two lines, two leads, and one heah,^ containing twenty-eight
yards in length, and five ranns in deepness, hath used to take a share and a half ;
and having two lines, two leads, and two lieaks, of the length and deepness
aforesaid, two shares : so that every boat in this voyage taking four shares, having
twelve men, taking two shares a man, maketh in number twenty-nine shares, viz.,
for the boat, four shares ; for twelve men, twenty-four shares ; for the vicar, the
town, and the master, one share : and the number of shares is varied more or less
according to the number of men and nets, or the bigness of the boat, according to
the proportion of this example."
The Ancient Custom used in Yarmouth Fare. — " Item. There have yearly,
time out of mind, from September unto November, used to go to Yarmouth to fish
for herrings, other boats of divers burden, between fifteen tons and forty tons ; every
boat of the burden of fifteen tons and not above twenty-four tons, taking three
shares ; and every boat of twenty-four tons and not above thirty tons, taking three
shares and a half; and from thirty to the biggest, taking four shares. Every man
in this voyage used to take for his body half-a-share : and these boats have used two
sorts of nets, the one sort caMedi Jicws, alias heals, containing between thirty and
twenty-four fathoms in length, and in deepness four ranns, every rann fifty moxes ^
deep, every three of these nets taking a share ; the other sort, called norward nets,
containing between fifteen and ten fathoms in length, and in deepness five ranns,
every rann fifty moxes deep ; every four of these nets taking a share : so that every
boat in this voyage, taking three shares and a half, having twelve men, taking a
share a man, and having thirtj'-six flews, alias heaks, and thirty-two norward nets,
every four norward nets taking a share, maketh thirty shares in the whole number,
and one half-share, viz., for the boat, three shares and a half; for twelve men, six
shares; for thirty-six flews, twelve shares; for thirty-two norward nets, eight shares;
for the vicar, the town, and the master, one share ; and if there be more or less
number of men and nets, or if the boat be bigger or lesser, then the shares are more
or less in number, according to that proportion."
The Ancienl Custom used in Cock. Fare. — "Item. There have, time out of
mind, between October and the midst of December, used to go to sea upon the coast
for herrings, certain small boats called cocks ^ of burden, between two and six tons.
Every of these boats having a mast and a sail, hath used to talce a share and a half;
and the other, without mast or sail, have taken a share. These boats have used two
sorts of nets, the one called cock Jieaks, containing between thirty and twenty-four
fathoms in length, and two ranns in deepness, and the other called flews, containing
the length aforesaid, and three ranns in deepness. These two sorts of nets have
used to take for three nets a share, one with another ; so that a boat in this voyage
taking a share and a half, having six men, and,twenty-four nets, maketh ten shares
and a half, viz., for the boat, one share and a half; for .six men, six shares; for
twenty-four nets, eight shares ; and for the Vicar, the town, and the master, one
shai'e ; and so the shares do vary, more or less in number, according to the bigness of
the boat, and the number of men and nets."
The Ancient Custom used in Flew Fare. — " Item. There have, time out of
mind, between the beginning of November and the end of December, used to go to
the sea for herrings, other boats, called fleu-crs, of divers burden, between eight
tons and twenty tons, the biggest boat taking three shares, the smallest two shares.
' Heak is still used in Torksliire for a certahi net used in the river Oiise.
* Mores we may suppose to be a corruption from the Dutch word maeschcn, mishea,
and fare from fahre, in the same language. Indeed, most of the other technical words
in the Town Books are derived from the Teutonic, and were' apparently introduced by the
Flemish emigrants who are supposed to have settled at Brighthelmston.
3 Cock, fi'om the Teutonic cor/ge, a small boat.
AlfCIEXT CTTSTOMS. 31
Every man having above three nets groing to sea in this voyage, hath used to take
for his body lialf a share, and every other man a share, aud none above. These
boats have used one sort of nets, called flows, containing between thirty and twenty-
four fatJioms in length, and three ranns in deepness, every rann fifty moxes deep,
every three nets taking a share : so that every boat taking three shares, having eight
men, taking half a share a man, and having thirty-niue nets, maketh twenty-one
shares, viz., f«r the boat, three shares; for eight men, four shares; for thirty-nino
nets, thirteen shares ; and one share for the vicar, the town, and the master, or more
or less shares according to the number of men and nets, and the bigness of the
boat."
Tlw Ancient Custom used in H.\rbouk Fake.—" Item. There have used, time
out of mind, another sort of boats to go to sea in summer time, with harbour hooks
for conger, evorj' boat containing eight tons or thereabouts, and taking for every boat
two shares ; and every man having four lines of hooks, every line containing fifty
fathoms, taketh a share ; and twelve lines of hooks without a man taketh a share. So
that a boat having twelve men taking a share a man, and twelve lines of hooks
without men, maketh in number fifteen shares, viz., for the boat, two shares; for
twelve men, twelve shares ; for twelve lines of hooks, one share ; and one share for
the vicar, the town, and the master, or more or less number of shares according to
the number of men and hooks."
The Ancient Custom used in DK-iAVXET Fare. — " Item. There have used, time
out of mind, in the months of May and June, yearly, certain small cocks, of the
burden of three tons, or thereabouts, to draw mackarel by the shore, whereof the
boat and the net take one half, the other half is divided by shares unto the men,
to every man a share ; and one share is also thereof made for the vicar, the town,
and the master : so that if there be ten men, then they make eleven shares, viz., ten
men, ten shares ; and one share for the vicar, the town, and the master ; and if there
be more men, then they make more shares."
The Ancient Custom for Fai/meni and Umploi/iny the Qu.vrter Share. — ^'^ Item,
The master of every boat at Brighthelmston, at St. Stephen's Day, next after his
return from any fishing voyage, wheresoever or whensoever it was begun, had, or
contii.ucd, hath used to divide and pay out of the whole profits of the said boat,
without diminution or deduction to any stranger going in the said boat, to be made,
the said quarter share unto the Churchwardens of Brighthelmston for the time being,
and b ilf a share to the vicar there for the time being, and the other he hath for his
own use." — '■■Item. The master of every boat of Briffhth Imston had, time out of
mind, used to take up and pay out of the whole profits of e^ ery voyage, whether the
rest ol' his cnmpanions be of Brighthelmston, or strangers of other parishes, the t:iid
whole share for the vicar, the town, and himself, without any deduction thereof un'o
any o.her tov^-n or parish, or the parson, vicar, or proprietary thereof, to be madr :
and if the master, or any of his company, have been of BrightJielmston, and tie
boat belonging to any other place, then the said master aUo hath used to make in
the snid boat the aforesaid share, whereof he hath had a quarter to himself, and jf
the other three quarters for the town and vicar of Brighthelmston, he hath used :o
have proportionably, according to the number of men and nets which he used and
had out of Brighthebnston in the voyage." — '■^ Item. The said wardens used to
employ the snid quarter share, especially upon building of forts and walls towards
the sea, for the defence of the said town, and for provision of shot and powder, aiid
other furniture for that purpose; and entertainment of .soldiirs in time of wars, ar.d
other public sor\'ice of the prince, and mainteu.ance of the parish church. Where-
upon, to the intent that the said annual payment, or quarter share, for the better
defen''e and maintenance of the said town, may, in time to come, justly and trulv,
without fraud, be both made, yielded, and paid; and ai=o preserved, kept, and
employed, according to their ancient custom ; as also for the avoiding of all such
82 HISTOET 01" BBIGHTHELMSTON.
controversies as heretofore have commonly happened between the said fishermen,
touching the just and equal division of their fish in every boat in every voyage, and
the profits and charges thereof, the said Lord Buckhurst and Richard Shelley, Esq.
Laving the said fishermen before them at Brighthelmston, the 23rd day of July,
anno Bomini, 1580, have, by authority aforesaid, and with the consent of the said
fishermen, devised and set down to writing, certain orders to be hereafter for ever
used and kept by all the fishermen and inhabitants of the said town of Bnghthelm-
stoii, in manner and form following :
Orders for Length of Nets. — " Imprimis. None shall have any norward net
under twenty yards long by the uppermost rann, nor any such net in a boat of thirty
tons or upwards, under five ranns in deepness, every rann fifty moxes deep or there-
abouts ; nor in any other boat any norward net under four ranns deep, at any time
after the first day of August, in the year of our Lord, one thousand five hundred
four score and one, under pain to forfeit for every net under the said sizes, six
shillings." — " I/ein. Whoever .shall h^yejlciv alias hcak, under twenty-eight yards in
length by the uppermost rann, and four ranns in deepness, every rann fifty moxes deep
or thereabouts, at any time after the first day of August, in the year of our Lord one
thousand five hundred four score and one, shall forfeit for every such Jleu' ten
shillings." — " Item. Whosoever shall have any shortnet under twenty-eight yards in
length, by the uppermost rann, and two ranns in deepness, every rann fifty moxes
deep, or thereabouts, at any time after the first day of April next ensuing, shall for-
feit for every such net three shillings and fourpence : and whosoever shall have any
cocksheak under twenty-eight yards in length by the uppermost rann, and two ranns
in deepness, at any time after the first day of October, in anno Bomini, one thousand
five hundred four score and one, shall forfeit for every such net three shillings and
fourpence. Provided always that none of the foi'feitures before mentioned shall, at
any time, extend to any norward net, flew, shortnet, or cocksheak spoiled in length
at sea, and newly brought home from any voyage ; so that the said net or nets so
spoiled be made of the several lengths and deepness in the former orders mentioned,
before they be occupied again in any voyage." — " Item. The constable, the church-
wardens, being sea-faring men, or any twoof them, shall, four times a-year, if they
shall think it needful, search, view, and measure the length and deepness of any
man's nets in Briglithelmston, and he that shall let (hinder) them or any of them so
to do, the party for every time so letting shall forfeit twenty shillings "
Orders for Shakes /o>- Men. — '■'■ Im])rimis. No man having gone to sea
in Shotnet fare, above six nets, or in Yarmouth fare, or Fleiv fare, above six
norward nets, or four flews, alias heaks, and^a half, shall take any more than half a
share for his body, in any of the said voyages, upon pain to forfeit for every time so
doing, ten shillings." — " Item. Whoever shall give to any person having in Shotnet
fare above six nets, or in Yarmouth fare or Flew fare, above six norward nets, or
above four flows and a half, any more than half a share, shall forfeit for every time
so doing, ten shillings." — Item.. That no man shall take or give any more than a
share for a man's body in Shotnet fare, Yarmouth fare, Cock fare, or Flew fare, upon
pain to foifeit, either of them, for every time so doing, twenty shillings." — '■'■Item.
That no man shall give to any stranger, not dwelling in Brighthelmston, any more
than a share for his travel in any voyage, upon pain of fuifeiting for any time so
doing, twenty shillings."—" Hoti. That none shall give to any stranger, any share,
or part of share, in any other boat but only in the same boat where the said party is
placed, upon pain of forfeiture of twenty shillings for every time so doing." — Item.
That no man shall hire any person at the first shipping, to go for wages in any
voyage except Sc.'tr borough voyage, upon pain to foifeit for every time so doing, ten
shillings." — "Item. That no man being entertained by any boat, or by any man,
unto any voyage, shall place hiuisolf in any other boat, or with any other man, upon
pain of forfeiting, as well by the party so entertained, as by him that shall entertain
ANCIENT cirsax)M8. 83
any such person, for every time so doing, twenty shillings." — " Item. That no man
going to Scarborough in a bark going with gi-ound hooks, having a line, a lead, four
lines of hooks, two norward nets, and one heak of five ranns deep, shall take for his
body, and all the said necessaries, any moro than two shares ; and if any man bring
any more nets than is before mentioned, and do fish with them in the said voyage,
then he shall bo allowed for tho same nets after the rate of two norward nets, and a
heak to a share ; and whosoever shall give or take anything contrary to this order,
shall forfeit for every time so doing, ten shillings." — " Ilein. That no man going to
Scarborough in a boat with a drove sail, having two lines, two leads, and one heak of
twenty-one yards in length, and five ranns in deepness, shall take any more than a
share and a half for his body, and tho necessaries aforesaid ; and if ho have two linos,
two leads, and two heaks, then he shall tako two shares, and not above ; and if ho
bring more nets, then ho shall be allowed after tho rato of his nets according to tho
proportion of four nets to a share, and every heak to bo allowed for two nets ; and
what person soover, shall give or take anything itt this voyage contrary to this order,
shall foi-feit for every time so doing, twenty shillings." — "/few. It shall be
lawful for tho owner and master of every boat or bark going to Scarborough,
at tho return of every such boat or bark from the said voyage, to take up, before
sharing, so much of tho fish as, being indifferently piized by the whole company,
will pay all the charges that shall be then owing for tho said voyage, so that they
become chai'geablo to the creditors ; which fish, being so prized and taken, tho
warden or wardens, and tho Vicar or his deputy, paying the same price in ready money,
shall have, if they or any of them require it." — '■'■Item. If there shall be any sti-anger
master in any boat of Brighfhclmston in any voyage, then the owner shall take up
and pay the half share for the Vicar of BrigUhchmton, and the quarter share for
the town, iipon pain of every owner doing the contrary, to forfeit for every such
default twenty shilliugs."—"/fcOT. No man shall take or give above a share and
a quarter for any man's travel in Tucknet fare, upon forfeiture of ten shillings, to be
paid by tho giver, and also by the taker for every time so doing." — '■'■Item. No
owner of any tucker or tucknet shall tako any moro than four shares for the boat,
the nets, and the arms, viz., for tho boat and the nets, three shares ; and for the
arms, one share, upon pain to forfeit, for every time so doing, twenty shillings."—
" Item. No man going to sea with harbours shall take for his body any moro than
one share, nor for twelve lines of hooks any more than one share ; and so for more or
lijss proportionably ; and any man that shall take or give anything contrary to this
order, shall forfeit for every time so doing, ten shillings." — " Item. To tho intent
tho said quarter share may hereafter be truly paid without fraud or guile, every
owner and master of every boat, in every voyage, shall call tliu Vicar, or his deputy
or deputies, to all and every their several accounts at the end of every their several
voyages, (Cock fare. Tuck fare, Harbour fare, only excepted, for which thi'oe ono
only account by every m:i,stor and owner at the end of every voyage, shall be made),
and in his presence shall make a true and particular account of all their charges,
profits, and shares, upon pain for every owner and master, for every time doing tho
contrary, to forfeit twenty .shillings ; a note whereof the said Vicar or his deputy
shall give In writing unto the wardens yearly, at St. Stephen's Dag, upon pain of
twenty shillings to bo forfeited by tho said Vicar."
" Orders for Hooks, and going to Sea.—*' Imprimis. That every lino of
small hooks shall contain \\\ length nine score yards and not above ; and whosoever
shall have any lino of hooks above tho said length, at any time after the first day of
August, in anno Domini one thousand fivo hundred four score and one, shall forfeit
for every such line, twenty .shillings : and that no man shall bring to sja at any time
any more than four lines of the aforesaid hooks : and every man shall pay the
seventh fish to the boat, of throo of his lines, oxcept the master of tho boat, and tho
young men who are called taclieners ; tho which master shall have all the fishing of
D
34 HISTORT OF BTliaHTHELMSTOir.
his four lines, ^\^thout paying any duty to the boat ; and the said tacheners shall
have for the keeping of the boat, the fishing of every their fourth line without
paying any duty to the boat ; and whosoever shall do anything contrary to this
order, shall forfeit for every time so doing, twenty shillings. And if any boat shall
come to mishap through the default of the tacheners, that then the said tuclicncra
shall pay for the hurt of the same boat, to the value of the same hurt." — " Item.
Any man that shall lose any small hooks at sea, shall have for eveiy line so lost two
shillings, to be paid unto hiDi by the company in equal portions." — " Item. If
there be four lines or more lost in any boat, then the whole of the fish, except the
boat's part, shall be equally divided among the company ; and any man that hath lost
any of the same hooks, shall be allowed two shillings for every line so lost, to be paid
by the whole company in equal portions." — " Item. Every man that shall lose any
heak, norward net, or shotnet, in any fishing voyage, shall be allowed by the company
for every heak so lost, ten shillings ; and for every norward net so lost, ten
shillings, and for every shotnet so lost, four shillings, and not above."
— " Item. That no man, being an inhabitant of this town, shall drive with
nets for herrings between Shoreham Haven and Beach (Beachy Read) on any
Satui-day night or Sunday, until evening prayer be done, upon pain to forfeit for
every time so doing, twenty shillings." — '■'■Item. That no man shall drive with any
tucknet at any time before sun-ri.sing, or after sun-setting, upon pain to forfeit, for
every time so doing, ten shillings " — '■'Item. That no man .shall go to sea with
tucknet to fish for plaice before Slirove Tuesday yearly, upon pain of forfeiture of ten
shillings for every time so doing." — "Item. If there shall at any time any boat of
this town be cast away through the default of the master and the company, then the
master and his company to be answerable to the owner for the same boat."
" Orders for the Payment of the Quarter Share. — " Imprimis. Every
master of every boat in every voyage shall divide, receive, and take up the said
quarter share accordingly, as it hath been used heretofore, and is before ordered, and
not otherwise ; and the same shall well and truly pay yearly, upon the feast of St.
Stephen, to the Church wai'dens for the time being, in the place where it has been
accustomably paid in former times : and if any master in any boat, in any voyage'
shall not divide and take up as aforesaid, or shall detain the said quarter shai'e, and
not pay the same unto the Churchwardens at the end of every voyage, at the place
above-mentioned, before the feast of the Epiphany yearly then next following, that
then every such master, for every time so doing, shall forfeit the double value of the
same quarter share that he so detained, or not divided, or not taketh up." — " Item^
If there be in any tucker or cock in the time of TucJcnet Fare or Cock Fare, any more
than one master during the voyage, then the owner or first master of any such
tucker or cock shall account for and pay the whole quarter share due for all that
voyage, and therewithal shall dehver unto the said Churchwardens, a note in writing,
of the names of all the other masters in that voyage, upon pain of forfeiting twenty
shillings by the owner."
" Orders for the CHUUCHT>fARDENS. — " Imprimis.- There shall be yearly, at
the time accustomed, two substantial fishermen and one such landman, chosen by the
consent of the constable, the vicar or curate, and the chief of the town, for Church-
wardens."—" Item. The same Churchwardens, nor any of them, shall not employ
nor disbur.se any of the money to be kept by the sea-faring and land wardens, to any
other use than for the reparation of the church, and for necessary public
charges for the town, without the consent of the constable, the vicar or
curate, and six substantial mm of the pari.sh, first bad in writing, of which
B,\Ti, four shall bo fishermen and tv;o landmen, upon pain of paying all sums of money
laid out contrary to this ordi r, at and upon the charges of the .-^aid wardens." —
" Item.. The same Churchwardens shall yearly, at the time accustomed, yield up a
ti-ue wd perfect account, in writing, of all receipts, reprises, and charges for all that
ANCIENT CUSTOMS. SS
year, and the money then remaining shall then deliver up into the hands of the
wardens, their successors, in presence of the constable, the vicar or curate, and the
parishioners, upon pain of forfeiting by him or thorn that shall do the contrary, forty
shillings, and shall bo chargeable nevertheless with his account before the Com-
missioners " — '■^ Item. Every forfeiture before or hereafter mentioned growing by
reason of any matter pertaining to the sea or fishing, shall be paid unto the wardens
being fishermen, and every other forfeiture unto the land wai-dens." — '■'■ Itciii. If
the Churchwardens shall neglect to demand any of the said forfeitures for the space
of six days next after his or their knowledge thereof, then he or they for every time
80 neglecting, shall pay unto the poor man's box of BrighUielmsion, three shillings
and four ponce, or else answer it before the Commissioners." — '■^ Item. Whosoever
shall not, within five days next after demand in that case by the wardens, or any of
them, for the time being, to be made, pay unto the said wardens, or one of them, all
such of the said forfeitures as they then from time to time, at any time hereafter,
shall have made, then his or their name or names not paying such forfeitures as
aforesaid, shall bo signified in writing. under the hands of the constable, the vicar
or curate, and the said wardens, unto the Commissioners, to be bound to appeiir
before the lords of the Council. ' ' — ^'■Item. That so much of the said quarter share as shall
amount to the double value of the contribution (of the landmen) shall be kept employed
and accounted for indifferently by all the Church wai'dens in such sort as is aforesaid, and
the residue of the said quarter share shall bo remaining in custody of the sea-wardens,
who .shall not employ or disburse any part or parcel thereof, but for the common
profit of the town, and that only with tho consent of the constable, being a fisher-
man, the vicar, and six other fishermen being of the Twelve, in -writing first had
and obtained, and thereof shall make a true and particular account in ^vriting, in tho
presence of the said constable, churchwardens, and fishermen, at the time accus-
tomed ; and the money remaining shall then yield up unto the sea-wardens, their
successors, upon pain to forfeit for every time doing the contrary, the double value
of every sum, contrary to this order, employed, not accounted for, or not yielded up
as aforesaid, and shall be chargeable also with the same before tho commissioners."
— " Item. The rents, profits, and commodities of the mill and town house, and of
all other lands, tenements, and hereditaments which now do belong and appertain, or
hereafter shall belong and appertain to the said town of Brighthelmston, shall be
yearly paid and answered unto the churchwardens ; and that the same, and every
part thereof, shall and may, from time to time, be disposed, demised, and let out to
farm, for the term of seven years at tho most, by the said constables and wardens,
so as always the same be done to the best profit and coranrdity of the said town,
upon pain that every one therein offending, shall forfeit five pounds, and besides to
answer for his offence in that behalf before the said commissioners." — '■'■Item. Tho
same churchwardens, shall have in readiness at all times hereafter, in some con-
venient place in Brighlhehmton, to be laid up in store, and safely kept, four barrels
of powder, and forty round shot, and ten chain shot for every great piece." — " Item.
There shall be selected by tho said commissioners out of the ancientost, gravest, and
wisest inhabitants, eight fishermen and four landsmen, for assistants to the con-
stable in every public cause, whereof every one shall bo ready, and give his atten-
dance up'in tho constable as oft as need shall require : and whosoevoi' shall presume
to call together any assembly, to tho intent to practice or put in use any manner, or
device, or art touching the government of the said town, without the privitj',
consent, and command of the said constable and assistants shall forfeit for every
time so doing, forty shillings. And to tho intent that the said Twelve grave and
wiso men may have continuance, therefore, upon the death or removing of any one
of them, it shall bo lawful for the constable, and the residue of the said Twelve, or
for the most part of them, to choose in supply such other of the said town, as by
tbem, or the more part of them, shall be thought nieet, provided that such choice
IV 2
86 HISTOBY OP BEIGHTHTlLirSTOlT.
shall bo always ratified and allowed by the stewards of the lords of the said town,
or by such one of them as shall happen to keep court in the said town, next after
such choice made, or otherwise the same choice to be void : and if such choice shall
by the said stewards, or by such one of them as shall fortune to be present as
aforesaid, be disallowed, until a sufficient man, in the judgment of the said stewards,
be chosen."— "Kcw. If any man hath heretofore built, erected, or set up any wall,
shed, or any such like thing whatsoever, to the annoyance of the market place, or of
the block house there, and shall not, upon warning given him by the constable, or
his depiity for the time being, pull down or i-emove away the same within ten days after
such warning given, that then he shall forfeit five pounds, and be further punished by
discretion of the commissioners."—" Item. Forasmiich, as the town is overcharged
with the multitude of poor people, which daily are thought to increase by means of
receiving under-tenants, lodging of strangers, and the disorder of tippling-houses,
and that the constable cannot, without further assistance, take upon him the whole
oversight and charge of all the parts of the town in this behalf, it is" thought meet
that every one of the Twelve shall have assigned upon him some street or circuit
near his dwelling-house, where he shall, as deputy '.to the constable, have special
charge for the keeping of good order ; and especially to see that the order for the
avoidance of under tenants, be duly observed ; aad that none lodge or keep tippling
houses." — '■'■Item. All the acts, receipts, reprises, and charges and accounts of the
town, shall, from time to time, as they are had, made, and done, be entered into a
register book by the clerk for that purpose, by the constable, vicar, and church-
wardens for the time being, to be chosen." — " Item. The master and owner, or
one of them, of every boat, in every voyage, at every sharing and account, without
further delay, shall deliver up into the custody of the churchwai-dens, or one of
them, or of one or more indififerently to be deputed or appointed by the said vicar,
and churchwardens, the said half-share and quarter-shai-e, -without diminution or
retention thereof, to be by the said wardens, or him or them so deputed, safely kept
until St. Stephen's Day yearly then next following, to the use, for the half-share, of
the vicar, and for the quarter-share, to the use of the town, upon pain for every
owner and master for not delivering up as is aforesaid, to forfeit for every time forty
shillings, and to be further punished by the discretion of the commissioners." —
" .And tvliereas there hath been a controversy of long time between the said fisher-
men, being the greater part of the parish, and the husbandmen and artificers there,
as well for that of the reparations of the church, as all other public charges, which
hath been great, as building of forts and walls, provision of shot and powder, and
other necessaries for the defence of the town against foreign enemies, have been
sustained and borne by the said quarter share of the said fishermen only (except a
small annuity or yearly rent of two windmills, whereof one is now utteidy decayed) ;
as well for the utter extinguishment of all such controversy and division, as also for
the better increase of amity and noighboui-ly friendship among the said parties, the
said Lori Duck/iwst and RicharA Sficllci/, Esquire, have likewise caused to be set
down here in writing at the place, and in the day and year aforesaid, the names of
all such husbandmen and artificers which are of ability within the said town, and the
several sums of money w.iich cvtv of them, by then- several consents, have granted
yearly to be paid for, and in name of a contribution towards the charges aforesaid."
— "Rate of the husbandmen anc. pjtificers yearly to be paid on St. Stephen's Day,
to the chui-chwardens, towards the reparations of the church, and other public
charges of the town. ■»**#* ^f
There ai-e also in the said town of Brighthelmston, of fishing boats four score in
number, and of able mariners foar hundred in number, with ten thousand fishing
nets, besides many other necessaries belonging to theu- mystery, all which being
matters of great charge, require very great maiatenauce and reparation, and are like
ANCTENT CXrSTOHS. 37
hereafter rather to decay than to increase, by reason the said fishermen <ire diversly
charged and burdened with service of her majesty in sizes, sessions, and other courts
and other services, and with musters and setting forth of soldiers, besides their
service by sea, properly appertaining unto them, and especially by reason of the great
scarcity and dearth of timber and wood now of late years, by means of iron furnaces
placed near the Downs, risen from three shillings and four pence a ton, to thirteen
shillings and four pence ; from two shillings and sixpence a load of wood to seven
shillings ; and from six shillings and eight pence a load of coal to fourteen shillings ;
and of billet or tall wood, frotn two shillings and sixpence the hundred to eight
shillings the hundred ; and ship board from fifteen shillings the hundred to forty
shillings the hundred." — "Item. If any owner or lessor of any house within Bright-
lu'hnston, shall admit any tenant or tenants, under tenant or under tenants, into his
said house, except the said tenant or tenants shall, by the opinion of the constable
and the churchwardens in writing first to be set down, be thought of sufficient ability
to maintain himself and his family without burdening the town, then the said owner
or lessor shall forfeit for every month that any such tenant, not being estimated as
aforesaid, shall inhabit or dwell in his said house, to the poor man's box, three
shillings and four pence." — "Item. If any questions, doubt, or ambiguity, shall
hereafter happen to arise about any of the said orders, or the pains therein contained,
then the same to be expounded and interpreted by the said commissioners, or any of
them.
bignea | "Uiciiard Shelley."
The signatui-cs of some of the principal inhabitants follow on
the next page ; but it Avill be seen by the signs, or characters, affixed
to those who could not inscribe their names, that education had
made but little progress amongst them, John Slater, Bartholomew
Bowredge, Stephen Pypcr, William Wollay, Christopher Ingelard,
Dcryk Carver, and J. Ducondc, the yoimger, being the only persons
Avho could sign their names, and their writing even, is of a most
inferior description. The figures in parenthesis correspond "with those
iijinexed to the signs as here shown, which are the "his marks"
made by the persons signing. The names are : —
Richard Stoneham, constablo (1), Thomas Worger (2), John Tuppen (3),
Thomas King (4), John Ffrende (-5), William Hunn (6), Thomas Brackpell (7),
James Plumer (8), Henry Gunn (9), William Stallurd (10), John Allen (11),
Thomas Ilardinge (12), Thomas Gunn (13), Patrick Hackct (14), Nicholas Payne
(lo), William Frendc (16), Richard Turynought (17), Thomas Payne (18), William
Dighton (19), Thomas Jacks(m (20), John Anstyi3 (21), Thomas Harding (22),
John Hanlinge (23), Thomas NichoU (24), William Duflell (2^3), William Payne
(26), William Kellaway (27), Richard Coby (28), William Eastwarde (29), Roger
Boyse (30), John Coby (31), Bartholomew Bowredge by me, Stephen Pyper,
William WoUay, Christopher Ingelard, John Streato (32), Christopher Streate (33),
Mr. Deryk Carver, Richard Millar (3i), John Cooke (35), John Oston (36), John
French (37), Roger Ilewe (38), John Carver (39), Richard AdroU (40), Francis
Morris (41), Edward Bradforde (42), Jo. Browne (43), Thomas Humphreys (44),
John Coby (45), John Worger (46), John Eightaker (47), William Broppell (48),
John Ffriende, jun. (49), John Bayllyo (50), Richard Ilardinge (51), Nicholas
Good (52), William Body (53), WiUiam Heakioa (54), Edmund Lock (55), John
38 HISTOEY OP BEIGHTHELMSTON.
Boyse (56), John Shetter (57), John Surredge (58), John Eston (59), John Gillet
(60), Thomas Hunn (61), William Tanner (62), John Crovill (63), John Swaine
Richard Marcliaunte (65), John Duddiuge (66), Richard Gunn (67), William a Deine
(68), Richai-d a Deine (69), Jo. a Wood (70), Jo. Smythe (71), John Mellershe (72),
John Reggatt (73), J. Duconde, younger.
10 il 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20" 21 22 23 24 25 ' 26
27 28 29 30 31 32 33
^ Wt7 ^-^ >fvX txi^ ;^ -^
34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
50 51 52 53 54 55 56
57 58 59 60 61 62 63
^ XX X ^ t^< "^
64 65 66 67 68 G9 70
71 72 73
It is conjectured by some autiquarians that the above marks
are symbols of the trade or occupation of those who assented to the
foregoing recited orders ; their opinion being formed from the cir-
cumstance of Stoncham, the constable, being a ship carpenter, and
attaching a hatchet to his name ; and for the same reason the supposi-
tion is that Oston, from his sign was a butcher, Good, a wheel-
ANCIENT crrsTOMS. 39
Wright, and Mellershe a millwright. The rest seem wholly un-
intelligible.
In the year 1580, Lord JBucJchicrst and Mr. Shelley made a
new order concerning the penalty falling on the owner or lessor of
any house let without the written consent of the constable and
churchwardens, which was henceforth to be levied from the under-
tenant, as well as from the said owner or lessee.
And in the year 1592, they made another order, which
subjected absentees, Avho owned houses or any other tenements
within the parish, to contribute to the public charges of the said
parish, in proportion to their possessions there, as if they were
residents. In case of contumacious resistance or neglect of the said
orders, the constable, or his deputy, and the churchwardens, or any
two of them, of which the constable or his deputy being one, were
authorised by the above-named commissioners, to imprison such as
offended in that particular until they shall be contented to observe
and keep the same.
It seems, however, that this commission terminated with the
life of Lord Euckhurst, who died in 1608 ; for we find the in-
habitants of Bri(jldhehiiston, in ten years after, revising and ratifj-ing
" the ancient customs heretofore used among and between the fisher-
men and landsmen" there, "and orders out of the said customs
taken and made," without the authority or interference of any
superior ; and as these customs must be materially directive of the
internal polity of the town even at this day, the following copy of
them, with a few comments on their immediate relevancy to the
present parochial constitution of Brighthelmston, will not be
unacceptable to many readers.
" Uponi agreement made by and between tbc ancient fishermen and landmen
of the town of Brif^htholraston, in the county of Sussex, the second day of February,
1618, for remedy and redress of certain disorders in their said town, as also for the
better increase of brotherly love and amity for ever hereafter between the said fisher-
men and landmen, and for the annual payment of certain money called a quarter of
a share, heretofore of ancient time usually paid out of every boat in every fishing
voyage, to the churchwardens there, towards the maintenance of the church and
other public charges about the necesaaiy defence of the town ; and of a certain con-
tribution by the rest of the inhabitants, being landmen, towai'ds the bearing of the
said charges, to be had and levied ; and for the purposes aforesiud the said fishermen
and landmen, having met and assembled together, here have set down in writing
* Second Town Book, or Costumal of Brighthelmston,
40 HISTOBY OP BKIOHTHELMSTON.
their ancient customs and orders concerning the true making, paying, and emplopng
the said quarter share; and also of the paying and employing of the said landmen's
contribution, or yearly rate for the uses aforesaid, and for the certainty and true pay-
ment thereof in manner and form hereafter following : —
" Tlie Ancioit Custom for Fmjmcnt and Employing the Quarter Share. —
Imjrrimis. It is concluded and agieed between the said fishermen and landmen,
the day and year above mentioned, that they, the said fishermen, shall yearly make
as they have done time out of mind, a quarter of a share out of every fishing boat in
every fishing voyage ; and the same so being made, shall yearly and every year pay,
at the end of every voyage, unto the fishermen churchwardens for the time being,
without diminution or deduction, the said quarter share, to be by them and the other
churchwarden, kept and employed unto the only and proper use of the town in the
common town box, until the new constable shall be chosen yearly." — " Item. It is
agreed between the said landmen and fishermen above said, that the said landmen shall
yearly and every year pay and bring unto the said common town-bos, in or upon
the second day of February, commonly called Candlemas Bay, yearly, half so much
money ^ as the aforesaid quarter share shall amount unto ; there to be by all the said
chiu-chwardens kept and employed unto the general and public use of the town." —
" Item. It is further concluded and agreed upon between the said fisliermen and the
said landmen, that all manner of town charges whatsoever (the king's composition
or customary wheat only excepted) shall be taken out of the common town box,
"whether it be for the maintenance of the church, the communion bread and wine, the
maintenance of the lecture, the clerk and sexton's wages, the lights in the fire cage, the
paying the king's majesty's oats and coals, and the setting forth of soldiers or sailors^
and all manner of other necessary and public town charge shall be taken out of the
said common town box, by and with the consent of the constable and churchwardens
for the time being, and six other, whereof four to bo of the sea, two of the land." —
" Item. It is further ordered by and between the said fishermen and landmen, that
if it shall happen that the said quarter share and the land contribution will not at
any time amount and countervail the whole charge that shall arise and grow
by reason of any extraordinary charge happening, that then the constable and
churchwardens, and six other of the said inhabitants shall tax, rate, and cess
all the said inhabitants proportionably, every one according to their estate and
ability." — ^'- Item. It is also agreed between the said fishermen and landmen that
the churchwardens, every year, shall collect and gather and bring in unto the com-
mon town-box the said quarter share, and the warders for sea causes to collect and
gather it ; and the land-warden being with one of the sea-wardens shall also yearly,
and every year, bring into the said common town-box the rate or taxation of the
other inhabitants not being fishermen ; which rate or taxation every year ought to
amount to half so much as the said quarter of a share doth yearly ; and also shall
gather, receive, and take up all rents and other land profits belonging to the town,
as the rent of the town-house, town mills, and Bartholomews, which, being so
received, shall yearly bring into the said town box, there to be kept up to the general
use of the town."
'■^ Orders concerning the Go^^&TKai.^.—'-'' Item. It is further agreed between
the said fishermen and landmen, that the constable of the said town shall yearly have
for and towards his labour and pains taken in that behalf, and for and towards his
charges and expenses, the sum of twenty-five shillings, eight pence, of lawful money
of Enyland, to be paid unto him out of the said common town-box, and also that
every constable, whether he be a landman or a fisherman, shall yearly have, and
quietly enjoy, to his own use, without any let, molestation, or trouble, one horse
lease."—" Item. It is also ordered between the said fishermen and the said landmen,
1 This waa a larger contribution than the landmen had been used to make.
ANCIENT CtrSTOMS. 41
that the two headboroughs of the said town, shall have yearly for their pains and
troubles in their oflSce, the sum of five shillings, eight pence, a-piece, to be paid unto
them out c)f the said comnion town-box ; and also shall have and quietly enjoy to
their own use, one cow lease, and twenty-five sheep leases, according to the ancient
custom." — ^^ Item. It is also ordered, that there shall be selected and chosen out of
the said ancientest, gravest, and wisest iiiliabitauts, eight fishermen and four land-
men, for assistants to the constable in every public cause, whereof every one shall be
ready to give his attendance upon the constable as often as need shall require : and
whosoever shall presume to call together any assembly to the intent to practice or
put in use any manner of device or act touching the government of the said town,
without the privilege, consent, and commandment of the said constable and assistants,
shall forfeit for every time so doing, forty shillings : and to the intent that the choice
of the said twelve grave and wise men, may have a continuance, therefore, upon the
death or removing of any one of the said Twelve, or of the most part of them, to
choose in supply such other of the said town as by them, or the most part of them,
shall be thought meet, provided always that such choice shall be always ratified and
allowed by the stewards of the lords of the said town, at the law day when tho
constable is chosen, or by such one of them as shall happen to keep such court in the
said town, or otherwise the said choice to be void : and if eveiy such choice shall bo
by the said stewards, or by such one of them as shall fortune to be present as
aforesaid, be disallowed, until a sufficient man or such sulHcient men, shall be, in the
judgment of the same steward, elected and chosen." — '■'■Item. For as much as the
town is overcharged with the multitude of poor people, which daily are thought
to increase by means of receiving under tenants, lodging and harbouring of
strangers, and the great disorder of tippling-houses ; and that the constable cannot
without further assistance, take upon himself tho whole oversight and charge of all
the parts of the town ; in this behalf, it is thought meet that every one of the said
Twelve shall have assigned unto him some place, street, or circuit of the said town,
near about his dwelling house, where he shall, as deputy to the constable, have special
charge for the keeping of good order ; and especially to see that the order for tho
avoiding under tenants be duly observed and kept ; and that none lodge or keep
tippling without license." — Item. "For as much as the said inhabitants of tho said
town of BrighthclmstoH, hath of long time, and yet still are to the making hereof,
been over-charged and suppressed by the multitude of poor people, which daily are
thought to increase by the means of many .ale-house keepers and victuallers which
do harbour and receive all comers and goers, to the great hurt and hindorance of the
said inhabitants, and doth still sell and keep ale and beer without license, and against
the said inhabitants' consent, it is now ordered by the said inhabitants, for the
suppressing of the said number of ale-houses and victualling-houses, that from
henceforth for ever hereafter none of the said inhabitants what.soevcr .shall at any
time hereafter, draw, sell, or keep any victualling or ale-house within the said town
without a letter or testimonial of tho said inhabitant.s, in writing, first had and
obtained, by and with tho consent of the constable, vicar, or curate, and six other
substantial men of the said inliabitants, whereof four to be of the seamen, and two
of the landmen in their behalf, to be made imto the Justices of the King's Majesty's
Peace, whereby they, and so many of them, and not more, may be lawfully licensed
to use the said trade of victualling and ale-house keeping ; and also that such a
competent number may be by the said Ju.stitcs of the King's Majesty's Peace
(whereof one to be of the quorum), and by and with the consent of the said
inhabitants, nominated and appointed : and that none other of the said inhabitants
may use or occupy the said trade of victualling or ale-house keeping in the said town,
but so many of them as shall bo lawfully hcenscd as is aforesaid, upon pain and peril
of every one so doing contrary to the true meaning of this present order, to forfeit
for every ban-el of beer eo drawn, six shillings and eight pence." — '■'■Item, If any man
42 HISTOEY OF BElGHTnELMSTON.
hath heretofore builded, ei;6cted, or set up any house, wall, pale, shed, or any such
like thing whatever ; or if any hereafter shall erect, build, or set up any house, wall,
shed, pale, or any such like thing whatsoever, to the annoyance of the market-place,
or of the block-house there, and shall not, upon warning given him by the
constable, or his deputy for the time being, pull down or remove away the same
within ten days after such warning given, that then, he shall forfeit the sum of five
pounds."
" Orders for Payment of the Quartek Share. — These being almost
literally the same as those presented to, and ratified by, Lord Bxckhurst and Mr
Shelley, in 1580, are purposely omitted ; as are also, for the same reason, the Orders
for the Length of Nets in this second book of Customs."
" Orders concernwri the Landmen. — Item. It is ordered, that the constable
and churchwardens of Brighthelmston for the time being, with two or three of the
substantial landmen, shall yearly cess, tax, and rate towards the common charge
of the town, as well all the landmen, husbandmen, and artificers, and all
of the inhabitants having land there ; and also all such persons as have lands,
tenements, or other yearly profits by land, in the said town, and dwell in
other places, accorduig to the quantity of their lands, tenements, and profits, pro-
portionably with the said inhabitants ; the which cessment, rate, or taxation, shall
be yearly made and set down in writing, under the hands of the said constable,
churchwardens, and substantial landmen, before the feast day of Epiphany., and shall
amount unto half as much as the quarter share shall come unto yearly ; and further
it is ordered, that such persons as dwell in other places, and have in their o^vn
occupation within the said town, lands, tenements, or other yearly profits, shall
likewise yearly pay all such sums of money as they, and every of them, in manner
and form aforesaid, shall be rated and taxed, upon pain of such forfeitures and
punishments as are to be inflicted on the inhabitants of the said town, for not paying
such sums of money as they, in like sort, shall be cessed, taxed, or rated." — '■'■Item..
Whosoever, being a landman, husbandman, artificer, or inhabitant, or every other
occupier of land or tenements of and in the said town, that shall not yearly, before
the feast day of the Purification of St. Marij, pay unto the Churchwardens for the
time being, all such sum or sums of money as he or they shall be cessed, rated or
taxed, shaU for every time so doing, forfeit the double value thereof." — '■'■Item. If
any owner or lessee of any house in Brighthelmston, admit any tenant or tenants,
under-tenant or under-tenants, into his said house, except the said tenant or tenants
shall, by the opinion of the constable and the churchwardens in writing first to be
Bet down, be thought of sufficient ability to maintain himself and his family without
burdening the town, then the owner and lessee shall, for every month that any such
tenant, not being estimated as aforesaid, shall inhabit or dwell in his house, to forfeit
unto the use of the poor of the said town, ten shillings." — " Item. That whereas it
is before ordered, that the owner and lessee of any house in Brighthelmston, in case
he admitted any under-tenant, without the consent of the constable and chuich-
wardens, first had in writing, shall forfeit monthly during the abode or inhabiting of
any such under-tenant not being approved as aforesaid, monthly, ten shillings.
Now forasmuch as the said penalties cannot conveniently be levied of such owners
as are not resident or abiding within the town, and that the town is more burdened
and charged with poor than heretofore it hath been, it is now further ordered, that
the penalties for eveiy default contrary to the said order, shall be extended in all
points as well against the under-tenants, as against the said lessee or owner."
" The orders for the churchwardens in this town book, being in
substance the same with those before transcribed from the former,
they need not here be repeated.
AJfCIENT CUSTOMS. 43
" The immemorial existence of the above customs in the town of
Brighthelmston, is incontestible even at this day : and though some
of them be now obsolete on account of the great changes which
the town has experienced during the present century, no part of its
existing polity can legally run counter to those ancient customs,
except upon sanction of an Act of Parliament, or where the right
of exercising them has been c\*idently given up. The commission-
ers in 1580, only investigated and affixed publicity and order to
those customs : and their subsequent orders to the inhabitants,
were no more than what a bench of justices may issue at the present
day. The independent style of the ancient fishermen and landmen
in the second book, seems to be that of men who were conscious of
a prescriptive right of legislation in certain matters within their
own parish : and the Saxon constitution, whose equitable and
benign spirit stQl feebly pervades what we now call the British
Constitution, granted the same right to every parish all over
England.
" The custom of choosing three churchwardens annually is stiU
exercised, though the cause of it has ceased to exist for more than
half a century past. But the customary existence of twelve
assistants and advisers to the constable has ceased, though the
occasion for which they were first instituted still remains, nay,
increases commensui-ately with the population of the town. The
ancient society of the twelve shall therefore be revived. That such
a society did once exist, by custom, caanot be denied : and the mere
neglect of a custom for ever so many years is no deseasance of the
right to exercise it at any subsequent period. But its revival shall
not be for the creation or benefit of a party. Political equality is
the birth-right of every Briton ; and no civil power can be lawful
which emanated not originally from the assent of society, and is
invariably exercised for the public good. The Twelve therefore
shall be chosen by ballot at a public meeting of all the inhabitants,
and every future vacancy in that bod)- filled by public election in
the same manner. The gentleman who presides at present at the
court lect of the town, there is every reason to suppose, would
cheerfully ratify so respectable an election ; and the police of so
populous a parish would, J in futm-c, bo managed with signal
44 HISTOKT OP BEIOHTKELMSTON.
vigilcflce, under the inspection of twelve chosen guardians of the
public peace and prosperity.
" It was the discontinuance of the ancient society of the Twelve,
that made it necessary to appoint commissioners by act of Parliament,
in the year 1772, for lighting and cleaning the streets, lanes, and
other places within the town of Brighthelmston; as also for removing
and preventing nuisances, holding and regulating a daily market
there, and building and repairing groynes, in order to render the
coast more safe and commodious for vessels to unload and land sea-
coal, culm, and other coal, for the use of the town: and in order to
enable the said commissioners to accomplish these public and service-
able ends, they are allowed by the act, a duty of sixpence on every
chaldron of coal or cxxlm so landed. As it is not unlikely a
question may hereafter arise concerning the precincts of the
commissioners' power, it may not here be unseasonable to consider
how far it extends. As the letter of the act seems to confine it to
the limits of the town, the sagacity of litigation may discover that
the buildings erected since the year 1772, in the then common fields
and environs of Brighthelmston, could not have been in contempla-
tion of the framers of the act, inasmuch as those buildings were
not then in esse. But as there never were any fixed boundaries to
the town, as ftxr as continuous buildings and population reach within
the parish, so far, I conceive, shall the town, and consequently
the power of the commissioners, be admitted always to extend.
Otherwise, indeed, the act would be abortive and absurd. These
commissioners were originally sixty-four in number, and constituted
of the most respectable inhabitants in the town. Many vacancies
by death and removal, have since occurred, and been very properly
filled by election among the existing members. Yet I am so fuUy
assured of the evil tendency in general, as well as the injustice of
political monopoly of every kind, that I regret the right of election
on those occasions had not vested in the inhabitants at large.
"But as the authority of the commissioners exceeds not, except
in a few particulars, that of parochial surveyors, the Society of
Twelve, if called forth again into existence and exertion, would be
of great benefit to the town. In summer, Brighthelmston too
frequently becomes the chief receptacle of the vice and dissipation
AUcrENT ctrsTOMs: 45
which the sickening metropolis disgorges into our watering places
at this season. Its population then is upwards of ten thousand, and
only one constable and two headboroughs to preserve the order and
safety of the town amidst such a medley. Were there twelve more
of the most active and intelligent inhabitants of the town, united
with them in directing and strengthening its police, the careful
parent would then have less reason to fear the gambler for his son, or
the debauchee for his daughter. The constable of Brighthclmston
had such a society to assist him when it was bull an obscure fishing
town : the propriety of reviving the same, at this period of its
popularity and splendour, I leave every thinking inhabitant of the
place to consider and enforce." — Dunvan, 1795.
Chapter VII.
THE TEJSTA^TRY LANDS.
Upon the general survey made throughout England, by order
of King .Ufred, the tenantry land of Brighthclmston, was, like
the estates in general, in other parishes of the kingdom, planned
and plotted out ; and from time to time, down to the present date,
the possessions of the different land-owners, have, from various
changes in the proprietorship, been re-measured and set out ; and
such a procedure is termed taking the terrier. Dooms-day'Book
has it : Statutum de admensuratione terrarum. Dooms-day Book is a
book that was made by order of AViUiam the Conqueror, in which all
the estates of the kingdom are registered. It consists of two
volumes, which are deposited at Westminster, in the chapter-house ;
wtere they may be consiilted on paying the fee of 6s. 8d. for a search,
and 4d per line for a ti-anscript. It was begun in 1081, and not
completed till 1087. There is a copy of it in the library of the dean
and chapter of Exeter. One leaf of it was discovered some years since
at Nettlecombc, in Somersetshire, a seat of Sir John Trevelyan,
Ba:t., who sent it to the dean and chapter. There is a story extant
in connexion with finding this leaf. In a room at Nettlecombc,
46 HISTOEY OP BRIGHTHEIMSXON.
which was used as a depository for lumber, and furniture and goods
not in general use, a square of glass in the window always remained
broken ; and notwithstanding, from time to time, the window was
repaired, the next morning, not only was the glass found to be
demolished, but, invariably, three drops of blood stained the sash.
It happened on one occasion when the deeds of the estate had to be
referred to by the solicitor of the family, Mr. Leigh, that the re-
markable incident of the window was mentioned to him ; as the
family parchments and papers were actually deposited in a strong
chest in that very room. Being a person of a superstitious tiu'n of
mind, and of antiquarian research, he conceived the idea that
amongst the accumulation of musty deeds, there was one which
would give the, solution to the strange mystery, A general over-
hauling therefore, of the contents of the old oak chest was made ;
but nothing of any moment was discovered, save a dingy leaf of
some book^ which seemed to have no connection whatever with the
rest of the papers. This proved to be the long lost and frequently
sought for leaf of the Exeter Dooms-day Book. The story continues,
that the square of glass was that day repaired ; and the next morning
not only was it found to be broken, with the three drops of blood
sprinkled on the sash, but upon the lid of the old oak chest, having
filled its mission, lay dead a pure white dove. Ever after the
restored window remained uninjured. On the 3rd day of
March, 1738, was made : — " A General Terrier of the several Lands
lyeing and being in the Common Laiues of Brighthelmston, in the
County of Sussex, shewing each person's quantity in Pauls, Eight
of which make an Acre ; made and agreed unto by several owners
and occupiers."
The several Laines are : West Laine, Little Laine, East Laine,
Hilly Laine, and JS'orth Laine There are besides, portions called
"White Hawk, and Church Hill. The Laines are set out in
measured areas, termed furlongs''^, which furlongs are subdivided
into irregular portions called paul-pieces, " eight of which make
an acre," the tenantry acres varj-ing considerably as to the number of
rods they contain, ranging from 35 to 210 rods. Some of these
* Furlong, or Fortyloug, from the French quarante, forty, a measure of
forty perches.
THE TENANTET LANDS. 47
have other paula running into them ; and in such instances, from
the shape they thus assume, they arc termed " hatchet pieces ;"
while the extreme paiils of the furlongs in the Laincs, are c:illed
"headlands."
The Terrier at present used in defining property in the pai-ish,
is the " Terrier to the tenantry land in the parish of Brighthelm-
ston, as it was measured and set out in the year MDCCXCII, by
Thonias Budgen." Copies of the Terriers, in a book form, are in
the hands of several of the solicitors and surveyors in the town,
and the proprietors of the tenantry lands. The most concise plan
is a map of the whole parish, with elaborate references. For the
convenience of cultivation, a Terrier was taken, agreeable to a
resolution passed by the principal landholders, at a meeting which
was held at the Old Ship, on the 26th day of March, 1776, that by
draAving lots the owners of several pauls in different parts af a
furlong, might have- their lands together in one piece in each
furlong. The arrangement did not in the least alter the proprietor-
ship of the several pauls.
The following is the whole content of the Parish, as taken by
Mr John Marchant, surveyor, May 12th, 1832 : —
WEST LAINE.
PAULS. A. K. P. A. E. P.
North Butts 76 7 3 12
Hedge Furlonf^ 146 14 3 10
The Blacklauds 96 11 2 23
Furlong, near "West Fields* 300 29 112
Cliff Butte 101 6 0 0
Furlong, heading ditto 80 6 118
Second Furlong from Home 52 3 3 19
Home Fnrlong 112 8 1 6
Wall Furlong 68 2 1 20
Furlong heading the Barns 52 3 118
Chalk-pit Furlong 52 3 3 32
Furlong next Chalk-pit 56 4 111
102 0 21
CHURCH HILL.
Church Hill 62 47 2 32
West side of ditto 216 42 0 16
Lead's Furlong 72 7 0 13
96 3 21
<• Part of this farlong was lost by the sea.
48 HISTOEY OF BETOHTHELMSTON.
LITTLE LAINE.
Upper Furlong 292
CM Furlong 278
EAST LAIXE.
Cliff Furlong . Ui
Furlong next Newbroko Ground 202
Second Furlong 116
Third Furlong 163
Fourth Furlong 72
Fifth Fm-long 102
Sixth Furlong 108
Baker's Bottom Fuiiong 253
Coombe Fuiiong 240
WHITE HAWK.
South side of the White Hawk*
West side dot
East side do j
Nortb-east side do
HILLY LAINE.
Islingword Furlong 200
Shepherd's Acre Furlong 112
Fifth Furlong 298
Fourth Fuiiong 193
Third Furlong 366
Second Furlong 320
Gold's Butts
Home Furlong 247
Breach Furlong 266
NORTH LAINE.
Home Fuiiong , 247
Church Furlong - 62
Second Furlong 216
ThirdFurlong ^62 (
Sliepherd's Acre ) \
Fourth Furlong 2o4
Fifth Furlong 220
Crooked Furlong 97
Eottingdcan Hedge Furlong , 100
Home Butts ■. 32
North Butts 52
The Crook
24 2
23
13 1
4
37 3 27
26 0
20
14 1
20
11 0
16
15 2
10
5 2
34
7 0
31
8 3
30
21 0
13
17 2
9
127 2 23
22 1
31
23 0
19
24 0
25
14 1
13
84 0 11
26 1
34
11 0
18
25 1
14
14 2
2
29 3 21
22 3
26
1 0
12
26 1
12
20 1
2
177 3 21
16 3
25
6 1
36
14 I
15
17 2
30
0 3
20
17 3
35
20 2
1
8 2
24
8 2
23
3 1
6
6 3
0
6 2
35
128 3 20
» Set off in February 1765 : 22a. Ir, 27p.
+ Set oif in Fobruarj' 1773 : 24a. 3r. IGp.
t Set off in February 1773 : 24a. 3r. 20p.
THE TENANTRY LANDS. 49
A. R. P. A.. R. P.
The North side of Round Hill 34 3 16
South part of ditto 22 3 32
Scabb's Castle 82 137
Teuantry Sheep Down 400 0 36
Field in Level 14 1 23
Black Rock Arable 20 2 0
Black Rock Do\vn 112 2 16
The Town of Brighthelmston, including the Steine,
118 2 28
I
North Inclosures, Level, &c
806 2 28
Contents of the whole Parish 1562 0 12
"Within the Laines were portions of ground termed " yardlands,"
but where situated has not been fully defined. The chief record of
them is respecting the
STOCK OF SHEEP.
68 Tardlands, at 16 sheep per yard 1038
The Reeve „ „ 20
The Dooling Leases „ 16
The Shepherd to keep none
Widow Barnard ,, none
1124
In the " Nonarum Inquisitiones " is the following descriptive
valuation of Brighthelmston : —
" This indenture testifies that an acquisition was taken before Henry Husse
and fellows, collectors, and assessors of the ixth of garbel fleeces and lambs, and
of the x\th granted to our lord the king, in the county of Sussex, assigned at
Lewes, on a Sunday, in the middle of the xUh year of the reign of King
Edward the Third, from the nonal inquest, and the quindecimal concerning the
true Talue of the ixth of garbel, (corn) ixth of fleeces, and ix 'h of lambs, by
commission of our lord the king, directed to the aforesaid Heni-y and his fellows,
by tlie oath of John de Erlee, Hugh Russell, John Dae', and Ralph Grabb,
parishioners of Brighthelmston- -who say, that the extent of the church there is
taxed at xxv pounds with the vicarage. And they say that the i\th part of
garbel is worth this year, there, ix pounds, viii shillings, and x peuce from the
community of the town. Also the ixth part of fleeces there is worth xxvi
shillings and ri pence, and the ixth part of lambs there, is worth vi shillings and
viii pence. Also they say, that the ixt/i part of garbel and fleeces of the prior of
Lewes there, is worth, vii shillings and viii pence. Also the ixih part of garbel
and fleeces of the prior of Michelham, is worth xxx shillings and iv pence. And
80 is the sum of the whole ixth of garbel, fleeces, and lambs, this year, xiii pounds.
Also they say that the ix//( part aforesaid cannot answer nor attain to the taxation
of the church aforesaid ; for that xl acres of land are drowned by the sea for
over, which were worth per annum xl shillings. And also clx acres of land in
the common plain, which have been deficient there this year in corn sown, to the
50 msTOEY 05* BEiGHnrELarsTO]*
value of X pounds. And because the wool cannot be sold as it was wont, the
value of iiii shillings and iv pence is deficient. And also the lambs there will be
deficient in the pasture this year, by defect of value vi shillings and viii pence.
And the vicar has there the first-prints of one dove-house, value ii shillings.
And the same has there ia offerings, small tithes of geese, sucking pigs, honey,
milk, cheese, calves, and eggs, and other small tithes which are worth yearly Ixx
shillings. Also they say, that there are here no merchants, but tenants of land
who live by their own lands, and their great labours only. In testimony of
which thing, the aforesaid sworn men have affixed their seals to this indenture."
Chapter VIII.
THE BAETHOLOMEWS.
The chauntry, or free chapel, dedicated to St. Bartholomew,
was erected on a piece of land granted by the lord of the manor of
Brighthelmston, to the Priory of St. Pancras, at Southover, Lewes,
under a quit rent of 3d a-year. It was built to the south-west of
the knappe or knab, originally called by the Saxon settlers, cw«^,
(the summit or crown of a hill) from its elevated position. It is
now generally known by the name of Brighton place. Attached to
the chauntry was a dwelluig for the two or three monks who
officiated there. The chauntry was destroyed by the fire which
devastated the town, on the landing of the French, under Primauget,
and it never after recovered its accustomed use and influence. The
almshouses, which were afterwards built on the site, were sold to
the parish in 1733, for the sum of £17, and the dwelling of the
monks, called the Prior's Lodge, became the residence of the vicar
of Brighthelmston, after the Eeformation.
" Magna Britannia " mentions, " that there was a chiu'ch near the
middle of the town, and it was burnt down some years ago by the
French." This probablj' refers to the chapel or chauntry of St.
Bartholomew. The Prior's Lodge was pulled down by the Ecv.
Thomas Hudson, in 1790, the year he was collated to the rectoiy of
Blatchington and Adcarage of Brighthelmston. From the style of
the arcliitccture, and the decayed state of the timbers, there was
ample room for supposing the building to have been erected not
later than the close of the thirteenth century. In 1665 the Bar-
THE BAETHOLOMEWS. 51
tholomews is mentioned as a parcel of pasture. The parish work-
house, demolished in 1823, was erected on its site, and the rest of
the space continued nearly plain ground till, in 1774, the market
place was built, where the present Town Hall stands. The original
market-place, that possessed by the town ujider the charter of
Edward II., was on the cliff, where it had continued from the year
1313 till the close of the seventeenth, or the beginning of the last
century ; when, that part being sapped by the waves, the building
was demolished. The vicarage house, which was substituted for
the Prior's Lodge, by the Rev. T. Hudson, was vacated by the
present vicar, the Rev. Henry Michell "Wagner, in 1835, and pulled
down in 1837. The old vicarage garden was about a quarter of an
acre in extent.
The first stone of the present vicarage was laid on the 24th
day of June, 1834, and in the following year the structure was
completed, and accepted by the Bishop of the Diocese, on the
unanimous recommendation of six commissioners, namely, three
laymen and three clergymen, to the effect that the exchange would
be, in every respect, beneficial. It stands in a garden of exactly
two measured acres; and was built by Messrs. George Cheesman
and Son.
In 1584, "William Midwinter, a sailor, sold the site of the
chauntry to Thomas Friend and others, in trust for the said town,
in consideration of the sum of £44, which had been raised by sub-
scription among the inhabitants. It had been gnrited to Lord
Cromwell, on the dissolution of the Priory of Lewts ; and on his
attainder and execution, to Anne of Cleves. It reverted to the
Crown in 1557, after the death of that Princess, and afterwards
came into the possession of Roger Blackbourne, a farmer of York-
shire. In 1577 he aliened it to MlIo Taylor, servant to Lord
Buckhurst, and John Codwell, both of Southover, Lewes. Taylor
soon after released his share to Codwell, who ^sold the whole to
Midwinter.
In 1773, an Act of Parliament was obtained for erecting and
holding a daily market, Sundays excepted ; and the waste land of
the Bartholomews being a central situation, and the common pro-
perty of the town, it was fixed on for the site of the said market.
E a
52 mSTOET OF BEIGHTHEIMSTON.
The workmen, who were employed in digging for the foundation of
this building, happened to cut through a little cemetery, which
seems to have belonged to the chauntry of St. Bartholomew, and
were so strongly impressed with superstitious awe, by the bones
which they uncovered, that they refused to proceed with their
work. The vicar, the Eev. Henry Michell, being informed of their
scruples, came to the spot, and instead of exerting his personal in-
fluence, which was very great over all classes of his parishioners,
or vainly combating the prejudices of ignorance with reason,
applauded their veneration for the supposed remains of Christians,
but assured them that all who had ever been interred there were
rank Papists. Their first prejudice being thus laid by a stronger,
the men resumed their work, and turned over the rest of the bones
with the apathy of grave-diggers.
About fifty years since, in one of the old tumble-down houses
which occupied the site whereon now stand the Schools of Mr.
Henry Catt, by the " Knab Pump," resided Thomas Herbert, a short,
stout, fat, and greasy old fellow, possessing but one eye, who pro-
fessed to make the best sausages out of Germany. He was a maker
of small meat pies and sausages j and with these he exhibited his
"Publications for Sale." He was the author of the play, "Too
much the Way of the "World," and likewise of " A Brief Sketch of
Human Life ;" which, with his other literary works, lay cheek by
jowl with his comestibles. He had been a butcher ; and the follow-
ing specimen of his literary talent, written in a bold hand, in his
window, expressed the cause of the change in his occupation ; as he
stated he was one
" TVho, for want of cash, the shamhles spurn' d.
And is for once a play--\vright turu'd."
Craptee IX.
THE WORKHOUSE.
From the deepest research which the compiler of this work has
been able to make, he cannot find that any Workhouse existed in
THE WOKKHOrSK. 53
Brighton prior to 1727, in which year the folloAving entries appear
in the Town book : —
February 26tli, 1727, — That a mortgage be effected on the work-
house, to indemnify Thomas Simmons, in paj ing the moneys he made of the
materialls of Blockhouse, to the constable and churchwardens ; by them to be
disbursed in payment of materialls and the workmen employed about building
the workhouse.
May 10th, — Order in Vestry for Churchwardens and Overseers, — with all
speed to borrow £oO, to pay for materials and workmanship about tlie Workhouse,
in the building of it, to be repaid out of the poor rate, or taxes to be raised in the
parish, on or before the 10th of May, 1728.
At a public vestry meeting, held at the Old Ship, October 18th, 1727,
it is agreed that the Churchwardens aud Overseers shall take up with all convenient
speed, and borrow one hundred pounds, upou intei'cst at 5 per centum per annum,
towards building the new workhouse.
Amongst the minutes of the public vestry, 13th Xovembcr,
1727, there is the entry of a contract being entered into, between the
parish and Thomas Fletcher and Thomas Tuppen, for digging and
steining the well to the new workhouse, complete, with fittings,
for ten guineas.
The "Workliousc at this period was evidently of veiy limited
extent. But in 1733 a portion of the Almshouses in connexion
with the chauntry of St. Bartholomew was added to the build-
ing. The spot is now occupied by the east eud of the Brighton
Market. A tenement for the poor p^e^iously existed in East street ;
and in 1690, in consequence of the great increase of the poor-rates,
on account of the inroads of the sea, and the injury experienced by
the to^Ta from the civil and foreign wars of that and the preceding
century, by order of the Justices at the quarter Sessions, at Lewes,
the following parishes, that had no poor of their own, were called
upon to make the following contributions : —
f. s. d.
Patcham, the yearly sum of 17 16 7
Hangleton 4 16 9
East .Vldrington 6 1 li
Blachington 4 2 6
Onngdean 6 0 10^
£38 17 10*
* Anno 18, Elizabetha;, cap. 3. sec. 3.— And be it also enacted, That if the
said Justices of Teace do perceive, that the Inhabitants of any Parish are not
able to levy among themselves sufficient Sums of Money for the Purposes
54 HISTOBT OF BEIGHTHELMSTOir.
Pormerly the recipients of parish relief were compelled to wear
an insignia of their pauperism ; as in a vestry minute appears the
following :- —
At a monthly meeting of the Churchwardens and Overseers, held 27th
August, 1698, an accompt was given that Susan Stone, the widdow of Thomas,
refused to ware the Town badge, (vizi-) the letters, (B : P :) upon which she was
putt out of the weekly pay.
The present Workhouse, on Church Hill, was commenced in
1820, Mr. William Mackie, Architect, Charlotte street, Blackfriars'
road, London, furnishing the design, which was selected from forty
others by the Directors and Guardians, who had advertised a
premium for the best design ; as it was then considered it combined
a proper degree of elegance with economy, and was replete with
more convenience than any other institution for the same purpose
in the kingdom. Great alterations and additions have been made
to the original building, according to the fancy or caprice of the
boards of Guardians for the time being. Mr. John Cheesman was
the builder. The ceremony of laying the foundation stone was not
of the imposing character which is assumed on commencing similar
public buildings in modern times. The stone was merely one that had
been dug up while getting out the ground for the foundation of the
house", and was of the rudest shape, about two feet in length,
eighteen inches in width, and ten inches in depth.. It was laid by
the Vicar, the Hev. Dr. Carr, afterwards Bishop of Chichester, and
subsequently of Worcester.
Brighton, at that time, had a population of 24,000, and there
were about 4,000 inhabited houses. Fields surrounded the Work-
house grounds ; that to the south, the detached grave-yard of the
Old Church, being used for occasional festivities, and for the practice
of the Eoyal Artillery. The first building erected near the House
was a soap manufactory, by a Mr. Heard. The premises are now
the residence and establishment of Dr. Foreman. On the failure
of the soap works, which were to astonish the good people of
aforesaid ; that then the said Two Justices shall and may tax, rate, and assess, as
aforesaid, nny other of other Parishes, or out of any Parish within the Hundred
where the said Parish is, to pay such Sum and Sums of Money to the Church-
wardens and Overseers of the said poor Parish for the said purposes, as the said
Justices shall think fit, according to the Intention of this Law.
THE WOEKnOTJSE. 55
Brighton, Mr. Aircy converted the huilding into school premises,
and for a few years had a good school there, — the Chnrch hiU
Grammar School. The Rev. Dr. Butler succeeded him, and then,
for a short time, the Rev. Mr. Pugh carried on the establishment.
Mr. Thorncroft was the first person who took up his abode in
the new Workhouse, which had a tablet over the main entrance,
thus inscribed :
Brighthelmston Poor-House,
Erected A.D., 1821.
Vicar, Rev. R. J. Carr, D.D.
r Edward Blaker.
Churchwardens / Robert Ackcrson.
( Richard Bodle.
At the old "Workhouse, or rather Poor-house as it was called,
the average number of inmates was 150, and the only labour consisted
in collecting and crushing oyster- shells in a large iron mortar. This
work was done by the able-bodied out-door poor, in the winter
months, at a fixed price per bushel. The material thus produced was
sold for manuring land, and for constructing paths in parks, lawns,
&c. The Governor at that time, Avas Mr. Ilayward, he having
succeeded Mr. Bailey, and the inmates were farmed to Mr. Eiee, at
a contract price for their board, of about 4s a-Aveek per head.
Previous to Mr. Bailcj', Mr. Sicklemore was the Governor, he hav-
ing succeeded Mr. William Pcarce, who was appointed March 25th,
1779. Mr. Samuel Thorncroft, the present Assistant-Overseer, was
Mr. Rice's assistant, and helped Mr. Chassereau, the then Assistant-
Overseer, in preparing the present Workhouse for the reception of
the poor, who were very reluctant to leave the old house, to be
transported out of the world, as they termed the removal to the new
house on Church hUl, which certainly then had as desolate an
appearance as the " howling wilderness," the name noAV given to the
Industrial Schools at the Warren Farm, by the opponents of that
juvenile establishment. The Assistant - Overseer, previous to
Mr. Chassereau, was Mr. White, Avho succeeded Mr. Jonathan
Grcnvillc. At this period the principal officers in connexion with
the poor of the parish, were an Assistant-Overseer, at a salary of
£200, and a Vestry Clerk, at a salary of £100 a-year. Mr. Thomas
Attree, of the present firm, Messrs. Attree, Clarke, and Hewlett,
56 HISTOET OF BRIGHTHELMSTON.
solicitors, Ship street, was the Clerk, and used to make out the poor-
rates, attend — usually by deputy — the meetings of the Directors
and Guardians, record the meetings of the Board, and the Committees,
and prepare reports.
The r(feioval from the old to the new house took place on the
12th September, 1822, when 27 persons changed their I'esidence.
On the 20th of the same month, nine others followed ; and on the
24th, sixty-four more were removed, making a total of ninety-five
inmates. Mr. Baldey was the parish surgeon. The new governor —
Hayward, — remained only a few days on the removal to the new
house ; as, without the least intimation to any one, he abruptly took
himself off. His successor, Mr. Nuttall, remained only four or five
weeks, when he was summarily dismissed by the Guardians, on the
5th of November, 1822. Mr. S. Thorncroft was then appointed
Governor, a situation which he continued to fill with great honour
to himself and satisfaction to the town, till April, 1834, although he
did not leave the house till April, 1835. Mr. John Harper was Mr.
Chassereau's successor. Mr. Thorncroft was appointed Assistant-
Overseer — a position which he still so ably holds — in October, 1834.
Mr. CoUington, at the close of 1834, succeeded Mr. Thorncroft as
Governor ; and he held the office till the middle of the summer of
1836, when Mr. Bartlett entered on the duties of Governor, he
having been previously the superintendent of pauper-labour, at a
salary of £160 a-year.
At the old house Mrs. Idle was a species of matron ; but when
the inmates went "up the hill," Mrs. Harriet Dennett held that
appointment, and continued it till 1827, when she was succeeded
by Mrs. Alice Pickstock. Mrs. Pickstock, — the mother of Mrs. S.
Thorncroft, — died in 1843. As a memento of respect, her tomb,
erected by subscription in the Cemetery Ground of the Old Church,
expresses the appreciation of her valuable services. On her death,
Mrs. Bartlett, the wife of the Governor, was appointed Matron. Mr.
and Mrs. Bartlett resigned in June, 1848, and were succeeded by Mr.
and Mrs. Cuzens. About the middle of the year 1849, Cuzens
absented himself from his duties, and they were in consequence
both discharged in September. Mr. and Mrs. Hodges were appointed
to the vacancies, and they held their respective offices till September
THE -WOEKHOITSE. 57
of the following year. Mr. and Mrs. C. J. King succeeded them, and
in October, 1854, on theii- resignation, Mr. and Mrs. Passmore entered
upon their duties. On the 7th of June, 1859, Mr. Passmore
absconded ; the dismissal of himself and wife ensued in consequence,
and on the 15th of July, Mr. and Mrs. Sattin were appointed to
fill the vacancies.
The poor-rate collectors hitherto have been Mr. Edward Butler,
Mr. Harry (Captain) Blaber, Mr. W. H. Smithers, and Mr. Frank
Butler. The parish assessors have been Mr. Saujiders, Mr. Eobert
Ackcrson, Mr. Eichard Bodle, Mr. Henry Styles Colbron, Mr.
Richard Edwards, and Mr. George Maynard.
The original cost for building the Brighton "Workhouse was
£10,000, and the land was purchased for £1,400, and paid by a
rate expressly raised for that service. In the year 1853, the then
Board of Directors determined upon disposing of the present Work-
house and grounds, and the erection of a "Workhouse and Industrial
Schools, and they purchased ground on the Race Hill, as the site for
the former, and the "Warren Parm, beyond the Race Hill, for the
latter. The Schools are completed, and will be ready for occupation
when a sufficient supply of water is obtained from the notorious
"Warren Farm "Well.
There have been occasions when the Guardians, in the pleni-
tude of their duties towards the poor, and also to the ratepayers,
have made their Board meetings the opportunity for feasting and
guzzling. The most memorable time was in the summer of 1837,
when they pampered their appetites with john-dorees, salmon,
lobsters, Norfolk squab pie, poultry, and joints in profusion; red
and white wines by the dozen, and spirits by the gallon ; cigars by
the box, and snuff by the pound ; with a handsome snuff-box, too ;
and, the usual services of the House being too mean for them, sets
of dish-covers were ordered, and dishes, dinner and pie plates, jugs,
sauce tureens, cut decanters and stands, rummers, knives and forks,
waiters, and a teaboai'd. Blacking too, was ordered, and one
Guardian, Mr. Paul Hewitt, actually sent his boots to the "Workhouse
to be cleaned, and when done they were returned to his house again.
Another Guardian, Mr. Storrer, also sent his dog to the "Workhouse to
be kept, as it was inconvenient to have it at home. The Guardians
58 HISTOET or BBIGHTHEIMSTOIT.
had also a summer house, wherein they smoked their cigars and
quaffed their grog. This was at the period when out-door paupers
had to slave up the Church hill for relief. The removal of the
Board-room to Church street, the Pavilion property, has been a great
convenience to the poor, and it has been the means of preventing
even a hint that the present Board feast at the parish expense.
Immediately in connexion with the Workhouse, the two
following extracts from the parish books, will not be found out of
place : —
" Goppy of the Order for the Removal of Stephen Agnus. "
" SUSSEX.
"To the Churchwardens and Overseers of the POOR of
ye Pish, of Brighthelmstonc, in ye sd. County, & to the
Chui'chwardens and Overseers of the POOR of the Pish,
of Sittingbourne, in ye County of Kent, & to every of
them.
"Hen. Pelham " Forasmuch as Complaint hath been made to us, whose
hands & Scales are hereto sett, being two of his Majtes.
" Geo. Goreing Justices of the Peace for the sd. County (one of which is
of ye Quorum) by the Churchwardens and Overseers
of the poor of the sd. Pish, of Brighthelmstone that
Stephen Agnus came Lately into ye said pish, not having nor renting Ten pound
p. annum, nor otherwise gained a legal settlement there according to ye severall
statutes in that case made and provided, but is likely to become chargeable to the
said parish of Brighthelmstone.
"These are, therefore, in his Majts. name, to will and require you, the
Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of ye sd. pish, of Brighthelmstone or
some of you, to convey the said Stephen Agnus from the said pish, of Bright-
helmstone To the said Pish of Sittingbourn, in Kent, where, upon the examin-
ation of the said Stephen Agnus upon oath, it appears that the said Stephen
Agnus was last legally settled as an householder. And you, the Churchwardens
and Overseers of the poor of the said pish of Sittingbourne, are hereby required
and commanded him to receive and provid for, as an Inhabitant of yr sd pish,
hereof, fail not at yr pcrril. Given under our hands and seals this 27th day of
January, in tiie 13th year of his Majst's reign, Anno Domi. 1701.
" Certificate acknowledging a Parishioner.
" Wee, Andrew Godwin, John Tappendeu, "William Ffiillager, and "William
Dcane, Churcliwardens and Overseers of the Poore of tlie Parish of Sittingbourne,
in the County of Kent, doo liereby owno and acknowledge Stephen Agnus, of the
same Parish, to be an inhabitant, legally settled there. "Witness our hands and
scales this one and thirtieth day of January, Anno Dni. 1701.
" Attested by us " Andrew Godwin, *
".W. n. IlAt-ssETT, " John Tappenden, *
"Jo. Hawkes, " "Will. Ffullager, *
" "William Deane. *
THE wORZHorsE. 59
" To the Churchwardens ^- Overseers of ye poore of ye parish of
Briyhthelmstone, in ye County of Sussex, or to any of them."
"Wee, whose bands aro hereunder written, Justices of yc
Peace of the County of Kent, aforesd., doo allowe of the
Certificate above written, dated yc 2nd day of February, Anno
Dni. 1701.
"TUO. OsiiOENE,
"Waltu. IIoopEa."
" Bastardy Bond, given by a Security, that the putative father shall indemnify
the Parish against any expence that may be incurred in the birth of a Child.
Stamp " Know all Men by these presents, that I, Buckrcll Bridger,
One ShUling and of the Parish of Brighthelmstone, in the County of Sussex,
Sixpawe. mariner, am held and lirmly bound unto Stephen Richwood,
and Stephen Poune, Churchwardens, and llobert Davis and
Edward Stiles, Overseers of the Poor of the Parish of
Brighthelnistone, aforesaid, in trust for themselves and others,
the parishioners of the said Parish, in Fifty Pounds of good
and LawfuU money of Great Britain, to be paid to the said
Churchwardens and Overseers, or their certain Attorney,
Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, for which payment
well and faithfully to be made, I bind my Heirs, Executors,
and Administrators, and every of them, firndy by these
presents, sealed with my Seal, dated this sixth day of May, in
the Ninth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, George
the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Biitain, France,
and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and so forth, and
in the year of our Lord One thousand, Seven hundred,
and Sixty-nine.
"The Condition of this obligation is such, that, whereas Mary Hill, of
the Parish of Brighthelmstone, aforesaid, snigle-woman, hath, in and by her
voluntary examination, taken in writing and upon oath before John Fuller,
Esquire, one of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace in and for the said
County, declared that she is with child, and that the said child is likely to be
born a bastard, and to be chargeable to the said Parish of Brighthelmstone, and
that Buckrell Bridger, the younger, of Brighthelmstone, aforesaid, mariner, is
the father of the said child. If, therefore, the above boundcn Buckrell, the
elder, or the above named Buckrell Bridger, tlie yoimgcr, or either of them, then,
or cither of their Heirs, Executors, or Administrators, do or sliall, from time to
time, or at all times hereafter, fully and clearly indemnify, and save harmless as
well, the above named Churchwardens and Overseers of the Poor of the said
Parish of Brighthelmstone, and (heir successors for the time being, and also all
other the Parishioners and Inliabitants of the said Parish whicli now are, or
hereafter shall be for the time being, from and against all kind and all manner
of Costs, Taxes, Bates, Assessments, and charges whatsoever, for or by reason of
the birth, education, and maintenance of the said child, and of and from all
Actions, Suits, Troubles, and other charges and demands whatsoever, touching or
60 HISTORY OP BEIGniHELHSTON.
concerning the same, then this obligation to be void, or otherwise to be and
remain iu full force.
"BUCKRELL BkIDGER. *
" The mark of Btjckrell Bridger X the elder. *
" Sealed and delivered, being first stamped in. the
presence of us, the interlineations being fii-st made.
" Geo. Abington,
" Thos. Scrase."
But a quarter of a century since it was customary to employ
the out-door paupers in scavenging, cleansing, and watering the
streets, the poor creatures being harnessed, by means of ropes, to
the muck-trucks and barrel-constructed water-carts, after the
manner that convicts are put to labour in the Government penal
establishments and the navy dockyards. The parish officers
eventually got shamed out of the system of thus employing
those whose only crime was poverty ; and for awhile they sub-
stituted the health-destroying and heart-breaking plan of wheeling
shingle and sand from the beach to the Workhouse-ground in
barrows, till one unhappy creature sunk beneath his burthen and
died of "disease of the heart!" The custom then was abandoned.
The course now pursued towards the indigent is thoroughly to
investigate their several cases, and relieve them according to their
necessities and deserts : and where laziness and not misfortune is
the cause of their peniuy, to give them an " Able Bodied "Ward "
ticket of admission to the "Workhouse, which not one indolent
person in fifty avails himself or herself of, but rather leaves the
Board of Guardians, dissatisfied, and eventually resolves upon an
attempt at industry, which results in a benefit to themselves and
the ratepayers. The system has succeeded beyond all expectations ;
and many a man who considered the " house " his birthright,
because his father and his grandfather from time immemorial
wintered there, has taken to provident and industrious habits, and
learned the sweet uses of adversity.
THE ATTACK OX THE TOWN BY THE FRENCH. 61
Chaptee X.
THE ATTACK ON BRIGHTHELMSTOX BY THE FRENCH,
IN 1545.
Henry the Eighth having ravaged Artois and Picardy, by the
superiority of his forces, and made himself master of Boulogne,
the French king to retaliate the wanton desolations, sent Admiral
D'Annehault with a considerable fleet to devastate the country on
the southern coast of the island. The invasion is thus described by
Holinshead : —
*' In 37 Hen. 8th, 1545, July the 18th, the admiral of France,
Mens. Donebatte, hoisted up sails, and ^vith his whole navy (which
consisted of 200 ships and 26 gallies,) came forth into the seas, and
arrived on the coast of Sussex, before Bright Hampstead, and set
certain of his soldiers on land to bum and spoil the country : but
the beacons were fii-ed and the inhabitants thereabouts came down
so thick, that the Frenchmen were driven to their ships with loss of
diverse of their numbers, so that they did little hurt there.
Immediately hereupon they made to the Isle of Wight, when
about two thousand of their men landed, and one of their chief
captains, named Chevalier Daux, a Proven^ois, being slain with
many others, the residue, with loss and shame, were driven back
again to their gallies. And having knowledge by certain fisher-
men whom they took, that the king was present on the coast,
(Portsmouth) and a huge power ready to resist them, they dis-
anctioned (disanchored) and drew along the coast of Sussex, of
whom few returned to their ships ; for divers gentlemen of the
country, as Sir Nicholas Pelham and others, with such power as
was raised upon the sudden, took them up by the way and quickly
distressed them. When they had searched everywhere by the coast,
and saw men still ready to receive them with battle, they turned
stcra, and so got them home again without any act achieved worthy
to be mentioned. The number of the Frenchmen was great, so that
diverse of them who were taken prisoners in the Isle of Wight and
in Sussex, did report they were three score thousand."
A curious Picture Map of this attack is engraved in the 24th
62 HISTOEY OF BEIGHTFELMSTOir.
vol. of the " Arcliseologia " of 1832, from the original in the Cot-
tonian Library. A copy of this map is in the possession of the
compiler of this history. It bears date, " 1545, July, 37 Henry
VIII," The number of ships attacking the town is twenty-two;
and the largest, probably the Admiral's, lying nearest the shore, has
four masts ; seven have three masts, three two masts, and eleven are
galleys with one mast and numerous oars. Eight of the latter are
on shore, and the armed men from them have disembarked on the
beach, the place where they landed being inscribed, — "here landed
the galleys." On the shore also, high and dry, are six large boats
of the inhabitants, and several smaller ones. On the beach, like-
wise, at Hove, are five small boats. On the sea, towards the west
side, is inscribed, — " Shippes may ride all somer tern in a myle the
town in V fathome water ; " and on the east, — " Thesse grete
shippes rydeng hard abode shore by shoting into the hille and
wallies on the towne, so sore oppresse the towne that the countrey
dare not adventure to rescue it." The ships are pierced for guns,
and the prows and sterns are raised three or four stages. Numerous
pennons and streamers adorn each ship, some bearing a Jleur-de-lys,
and others a cross. On shore the houses under the cliffe are on fire ;
from the upper town also flames are issuing from almost every
house. There are five rows of houses running from north to south;
and at the extreme north a row of houses runs from east to west
A square space in the centre is marked, — " A felde in the middle of
the town." A road to the east of the town, about the spot now
occupied by the Old Steine, and going in the north-east direction is
inscribed, — " the valcy comyng from Lewes town to Brighthamp-
ston." On this road and on the hill adjacent bodies of armed men
are marching towards the town. On the cliffe, eastward of this
road, is an erection from which is suspended a frame containing
some burning substance, and is inscribed, — "the towne fyre cage."
This is at about the spot where the oflices and auction room of
Messrs. Parsons and Son now are. From thence, eastward, is
inscribed, — " The East pte of brighthampston riseug onelye on
cloves high." jSTorth of the town is the church, about which
persons, some armed, appear in the attitude of prayer. Beyond
the church are two mUls, marked, — the " wynde myllesj" and still
FOETIFICATIONS OF THE TOVnU. 63
farther a blazing construction on a pole, marked, — " the bekon of
the towne." A road from this spot is continued to the sea, about
midway between the chm'ch and Hove Church, marked, — " hoove
Churche." This road, along which armed men are coming towards
the town, is inscribed, — "the valey comyng fi-om pouynge
(Poynings) betwixt brighthampston and the vilagc, hove." As
this road approaches the beach it is inscribed, — "Upon this west
pt may lond cm psones (100,000 persons) unletted by any pvision
there." At the back of the town is inscribed, — " The towne of
brighthampston," and immediately to the east of the town is a body
of armed men. Hove, — two rows of houses, — is marked, "hove
village," and the road running westward from thence, " the west
parte of brithampston lowe all daungerous and wout cleves (without
cliffs.)"
The next attempt of the French was on Newhaven, where they
landed to a considerable number, and proceeded to pillage the town
and environs ; but the gentry and yeomen of the coast having been
collected on the neighbouring hills to oppose the expected descent,
attacked the invaders so vigorously that many were slain in
attempting to recover their galleys.
Chapter XI.
FORTIFICATIONS OF THE TOWN.
In consequence of the frequent incursions of the French, and
the inhabitants being harrassed by frequent alarm, the toAvn
resolved, in 1558, to erect fortifications, to afford them some
protection for the future. A Court Baron of the manor of Bright-
hclmston-Lewcs was therefore held on the 29th of September in
that year, of which the following entry appears in the Com-t Eolls :
I Eliz. At a Court Barou, holdeu for this manor, 27th September, there was
fj^rautcd to the inhabitants of Brifrhton town by the lords, one parcel of land, con-
taining in length 30 feet, in breadth 16 feet, to build thereon a store-house to
keep armes, &c., now called the Block-house. Also at the Court holden for
Atlingworth manor, 3 Jac (1606) January 9th, the homage presented that tho
64 HISTOEY OB BHIGHTHELMSTON,
north part of the Block-house aforesaid is built on part of the demesnes of that
manor.
The land granted was on the Cliff between Black -lion street
and Ship street, and about 215 yards westward of East street. The
Block-house was circular, about fifty feet in diameter, and the walls
were about eight feet in thickness, and eighteen feet in height.
Several arched apartments in its thick walls were depositories
for the powder and other ammunition for the defence of the town.
In front of it, towards the sea, was a little battery called the Grun
Garden, on which were mounted four pieces of large iron ordnance.
Adjoining the Block-house, on the east, stood the Town-house, with
a dungeon under it for malefactors; and on the summit of this
building rose a turret, on which the town clock was fijsed At the
same time with the Block-house, were erected four gates of freestone,
(three of which were arched) leading from the Cliff to that part of
the town which lay under it, namely, the East Gate at the bottom
of East street ; the Portal, which was called the Porter's Gate, and
was less than any of the others ; it stood next the East Gate ; the
Middle Gate, opposite the end of Middle street, commonly called the
Gate of All Nations ; and the "West Gate, which stood at the end of
West street. From the East Gate, westward, there was, at the
same time, a wall built about fifteen feet high, and four hundred
feet long, where the Cliff was most easy of ascent : and from the
termination of that wall, a parapet three feet high, was continued
on the verge of the Cliff to the West Gate, with embrasures for
cannon. The Block-house was built at the expense of the mariners
of the town ; but the gates and walls were erected partly if not
wholly by the government.
The south of the town was thus eifectually secured. For the
security, then, of the other three sides, on any emergency, trenches
might be cut at the end of the streets which led into the town, or
the entrances might be barred to the enemy by lumber carriages and
household furniture, while the inhabitants annoyed them from every
quarter. The " Magna Britannia," in addition, says, " The town
contains seven streets, and as many lanes, but the most spacious of
them is devoured by the Ocean," alluding to South street, under the
cliff, which it is supposed formed the sea front of the town.
FORTIFICATIONS OP THB TOWN. 65
The town book, under the date 1580, has the following inven-
tory of the ' ' great ordnance, and other munition and furniture in
Brighthelmston," viz., four iron pieces delivered out of the tower,
on the bond of John Skitter, together with powder and shot
delivered with the same, two pieces of great ordnance, and ten
"qualivers with their flasks and touch boxes," and a drum belong-
ing to the town.
The town also at that time possessed one windmill, purchased
of Queen Elizabeth, and the site of another mill then in ruins;
"the town-house, situate to the east side of the block-house,"
granted by a copy of court roll by the lords of the Manor of Bright-
helmston, and the said block-house, "of flint, Hme, and sand, of
late years erected, and built in warlike manner, by the fishermen,
with the profits of their quarter share." *
There is no record as to the date when the fortifications in
general were destroyed ; but it is generally supposed the gradual
inroads of the sea sapped them and caused them to fall. Certainly
they were not demolished by any foreign invader, as after 1545 the
town was never attacked.
In 1586, when the whole kingdom was alarmed with rumours of
the Spanish Armada, a fleet of about fifty sail were discovered off
the town, apparently waiting for a favourable opportunity to land.
The terrified inhabitants, concluding it Avas the great Spanish
force, fired the beacons and sent off for Lord Buckhurst, who was
lord of one of the manors of the town. His Lordship attended with
as many armed men as he could muster on so : udden an emergency,
and took post on the brow of the cliff between Brighthelmston and
Kottingdean, in order to oppose the landing of the supposed enemy
at their place. In the course of the ensuing night, his force
increased to the number of 1,600 men : and a considerable
body of Kentishmen were on their march to join hiia. Next
morning, the ships appeared in the same place ; but those on
board showed no disposition to land. A few boats, belonging to the
town, ventured out at last, a little way, to reconnoitre the fleet, and
soon discovered, to their great joy, they were only Dutch merchant-
* See quarter share in " Ancient Castoms." page 34.
k
66 niSTOKY OP BBIQHTHELMSTON.
men laden with Spanish \vines, and detained by contrary winds in
the Channel.
Towards the end of July, 1588, the town was more justly
alarmed at the Spanish Armada ; and the inhabitants neglected no
means in their power to defend themselves and their country from
the threatened desolation by a powerful and inveterate enemy.
They had then in the town, belonging to Government, six pieces
of great iron ordnance, and ten qualivers, a species of small cannon.
"With a determination of the most obstinate resistance, the shores
of Sussex in general were lined with the people, when this tre-
mendous armament passed in their view, pursued by the light and
expert navy of England.
In 1597, inconsequence of the continued war with Spain, and
Brighton being exposed, by an order of Sessions, dated July 1 3th,
and signed Eobert Sackville, Thomas Pelham, Nicholas Parker,
Antho. Sherley, and Ran. NeviU, by command of Lord Buckhurst,
Lord Lieutenant of the County, there were sent from Lewes to
Brighthelmston, one saker and one minion, with their carriages,
shot, horse-harness, budges, barrels, ladles, sponges, and all other
necessary implements belonging to the same, with six barrels of
gunpowder ; and such was the educational condition of the people at
that period, that Thomas Jefferj'', the Constable of Brighthelmston,
to whom the artillery and stores were delivered, could not write his
name. In 1642, the four pieces of iron ordnance, sent to Bright-
helmston in 1597, were returned to Lewes. In the same year, also
a barrel of gunpowder was sent from the town house, Lewes, (where
was the powder store,) to Brighthelmston.
In the Court Rolls, according to the Burrell MSS., 1st April,
1645, there are the following records : —
Homage present "Willm. Galku, juu., for not paying to Ed. Cook, lord's
reeve, for his lady nets fishing, ac30iding to ye ancient castora, 4d, give him
time to pay it to the said E.G., at or before St. Jn. Baptist next, on payn of 53.
25 Aug., 1648. "We present Nichs. Payne for building his new house and
shop under the cliff's, upon the bank of the cliff, to the hurt and annoyance of
the whole towne, if we shd have t^ny occasion to use the ordnance, or that there
shd be any invasion by a foreign enemy.
25 Aug., 1654. We present Kics. Payne for encroaching on the lord's
waste, and building of hi.s walls 14 feet, or thereabout, more than he is admitted
to, to ye clitfe side, before ye place where ye great guns path doth stand, to the
K)IlTirrCATI0N8 or THB TOWW. 67
great annoyance and hindrance of ye whole towne and country, and xvo fine him
for it.
In the year 1658, John Pullat, a Quaker, for speaking to the
priest and people in the Steeple-house (the church), was put prisoner
into the Block-house, which, at that time, was the plaoe of confine-
ment for malefactors.
In the course of the encroachments of the sea during severe
storms in 1 703 and 1 705, the Blockhouse and Gun-garden, wall and
gates, were gradually sapped, and at last so completely destroyed,
that in the course of thirty years aftei-wards, scarcely any of their
ruins were perceptible. The following is the record of these storms
in the Brighton town-book : —
Mcmorand. — Xovember 27tli, 1703, there was a very great aud remarkable
tempest,* which begun after midnight, and continued in its violence till about
8 in the morning, being Saturday. Many houses in town were damnified, two
wind-mills in tlie east blo\vn over, several of the church leads turned up, and
several vessells belonging to the town were Shipwracked, to the great impoverish-
ment of the place.
Another storm, 11th of August, 1705, did equal damage.
The Burrell MSS. record, Jan., 1748-9, that by reason of
extraordinary high tides the sea broke in at Brighthelmston,
washed away part of the Block-house, and the farm lands called
Salts, and did considerable damage to the lands adjacent.
On digging out the shingle for the pxirpose of laying in the
foundation of the wall which forms the south boundary of the
King's Road, the ruins of the Block-house wore disoevored in so
compact and firm a state that much difficulty was experienced in
excavating them and breaking them up. Less than ninety years
since at low water, the Avell of the old town was visible off the Old
Ship Tavern, its steined form standing somewhat high above the
sand and shingle.
Lord Macaiilay, in his history of England, spcakinjj' of the time
of Charles II., says: — " Brighton was then described as a place
which had once been thriving, which had possessed many small
fishing barks, and which had, when at the height of j^rospcritv",
contained about two thousand inhabitants ; but which was sinking
fast into decay. The sea was gradually gaining on the buildings,
* This was the storm which destroyed the Eddyston lighthous^c.
1 2
68 HISTOfiT OP BEIGHTBraLMSTOIT.
whicli at length almost entirely disappeared. Mnety years ago the
ruins of an old fort were to be seen lying among the pebbles and
sea-weed on the beach, and ancient men could still point out the
traces of foundations on a spot where a street of more than a
hundred huts had been swallowed up by the waves. So desolate
was the place after this calamity that the vicarage was thought
scarcely worth having. A few poor fishermen, however, still
continued to dry their nets on those cliffs, on which now a town,
t^vice as large and populous as the Bristol of the Stuarts, presents,
mile after mUe, its gay and fantastic front to the sea." The Rev.
William Gilpin, prebendary of Salisbury, and vicar of Boldre, near
Lymington, in "Observations on the Coasts of Hampshire, Sussex,
and Kent, made in the Summer of 1774," states: — " The cliff on
which Brighthelmston stands, is composed of a mouldering clay ;
and the sea has gained upon it, at least fifty yards in the memory
of man. A fort which stood on the edge of the cliff, gave way in
the year 1761, and was shattered into a ruin; but it is now taken
entirely down." This, probably, refers to some portion of the
old fortifications of the town, which stood to the east of the Block-
house.
About the year 1761, a battery, with an arched room under it
for ammunition, was erected at the bottom of East (great) Street,
not far from the site of the ancient East Gate. A letter dated
Brighthelmston, August 12th, 1782, states : — "About seven o'clock
yesterday morning, I was awaked by the firiag of guns, which
made me rise sooner than I should otherwise have done, and upon
going to the beach, was informed that a French privateer, of 1 6 or
18 guns, and about 130 men, had just taken a collier close to the
shore. After having turned the collier's men in their own boat on
shore, — they only wanting the vessel, — the Frenchmen put on board
the collier from the privateer, ten stout fellows, and then saUed
away with theii' prize. This being observed from the ramparts,
signal was given to a cutter, which hai^pened luckily to be near,
and it directly made sail after the collier, and in about an hour and
a half retook her, and sent the Frenchmen on shore." The ram-
parts alluded to were those of the East Street battery, which was
wholly unprotected by any groyne, and was completely undermined
FORTIFICATIONS OF THE TOWN. 69
by the sea on the 17th of November, 1786, and fell to the ground.
There were at the time seventeen barrels of gunpowder in the
magazine below ; but fortunately none of them took fire amidst the
crash of the ruins. Dun van* states that this battery mounted 12
twenty-four pounders ; but on the platform as represented in a map
of Brighton, 1779, eight guns only are placed. The eight guns
were deposited on the Steine, and remained there for several weeks.
The condition of these guns and the value of the battery will
be better gleaned from the following memorandum, made Thursday,
September 23rd, 1779: — "Some French privateers are said to be
hovering about the oifing, and we hear now and then a report of
firing. Provoking ! — They will not come ^vithin reach of the only
four guns that may be fii'cd with safety —I mean, when properly
loaded with powder and ball — a salute is nothing. The rest are all
well known to be honey-combed. The small craft, then, may be cut
off with impunity. "What a pity that a couple of light six-pounders
cannot be spared by the Board of Ordnance, to protect the coast !
Those with men or horses, might be dragged along the Clift, and
prevent every sort of mischief to be dreaded from such despicable
picaroons; — instead whereof, two horse soldiers, in long scarlet cloaks,
ride along the coast, making their utility to be understood by no
one."
The site of this battery is marked by the Old Battery House,
opposite the Rising Sun, to which is attached the following legend of
OLD STEIKE-A-LIGHT :
" A tremendous gale had ceased, but stUl the mountainous
swcUings of the sea burst violently on the shore, when the boat
of Swan Jervoise came into the Brighton roadstead, having
weathered the storm. The night was pitchy dark ; scarcely could
the outline of the horizon be perceived, and not a light illumed the
blank. The surprise of Jervoise and his crew was therefore great
when they beheld a stream of meteor -like splendour burst from
every window of the ' Rising Sun ' Inn, and as suddenly all was
• Paul Dunvan, the author of " Lee's History of Lewes and Brighthelm-
Btono," published in 1795, was for some time an usher in the Lewes Grammar
School.
70 HISTOUT OF BKIGHTHELM8T0N.
again involved in utter darkness. This terrific appearance was
repeated many times. Swan Jervoise was one of those men who
never conjeeture, but proceeded at once to ascertain a cause. He
therefor©, ivith two of his men, went ashore ; but proceeded alone to
the 'Eking Sun,' expecting to find the people up. After knock-
ing and bawling loud enough to rouse all the dead in the Bartholo-
mew's Chapel, without wakening the landlord, he was about to force
the door, when the light again burst from the windows, and he
distinctly heard a ticking as of a person striking a light with a flint
and steel, each stroke producing this supernatural blaze of light.
In a moment afterwards the door was opened, and a being seven
feet high, wrapped in a large black cloak, with a high conical white
hat, issued forth. He noticed not the poor drenched fisherman, but
he strode on until ho disappeared in the darkness. Jervois's hair
stood, stiif on his head ; his limbs trembled with fear ; and he
shrieked aloud with terror. The landlord heard his cry, and came
down with his torch. Seeing his neighbour in such a plight, he
bade him come in, roused up a fire, made him take a scat in the
capacious chimney, and — having comforted him with good words —
placed a ruslilight on tlie table, and then retired to procin^ a jug
of ale. Jervoise, scarcely recovered from his fright, was thus
again left alone. As he sat musing by the crackling fire, the dim
rush throwing a fitful light around the room, he chanced to turn his
head ; when, from over the back of the settle, he beheld the death-
like features — pallid as a sear cloth — of the tall man in the conical
hat. His ooimtenance was most ghastly, and he fixed his grey-
glazed eyes full on Jervoise, and pointed to the hearth. This
was more than he could bear, — he uttered one loud scream, and
fell senseless to the ground. Ho was thus found by the landlord,
who conveyed him to bed ; and the next day Jervoise related the
particular's to Father Anselm, of St. Bartholomew, and then expired.
But the blessed Virgin and Saint Nicholas oft-times bring good
out of evil ; for on examining the hearth to which ' Old Strike-
a-Light' (a3 the apparition has since been called) pointed, a vast
treasure was found, which is still safely deposited with the
principal of this order in ISTormandy ; nor has the ' Rising Sun '
since been haunted by the unholy spirit of ' Old Strike-a-Light.'
POETrPKUIIOXa OF THE TOWX. 71
The faithful may therefore know there is no truth in the story that
' Old Strike-a-Light ' has lately been seen seated astride a barrel
of beer in the cellar chinking a piece of money on a pewter dish.
Tho family vault of Jervoise, the oldest in the churchyard of
Brightholmston, Anno Domini jicxni, may still bo seen on the
south side of the church — ^near Tattersall's."
Towards tho latter end of the year 1793, two new batteries
were commenced for tho defence of tho town; one on the West
Cliff, which mounted eight 36-pounders, and tho other on the
East Cliff, which mounted four of the same weight. Tho guns of
these batterios woro of French casting, ship guns, taken from tho
French fleet captured by Lord Howe, in his memorable victory
of tho 1st of June, 1791. The latter of these batteries was at the
bottom of tho ATarino Parade, opposite the south-end of German
Place ; but after being in position about ten years, — as tho
explosions of the guns and the encroachments of the sea had made tho
walls dangerous, — it was removed. The west battery was opposite
Artillery Place. The Sea Fencibles, volunteers, during the war
with France used to practice at this battery. They were accus-
tomed, also, to exercise with boarding-pikes, in Belle-vue field, now
Regency Square. Colonel Moore's volunteers went through their
initiation drill, with faggot-sticks, on the ground behind the battery
house, iVrtillory Placo. Colonel Moore resided on the Old Steino,
in the mansion which was afterwards occupied by Lady Ann
^[un-ay, and then by Mr Harrington, (Squire Harrington, as he
was usually spoken of,) now the residence of Captain Thellusson.
This noble structure was erected by the Eight Honourable W. G.
Hamilton, Esq., formerly M.P. for Haslemere. According to a
manuscript diary in possession of the compiler of this history :
"On tho 17th of August, 1805, soon after 12 o'clock, a shot was
discharged from this battery by the Sea Fencibles, at a cask moored
purposely in the offing, and it fell very close to the object : a second
shot was also fired, of 42 pounds weight, merely to ascertain
to what a distance the gun would throw it. From the
time of the explosion until it struck the water, there was a lapse of
27 seconds ; the ball consequently, ere it was received by the liquid
element, must have traversed to a distance of three miles. The
72 HI9T0H? OB BBIGHTHElMSTQBr.
"weight of the cartridge used was 14 pounds." Also, June 13th,
1807 : " The Yolunteers this morning, for the fixst time this year,
were practised at the Fort, in discharging the forty-two-pounders at
a cask, moored, and floating on the water, at about three quarters of
a league distant from the shore. Twelve rounds were fired; and
though some of the balls immediately struck the object, they
generally dropped so close to it, that a moderate sized fishing-boat
would scarcely have escaped being injured by either of them. Many
elegant spectators were on the Cliif during the exercise." The
west battery was removed in 1859. A flagstaff within a railed
space, marks its last site ; as, twice after its original construction, it
was removed with the sanction of Government, to admit of widen-
ing the King's Koad at that spot, to accommodate the increased
traffic. The battery house and the other buildings in connexion
with the Battery, were disposed of by auction by Mr. P. E-.
"Wilkinson, on Monday, September 9th, 1861, and by the 28th of
that month the space was entirely cleared for the erection of an
hotel. Government having disposed of the ground to the Brighton
Hotel Company. The remnant of the battery platform, marked by
the flagstaff, belongs to the town, the Corporation having purchased
it of Government to prevent any other purchaser placing buildings
upon it. Brighton thus, wholly depends upon such means of
defence as the emergency of the occasion may require to be brought
into operation, by means of the railway, the facility of transit
offering the full assurance that every materiel would be at hand for
the ready service of our Volunteers, should an enemy have the
temerity to invade our shores and put to the proof every English-
man's motto, " Fro arts effocis."
)m
ijg I -■ 'T-JCIi^'
Itftoi
X^
iNcnmsioNs of the sea. 73
CnAPTEE XII.
THE IIs'CUIlSIOXS OF THE SEA UPON THE T0W2T.
Brighton has not had merely to defend itself against the
aggressions of foreign invaders, but the encroachment of the sea at
various times has checked its prosperity. Between 1260 and 1340,
upwards of 40 acres of land had become submerged,* and the sea
made continual inroads upon the lower town. Previous to 1665
twenty-two copyhold tenements under the Cliff, belonging to the
manor of Brighthelmston-Lewes, alone were swept away.
Amongst them were twelve shops, with four stake places and four
capstan -places attached to them, and three cottages and three parcels
of land adjoining them.f There still remained imder the Cliff, 113
tenements (shops, capstan and stake places, and cottages) which
were destroyed by the memorable storms of 1703 and 1705.
The storm of 1703 commenced about midnight on the 27th
of November, and continued for eight hours with unabated fury.
Many houses were demolished ; and others were unroofed : the
church leads were torn off; and the two mills belonging to the
town, were prostrated by the storm. The town presented the
ruinous appearance of a place severely bombarded. Nor was that
the only disaster looked for by the dismayed inhabitants, from so
dreadful a conflict of the elements. The bulk of their property,
and their dearest relatives, were at the same time exposed to its
utmost "fury on the ocean, and the most dismal apprehensions for
their fate were in many of them but too fully realised. Deryck
Paine, master of the ketch, "Elizabeth," was lost -with all his
crew. George Taylor, master of the ketch, " Happy Entrance,"
was lost with all his crew, except Walter Street, who supported
himself on a mast for tliree days, between the Downs and North
Yarmouth, and was taken up at last. Richard Webb, master of
the ketch, " Richard and Rose," was lost with all his crew, near
St. Helen's. Edward Freind, master of the ketch, " Thomas and
* See foot-note, page 47.
t Godwin's Renbil of Brighthelmston Manor, made in 1665, penes Carolum
OUbtrt de Lewes Annis.
74
HI8T0E7 OF ttRTGHTITEliMSTOJt.
Frances," was stranded near Portsmouth. Edward Glover, master
of the pink, " Eichard and Benjamin," was stranded near Chiches-
ter. One man was lost ; the master and the rest of the crew eaved
themselves in the shrouds. George Beach, master of the pink,
"Mary," was di-iven from the Downs to Hamburgh, with the loss
of anchors, cables, and sails. Richard Kitchener, master of the
" Chomley " pink, was lost, with nine of her crew ; five men and a
boy were saved by another vessel. Many able seamen, belonging
to the town, were also lost in the Queen's (Anne's) ships of war,
transports and tenders.
The 11th of August, 1705, was marked by another dreadful
storm, which began at one in the morning, attained its greatest fury
at three, and raged until eight. It completed the destruction of all
the lower buildings which had escaped the fury of all former inun-
dations. Every habitation imder the Cliff was utterly demolished,
and its very site concealed from the owner's knowledge beneath a
mound of beach. The roof of the parish church again also
suffered much, the lead being completely stripped away. A record
of this event is preserved in the tower of the church, beneath the
bell storey ; on the wall of which is nailed a tablet of sheet-lead,
measuring 4ft. 6in. by 2ft. 6in., that was taken from the roof of
the sacred edifice on the restoration of the church in 1853. It is
inscribed in raised cast characters, thus : —
EICHARD MASTERS.
RICHARD TVPPEN.
JOHN MASTERS.
CHVRCHWARDENS.
17 0 5.
Above the names is a cherub at each corner of the tablet; and
between the 7 and 0 are represented two nude children amidst
TXCmiSIOXS OF THE SEA, 75
scroll-work, which is Burmounted with an angel in the act of sound-
ing a trumpet.
Dr. Mantell remarks that at Brighton the inroads of the sea have
been very extensive. The whole of the ancient town was situated
on the spot which is now covered by the sands, and the present cliffs
were then behind the town, like those of Dover ; and Mr. Lyell, in
his "Principles of Geology," says : — " The sea has merely resumed
its position at the base of the cliffs, the site of the old town having
been a beach which had for ages been abandoned by the ocean."
In the Taxatio Ecclesiastica Ayiglice et Wallice, auctoritate P. Nicholas
(A.D, 1292), and No^iarum inqm'sitiones in coria scaecarii (A.D.
1340), mention is made that the losses of land sustained by the
action of the sea, between the years 1260 and 1340, a period of
only eighty years, were in Brighthelmston, 40 acres; in Houve, 150
acres ; Aldrington, 40 acres ; and in Portslado, 60 acres.
The "Magna Britannia," of 1737, says: — "About 90 years
ago, this Town was a very considerable Place for Fishing, and in a
flourishing Condition, being then one of the principal Towns of the
County, containing near five hundred Families ; but since the
beginning of the Civil "Wars it hath decayed much for want of a
Free Fishery, and by very great Losses by Sea, their shipping being
often taken from them by the Enemy : Xay, it is the Opinion of the
most judicious Inhabitants, that had not Divine Providence in a
great Measure protected them by their Town being built low, and
standing on a flat ground, the French would several times have quite
demolished it, as they had attempted to do, but the low Situation of
it prevented their doing it any considerable Damage, the Cannon
Balls usually fljang over the Town ; But the greatest Damage to the
Buildings has been done by the breaking in of the Sea, which
within these forty years hath laid "Waste about 130 Tene-
ments; which Loss, by a modest Computation, amounts to near
40,000?. and if some speedy Care be not taken to stop the Encroach-
ments of tho Ocean, it is probable the Town will in a few years
be utterly depopulated ; the Inhabitants being already diminished
one-third less than they were, and those that remain are many of
tliem Widows, Orphans, decrepid Persons, and all very poor;
insomuch that the Rates for their Relief are at the Rack-Rent of
76 HISTOEY OF BBIGHTITELMSTOIS.
8d. in the Pound, for there are but few Charities given for their
Support, viz. one by Mr. Barnard Hilton* of 16/ per Annum, with
some other small Benefactions, which make it about 201. a year."
In 1706 there had been considerable wrecks of wines on the
Manor of Brighthelmston-Lewes ; and the then Lord High Admiral
claimed them as his right. But Richard Onslow, Esq., and Colonel
Tufton, as proprietors of the manor, kept the wines ; and on a full
investigation of the business at the assizes for the county, in 1708,
their conduct, in that particular, was justified, and their manorial
right fully established.
On the 4th of March, 1818, as Mr. Izard was having
excavations made for the foundations of two houses on the "West
Cliff — now the King's Road, — between Ship Street and Middle
Street, the workmen discovered the walls of one of the streets under
the Cliff, which had been overwhelmed by one of the terrible
inundations of the sea. They appeared buried more than fifteen
feet with beach.
In 1713, the sea having destroyed everything below the Cliff,
encroached with alarming rapidity on the Cliff itself, fragments of
which daily crumbled into the sapping tide. It was therefore found
absolutely necessary, for the preservation of the rest of the town, to
erect groynes before it. These groynes arc contrived by means of
strong wooden barriers projecting from the Cliff towards the sea,
as far as low- water mark, which intercept and confine the beach or
sea shingle, that chiefly rolls from west to east in this part of the
EngHsh Channel. By these contrivances, a large body of beach,
rising gradually towards the Cliff, is accumulated on the western
side of every barrier, which resists and breaks the impetuosity of
the roughest sea. But the reduced state into which a coincidence of
unfavourable circumstances had sunk Brighthelmston, about the
beginning of the last century, it was impossible for the inhabitants
to raise amongst themselves a sum nearly adequate to so expensive
an undertaking, A brief was therefore granted them, under which
* Henry Hilton, who was commonly called Baron Hilton, is evidently meant.
He died in the year 1648 ; and in the To^nti Book is the following memorandum,
in reference to the charity : — " Octr. 18th, 1704. Direction how to writ to
Baron John Hylton, living at Hylton Castle, by way off Durham, to be left at
the post office in Sunderland by Sea."
IXCrCBSIOXS OP THE SEA. 77
they collected about £1,700. By means of this public aid, and the
internal contributions of the town itself, the Cliff was pretty well
secured from the west part, as far as the Old Steine. The groynes
eastward of the Steine are comparatively of modem construction,
the most important of them being, — in its original state, — that
constructed on the suggestion and plan of Mr. Edward Thunder, at
Black Rock, about the year 1819, when the sea was rapidly
encroaching at that spot and threatening to make inroads upon the
whole of the Marine Parade. The barrier was effectual, although
on its projection and erection it was called by the shortsighted of
the time, " Teddy Thunder's Folly." Thunder, who was one
of the ToiiVTi Commissioners at the time, was an cccntric but shrewd
man. He was the inventor of the pedal for shifting the keys of the
piano-forte.
Groyne is quite a provincial term of very doubtful origin. It
is generally supposed to be a corruption from royne. An Act of
Parliament was passed in the House of Commons, in 1698, for
oj)ening of the ancient roynes and water courses in Sedgmore. And
it is probable that these roynes are the same as groijnes at Brighton,
with this difference, that the latter are artificially constructed for a
certain purpose, and the former might have been only a slow
acervation of time and nature. The following is an extract from a
letter, dated Lewes, September 12th, 1785 : — " The violence of the
wind on Tuesday last, occasioned the highest tide that has been
known on this coast for a great number of years. At Bright-
hclmston, the fishermen were put to the greatest difficulty in saving
their boats ; to effect Avhich, many were under the necessity of
hauling them up into the town, and others of lashing them to the
railing on the bank. Some few, however, that could not be seciu-ed,
were dashed to pieces; had the storm happened in the night-time,
the whole must have shared the same fate.
By the Town Act of Brighton, 1772, a duty of 6d a chaldron
was levied on all coal landed on the beach ; and by the Act of 1810,
a duty of 2s 6d a chaldron — now a ton, — was levied on all coals
brought into the town, for the purpose of constructing and support-
ing the sea-defences of the town. By the construction of these
groynes, the sea from time to time was driven back to allow of the
?8 HISTOKy OP BEI0HTHI;LM8TO5.
building of the sea-wall that protects the whole of the southern
road in front of the town, from the bottom of Cannon Place to the
extreme east of the parish. The first portion formed was that
between "West Street and Middle Street, and was opened by George
IV. in the year 1821 ; prior to which time the houses there were
only approached at their south front by a temporary wooden
platform on poles, for foot-passengers only ; and then only during
fair weather ; as so close to the houses were the rage and flow of the
sea during a storm, that the planks which formed the pathway, had
to be removed to prevent their being either washed or blown away.
At such times a barrier was erected at each end, at Bradley's
Librarj^, now Booty's, and the Ship-in-Distress Inn, * now Child's
Fancy Eepository, bearing the notice, " No thoroughfare." The
only way for equestrians and vehicles was the present South Street,
where was the following quaint sign over the shop of an eccentric
shoemaker: —
Here liyes a man that don't refuse
To make and mend your boots and shoes.
His leather's good, his work is just, •
His profits small, and cannot trust :
And when grim death doth him call,
Farewell to his old cobbler's stall.
To his blood royal highness P.G.,
And new laid eggs every day.i
The last two lines were in red letters, and the initials P.G.,
were intended for Prince George.
The encroachments of the sea, till the complete groyne system
was carried out and the sea-wall completed, extended from EusseU
* Over the front door of this house was a well painted representation of a
Ship in Distress, beneath which was the following couplet : —
" By danger we're encompass' d round ;
Pray, lend a hand, our sMp's aground."
It may here be added that formerly, throughout the town, the public houses
had illustrated signs and poetic efi'usions. Thus the " Bell," in EusseU Street,
now the " Nelson," had for its sign, au inverted bell, and the annexed
inscription : —
" Good licxuor here is to be found ;
The Bell for luck's tum'd upside down."
t I>ay, in the Brighton vernacular, is pronoiinced dee ; hence the rhyme is
jireserved.
i
INCTJESrOXS OF TUB BEX. 79
Street to the extreme east end of the parish ; and after every storm
of any magnitude, the road to the east of the Old Stcine, — now
known as the Marine Parade, — presented a different aspect, as the
inroads of the sea frequently carried away some hxindreds of tons
of the Cliff ; and it was no uncommon thing after a tempest, to find
that so much of the roadway had been carried off, from the Cliff
becoming undermined by the wash of the waves, as to leave only
sufficient space for a single vehicle to pass. On the 15th of
December, 1 806, during a terrific storm, the roadway between the
Royal Crescent and Eock Buildings was completely cut asuuder,
making the owners of property there uneasy for the safety of their
premises. This storm gave occasion to the following trial at the
Sussex Assizes, held at Lewes, August 4th, 1807 : —
THE K.INO V. GliBOOaY, PHILCOX, THUNDEB, AND THEEE OTHERS.
RIOT AT BRIOHTON.
This was aa indictment against the defendants, for riotously assembling
and pulling down the railing on the road east of Brighton, leading from thence
to Rottingdean, and obstructing the Surveyors of the road in the execution of
their duty. This case arose out of the falling of the clilf last autumn. The
Surveyor of the Road thought it necessary to carry in the railing, and trenched
upon tho ground of the three first named defendants : they considered he had
done more than necessary, and resisted his altering the railing. In consequence
of this, on the Uth of February last, they employed men to cut down the polls
and rails, which had been erected by the Surveyor of the Road. The next day
the Surveyor emplo7ed men to re-erect them, and the defendants another party
to pull them down. A riot ensued, the one set pulling down as fast as the other
erected, until at la.st the Surveyor's party were the \-ictors.
Mr GuRXEY, for the defendants, rested his defence on the ground that the
Surveyor was not under the necessity of coming upon their freehold, but that he
had acted wantonly and with a view to harass the defendants. He proposed
calliug evidence to shew that the road at that part of it was perfectly safe.
The Learned Judge held that the Surveyor of the road was clearly right. He
was to judge of the necessity if he acted wrong. They ought to have brought
an action of trespass, and not to hare the law into their o^vn hands.
The jury found them all guilty. The three principals were fined £20 each,
and the three workmen £5 each. In the Civil Court an action was tried, arising
out of the same transaction, in which tho plaintiff had a verdict against tho
Surveyor. Damages, seven guineas.
80 HISTOET OF BRIGHTHELMSTOlf.
Chapter XIII.
THE DOWER OF ANN OE CLEYES.
At the Reformation, when the monastery of St. Pancras, at
Southover, was destroyed, by order of Henry VIII., on its being
surrendered to that monarch, by Prior Robert Crowham, November
16th, 1537, the manor of Southover, Lewes, which included the
priory, was granted to Thomas CromweU, Earl of Essex, who also
held one moiety of the manor of Brighthelmston-Lewes : —
4. Hen. VIII. One moiety of this manor, with several other possessions in
Sussex, "was recovered by petition, by Thomas, Earl of Surrey, they having been
devised by the Marquis of Berkeley, to Henry VII., and an act passed in the 7th
of that king, whilst the petitioner was absent on the king's business in the north,
and ignorant of it till the said parliament was ended. The answer is " Soit fait
come il est desiree."
The petition is contained in the Burrell MSS. 5637. Polios
36 and 37.
On the attainder and execution of the Earl of Essex, Sir John
Gage, of Pirle, was appointed chief steward of Southover and other
manors forfeited by that nobleman within the county of Sussex.
But on the 20th of January, 1541, they were granted to Ann of
Cleves, one of the injured queens of Henry VIII. The Burrell
MSS. record : —
32. Hen. VIII. The King granted this manor (Brighthelmston-Lewes)
and advowson to Ann of Cloves ; with a great many others in Sussex, including
the manor of Falmer (originally Fald-mer), which, on her death, "again reverted to
the crown, and after various successions and alienations, was purchased of Sir John
Shelley, of Michelgrove, by Thomas, Lord Pelham, on the 2nd day of May, in the
year 1770. It still continues in the possession of the Pelham family, being held
by the Earl of Chichester, of Stanmer, the manor adjoining. •
Miss Strickland, in her " Lives of the Queens of England,"
says : — "The marriage was dissolved by mutual consent; and she
being content to abide in this realm, and to yield to its laws, and to
discharge her conscience of that pretended marriage, the king, of
his especial favour, granted to her certain manors and estates in
divers counties, lately forfeited by the attainder of the Earl of
Essex, — Cromwell, whose spoils formed the principal fund for the
maintenance of this princess, — and Sir Nicholas Carew, to be held
THE DO WEE OF ANN OF CLEVES. 81
without rendering an account from the Lady-day foregoing the eamo
grant, which was dated on the 20th of January, 1541."
These grants were made to Ann by Henry YIII., on her assent to
the invalidity of her marriage with that monarch, who refused to
consort with her. On the 8th of August, 15 40, Henry married
Catherine Howard. The manor of Falmer was also part of Ann's
dower, and in seclusion there she resided some time ; though on her
divorce she took up her abode at Preston House, in the village of
Preston, where still, in one of the rooms, is a large and well
executed portrait of her, by sotae considered the work of Holbein.
It was seeing this portrait which induced the king to desire an union
with her. She landed at Dover, December, 1538. Henry met her
there, and such was his dislikb to her, from her beauty not being
equal to Holbein's portrait, that he spoke of her as a "Flandcr's
Mare," and used other expressions respecting her of an equally
contemptuous character.
Ann died on the 17th of July, 1557, at the Palace of Chelsea,
and was buried on the 3rd of August, near the high altar, in West-
minster Abbey, near the old portraits of Henry III. and King
Sebert.
The manor formerly belonged to the Shirley family, several
monumental tablets to the members of which remain within
Preston church. Mary, the second sister of Sir Richard Shirley,
Bart,, was married to Thomas "Western, Esq., of Eavenhall, in
Essex, who died April 1st, 1733, leaving an only child, Thomas
Western, who married Ann, the daughter of Robert Callis, Esq.,
and died in May, 1766, leaving Charles Western as his heir.
Charles Western, Esq., married Frances Shirley, only daughter and
heiress of WiUiara Bolland, Esq. His end was of the most
melancholy character. Whilst riding with his eldest son, Charles
Callis, a child then about four years of age, along the road by Goldstono
Bottom, the horse stumbled, and they were precipitated from their
carriage, the father being killed on the spot. The life of the child
was preserved by his being thrown into a furze bush, by the road-
side. This occurrence took place on the 24th July, 1771. The
widow, with her two children, Charles and a younger brother,
Shirley, about three years old, shortly after left Preston, where
82 HISTOEY OP BBIOHTHELMSTQN.
none of the family ever after returned, and the estate eventually
was purchased by "William Stanford, Esq., for £20,000. His
grand-daughter, a minor, is his heiress ; and so improved is the
estate, through the favourable circumstance of the railroad from
Brighton to Loudon passing through it, that the portion alone used
for the formation of the line realized £30,000.
Charles Callis Western, who was born on the 9th of August,
was created Baron Western, on the 28th of January, 1833. He
died, unmarried, in 1841, when, his brother being dead, the title
became extinct.
Chapter XIV.
THE PARISH CHUBCH, ST. NICHOLAS.
This sacred edifice is situated upon a hill north west of the
town, about 160 feet above low- water mark. It is a structure of
great antiquity, and was originally dedicated to St. Nicholas,
Bishop of Mira, in Lycia, who lived about the commencement of
the fourth century, and was the reputed patron of fishermen, on
account of the following naval miracle recorded of him in the
legends of that country : A certain Lycian vessel being in great
danger during a storm at sea, the affrighted crew invoked the aid
of this pious prelate, and lo ! to their amazement and comfort, a
venerable personage appeared amongst them, and exclaimed, " Here
I am, for ye called me." With his help, the ship was successfully
managed until the storm subsided; and then their miraculous
assistant vanished. The mariners had no sooner reached the port,
than they enquired for Bishop Nicholas, and were directed to the
cathedral, where they beheld in him the identical person to whom
they owed their safety. His feast is held on the 6th day of
December, and used to bo celebrated with devout dependence by the
mariners of Brightlielmston, before the Ileformation. But in the
spirit of pious aviu'ice or cunning, the Virgin Mary was, in process
of time, made joint tenant with St. Nicholas, in the patronage of
THE PARISH CHlTBCn ST. NICHOLAS. 83
this church. " The second dedicator," says Dunvan, " seems to have
shrewdly considered that N'icholas could not, either as a saint or a
gentleman, object to so fair and exalted a partner; and that in case
any of the seafaring inhabitants of the parish were at any time in
danger, either their Holy Patron, or more Holy Patroness, would
most probably be at leisure to step to their succour."
This church was given by llalph dc Cheney to the Priory of
Lewes, in the reign of Stephen. But it appears from the terms of
an award or arbitration between Richard de Wich, Bishop of
Chichester, and "William de Ruslous, Prior of St. Pancras, near
Lewes, made in 1252, still extant in the episcopal archives at
Chichester, that the priory obtained no full possession of this
church before that period. By this award, as soon as the then
Rector of Brighthelmston should die, or resign the living, the Prior
of St. Pancras was to appoint a Yicar there, who was to have all the
offerings of the altar, as far as they belonged to altarage, and the
small tithes, viz., those of mills, sea-fisheries, mortuaries, wool,
lambs, cheese, cows, calves, hogs, colts, geese, hens, eggs, flax,
hemp, and of every thing that grows in gardens, except wheat and
barley. He was also to have the third of the tithe of hay, and a
convenient mansion assigned him. To encourage a crusade, in con-
sequence of the capture of Acre by the Soldau of Babylon, Edward
I. granted to Pope Nicholas IV. the tenths of all the monasteries
and churches in England, and in the Taxatio EceUsiastica Angles et
Wallice audoritate P. Nicholas, 1291, occur these entries: —
£ s. d.
" ' Eccl'ia de Brighthelmston 20 0 0 j p^^ Lewens."
" Vicar" ejusdcni .5 0 0 )
The Vicar of Brighton was at one period saddled with a j-early
pension of seven shillings and sixpence to tho Vicar of Hove; and
in this state the Vicarage continued, the impropriation of the great
tithes vesting in the Priory of Lewes, tiU the suppression of that
monastery, in 1538. The impropriation and patronage of this
parish were granted by Henry VIII. to Lord Cromwell, his Vicar-
General, who in that year, 1538, ordered a public register of bap-
tisms and burials to be kept at Brighthelmston, and in every other
parish of the kingdom.
o 2
84 HieiOEY 0» BRIGHTHELMSTON.
Ou the death and attainder of Cromwell, the church was con-
ferred by Henry to his repudiated queen, Anne of Cleves, and on
the death of that princess, in 1557, it again reverted to the crown,
la the reign of Elizabeth, the patronage and impropriation wera
severed, the former being attached to the see of Chichester; and bo it
continues to the present day. There is a grest tithe ou Brighton,
of small extent, now belonging to Thomas Attree, Esq., Queen's
Park, Brighton, as Lay-Eector, and it formerly belonged to Thomas
Eead Kemp, Esq., as Lay-Eector.
The church is built of cut flints and grouting of lime and
coarse sea-sand, with stone coignes. The old map picture of 1545,
represents the church as cruciform, and the tower circular : probably
errors of the artist, whose design was doubtless more to illustrate
the prominent features of the scene, — the attack upon and burning
of the town, — than the architectural details of the buildings. The
sacred edifice consists of a body, chancel, and a somewhat low em-
battled tower, surmounted by a sloping roof, in the centre of which
is a cast-iron standard, in which is a flagstaff that may be raised
or lowered at pleasure. An arrow vane is on its top. Formerly,
within the last half-century, the vane was represented by n gilt fish,
doubtless intended as the representation of a dolphin ; but in 1796 a
visitor, considering that the figure bore more resemblance to a shark
than any other fish, penned the following verses upon it : —
Say, why on Brighton's church we see
A golden shark display' d,
But that 'twas aptly meant to be
An emblem of its trade .>'
Nor could the thing so well be told
In any other way : .
The town's a Shark that lives on gold,—
The Company its prey.
A musical peal of eight bells was cast in 1777, by Mr. Eudhall,
ironmonger, of the firm Eudhall and Dudlow, North street, Brighton,
now Langworthy and Eeed, at his foundry, at Bristol. The tenor
bell, which is pitched in the key F, weighs 1,500 pounds. The
belfry had a peal previous to that date, as in the vestry minutes of
of October 25th, 1736, is the order :—
To new cast the great bell belonging to the parish church of Brighthelmston,
to agree with Joshua Kipling, bellfoundcr, to charge on the parish taxes.
THE PAEISn CnXJECn ST. NICHOLAS. 00
In March, 1790, another order was made : —
That the treble bell be repaired by Mr. Palmer.
Two additional bells were hung in 1818, making a peal of ten
bells; but when the clock, at St. Peter's church, was put up, the two
How bells, which did not accord with the original eight, were re-
moved to the tower of that church, for chiming the quarters.
Doomsday Book, 1086, mentions : —
Ibide' ten' "Wills, de Watevile Bristelraestune de Willo. Uluuard tciuiit de
Rege E. T'c et modo sc defd' p. 5 hid' et dim'. T'ra e 4 car. In d'nio c' 1
car', ct 13 vill'i, et ii Bord' cu' una car'. Ibi jEccl'a.
TRANSLATION.
In the same place William de "Wateville hold3 Bristelmestune of William,
tlhvard held it of King Edward. Then and now it defends itself for five iiides
and a half. The land is 4 carucates. In demesne is 1 carucate and 13 villeins,
and 2 bordars, with one plough. There is a church.
The manor was that of Atlingworth,* and there is no doubt
the church referred to was the present parist-chui'ch of St. Nicholas,
which, in its original state, was of Norman construction. It con-
gists of a nave, with side aisles, and a chancel, which is separated
from the main body by a richly painted and gilded Tudor screen,
over which, at no remote period, was a rood-loft. To the
south, also, of the chancel is a small chantry. The five
arches which separate on each side the nave from the aisles, and
are supported on diagonal pillars, are of the fifteenth century. To
accommodate the great increase in the population of the town,
from time to time, galleries were constructed wherever it was possible
to place them. In 1852, however, in consequeucj of the dilapidated
state of the saci'ed edifice, the restoration of the chiu'ch was de-
termined upon. The leader in the desirable movement was the
Rev. H. M. "Wagner, Vicar, who having invited some of the residents
and townspeople to meet at the Town Hall, on the 20th ox Septem-
ber, in that year, and having taken the chair, stated the fact, —that
many years ago, his Grace tho late Duke of Wellington was a pupil
of his (the Vicar's) grandfather, the then Vicar of the parish ; and
that the Duke was wont to worship in the Vicarage pew of their
• " This manor belonged to tlic Priory of Lewes, and at the dissolution, 2\)
lien, VIII., was granted to Sir Thomas Lord Cromwell, ht; also tho rootor\', with
the advovrson of tho vicarago,"-T-Burrell M^y.
86 HISTOKY OP BHIGHTHELMSTON.
parish, church. He proposed to them the restoration of the church
as an appropriate and enduring monument of their gratitude and
veneration for his memory. The proposition was unanimously
adopted, and a committee Avas appointed to collect subscriptions,
which in less than a month amounted to £5,000, a sum nearly
equal to the outlay.
In the chantry, also, a much admired monument or cenotaph
was erected to the memory of the Duke of Wellington. This
beautiful work of art, sculptured in stone, by Mr. Philip, of Vaux-
hall, after the design of the late Mr. Carpenter, will henceforth
constitute one of the most striking features of the restored church.
It is in the decorated period of Edward II. and Edward III.,
commonly known as the Eleanor Cross. The shape is hexagonal ;
the height, fi'om the base to summit, 18-ft. 6-in. ; the circumference,
between 15 and 16 feet. The pedestal commences with a richly
moulded base, rising from a tesselated pavement On the base of
the pedestal rests a plinth, covered with diaper- work, surmounted
by another moulding, on the broad chamfer of which is an
inscription, in old English characters, in brass, each line being
presented by an angle of the monument : —
In Mnnotiam
iEaximi Bum MiltllinQton,
?^cec tiomu.s gacrosancta,
<!|ua ipse atjolcscens Bmm roletat
l^rcctiitcatur.
[_Translation.'}
In Memory of
The Great Duke of WEiLiNaxoN,
This sacred building,
In wnicit in his youth he woRSHirrED God,
Is RESTORED.
From the pedestal, and above the moulding with this inscription,
rise two stories, richly and elaborately decorated, with open tracery-
work, and crockcted pinnacles. These are separated by a pierced
parapet of chaste design : and a similar one is on the third or ujiper.
story, which is a solid stone drum. Each parapet is also ornamented
by sunk tmd carved panels. The crowning ornament consists of a
THE it>M^]tsm nmjiRCH: m ■m'M'V&Wuh&, iBiai&HTOi^, (restored)
THE PARISH CHUKCH SX. NICHOLAS. 87
canopied niche, with a pierced spire siirmoiinted by a finial. En-
closed "within tliis niche, is an alabaster figure of St. George, sheath-
ing his sword over the di'agon, which lies slain at his feet, symbolical
of the career of the great chieftain to whose memor}' the work is
raised. The drum, with all above it, rests on a shaft of dark marble,
polished, which springs from the pedestal, and around which winds
a scroU bearing the names of four of those achievements which
mark different eras in the military career of Wellington, viz. : —
ASSAYE.
TORKES VeDRAS.
VlTTORIA.
Waterloo.
These " crowning deeds " have been well selected. Assayo
represents the Duke's Indian campaign ; Torres Vedras, his
successful defence of Portugal ; Vittoria, the victor)'- which
delivered Spain; and Waterloo, the battle which saved Europe
It is impossible to convey in words an" idea of this beautiful
monument, which reflects the highest credit on its designer.
Immediately in front of this memorial, is a monumental brass
in the pavement, thus inscribed : —
In Mcmoi-y of R. C. Carpenter, who but a short time survived the
completion of his design, the restoration of this Church, mdccclv.
The font of the church was much admired for the sculpture
which adorned it ; but in 1 743 its beauty was nearly effaced by the
churcliwardcns, Thomas Stranbido, William BuckeU, and G.
Warden, who had it cleaned, partially re-cut, and their names
carved in the base, a monument of their vitiated taste, confirmed
vanity, and profound ignorance. It is of a circular form, and is
raised from the floor by one step. It has excited much observation
amongst antiquaries, some of whom contend for its early date,
whilst others consider it only a copy ; but where the original is
they are at a loss to say. The sculpture upon it is in four sections.
The first represents the Lord's Supper, and consists of seven figures ;
Our Saviour, crowned with glory, in the centre, is in the act of
giv-iug the blessing, and on the table arc distributed various diiuking
vessels, with the bread. The next compartment contains a kneeling
figure; the tliird, whicli is larger^ has a boat on the sea, with tlw
Huil unfurled, and two figures, ouo prosoutiag a emaU barrel or
00 HISTOBY or BBIOHTHELMSraN.
vessel to a bishop, who has his mitre and crozier, and the other
giving bread to a female ; both figures in the water. The fourth
division consists of three arches, in each of which is a figure, the
centre appearing to be the principal. The whole is sculptured in
basso relievo. Over these compartments is a line of zig-zag and
lozenge work, curiously chamfered, and beneath them is a row of
exceedingly handsome ornamental work of leaves and flowers.
The following are extracts from a diary : —
Sunday, August 29th, 1778. Have been this mornhig to the sailor's land
mark — to the only church in the town — and collected a nuraher of novtUics.
The Doctor was pleased to inform us, in a religiously political, or politically
religious discourse, that when men tremble they are generally a/raid ; when they
■are in danger they should strive to extrieaU themselves ; and that hope is the
expectant of many great and singular ffood events.
Monday, September, 13th. — A new man and wife have just passed me. —
The towa's-people preserve some customs here that smack of great antiquity, and
seem peculiar to the county of Sussex. At a marriage there are strewers, who
strew the way from church, not only with flowers, but with sugar-plums and
wheat. "Why sugar-plums and wheat, I wonder i" Many ceremonies have been
retained longer than the history of their origin or foundation.
This system of strewing the bride and bridegroom is still pursued,
not merely by the friends of the happy pair, — aU couples just
married are pronounced to be happy, — but by a constant group of
women with children in their arms, who scatter their corn, &c., with
blessings, in proportion to the harvest of coin they reap.
In the beginning of the 16tli century, the Rev. EdAvard Lowe
was vicar of the parish. His successor was the Eev. John Bolt,
who died on the 2nd of November, 1660. He was succeeded by
the "Rev. — Falkner, who was incumbeait till 1705. The vestry
book of the date, " November the 2nd, Anno Domini, 1703,"
records that : —
That day the Eeverend Mr Joseph Grave, Rector off St. Anne's, Lewes, Sent
the works off M r. Charnock, iu two Volumes of his for the use off the Vicar of
Brighthelmstone and his siu'veyvors. Each Volume having in gold letters (Bright-
helmston) upon both sides off the cover. The benefactor at London would no(t)
otherw^c be knowm than by the two letters off his name, H : Y :
The same book has also the following entries : —
March 11th, 1707. John Mockford appointed Clerk at Chiuch ; jiart of his
doty is to wash the churoli linen, and scour the church plate.
July 8th, 1713. "NVilliani Cousins appoiutcd Suxtoij ; Mary Bridger to be
pqual partner,
THE PAKISn CHUECH — ST. NICHOLAS. 89
March 3l8t, 1800. That Thomas Waring be appointed beadle and cryer at
a salary of Twenty pounds and Cloathcs. It is understood that his duty is to make
the poor books, the Cliurch Book, the surveyor's book, and the Town book. He
is also to attend the Nortli and west galleries of the Church on Sundays. He is
to go round the town witti the Officers to make the Militia list, and is likennsc to
officiate as Ileadborough in the Town ; but not elsewhere, and to be sworn for
that purpose.
The Eev. William Colbron succeeded to the vicarage in 1 705,
and held it till his death, on the 20th of July, 1750. The next
vicar of Brighthelmston, was the Rev. Henry Michcll, who was
born at Lewes, in 1714. He finished his studies at the University
of Cambridge, and having obtained a fellowship in Clare-Hall
college, he, at the age of 25 years, was made rector of Marcsfield ;
and, five yeai's afterwards, the Bishop of Chichester collated him to
the Rectory of West Blatchington, and the Vicarage of Brighton.
In 1747, he married the only daughter of the Rev. Francis Reade,
of Bedford, by whom he had sixteen children. A marble tablet in
the church fully delineates his estimable character and profound
learning.
The ''Magna Britannia" says : — "The church is a vicarage, but
meanly endowed. The vicar claims the old episcopal custom of a
penny per head, (commonly called smoak money, or a garden penny)
as also he requires, as his due, a quarter of a share of all
fishing vessels.* The parsonage tythes are about £100 per
annum, but are in the hands of an improprietor, who allows the
Vicar no benefit from them, by which means his maintenance is
very small : and therefore the neighbouring gentlemen have
augmented it by a subscription of £50 per annum, on condition he
shall instruct fifty poor boys of the town in reading and ■writing.
The church stands about forty rods from tlie town, at a little distance
from the sea. There was formerly another church, near the middle
of the town, Avhich is said to have been burnt by the French."
The Rev. Mr. Michcll, died on the 31st of October, 1789, and
was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Hudson, who commenced the
chapel of ease, in Prince's place, known as the Chapel Royal.
Mr. Hudson died in 1804, and was succeeded by the Rev. Robert
James Carr, afterwards Dr. Carr, of Chichester, and then Bishop of
90
HISTOEY OF BRIGHTHEIMSTON.
"Worcester. The present Vicar, the Rev. Henry Michell Wagner, grand-
son of the Rev. Henry Michell,* was his successor, August 1st, 1 824 ;
and during the time he has held the appointment, the number of
places of worship attached to the Established Church, Avhich have
been erected, Avill testify his zeal in the support of our Holy
Religion.
In 1824, Nathaniel Kemp, Esq., presented the church with a
beautiful Communion Service of silver, consisting of a flagon, two
cups, and two plates, thus inscribed : " Given by Nath. Kemp, Esq.,
and Augusta Caroline, his wife, to the Church of St. Nicholas,
Brighthelmston. Anno Domini, 1824."
Upon stripping the roof on the restoration of the church, in
1852, three several pieces of inscribed cast lead were preserved, and
they are now fixed to the walls of the tower in the chamber below
the bell story. One piece has been already described in page 74,
the others are as follows : —
THOMAS FRILAND.
THOMAS ROBERTS.
RICHARD ROSSUM.
CHVRCHWARDENS.
16 7 5
JOHN VANDYKE
PLVMER.
EDWARD LOWE,
VICAR.
JOHN SCRAS.
HENERY SMITH.
RICHARD HERMAN.
CHVRCHWARDENS.
A O D O M N
16 7 7.
Between the lines of names and the figures of the date, on the
first represented piece of lead, are raised characters, twenty-one in
number, intended to denote dolphins, the Arms of Brighton.
Previous to the restoration of the building, the Church, both
inside and out, had undergone many changes, to afford space ; low.
* Mr. Wagner, the father of the present Vicai', and son-in-law \n the Rev.
Henry Michell, (Vicar), died at his houfje in Pall-Mall, London, on Sunday tlie
J 7th of February, U\l.
THE PARISH CHUBCH — ST. NICHOLAS. 91
gloomy galleries, scarcely permitting headway for the congregation
when standing, whilst the common house-shaped and dormant
windows disflgurcd it in all directions. In a dark gallery at the
west, in 1813, was placed an organ,* built by Lincoln. It was
opened on tha 7th of March, that year, by !Mr. Nathaniel Cook.
A small organ loft occupies the space over the vestrj- room, but it
does not at present boast of an organ . Formerly there were several
tablets on the belfry walls, recording peals which had been rung in
the tower. Their places arc now occupied by sundry monuments
that were formerly fixed in other parts of the edifice ; and some
few of the ringing records have been removed to the club-room of
the Brighton Society of Change Ringers, at the Running Horse
Inn, King street.f while the remainder fell into the hands of a
marine-store dealer. The Running Horse Inn was formerly kno^vn
as the Hen and Chicken ; and in 1792, and for several years after-
wards, was kept by Mr. John Pocock, who at that time was a
sawyer by occupation. In 1795, he received the appointment of
Clerk at the Chapel Royal, when that place of pubKc worship was
first opened ; and after retaining the situation for thirteen years, he
* This organ is now stowed away as lumber, in one of the rooms of the
Royal Pavilion.
t Although, to many persons, the thus associating of a public-house with the
parish church may be considered somewhat out of character, the annexed copy of
manuscripts in the possession of the writer of this book, will not only convince
them that there is in some measure an affinity, but it ■Nvill in a degree stagger
modern advocates of temperance, not so much that men of the dates recorded
indulged in their potations, but that the Vestry Meetings of the time permitted
the expenditure out of the Cluirch-rates. Copy : —
" White Hart, Russell Street, Brighton.
1824. The Honourable Churchwardens of Brighton.
To Phiuehas Jupp.
£ s. d.
March 25th.— 01 Pots of Beer 1 10 6
1 Pint do V 0 0 3
Juno 25th.— 71 Pots of Beer 117 0
Sept. 29th.— 8i) Pots of Beer 2 4 G
Deer. 25th.- 82 Pots of Beer 2 1 0
£7 13 3
Jany. 21, 1S25.
Keceived of the Churchwardens, the sum of sovon pounds, 13s 3d, as per bill, for Boer
for workmen at the Parish Church.
£7 13s 3d. Phinehas Jupp."
"Whether the recipients wore permitted to indulge in their libations ad
libitum^ is not on record,
92 HISTOEY OB BRIGHTHEIMSTON.
was appointed Clerk of the Parish, in which office he continued for
thirty-eight years, dying on the 13th of June, 1846, at the ripe old
age of four score and one years. The oldest ringers' tablet preserved
is thus inscribed : —
May 24:th, 1779, was rung in this tower by the Society of Cumberland
Youths, a true and complete peal of 11,088 changes, Bob Major, performed in
six hours and fifty minutes, in order as follows, viz :
George Cross Treble, London.
Thomas Jones 2nd, Horsham.
Thomas Lintott 3rd, Horshp,ra.
Joseph Willard 4th, Chlddingly.
Edward Simmonds 5th, Islington.
John "Wheatly 6th, Epsom.
James "Wilson 7th, Cuckfield.
B. Simmonds Tenor, Leatherhead.
N.B.— The Bobs were called by G. Cross.
The most commemorative is : —
On January 29th, 1820, being the accession of King George IV., was rung in
this tower, by the Brighton Society of Change Ringers, a true and complete peal of
5,040 changes of Bob Major, in three hours and six minutes, by persons in order
as follows, viz. : —
John Pocock 6th
James Potter . . 6th
William "Wells 7th
Isaac Tester Tenor.
William Refolds Treble.
James Parsons 2nd
Richard Bodle 3rd
Edward Honeyset 4th
Conducted by Isaac Tester.
The present sexton is Mr. John Shelley, who succeeded his
father, Mr. William Shelley, on his retirement from the office, at
Easter, 1860. The predecessor of Shelley, sen., was Mantell, the
successor of Eichard Jeffery, in July, 1806.
Chapter XV.
DR. VICESIMUS KNOX AND THE SURREY MILITIA.
During the time of the Brighton Camp, in the autumn of
1793, the SuiTcy Militia were quartered in the town; and the
Parish Church being then the only place of worship in Brighton,
i][i coj^nexiou with iho F.sfMl.lishecl form of Jieligio-n, it was not aA
Th.'niiim SeuJp '
■ r i.^iJ'tvhUshtd I'cr Ihel'rcp
crrcpru■l,rs.u■l!uKnroiH.m^\a.|autu■hvlMr1.^nlMu■J^(\<mhlllJ■''Apl^^^
DR. VICbeiMUS ^NOX ANB THE STTHREY MILITIA. 93
uncommon occurrence for aomo of the officers and men of that
regiment, to attend at the morning service on the Sunday .
In the beginning of August, Dr. Vicesimus Knox, Master of
Tunbridgc School, and late Fellow of St. John's CoUege, Oxford,
having come to Brighton with his family, in pursuit of health, by
sea-bathing, and a salutary change of air and scene, during the
anniversary school vacation, hired a house in North Street, at the
comer of Bond Street, now the property of Alderman Martin, where
on Saturday the 10th, he received, quite unexpectedly, a note from
the Vicar, the Kcv. Thomas Hudson, to whom he was a perfect
stranger, expressing his <lesiro that the Doctor would gratify his
congregation, as he politely expressed himself, with a sermon on the
morrow. The Doctor shewed some reluctance to assent to the
request, but some friends who were present, importuned him, and he
wrote a reply expressing a compliance, and on the following morn-
ing he ascended to the pulpit, and took his text : — Philippians
iv. 7. — " Tho peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall
keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." " The ser-
mon," says the Doctor*, " was heard by a very large and very res-
pectable congregation, in which were many of the military belonging
to tho Surrey regiment, quartered in Brighton. The utmost atten-
tion was paid to it. The military appeared to be particularly
impressed, and highly satisfied. Expressions of approbation were
heard, too emphatic for me to repeat. Mr. Hudson, the Vicar, who
read praj'crs, came to my house, on purpose to thank me, in his
own name, and thAt of his congregation. He mentioned the general
satisfaction I had given; the many inquiries that had been made
after my narao by strangers; and expressed a hope, that I would
preach once more, as he knew it was the wish of his parishioners.
This, however, I declined at that time, and certainly had no
intention to preach again at Brighton, though I had every reason to
bo pleased with my reception."
On the following evening, Monday, August 12th, the birth'
day of the Prince of Wales, the Doctor was present at the Ball at
* A XaiTativc of Trsuisactions relative to a Sermon preached in tho Parish
Church of Brighton, August 18th, 1793, by Viccsimus Kuox, D.D. London '■
Printed for C. Dilly, in the Poultry, 1794.
94 HISTORY OP BRIGHTHELMSTOl*,
the Castle Tavern, and partook of the supper which was given in
honour of the occasion. Marked civility was shewn him from
persons who knew him only from the sermon which had been so
favourably received on the Sunday. The Vicar especially, paid him
the greatest attention, and continued in his company nearly the
whole of the evening, and in the course of it, renewed his request,
that as his parishioners very much wished it, he would give him
another sermon on the following Sunday. The Doctor's reply
was : — " I come here for recreation, after the fatigues of my daily
avocations and my own parish church, and I do not wish to be
interrupted by exertions of this kind, especially as I find my last
sermon has excited so general an attention, and probably raised
expectation too high. You mention the praises I have received ;
but I win not preach for the sake of praise. If you say it will
serve you, if you wish to be absent, or if it is any relief to you, I
will endeavour to prepare a sermon in the midst of the interruptions
of this place, and will preach next Sunday, though I sincerely wish
to decline it."
The request was continued, and obtained a compliance.
The subject chosen was, " The prospect of perpetual and
universal peace to be established on the principles of Christian
philanthropy," his text being, " Glor}^ to God in the highest, on
earth peace, good-will towards men." "I was led to the choice of
this subject," writes the Doctor, " from observing the extreme
bitterness expressed, even in gay and good-humoured companies,
against a great part of our fellow creatures; from the almost daily
accounts in the newspapers of slaughtered thousands, and the eager-
ness with which war had been adopted by all the nations concerned,
when negociation might have effected every desirable purpose,
without expense, and without carnage. "'•" "•' * *'
Had I even gone to the camp and discoursed, as a chaplain, on the
same topic, it could not have been out of place. Eut every one
who came to the church knew that he must hear peace, charity,
good-will, forgiveness of enemies recommended, in hearing the
lessons from the gospel. If my sermon was deemed ill-placed in
recommending universal peace and universal good will in Brighton
Church, what will men, who judge so, say of the gospel read there ?
DK. VICESIMCS KNOX AND THE SUJiKEY MILITIA. 95
wliat of the national liturgy, established by law as firmly as the
national militia ?****• j ^^a^ heard in silence,
and, if I can judge*, with great attention. I was not conscious
that any part of the congregation was oifended, nor did I surmise it
till after the following incident. On going out of the church, a
lady, a perfect stranger, accosted me and said, ' I thank you for
your sermon. I could have sat hours to have heard such with
pleasure. But excuse me — I must tell you, that from what I have
observed in the pews, among a certain description of persons, you
have offended those, who, I fear, have as little relish for the
doctrine of forgiveness as they seem to have of peace. Many, like
myself, are highly pleased with every part of your discourse ; but
there arc those who arc angry indeed !' "
At the termination of the service, the Doctor and his family
unmolested, returned to their residence, where they had a few
friends to dine Avith them ; and after dinner he attended the after-
noon service, as, understanding that some of the officers were
offended at his discourse, he was desirous of meeting them, to learn
what had given them offence, that, before misrepresentation could
take place, a full and amicable explanation might be given. He
did not, however, meet with a single officer ; and having heard the
Curate, the lie v. J. Mossop, preach, he returned home to tea Avith
his family, and afterwards took a walk on the Steine, still hoping to
meet his offended hearers, that he might acknowledge his fault, if
he had been in the Avrong, and remove their mistake if they thought
him so undeservedly ; being desirous of a reconciliation. Many
officers were there, but he did not recognise any of those who were
at the church. From the inhabitants who observed him he received
the utmost civility.
On his return home he received a letter from a stranger, who
expressed a wish to distribute a number of copies of the sermon in
a distant county, concluding his epistle : " A dissemination of such
* In a note, the Doctor says: — "I have since been informed, that in some
pews, where a few cf the military and their acquaintance wore seated, impatience
was shewn by such whisperings as this : ' Will the fellow never have done ? ' A
titter was also affected to conceal the choleric alfeetions ; and fans played with
motions as rapid us the tail of an angry cat. But I was unconscious of these
symptoms of stifled rage."
96 HISTORY OF BEIGHTFELMSTON".
enlightening and convincing knowledge is only wanting to stop the
effusion of human blood ; for when mankind are well awakened,
they will not permit the dignified human butchers, the insolent,
unfeeling traffickers ia blood, to lead them to destruction. — Sunday,
Aug. 18."
The Doctor, in his " Narrative," says : — "I beg leave to mention
as I proceed, that from the pulpit, where I must have had a pretty
good view of the whole church, I saw very few officers ; and of
those few I knew not one even by name : I thought there were not
twelve. Of common soldiers the number was also inconsiderable ; I
thought there were scarcely twenty, and these were not of the camp,
but of the Surrey militia quartered in the town. There were, indeed,
more of the same regiment in the porch or in the church-yard ; but
too remote from the pulpit to hear a syllable of sedition, if there
had been any to hear. I mention the paucity of officers and
privates for the following reason ; the public has been taught by
mistaken prints to believe that I was guilty of preaching peace
and good-will before the whole camp, that the aisle was crowded
with soldiers, and that all the officers of the camp attended. I
appeal to the parishioners present, whether the number of military
men, privates and officers included, was greater than I have con-
jectured. My sermon was not exclusively calculated for a
congregation of persons in any particular profession. There was
not a word addressed by an apostrophe, as I have heard it asserted,
to the officers. I had no reason to suppose that any military men,
but those of the Surrey militia quartered at Brighton, would be at
the church. I thought, and I believe it was so, that divine service
was performed by the chaplains in the camp, and that the soldiers
of the camp would not be permitted to straggle to the town or
the church, on a Sunday, during divine service. The public has
been much deceived in the exaggerated accounts of my preaching
to the whole army ; but had the whole army been at the church,
had it been allowed or been possible, I am certain they would have
heard nothing from me, but what was authorized by the gospel,
enforced by the law of man as well as of God, tending to promote
theu' happiness in all events, and animating them to the discharge
of every duty, on principles of humanity and Christianity. I
DR. VICESIMtrS KNOX AND THE STJREEY MILITIA. 97
expressly asserted, while I was deploring the calamities of war,
that the conductors of war were often men of singular humanity
and honour. I expressly commended the beautiful gradation of
ranks in society. I enforced good order ; I deprecated anarchy as
much as despotism.
On the Monday, Dr. Knox visited the Downs, where the army was
assembled in review, and in the evening, as usual, he went on the
Steine ; but though, at both places, as he was afterwai'ds informed,
the sermon was a topic of conversation, no insult was offered, nor
was any personal application made to him. Tuesday evening was
the time when the offence of Sunday was to be avenged. A friend
of the Doctor, having to return to London the next day, proposed
that they and some of the Doctor's family should go to the Theatre.
The Doctor assented; and accordingly Mrs. Knox, Master Ejiox
(aged about 14), and Miss Knox (12), accompanied them, the
piece to be represented being the Agreeable Surprise. They
occupied the right-hand side box, next to the stage box, where
the Prince of Wales usually sat : but he was not there that
evening. Soon after the curtain drew up, a few officers
entered the opposite stage-box. But they had not been there
five minutes, before their whole attention seemed fixed on the
box where the Doctor and his party were seated. Other officers
and several elderly ladies soon appeared in the same box ; and they
looked at the Doctor in a pointed manner, and then seemed to
deliberate. Their attention appeared to be engrossed by tibe con-
sultation, and they seldom turned to the players on the stage.
There were several other officers interspersed in other boxes.
Messages were sent to some of them, and they removed into the
stage box. A man, whose looks were choleric, and who sat in the
same box and on the same seat with Doctor Knox, was sent for, and
he left his hat behind him, probably intending to return when he
.should be excluded. They frequently wont in and out, and
appeared extremely busy and anxious in concerting the plan of
operations. This continued during the whole of the play. The
children observed it, and told their father that they suspected some
insult. Between the play and the entertainment, the following
note, directed to the Doctor, was handed from behind them, to Mrs.
H
98 aiSTOEY OB BRIGHTHELMSTON.
Knox, who gave it to her husband. The son had seen one of the
officers writing ; and there is no doubt but he was composing this
note, which was sent without a name, and couched as follows i —
Your Discourse last Sunday was so offensive, that the gentlemen of this
Theatre desire you will quit it immediately."
He read the order, and, giving it to Mrs. Knox, rose, and address-
ing himself to the opposite boxes, which, however, were now nearly
empty, the military having accompanied their despatch, requested to
know who had sent the impertinent paper without a name. He
turned back to a phalanx of military men, who had now come
round, and were drawn up behind the Doctor at the door of his box,
and in the Lobby. The Doctor stept a little forward, and said : —
" Ladies and gentlemen, I have this moment received an extra-
ordinary paper, neither signed nor dated, containing a requisition
that I should quit the Theatre immediately, on account of the
sermon which I preached last Sunday morning in your parish
chui'ch. I beg pardon for interrupting you ; but under these
circumstances, and surrounded, as you see I am, I humbly entreat
tho permission of the house, to ask aloud who sent me this note,
and by what authority I am bound to obey it, in this place of
public entertainment, where my family and myself have entitled
ourselves to unmolested seats, by paying the price demanded at the
door. \Ye have interrupted nobody. Will you authorize the
arbitrary expulsion of us all? for my family and friend will
certainly follow me. I beg leave, besieged as you see me by a
considerable number of men behind me, who are at this moment
expressing their anger by opprobrious names, to enter into a short
explanation with them, to ask the particulars of my offence in your
presence, and to declare, that if anything advanced in my sermon
gave personal offence, it was unintentional, and that I am concerned
at it. If any one of these gentlemen will prove to your satisfaction
that he is justly offended, I will immediately beg his pardon. I
beg your pardon, who are totally unconcerned in this attack, for
this singular interruption, which I trust I shall obtain from you, as
men and Englishmen ; when you bave before your eyes a defence-
less individual, in a situation so singular, as will, I hope, justify
ray present address to you."
DR. VICE8IMI79 KNOX AND THE SXJEItEY MIXITIA. 99
During the Doctor's address the persons in uniform kept up an
incessant clamour, the most outrageous expressions being used,
such as : — " A democratical scoundrel that deserves to be hanged," —
"A democrat, a democrat, a d d democrat," — "Out "with the
democrat, — no democrats," tho expressions being la^-ishly interlarded
with scoundrel and rascal, and the interjections Bah ! Boo ! Boh !
One of the party exclaimed, " No speech, — that "won't do, — he
ought to be hanged, — out "with him;" "while another suggested
personal violence before the offender should be allo"wed to depart.
A grim, gaunt figure vociferated, "Irons, — irons, here: he ought
to be put in irons directly." All, ho"wever, "was vox et preterea nil,
notHvithstanding one, very much out of breath "with hooting and
yelling, crying out "Go directly, — you must go;" "whilst from
behind resounded the cry " Out "with him, — a democrat, a democrat,
a democrat, — no democrat, a d d democrat." Eventually tho
Doctor and his party were allo"wcd to depart unmolested, though
during the time he "was separated from his family in the lobby, a
tall officer, "when Mrs. Knox "was turning back to look for her
daughter, violently pushed her by the shoulder, and bade her " go
along after her husband, and be d d." One,'^some"what ashamed
of his companions' behaviour, ho"wevcr, assured her that no violence
should be used, and added, — " He should not have come amongst
us. Had he stuck to peace wc should all have admired him."
Another, nodding his terrific plumes, exclaimed, "It is "well his
wife and children are with him, or else, &c., &c." The son hap-
pening to cry " Shame upon you ! — near twenty to one," one of the
valiant party shook him violentlj^, saying at the same time, " Who
are you, you dog ? You ought to be hanged as well as j-our fother,
— if it is your father : and all such as hold his democratical
principles, you dog, you !"
The Doctor avers that though tho world had been told that
they were a parcel of drunken boys who committed the outrage, the
ringleaders were veterans in age, if not in service; and he adds : —
" Very few were my hearers in the church, the major part being
wholly influenced by the false representations of gossips."
On Wednesday, the 21st of August, Dr. Knox and his fomily
having occupied Mr. Grantham's house, in North Street, a mouth,
u 2
100 HISTOHY OF BHIGSTHELMSTON.
the period for which it was engaged, left Brighton ; and soon some
of the newspapers teemed with magnified accounts of a mutiny
having broken out in the Brighton Camp through the Doctor's
democratical sermon. The most virulent was the True Briton.
He also received numerous insulting and threatening letters; and
one silly epistle, dated Wick Camp, near Brighton, enclosed a
painted bloody hand. The World, of August 27th, 1793, declares
the treatment which the Doctor and his family received to be most
unjustifiable.
The following letters of the Rev. Mr. Mossop, Curate of
Brighton, who officiated in the Desk on the 18th of August, and
was present during the delivery of the whole of the alleged
obnoxious sermon, completely exonerates Dr. Knox from all blame
in the transaction : —
Rev. Sir, — From my situation in the church at Brighthelmston the day you
favoured us with a sermon, which gave such high oifence to a certain description
of gentlemen, I have, as may naturally be supposed, had my ears sufficiently
stunned with enquiries relative to this sermon, both by many that were present,
as well as the absent. From some of the former, I have experienced no small
portion of ill-nature, because I could not conscientiously join in the cry with
those who can judge the motives of their neighbour better than he can himself,
and pronounce it at once seditions, libellous, traitorous, democratic.
The answer I have giyen to the latter description of inquirers, was in sub-
stance, " That I doubted not but that Dr. Knox would submit his sermon, in
proper time, to that public at large, which is better able to judge, and generally
more candid, than interested individuals, who often misapprehend, but more
frequently misrepresent, a subject, to apologise for illiberality and malevolence ; "
adding, "That that christian charity, which men of our order ought to entertain
one towards another, would not allow me to suppose, that Dr. Knox's motive was
to hint, in the most distant manner, at the subvertion of our present happy con-
stitution and government, but merely to expatiate on the advantages of universal
peace and good-will among mankind, and to reprobate the decision of disputes by
the umpirage of the sword."
May I, therefore, take the liberty to ask, whether you have it in intention to
publish the sermon, or not .^ that I may have an opportunity of gratifying my
inquirers with a more satisfactory answer. As I am partly a stranger to you, I
beg you will excuse this liberty ; and remain,
Eev. Sir,
Tour obedient humble servant,
J. Mossop.
Brighthelmston, 12th Sept., 1793.
To the Rev. Dr. Knox.
Rev. Sir, — I duly received yours of the 17th inst. ; and as I look upon you
to be misrepresented to the public, relative to the sermoa you ^preached at
DE. VICESmirS KNOX and the SUBEEy MILIIU. 101
Brighton, and consequently loaded with no small degree of unmerited opprobrium,
I shall willingly contribute my mite to exonerate you. You have, therefore, my
permission to publish my letter to you of the 12th of September last, in your
intended vindication ; provided your publication contain no invectives against the
present existing government, nor any sentiments which might be improper for one
zealously attached to our most excellent constitution to countenance.
I must conclude, by saying, that if every clergyman is to be exposed to
insult, for doing what he conceives to be his duty, in exposing the reigning vices
of the age, we shall soon find that the feeble rays of religion, which yet remaiu,
to enlighten the christian world, will soon become totally eclipsed.
I am, Rev. Sir,
Your obedient humble servant,
J. Mossop.
Brighthelmston, 19th Nov. 1793.
To the Rev. Dr. Knox.
As a refutation that the appellation ".Democrat," could with
any degree of truth be attached to Dr. Kjiox, the following extract
from his published remarks cannot fail to suffice : —
I honour the King and the Prince ; and I firmly believe that they would
scorn to persecute or to oppress, at the instigation of the most opulent peer in the
realm, the most defenceless individual, the most abject outcast, the most forlorn
beggar in the British empire. I may be abused, reviled, forced out of theatres,
but no man shall rob me of my loyalty. The father of his people shall ever find
me a dutiful son ; and the Prince himself shall not excel me as a peaceable
subject, and a friend to law and order. Though he is certainly in all other
qualities as much above me, as he is in birth, rank, and the glorious prospect o^
one day ruling over a great, enlightened, and a free people, he shall not excel me
in a zeal for the interests of my country and of the human race.
Many persons endeavoured to induce Dr. Knox to take legal
proceedings against his cowardly assailants ; but he contented him-
self by sparing his pocket, publishing a narrative of the transaction,
— now a rare work, although it went through three editions, — and
lampooning, in a pamphlet called Prolegomena, those '* Gentlemen
of the Brighton Theatre," who, to be revenged on him, mag-
nanimouslv insulted and assaulted his wife and his children.
102 BISTOB^ 01 BEIGHIHELMSTOW.
Chapter XVI.
THE OLD CHUECHYAEDS.
Many persons have a natural predilection for wandering
amongst tte tombs. 'Wliether in a town or viUage, their first
impulse on arriving at a strange place, is to visit its common burial
place, to ruminate amongst the tombs. A vastness, a solemnity,
and a hallowedness seem to prevade the spot; and the mind in
quietude has an indulgence there, a moralizing never exceeded even
within the precincts of a sacred edifice.
The Poet has said,
The grave can teacli
In silence, louder than divines can preach.
A celebrated moralist thus expresses himself on Epitaphs : —
when I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in
me ; when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out ;
when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone, my heart melts with
compassion ; when I see the tombs of parents themselves, I see the vanity of
grieving for those whom they must quickly follow ; when I see kings lying by
those that deposed them — when I see rival wits placed side by side, or the holy
men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow
and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind ;
when I read the several dates of the tombs of some that died yesterday, and
some six hundred years ago, I consider that Great Day, when we shall all of us
be contemporaries, and make our appearance together.
In Brighton old churchyard there is vast material for thought,
as great a diversity " In Memoriam " existing as in any burial
place in the kingdom ; the space being extensive and the
monumental inscriptions numerous. Time has obliterated many
epitaphs, and destroyed numerous tombstones, few records of the
departed being discernible of dates previous to the 18th century.
Thirty years since there were several wooden erections to record
the memory of the dead ; the memorial example of a catachresis,
which
"Words abused implies ;
As, over his head a wooden tombstone lies.
According to the minutes of a Vestry Meeting held March 16th,
1791, it was: "Ordered that the Clerk of the Vestry do make
enquiry whether the minister of the parish has a right to demand
THE OLD CHTTRCHrAEDS. 103
a fee for breaking the ground on the burial of a parishioner." This
order was made in consequence of a dispute upon the point, between
the inhabitants and the Vicar, the Rev. Thomas Hudson.
The oldest tablet in Brighton churchyard is that at the north of
the church, placed — it being a flat stone, — to' the memory of Alice,
the wife of Richard Masters, who died May, 25th, 1696. It is
contiguous to headstones that bear the most quaint epitaphs in the
whole ground. Immediately near it is that of Mary Sanders, April,
1753, and bears this injunction to her surviving family : —
My loving children, all agree ;
Pray live in Love and Unity.
The tomb next to it is thus inscribed : —
Hero lyeth Anne ye wife of Eichard Halsted, aged 23, and Elizabetli aged
22 years, both daughters of Henry and Mary Stanbridgc, who dyed in
May, 1728.
They were two louing sisters,
Who in this dust now ly, that
Uery day Anne was buryd
Elizabeth did dy. V*
Just at this spot, also, a stone points out the last resting place of
the celebrated Sake Deen Mahomed, the introducer of shampooing
into England, in 1784. He died on the 24th of Februaiy, 1851,
at the advanged age of 102 years. By the pathway at the south-
east of the chancel are deposited the remains of Martha Gunn, the
royal bather of Brighton, who died May 2nd, 1815, at the age of 88
years. Her companion of the bath, Smoaker Miles, is buried near
the west boundary wall of the church -yard, immediately opposite
Upper North Street. The spot is marked by a tombstone, but the
inscription has been wholly obliterated by time. To the cast of the
stone which marks Martha Gunn's grave, is the tomb of Swan
Downer, Esq., who endowed the school for girls, known as Swan
Downer's School, and immediately to the west is a large headstone
thus inscribed : —
Phcebf. IIessel,
Who was boiTi at Stepney, in the Year, 1713.
She served for many years as a Private Soldier in the
Fifth Kcgimcnt of Foot in different parts of Europe.
and in the year 1745 fought under the command of the
Duke of Cumberland, at the battle of Fontcnoj-,
Where she received a Bayonet Wound in her Arm.
104 , HISTOKY OP BKIGHTHEIMSTON.
Her long life, which commenced in the Kcign of
Queen AlSfNE, extended to that of King GEORGE IV.,
By whose munificence she received comfort and support
in her latter days. She died at Brighton,
where she had long resided,
December 12th, 1821, aged 108.
The remains of Corporal Staiues, a marine who fought under
Nelson, at Copenhagen, lie at the foot of old Phoebe's grave.
The following punning epitaph on the headstone, which marks
the spot where rest the remains of a Mr. Law, to the south-west of
the church, has excited particular notice : —
Stop, Eeader ! and reflect with awe,
For sin and death have conquered law ;
Who, in fuU hope, resign'd his breath.
That grace had conquered sin and death.
Mr. Law, who was an ioliabitant, lost his life by accidentally
walking over the cliff, between the New Steine and the Royal
Crescent.
To the east of the Chancel door a massive stone points out
where are deposited the mortal remains of a great Brighton
celebrity, Captain Tettersell. It is thus inscribed : —
P. M. S.
Captain Nicholas Tettersel, through whose prudence, ualour, and loyalty,
Charles II., King of England, after he had escaped the sword of his merciless
rebels, and his forces receiued a fatal ouerthrowc at "Worcester, September 3rd,
1651, was faithfully preserued, and conueyed to France, departed this life the
26th of July, 1674.
Within this marble monument doth lie
Approved faith, honour, and loyalty ;
In this cold clay he has now ta'en up his station ;
Who once preserued the Church, the Crowne, and Nation ;
When Charles the Greate was nothing but a breath,
This ualiant soule stept tweene him and Death :
Usurpers' throats, nor tyrant rebels' frowne.
Could not afi'right his duty to the crowne ;
Which glorious act of his, for church and state.
Eight princes, in one day did gratulate —
Professing all to him in debt to bee,
As all the world are to his memory.
Since Earth could not reward the worth him given.
He now receives it from the King of Heaven.
In the same chest one iewel more you have,
The partner of his uirtues, bed, and grave.
The special incident referred to in TettereeU's life is recorded
THE OLD CHrKCHYAEDS. 105
in another part of this book. One of tho most remarkable tombs
was that of the Rev. John Bolt, the vicar of Brighton, who died on
the 2nd of November, 1669. It stood at the north-east corner of
the Chancel. Not a vestige of the tomb now remains. The
main structure of it was brick, and the covering stone was a
slab of perri winkle or Sussex marble : and so great a curiositj-
was it that it was in no way deemed a sacrilege by the
casual passer-by, to knock off a piece with a flint, or even a
hammer, for its novelty's sake. Its final demolition took place in
1853, when that and other sacred depositories of the dead — and the
remains of the dead too, — were ruthlessly removed to enlarge the
church, upon its then restoration. The slab bore the following
inscription : —
Here lies interred tlie body of Mr. John Bolt, Master of Arts of Christ Col-
lege, in Cambridge, aged seventy-eight years, who was a faithful and laborious
preacher of the Gospel for the space of fifty-six ycai|g ; whom God had blessed
with t%9enty-ni)ie children by two wives. He died iu full ass'irance of a glorious
resurrection, on the 2nd day of November, 1669, and was buried the 7th, likewise
of the same month ; in the pious memory of whom, his sorrowful son, Daniel
Bolt, hath «rected this monument.
Stay, passenger, and lett thoughts awhile ;
Contemplate Death ; Sin curse, which doth beguile
Us of our best enjoj-ments, and impair
Whatever unto most men pleasant are.
'Tis not thy learning nor thy piety
That can secure thee from Death's tyranny.
Witness this learned, pious mau of God,
"'SNTio fell a victim to his conquering rod.
Nothing but Virtue can outlive our date
That gives a being beyond mortal fate.
Vivit post funera virtus.
The most quaint epitaph was on a slab in the floor just within
the Chancel door. It was nearly obliterated some years since ; but
shortly after the present Vicar came to the living, he had it fresh
cut. It, however, ^^'ith many other relics, was destroyed during
the restoration before mentioned. It was : —
Oh ! dear mother, you are gone before,
And I, a wratch, wait at the door :
Sin doth not only keep me thence,
But makes me loath to go from hence.
When Christ hath healed me of my sin,
He'n raako me fit and Itf me In.
106 HISTOllY OB BEIGfHTHELMSXON.
Perhaps the most affecting record of the uncertainty of life, is
that on the tomb of Robert Augustus Bedford. It is in what is
termed the old ground, not far from the poplar tree which marks
the spot where once was a well. This well and a wall which went
direct north to Church Street, formed the west boundary of a garden
that was consecrated as an additional piece of ground for burial, in
January, 1818, by the Bishop of Exeter, and about that spot was
appropriated for the burial of paupers, and likewise for soldiers ; as
at that time the Hospital of the Infantry Barracks occupied the site
of the present Hanover Chapel burial ground. The inscription —
now mostly obliterated, — is as follows : —
This youth, while viewing amidst a large concourse of persons assemhlcd on
the Pier Head of this town, on the 17th day of July, 1826, some trials designed
to show the practibility of conveying the means of escape to ship-wrecked persons
by means of a chain attached to a ball ; from which, on one of the_ experiments,
it separated on the discharge of the cannon, and instantaneously deprived him of
his life, in the 1 0th year of his age.
The experiment which was being made was that known as
Captain Manby's apparatus for rescuing persons from shipwreck.
On the 20th November, 1819, the funeral of a Sergeant of the
90th foot took place. He was shot on the 1 7th of the same month,
at the barracks, in Church street, by a private of the regiment, who,
for the offence, was executed at Horsham.
The well here just alluded to, north of the waU which forms
the northern boundary of Queen Square, was, on the restoration of
the church, in 1853, fflled up with decayed coffins and the mortal
remains of those whose bodies were disinterred immediately to the
north of the sacred edifice, to afford space and improve the effect of
the buUding. Amongst those whose narrow cell was less violated,*
was that of Sir Hichard Phillips, the natural philosopher, and author
of " A Million of Facts." His vault and tomb were reconstructed
just within the south entrance to the cemetery ground, in front of
Clifton Terrace, whither his remains were removed, and where they
now rest. 'Not far from this tomb lie the remains of Mrs. Pickstock,
the headstone to whose grave is thus inscribed : —
In testimony of the
Faithful and zealous
Services of Alice Piclcstofk,
Matron of tho Brio-htou
THE OlD CHtTRCITTAItDS. 107
"Workhouse, and to
perpetuate the recollection of her
many benevolent and pious
offices to the sick and poor of this
Parish,
This stone is erected by the Directors
and Guardians and others, in the year of
Our Lord MDCCCXLIII.
" I bowed down heavily as one that
moumeth for his mother." — Psalm xxxv., 14 v.
To the extreme east of the old grotind is the tomb of the real
moderniscr of 'Brighton, — whose death took place nine and twenty
years ago, — and is thus inscribed : —
Mr. Amon "Wilds,
Died Sept. 12th 1833, aged 71 years
A remarkable incident accompanies the period at which this gentleman came
to settle in Brighton, Through his abilities and taste, the order of tuc ancient
architecture of buildings in Brighton may be dated to have changed from its
antiquated simplicity and rusticity ; and its improvements have since progressively
increased. He was a man of extensive genius, and talent, and in his reputation
for uprightness of conduct could only meet its parallel.
Contiguous to this tomb, a stone marks the resting-place of a
highly respected inhabitant, for many years the landlord of the Old
Ship Hotel :—
Leoxard Shvckard,
Died 17th January, 1837, aged 70.
Immediately west is the grave of a Brighton celebrity, whose
memory is thus recorded : —
John Jordan,
IMany years a respectable hair-dresser of this town.
Died November 13th, 1810.
Originally the stone was further inscribed :
Say what you will, say what you can,
John Jordan was an honest man.
But there appearing a species of levity about these two linos un-
befitting a place of Christian sepulture, they were removed after the
stone had been up but a few days.
To the west of the main entrance from North Street, opposite
Wykcham Terrace, is the vault of Mr. Weiss, formerly a surgical
instrument maker, Charing-cross, London. His remains are de-
posited in this vault, his body prior to being screwed down in the
108 HISXOBX OP BBIGHIHILMSION.
ooffln, having, by express desire in his will, been pierced at the
heart by an instrument which he made expressly for the purpose.
His funeral took place with the weapon in him, a special legacy
being left to the surgeon, Mr. Benjamin Vallance, who complied
with the request, for performing the duty, Mr. Weiss having a dread
of being buried alive.
The handsomest monument in the churchyard ia that at the
north-east entrance, to the memory of Anna Maria Crouch, formerly
a performer at Drury Lane Theatre. She died Oct. 2nd, 1805.
It was erected by Mr. Kelly.
A large stone cross or crucifix formerly stood immediately in
front of the church. The stone steps to it and the lower fragment
of the pillar alone remain. A legend in connexion with this cross
has been preserved, of which the following is a copy : —
6X. NICHOLAS GALLET.
"Long had raged the bloody feud between the Lords of
Pevensey Castle and the Earls de "Warrene, Lords of Lewes ; when,
early one bright May morning, the warder of Lewes Castle, from
the northern turret blew loud his horn. The lady of Earl de
"Warrene hastened to the turret's height, her infant first-bom son
kerchiefed on her arm. From thence she viewed the dread conflict
which was raging with all the fury of inveterate foes, on Mount
Caburn's shelving sides. Lord Pevensey, on his white steed, was
seen leading his followers down the hill; Earl de Warrene was
ixrging his men to withstand the charge. In an instant both parties
commingled ; the strife was desperate, but of short duration. Lord
Pevensey, having the vantage ground, drove Earl de Warrene' s
troops pell-mell down the hill ; but the Earl scorned to turn his
back upon his foe, and for some time he singly maintained the
conflict against a host ; until Lord Pevensey came up, flushed with
Success, and raised his battle-axe to cleave the Earl in twain. It
was at this moment that the noble lady of Earl de Warrene, seeing
her lord in such imminent hazard, held up her infant son and vowed
to Saint Nicholas (the protefctor of the faithful in dangers) that if
her lord's life was spared his son should never wed till he had
j^ktoed the heli wo«n by tiie Holy St, Nicholas, on iim Bieased
Virgin's tomlb, ait Byzantium. The saint heard her vow ; for fife
TITE OLD CUTmcmrARDS. 109
Earl dexterously avoided the blo\v, and Lord Pcvcnsey, having lost
his balance by the exertion, nearly fell from his horse. In the next
moment the Earl's sword appeared through his cuirasa behind;
Lord Pcvcnsey fell dead ; his terrified retainers fled in dismay ; and
Earl de Warrone returned in triumph to the Castla. Full twenty
summers had now passed over, and Manfred, Lord of Lewes, the
Earl's eldest son, had not yet fulfilled his mother's vow, to visit the
Blessed Virgin's tomb. Ho was betrothed to Lord Bramber's
daughter, the gentle Edona — beauteous as the jessamine's bloom —
kind as the Zephyr — good and pure as the saints. Full twenty
times had the anniversary of Earl do "Warrene's victory been
celebrated most gallantly in the Castle's kingly hall. Again the guests
had assembled there ; the wassail bowl went merrily round ; the bards
sung in highest strains; Lord Manfred led his betrothed to join
in the mazy dance ; when — whilst all was merriment and joy, —
suddenly a wintry dismal blast passed through the hall. The lights
were quickly extinguished, the din and clamour of war seemed to
assail the castle walls on every side; and whilst the guests stood in
darkness and in stupid wonder, in a moment vivid flashes of
lightning sliot across the richly tapestried walls, and displayed the
fight renewed on Mount Caburn's side. The hill and dale were
seen distinctly, as if broad day wore shining, and the combatants
eagerly engaged. But when Lord Pevensey again lifted his battle-
axe to strike Earl de "Warrene, all disappeared and total darkness
ensued ; the clamour ceased against the castle walls ; lights were
brought, but the guests, terrified, gloomily withdrew. On the
morrow. Earl de "Warrene hither to Brighthelmston, to St. Bartho-
lomew's Chapel came, and by the counsel of the holy fathers, built
a ship, gaily trimmed, and named ' St. Nicholas' Galley,' to bear his
son to the blessed Virgin's tomb. It was fixed that when he should
return from performing his noble mother's vow, then should ho wed
the fair E lona. The vessel gallantly dashed from Mechcem* harbour,
and bounded over the yielding wave, making his way for brighter —
not happier climes. Lord Manfred safely arrived at Byzantium,
and performed his sacred duty. It was noon on the 1 7th of happy
* Ancient name of Newhaven.
110 HISrOHY OW BRIOHTHELMSTOW.
May — another year had rolled its -wain — when a sail, bearing the
■well known pennant of St. Nicholas, was descried off Wordinges
("Worthing) point by one of the Fathers of this Chantry. Instantly
a messenger was sent to carry the welcome tidings to Earl de
"Warrene, who, Avith all his retinue, a train of gallant bearing, his
noble lady, the Lord of Bramber with the Lady Edona, and the holy
Abbot of the priory, with all his brotherhood, had, in a few hours,
assembled beneath the Earl's banner, on the hill where now stands
St. Nicholas' Church. The day was fair, the wind was favourable,
and the ' St. Nicholas ' glided swiftly on her way ; the holy fathers
sang with cheerful voices. The Earl watched, with beaming eyes,
for the signal agreed upon. It was made ; shouts rent the air ;
every face shone with joy, every heart beat with gratitude ; when,
in a moment, the progress of the vessel was checked ; she reeled on
her side, and sank before their eyes. She had ran full on the hidden
rock off Shore-ham* harbour. The Earl and every soul around him
stood motionless ; not a word broke the silence of that sad scene.
To move was useless. One sad, last, long-drawn sigh bui'st from
Edona, and she fell never more to rise. The Earl passed his hands
over his eyes ; dropped his head on his bosom ; no smile ever rested
on that face again. One foreign sailor alone of the hapless crew
survived to describe (feebly indeed) the eestacj'' of Lord Manfred
when he beheld his native shores and discerned his father's banner
waving on St. Nicholas' hill.' Slowly as the cavalcade descended,
each cast a look of despair on that sea which had swallowed all their
hopes. Earl de "Warrene survived a few years only ; but before he
died he built the church to St. Nicholas on the hiU, to be an ever-
lasting remembrance to all who go upon the mighty deep not to neglect
their vows. Lady Edona lies under the cross at the entrance to the
church, being the spot where she fell and died ; but still, on the
anniversary of that day, ' St. Nicholas' Galley ' glides at midnight
past the town of Brighthelmston, and is seen from the cliff by
hundreds of the inhabitants, to sink.f The Earl leaving no
children, his family became extinct, and the estates passed to the
heir. Lord Arundel, to whom they still belong."
* The rock is still there, and is well known to mariners,
t A tradition is still held by the old inhabitants that a galley is seen here in
the offing before a storm.
THE OLD CntTKCHYAELS. Ill
A very quaint epitaph was (it is now obliterated by age) on
the late sexton of the period : —
ElCHAKD JeFFERY.
Died lOth July, 1806, aged 64.
When Barb'ra died, 0 Lord, prayed I,
Let me die too, and near her lie —
The Lord was good, and heard my pray'r,
And here wo lie a faithful pair.
Preceding it, on the same stone, "was the following : —
Sacred to the memory of
Barbara wife of Eichard Jetfery ;
Wlio having for upwards of 50 years diligently performed
the office of Sexton in this Parish, died
30th September, 1805, aged 63.
Look, mingled lie, the aged and the young.
The rich and poor, — an imdistinguish'd throng ;
Death conquers all, and Time's subduing hand
No tomb, no marble statue can withstand ;
Mark well thy latter end, — in Bab'ra see,
What, readci-, thou, and all mankind must be.
The Grave for thousands though she toilsome made,
Yet here at last her lifeless body's laid,
In joyful hope, as Christian hope will be,
To rise to life and immorality.
On tho tombstone of a Captain Cook was formerly : —
Many a hard tempestuous gale he's kno^Ti,
But on his native shore at last he's thro\vn ;
No rocks or quicksands has he now to fear ;
Safe from all storms he rides at anchor here.
Go, and bo wise then, 'ere it is too late,
With firm resolve to meet the arm of fate.
A few short years, Alas ! how quick they pass ;
To this complexion must you come at last.
Death conquers all, and drags them to the grave,
The rich, tho poor, the coward and the brave.
Think then, ye youth in time, and dying say.
Come Avhcn thou wilt, 0 Lord ! I ready am to-day.
From their exposed position, the inscriptions on many of the
tombstones have been erased by the hand of time ; nor can ono bo
found of the many recorded in a Diary, kept in 1778 and 1779, of
the character alluded to. — "Monday, September 7th, 1778. My
landlord is persuading his eldest son, and of course hcii" apparent,
a young prince Crispin, to go to sea. I desire the father to visit
HISTOBY OP BEIGHTSBLMSION,
the churchyard, and upon various monuments of youth he may
observe the following inscription : —
Parents and Friends, weep not for me,
Tho' I was drownded in the sea ! —
and then, after due deliberation, if he chose to renew his persuasions
he must use his pleasure. The poor man seemed overwhelmed in,
thought, and much struck. Perhaps the lad may suffer no further
solicitation on this account, imless his father should turn out to be
a staunch predestinarian."
To the north of the church is a dwarf head-stone, thus
inscribed: —
Sacred to the memory of Edmund Borman, who was accidently killed,
February 11th, 1796 — aged 49 years.
His death was caused thus : — He was superintending the
erection of a new flag-staff, for the vane, mentioned in page
84, for Mr. Stephen Poune, the Churchwarden; and having gone
aloft, within the tower, to make everything safe in lowering the
remains of the old flag-staff, he hastened down, to receive it below,
when, just as he emerged from the belfry door, the mass, which was
being lowered, having descended much quicker than he expected,
came down upon him, crushing him fearfully, so that he died Avithin
an hour of the accident. Deceased was bowler to the Prince of
Wales and the Duke of York, leader of the ringers and conductor
of the choir at the Church, and, being a person of good education,
a generally useful man.
On the west portion of the ground, the record of the death of
Miss Coupland, who was killed by the fall of a wall, in Church
Street, where the Royal Stables now are, whilst walking to the
Parish Church, to act as bridesmaid at the wedding of a young
friend, cannot fail to be read with interest. The shoes which she
wore on the occasion are still pi'eserved by a member of her family
named Hibben, who worked for her father, the owner of the
premises and smithy, which for so many years formed the
obstruction to the Eoyal Entrance at the bottom of Church Street,
The epitaph runs :
Sacred to the memory of Mary Coupland, died 9th November, 1800 — aged 19.
Underneath this turf, in dust is laid,
A blooming and a virtuous maid ;
THE OLD CmmCHYAKDS. 113
In virtue's patli she alwaj's trod,
And trusted in Almiglity God.
For virtue, modesty, and truth,
A perfect patron was for youth ;
She lived in love, and feared the Lord,
"We hope her soul has met reward ;
Lamented was, by great and small,
Was crushed underneath a blown do^vn wall —
Going to church on the Lord's day ;
This maid's sweet life was snatched away.
A tender mother left to mourn,
Enough to wound a heart of stone ;
God grant his blessing to be given.
For them to meet again in Heaven.
Short was thy life, fair flower, how soon removed.
Sudden thy summons to the realms above.
Vain man, as well on sands may structors raise.
As build on early youth or length of days;
A thousand accidents frail life attend,
And none can tell how soon this life may end.
'Tis not for age that here she lie.
Therefore, in time, prepare to die ;
Death does not always warning give,
Therefore be careful how you live.
A headstone that stands about the centre of the ground to the
east of the church, and yet bears the name of Lucy Fermor, formerly
had on it the following acrostic, now wholly effaced by age : —
L ook here, ye gay and giddy throng,
U nmindful as ye go ;
C all'd you may be as soon as I,
Y oung, strong, and healthy too.
F or eighteen years I had not seen
E 'cr death did cut rac down,
R etuined to dust as now you see ;
M ore quick may be your doom.
0 h do not then forget, your sonls
R equired may be soon.
Perhaps no inscription throughout the whole of the hallowed
grounds, affords a theme for deeper meditation than that which here
follows, associated as it is with marriages, births, and deaths,
through a period of half a century : the pligliting of solemn vows,
vows how often broken ; the promise of suretiship to renounce all
evil works, a promise how seldom kept ; we may rest in Him, as
our hope is this our brother doth, a hope how soon forgotten ! It is
114 HlSTOEY OF BKIGSTHEtMSTOIf.
upon a head-stone, on the left, just within the southern entrance to
the Old Ground, and is as follows : —
Here lies all that is mortal of
John Pocock,
Who was, during 13 years, Clerk of the Chapel Royal, and 38 years Clerk of
this Parish.
In tlic discharge of his duty how simple, upright, and affectionate he was, will
alone he known at the last day.
He came to his grave on the 13th of June, 1846, like a shock of corn cometh
in his season, aged 81.
The following, which is on a stone by the footway, just south
of the tower, has a melancholy history attached to it : —
Sacred to the Memory of John Rowles, who, in discharging his duties as a
Peace Officer of this Town, was unfortunately killed by a "Wound from a Bayonet,
on the 5th Nov., 1817, Aged 40 years.
The circumstances were : On Tuesday, the 4th of November,
1817, a public notice was issued, warning the inhabitants against
illuminating their houses, or celebrating the anniversary of the
Gunpowder Plot, by means of fireworks. Notwithstanding this
prohibition, a number of persons, chiefly boys, assembled on the
Old Steine, at twilight, in the evening of Wednesday, the 5th, and
let off squibs, serpents, crackers, &c. The civil power, in number
16, — headboroughs and patrol, — at the head of which was Mr. John
Williams, the High Constable, immediately interfered, and took
into custody the offenders against the edict. This sort of warfare
lasted until nine o'clock, when a lighted tar-barrel made its appear-
ance. The authorities espied it, and, after a stout resistance by the
populace, it was captured and extinguished. Much irritation was
engendered in consequence, and the mob, deprived of their fun,
seemed inclined to mischief, and, the principal object of their dis-
pleasure being the High Constable, they attacked his house, the
Baths, which stood on the site now occupied by the Lion Mansion.
Mr. White, also, in Castle Square, who had made himself very
prominent in the affair, came in for his share of the spleen of
the rioters. Stones were hurled with great violence, and the
windows of their houses were soon smashed in. Greatly alarmed,
Williams sent a message to Mr. Serjeant Eunnington, the resident
magistrate, and also to the guard-house at the Infantry barracks,
c%>^
1^ - ^m^;^t '-^'
/y^
THE OLD cinmcnTAJiis. 115
Church Street, demanding the aid of the military. Several com-
panies of the 21st regiment of Eusileers, who had but that day
arrived in Brighton, marched with fixed bayonets to the Steino,
the avenues to Avhich they quickly occupied.
The Eiot Act was read by Serjeant Eunnington, and the
utmost dismay prevailed. About this time several squibs being let
off near the soldiery, an attempt was made to capture the offenders.
Dreadful to relate, however, while charging, one of the military
accidentally thrust his bayonet into the body of Mr. Rowles, a head-
borough. The steel entered just above the hip, and, passing through,
appeared three inches on the other side, — the wound proved to be
mortal, — and the ill fated man lingered, in the utmost agony, until
half-past seven on Thursday evening, when he died, leaving a preg-
nant wife and three infant children to lament his untimely end.
Two of the patrol, Slaughter and Burt, were also so wounded with
the stones, cast by the mob, that they were obliged to be carried
home, where they remained for some time in a very dangerous state.
A woman, also, was wounded in the head with slugs, fired from a
pistol. The disturbance lasted until a late hour of the night, and
the military did not repair to their barracks until two or three
o'clock the next morning.
On the following morning, the persons who had been ap-
prehended for creating the disturbance, were brought before the
sitting magistrates, Mr. Serjeant llunnington and Mr. Hopkins,
at the Town Hall.
The civil power was blamed for calling in the military. The
coroner's inquest on the body of Mr. Howies, after having sat eight
days, returned a verdict of " "Wilful Murder " against James Day,
the principal, and John "Williams, High Constable, and James
"White, stationer, general collector of rates, as accessories before
the act. They surrendered to their bail at the Horsham Assizes, on
the 25th March, and were found "N'ot Guilty," and the judge
said, that, so far from any blame being attached to "Williams and
White, he was fully persuaded that they had acted throughout
with the greatest prudence, coolness, and discretion.*
• A criminal iuformation was moved in the Court of King's Bench, against
the publisher of the Brighton Herald, Mr. William Fleet, for having, pending the
1 2
116 HISTORY OF BBIGHTHEIMSTON.
The base of the stone cross, to which is attached the legend of
St. !N"icholas Galley, is a remnant of the superstition that prevailed
prior to the Reformation. In primitive times, the south side of
every churchyard contained a column placed on a pedestal, having
on its summit a cross ; and the nearer to this a corpse was interred,
so much the sooner — it was believed — would the soul be relieved
from purgatory. Hence the reason why the south side of a church-
yard most frequently contains the greatest number of interments,
individuals having a solemn dread of being buried in the north,
where there was no cross. So far, indeed, did primitive Christians
carry their devotion for this figure, that they have been accused of
worshipping the cross itself. Such was their blind zeal for the sign
of the cross, that they violated all bounds of prudence, and Flecknoe
quaintly observes : — " That had they their will, a bird should not
fly in the air with its wings a-cross, a ship with its cross-yard sail
upon the sea, nor profane tailor sit cross-legged upon his shop-board,
or have cross-lottoms to wind his thread upon."
"With reference to the particular pillar in question, no records,
beyond the legend, exist which might contribute to the solution of
its origin, but the probability is that it was erected about the seventh
century, when the mania for columns and crosses prevailed.
The Kew Burial Ground, as it is termed, was added in 1824;
and the Cemetery Ground was opened in what was known as
Butcher Russell's field, in 1841, the first burial in it being that of
Mary Wheeler, the wife of a labourer, who was employed in laying
out and levelling the ground. She died June 27th, 1841, and an
obelisk marks her grave.
At the time when grave -yard robbers, termed Resurrectionists,
were the dread of surviving relatives, in 1820-21, these desecrators
of the silent tomb paid the Old Churchyard a visit, in the autumn
investigation before the Coroner, published certain matters which, it was alleged
tended to create a prejudice against Messrs. "Williams and White. Lord Ellen-
borough observed, that the Coui't felt itself bound in point of law to grant the
rule, but thought it would be advisable for the parties to stay where they were,
and not carry the proceedings farther. His lordship expi-essed a wish that peace
and liarmony might be restored to a town in which so much division appeared to
exist. All parties concerned in the indiscreet affair were severely lampooned in
a poem called the " Battle of the Tar Tub," very few copies of which are
extant.
THE OLD CHUKCHYAEDS. 117
of the former year, and convoyed away at least one body, the chief
of the sacrilegious wretches being Williams, who, in 1831, was
executed at Newgate, with Bishop, for "Burking" an Italian boy.
The circumstance of the body being stolen greatly alarmed the
inhabitants, and for many years afterwards it was the constant
practice to have watchers, under a species of impromptu tent,
night after night, for months together, upon the death of a person,
to prevent the body from being conveyed away. At one period the
system of watching had become such a nuisance that persons were
afraid to venture through the burial ground after dusk — the time
when the watchers went on duty — as the parties were not satisfied
with being there to scare oif the expected marauders, but thcj^ took
with them creature comforts in the form of beer, spirits, and tobacco,
and armed themselves with pistols, guns, and swords, so that, when
the alcholic spirits began to rise, there was a great lack of discretion,
and frequent broUs in consequence ensued. The churchwardens,
therefore, interfered and prevented their having any other arms than
stout sticks. This reckless and indecent profanation of the sacred
dormitorj' lamentably recalls to one's mind the vitiated taste and
customs of the early ages, when churchyards were no sooner
enclosed than they were appropriated as places of public amuse-
ment. According to Aubrey, "in every parish was a chui'ch-house,
to which belonged spits, crocks, and other utensils, for dressing
provisions. Here the housekeepers met, the young people were
there, too, andhad dancing, bowling, shooting at butts, &c., the ancients
gravely sitting by and looking on." Fosbrook further informs us,
that " Whitsun ales were brewed by the churchwardens, and sold
in the church ; and the profits — there being no rates for the relief
of the poor — were distributed amongst them." It was, also,
customary for barbers to come and shave the parishioners in the
churchyard on Sundays and high festivals, before matins. This
liberty continued till 1422, when it was restrained by a particular
prohibition of Richard Flemyng, Bishop of Lincoln.
For more than ten j'cars the custom of watching prevailed ; but
legislation at length suggested a means of supplying subjects for
dissection, without despoiling the graves; and, since then, in I80I,
intra-miual burials being prohibited, the Brighton Churchyards
118 HISTORY OP BEIGHTHELMSTON.
have been respected, and on the 17th of I^ovember, 1859, the first
tree was planted in the oldest ground, near Wykeham Terrace, by
Mr. Churchwarden Marchant, who had suggested the plantation of
the groxmds. Other of the authorities and the inhabitants in general,
followed his example, and very soon the planting of some hundreds
of trees and shrubs was effected ; but as yet the vegetation of them
has progressed but slowly.*
Brighton Vicarage, with "West Blatchington, Eectory, is one
united benefice, in the sole gift of the Bishop of the Diocese. The
present Vicar was appointed by the Crown ; bis predecessor, the
late Dr. Carr, who died Bishop of "Worcester, having been made
Bishop of Chichester. Tbe Sovereign always takes the appointment
to any Ecclesiastical preferment that is vacated by one who is raised
to the Episcopate.
Chapter XVII.
MAKTYEDOM OF DEEYKf CARVEE.
Deryk Carver, a brewer, the proprietor of what is now known as
the Black- Lion Street Brewery, the oldest building in the town, a
Fleming by birth, Avho had been resident in Brighton about eight or
nine years, was the first who suffered martyrdom in Sussex, under
the persecution of Mary. About the end of October, 1554, Carver,
* The first spot ever set apart as a sacred burial-place, — namely, the field
of Ephron, bought by the patriarch Abraham, — was planted round about with
trees : — " The field and the cave that was therein, and all the trees that were in
the field, and in the borders round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a
possession." — Genesis xxiii., 17-
f By reference to the signatures of the principal inhabitants to the " Aun-
cient Customs," Page 37, it will be seen that this is the orthography of the name,
as written by the son of the martyr. And it is fair to presume that at the time
of his signature, 1580, he was a person of no mean importance, and had a vanity
that his name should be correctly spelt, as he is the only person who inscribed to
the document, that prefixed Mr. to his signature. Fox writes it Derrick. The
breweries established next after Carver's, were the Ship Street Breweiy, by
"Wichelo, known in modern times as Wigney's Brewery, now no longer in
aBisteuee ; and West Street Brewery, by Mighell, now the extensive establishmeut
of Messrs, Yallance & Catt.
KUU' lA- < AKK 1. n.l.OKP BlSHOl- 1)1- l Hit Ht.> l tK .
THE MABTKrOOM OF DEEYK CAEVEK. 119
who had adopted the doctrines of the Reformation, and had been in
the habit, as opportunity offered, of collecting a few people of
his own persuasion in his house, for the purpose of religious
AForship, was, together with John Launder, of God stone,
apprehended, as they were at prayer, by Edward Gage, of Firle, a
gentleman and county Magistrate, and sent up to the Queen's
Council. After examination, he and his friend were sent prisoners
to JS'ewgate, to await the leisure of Bishop Bonner for his further
examination into their heretical practices. The Bishop interrogated
them on matters of faith, on the 8th of June following, so that thej'-
must have lain in prison for more than seven months, upon a mere
suspicion. They made certain confessions, which they duly signed,
and then the Bishop, who had no legal right whatever to meddle
with their creed, as they were not of his diocese, objected against
them certain articles, in the ordinary course of ecclesiastical law, as
it existed in those days. Various means were resorted to to induce
Carver and Launder to recant, but these they stedfastly resisted .
" I win never go from these answers," said the latter, " so long as
I live," and so said Carver. Wherefore, on the 10th of June, two
days afterwards, they were cited to the Consistory Court of St.
Paul's. The "confession" of Carver, as preserved in Fox's Acts
and Monuments, was in substance this : "I. That the bread and
wine used in the Holy Communion, or as it was then called, the
' Sacrament of the Altar,' is simply bread and wine, and not the
material body and blood of Christ. II. That the mass is not a
sacrifice ; that it docs not conduce to salvation ; and that it is not
profitable to a Christian man, because it is said in Latin, a tongue
which he, with the majority of the people, does not understand.
III. That although it is requisite to go to a good priest for counsel
in matters of religion, yet that priest's absolution is not profitable
for a man's salvation. lY. That the faith and religion now set
forth in the Church of England is not agreeable to God's "Word.
That Bishops Hooper, Cardmaker, Rogers, and others of their
opinion were good Christian men, and did preach the true doctrine
of Christ, and that they did shed their blood in the same doctrine,
by the power of God. Y. That since the Queen's coronation he
hath had the bible and psalter in English read in his house at
120 HISTORY OP BBIGHTHELMSTON.
Brighthampsted divers times, and likewise, since his coming into
Newgate, but the keeper thereof did take them away ; and also
that about a twelvemonth now past he had the English pro-
cession said in his house with other English prayers. And further,
that Thomas Iveson, John Launder, and William Yeisie, prisoners
within Newgate, were taken with this examinate in his house at
Brighthampsted, as they were hearing of the Gospel, then read in
English." The "confession " of John Launder states, among other
things, that he was a husbandman, twenty-five years of age, and an
inhabitant of Godstone, and that himself, with Carver, Iveson, Veisie,
and other persons, to the number of twelve, had been apprehended
by Mr. Gage, in Carver's house, as they were saying the service
in English, as set forth in the days of King Edward the
Sixth. It appears that Launder, having come down to Brighton
to transact business for his father, had heard of Carver's
zeal for the Gospel, and had been to his house for religious
worship, at the time of Mr. Gage's unfriendly visit. The con-
fession winds up with a statement of his religious views, which,
in the main, are identical with Carver's own, as stated. The
Bishop's Articles, twelve in number, reiterated the charges already
adduced against the prisoners, who, being asked if they stiU adhered
to their opinions, replied affirmatively. Carver added " your
doctrine is poison and sorcery. If Christ were here you would put
Him to a worse death than He was put to before. You say that you
can make a God : ye can make a pudding as well. Your ceremonies
in the Church be beggary and poison." The Bishop, seeing their
constancy, pronounced judgment upon them both, whereupon they
were delivered to the Sheriffs, who were then present, in order that
they might be burnt in due course of law. " This Dirricke " records
Fox, " was a man, whom the Lorde had blessed as well with
temporall ryches, as with his spirituall treasures, which ryches yet
were no clogge or let unto his true professing of Christ, the Lord, by
His grace, so working in him ; of the Avhich, there was such havock,
by the gready raveners of that time, that his poore wyfe and
children had little or none thereof. During his imprisonment,
although he was well stricken in yeares (and, as it were, past the
tyme of learning), yet he so spent his tyme, that being, at hys first
THE MAKTYEDOM OF DEEYK CAEVEE. 121
apprehension, utterly ignoraunt of anyc letter of the bookc, heo
coulde, before his death, read perfectly any printed English. Whoso
diligence and zealc is worthy no small commendation, and therefore
I thought it good not to let passe over in silence, for the good
encouragement and example of others. Moreover, at his comming
into the town of Lewes to be burned, the people called upon him,
beseechying God to strengthen hym in the faith of Jesus Christ.
He thanked them, and prayed unto God, that of Hys mercy he
would strengthen them in the lyke faith. And when hee came to
the signe of the Starre, the people drew near unto him, where the
Sheriffe sayd that he had found him a faithfull man in al his
aunswers. And as ho came to the stake, he kneeled downe and
made his prayers, and the Sheriffe made hast. Then hys booko
was throwen into the barrel, and when he had strypt him
selfo (as a joyfull member of God) he went into the (pitch) barrel
him selfe. And as soone as ever he came in, he tooke up the booke
and threw it among the people, and then the Sheriffe commaunded
in the Kyng and Queen's name, on painc of death, to throw in the
booke againe. And immediately, that faithfull member spake with
a joyfull voyce, saying : — ' Deare brethren and sistern, wytness to
you all that I am come to scale with my blood Christes Gospell, for
because I know that it is true ; it is not unknowen unto al you, but
that it hath bene truly preached here in Lewes, and in all places in
England, and now it is not. And for because that I wyll not
dcnye here God's Gospell, and be obedient to man's lawes, I am
condemned to dye. Dere brethren and sistern, as many of you as
do beleve upon the Father, the Soune, and the Holye Ghost, unto
everlasting lyfe, see you doe the workes appertaining to the same.
And as many of j'ou as do belcvo upon the Pope of Rome, or any
of hys lawes, which he sets forth in these daies, you do beleve to
your utter condemnation, and except the great mercy of God, you
shaU. burne in hell perpetually.' Immediately the Sheriffe spake
unto him, and sayd : ' if thou doest not beleve on the Pope, thou art
damned body and soule ! ' And farther the Sheriffe sayd unto him,
' speake to thy God, that He may deliver thee now, or els to strike
me down to the example of this people ; ' but this faitlifuU member
said, ' the Lord forgive you your sayings.' And then spake hce
122 HISTOEY OF BKIGHTHELMSTON.
againe to all the people there present, with a loude voice, saying :
' dcare brethren, and aU you whom I have offended in wordes or
in dedc, I aske you for the Lorde's sake to forgeve me, and I hartly
forgeve aU you, which have offended me in thought, word, or dede.'
And he sayd further in his prayer, ' Oh Lorde my God, thou hast
written : He that will not forsake wife, children, house, and all
that he hath, and take up Thy cross and follow Thee, is not worthy
of Thee. But thou Lorde knowest that I have forsaken all to come
unto Thee ; Lorde have mercy upon me, for unto Thee I commend
my spirit, and my soule doth rejoyce in thee.' These were the last
wordes of that faithfuU member of Christ before the fire was put to
him. And afterward that the fire came to him he cried, ' Oh Lord
have mercy upon me,' and sprong up in the fire, calling upon the
name of Jesus, and so ended."
The order of the Sheriff, that the people should throw Carver's
bible into the fixe, does not appear to have been complied with, as the
book is still preserved, and is in the possession of Mr. Ade, Colonnade,
North Street. It is what is termed, a "breeches " bible, from the
circumstance that in Genesis iii., 7, the words are : " They " —
meaning Adam and Eve — " sewed figge leaves together, and made
themselves 'breeches,'" other translations being " aprons." It is
in a state of good preservation, but the title page is gone, hence its
date cannot be correctly known ; but on comparing it with others of
apparently the like edition, — an imperial octavo, — it was published
in 1550. It received but little injury fi-om the action of the fire
upon it ; merely a slight discolouration on some of the pages, from
the smoke ; but the following engrossed memorandum on a blank
half-page, between Malachi and the Apocrypha, proves that it is not
in the same binding now as it was when Carver had it :
By me, Edward Harffye.
Anno Dom.
1650.
This Bible was Dirrick Carver's; belonging unto his family : of Bright-
helmstone : who suffered martiredom ffor Conscience' sake in Qucene Mary's
Daycs, And bought by Sibbell Clarke, AViddow, of Brighthelmstone ; And Given
to mee, Edward Harffye of Brighthelmston, Clarke and Writinge Master : And I
have now bound him, 1660* 1650. And I doe will him to my Youngest Child.
* This is erased by a mark of the pen being passed through it, in the
original.
I
THB MAETYEDOM OP DKBTK CABVER. 123
And Soc the Youngest of ray Stock. To hand him ffor ever ffrom one to
an other ; And now ffirst I give him to Mary Ilarffye, my daughter, 1664.
Wrytcn hy my owne hand. By me Edward : Ilarffye.
This Carver was Burnt to death, in the Castell of Lewes, Sussex.
On the back of the same half-page, is written, in a good round-
hand : "Sarah Clark— 1778."
On the inside of the cover, at the commencement, is -written,
" Wililam Clarke, his book, Scptem Ber the 20, 1744." This name
also, with the same date, appears on the fly page between the Old
and the New Testament. Wliere, also, previous to the "Holie
Gospel according to S. Matthevve," are the annexed entries: —
William Clarke the son of iohn and mary his wife, was Born the 4 of
September, near 4 in the morning in the year of our lord 17.11.
the Son of william and Sarah his wife was Born i%Tio (June) the 13 at a
C wor ter past 4 in the after noon on a Sather day, 1747.
William Clark Dyed December the 5, 1747.
In the margin of the 11th chapter of Daniel, is written in
good Old English: —
edward \
Carfifre ) ^^^^- ^'^ ^^^^^e.
January the first.
The blood of the martyr is visible on Chapters 19 and 20 of
Judges, and also on Chapters 1 and 3 of Zephania, where the leaves
have closed on each other. But the greatest quantity is on the
Book of Ruth, which is very much splashed with the vital fluid.
Altogether, the Bible is a very precious relic, and its present possessor
attaches to it great value, he ha\-ing refused large sums of money
that have been offered him for it.
Stephen Gratwicke, a Brighton man of respectable family, and
of liberal education, was put to death in St. George's Fields, South-
wark, about the end of ilay, 1557. At his trial, before the Bishops
of "Winchester and Rochester, and a priest suborned to personate the
Bishop of Chichester, he expostulated T\dth his judges for keeping
men a year or two in prison, " permittyng them not so much as a
Testament to look upon, for their soules comfort." To this the
Bishop of Winchester replied : — " Xo, syr, we wiU use you as we
will use the child, for if the child will hurt himself with a knife we
will koepo the knife from him. So, because you will damme your
soule with the Word, therefore you shtdl not have it I"
124 HISTORY OP BEIGHTHELMSTON.
Chaptee XVIII.
THE ESC.iPE OF CHAELES II.
After the defeat at "Worcester, on the 3rd of September, 1651,
Charles II., on his arrival at Kidderminster, by the advice of the
Earl of Derby, and under the guidance of Francis Yates, brother-
in-law of Penderell, retired to " Boscobel," a lone house on the
borders of Staffordshire, where lived one Eichard Penderell, a
farmer, and his four brothers. By the aid of the Penderells,
Charles clothed himself in the garb of a peasant, and carried a
bill-hook with him into the woods, where daily he pretended to be
employed cutting faggots. His only attendant at that time was
Colonel Careless, a Eoman Catholic. The suspicion of the Parlia-
mentary army was, however, aroused by two strangers staying at
such a lone place as Boscobel, and detachments of troops were, in
consequence, sent in search of them, and it was then that Charles
and Colonel Careless hid themselves in the branches of an oak tree.
By the assistance of a Benedictine monk, named Hudleston, Lord
"Wilmot then joined the King, and by his proposition, they, with
Penderell, repaired, at night, to the house of a Mr. Whitegrave, a
Catholic gentleman residing some distance from Boscobel. The
King, in relating his escape, used to say that the rustling of
Eichard' s calf-skin breeches was the best guide for him during
the dark night's walk. Here they were pursued by the parlia-
mentarian army ; and Colonel Lane, at whose house Lord "Wilmot
had been concealed, being made acquainted with the critical position
of Charles, offered to conceal him in his house at Bentley. From
there he retired to Bristol, at the house of Mr. IS'orton, a kinsman
of Colonel Lane, in the hope of being able to obtain a passage to
the continent, as ""William," the servant to Miss Jane Lane (sister
of Colonel Lane), but no vessel would leave there for a month.
Charles, being thus frustrated in his object, placed himself under
the guardianship of Colonel "Windham, of Dorsetshire, in whose
charge ho continued nine days, and then went to Heale, within
three miles of Salisbury, where he remained until the necessary
arrangements had been made by Loi'd Wilmot, for his passage from
Brighthelmston to France.
THE ESCAPE OP CHAELES THE SECOND. 125
Lord "Wilmot, after receiving counsel from Dr. Hinchman,
afterwards Bishop of Salisbury, tried at Lawrence Hyde's Esq.,
living at Hinton Dambray, in Hampshire, near the sea, what could
be done for a passage. Being unsuccessful there, he repaired to
Colonel George Gounter, at Kackton, four miles from Chichester,
who promised him every assistance in his power. On Wednesday,
the 8th of October, the Colonel rode to Elmsworth (Emsworth), a
fishing station two miles from Rackton ; but as the boats were all
away, the Colonel could do no good there. Colonel Gounter then,
accompanied by Lord Wilmot, rode to Langstone, a' place by the sea,
and attempted in vain to arrange for a passage. Colonel Gounter
and Lord Wilraot then received the co-operation of Captain Thomas
Gounter, who went to Chichester, but was unsuccessful in his
object. The Colonel upon this, conceived the next and best ex-
pedient, namely, of treating Avith a French merchant, a Mr. Prancis
ManceU, at Ovingdean Grange, whither he hastened, pretending to
pay him a visit, and to become well acquainted with him. He was
there courteously received, and entertained ; and, after a while, he
broke the business to Mancell, saying, "I do not only come to
visit you ; but to request one favour of you. I have two special
friends who have been engaged in a duel, and there is mischief done,
and I am obliged to get them off if I can. Can you fraught
(freight) a bark?" Mr. ManceU said he doubted not he could at
Brighthelmston. The Colonel pressed him to go immediately,
promising, if the business was effected he would give him £50 for
his pains ; but it being Stock fair-day there, and his partner out of
the way, he could not possibly until the next day. On the 10th
October, the merchant went to Brighthelmston to enquire, but the
seaman upon whom he could with the greatest certainty have
depended, was gone to Chichester, he having bargained for a cargo
there; fortunately, however, it touched at Shoreham, about four
miles from Brighthelmston. Mr. ManceU, therefore, sent immediately
to Shoreham, for the man, and on Saturday the 11th October, an
agreement was made that he (the seaman), should have £60 paid
him, before he took the parties into the boat. And it was arranged
that he was to be in readiness at an hour's warning. In the mean-
time, ManceU was to stay there, under pretence of freighting his
126 HI9T0KT OF BETGHTHELMSTOlt.
bark, so as to see all things in readiness against the arrival of the
Colonel and his two friends. The Colonel then retiu'ned to the
house of Mr. Hyde, afterwards Chief Justice of the King's Bench,
with whom Lord Wilmot was staying, and broke the joyful in-
telligence to him, that aU was in readiness ; and it was arranged that
Colonel Phillips should go for the King on the following day. This
was effected, and the King, on horseback, escorted by Colonel
Phillips, rode from Heale to Winchester, where they were met by
Lord Wilmot, Colonel Gounter, and Captain Gounter, who ac-
companied them to Brawde Halfe-penny, a little above Hambledon,
where Charles expressed a wish that lodgings should be procured in,
the neighbourhood, and he was consequently conducted to the house
of Colonel Phillips's sister, at the rear of Hambledon ; where, after
partaking of a hearty supper, Charles retired to rest, being much
fatigued by his long ride of 40 miles that day. At the break of day
the following morning, the party took their leave of Hambledon,
and on coming to Arundel, rode close by the castle, where they were
met full butt by Captain Morley, the Governor, but whom they
happily escaped, and then passed on by Howton to Bramber. The
remaining portion of the journey is found thus fully detailed in a
very curious and recherche article which, about forty years
since came into the possession of the British Museum, and is
entitled " The last Act, in the miraculous storie of his Mties. escape ;
being a true and perfect revelation of his conveyance, through many
dangers, to a safe harbour ; out of the reach of his tyranical enemies ;
by Colonel Gunter ; of Eacton in Sussex ; who had the happiness to
be instrumental in the business, (as it was taken from his mouth
by a person of worth a little before his death.)" — " Being come to
Bramber, we found the streets full of soldiers, on both sides the
houses ; whoe unluckily and unknowne to me were come thither the
night before, to guard; but luckily (or rather by a speciall Providence)
were just then come from their guard at Bramber bridge, unto the
towne* for refreshment. We came upon them unawares, and were
seen, before we suspected anything. My Lord Wilmot was ready
to tume back, when I stept in and said : 'If we do, wee are undone.'
' He saith well,' saith the King. I went before, hee followed, and soe
* Probably Steyning is here meant.
THE ESCAPE OF CHAEIES THE SECOND. 127
passed through, without any hinderance. It was then betweene
three and fewer of the clock in the aftemoone. We went on; but
had not gone farre, but a new terror pursued us; the same soldiers
riding after us as fast as they could. Whereupon the King gave me
a hem ! I slacked my pase, till they were come upp to me and by
that tyme, the soldiers were come, whoe rudely passed by us (beeing
in a narrow lane) soe that we could hardly keepe our saddles for
them ; but passed by without any further hurt ; being some 30 or 40
in number. When we were come to Beeding, a little village where I
had provided a treatment for the King (one Mr. Bagshall's house) I
was earnest that his Matie. should stay there a whyle, till he had
viewed the coast : But my Lord Wilmot would by noe meanes, for
feare of those soldiers, but carried the King out of the road, I
knew not whither, soe we parted ; they were they thought
safest, I to Brightemston ; being agreed they should send to me,
when fixed any where, and ready. Being come to the said
Brightemston, I found all clear there, and the Inne (the George)
free from all strangers att that tyme. Having taken the best roome
in the house and bespoken my supper ; as I was entertaining my-
selfe with a glass of wine ; the King, not finding accommodation
elsewhere to his mind was come to the Inne ; then upp comes mine
hoast (one Smith by name). 'More guests,' saith he; he brought
them into another room, I taking noe notice. It was not long, but
drawing towards the King's roome, I heard the King's voice, saying
aloud to Lord Wilmot, * Here, Mr. Barlow, I drinck to you.' ' I
know that name ' said I to my hoast, there by me ; ' I pray enquire,
and Avhether he were not a Major in the King's Army.' Which
done, he was found to bee the man, whome I expected ; and
presently invited, as was likely, to the fellowship of a glass of
wine. From that I proceeded and made a motion to join companie,
and because my chamber was largest that they might make use of
it. Which was accepted, and soe we became one companie againe.
At supper the King was cheereful, not showing the least signe of
fear or apprehension of danger ; neyther then nor att any tyme
during the whole course of this busines. Which is no small wonder,
considering that the very thought of his cnnemies soe great, and soe
many ; soe diligent, and soe much interested in his mine ; was
128 niSTORT OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
enough, as long as he was within their reach, and as it were, in the
very middest of them, to have daunted the stoutest courage in the
world. As if God had opened his eyes, as he did Elisha's servant,
at his master's request, and he had scene a heavenly hoast round
about him to guard him : which to us was visible, who therefore,
though much encouraged by his undauntedness, and the assurance of
soe good and glorious a cause ; yet were not without secret terrors
within ourselves, and thought every minute a day, a month, till they
should sec his sacred person out of their reach. Supper ended, the
King stood his back against the fyer, leaning over a chaire. Up
comes mine host (upon some jealousie, I guess not any certain
knowledge;) but up comes him who called himself Gains, runs to
the King, catcheth his hand and kissing it, said : 'It shall not be said
but I have kissed the best man's hand in England.' He had
waited at table at supper, where the boateman also sate with us and
were then present. "Whether he had feare, or heard any thing that
could give him any occasion of suspicion, I knowe not. In very
deede, the King had a hard taske, soe to carry himself in all things,
that ho might be in nothing like himselfe : Majesty being so
naturall upon him, that even when hee said nothing, did nothing,
his very lookes (if a man observed) were enough to betray him. It
was admirable to see the King (as though he had not been concerned
in these words, which might have soumded in the ears of another
man as the sentence of death) turned about in silence, without any
alteration of countenance or taking notice of what had been said.
About a quarter of an hour after, the King went to his chamber,
where I followed him and craved his pardon with earnest protesta-
ation that I was innocent, soe altogether ignorant of the cause how
this had hapened. ' Peace, peace, Colonel,' said the King, ' the
fellow knowes mee, and I him. He was one (whether or not, I
know not ; soe the King thought att the tyme) that belonged to the
back stairs of my father ; I hope he is an honest fellow.' After
this I began to treat with the boatman (Tettersfield by name)
asking him in what readiness he was. He answered, he could not of
that night, because for more security ho had brought his vessel into a
breake and the tyde had forsaken it : so that it was on ground. It
is observable that all the whylo this business had been in agitation
THE ESCAPE OP CHARLES THE SECOND. 129
to this very time, the wind had been contrarie. The king then
opening the wenddowe, tooke notice that the -wind was turned, and
told the master of the shipp. Whereupon, because of the Avind,
and a cleere night, I offered £10 more to the man to gett oflPthat
night. But that could not be. However, we agreed that he should
take in his companj' that night. But it was a great business that
we had in Rand ; and God would have us to knowe soe, both by the
difficulties that offered themselves, and by his helpe he afforded to
remove them. When we thought we had agreed, the boatman
starts back and saith, ' noe, except I would ensure the barke.'
Argue it we did with him, how unresoanable it was, beeing soe
well paid, &c., but to no purpose, soe that I yielded att last, and
£200 was his valuation, which was agreed upon. But then, as
though he had been resolved to frustrate all by unreasonable
demands, he required my bond. At which, moved with much
indignation, I began to be as resolut as he ; saying, among other
things, ' there were more boates to bee had, besydes his ; if he
would not another should,' and made as though I would go to
another. In this contest the king happily interposed. 'He saith
right,' saith his Matie., ' a gentleman's word, especially before
witnesses, is as good as his bond.' At last the man's stomach came
downe, and carrie them he would, whatever became of it; and
before he would be taken he would run his boate under the water.
Soe it was agreed that about tooe in the morning they should be
aboard. The boateman in the meanetyme went to proAdde for
necessaries, and I persuaded the king to take some rest. He did,
in his eloaths, and my Lord Wilmot with him, till towards tooe in
the morning. Then I called them up, showing them how the tj^me
went by my watch. Horses being Icdd by the back way towards
the beaclie, we came to the boat, and found all readie. Soe I took
my leave, craving his Maties. pardon if anthing had happened
through error, not want of will or loyalty. How willingly I would
have waited further, but for my family (being many) which would
want mee, and I hoped his Matie. Avould not, not doubting but in a
very little tyrae he should be where he would. My only request to
his Mtie. was that he would conceal his instruments, wherein their
preservation was so much concerned. His Matie. promised noebody
190 niSTOUT OP BKIGHTHELMSTON.
should know. I abided there keeping the horses in readiness in
case anything unexpected had happened. At 8 o'clock I saw them
on sayle, and it was the afternoon before they were out of sight.
The wind (0 Providence) held very good till the next morning, to
ten of the clock brought them to a place of Normandie called
?ackham, some three miles from Havre de Grace, 15 Oct. Wenseday,,
They were no sooner landed but the wind turned, and a violent
storme did arise, in soe much that the boateman was forced to cut
his cable, lost his anchor to save his boate, for which he required of
me £8, and had it. The boate was back againe at Chichester, by
Friday, to take his fraught. I was not gone out of the town of
Brighthelmston twoe houres, but soldiers came thither to search for
a tall man 6 foot and 4 inches high."
By the foregoing it will be seen that Charles never visited,
much less slept at Ovingdean Grange, as has been stated by some
historical writers, playwrights, and writers of romance.*
The vessel in which Charles escaped, was the '* Surprise," the
property of Captain Nicholas Tettersell, whose virtues are engraved
upon his tomb in the Old Church-yard, — vide Chapter XVI. The
vessel was a brig which had been detained a few years previously,
in the Downs, by a royal squadron, on her way from ^Newcastle,
with a cargo of coals, but was released by. a personal order of
Charles, then Prince of Wales, whose features were consequently
known to Tettersell, notwithstanding the king's attempt to disguise
himself. The bi'ig at the time of the engagement %vith Tettersell,
was half laden with coals, and the sailors were in a great measure
disengaged from duty. In order, therefore, to collect them without
exciting suspicion, he announced that she had broken from her
moorings. By this means, having got his crew on board, he
signified to them his engagement in a secret expedition, in which
their service should not go unrewarded. Matters being thus
prudently adjusted, Tettersell went ashore by himself, in order to
get a bottle of spirits, and to inform his wife that he should be
* Colonel Phillips went for Charles on Sunday, 12th October ; they started on
the 13th, and remained at Hambledon the nightof the 13th. On the night of the
14th they slept at the George Inn (King's Head) Brighton, from whenee they
departed at 2 a.m. on the 1.5th, arriving at Fechamp at 10 p.m. of that day.
THE ESCAPE OF CHAJILES THE SECOND. ' 131
absent for a few days. Curiosity urging the good woman to dive
into the mystery of so sudden and unreasonable a depai'ture, he was
at last constrained by her importunity to reveal to her the nature of
the service he had undertaken ; and she, with a fortitude and fidcKty
which reflect a lustre on her memory, earnestly exhorted him to an
honourable performance of his engagement with the illustrious
fugitive. It is recorded by Baker, in his Chronicles, that in the
course of the day, as the king, who still retained his disguise,
that of a Puritan, was sitting on the deck, one of the sailors stood
close to ■s\'indward of him smoking his pipe, and on being rebuked
by the captain for making so free, retired, muttering, " tridy a
cat may look at a king," but without being aware how personally
apposite the adage was.
After the Restoration, Tettersell, in 1671, in consideration of
his loyal services, was appointed by James, Duke of York, (then
Lord High Admiral of England,) Captain of the " Royal Escape,"
as a liftli-rate ; and the year ensuing, the king granted the reversion
of that sinecure to his son.
The following is the patent for the reversion of the appoint-
ment : —
Charles R.
"WTiereas our dear brother, James, Duke of York, Lord High Admiral of
England, hatli by his orders, dated the 4th of September last past, directed you
to cause Captain Nicholas Tct^rshall to be home in pay, together with one
servant, as captain of our vessel called the Eoyal Escape ; and that he should be
allowed pay as captain of a fifth-rate ship, and he and his servant paid with the
yard at Dcptford ; and whereas the said Nicholas Tetersliall hath humbly besought
iLs to continue the said allowance unto his son, Nicholas Tetcrshall, after his
decease, in consideration of his faithful and fortunate service performed unto us,
we have thought fit to condescend unto that his request, and it is accordingly our
will and pleasure that after the decease of the said Nicholas Tetcrshall, the
father, he, the said Nicholas Tetcrshall, the son, be borne in pay, together with
one servant, as captain of our said vessel, the Royal Escape, and that he be
allowed pay as ciptain of a fifth-rate ship, and he and his servant paid with the
yard at Deptford, in the same manner as his father now is. Given at our Court
at Whitehall, the 29th day of August, 1672, in the four-and-twentieth year of
our reign.
By His Majesty's command,
IlEXRy Coventry.
To the Principal Officers and Commissioners
of our Navy now and the time being.
By the following minute in the record book of the House of
K 2
132 HISTOKY OF BRIGHTHELMSTON.
Commons, Wednesday, 19th of December, 1660, it will be seen
that His Majesty was not unmindful of the services in effecting
his escape, that were rendered by Mr. Lane and his family : —
Resolved. — "That as a mark of respect to Mrs. Lane, and in testimony
of her services, in being instrumental to the preservation and security of the
person of his royal Majesty, there be conferred on the said Mrs. Lane the
sura of £1,000, to buy her a jewel, and that the same be, and hereby stands
charged on the arrears of the grand excise, and paid to her assigns, in course,
after the other sums are satisfied which are charged on the grand excise, by former
orders of this Parliament. And the commissioners of excise, for the time being,
arc hercbv impowcred and required to satisfy and pay the same accordingly. And
this order, together with the acquitance of the said Mrs. Lane, or her assigns,
testifpng the receipt thereof, shall be to the commissioners of excise a
sufficient warrant and discharge."
And letters patent, bearing date, 12th day of July, Anno 1677,
were granted by the king, to John Lane of Bentley, in the County
of Stafford, that henceforth he and his lawful descendants shall bear
in augmentation of their fraternal arms, three lyons passant guardant,
or in a Canton Gu.
The "Eoyal Escape" was Tettersell's coal-brig ornamented
and enlarged ; and shortly after the Eestoration, she was moored in
the Thames, opposite "Whitehall, to receive the veneration of the
fickle multitude. "But, some time after," as Dunvan says, " when
the increasing guilt of Charles proved to them a bitter restorative
fi'om political insanity, she dropped down to Deptford, where she
remained in a progressive state of decay, till, in the year 1791, her
mouldering remains were broken up for fuel in one of the dock-
yards there."
The descendants of Tettersell long enjoyed an annual pension
of £100. Sir John Bridger, the grandfather of Su' Henry Shiffner,
of Combe Place, was the last of the family who received the pension.
A ring which was given to Tettersell by Charles, is in the possession
of the Shiffner family.
The name of the Inn, in West street, was, after the return of
Charles from exile, changed from the "George" to the "King's
Head," and as a memorial of the royal visit, the portrait of his
Majesty became the sign of the house. It remained some years
fixed on the outside of the premises ; but about forty years since,
when it was going rapidly to decay, it was taken down by the then
THE ESCAPE OF CHARLES THE SBCOND. 133
landlord, Mr. Eales, and, having received a coat of varnish, was
placed in an oak frame and hung up indoors. That, however, like
every other memento of the flight of Charles, has some years been a
thing of the past, the bedstead with its appurtenances whereon the
royal personage slept, the chair whereon he sat, the cooking
apparatus of the occasion, and every article connected with the
event having long since been purchased at long prices to those
persons who set store upon historical relics. On Royal Oak Day,
the anniversary of the 29th of May, 1660, commonly called
Restoration Day, it is customary for a large bough of oak to adorn
the front of the " King's Head."
The only relic in Brighton, in any way connected with the
" Meme Monarch," is ^N'ell G Wynne's looking-glass. This glass is
amongst the curiosities in the Brighton Museum, at the Eoyal
Pavilion, and is the property of Sir Charles Dick, of Port Hall, Dyke
Road, Brighton. It bears the likeness of NeU Gwynne and King
Charles, which are modelled in wax; and also the supporters or
crest which Nell assumed, namely, the lion and leopard. The
whole is curiously worked in various coloured glass beads, and the
figures with the dresses are made to project in very high relief; indeed,
thc}^ are merely attached to the ground-work. In the upper
compartment is Charles in his state dress, and in the bottom one
that of Nell Grwynne in her court dress — the pattern of which is
very tasteful. On the right is Charles in his hunting dress, and on
the left is NeU in her negligee dress. The beads have retained their
colours, which are very appropriate to the subject, and must have
been a work of considerable time and patience ; but whether done
by NeU or not, there is no record. Mrs. Jameson says : — " Charles,
in spite of every attempt to detach him from her, loved her to the
last, and his last thought was for her — ' Let not poor Nelly starve !'
Burnet, who records this dying speech, is piously scandalized that
the King should have thought of such a ' creature ' in such a
moment ; but some will consider it Avith more mercy, as one among
the few traits which redeem the sensual and worthless Charles from
utter contcmnt."
X34 HISTOKY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
Chaptee XIX.
PERSECUTIONS FOE CONSCIENCE' SAXE.
During the persecutions for conscience' sake, several inhabitants
of Brighton underwent sundry pains and penalties. In 1658, John
Pullot,*- for speaking to the Priest and people in the Steeple-house,
Avas put prisoner into the Block-house ; — Churches or houses having
a steeple and a bell, were termed Steeple-houses. The next day
Pullot was sent to the County gaol till the Sessions, when he was
sentenced to Bridewell for six months' hard labour, and to be
whipped. In 1659, Nicholas Beard, for going into the Steeple-house,
was much abused, and hauled out by the hair of liis head.
The "Abstract" referred to recites: — "1658. — A meeting
being held at the house of William Gold, in Brighthelmston ; the
professors of that town, coming from their worship, first broke the
windows, which work one zealous woman was observed to do very
devoutly with her bible ; then they flung in much filth on those
that were there met, and at length thrusting in upon them, hauled
out Joseph Puce and some others, throwing him very dangerous' ;
on the ground, and hauling him and others out of the town,
threatened that if he came thither again they would throw him
into the sea. After this manner did the people there frequently
abuse those who were assembled together ; of which abuses Margery
Caustock had a large share. Her daughter also, of the same name,
going from a meeting was cruelly stoned and wounded in the face,
to the endangering her eye ; and her blood was spilt to that degree
that some of her wicked persecutors boasted that they had killed
one Cluaker, as they had almost done another, namely, Richard
Pratt, by stoning him."
Pratt had previously, in 1656, delivered in a paper to the
Bench of Justices, at the Lewes Sessions, representing the cruel
usage and stoning of his friends at Brighthelmston, and desiring
them to exert their authority for protecting the innocent from such
* An abstract of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers, for the Tes-
timony of a Good Conscience. London: The Bible, George Yard, Lombard.
Street, 1733.
PEESECXTTIOVS FOR CONSCIENCE' SAKE. 135
abuses ; w^hen he was by them committed to the House of Correction,
and ordered to be whipped there, and kept to hard labour. As the
officers were dragging him away to Bridewell, one William Hobbine,
seeing him in danger from the pushing of the people, laid hold of
him to keep him from falling. This being interpreted an attempt
to rescue the prisoner, Hobbine was fined three pounds, and sent
to prison for not paying it.
Thus the persecutions of the Quakers continued in all parts of
the kingdom, till General !Monk having had complaint made to him
of the rude distm-bances of Meetings by his soldiers, whUc at West-
minster, he, with complete success, issued the following order :
St. James's, March 9, 1659-60.
I do require all officers and soldiers, to forbear to disturb the peaceable
meetings of the Quakers, ihey doing nothing prejudicial to the Parliament of
England.
Geokge Monk.
In consequence of Monk having declared for the Common-
wealth, Charles II., who for some years had resided on the conti-
nent, after his escape from Brighton, by his advice repaired to
Breda. But it being resolved in England to recall him to the
throne, he made, on the 14tli day of April, 1660, his celebrated
Declaration of Breda, whereby he granted a free and general pardon
to all offenders against himself and his royal father, and " liberty
of conscience, that no man shall be disquieted or called in question
for differences of opinion, in matter of religion." His Restoration
was the result on the 18th of May following, and on the 29th of the
same month, his birthday, he made 'ds public entry into London.
The Act of Uniformity, which was passed in 1662, and is^as
called the St. Bartholomew Act, because it was to take effect on the
24th of August, the feast of that apostle, produced a kind of
ecclesiastical revolution, and shewed thu invincible detennination of
the enthusiasts. The date of the Bi-centenary of this Act, is the
24th of August of the present year, 1862. The Act was short, but
very stringent, as the annexed extract " XIV. Cai'oli II., 1662. —
Be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by the advice and with
tho consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and of the Commons in this
prosent Parli;imont, that every Parson, Vicar, or otlicr Minister, who now krtti
any Ecclesiastical Beuehce or Preferment within tho liealm of England, shall, in
136 HISTOEY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
the Cliurch, Chapel, or place of public worship, upon some Lord's Day, before the
Feast of St. Bartholomew, which shall be in the year of our Lord God, 1662,
publicly and solemnly read the morning and evening prayers, according to the
said Book of Common Trayer, at the times appointed, and after. such reading
thereof, shall openly and publicly, before the congregation, declare his unfeigned
assent and consent to the use of all things in the said book in these words and no
otiiers— I, A. B., declare my unfeigned assent and consent to all and everything
contained and prescribed in and by the Book of Common Prayer. And that every
such person who shall (without some lawful impediment) neglect or refuse to do
the same, shall be deprived of all his spiritual promotion ; and the Patron shall
present or collate, as if he were dead.
In one day, and by a concerted resolution, 2,000 presbyterian
ministers resigned their livings, because they would not conform to
the articles of the Act. They were even, some time after, prohibited
from coming within five miles of those places where they had
exercised their ministry, except on journeys, under pain of six
months' imprisonment, and paying a penalty of five pounds. These
rigorous proceedings were by no means agreeable to the king, Avho
was solicited by his brother James, to grant a general toleration.
Charles, in consequence, proclaimed an indulgence to those whose
consciences would not permit them to conform to the established
worship ; and as Parliament was then prorogued, he gave his royal
word, that at the approaching session, he would endeavour to
procure a confirmation of that indulgence. On the 18th of Feb-
ruary, 1663, therefore, on the assembling of Parliament, Charles
endeavoured to fulfil his promise; but the Parliament strongly
suspected that he had another and much deeper design in view, his
avowed intention being to gratify the Dissenters, but his secret
resolution being to support the Catholics, so they determined to
defeat him. He in consequence, from a remonstrance which they
drew up, issued a proclamation against all Popish Priests and
Jesuits.
In 1664, the Parliament, not content with the penalties con-
tained in the Act of Uniformity, passed the notorious Conventicle
Act, whereby it was enacted that if any one should repair to
Conventicles, — the name they gave to the meeting-houses of all
Dissenters, — he should be fined £5 for the first offence, or sufier
three months' imprisonment; for the second ofirncc £10, or six
months' imprisonment ; but for the third offence, after being con-
PERSECUTIONS FOE CONSCIENCE' SAKE. 137
victcd by a jury of his peers or fellows, he was to be transported to
some foreign plantation, or pay the penalty of £100.
In 1665, upon the assembling of the Parliament at Oxford, a
Bin was brought before that august body, that no dissenting teacher,
who refused to take the oath of non-resistance, should, except upon
the road, come within five miles of any corporation, or of any place
where he had discharged the offices of a minister, after the Act of
Oblivion, as it was called, under the penalty of £50. The Commons
rejected the BiU, which imposed the oath of non-resistance on the
whole nation. ■^•' The Conventicle Act was passed, in 1670. By it
every member of a Conventicle, or assembly of IS'on-Conformists,
consisting of more than five persons, exclusive of the family where
it was held, was liable to a fine.
One of the most vinilent officials in persecuting the jSTon-Con-
formists, was Captain Tettersell, who effected the escape of the King.
On Simday, the 29th of May, 1670, while exercising his authority
as High Constable of Brighton, he, with the zeal of a bigot, and
the malign industry of a ministerial spy, discovered in the town a
house in which a few Dissenters had privately met : and the door
having been barred against so unfriendly an intruder, he surrounded
the premises with his creatures, until a wan-ant for breaking the
door open arrived from Sir Thomas Xutt, of Lewes. "When the
warrant ariived, the door was opened upon the demand of the
Constable ; but no minister could be found ; nor were the company
engaged in any religious ceremony. It was, however, asserted by
some of the Constable's assistants, that they had heard from within
a voice in the elevated tone of prayer or instruction, and for this
imputed offence, the whole party was summoned before the said Sir
Thomas Nutt, and other Justices at Lewes. But there being no
proof to justify conviction under the Conventicle Act, the bench
insidiously counselled the objects of their pci'secution to confess the
whole, and promised they would permit them to set their own fines.
Finding them averse to self-accusation, wlicre they were conscious
of no crime, these upright dispensers of j ustice, even on the vague
conjecture of the spies, fined to the full penalty of the Statute, not
* The Corporation and Test Act which prohibited a Non-Conformist taking
any Civil or Military officL', was repealed May bth, lb28.
138 HISTOET OP BEIGHTHEIMSTON.
only such as were found in the house, but also a man who had been
seen coming out some time before the said spies approached it.
WiUiam Beard, the master of the house, having been fined £20,
Captain Tettersell broke open his malthouse, and took thereout sixty-
five bushel sacks of malt, which he sold to one of his partisans for
twelve shiUings a quarter.* Sir Thomas Nutt was a most malign
retailer of penal Jaw, and he prevailed on three other justices to
co-operate with him in order to sanction the rancour of persecu-
tion. Other Constables besides Tettersell, also, were the too
willing hai-pies of oppression under the mask of law.
Fastened in the back cover of Deryk Carver's bible (the
particulars of which are in Chapter XVII.) is a permission signed
by Lord Arlington, for holding a Conventicle. The mark where the
royal seal had been affixed, yet remains. The following is a correct
copy of the license : —
(The Regal Seal.) Charles R.
Charles, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and
Ireland, Defender of the faith, &c. To all Mayors, Baylifls, Constables, and
other Our Officers and Ministers, Civil and Military, whom it may concern,
Greeting. In pursuance of Oui- Declaration of the loth of March, 1671-2. Wc
have allowed, and we do hereby allow of a Koom or Rooms in the house of
Elizabeth Hopdon, widd. of Gouhlhurst in Kent, to be a place for the Use of
such as do not conform to the Church of England, who are of the Perswasion
commonly called presbyteiian to meet and assemble in, in order to their publick
"Worship and Devotion. And all and Singular Our Officers and Ministers,
Ecclesiastical, Civil, and Military, whom it may concern, are to take due notice
hereof : And they and every of them, are hereby strictly charged and required to
hinder any tumult or disturbance, and to protect them in their Said Meetings and
Assemblies. Given at Our Court at Whitehall, the Otli day of December, in the
2-lth yeai- of Our Reign, 1672.
By His Majesties Command,
AULINGTON.
Wi dd. Hopdons house.
The Toleration Act, 1 Wm. and Marj-, 1. c. 18, which ex-
empted Dissenters from the penalties of certain laws, was confirmed
by statue 10 Anne, c. 2.
Crosby's History of the English Baptists.
THE BIBD6 AND THEIE HAXTNT8. 139
Chapteb XX.
THE BIRDS AND THEIR HAUNTS IN THE NEIGHBOUR-
HOOD OF BRIGHTON.
The Sussex coast is a favourite locality for the greater portion
of our British Birds, more particularly the migratory species. The
high headlands to the eastward seem to be a great attraction to
them by da}'', and, as a great many take nocturnal Hight, tlie glare
of light at night sent high into the vault of the heavens from the
gas lamps in the to-wn of Brighton, attracts a great number to this
neighbourhood, and many rare specimens have been obtained. The
migration of birds is a subject of considerable interest in their
natural history to the Ornithologist. It was fonnerly supposed
that many birds, which now are known for a certainty to migrate,
retired to some secure retreat, and remained dormant through the
winter. So general was this impression that in some districts of
England seven of the migratory birds obtained the names of the
seven sleepers. The Cuckoo was one of these ; and the Swallows
were supposed to lie up in a torpid state during the winter. Most
birds migrate, and those wliich cross the seas are called " Birds of
Passage." A great number of our birds remove as the cold weather
sots in, from the inland districts towards the sea shores, which
afford them a better supply of food.
In the Spring of the year — March and April — wo have the
greatest arrival of our summer visitors, and it is astonishing with
what order and punctuality they arrive and depart. They are the
unerriug messengers of Spring ; and, true to Nature's laws, anivc
generally within a few days of the time pointed out by the scientific
observations of the Ornithologist.
The poets, from Chaucer downwards, have largely introduced
birds into their works. Chaucer, in his " Assembly of Eowlea,"
bays —
On every hough the bh-dis herd I syng,
"With voice of Angell in their harnionie.
Milton, in praising the nightingale, says —
As the wakeful bird
3lng& darkling, and in shadiest cov(;rt hid,
Tuut'S her noctuiual note.
140 HISTORY OF BRIGHTHELMSTON.
Shakspear writes —
Tlie poor wren,
The most diminutive of birds, will figbt; —
Her young ones in her nest — against the owl.
Byrou, in Ms " Bride of Abydos," says —
There sings a bird unseen, but not remote,
Invisible his airy wings, —
But soft as harp, that Houri strings
His long entrancing note.
Lord Erskine, in beautiful words, says —
They whisper truths in reason's ear,
If human pride would stoop to hear.
All our poets, from the greatest to the least, from the first to
the last, acknowledge by their writings how much they owe to the
productions of IS'ature, both animate and inanimate.
The Golden Eagle — Falco chrysaetos — is mentioned by Yarrcll,
in his "Histoiy of British. Birds," as baving been shot near Bexhill,
but none of our late writers on Ornithology have been able to
authenticate the fcict. We have not been honoured with a visit
from his imperial majesty the king of birds. Several specimens of
the White-tailed Eagle — Falco albicilla, — have been shot in the
immediate neighbourhood, and the parties have always fancied they
have been lucky enough to obtain the true Golden Eagle. A
gentleman from Brighton, being at Shoreham some years ago, just
after the landlord of the Dolphin Inn had shot what he considered
was the Golden Eagle, somewhat surprised the imagined lucky shot
by assuring him that it showed too much of its legs, and that it was
only an immature specimen of the Sea Eagle ; and so it turned out.
Several others are likewise recorded as having been shot in this
neighbourhood.
The Osprey, or Eishing Hawk — Falco halicdns, — has of late
years been a rare visitant in this vicinity, though several are
authenticated as having been shot here formerly. They are
occasional visitors along our shores, but seldom go far inland for
their prey, as they are true fishermen, living entirely upon the
fruits of their labour ; and they are very formidable, and powerfully
winged birds, darting down from a great height, like an arrow from
a bow, upon their prey with unerring certainty. In North
THE BIKDS AUD THEIR HAUNTS. 141
America they arc welcomed in the Spring by the fishermen, as the
happy omen of the approach of herring, shad, &c., which period-
ically arrive there ou the coast, in prodigious shoals.
Eastward of Brighton, about fourteen miles, is Bcachy Head,
the home, fi-om time immemorial, of a pair of Peregrine Falcons —
Falco peregrinus ; another pair is generally to be found in the high
cliffs near Seaford. This noble bird was the pride of our ancestors
in their sporting diversions, and was considered very valuable when
possessed of the particular qualities most in request. Yarrcll, in
his " History of British Birds," mentions that in the reign of James
I. Sir Thomas Monson is said to have given one thousand pounds
for a cast (a couple) of these hawks. The high perpendicular cliffs
at Beachy Head have always been a favourite breeding place for the
Peregrines, and where their young are generally every year taken
by a man whose companions let him over the cliff by means of a
derrick. The derrick is simply a pole with a sheave-wheel at one
end of it, for the rope to pass over, and is run about two feet over
the edge of the cliff, and at the other end it has a hole, through
which an iron bar is passed and driven firmly into the ground to
keep it steady. By this contrivance the man is lowered to the
requii'ed spot, and hauled up again in safet}-, and though the pro-
cess has been going on for many years, no instance is recorded of
any accident having occurred. By this means also a great many of
the eggs of the Willock— Uria troili — and Razor bill — Alca tarda, —
are taken ; these birds breed here in great numbers every year. The
derrick is a familiar machine to the smuggler, as it enables him to
get his tubs very expeditiously from the bottom to the top of the
cliff, which is done by several men on the beach taking hold of the
end of the rope, and running straight out with it, and then fastening
on the tubs in clusters. Sometimes they are brought up in this
way four or five hundred feet. These cliffs ai'e likewise the resort
and breeding places of a great many Jackdaws — Corvus monedula.
Sixty years ago the Red Legged Crow, or Cornish Chough —
Pyrrlwcorax graculus — was common here, though now the species is
nearly or quite extinct all along our southern shores. A man, now
between sixty and seventy years of age, who has been in the constant
habit of going nearly all his life, to Beachy Head to catch prawns
142 niSTOny op beigiithelmston.
for a livelihood, says that he remembers the Red-billed Daw per-
fectly weU, and that the last h'e saw there, was fifty-three or fifty-four
years ago, and that he recollects to this day the precise spot where
he saw them. There were seven in company, and he describes
their flight to be a succession of jerks, or in the manner of a Dish-
washer, wliich is very peculiar. It was ninety years ago that
Gilbert White, of Selborne, recorded the fact of the?r abounding at
Beachy Head and all along the cliffs of the Sussex Coast.
A little to the westward of the highest part of the cliffs, upon
a projecting portion, called Beltout, stands Beachy Head lighthouse,
a very handsome and solid structure, built entirely of granite. It
is supposed that it will last till the solid chalk cliff washes away
from under it. It stands about thirty yards from the edge of the
perpendicular cliff, which is here about one hundred and forty yards
high, with the sea at highwater washing its base. It has a re-
volving light of three sides, with ten argand lamps in each with
highly polished reflectors, kept in motion by machinery wound up
like a clock, two or three times in a night. It is managed by two
light-keepers, whose duty is to keep the lamps burning and re-
volving from sunset to sunrise, all the year round. It has no doubt
been the means of saving numerous vessels from being lost upon
that once very dangerous part of the Sussex coast.
At the foot of the cliff, nearly under the Lighthouse, is a cave
called " Darby's Hole," said to have been cut out more than a hun-
dred years ago, bj^ a clergyman of that name li%T.ng at East Dean,
a little \-illage about a mile-and-a-half oft', for the philanthropic
purpose of saving the lives of shipwrecked sailors ; and it is handed
down as a fact that he had the pleasure at one time of saving nearly
a dozen poor men from a watery grave. Formerly, hardly
a winter passed without three or four wrecks occurring, which
proved a great assistance to tho poor villagers of East Dean. A
laughable story is told of a wreck happening a gi'eat many years
ago, on a Sunday morning whilst most of the villagers were in
chiirch, when a man wishing to inform some of his friends there of
the circumstance, quietly slipped in for that purpose, and it was
soon whispered from one to another that there was ''a wreck," and
they so kept going out one after the other thqfe the church got
I
TITE BinDS AND TITEIli HAUNTS. 143
considerably thinned. The clergyman seeing that he was likely to
be left nearly alone, and suspecting "the cause, he in a loud audible
voice said, "If there is a wreck, say so, and let's all start fair." —
The story goes that the news of the wreck was rather a hoax than
otherwise, as the fact of "a four-mast vessel laden with wool and
tallow ashore," proved to be nothing other than the carcase of a
South-down sheep washed up by the tide.
The lighthouse has a very pleasing effect when viewed by night
from the sea, and on a fine summer's evening, parties frequently
make excursions from Eastbourne and other places to visit it.
Being situate on the South Downs the walk to it is most delightful,
the turf being so very fijie, that it may be compared to a Turkey
carpet, and in July and August the air is highly fragrant with wild
aromatic herbs, thyme, &c. At the same time of the year great
quantities of those delicious birds, Wheatears — Sylvia oenanthe, —
arrive, and are scattered over the extensive Downs in vast numbers,
but not in flocks, as they are almost invariably seen siagly. It is a
great perquisite to the shepherds to catch them, which they do by
cutting out lines of traps in the turf in the form of a T, and
inverting the turf over a couple of horse-hair nooses. Pennant
states, that in his time the numbers snared about Eastbourne
amounted annually to about one thousand eight hundred and forty
dozen. They are called the English Ortolan, from their being so
fat and plump and of such a delicious flavour. They are a great
delicacy potted. They are, however, gradually lessening in numbers,
year after year, so that it hai'dly pays the shepherds now, for their
time and trouble to get their traps ready.
Along the whole range of the South Downs the "WTieatear has
its haunts, especially about the vicinity of the Devil's Dyke, which
is a place of general rendezvous for sportsmen and pleasure-seekers.
It was formerly known as the Poor Man's Wall, and even now, in
its deep trenches, exhibits the form and extent of a liomim en-
campment.
About five-and-forty years ago, in consequence of the large
extent of company that frequented the spot in summer-time, to view
the vast expanse of country which the site commands, Mr. Sharp, a
confectioner, then carrying on liis business in North Street, on the
144 HISTOEY OP BRIGBTHEIMSTOIT.
spot now occupied by the premises of Mr. Abrahams, outfitter, con-
ceived the idea of establishing a place for refreshment near the
summit of the hill, and for that purpose hii'ed a piece of ground
north of the high vallum which runs westward from the top of the
Dyke to the brow of the hill. Thither he conveyed a wooden
house that had been used as a bacon shop by a man named Smith.
It formerly stood upon wooden wheels opposite the shop of Mr,
Hyam Lewis, silversmith, in Ship Street Lane, now the upper end
of Ship Street ; but it at present forms a dwelling place, under the
hill, by the tm-npike road to Fulking, at the base of the Devil's
Punch Bowl, close by the village of Pojnings.
The person who first superintended the Dyke establishment
was Mr. Russell, who was succeeded by Mr. Thomas Sturt.
His successor was Mr. Thomas King, familiarly then and now
known as " Tommy King," whose refreshing beverages and
exhilirating fiddling gave him a far and near notoriety. The
premises were only occupied and opened during the Summer
season, from May to October j and although stabling and other
accommodation were constructed, in a few years the public re-
quirements induced the erection of the present building, the Dyke
House, by Mr. Hardwick, and it has successively passed fi"om
King to Mr. Edwards, of Horsham, the tenant who obtained the
spirit license ; Mr. Ade, of Huntingdon ; Mr. "William Cooper, of
Brighton ; Mr. Peter Barkshire, now of Patcham ; to its present
occupier, Mr. "William Thacker, who has been landlord of the
, house, and tenant of the farm attached twenty-seven years, during
which period he has received the royal patronage of William IV.
and Her present Majesty and the late Prince Consort. The house has
also been the resort of many 'illustrious foreign visitors, amongst
whom may be named Piince Metternich and Count Nesselrode.
The most notorious character who took up his abode here, was
Azimidlah Khan, the great promoter of the Mutiny in India. He
was a resident in Brighton during the Spring and Summer of 1 846 ;
but towards the latter end of the Autumn of that year, by the
alleged advice of his physician, he, for three weeks, had apart-
ments at the Dyke House ; and during that time he was constantly
receiving and sending off Indian overland messengers with enormous
THE BIHDS AJTD THEIR HAT7NT9. 145
despatches, without doubt having reference to that shocking revojt
which will for ever remain an odious blot upon the history of our
East Indian dominions. Azimullah was the Prime Minister of the
arch fiend, jSTana Sahib ; and though it might be saying too much in
declaring that the plan of the insurrection was decided upon at the
Dyke House, there is little doubt that the first copy of the pro-
clamation was prepared there. Lieutenant Delafosse, one of the
few survivors of the Cawnpore massacre, on his return to England
visited the Dyke, and there assured Mr Thacker that he saw
Azimullah on the river bank at Cawnpore, in the company of
Nana Sahib, waving his sword when the guns were discharging
their murderous bjdls into the boats which contained the defenceless
victims.
The steep sides of the Dyke have been the scenes of numerous
accidents, from persons having the temerity to run down them.
Some daring feats of riding and driving have also been exhibited
here. The most memorable and daring act was that of Tom Poole,
who, for the wager of a champagne dinner for twelve, drove a
tandem down the most abrupt part. It was most cleverly accom-
plished, without the least accident ; but that he might not be dis-
appointed in participating in the wagered repast, — in the event of
the loss of Life or limb in the performance of the exploit, — ho
insisted upon having the dinner before he undertook his task.
Many other dare-devil tricks have been attempted here ; and per-
haps the most remarkable is that related in what is familiarly
known as the
LEGEND OF THE DEVIL's DYKE.
"Once upon a time, at the period of yore, in the days of
mistletoe and harvest-homing, when our countiy merited the title
of ' merrie England,' there was to be found on the edge of the
South Downs, opposite the pleasant little vUlage of Poynings, in
Sussex, a humble hostel, or nUage Inn, yclept ' The Jolly Shep-
herd,' kept by one Dame Margery, who, in her younger days, had
followed the camp, but had long since retired upon her reputation
as a trooper's widow. The accommodations of the ' Jolly Shepherd '
would be held in slight repute in modern days, but in the time of
which wc arc speaking they were reckoned all-sufficient, although
L
146 HISIOHT OF BEIOHTHBLMSreN.
consisting chiefly of a warm seat by a cheerful fire, froeh eggs and
bacon, and good honest home-brewed ale ; and accordingly some
half-dozen rustic customers were seated round the widow's hearth,
to escape the cutting blast of the Downs without, and commemorate
the ove of Holy Saint John, within. Suddenly the song and the
talo of the party were interrupted by a most mysterious knocking
at the door, and a shrill, querulous voice demanding instant ad-
mittance. The active old hostess hastened to obey, but made a
kind of a jump, step, and hop backward, on beholding the unusual
appearance of the new arrival, exclaiming, * Lord preserve us !
what is it ?' 'A gentleman from below,' replied a little, decrepid,
wizened old man,
AVhose coat was red, whose breeches were blue,
With a little hole where a tail came through.
He glided into the room and crept along by the wall, with the most
infernal ceremony and politeness, to the inner recess of the chimney
corner, without having once shown his back to his hostess or any
of the good company there assembled, and quickly finding himself
comfortably seated, the queer little old gentleman produced «
blackened * Dudeen ' and a velvet tobacco pouch, but somehow or
other the clouds of smoke he emitted were so pervaded with the
smell of brimstone and bitumen, that tlie rest of the guests did
nothing but sneeze and knock their heads together in a regular
hob-and-nob fashion. To stop this nuisance, the worthy hostess
placed before her mysterious guest a frizzing hot dish of eggs and
bacon, but upon tasting the same, he expressed his dissatisfaction,
declaring it was as cold as charity, and demanding * more pepper.'
He, upon receiving it, emptied the contents of the pepper-box over
the dish, and having thus formed a regular pate au diahle, he
swallowed it down with considerable apparent relish. With the
ale it was pretty much the same ; the hostess first muUed it, but her
refractory guest declared it was as cold as ice ; then she boiled it
with a vast quantity of ginger, but with little better success, and
it could only be brought to suit his fiery palate by being stirred up,
when boiling, with a red hot poker. These strange proceedings
of the mysterious visitor mightily astonished the rest of the
guests, their faces beooming much elongated ; and after staring at
THE BLRDS AND THEIE HAUNTS. 147
each other in stupified bcwildennent, they stealthily took to
their homes, exclaiming, ' Did you ever see the Devil ? '
The whole of the company had departed long ere the cause
of their uneasiness left his chimney corner and glided to his/
sleeping apartment, which he managed to do in the same
mysterious manner as he had entered the house, never once
removing his back from the wall. About three o'clock in the
morning, our worthy hostess of ' The Jolly Shepherd ' was
awakened from her balmy slumbers, by a strange thumping, bump-
ing kind of noise just under her Avindow, seeming to resemble the
hubbub made by a shoal of whales or other such lumbering
monsters, who had quitted the ocean deep, and taken to wallowing
and gambolling along the Downs by way of pastime. The trooper's
Avidow possessed a bold heart, and, added thereto, she had a woman's
curiosity, which induced her to creep out of bed, and cautiously to
take a peep at what was going on. She was amazed ? She did not
behold half a dozen Leviathans haAdng a game at leap-frog, nor the
like number of griffins playing at snap-dragon. I^o, no, nothing of
that sort ; but the queer little old gentleman aforesaid, mounted on
a pair of lofty stilts, with a huge spade in his hand, was digging
away at the edge of the ancient Roman encampment, like the very
' old-un,' shovelling out the chalk and flint stones by waggon loads,
and his tail whisldng about like a serpent in fits. The bold hostess
did not hail him to stop his digging. Not she, good honest soul, as
she was desirous of seeing a little clearer what he was about, before
gi%ing any alarm ; so she quickly struck a Hght, and lest the candle
should alarm her ancient guest, she caught up something to put
before it, and this something fortunately happened to be a sieve.
Suddenly the old gentleman ceased working, looked up at the
window, and when he saw the candle behind the seive, surmounted
by the old woman's night cap, he exclaimed * Oh ! Beelzebub, the
rising sun,' and folding his stilts across to form a spindle, ho
ducked his head forward and rolling himself into a ball like a
hedgehog, he went bounding along the Downs with fearful
rapidity. The Eight Rev. Rector of Poynings had been to a jolly
christening, had made a wet night of it, and was endeavouring to
navigate his road homewards, when he saw a sort of galvanized
L 2
148 HI9T0KY OF BRTGHTHEIMSTON.
harlequin whirling and tumbling along straight towards him. The
Rev. Eector stopped short; when, just on passing, a sharp pointed
sting was protruded from the rolling mass; and having slightly-
touched his Eeverence's great toe, the whole ball exhaled, evaporated
and vanished — exit infumo. The parish duties of Poyniugs were
performed by the Curate for the next three months ; the doctor said
his Eeverence was laid up with the gout, but the Eector himself
maintained it was the Devil. The question has ever since been,
what could induce this queer old gentleman to set to work and dig
away in such an outlandish fashion ? Some old gossips say that his
evil intention was to let in the salt sea, and flood all this most
beautiful valley of pleasant Sussex. Ee that as it may, one fact is
worth noting, that the hostehy of ' The Jolly Shepherd,' from that
period ceased its existence, and never, in the village of Poynings,
since that night, when his Satanic Majesty was foiled, has a license
been held by any person again to ' sell spirits.' "
The largest attendance of visitors to the Dyke, is during the
months of August and September, when, frequently, as many as a
hundred carriages a-day arrive with parties, either to view the
magnificent expanse of scenery which the spot commands, or on
pic-nic excursions, as the establishment has accommodation for
many sets of visitors at the same time. The predilection which the
English have for displaying their wit in snatches of their poetic
genius, has, on the walls of the rooms, the looking-glasses, and the
panes of glass in the mndows, extensive scope, and signatures
innumerable crowd every available spot.
0 ! foul attempt to give a deathless lot
To names ignoble, bom to be forgot.
In vain recorded.
The house being erected iu so exposed and elevated a situation,
one of the highest of the South-Down range, damage by gales and
storms is very frequent. From the loneliness of its position, too,
burglars have made various attempts to obtain spoil, but the
reception they have always met with has rendered their expeditions a
trouble rather than a profit. The spot was especially chosen by the
late Duke of St. Albans for his hawking excursions, as it afforded
an extensive range of sight to the numerous company of nobility and
THS BISSS AND TKEIB. HATTNIS. 149
gentry, who attended upon such occasions to witness that old
English pastime. The Brighton Harriers, at least once a week
during the season, throw off here, and other packs make it their
place of meeting.
But to return to the more immediate subject of this Chapter,
the feathered tribe, from which there has been a slight digression,
for the record of facts that form an important link in the chain of
local history :
The Buzzard — Falco hdeo, — is another of our indigenous birds,
which has nearly disappeared from this district, and what was many
years ago called the Common Buzzard is now very rare. They
were formerly frequently met with among the furze near the
edge of the cliflfe, where they were constantly at war with the
Jackdaws.
The Black Redstart — Sylvia tithjs, — is considered rare in this
country; but Brighton has been fortunate in affording several
examples of this handsome and graceful bird, which is a ^vinter
visitor.
The Common Redstart — Sylvia phcmicurus, — unlike his confrere,
is a summer visitor, generally arriving about the second week in
April. Their migration seems to be gregarious, as they are to be
met with in flocks of ten or a dozen, close by the sea shore, a little
to the westward of Brighton, where they have appai-ently just
arrived. In a day or two, they distribute themselves over the
countr}^ and are hardly ever seen again, but singly, or at most in
pairs. This bird has several dark red feathers on the rump, and the
country people call it the Fire Tail.
The Grasshopper "Warbler — Sylvia lociistella, — is a very shy bird,
and consequently is very rarely seen. It is a great ventriloquist,
and its note is exactly like the grasshopper, (hence its name), only
very much louder, and so very peculiar, that a person may be
within a yard or two of the bird, and yet be unable to define the
exact spot. It is not a scarce bird, and several nests of it have
been found at the Holm-bush, and almost any fine evening in June
it may be heard there. Its haunts are at the edges of large woods,
in low scrubby bushes.
The Sedge Warbler — Sylvia phragmitis, — may be found in the
150 HISTOBT OP BEIOHTHELMSTOS.
Summer months in the marshes that run up from Shoreham to
Beeding:. It is one of our night singing birds.
The Pieed "Wreii or Eeed "Warbler — Sylvia arundinacea, — is
found in precisely the same locality as the last, and Tv^here, during
the Summer months, several of their extraordinary nests have been
found. They generally prefer the ditches where the reeds grow the
thickest. In making their nest, which is very deep, they bring
three or four stout reeds together with their materials, near the
water, and it is so beautifully and scientifically constructed, that in
case of floods, the nest wiU rise up the stems. Any lover of
K'atural History, if he is not aware of the fact, or seen their nests,
would be delighted with the beautiful provision wliieh JSTature here
carries out.
The Nightingale — Sylvia liiscinia, — is the most musical, most
melancholy of birds, the poet's bird, — par excellence. On Poynings
Common, through May, they may be heard in the greatest per-
fection, where they tune their melodious nocturnal love song
through the livelong night. They generally arrive about the
second week in April.
The Dartford "Warbler — Sylvia provincialis, — is said by most
writers on British birds, to be extremely rare, but on the Downs,
two or three miles to the north-east of iNTewhaven, they have been
seen among the furze. They have a propensity for keeping near
the ground in the high furze, and a great dislike to exhibit
themselves. They are local, and tolerably abundant in their habitat.
There are five species of "Wagtail that are visitors in the
neighbourhood of Brighton. The "White "Wagtail — Motacilla alha, —
so neai'ly resembles the common Pied "Wagtail — Motacilla yarrellii, —
that to a common observer there appears scarcely any difference.
The Gray "Wagtail — Motacilla boarula, — and the Grayheaded
"Wagtail — Motacilla fava, — ■ are rare birds to this country ;
but both have been shot in this locality. The TeUow or Rays
"Wagtail — Motacilla campestris, — ^is common in the Spring of the
year, and may be found by the edges of running streams. To the
eastward of Brighton the whole family of the "Wagtails are called
Dishwashers.
Sl^y Larkp — Al^^l(^ arvenaif!, — in October, como in lar^jo flights
THB BIEBg AWD ra^TB. HATTXT8. 151
from the east. It is a favourite amusement with the Cockney sports-
men of Brighton, on a nice sunshiny morning, to go just outside the
town, with what is called a lark glass, which is simply a piece of
vood about a foot long, planed like the ridge of a house, having small
pieces of looking glass let in the sides, and a wooden pin fitted
in a socket or stump which is firmly driven in the ground, and is set
spiniing backwards and forwards by a string. By this means the poor
birds are decoyed down ; and they seem fascinated by the glitter of
the ghss, as they keep hovering within a few feet of it, and are not
easily driven away ; consequently they present easy marks for the
shooter. A dozen or more will hover over the glass at one time, and
a tolerable marksman will sometimes kill three or four dozen of a
morning. The sport is generally over by half-past nine or ten
o'clock. In the winter, — generally at the first fall of snow, —
immense iights of larks come coasting along, driven apparently
from the cold northern climes, towards the more genial west. The
numbers that pass over Brighton are incredible, they sometimes
extend to millions a-day, as from early light to dusk there is a
continued stream, at least a quarter of a mile wide, passing along.
On the road to Rottingdean is where the greatest flights may be
observed. They are apparently continental visitors, coming across
the German Ocean in a north-east direction. The flight seldom
lasts more than two or three days.
The Ortolan Bunting —Emberita hortulana, — has twice been
obtained in and near Brighton ; but it is a very rare bird in this
country.
The Hoopoe — Upwpa epops, — the most beautiful of aU. our
British birds, is a frequent visitor in the Spring of the year to this
part of tlie country. In May, 1845, Mr Swaysland, Naturalist,
Queen's Boad, had to preserve and mount six Hoopoes, which were
kiUed within a few miles of Brighton.
The Great Norfolk Plover, or Stone Curlew — (Edicnemm
crepitans, — is becoming very scarce now, though formerly these
birds were tolerably abundant. Their haunts were generally to be
found among the large open stony fallows of our downs. They are
like all tlic family of Charadriida?, very shy birds.
Tlio Qoldeu Y\^yQXr^Chi{radrimpk.vialiiy---'CQ,(i I^ingcd Dott^ell
152 HISTORY OF BEIGHTHEIMSTON.
— Charadriusmorinellm, — the Grey Plover — Vanellusmelanog aster, —
the Turnstone — Strepsilas interpres, — the Sanderling — Calid/ris
arenaria, — the Oystercatcher — Hcematopus ostralegus, — are all, every
year, to be met with in the little bays and inlets, on the beach
between Brighton and Shoreham Harbour ; as are also the Curlew —
Nmnenius arquata, — the Whimbrel — Numenius phmopus, — the Eed-
hawk — Totanus caUdris, — the Sandpiper — Totmius hypoleucos, — the
Greenhawk — Totanus glottis, — the Blackheaded Godwit — lirnosa
melanura. The Ruff — Machetes pugnax, — is also found in the above
locality, as well as several other species of the "VVaders. The
Curlew Sandpiper — Tringa subarquata, — and the Little Stint —
Tringa minuta, — ^have both been killed in the same place, though
their visits are rare and far between.
The Gray Phalarope — Fhalaropus platyrhyncJius, — has occasion-
ally been met with, generally in flocks of from ten to fifteen, and
upwards. They are nearly or quite the smallest web-footed bii'ds
that are known ; their homes are in the cold northern climes, and
they are so unacquainted with man and his terrible engines of
destruction, that they are apparently tame. Two gentlemen once
fell in with a flock, in Shoreham Harbour, and killed seventeen,
being nearly or quite all there were. They described them as
miniature ducks swimming swiftly about on the still water, and did
not attempt to escape ; consequently they were all shot down.
In very severe winters, immense flocks of "Wild Fowl fly near
the shore, from east to west, and a great many specimens of the
Goose and Duck tribe are obtained, some of them very rare to this
county. The Egyptian Goose — Anser cegyptiams, — was shot a few
miles from Brighton, two years ago. So rare is this beautiful bird
considered, that there is still a doubt amongst Ornithologists that
the examples which have been met with, have only strayed from
gentlemen's parks, &c. They haVe generally been seen and shot in
the severest winters, and are apparently a sort of " frozen-out
gardeners."
During the winter of 1860, owing to its severity, several
specimens of the Hooper — Cygnus musuus,— and Bewick's Swan —
Cygnns minor, — Avere shot in this neighbourhood. A great many
^waus Avere Ulcewise observed flying a little distance out at sea.
THE BIEDS AND THEIE HAXTSTS. 153
The Great Northern Diver — Colymbus glacialis — is occasionally
met with, as also the Black and Red Throated Diver — CoVymhus
mcticus, — and Colymhus septentrionalis.
There are several species of Terns to be met with in this
locality. The GuUbilled Tern — Sterna angelica, — and the Lesser
Tern — Sterna minuta, — are both rare, particularly the former, and
have been shot near Shoreham. A few examples of the rare Little
Gull — Larus minufus, — have been shot near Brighton ; likewise
the Ivory Gull — Lams eburneus, — ^both very rare. Most of the
common Gulls are abundant, being near their breeding places.
Several specimens of The Forktailed Petrel — Thalassidroma
Leachii, — and of the Storm Petrel or Mother Carey's Chicken —
TJmlassidroma pelagica, — have been obtained generally in the severest
gales, about the time of the Vernal and Autumnal equinoxes, when
they have frequently been found blown ashore, by stress of weather ;
and instances have occurred here, when they have been picked up
in areas of houses near the sea, generally in a most exhausted state.
The House Sparrow, — Fringilla domestica, — is a well-known
young gentleman, that may be seen almost any day, at every man's
door, whether poor or rich, in town or in country. He is the most
familiar and domesticated wild bird in England. In town he puts
on his black, dirty, scavenger's dress, which completely disguises
him, — his appearance being so different from his confreres in the
countrj\ His destructiveness among the newly sown seeds in the
garden, and in the ripe standing wheat, is proverbial ; — but then,
in the consumption of grubs and caterpillars, he is eminently ser-
viceable, which greatly compensates for the harm he may do in
the garden or in the field.
The Rook — Conus frugilegtis, — during the latter part of the
Winter, the whole of the Spring, and the former part of the
Summer, takes up his abode in the elm trees of the Pavilion
Grounds, which form a breeding colony in immediate connexion
with the Rookery at Stanmcr ^Park. About Chiistmas the Rooks
arrive to reconnoiti'e, and in February they commence building
their nests, much to the entertainment of persons whose business or
pleasure takes them by way of the Jfew Road. For some few years
previous to the re-building of ITnion Street Chapel, in 1825, a pair
154 HISTOBY OF BUKJHTHEliMSrrOW.
of Eooks annnally took up their abode in a large olm tree which
stood in the small buricol-ground of that place of worship. The
Jackdaw — Corvus monediila, — and the Starling — Sturnus milgaris, —
in various parts of the town are annual visitors, year after year
occupying the same blank chimneys or neglected gables.
AU Naturalists attached to the scientific expeditions for the
exploration of the Arctic regions, speak of the myriads of water
fowl met with, in those immense reservoirs of snow and ice, the
accumulation of ages, where, in the midst of plenty, they rear their
young, unmolested by man. There, amongst lagoons, and bays, and
swamps, and lakes, and where an impenetrable barrier is firmly
fixed to the prying eye of man, they find an asylum to propagate
their different orders, and genus, and species, surrounded by a
profusion of food ; and, at the end of the long Summer day of weeks
of unsetting sun, with instinctive knowledge they gather
together their separate families, in innumerable flocks, and proceed
southward, to replenish the warmer regions of the globe, and
to furnish man with some of the luxuries of life.
"Brighton and its siurounding locality, including Lewes, have
obtained considerable repute amongst entomologists for producing
a great many rare insects, owing, no doubt, to there being several
persevering and good collectors in the district.
There are only sixty-four indigenous Butterflies in England, —
certainly very few when compared with the number of species
found in Europe. Of those sixty-four, Erighton and its neighbour-
hood contribute forty-eight, and of Moths, — of which there are
upwards of two thousand found in England, — ^nearly the same
proportion. It is a curious fact in iN'atural History, that some
families, which years ago were rare in England, have now become
common ; and, others which were frequently met with, are very rare ;
some species have disappeared altogether, while new ones, —
owing to the great addition and perseverance of collectors, — are
every year discovered and added to the lists.
The Holmbush, — about eight miles from Brighton, and the
commencement of the "Weald of Sussex, — has hitherto beem the
great emporium for moths, and a good many butterflies, particulai-ly
\\iGifnti3:lmes^ "Whose reeoyt ia ^ mi near the largtj woq4s th<^'9^
THE BIKD8 AND THEIE HACTBrTS. 166
A fevT years ago, the Wood "White, — Leucofhana sirM/pis, — in
June could be found there in abundance. Now the species is rarely
seen , but, being a denizen of the interior of the woods, and the
woods all about there being strictly tabooed, the collector has not
the opportunity to get them he formerly had.
The Green-veined Wliitc, — Pieris napi, — the prettj' little
Orange Tip, — Antlwcharis cardamines, — and the Brimstone Butter-
fly,— Gonepteryx rhamni, — are common in that locality; but for the
Clouded Yellows, — genus, Colias, — Brighton must be closer ap-
pi'oached in the clover fields, about August. They are of a rich
golden colour, banded with black ; and there is a variety called
Helice, wliich are considered a prize to any entomologist. The
great prize, the Queen of Spain, — Argynnis lathonia, — has been
taken in a garden at Kemp Town ; but like "Angels' visits," they
are very "few and far between." The gorgeous Large Copper, —
Polyommatus hippothoe, — whose wings, edged ^vith black, shine
like burnished gold, and cast into shade any colour which the
device of man can create, — was once plentiful in two counties of
England, Cambi'idgeshiro and Huntingdonshire ; but it is now con-
sidered by our best entomologists extinctin this country.
The Purple Emperor, — Apafura iris, — may be seen in all his
glory on a hot Summer's day, the first week in August, in the above
locality, soaring round the high oaks, in all imaginable grandeur.
He is rightly termed Emperor, as no other butterfly dares to invade
his imperial aerial realms. His magnificent purple wings defy the
higbest skill of the artist to imitate. These simple, beautiful
butterflies wbisper in reason's ear, trutlis, which, alas ! humble the
pride of man. There is the Painted Lady, — Vanessa Cardui, — ^but
she will not do for tlie present fashionable generation, as she does
not wear crinoline, and her food is of tbe most vulgar description, —
the common thistle, from which she derives her specific name.
The family of the Argus Butterflies, — the Hair Streaks, —
genus Thecla, — are of five distinct species, three of which are
obtained near Brighton. Their haunts are likewise amongst the
large oak trees, where they play and gambol in the hot sunshine,
the live-long day. The last family of the butterflies are the
Bkippcrtf,— in science, Uesprnda, — oy, to use the generic nf»ino for
156 HISTOEY OF BKIGHTHELMSTON.
this family — Hesperia. The first is the Grizzle — SyricMhm eheolus,
■whose specific name means chequered, the spots on the wings of the
Imago, being somewhat like a chessboard, the fore wings being
black, interspersed with about fifteen or sixteen squarish white
spots. The next is the Dingy Skipper — Hesperia paniscus, — and
then the Large Skipper — Hesperia Sylvanus, — from " Sylvan," —
being found in the woods. The Pearl Skipper — Hesperia Comma, —
takes its name from a mark on the fore wings, and is found in low
swampy situations, and in almost every locality for Butterflies.
Then, there are the Small Skipper — Hesperia Linia, — and the
Lulworth Skipper — Hesperia Acteon. The latter derives its
English name from the only place where it has been found, viz.,
near Lulworth Cove, on the Dorsetshire Coast; and it receives its
Latin name, Acteon, from his being a great hunter.
This ends the list of the British Butterflies in the vicinity of
Brighton, with the exception of that which was taken by one of the
most honest and persevering collectors, in August, 1860, near Kemp
Town. No one doubts of its being taken there, as several
entomologists of the highest respectability, saw it on the spot alive,
immediately after it was taken ; but a very small clique of savans
will not allow it to be put on the list as a new British Butterfly,
because they have a theoretic fancy that it might be blown over
from the coast of France, a distance of nearly a hundred miles,
across the English Channel. The idea, however, is absurd. A
little delicate butterfly, with all the appearance of having just
emerged from the chrysalis, to be blown that distance without
apparently ruflling a feather, is out of all character. If it had been
a new bird that had been obtained on our shores, the ornithologists
would hove been only too happy to have had the opportunity of
adding it to their list, as a new British species.
Mr. Edward Newman, of Bishopsgate Street, the great
naturalist, and prince of writers, and publisher of works on
Natural History, has stood sponsor to this new British Butterfly,
and named it — The Brighton ArgvL&—Zi/caena Boetica.
Bewick has expressed the wish that mankind could be pre-
vailed upon to read a few lessons from the great book of Nature,
to see the wonders which the Universe presents, and to reflect
THE BIBDS AND THEIB HAUNTS. 157
on the -wisdom, the power, and the goodness of the Great Creator
that planned and formed the whole.
How necessary is it, then, that we should direct our attention to the
sowing of the seeds of knowledge in the minds of youth. The great
work of forming the man cannot he begun too early ; and agreeably
with this sentiment, how many writers are there who spend their
lives in contributing in various ways to turn the streams of in-
struction tlirough their proper channel into this most improvable
soil, — taking children by the hand, and directing their steps like
guardian angels, in the outset of life, to prevent their floundering
on in ignorance to the end. In these undertakings the instructors
of youth are often assisted by the fertile genius of the artists, who
supply their works with such embellishments as serve to relieve the
lengthened sameness of the way. Among the many approved
branches of instruction, the study of Natural Historj' holds a dis-
tinguished rank. To enlarge upon the advantages which are
desirable from a knowledge of the Creation, is surely not necessary.
To become initiated into this knowledge is to become enamoured
of its charms; to attain the object in view requires but little
previous study or laboiir ; the road which leads to it soon becomes
strewed with flowers, and ceases to fatigue ; a flow is given to the
imagination which banishes early prejudices and expands the ideas,
and an endless fund of the most rational entertainment is spread out,
that captivates the attention and exalts the mind. For the attain-
ment of this science in any of its various departments, the foundation
may be laid, insensibly, in youth, whereon a goodly superstructure
of useful knowledge can easily be raised at a more advanced period.
In whatever way, indeed, the varied objects of this beautiful world
are viewed, they are readily understood by the contemplative mind,
for they are found alike to be the visible works of God. The great
book of Nature is amply spread out before mankind, and could they
but see how clearly the hand of Providence is in every page, they
would consider the faculty of reason as the distinguishing gift to the
human race, and use it as the guide of their lives. They would find
their reward in a cheerful resignation of mind, in peace and
happiness, under the conscious persuasion that " a good naturalist
cannot be a bad man."
158 ' HISXOEY OP BKIGHTHELMSTON.
Chapter XXI.
THE WILD FLO WEES AXD MOSSES ABOUT BKIGHTON.
To an unobservant eye the vicinity of Brighton possessea no
wild vegetable productions worthy of notice, and, apart from the
cultivated fields, all else appears a barren waste, save and except the
short sweet verdure whereon oiu" fxivourite South-Down flocks
luxuriate. Upon peering, however, into the hedgerows, and the
waysides and the furrows, a volume is opened to the student of
Botany, and there is that whereon he may sumptuously feast. Fifty
years since, the observation that "Brighton was a place without
trees," was a truism; but since then, irrespective of the success in
planting the Squares, Enclosures, Steines, and the ornamental gardens
of private residences in the town, where formerly, only hardy
tamarisk grew, belts and copses of thriving trees have reared their
towering heads, and the elm, fir, sycamore, horse-chesnut, larch,
beech, hazel, birch, hawthorn, and the holly and other evergreens,
having, by culture, become acclimatised, thrive so well as to induce the
belief that they are indigenous to the South East Coast.
Immediately along our sea-sliore, to the westward, upon leaving
the grass-plot at Adelaide Crescent, a low trailing plant is met with,
and is more or less abundant at some distance beyond the reach of
the tide, as far as the lock of the Shoreham Harbour Canal, at
Fishersgato. It is known as the Orach — Atriplea postulcoides, — and
has succulent silvery leaves, upon a woody stem. The Yellow
Horned Poppy — Glacium luteum, — is equally abundant in the same
localities, and a few years since was very thriving on the sites of
Adelaide Terrace, Mills' s Terrace, and the houses adjacent. Its
leaves are sea-green, and its flowers are of a pale yellow, resulting
in long seed pods. It has a tap root, which, on being broken, exudes
an acrid juice. A species of Samphire, or Jointed Glasswort,
grows in profusion about the pools in the vicinity of Copperasgap.
It is gathered and pickled ; but it is altogether of a different character
to the Samphire which is gathered on the cliffs of the Isle of Wight,
and at Dover. Thrift Grass, about the wide expanse of the beach
in the vicinity of the Canal Basin, flourishes in extensive
THE WILD FLOWEBti AJSID MOSSES. 159
patches, and its lilac flowers are a pleasing relief to the eye
during the bright rays of the meridian sun in Summor. The
most prolific plant in this neighbourhood is the Stonecrop,
known by the several names. Ginger, Wall-pepper, and Gold-chain.
It is leafless, and grows aa it were, in links, from which issue golden
flowers of dazijling brightness. The vitality of this little plant is
incredible, and, like the several species of the Cacti, it absorbs and
retains a vast amount of moisture. It may be propagated from very
small portions of the plant. A dwarf kind of the Bitter Sweet
Nightshade — Solamim dulcamara, — abounds in the same locality.
It differs from the Deadly Nightshade, the former having purple
flowers and yellow stamens ; whereas the latter bears a large cup-
shaped flower. The berries of both are poisonous. A rough hairy
plant, the Viper's Bugloss — Echium vulgar e, — also grows here. It
bears large and handsome purple or blue flowers. A very common
plant along the banks of the Canal, and likewise on the banks of
the shelving cliffs, between Hove and Kingston, is the Sea Starwort,
or Michaelmas Daisy — Ast&r trijjolium. It is of the same kind as that
which formerly was so common in flower gardens. Another plant
which grows abundantly about here, is the Common Mallow — Malva
sylvedris, — and bears pm-ple flowers, succeeded by seeds, well-known
amongst children as " cheeses." Formerly, the whole range of the
dwarf cliif from Russell Street to Hove, abounded with the Common
Mallow, the leaves of which possess valuable properties when
boiled and applied as a poultice to whitlows. There also, as many
an ass well knew, the Milk Thistle — Carduus marianus, — which was
formerly held sacred to the Virgin Mary, was very prolific.
Specimens of it may be found now upon the banks south of the
turnpike road beyond Hove. Some years since, some rare roots of
this superbly prickly plant protected the bank which forms the
northern side of the cricket ground belonging to Hove House
School. It maj^ be known by the white streaks on its leaves. The
unfinished embankment between the Chain Pier and Kemp Town
is u fijic nursery for this thistle, emblematical of the amazing
quantity of the same species which occupied the rugged slopes that
formed some portions of the East Clifi", now the Marine Parade,
befojje the erection of the sea wall.
160 HISTOEY OP BRIGHTHELMSTON.
The other plants along the sea-side are the "Wild Beetroot —
Beta maritima, — bearing greenish white flowers on a straggling stem,
with a large root ; the Sea-side Campion, or Catchfly, a white trail-
ing flower with a globular calyx and dark stamens; the Starry-
headed Clover — Trifolium stdlatum, — the Tree Mallow — Lmater
arborea, and three species of Plaintain — the Common Plaintain, with
acorn shaped seeds grouped up a rat-taUed stem, the kind given to
birds ; the Eibwort Plantain, bearing similar seeds, borne in a
cluster at the end of a similar stem ; and the Buek's-horn Plantain,
so called from the irregular shape of the leaves, resembling a stag's
horn, with the seeds like the other kinds.
In the fields in general, about Brighton, is the Scentless Mayweed
— Matricaria inodorata, — with a large radiating flower like a daisy,
having a yellow centre and white outside. The simple, yet pretty
Daisy abounds about the general field herbage :
Daisies, the flowers of lowly bii'th,
Embroiderers of the carpet earth,
That stud the velvet sod.
The most prolific source of the wild flowers near Brighton is
the plantation on the Dyke Road, upon the estate of Lady Ogle.
There
The Violet in her greenwood bower,
Where birchen boughs with hazels mingle.
May boast herself the fairest flower,
In glen, or copse, or forest dingle.
Both the Sweet Violet — Viola odorata, — and the Dog Violet —
Viola canina, — grow there, the latter in profusion. The "Wild
Heartsease — Viola tricolor, — is not to be found there ; but it abounds
in the hedge-rows about Preston, whdre also the Sweet Violet may
be found. In this plantation arc the several kinds of ]S"ightshade ;
the Bitter-sweet, as before described; the Black Nightshade —
Solanum nigrum, — a rare species in this district; and the Deadly
Nightshade — Atropa belladonna, — which may be known by its large
dark tobacco-leaf shaped leaves, cup-shaped purple flowers, and
cherry -like fruit, the produce of a root,
That takes the reason prisoner.
Considering the easy access to this plantation, and other copses
where this death-plant flourishes, and reflecting upon the natural
THE whd fiowees and mosses. 161
proneness of children to pilfer and consume all •vntliin their reach,
when they are upon their marauding expeditions, it is really sur-
prising that there are not numerous instances of poisoning by mis-
adventure. It can be but the special Providence, which it is pre-
sumed watches over children, that prevents the tasting of the
forbidden fruit.
The Black Bryony — Tamus communis, — thrives here to per-
fection. Its flowers are of a greenish yellow, but its berries, like the
Nightshade, are poisonous. The Geranium — Geraniacea, —
signifying Crane's Bill, — from the seed vessel and pistil resembling
a crane's head and bill, — may be found here of three distinct species.
Each, being in its wild state, is very diminutive ; but they all are
as perfect in their form and colours as the most highly cultivated of
the genus. In the hedges by the London Eoad, just beyond Preston,
the Lewes Road, beyond the Cavalry Ban-acks, and Preston
Drove, the Dove's-foot Geranium, — Geranium molle, — vegetates.
Its flowers are pink or purple, and its leaves, which grow in clusters,
are flat, and velvety to the touch.
An English species of the Arum Lily is very common in this
and other plantations, and in the damp and shady hedge-rows to the
north of Brighton. Its leaves are of a dark green, spotted with
purple, and it has, instead of a flower, a sort of leaf, containing a
green spadix, which is also purple. The stem of this leaf has a
ring of glands, beneath which are anthers and ovaries, which, as
the plant matures, are succeeded by scarlet berries, that are com-
monly known as Lords and LadiPs. The plant yields an acrid juice,
which is very poisonous ; and about eighteen years since, a servant girl
at the Synagogue, in Devonshire place, unwittingly poisonedherself,
in consequence of eating some Lords and Ladies. The juice, mixed
with vinegar, was formerly taken as an antidote against the plague,
and even against other poisons.
The two species of Stitch wort, the Lesser — Stellaria graminea,
— and the Greater — Stellaria holostea, or satin flower, — grow on the
bank by the Dyke Eoad copse. Both kinds are beautiful star-like
wild flowers. And, a little further on, the Wild Marjoram —
Origanum vulgare, — is very plentiful amongst the furze that dots the
162 HISTOKY OF BETGHTHELMSTON.
green sward. Buttercups and cowslips grow plentifully in the Hove
fields, and in the meadows which abut the railway at Preston.
The three several species of I^ettle are met with in various
localities. The largest is the Koman Nettle — Zfrtica pilulifera, —
from the pill-like shape of the flowers, — formidable in its appearance,
and pungent to the touch. The next is the Common Nettle, with
which most persons are conversant ; and the other species is
the Burning Nettle — Urtica ureus, — which grows about a foot high,
and whose leaves are a very dark green. All these species have a
venomous sting of a hair-like character, which possesses at its root
a poisonous bulb that discharges itself when the sting is pressed
gently. "VYhen, however, the stings are grasped firmly, the fine
points become bent or broken, and are thus rendered harmless.
They point upwards, so that if the hand be passed up the plant
briskly the sting is ineffectual. The Dead Nettle — Lamium album,
— has no sting. Its flowers are white, whereas the blossoms of the
stinging Nettles are green.
The hedge-rows of the Hove and Preston Droves are composed
principally of Brambles, Dog-wood, the "Wild Rose, a species of
willow, called Palm ; Black Horehound, Traveller's Joy, Alder, Ash,
and Ivy. By the pathway on the upper road to Shoreham, and on
the London, Ditchling, Lewes, and Dyke roads, just upon the out-
skirts of Brighton, the Burdock — Arctium lappa, — commonly called
the Dock, thrives amidst burdens of dust. The flower is purple,
and is thrown out from a ball, after the manner of the bloom of the
Corn Flower. A thistle-like cone succeeds, and forms a means for
amusement to schoolboys, who gather them and stick them on
persons' clothes.
The Wall Pellitory — Parietaria officinalis, — which has reddish
stalks and flowers, and hairy leaves, yields a cooling extract. It is
found in different localities, but does not require much nutriment
for its dwarf growth. The Shepherd's Purse, so called from its
heart-shaped seed pods, resembling old-fashioned money purses, is
found growing about most hedged-in fields. On many of the
hillocks upon the meadow land Knot Grass is very prevalent. It
may be found also amongst the vegetation between the can-iage
road and pathway just beyond Preston.
THE WILD TUaWEBS AND MOSSES.
163
On the Ditchling Road, and the Eoman Encampment on Holling-
bury Hill, "Wild Mignionette, Heath, Thyme, Gentian, "Whitlow-
grass, Carline and Plume Thistle, and Hawkweed grow in profusion ;
and in the fields immediately south of the pond there, Dandelion,
Adam's Needles, Centaury, Convolvulus, Yellow Snapdragon,
Yarrow, Cockle, Perriwinklc, Poppy, Milkwort, Dropwort, Crop-
wort, Fleabane, Yellowwort, Henbane, and Groundscll form a
pleasing diversity ; while, in the copses contiguous, the Rock Rose
and the Sun Rose give their Summer refreshing odours.
In speaking of the Mosses in the vicinity of Brighton, the area
will be restricted to the range of the Downs in which the Town is
placed, and the coast line of the same distance. Therefore,
assuming the limit to be bounded on the east by the Cliffs as far as
liTewhaven, and the Downs that slope to the west side of the river
Ouse, and gradually heighten until passing Lewes, Ofi'ham and its
chalk-pits are reached. Following, then, the base of the hiUs by
the Devil's Dyke, and the Fulking Downs to Beeding, and thence
continuing the marginal line to Shoreham, a tract of country will
be embraced, that will be bounded on the south by the sea-shore.
Thus, the sandstone plants, and those found in arenaceous soil will
be represented by the species from the banks on the beach, near
Aldrington Basin, and a few from the tertiary sandstone at Xew-
haven Cliffs — chalk, clay, and argillaceous soils determining the
remaining species.
The list is as follows : —
Archidium phascoides.
Acaulon muticum.
triquetrum.
Florkeanum.
Phascum rectum.
curvicollum.
cuspidatum.
bryoides.
var 7
i*leuridium subulatum.
alternifolium.
Astoraum crispum.
Gymnostomum microstomum.
tortile.
Gymnostomum var /3 subcylindricum.
Weissia contro versa,
mucronata.
Seligeria calcarea.
calcicola.
Dicranella varia.
Dicranum scopariura.
palustrc.
Ceratodon purpureus.
Pottia cavifolia.
var S gracilis,
minutula.
truncata.
Heimii.
M 2
164
HISTOET OP BKIGHTHELMSTON.
Anacalypta Starkeana.
var /3 braehyodus.
caespitosa.
lanceolata.
Didymodon rubellus.
luvidus.
Trichostomum subiilatum.
mutabile.
flavo-vii'ens.
tophaceum.
flexicaule.
Tortula abides.
unguiculata.
vav j3 apiculata.
fallax.
vinealis.
insulana.
squarrosa.
revaluta.
Homschuchiana.
convoluta.
muralis.
subulata.
laevipila.
ruralis.
rupestris.
papulosa.
Encalypta streptocarpa.
Schistidium apocarpum.
Grimmia pulvinata.
Eacomitrium canescens.
Orthotricbum saxatilc.
tenellum.
affine.
rapestre.
Lyellii.
diapbanum.
leiocarpum.
pulcbellum.
Ludwigii.
Ulota crispa.
pbyllantha.
Zygodon viridissimus.
Atrichum undulatum.
Polytricbum commune,
piliferum.
"Webera carnea.
albicans.
Bryum pseudo-triquetrura.
cernuum.
inclinatum.
intermedium.
bimum.
torquescens.
capUlare.
var j8 fiaccidum.
Donianum.
Billarderii.
caespiticium.
sanguineum.
atropurpureum.
argenteum.
roseum.
Mnium affine.
rostratum.
hornum.
undulatum.
Funaria hygrometrica.
Pbyscomitrium pyriforme.
fasciculare.
Fissidens bryoides.
adiantoides. ,
taxifolius.
Lcucodon sciuroides.
Crypbaca hoteromalla.
Leptodou Smitbii.
Neckera pumila.
crispa.
complanata.
Anoraodon viticulosus.
Cylindrothecium Montagnei.
Homalotbecium sericeum.
Thuidium tamariscinum.
Plagiotbecium denticulatum*
sylvaticum.
Rhyncostegium tenellum.
THE WILD FL0WEE8 AND MOSSES.
165
Rhyncostegium depressura.
confertum.
megapolitanum.
Thamnium alopecurum.
EuryncMum circinnatum.
striatulum.
striatum,
praelongum.
Swartzii.
hians.
pumilum.
crassiaerviuiu.
piliferum.
Isothecium myxirum.
Brachythecium velutinum.
rutabulum.
campestre.
glareosum.
Brachythecium albicans.
Scleropodium illecebrum.
Camptothecium lutesceus.
Amblystegium serpens.
riparium.
Hypnum polj-raorphum.
chrysopliyllum.
cupressiforme.
resupinatura.
moUuscum.
filicinum.
cuspidatum.
purum.
Hylocomium splendens.
brevirostrum.
squarrosum.
loreum.
triquetrum.
I
Tortula HornscJnichiana, Orthotrichum rupestre, and OrtJwtri-
chum Ludwigii, Bnjwn torquescms, EuryncMum circinnatum, and
Eurynchium striatulum have been found by Mr. Mitten only, about
"Woolsonbury Hill.
The plants growing on chalk, are : Seligeria calcarea, on
inclined faces of chalk pits, and occasionally on detached chalk.
Seligeria calcicola, in simliar situations on Woolsonbury. This is
nearly allied to Seligeria pmilla, and has the capsule always ovate.
Anacalypta caespitoso in some seasons is in plenty on "Woolsonbury.
Only two localities are known in Sussex, and it is not found
elsewhere in Britain. Bryum intermedium is frequent in chalk
pits, and remarkable for having the fruit on the same tuft in all
stages of maturity. Encalypta streptoearpa, Woolsonbury, under
beech trees. Nechcra crispa, on Woolsonbury and Newtimber ; in fruit
on the first hill. Cylindrotkecium Montagnei, Saddlescombe.
Rhy7icostegium depressum, Newtimber woods. Hypnum polymorphura,
Patcham cnbankment. Hypnum chrysophyllum, common every-
where. Eurynchium circinnatum, Clayton.
The clay summits of the hills, as at Woolsonbury, give Phascimi
alternifolium and Weissia mucronata, and Physcomitriu.m fasciculare
on Pyecombe downs. Racomitriuvi canescens is frequent in similar
166 HISTORY OP BEIGHTHELMSTON.
localities, and fruited on "Woolsonbury in December, 1858. Tortula
subulata and Eurynchium Mans are also frequent, the latter differing
from Eurynchium Swartzii, its near ally, in its wider, not acuminate,
leaves.
The stiff soils of the liills furnish Phascum rectum, Phascum
curvicollum, Astomum crispmn, Gymnostomum microstomum, Pottia
minutula, Anacahjpta lanceolata, Didymodon luridiis, Tortula convoluta,
also Phascum bryoides in disused roads.
A rivulet at Gin Gap, near I^ewhaven, with its miniature
ravine, gives Weher a' albicans, in fruit, Trichostomum topnaceum, and
Hypnum riparinm.
On the cliffs, east of Brighton, are found Acatilon triquetrum,
the only British locality for this; also, Gymnostomum tortile, the
var /3 subcylindricum of which occurs on a hUl near Greenway
Station, Phascum curvicollum, Pottia cavifolia, Trichostomum midabile,
and Trichostomum crispulum. Anacahjpta StarTceana, fi brachy-
odus, are all frequent, and Webera carnea, at Black Eock.
The sides of "Woolsonbury have numerous species, as follows ;
— Phascum bryoides vary, Archidium phascoides, Fissidens adiantoides,
Dicranum palustre, Hypnum molluscum, Brachythecium glareosum,
Bryum bimum, Bryum pseudo-triquetrum, Bryum roseum, and Bryum
Billarderii; this last plant is exceedingly rare. It is the only
known British locality, and it is not known to have been gathered
elsewhere north of the Colosseum at Home.
Brachythecium campestre is common in fields among grass,
differing from Brachythecium rutubulum by its its gradually tapering,
not suddenly acuminate leaves. Bryum capillare /3 flaccidum is
found in a field in jN'ewtimber valley. On walls Tortula vinealis,
Tortula revoluta, Tortula rupestris, Grimmia pulvinata, Orthotrichum
saxatile, Orthotrichum diaphanum, and Rhyncostegium tenellum, are
luxuriant ; but Bryum sanyuineum is rare.
In Poynings springs Mnium affine and Hypnum filicinum are
frequent. In the stubble fields at Aldrington are found Acaulon
Florlceanum and Acaulon rauticum, and in the near hedge-banks,
Anacalypta Starkeana, Tortula insulana, Brtjum Bonianum, Sclcropo^
dium illeoebrim. Once, in November, 18.58, the very rare fruit of
^W'l/mhmm pli/mm was g^tli^red
THE ^VILD PIOWEBS AND MOSSES, 167
Around Aldrington Basin are seen Tortula riiralis, Tortula
squarrosa, Trichostomum flavo-virens, Pottia Heimii, Pottia cavifolia
S gracilis, Physcomitriicm pyriforme, Bryum ccrnuum, Bnjum caespi-
ticium, Bryum inclinatum, Bryum atropurpureum, and Rhyncostcgium
mcgapolitanum ; also fertile Brachythecium albicans and Camptothe-
cium hitescens.
In woods are Bryum torqueseens, Orthotrichum Lyellii, Ortho-
trichum Ludwigii, Orthotrichum rupestre, Mnium Jiornum, Mnium
rostratum, Mnium undulatum, Anomodon viticulosus, NecTcera pumila,
Neckera complanata, Isothecium viyurum, Zeucodon sciuroides,
Cryphaea heteromalla, Leptodon Smithii, (fruiting at Poynings),
Plagiotheciurii denticulatum, Plagiothecium syhaticum, Eurynchium
Swartzii, and all the species of Hylocomium : the last mentioned
abundantly, with capsules, at Clayton, On detached ash trees at
the feet of the hills, Orthotrichim tenellum, Orthotrichum pulchellum,
and Tortula papillosa are not unfrequent. On beech stems about
"Woolsonbury, Zygodon viridissimus fruits freely, and a most
diminutive state of Schistidium apoearpum is seen.
The Mosses already indicated are not the only species found on
these soils ; for, on the Arundel Downs, precisely similar in
formation to those of our range, Encalyta vulgaris, Antitrichia
curtipendula, Thrudium ahietinum and some others may be met
with.
In proof of the extreme beauty of the form of these objects and
the marvellous design of our Grea^ Creator, a more positive instance
of the perfection of vegetable organization could not be adduced
than Acoulon Florheanum. Taking a single plant, radicles are found,
corresponding to roots in flowering plants, at the bottom of the
stem, ]S"ext rise the overlapping leaves, disposed, for instance, as
are those of the lettuce. "When these leaves are dissected off, the
stem is exposed to view, consisting of a pedicle with a capsule at
the top, terminating in an oblique apiculus or small point, and
covered by a membrane, called a calyptra, or hood. And clustering
around the base of the pedicle are the sexual flowers. The whole
plant does not exceed the sixteenth of an inch in height and width,
the size of a small pin's head.
Thuci, after enumerating mo!-t, if not all the Wild Flowers aucj
168 HISTOBY OP BBIGHTHELMSTOK.
Mosses which attach themselves to the natural history of Brighton,
we may say,
Beautiful children of the glen and dell,—
The dingle deep — the moorland stretching wide,
And of the mossy fountain's sedgy side,
Ye, o'er my heart have thrown a lovesome spell.
And though the worldling, scorning way deride —
I love ye well.
Chapteb XXII.
BRIGHTON CAMP AND THE TRAGEDIES OF GOLDSTONE
BOTTOM.
The hiUs and the vales about Brighton, have more than a
natural history in connexion with the animal and vegetable king-
doms, to give them a feature in the nation's chronicles. Not the
least important events have been the Camps, lyrically handed to
posterity by one of the most martial and spirit-stirring pieces
extant, the "Brighton Camp, or, the Girl I left behind me," music
that seems inherent to drums and fifes.
Although " Brighton Camp " is the familiar term used, it
must be understood that there have been several Camps held here.
The first was in 1793, and was formed on Tuesday, August 13th.
The troops composing it the previous morning at three o'clock,
struck their tents on Ashdown Forest, from which they marched at
five, and reached Chailey Common at half-past eleven. There they
pitched their tents for the night. On the Tuesday morning at four
o'clock, they were again on the march, and at noon they arrived on
the hills over Brighton. The baggage, part of the heavy artillery,
and the corps of artificers, marched by way of Lewes ; but the army
in general, consisting of about 7,000 men, took their route over the
South Downs. By two o'clock the Camp had formed in the
presence of the Prince of Wales, who met them as they came over
the hill. The left of the encampment was close to the town, in
Belle- Yue Field,— now Regency square,— and stretched in a direct
BEIGHTOar CAMP AITO TRAGEDIES OP Q0LD8T0NE BOTTOM. 169
line along the coast. The encampment, which increased to 10,000
troops, was composed of regulars and militia, and was continued,
on account of some apprehensions of an invasion by the New
Republic of Prance, till the 28th of October.
As a matter of course, during the time of the encampment,
there was a Sharn Fight. Its plan was, an enemy attacking
Brighton and the Camp. The enemy consisted of eight regiments
of infantry, with their battalion guns, under General Sir William
Howe ; while four battalions of infantrj-, the light horse, and the
mounted artillery, defended the country. Brighton was denomi-
nated Dunkirk, and was of course taken by the British. But one
prisoner was captured, an oflfi.cer of the East Middlesex, by his own
Major, after a stout resistance, for the offence of sitting on a drum,
during the inactivity that generally prevails for hours in the field.
The officer was put under arrest, but the next day he was liberated.
The Camp of 1794, was formed early in the summer, about a
mile and a half to the west of the town. It consisted at first, of
7,000 men ; but when the harvest was got in, it was increased to
nearly 15,000, as the militia regiments were not called out till the-
crops were cleared, the men then composing the militia corps being
principally agricultural labourers. On the breaking up of this
Camp many of the regiments remained in Barracks at Brighton.
The Barracks then were in West Street, at the corner of Little
Eussel Street, afterwards the Custom House ; in I^orth Street, on
property now known as the Unicorn Yard, — Windsor Street ; and
in Church Street, the present Infantry Barracks.
Nothing of any particular importance took place diiring this
Camp. But that of the following year will ever be memorable in
the history of Brighton, inasmuch as it is connected with the trial
and execution of two men and the flogging of several others for
mutiny. Not that th(! mutiny took place here, but Brighton was
the military head quarters of the troops, hence the Court Martial
was held in the town.
East Blatchington, near Newhaven, was the theatre of the
disaff'ection, arising from the shortness and bad quality of the bread
and flour supplied to the troops ; in consequence of which, some
men of the Oxford Militia broke into tho mill in the vicinity of the
170 mSTOEY OP BEIOHTHELMOTOlSr.
barracks, and also, in a rebellious mood, emptied the contents of a
vessel laden with corn, into the river, at ISTewhaven. The Court
Martial was held at the Castle Tavern, which occupied the site
whereon now stand the buildings which form the north-east comer
of Castle Square. The trial occupied eight days ; and ended in
Edward Cooke, — termed Captain Cooke, from his taking the lead in
the mutiny, — and Henry Parish being found guilty and sentenced to
be shot. Six others were also convicted, but their sentence was
only that they should be flogged. Much sympathy was shown by
the inhabitants to the poor fellows, who were each day marched
under a strong escort, from the guard house of the Battery, Artillery
Place, to the Castle and back. Many of the residents in Eussell
Street, every night and morning took them provisions, which they
were able to pass to them through the bars of their airing ground ;
and on the morning of the execution of the sentence upon them
the wretched men were unable, from their emotion, to express their
thanks for the kindness the people showed them.
Prom the hour of four in the morning of the day appointed for
them to suffer, the whole lines of encampment were ordered to hold
themselves in readiness; at five, however, in the evening, the
ofl&ccrs were given to understand that the execution was counter-
manded for that day. The cause of this short respite was attributed
to the absence of the Prince of Wales's 10th Regiment of Light
Dragoons, afterwards the 10th Hussars, which did not march into
Brighton till nine o'clock on the following morning, and of course
could not pitch their tents till late in the evening. When this
regiment was seen on the march to their station, all hopes of an
expected reprieve seemed entirely to vanish. The most respect-
able people, however, of Brighton took this opportunity of one day's
delay, to repeat their petition in favour of the two men ; but all
proved ineffectual, for early on the 13th June, 1795, the Oxford
Militia — the regiment to which the mutineers belonged, — ^began
their march from the Bai-racks at Blatchington to Brighton, to be
made awful spectators of their unhappy comrades' punishment, and
to be their executioners. At four o'clock the whole were ordered to
accompany them from the ground to Goldstone Bottom, at which
pUue thoy arrived about five, The bix meu — for therQ wer^
BEIGHTON CAMP ANB TEAGEDIES OF GOLDSTONE BOTTOM. 171
thirteen mutineers, — that were sentenced to be flogged, proceeded
afterwards in a covered waggon, guarded by a strong escort, which
was composed of select men, picked from every regiment of the
line. The two condemned to be shot followed in the rear in an
open cart, attended by the Rev. Mr. Bring, and guarded by a second
escort, imder the command of Captain Leigh, of the 10th Regiment
of Light Dragoons, and one of the Captains belonging to the
Lancashire Pencibles. "When they arrived, however, at the wind-
ing road which leads to Goldstonc Bottom, — or Yale, — which is
surrounded by an eminence, both the escorts were commanded to
halt. The six men sentenced to be flogged were then taken from
the covered waggon, and, having been marched through the entire
line, which was under arms to receive them, they were brought
back to a whipping-post, that was fixed in the centre of the
different regiments. The drummers selected to flog them were men
belonging to their own corps. To three of them were given threo
hundred lashes each. This was the number they then received, as,
from their long durance, and consequent weakness, the surgeon
pronounced that they could suffer no more. The fourth was then
stripped, and, after being tied to the flogging-post, was reprieved,
as were also his two other comrades.
This part of the distressing ceremony being gone through, the
two unfortunate men condemned to be shot were taken from the
cart and marched, as the others had been, up the line, Avith this
difference only, of being conducted also through part of the outer line,
which was composed of the Prince's Regiment, and the Lancashire
and Cinque Port Peneiblcs. They were then marched to the front
of the Oxfordshire Militia, where the coffins stood to receive their
bodies, the Artillery being planted on the right, with lighted
matches, in the rear of the Oxfordshire, to prevent any mutiny,
if attempted, and the whole height commanded by two thousand
cavalry.
Cooke and Parish being conducted to the fatal spot, exchanged
a few words with the clergyman, and then kneeled, with the
greatest composure and firmness, on their coffins; the first time,
however, they kneeled, it was done the wrong way, but being
placed in a proper Bitwation tUey received their death from G,
172 HISTOBY 01? BHIOHTHEIMSTON.
delinquent platoon of twelve of their own regiment, at the distance
only of sis paces. One of them was not quite dead when he fell,
and was therefore shot through the head with a pistol. This,
however, was not the last awful ceremony the line had to ex-
perience ; for, to conclude the dreadful tragedy, every regiment on
the ground was ordered to file off past the bodies before they were
suffered to be enclosed in their coffins. The whole scene was im-
pressibly awful beyond any spectacle of the kind ever exhibited.
No disturbance whatever resulted from the melancholy affair ;
everything was conducted with the greatest solemjiity and order :
the awe and silence that reigned on the occasion infused a terror,
mingled with an equal degree of pity, that was distressing beyond
conception. The Oxfordshire Militia naturally experienced more
afflicting sensations than any other regiment on the ground.
Cooke and Parish were both young men, and behaved with
uncommon firmness and resignation ; they marched through the
lines with a steady step, and regarded their coffins with an un-
daunted eye.
On the morning of his execution Cooke wrote to his brother a
letter, the original of which is in the possession of the author of this
book. It is written in a free and bold style, very different to what
might be expected from a man under sentence and at the point of
an ignominious death. The following is a correct copy, verbatim
et literatim, of the original : —
Brighton, 13th of June, 1795.
Dear Brother,— This comes witli my kind Love to you, and I hope you be
well. I am brought very low and weak by long confinement and been in great
trouble. Dear Brother, — I am sentenced Death, and must Die on Saturday, the
13th of June ; and I hope God Almighty will forgive me my Sins. I never was
no body's foe but my own, and that was in Drinking and breaking the Sabbath,
and that is a great Sin. I have prayed night and Day to the Almighty God to
forgive me and take me to Ileaven, and I hope my prayers be not in vain. I am
going to die for what the Eedgraent done ; I am not afraid to meet Death, for I
have done no harm to no person, and that is a great comfort to me : there is a
just God in heaven that knows I am going to suffer innocently. Dew- Brother,—
I should be very glad to see you before 1 Depart this Life. I hope God
Almighty -will be a Guardian over you and all my relations, and I hope we shall
meet in heaven, where we shall be ever happy without End. So no more from
the hand of your ever loving and Dying Brother,
Edwakd Cooke.
BBIGHION CAMP AND TRAGEDIES OF GOLDSTONE BOTTOM. 173
A print extant of the execution of these misguided men, is in
the possession of Mr, Benjamin Kent, the landlord of the Good
Intent Inn, Eussell Street. It is thus inscribed : —
" The Awful Scene or Ceremony of the Two Soldiers belonging to the
Oxfordshire Militia, which were shot on June 13th, 1795, in a Vale, while in
Camp at Brighton, by a party of the Oxfordshire Militia Avhich were very Active
in the late riots, the men appeared very composed and resigned, the party which
shot them were much affected, Infantry, and Artillery, were drawn up in lines on
the occasion."
The engraving, which is about 18 inches by 15 inches, re-
presents the men kneeling on their coffins, the figure signifying
Cooke being in the attitude of prayer, with clasped hands and a firm
countenance ; while Parish, though with his hands clasped denoting
his devotion, is dejected in his general position and has downcast
looks. Three lines of four men each are at "present," the front
rank kneeling, while at each side of the men to be executed is a
man at "ready." The Rev. Mr. Dring, who is in his clerical robes,
is departing from the scene towards the rising ground to the right,
at the foot of which is an infantry regiment at "attention," with
the 10th Eegiment of Light Dragoons at theii- rear. On the crown
of the hill are the civilians, male and female ; in front of whom, to
the right, are soldiers formed in a circle, within which, at a triangle,
is a man undergoing the punishment of the lash, an officer, evidently
the surgeon, superintending the proceedings. Immediately in the
rear are the tents of the encampment.
Thirteen regiments were present at the execution, which for
nearly fifty years was pointed, out by the form of the coffins, the
positions of the men firing, and other incidents of the scene, being
cut out in the turf by the shepherd, whose innocent flocks browsed
where so tragic an aff'air occurred. The plough has since obliterated
all traces of the tragedy from the spot.
A singular instance 'of the effect of nervous excitement is con-
nected with the execution. The Eev. Mr. Dring, the Chaplain of
the regiment, who attended the culprits in their last moments, being
a nervous man, and having a great hoiTor of the duty which he had
to perform, made a special request that after he had administered to
them the last religious consolation, he should have siifficient time to
get beyond the sound of the report of the fatal muskets before the
174 B3BT0ET OP BEIQHTHELMSTOX.
order to lire was given. Promise of compliance with his request
was made ; but either from his tardy progress in leaving the spot,
or a miscalculation of time, the word of command was given, and
the firing took place while he yet was within hearing. The effect
upon him was that he fell to the ground, and never after recovered
the shock upon his nerves.
The bodies of the two mutineers were interred in Hove church-
yard, contiguous to the centre of the old north boundary wall,
where their remains continued undisturbed till the restoration of
the Church, in 1834, when a saw-pit was dug at the actual spot, and
a few of their bones were exhumed. The burying party was under
Sergeant-Major Masters, who afterwards was a publican at "Witney.
The receipt for the burial fees on the interment of the bodies is still
retained by his family. A few years since, Mr. Samuel Thomcroft,
the Assistant-Overseer of Brighton, being at Witney, by chance
called at Masters's house, when, the subject of the execution of the
two men being introduced, the receipt referred to was shown him,
and Masters stated that so infamously constructed were the coffins
in which the corpses were put that, notwithstanding they were
buried in their regimental attire, their blood oozed through the
coffins and ran down the backs of their comrades who conveyed
them to their grave.
The vicinity of Goldstone Bottom is memorable not only for
these military executions, but, also, for the hanging and gibbeting
of two men, James Eook and Edward Howell, on the 26th of
April, 1793, just north of the Old Shoreham road, beyond Hove
Drove. Their crime was robbing the mail, at that time conveyed
between Brighton and Shoreham by a lad, named John Stephenson,
on horseback. The robbery took place on the night of the 30th of
October, 1792. What they took was of little value ; and they used
no violence. In a barn adjacent they broke open the letters and
shared their trifling contents.
Their apprehension was effected by an old woman, named
Phoebe Hassell, who happened, as was her frequent custom, to be
taking some refreshment at the Eed Lion public house, at Old
Shoreham, kept at that time by a man named Penton, when Rook
came in and ordered some beer. In the course of conversation with
BEIGHTON CAMP AND TRAGEDIES OP GOLDSTONE BOTTOM. 175
the persons present, the subject of the mail robbery came up, and
from some observations made by Rook, Phoebe, in her own mind,
was convinced that he was one of the party in the affair. She in
consequence, went out and gave information of what had trans-
pired to the parish constable, Bartholomew Roberts, who Avas well
acquainted with Eook, then living with his mother in a small cot-
tage close by, on the spot now occupied by Adur Lodge. On being
taken into custody, Rook, whose age was about 24, a simple, in-
offensive fellow, who had been the dupe of his companion in the
crime, admitted the offence, and afforded such intelligence as led to
the apprehension of Howell, at Old Shoreham mill, where, at the
time, he was reading a pamplet to the miller. Howell was 40
years old, and by trade a tailor.
Some of the stolen property was found upon them ; and their
identification by the mail-boy being complete, they were committed
from the Fountain Inn, for trial at the Spring Assizes, at Horsham,
when, being found guilty, they were sentenced to be executed at
the spot where the robbery had been effected. They were con-
veyed to Horsham on horseback, and for their safe custody, not
only were they handcuffed, and pinioned with strong cords, but
each had his legs roped together under the horse's belly, and,
besides the constable that accompanied them, there was a military
escort of four cavalry.
An immense concourse of spectators witnessed the execution of
these unfortunate men, whose bodies, according to the barbarous
custom of the times, were afterwards encased in an iron skeleton
dress and gibbetted. The disgusting sight of their decaying bodies
remained some time a terror to the timid, but a mark of recreation
to the reckless and thoughtless, who were accustomed to throw at
them and practise many revolting tricks.
Many relics of the event remain in the possession of
inhabitants of Shoreham and Hove ; Mr. Alderman Martin, in
Brighton, has, at the present time, a tobacco stopper which was
made from the bone of a finger of Rook.
When, however, the elements had caused the clothes and the
flesh to decay, the aged mother of Rook, night after night, in all
weathers,— and the more tempestuous the weather the more frequent
176 BCrarOBY QP BBIOHTHELMSrON.
the visits, — made a sacred pilgrimage to the lonely spot ; and it
was noticed that on her return she always brought something away
in her apron. Upon being watched, it was discovered that the
bones of the hanging men were the objects of her search, and as
the wind and rain scattered them on the ground she collected the
reHcs, and conveyed them to her home, and when the gibbets were
stripped of their horrid burthen, in the dead silence of the night
she interred them, deposited in a chest, in the hallowed ground of
Old Shoreham Churchyard.
Besides being found guilty of robbing the mail, the Grrand
Jury, at the same Assizes, returned a " True BiU" against James
Eook, for horse stealing ; but he was not put upon his trial for that
offence, in consequence of being left for death upon the other charge.
The "Brief" for the prosecution in the horse stealing case, now
" held " by the author of this book, runs thus : —
Brief for the Prosecutor. The King \ On tlie Prosecution of
agst. \ John Botce,
Ja2*ies Eook J For Horse Stealing.
Indictment— States— That the Prisoner James Eook on the 31st of October
1792 at the Parish of New Shoreham in the County of Sussex
feloniously did steal take drive and caiTv away a Brown Gelding
the property of John Boyce tlie elder of New Shoreham aforesaid.
Case
In the Afternoon of the 30th of October 1792 about 3 o' Clock
John Taylor the Servant of the Prosecutor turned his Master's
Brown Horse and another Horse into a field a short distance above
the Street at Shoreham and fastened the Gate
And the next Morning about 5 o' Clock he went to the Field in order
to get the Horses up to Work when he found the Brown Horse
missing.— On the Morning of the 1st of Novr. between 10 and 11
o'clock the Prisoner was seen by Henry Strivens on the Prosecutor's
Horse in company with one Edward Howell who came to water
their horses at a Pond near a Barn at Perching belonging to Mr
John Marchant about 3 or 4 Miles from Shoreham Strivens says
he had seen the Horse before and knew him but did not know at
the time who he belonged to— On the Evening of the said 1st of
Novr. John Stephenson the Boy who Carries the Mail from
Steyning to Brighthelmstou was stopped and robbed of the mail
in Goldstone Bottom near Brighthelmston by the prisoner and
Howell at which time the Prisoner was on Prosecutor's Horse
which the Boy knew, having several times seen the Prosecutor's
Man with the Horse and having seen the same horse in the
Prosecutor's Field at New Shoreham both before and since the
robbery.
BRIGHTON CAMP AND TEAGEDIES OP GOLDSTONE BOTTOM.
177
John
Tayloii.
Hexry
Strivexs.
Froofs.
To prove that this witness (who is servant to the '
Prosecutor) ahout 3 o'Clock in the Afternoon of
the 31st of Octr. 1792 had the Prosecutor's Brown
Horse with another up to the Field — That the
next Morning ahout 5 o'Clock he went to get the
Horses up to Avork when he found the Brown
Horse missing Call j
To prove that hetween 10 and 11 o'Clock in the"
Morning of the 1st of Novr. 1792 as he was
Threshing at a Barn at Perching about half a mile
from the Hill and about 3 or 4 from Shoreham he
saw two men the Prisoner and Howell come to a
Pond to water theii- Horses within about forty
yards of tlie Barn. That the Prisoner was upon a
large Brown Gelding with a Sprig Tail and a large
Miller's Pad upon it. That the next day he saw
the Prisoner and Howell in custody on the Hill
near Shoreham for robbing the mail and also saw
the Horse on wliicli the Prisoner Eode which he
was informed belonged to the Prosecutor and was
the one he had lost and which was the same the
Prisoner was on when he and Howell came to
Water their horses and to Prove that he has since
seen the Horse at Prosecutor's at Shoreham . . Call j
To prove that he was stopped and robbed of the]
Mail on the Evening of the iirst of Novr. 1792 by
the Prisoner and another Man whom this "Witness
believes to be Howell at a place called Goldstone
Bottom near Brighthelmston. That the Prisoner
was on the Prosecutor's Horse which he knew by
having several times before seen the Prosecutor's
Man with the Horse and having seen the horse
several limes in the Prosecutor's Field at New
Shoreham both before and since the Robbery.
Call the Postboy
The Brief, from the trial not having been proceeded with, is not
endorsed to any Counsel, but is marked " Brooker, Brighton," the
original of the firm, Messrs. Brooker and Pcnfold, now Messrs.
Penfold and Son, solicitors.
Phoebe Hassell, the person who was chiefly instrumental in
bringing Rook and Howell to justice, was a very celebrated charac-
ter. She was born at Stepney, London, in March, 1713, of
respectable parents, named Smith. Of her early life little is
known ; but the first incident of her remarkable career, as related
John
Stephenson.
178 mSTOEY OF BRIGHTKElMSTOX.
by herself to the compiler of this Tvork, was her falling in lore with
Samuel Golding, a private in the regiment known as Kirke's Lambs.
Phoebe Smith then was but fifteen years of age, being, as she used
to remark, a fine lass for her years. Golding' s regiment being
ordered to the West Indies in 1728, such was Phoebe's attachment
for him, that, donning the garb of a man, she enlisted into the
5th regiment of Foot, commanded by General Pearce, then under
orders, also for the West Indies, and embarked after him. There
she served for five years without discovering herself to any one.
She was likewise at IMonserrat, and would have been in the
action there, but her regiment did not reach the island till after
the battle was over. Soon after her return to England her regiment
was ordered to join the forces under the Duke of Cumberland, on
the continent, and she was present at the battle of Fontenoy, May
1st, 1745, when she received a bayonet woand in her arm. Geld-
ing's and her regiment were afterwards at Gibraltar, where he got
wounded, and was then invalided home to Plymouth. Phoebe then
informed the Lady of General Pearce of her sex and story, obtained
her discharge, and was immediately sent to England. She went to
the military hospital at Plymouth, with letters of recommendation
from her late Colonel, and there nursed Golding ; and when he
came out of the hospital they were married, and lived happily
together for more than 20 years. Golding had a pension from
Chelsea.
After but a short widowhood, she married William HasseU, of
whom little is known beyond what is recorded in the parish book of
Brighton; extracts from which will show that in 1792 they were
in poverty, as at a meeting of the Churchwardens and Overseers,
held at the Castle Tavern, on the 5th of December that year, it was :
— " Ordered that Phoebe, the wife of William HasseU, be paid three
guineas to get their bed and netts, which they had pledged to pay
Dr. Henderson for medicine."
Hasscll died about this period, and Phoebe then, by the assist-
ance of a few of the inhabitants, purchased a donkey, and travelled
with fish and other commodities to the villages westward ; and it
was on one of these journeys that she obtained the capture of Eook
and HoweU for robbing the mail.
BEICfHTON CAMP AND TEAGEDIES OF GOLDSTONE BOTTOM. 179
The following minute appears in the Vestry book : —
1797. — 20tli May, at a meeting of the Churchwardens and Overseers held at
the Hen and Chickens, (now the Running Horse, King Street) — Ordered, that
Phoebe Hassell's rent be paid from the present time, and that her weekly allowance
be discontinued.
In the early part of the present centurj' the infirmities of age
began to teU upon her, and, being no longer able to get about the
country, she was taken into Brighton "Workhouse ; from which,
however, at her own request, she was discharged in August, 1806, as
a minute of the vestry held on the 14tli of that month states : —
" That Phoebe HasseU be allowed a pair of stockings and one
change on leaving the poor-house."
After this period she obtained a subsistence by selling fruit,
bulls-eyes, pin-cushions, &c., at the bottom of the ^Marine Parade,
near Old Steine Street, where, in sunny weather, she used to sit in a
chair with her basket of wares beside her, and obtained a good amount
of custom. Her costume would, at the present day, form a great
attraction. She wore a brown serge dress, a white apron, — always
clean, — a black cloth cloak with a hood, surmounted by a red
spotted with white handkerchief. Her head-dress was a black
antique shaped bonnet over a mob cap. Her shoes were for service
and not look, without any regard to " rights and lefts; " and her
hands and anns were usuallj- encased in a pair of long woollen
mittens. Her walking-stick, now in the possession of Mr. Edward
Blaker, of Portslade, was a serviceable piece of oak.
Hone, in The Year Book, date, Sept. 22, 1821, says, "I saw
this woman to-day in her bed, to which she is confined from ha^-ing
lost the use of her limbs. She has even now, old and withered as
she is, a fine character of countenance, and I should judge, fi-om her
present appearance, must have had a fine though perhaps masculine
stj'le of head when young. I have seen many a woman, at the age
of sixty or seventy look older than she does under the load of 106
years of human life. Her cliecks are round, ajjd seem firm, though
ploughed w^ith many a small wrinkle. Her eyes, though the sight
is gone, are large and well formed. As soon as it was announced
that somebody had come to see her, she broke the silence of her
solitary thoughts and spoke. She began in a complaining tone, as if
N 2
180 fliSTOKT OP BEIGHTHELMSTON.
the remains of a strong and restless spirit were impatient of the
prison of a decajdng and weak body. ' Other people die and I
cannot,' she said. Upon exciting the recollection of her former
days, her energy seemed roused, and she spoke with emphasis. Her
voice was strong for an old person, and I could easily believe her
when, upon being asked if her sex was not in danger of being dis-
covered by her voice, she replied that she always had a strong and
manly voice. She appeared to take a pride in having kept her
secret, declaring that she told it to no man, woman, or child, during
the time she was in the army ; ' for you know, Sir, a drunken man
and a child always tell the truth. But I told my secret to the
ground. I dug a hole that would hold a gallon, and whispered it
there.' While I was with her the flies annoyed her extremely :
she drove them away with a fan, and said they seemed to smell her
out as one that was going to the grave. She showed me a wound
she had received in her elbow by a bayonet. She lamented the
error of her former ways, but excused it by saying, ' when you are
at Rome, you must do as Rome does.' "When she could not dis-
tinctly hear what was said, she raised herself in the bed and thrust
her head forward with impatient energy. She said, when the King,
George IV, — saw her, he called her ' a jolly old fellow.' Though
blind, she could discern a glimmering light, and I was told would
frequently state the time of day by the effect of light."
Phoebe had nine children, but none of them attained any age
except the eldest son, who was a sailor, but she had neither seen
nor heard of him for many years prior to her decease.
On the 12th of August, 1814, at the festival which took place
at the Royal Cricket Ground, to commemorate the peace on Kapoleon
Buonaparte retiring to Elba, Phoobe, as the " Oldest Inhabitant,"
sat • on the left of the Vicar, the Rev. Robert Carr, and was an in-
teresting object, then 99 years of age, and many presents in silver
and one pound notes found their way to her from the opulent and
enciuiring part of the crowd. On the celebration of the Coronation
of George IV., Phoebe, at the age of 107, and totally blind, took
part in the ceremonies, and was present on the Level in a carriage
with the Rev. R. Carr, (Vicar), and cheerfully joined in the
National Anthem. This incident brought her into great notoriety ;
BEIGHTON CAMP AND TRAGEDIES OF GOLDSTONE BOTTOM. 181
and several ladies being struck with her appearance, and pleased
with the respectable character she bore, raised a subscription, each
subscriber being presented with Phoebe's likeness, beneath which
was inscribed, "An Industrious "Woman living at Brighton, with
very slender means of Support, which she can only earn by selling
the contents of her basket, for whose assistance this Etching is
sold."
For some few years previous to her decease, which took place
on the 12th of December, 1821, she was allowed half-a-guinea a-
week by the King. It is related that His Majesty offered her a
guinea a-weck, but she refused it, saying that half that sum was
enough to maintain her.
Phoebe, in support of a good old Sussex custom, regularly, on
St. Thomas's Day, 21st of December, went out "Gooding,"
visiting well-to-do parishioners, to gossip upon the past, over hot
elderberry wine and plum cake, and to receive doles, either in
money or materials, to furnish home comforts for the celebration of
the festivities of Christmas. One of her places of call was the
residence of Mr. Robert Ackerson, where the autlior of this book
has many a time and oft heard the old female warrior tell of her
deeds of arms. She made a prediction that the wife of Mr.
Ackerson would live to a good old age ; and so it came to pass, as,
on Friday, the 2nd of February, 1855, she expired, being then in
her 97th j-ear.* On the St. Thomas's Day previous to her decease,
* We have to record this week the death of, we helieve. the oldest inhabitant
of Brighton, Mrs. Ackerson, who had reached her 97th year. She was the widow
of the late Mr. Robert Ackerson, who filled the cfficcs of High Constable, Over-
seer, Churchwarden, and Parish Assessor of Brighton. When Royalty smiled on
this little fishing village, the not least important of the Brighton fair was the Anfe
of Bob Ackerson, whose merits were prominently blazoned by one who loved the
comforts of the world, — no less a personage than Johnny Townshend, the cele-
brated Bow-street runner, who lived, during the residence of the Prince in
Brighton, with the old Brightonian, at tlie corner of Duke Street, West Street,
where Royalty itself was wont to take a luncheon. Cribbage was ever a favourite
game with her, and till within a few months of her death her knowledge and plav
were as acute as ever. She read much : the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer
and the Sermons of the Rev. J. S. M. Anderson being her universal favourites.
It is worthy of record that she was a twin, the other infant, a boy, surviving but
a few hours. She was childless ; yet many an orphan will long revere her
memory. Nearly up to the close of her long life Mrs. Ackerson was in possession
182 HISTOBT OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
not one of her pensioners, as she termed them, paid her a visit, they
having all died off, gone as she said, after Old Phoebe, and she felt
assured that she then should soon follow.
Mr. Hyam Lewis, father of Mr. Benjamin Lewis, silversmith
and jewcUer, Ship Street, erected the tombstone in the Old Church-
yard, which marks the spot where the remains of Phoebe are
deposited.
Chaptee, XXIII.
THE STEINE AKD JTS TRIBUTARIES.
No part of Brighton has undergone so many changes during
the last century as the Steine, which was at first the drying-ground
for fishermen's nets and the " la}ang-up " place for such boats as
were not in use at particular fishing seasons of the year. The
term Steine is of Flemish origin, and is derived from Mn, Stein,
or Steen, a rock, as at the time when the town received its
Flemish colony, the southern extremity of the valley in which
Brighton lay was edged and protected from the sea by a ledge
of chalk rocks, and from these the name Steine, or rocky,
was given to the field or meadow, which was called the Steine
Field. The word is generally, but erroneously written Steine, in
of her faculties ; her hearing was not greatly impaired ; her eye-sight was what
would be considered, for persons many years her junior, good ; and her recollec-
tion was astonishing. She delighted to hold converse with persons who taxed her
memory, and would relate the reminiscences of her youthful days with much
glee. She loved to talk of her old associations in the early years of George IV. ;
and would do so with all the freshness of a person ia the prime of life. She was
a remarkably fine woman, and her carriage was almost as erect just before she
died as it had ever been. Perhaps so noble and firm a pattern of old age has
scarcely been witnessed. During the last few years of her life she had resided
with her nephew, Mr. J. A. Erredge, on the London Ivoad, to whose family she
was much attached. We understand that she retained her recollection and com-
posure to the last, and died most tranquilly. — Brighton Herald, Feb. 10th, 18-5.5.
Her baptism is thus recorded in the parish register of Pyecombe, Sussex, the
village in which she was born :— December 26, 17-58 : Baptised Richard and Jane,
children of llobcrt Marohant and Sarah his Wife,"
\
.awi^w^"i'!M"p"» ' • yrfrf.-Tum
ir
<=/a<:^/^^/!^r^^//f^^ ^/y^^^yy^/^:///^/^ uc /y
«r_
THE STBINE AND ITS TRrBTTTARIES. 183
conformity with the old corrupt spelling of the Normans and
Normanizcd English in this country. " The final e," says Paul
Dunvan, " which our ancestors borrowed from the French language,
was apposite to the genius and usage of the Saxon and Teutonic :
and in the modern English language, the use of it is admissible in
words of Saxon origin, only to denote the elongation of the
preceding vo^wel, or the liquidity of the letter g. The obvious power,
therefore, of the dipthong ei makes the attendance of this Norman
lackey after the Teutonic noun. Stein, or Steen, totally unnecessary "
The addition of the final e is a modem innovation, as on the Court
Rolls of a Court Baron, held for the Manor of Brighthelmston-
Lewes, is the following entry: — "March (27 Elizabeth) it is
ordered, that no hog go unringed on the Stein, where nets lie,
under a penalty of eight-pence toties quotes J'
In 1779, according to a map of that date, the only building on
the east side of the Steine, was Thomas's Library; just to the north-
west of which, on the grass, was a slight erection much after the
style of the judge's stand at races. This structure was the orchestra,
in which the town band, of three performers, discoursed their music
under their leader, Mr. Anthony Crook, whose instrument was the
trombone. The side of the hill whereon St. James's Street, Edward
Street, and the numerous streets which swell the town to the east
and north-east now stand, was, " a delightful and rich tract of
down, arable and pasture : " and in an old print of Brighthelmston,
in 1 765, reapers are represented employed in cutting and teams of
oxen in carrying the crops on the ground now occupied by the
Marine Parade, Grand Parade, &c. Thomas's Library was the
building now modernized and in the occupation of the Electric
Telegraph Company. The Steine at that period was of much
larger dimensions than at present. In Godwin's rental mention is
made of " the common pound of Brighthelston manor, together
with a cottage and garden adjoining the said pouhd, situate on the
Steine on the west side of East Street ; " and in tho same rental a
bowling-green on the Steine is occasionally mentioned.
In tempestuous weather and during the winter, the boats of
tlic fishermen were luiuled up for safety on the Steine, A Diarist,
dating his memorandum, Wednesday, Septen^b^r 8th, 1778, says,
184 HISTOEY OP BKIGHTHELMSTGN.
" An old -well is half open among the boats ; a little child has just
now waddled off the Steyne towards it. I ran to prevent mischief,
and succeeded. — Have remonstrated against this dangerous neglect
in vain. There are one dry and two wet wells open thereabouts^
When a child of fortune or two shall have been lost therein, the
wells may be boarded over. — The Commissioners by the Act have
sufficient powers, and collect money enough to answer its purposes ;
yet the Cliff-side is all along covered with rubbish, offensive to the
sight and smell. Indeed, there is no occasion to search much for
nuisances, obstructions, and inconveniences, in this place. — Mem.
Since the above complaint, some loose boards have been laid across
one of the wet wells."
In the time of Elizabeth, and even at a more recent date, the
inhabitants were whoUy supplied with water from the public wells,
which were town property, under the control of the Lords of the
different Manors. Thus, at a Court Baron held for the Manor of
Brighthelmston-Lewes, in October (20 Elizabeth) a bye-law was
made that nothing should be laid within four feet of any well within
the said Manor. On the Court Eolls, also, of the same Manor,
appears the following : — " April (19 Jac.) it is ordered at the Court-
Leet, that a building which Eichard Scrase, gentleman, has erected
over the common well in the upper end of North Street, shall not
convey to the said Scrase, or his heirs, any right in the said well,
more than as an inhabitant." This well remained in use till within
the last few years, and was known as the Unicom Yard well, and
was situate in the present space immediately in front of Blaber's
eating-house, at the south end of "Windsor Street. Another well
was in West Street, in the water channel before the premises now
occupied by Mr. Eeldwick, cabmet maker. The curb of it was
raised, on a brick- work platform, around which was the main water-
course of the street. About eighty years ago, in consequence of
the well becoming an impediment to the increased traffic in the
street, and being but little used, it was domed over, and for some
years a square stone at the edge of the pavement marked its site.
The other town wells still in use by means of pumps, are on the
Knab ; in East Street, by the Sussex Arms, formerly the Spread
Eagle ; in Market Street, opposite Payne's Hotel ; and in Pool
I
THE STEIXE AXD ITS TEIBTJTABIES. 185
Valley, adjoining the Duke of "Wellington Inn. The -well situate
just withoxit the poultry portion of the Market, and likewise the
one in Little East Street, from being put out of use by the service
of the Water Company, have been closed over, as has also the great
northern well which but a few years since supplied a large tank
that was erected on the area between St. Peter's Church Enclosure
and the Level, for the street watering service. The remaining
town wells and their pumping gear, now out of use, are situate, one
at the Grafton Street Police Station, and the other under the road-
way at the entrance to the Pier Esplanade, at the bottom of the
Steine. The pump of the last mentioned well, about fortj- years
since, was worked by a donkey, which ti'aversed, " on the getting
up stairs " principle, the interior of a wheel that was fitted to the
groyne. On a brisk March day, however, when the wind was
blovring up more of the dust of that month than is proverbially
required to be equal in worth with a king's ransom, while the
machinery was working under the influence of the usual propelling
power, Old Father Xeptune, as if envious of the poor animal's
dominion over the aqueous element, mounted a foaming billow and
ruslied into the wheel after the donkey. Xeddy's good genius,
who was in constant attendance upon him, — ^just to sharpen his
appetite for work when he felt disposed for a rest, — luckily super-
seded the design of the mythological sovereign of the deep, by
whipping-out his quadruped friend, before the turbulent king could
lash around him. This increased the rage of Neptune, who, on
retiring to his deep abode, bodily tore away the wheel and its fixings.
Previous to the supply from the town pumps, the water for the
streets was obtained from the sea. The water carts then were of
the most primitive description, and consisted of barrels on wheels,
similar to those now in use for tlie conveyance of water upon fanns.
But they had in addition, fixed at the backs of them, au oblong
perforated box each, for the distribution of the water, which was
supplied from the barrels by pvdling out plugs of wood that
projected into the boxes. The barrels were filTed by backing them
some distance into the sea, when the water was lifted into funnels
fitted to the bung holes, by a species of scoop at the end of a pole,
the operator of this intelligent process the while, standing on the
186 niSTOKY OP BETGHTHELMSTOK.
shafts of the carts, or Bacchus like, and bare-legged, bestriding the
barrels.
The Steine then was entirely open, and was a country walk for
visitors. That is to say, in the Spring, Summer, and Autumn ; as
in Winter time, from its then lying very hoUow, the southern part
was generally flooded, and in severe weather the sheet of ice which
was there formed was a general rendezvous for sliding and skating.
When fasliion made the Steine a place of public resort, attention
was paid by the town authorities, to make it in some degree,
attractive. The ground was made level, and verdure was encouraged
to ornament it. On it the old Duke of Cumberland, of Fontenoy,
delighted to turn out the stag and hunt the bounding deer, as the
place was entirely open to the full extent of the Downs ; and the
inhabitants were gratified with repeated spectacles of the kind,
sometimes as often as twice or thrice in a season.
Sports of a less aristocratic character sometimes took place here,
as the following extract from the Morning Herald will verify : —
1805, September lltli. — A pony race on the Level, this morning afforded
much diversion to a very numerous assemblage of spectators. After this, donkey
races took place : seven started for the first heat, and what is very singular, two,
on this starting, ran a dead heat ; a circumstance, probably, with quadrupeds of
this sluggish tribe, never recorded in the annals of sporting. The donkies having
performed their task, the company removed to the Steyne, to the South, where
jumping in sacks, and a jingling match kept hilarity alive for about two hours
longer.
There were Jenkinses of the Press even at this period, who
watched Avith keen eye the doings of royalty, and of the nobility, as
will be seen by the following extracts : —
Morninff Herald, August 9, 1805. — This morning, the Prince of Wales and
the Duke of Sussex honoured the Steyne Promenade with their presence, and for
a short time before dinner, rode on horseback. Mr. Mellish drove Lord Barry-
raore's curricle two or three times round the Steyne, this morning. The quartern
loaf here, now sells for one shilling and six pence.
August 19th. — The Duke of Sussex rode out in an open barouche and
amused himself in smoking a pipe.
The following arc also extracts from a private diary kept
in 1805:—
August 4th.— The -Cliff Parade, from the South end of the Steine to the
unflnislied Crescent, displayed much genteel company tliis afternoon. The
Cyprian Corps have much increa.sed in number within tho last two or three days,
Wo have now little French Milliner!^ in every part of the town.
TITE SXEINE AND ITS lEIBUTABIES. 187
August 27tli. — Townshend and Sayers, two Bow Street officers, arrived
here this morning, in quest of an individual who has been guilty of a burglary in
the metropolis. They had been here but a short time when the object they were
in search of, iu a laced livery, was descried by them in the act of crossing the
Steine. They took him into custody, and having ornamented his wrists with a
pair of iron ruffles, tliey b;>re him oil' in triumph to London.
September 19tli. — About half-past one o'clock the Prince of "Wales returned
from a walk to the west of the Steine, to the Pavilion. Ilis Royal Highness,
who was habited in a black coat and waistcoiit, and nankeen pantaloons, appeared
rather lame from the recent hurt he had received in his ankle. He walked with
a stick, of sufficient dimensions occasionally to bear his weight.
September 26tli. — The Duke of Clarence was to-day, for a short time, on the
Steine. Some of His Highness's sons arc at this time here, and were under the
military instructions of a sergeant of the South Gloucester Jlilitia this morning
on the Pavilion lawn.
The Steine was first partially enclosed -with common hurdles ;
then it was partly paved and railed in. At last the present massive
iron railings were erected. But not as they at present stand.
They surrounded a much larger area, and the lamp-posts were the
main standards, the rails being fastened in them. At that
period the paving around the Steine, under the then Town
Surveyor, Mr. Thomas Harman, was considered a master-
piece of the art of paving in brick. Previous to this im-
provement, there was no carriage road completely round
the Steine, vehicles of every description, from Castle Square to
Prince's Street, having to pass down the west of the Steine and
Pool Yalley, along at the back of the York Hotel, up the east of
the Steine, and by way of the back of (now) the Telegraph OflQ.ce,
down St. James's Street, and then along by the eastern side of the
north Steine, as posts erected across from the Castle Tavern to the
Steine railings admitted only of foot-traffic, and the coaches for
London and Lewes went from Castle Square by way of North Street,
New lload. Church Street, &c. The road across from Castle Square
to St. James's Street was effected on Easter Monday, March 31st,
1834, and appeared to be a work of magic, as the long-3esired im-
pi'ovement had met with opposition from parties who feared the
alteration would affect tlieir interest in property from which the
ti'affic would be diverted. The resolution was passed by the Com-
missioners, and on the day above-mentioned, the "trick" was done,
although the oppositio6 hastened to town to procure m injmietiprj
183 HISTOEY OP BEIGHTHEIMSTON.
from the Lord Chancellor ; as it so happened, that it was the Easter
vacation, so his Lordship could not be approached till all the
alterations had been performed. On the reinstating of the iron
railings, the lamp-posts were placed at the edge of the pavement, as
hitherto, half of the light from the lamps had been cast on the space
within the railings, where it was not required. The posts still show
the holes through which the iron railings passed when they were in
their original position.
The chief modern features on the Old Steine are the statue of
George lY., the Fountain, and the Russian guns. The first was
put up on the 11th of October, 1828. The idea of its erection
originated with a party of tradesmen, who were accustomed to
assemble nightly at the King's Arms, George Street ; but a sub-
scription which remained open for more than eight years and a half
did not provide the sum, £3,000, agreed to be paid Chantry for
his artistic skill. The Fountain, known as the Victoria Fountain?
was also erected by subscription, procured through the indefatigable
exertions of Mr. Cordy Burrows, to whom also the credit is due for
the planting of the Steines with flowers and trees. The Fountain
was inaugurated on the 25th of May, 1846. The design of the
structure was furnished by Mr. Henry Wilds, the model of the
dolphins by Mr. William Pepper, and the ironwork was cast at the
Eagle Foundry. The rock-work upon which the dolphins rest is
formed of huge sand-stones, called in Wiltshire and Berkshire,
" Grey Weathers," and breccia, or pudding-stone, which for
lengthened periods had lain in Goldstone Bottom, on the Dyke
Eoad, and fields adjacent, by manj' persons considered to be the
remains of Druidical temples or altars. But such a notion must
be fallacious, as, at a very recent date, similar accumulations of
sand-stone have been dug up about the western part of Brighton,
where the soil exhibits many irregmlarities which geologists are
unable to account for. An instance of this occurred in digging out
the ground for the foundation of the tower of All Saints' Church,
Buckingham Place, the soil to a considerable depth at one particular
spot, being so loose and treacherous that great ingenuity and care
had to be observed — attended with great expense, — by Messrs.
Cheesman and Son, the builders, to make the foundation secure.
^1^.^
Erected Ma!r26*i846
n
TIIE STEi:?E AXD ITS TEIBUTARIES. 189
A stone also, of the character termed Druidical cromlech, was dug
out while preparing for the foundation of the present Brighton
Workhouse, and was used for the corner stone of the huilding. In
excavating the ground likewise, in 1823, for laying in the gas-pipes
across the Steine, from Castle Square to the comer of the Marine
Parade, huge unshapen blocks of a like character were turned up.
The last memento on the Steine, the Russian guns, are relics of the
siege of Sebastopol.
The old maps shew a piece of water on the Steine, between
the Castle Tavern and the Pavilion, formed by the spring which
rose at Patcham and used to flow by the Pool — Pool Yalley. In
the year 1793, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Marlborough,
whose house stood at the north end of the Marine Pavilion, made an
arched sewer along the Steine, to carry away this water into the
sea, and, in consideration of the expense and improvement, the Lords
of the Manor, with consent of the homage, gave his Eoyal Highness
and the Duke permission to rail in or enclose a certain portion of
the Steine, adjoining their houses respectively, but never to build
on or encumber it with any thing that might obstruct the prospect,
or in any other Avay be a nuisance to the Steine. A bai"n which
stood at this spot, the property of Mr. Howell, as shewn in the
view of the Steine, 1 765, was moved, at the request of the Prince
of Wales, to the top of Chiu-ch Street, into the field whereon also,
stood the Infantry Barracks Hospital, a wooden building that
occupied the site of the Hanover Chapel Burial Ground. There
were two main entrances to the sewer. One was about the centre
of the road, — along which the water channel ran, — opposite the
Pavilion Parade ; and the other was in the roadway immediately to
the east of the entrance to Castle Square from the Steine. Each
Avas protected by a wooden railing in a triangular form. The sewer
discharged itself by means of a square wooden trimk at the back of
Williams's Baths, now the south front of the Lion Mansion.
In 1785-6, the first houses on the South Parade, the east side
of the Steine south of St. James's Street, began to be erected, and in
a few years the whole of them, as well as the extensive range of
buildings which forms the North Parade, were completed.
Mrs. Fitzherbert's mansion, now the residence of W. Fumer,
190 HISTORY OF BEIGHTHELMSXON.
Esq., the Judge of the County Court of this district, adjoining the
present mansion of Captain Thellusson, was built in 1804. On the
site now occupied by the square block of buildings that form the
north-east corner of Castle Square, about forty years since, stood the
Castle Tavern, which had been one of the chief rendezvous of
royalty, the nobility, and the gentry. It was originally a very small
house, but being considered the best in the town for a tavern, it was
purchased by Mr. Shergold, who opened it under the sign of the
Castle, in 1755. Such was its success, in consequence of the
increase of visitors to the town, that, in 1776, Messrs. Tilt and Best
joined him in partnership, and the premises were greatly extended.
In 1790, the other parties having given up the business, Mr. Tilt
carried on the undertaking, and he was succeeded by his widow.
In 1814, Messrs. Gilburd and Harryett became the proprietors.
It attained the acme of its celebrity when in the hands of Mr.
Tilt, who attached to the establishment an elegant suite of Assembly
and Concert Rooms, built with great taste and judgment by Mr.
Crunden, of Park Street. London, in 1776. The Ball Room was
rectangular, 80 feet by 40 feet, with recesses at each end and side,
16 feet by 4 feet, decorated with columns corresponding with
the pilasters which were continued round the room, dividing the
sides and ends into a variety of compartments, ornamented with
paintings from the Admirander and the Yatican, representing a
portion of the story of Cupid and Psyche, and the Aldrobrandini
marriage ; with air-nymphs and divers other figures, in the ancient
grotesque style. The ceiling was curved, and formed an arch of
one fifth of the height of the room, which was 35 feet. Over the
entablature, at each end of the room, was a large painting ; the one
a representation of Aurora, and the other a figure of Nox. In 1814,
a beautifully toned organ by Flight and Robson was erected at the
north end of the room.
In the season, from August to March, Assemblies were held
every Monday. These Avere under the management of Masters of
the Ceremonies, the first of whom were, in 1805, Mr. Yart at
the Old Ship, and Mr. William Wade at the Castle. They were
succeeded by Mr. J. S. Forth, in 1808. He acted in the same
capacity at the Old Ship and the Castle Assemblies. Lieut.-Col.
THE STEINE AND ITS TKIBIJTARIES. 191
Eld succeeded Mr. Porth, and at his decease, December 22nd, 1855,
the office fell into disuse ; in fact, for some years previous to the
decease of the Colonel his services were rarely required, the progress
of the age having rendered such an office null and void. Tho
duties of the Masters of the Ceremonies consisted in watching
minutely the arrival of the nobility and gentry. For this purpose
he attended the Libraries and Hotels regularly once or more a-day
to copy the lists of tho latest visitors, at whose addresses he then
called and left his card, a hint that they should enter their names
in his book, which lay at the principal places of fashionable resort,
and with each entry deposit a guinea with the custodian of the
M.C.'s book, who received a per centage for his trouble and at-
tention. The payment of the fee ensured a mutual recognition
upon all occasions of meeting between the giver and the receiver
during that visit of the donor at Brighton, and, on the occasions of
balls and assemblies, lie was expected to make all the necessary
arrangements, and for dances provide all unprovided ladies and
gentlemen with partners. Masters of the Ceremonies orginated at
a period when balls and routs terminated at ten o'clock in the even-
ing, when "We won't go home till morning," had not come into
vogue, but the sedan chair of "my lady" was in punctual
attendance, and the fair burden was wafted home to admit of repose
before midnight, and to give the sterner sex an opportunity for a
carouse or a spree.
The following is an extract from a private diary : — " July
30th, 1805. This evening, at nine o'clock, the first assembly of
the season, the Grand Hose Ball, was held at the Castle Inn, under
the patronage of the Prince of Wales. The Ball Eoom is large,
lofty, and noble, and commands a full view of the Steyne ; looks,
also, into the Pavilion Gardens, the beautiful shrubberies of which
are worthy of the Eoyal resident. The ceiling forms an arch, and
is painted to represent the rising sun. Every part of the room is
ornamented with various masterly paintings of classical antiquity.
It was lighted up in a superior style, suited to the dignity of the
guests, with three cut-glass chandeliers, 100 lights, and forty lustres
and side-lights. The Prince entered the room at half-past nine, and
at ten o'clock the Ball opened."
192 mSTOET OP BRIGHTHELMSTOU.
During the erection of the Eoyal Stables, in Church Street, in
1809, a carpenter, who lived in Jew Street, named John Butcher,
uncle to Mr. Butcher, of the in-esent firm, Messrs. Cheesman and
Butcher, chinamen. North Street, accidentally fell and injured him-
self. Upon his recovery, not being able to resume the heavy work
of his trade, he constructed a machine of a similar make to the sedan
chair, and placed it upon four wheels. It was drawn by hand, in
the same manner as Bath chairs, while an assistant, when the per-
son being conveyed was heavy, pushed behind. Its introduction
was quite a favourite feature amongst the nobility, and a second
fly, in consequence, was soon constructed. These two vehicles
were extensively patronized by the Prince of "Wales and his noble
companions ; and from being employed by them on special occasions
of a midnight "lark," they received the name of "My -by-nights,"
and soon entu'ely superseded sedan-chairs, except for invalids on
their conveyance to and from the Baths. Butcher, from the great
success which attended his project, being desirous that his flys
should have a more elegant appearance than his ability in the
ornamental could effect, sent one of them, for the purpose of being
repainted and varnished, to Mr. Blaker, coach-maker. Regent Street,
and he, having an eye to business, purloined the design, and im-
proved upon it by making two or three to be drawn by horses. The
most remarkable vehicle of this description, for the conveyance of
one passenger only, was that made for Mr. George Battcock,
surgeon, who died on the 3rd of February last. It was called Dr.
Battcock's "Pill Box."
When George IV. expressed a desire of converting the Castle
Assembly Eoom into a Chapel to be attached to the Eoyal Pavilion,
the fee simple of it was transferred to his Majesty, and as a tavern
attached to a place of divine worship would be a great incongruity,
the transfer of the license of the Castle was made to premises in
Steine Place, the Eoyal York Hotel, so designated in reference to
the Eoyal Duke, Frederick, whose permission for the name was
applied for and obtained from his Eoyal Highness. The house was
opened by Mr. Sheppard.
The Eoyal Albion Hotel, which has so conspicuous a position
to the south of the Steine, occupies the spot whereon formerly stood
O—
THE aiAm \nEH<ki:¥iAm.'<K rAi^Am.mH-irmy noy\ Tvw mA^) .stik
o
; utL./ LuA (i> '" fi' iTcntf
THIE 'I'HAra PiTEK, PRIDM TME IMMSmE IPAJRAIDE.
n
THE STEINE AND ITS TKrBXTTAEIES. 193
Eussell House, once the residence of Dr. Eussell, and afterwards
of the Duke of Cumberland. In 1805, it was the residence
of Miss Johnson. It stood abruptly to the sea, the waves in
stormy weather laving the brick boundary wall to the south.
Immediately under its east wall was Haines's Repository for toys,
where, too, was also an apartment in which were exhibited the
wonders of the Camera Obscura. The Junction Eoad now occupies
the site ; it was a favourite lounge with visitors. The latter years
of Russell House were of a remarkable character, some portion of
it being devoted by its owner, 3Ir. John Colbatch, to copper-plate
printing ; while in the largest apartment the wonders of Khia Khan
Khruse, the chief of the Indian Jugglers, were exhibited, in the
Autumn of 1822. The building eventually had a most neglected
appearance, and was pulled down. The purchase of the space then
was contemplated by the town, in order to keep open the southern
extremity of the Steine to the sea. Mr. Colbatch required £6,000
for it, a sum which the Town Commissioners assented to give ; but
after numerous delays the bargain was off, and soon the present
noble building rose to shut out the southern aspect from the Steine.
In 1792, during the Revolution which deluged France in its
own blood, there was a great influx of refugees from Dieppe to
Brighton, to escape the savage and unrelenting fury of their
persecutors. On the 29th of August, that year, the Marchioness
of Beaule landed at the bottom of the Steine, having paid two
hundred guineas at Dieppe, for her passage across, and even then
she was under the necessity of appearing in the dress of a sailor,
and as sucli she assisted the crew during the whole voyage, not
only to disguise herself, but in order to bring Avith her, undiscovered,
a favourite female, whom she conveyed on board in a trunk, in
which holes were bored to give her air. His Royal Highness the
Prince of "Wales, with Mrs. Fitzhcrbert and Miss Isabella Pigot,
received them on landing, and the Prince escorted them to the
Earl of Clermont's, where tea was provided for His Royal Highness
and twenty of his friends. On the 20th of September, two packets
landed several persons of distinction, amongst whom were the
Archbishop of Aix, and Count Bridges, one of the hou'eJxold of
the hapless Louis XVI. Many priests were amongst the refugees,
194 HISTORY OF BEIGHXHELMSTON.
for the relief of whom subscriptions to a considerable amount were
made, for the purpose of relieving their immediate necessities, and
to enable them to pursue their journey to London. On "Wednesday,
October 20th, thirty-seven nuns, in the habit of their order, were
landed near Shoreham from the Prince of "Wales packet, commanded
by Captain Burton. Their destination was Brussels, where a convent
was being prepared for them. It had been intended that they
should disembark at Brighton, but the roughness of the sea
prevented it. Captain Burton's daughter was married to Mr.
"William "Wigney, a north countryman, who had then recently
settled in Brighton, in North Street, where he kept a linen-draper's
shop. The house, — which he purchased of Lord Leslie, afterwards
Lord Eother, who married Henrietta Ann, daughter of the first
Earl of Chichester, — he paid for in French money, which he had
received in exchange for English coin from the refugees brought
over by his father-in-law. It is related of him that he was not
over scrupulous in the way of business, of passing half-franc pieces
for sixpences to the unwary. He was afterwards the head of the
firm of Messrs. "Wigney, Rickman, and Co., bankers, Steine Lane.
No part of Brighton has had a more varied character than the
Steine. From being the general depository of the materials of the
aborigines, for fishing, it became the place of rendezvous for the
nobility and gentry, the beaux and belles delighting to promenade
there, expend their small talk, and listen to the strains of the
military bands which daily played upon some portion of it. Even
upon Sunday afternoons, so recently as twenty-three years since,
the sounds of music attracted immense crowds of the inhabitants
and visitors there. Frequent innovations, however, upon its space
having taken place, and the southern walks along the whole front of
the town, having, by their extension and commodiousness, become
the fashionable resort, the Steine has quieted down to a thorough-
fare that connects the east with the west portion of the town, and
there is a contentment that it shall remain an important lung of the
borough.
During the agitation for the Eeform Bill, when self-esteemed
politicians tried their 'prentice voice upon stump oratory, the Steine
Was the famous arena for their eloquence. Where now, on gala
>
^
[E Oi.P ^^'-ll^'^'Jl^K.fCASTLK SQFA^IK AW P PAVILI©^.
P..h!;..K«J k.. WTttM
C)
THE aXBlNE A>D US TJilBDIAKIES. 195
dajs, the triple rampant dolphins, which support on their entwined
tails the basins of the fountain, belave themselves, a waggon has
formed the vehicle for the conveyance of political sentiments under
the guise of Toryism, "Whigism, Chartism, or any other ism that
the whim, rage, or fashion of the day has chanced to assume.
The most memorable event on the Steine was the dinner given
there on the 3rd of September, 1830, to the children of the various
charity schools in the town, to commemorate the first visit of
William IV. and Queen Adelaide to Brighton. Their Majesties
arrived on the previous Monday, great preparations having been
made for their reception, triumphal arches and other erections
forming emblems of rejoicing throughout the space from the extreme
north of the town, on the London Road, to the entrance of the
Pavilion Grounds. Probably, now, when there is so great a facility
for the transmission of large masses of people by means of the
railway, the numbers of persons who came into the town on the
occasion, would be considered of little moment; but then the
quantity was estimated as vast, vehicles of every description
arriving in the town, heavily laden with human beings, not only
from all parts of the county, but even the distance of two hun-
dred mUes was not considered too great to travel in order to witness
the imposing sight. For more than a week prior to the appointed
day, numbers of persons had arrived in the town to ensure being
present ; and lodgings of every description were seized with
avidity, at — to use a commercial term — long prices. The stage
coaches from London, — many of which were specially placed on the
road to meet the demands, — were crowded to excess at extra fares ;
and the vans and spring waggons — as they were termed — nightly
bore heavy freights of provisions to meet the anticipated rapid
consumption.
Their Majesties arrived shortly after five o'clock, and were
met by the High Constable, the Clergy, and a Committee of
the principal inhabitants, the children of the various schools
forming a line along the route through which the royal carriages
passed. The waving of handkerchiefs by the ladies from the
balconies, the shouts and huzzas of the people, the roaring of
cannon, the ringing of bells, the music of various bands, the tramp
o 2
196 HISTORY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
of horses, the rattling of carriages, the floating of hundreds of flags
and banners, formed altogether a spectacle that had never been
previously, nor has it been since, equalled in Brighton. The
crowning feature of the day was a structure in the form of a
triumphal arch, which was of vast proportions, fifty feet in height,
the opening of the arch having a span of twenty-five feet, and the
whole was clothed with evergreens and flowers. The top was
covered with a profusion of flags and streamers, from the Hyperion
frigate, then stationed at I^ewhaven, in the midst of which flaunted
the Standard of England. A body of sailors, belonging to the Coast
Blockade service, dressed in blue jackets and white trousers, were
arranged pyramidically on the top, and gave a crowning character
to the spectacle, as they gave three hearty cheers for the " Sailor
King." They were seventy in number, supplied by Captain
Mingaye, of the Hyperion. The structure was crowded with
gaily dressed ladies, and the galleries of the archway were filled
with the girls of Swan Downer's Charity School, and those of the
National School, who at that time wore green dresses and white
mob caps. In the evening the town was one blaze of light from a
general illumination.
The preparations for dining the children were completed by
noon on Friday. Three rows of tables, with benches on each side,
were ranged round the whole area of the southern division of the
Steine, which at that time was one grass plot, to which the
spectators were admitted by tickets. The centre of the lawn was
left entirely open, no persons being allowed upon that portion
except the committee of management and the bands of the Horse
and Poot Guards. At the southern extremity of this open space
was a capacious marquee, erected for the accommodation of their
Majesties. The interior was laid out very tastefully, and refresh-
ments were prepared. At its entrance waved the two large town
flags, supported by two of the Committee in blue sashes. Across
the pavement between the two divisions of the Steine a space was
boarded ofi", as also, across the northern division, and thence to the
private entrance of the Pavilion at the north end of the Steine. At
this period posts and rails skirted the outer edge of the pavement
around the whole of the Steine.
o
V
^J^-
1/^:5^^^^ _A.
!s.fyiii<s.-«.Sfi«^^
A
y • / ■ ' ' ' ' ' j> ■ .
THE STKINE AXD ITS TBIBUTAJIIES. 197
The spectators began to assemble on the pavement about one
o'clock, at which time the whole circumference outside the fence
was belted with carriages, some of which had taken up their position
at an early hour in the morning. The parade of the children to
the grounds was a most pleasing sight, their general cleanliness and
their appearance of health and happiness, imparting a most
gratifying charm to the scene. By two o'clock the whole of the
children were seated, and the ampitheatre of the Steine, gradually
rising from the children at the tables to the spectators that girted
them, and then on to the carnages covered with persons, and
beyond that the thousands which crowded the windows, balconies,
and the very roofs of the houses that bound the Steine, afforded a
spectacle far more imposing than the most vivid imagination can
conceive.
Precisely at two o'clock, their Majesties, accompanied by the
Princess Augusta, the Landgravine of Hesse Homburgh, the Duke
of Cambridge, Prince George of Cambridge, Sir Augustus and Lady
D'Egte, and others, came across from the Pavilion Grounds to the
boardcd-off avenue, where they were met by the High Constable,
who had received His Majesty's commands to escort the royal party
to the festive scene, where they received the respects of the
Magistrates, Clergy, and Gentry. Having surveyed the scene for
some time, their Majesties and suite passed along the line close to
the children, frequently returning the salutations of the people
with the utmost affability and condescension. Having returned to
the entrance, their Majesty's bowed to the vast assemblage and
withdrew, attended by their royal relative: . At that moment the
regimental bands struck up the National Anthem, and shouts
simiiltaneously burst from every lip. Even the children, whose
eyes only, as yet, had been feasted, rose and mingled their shriU
voices with the harmony of throats.
It was calculated that more than 60,000 persons were present
to \'iew the feeding of the youthful multitude, who, immediately on
the Grace having been said by the Rev. 11. M. Wagner — Yiear, —
were supplied with an unlimited quantity of roast and boiled beef
and plum pudding b}- the numerous carvers who had volunteered
their services, ladj' waitresses with fho utmost alacrity attending
198 HISTOKY OV BRIGHTHELMSTOIT.
most assiduously upon the youthful guests. It was an occasion
that formed an epoch in the life of every person present. On the
occasion of the first visit of Queen Victoria to Brighton, October
4th, 1837, a similar banquet was given to the chndi-eu upon the
Stein e.
The most celebrated public buildings of the Steine were the
libraries, which were the principal resort of the visitors. The first
library here was instituted by Mr. Woodgate, at the southern
extremity, on the premises at present occupied by Mr. Shaw,
confectioner, and others, contiguous to the York Hotel, where also
was the Post OflS.ce. Mr. Woodgate was succeeded by Miss Widget,
who resigned it to Mr. Bowen ; after whom came Mr. Crawford,
and, lastly, Mr. F. G. Fisher.
The other library was that of Mr. Thomas, after whom was Mr.
Dudlow, who was succeeded by Mr. James Gregory, whose successor,
Mr. Donaldson, resigned the establishment to Mr. Thomas Lucombe.
Mr. Donaldson pulled down the original low building in 1806, and
erected the present structure, which has however, since the carriage
road has been formed in front of it, been much modernized to suit
the various businesses to which the premises have been devoted.
''A Diarist," writing August 23rd, 1779, says, "There is a
sort of rivalry between the two Librarians on the Steyne, as to their
subscription books ; which shall most justly deserve the title of the
book of Numbers. — There is a constant struggle between them,
which shall be most courteous ; and the effects are those usually con-
sequent upon an opposition. Sir Christopher Caustic, this morning
was turning over the leaves, at Bowen' s, which contains the names
of the subscribers. Mr. Bowen bowed a la Novarre or Gallini, and
with offered pen and ink, craved the honour of — an additional
name : this being his first season, and having been purposely mis-
informed by some would be witty wag ; ' Sir,' said Mr. Bowen,
displaying, all the time, two irregular rows of remarkably white
teeth, ' yours will stand immediately after that of the Honourable
Charles James Fox, Esq., and before that of Mrs. Franco, the rich
Jew's lady. Esquire "W d's was to have been on the medium
line, but, poor gentleman, he is unfortunately detained nenr London,
on emergent business.' To what a degree was the dealer in stationery
THE STEINE AND ITS TRIBITTAEIES. 199
let down, when he was afterwards regularly rectified ; when by
explanatory notes, and critical commentations, ho came to be fully
informed that the individual Mr. Fox in question was not the
celebrated senator of that name, but an Irish Jontleman, who con-
descends in winter to keep a chop house at the corner of the play-
house passage, in Bow Street, Covent Garden ; and every autumnal
season, has frequent opportunities of storming and swearing at the
ladies who may have the good fortune to belong to the Brighthelm-
stonc company of Comedians, he being sole manager thereof. And
such management ! — Scarrons Rancour, who filled all the characters
in a play by himself, was a fool to him. That Mrs. Franco was, to be
sure, the temporary wife of young Mr. Franco, last season, but seems
at leisure this to be the temporary wife of even Mr. Bowen, if ho
pleases ; and that poor Billy, who was the Beau, is confined, custo-
dia marcellis, Banco Regis, on suspicion of debt, where he blacks
shoes, cleans knives, and turns spits, for the privilege of dipping
sops in the dripping-pans of poor prisoners."
" Mr. Thomas, the other librarian, must be noticed in turn.
He hath been years enough practising small talk with the ladies
and gentlemen upon the Steyne, and hath arrived at a surprising
degree of precision in pronouncing French-English. He is now
reading the newspaper to some of his subscribers, with an audible
voice, and repeatedly calls a detached body of troops a corpse ; a tour
he improves into a totoer ; and delivers his words in a proiniscas
manner. It is near seven in the evening, and the widow Fussic has
just waddled into his shop, with a parasol in her right, and a
spying-glass in her left hand. Thomas offers her a General Adver-
tiser. ' Lord bless me ! ' says she, ' Mr, Thomas, how damp this
paper is tho' it it has come so far, and must have been printed
so long since ! AVhat reason can you give for it ? ' — Mr. Thomas
observes, considers and explains, in a most explicit manner, the
cause aivi the eft'ect, to the inquisitive lady, naturally speaking, as a
body may say ; proving to a demonstration, according to Candido,
that there can be no eft'ect without a cause ; and that of course,
damp papers, closely compressed, will continue damp a considerable
time. In the interim. Miss Fanny Fussic stares and whispers to her
brother Bobby, while he is subscribing to a rafiie, that Mr. Thomas
200 HISTOEY OF BKIGHTHELMSTOlir.
must be a most prodigious man, monstrously intelligent, and withal,
that he is amazingly communicative : ' He knows but every-thing,'
says she, ' and tells but every-thing he knows.' "
Another Library was also established on the Steine, on the
premises which had been known as Raggett's Subscription House,
at the opposite corner of St. James's Street. " In this house," writes
Mr. H. E. Attree, in his Topography of Brighton, "the dice are
often rattled to some tune, and bank-notes transferred from one
hand to another, with as little ceremony as bills of the play, or
quack doctor's draughts to their patients." This library was
established by Mr. Donaldson, jun., who disposed of it to Mr.
Osborne, from whom it passed to Mr. IS'athaniel Turner.
Originally, beneath the balconies in front of the two first-
mentioned libraries, were seats, with and without reclining backs,
upon which, in genial weather, subscribers were accustomed to
lounge and peruse the newspaper or the last new novel of the day.
Cigars then were unknown, and short pipes had not come into
vogue, so that these retreats were not disfigured with the notice
" No smoking allowed," as the "weed" was not indulged in, except
behind a long "churchwarden" at the tavern, where gossips
nightly met to chat over the scandals of the day. Besides these
retreats beneath the balconies, there were open high-backed seats,
called Settles, much after the structure of rustic chairs in parks and
pleasure grounds, upon various parts of the promenade around the
Steine. At the bottom of the Steine, also, facing the sea, was the
Alcove, a summer-house kind of building, capable of seating some-
thing like half-a-dozen persons. Bew,'^-' in his diary, date, Thurs-
day, August 26th, 1779, says, " This morning I edged away
towards the Alcove, at the east end of the bottom of the Sleyne,
wherein were seated two Elders, and perhaps, a chaste Susanna ;
at any rate, she was not naked. On my approach they departed
hastily, and I joined the deserted lady — in discourse, by observing
that the town was thin, and that I heard trade in general was very
bad. ' Yery bad, indeed. Sir,' said she ; 'I suppose you are a
* Mr. Bew, who afterwards lived in East Street, was dentist to George IV.,
and, in conjunction with Mr. Frederick Vining, lessee of the Theatre Eoyal
Brighton.
u
-'i, «)«, AHiid S^ liiiiK :\ ;T-r :v:i VI K;H';i kvie rs' iiM((3 AT TifflK iR '.w i' aiIj sj A:K J -^ J*- M 1^ -1. A la y , J,; ji ,1 (.; ,1.1 .1 Aj ,
G
■'^!':^-. ir I*
1
lfi'*TAl, iVJ/\\«1i\'l ILIMHABI. 31IAMlli^lK fAlRAlDiK
l'..IJl„liri| 1^ W'Tl.. i„V,.IM»tl
THE STEINE AND ITS TKIBUTABIES. 201
fellow sufferer. You belong to the players, Sir, doa't you? ' * My
dear,' replied I, ' why should you think so ? ' ' Because you arc
seldom without a book in your hand.' * Do few read besides
players, then ? ' — 'Yes, Sir, I beg pardon; Iliad another reason;
but you'll excuse mc.' ' Indeed I will not my dear.' — ' Why then,
Sir, as you advanced towards us, one of those elderly gentlemen —
by their discourse I believe they are parsons, — said to the other,
' Come, Sir, let us be gone, or we shall be taken off; Mr. Diarist is
coming this way.' ' Now, Sir, if that is j-our name, tho' I have
never seen it yet in the play bills, was it wonderful that I should
imagine you to be one of the gentlemen players.' — I assured her,
nevertheless, that I was not entitled to that honour ; and here you
may imagine our conference ended."
Another retreat for a lounge or promenade was the Colonnade
under the balcony of the library on the Marijie Parade, established
in 1798, by Messrs. Donaldson and "Wilkes, and afterwards carried
on by Mr. Pollard, and then by Messrs. Tuppen and Walker. This
library, and the original two on the Steine, were not merely the
resort of visitors for the purpose of literary pursuits, as their name
legitimately im2)lies, but after eight o'clock in the evening, during
the Summer season, that p'ortion of the business in connexion with
books ceased, and holland blinds being drawn down to cover over
the Avhole of the books and book-shelves, a saloon was formed that
nightly attracted hundreds of tonish idlers to the vocal and in-
strumental music that was discoursed, and to join in the raffles,
similar to those that were going on at Raggett's subscription room.
Bew, in his Diarj-, date, Saturday, September 4th, 1799,
writes, — " Every article of convenience, cvcrj- trinket of luxury, is
transferred by this uncertain, quick mode of conveyance. Not a
shop •without its rattle-trap, — rattle, rattle, rattle, morning and
evening. Here may be seen, — walk in and sec, — an abridgment of
the wisdpm of this world ; — the pomps and vanities are at large,
varying like yonder evanescent clouds. Observe the fond parent
initiating her forward offspring in the use of the dice-box, and her-
self setting the example ; yet may she wonder, at some future day,
and think her throw in life's raffle extremely severe, that a pro-
pensity to that and similar habits should continue and increase."
202 HISTORY OP BEIGHTKELMSTOlir.
Pislier, in August, 1805, established a new Auction Mart in St..
James's Street, that was open morning and night. The following
extracts from a private diary will in some degree explain the rage
which was on at those periods for this and similar virulent
pastimes : —
August 2nd, 1792. — But little company stirred out to-day, on account of the
intense heat of the weather. Sporting men of fashion, dashers, and blacklegs
certainlv assembled on the Stcine, to make their bets for to-morrow's Lewes
Races, where much excellent sport is expected. The other part of the day was
spent mostly in Raggett's Subscription House, at Billiards, Dice, &c. On dit. —
Lady Lade is retui-ning from Brighton in much dudgeon, — because, forsooth,
Lady Jersey, she says, made widgar mouths at her yesterday on the race-ground ;
July 23rd, 1805. — A very select and elegant assemblage of nobility last night
paraded the Steine until a late hour. Donaldson's library, also, was very
fashionably filled ; and Wilks's Pic-nic Auction exhibited a blaze of rank and
beauty.
August 23rd. — "Wilks's bargains were in fashionable request last night, and
the knock-down blows of Fisher were directed with his usual ability and effect.
Fisher's Xew Auction Lounge was again well filled with rank and beauty this
morning. A monster of the finny tribe has been exhibited in a marquee, pitched
purposely for the occasion, on the Steine to-day. It is called a Star Fish, and is
so worthy the attention of the curious that it has divided the attention of the
public with Fisher.
August 27th. — ^Wilks's Auction Lounge, last night, was immensely crowded
until a late hour : nor has the magnetical hammer of Fisher, at his new room,
been less attractive this morning.
September 21st, 1807. — Donaldson's and Pollard's libraries have had crowded
assemblages, and the game of Loo has had more than its usual number of votaries.
This evening Mr Cartwright will perform at Fisher's Lounge, on the musical
glasses, under the patronage of Mrs Orby Hunter.
October 8th. — Pam still possesses his original attraction, and the Belles are
nightly looed in his presence. — Rather a bad pun that, eh ?
May 9th, 1810. — Donaldson's and Walker's spacious and airy Steine and
Marine Lounges have not been so interestingly decorated with rank and beauty
as they have to-day appeared for many preceding months, though the amusements
of one card loo, &c., are not yet there introduced. The diversion of rafiling has
not been permitted at either for some years past, nor will it again be allowed^
so long as the Little-go Bill remains unrepealed ; we may therefore conclude that
the rattle of the dice will hever be heard at either again.
Trinket Auctions were established when an Act of Parliament,
called Mr. Yansittart's Little-go Bill, was passed, that did away
with raffling at all places of public resort, as the profits to the
librarians at the watering places generally, arose from these
diversions, rather than from the high literary character of the
THE STEINE AND ITS TRIBrTAErES 203
books upon their shelves, or the erudite position of the persons
whose names were in their subscription books because fashion
ruled it so. The novelty of Trinket Auctions soon wore oflf, and then
another pastime, under the name of Loo, was introduced. The
game was very diverting in its progress, and afforded an occasion
for many agreeable sallies of wit, according to the talent of the con-
ductor of it and the disposition to replications of those about him.
The Loo Sweepstakes, as they were termed, were limited to eight
subscribers, and the individual stake, one shilling. The full
number being obtained, a certain quantity of cards, amongst which
was a Knave of Clubs, or Pam, were shuffled, cut, and separately
dealt and turned : the numbers were called in rotation diuing the
process, and that against which Pam appeared was pronounced the
winner.
In September, 1810, an attempt was made to constitute the
game of Loo au illegal act. For that purpose informations were
lodged against Messrs. Donaldson and AYalker, the proprietors of the
Steine and Marine Libraries, and the case was heard at Lewes.
before a full Bench of Magistrates. Mr. Courthorpe was counsel
for the prosecution, and Mr. Adolphus appeared for the defendants.
The only case that was argued was that of an information against
Mr. "Walker, founded on the 12th of Geo. II., c. 28, and which was
dwelt on with much force, — such indeed as a confidence of success
only could inspu'e —by Mr. Courthorpe. To prove that defendant
had offended within the meaning of the Act, and consequently was
liable to the penalty therein expressed, i.e., two hundred pounds,
Mrs. "White, the wife of one of the informers, was called and
examined. This witness hesitated considerably in her e%"idencc,
pai'ticularly when interrogated by Mr. Adolphus, as to her motive
in becoming a subscriber to the Loo amusement at "Walker's
and whether or not she had so acted with the solo aim and
purpose of lodging an information against Mr. "Walker, which
she at last admitted. The substance of her CA-idence was
" That she attended at Walker's library on the 30th of August ;
that she stood next to Mr. Walker on that occasion ; that she heard
him say, ' Ladies and gentlemen, three shillings are only wanting
to complete the sweepstake for this elegant Lady's Morocco work-
204 HIBTOBY OP BEIGHTHELMSTOK.
box ; ' that she gave him a shilling for a chance, when he asked her
in what name she would have it, and she said Mrs. Goodlovc ;
that a lady at length shuffled and cut the cards ; that Mr. Walker
dealt them ; that the first dealt was called Mr. Bangup ; that she
won Pam, and got the prize ; that Mr. Walker told her she had
Avon it, and that she was to receive seven shillings in goods, or
subscribe an extra sixpence, and have two chances for another box
of much superior value ; that she took the prize she had won, and
lost two shillings in other ventures, &c." When questioned by the
Earl of Chichester, one of the magistrates, as to the real value of
the prize that had been nominated at 7s, her husband whispered to
her what to say ; which being overheard by the Noble Earl, Mr.
White was compelled instantly to quit the room, and to wait
without, that he might be at hand in case he should be wanted.
Mr. Adolphus (the witness being dismissed) addressed the Bench in
a most able speech, concluding by producing an Act of Parliament
passed in 1806, by which he clearly evinced that the present
informations could not be sustained, as the said Act dispossessed
magistrates of all jurisdiction and control in matters of that sort
then before them. Mr. Courthorpc laboured hard, notwithstanding,
to gain his point ; but as his oratory had not the power to super-
sede an Act of Parliament, his labour was in vain. As authorities
in support of the Act he produced, Mr. Adolphus was upheld by
the opinion of the Attorney-Greneral, and a decision in the Court of
King's Bench. The Magistrates, from what had been brought
forward by Mr. Adolphus, saw their incompetency in so strong a
light, that they dismissed the business, even without hearing the
reply which Mr. Adolphus was about to make to his learned
friend. There were three other informations, all of which of
course were withdrawn. The librarians returned home in high
spirits, and the Loo parties, subsequently, and exulting in the
success of the day, were more numerous than usual.
Pam, the good genius of Loo, continued to hold sway at the
libraries tUl 1817, when the magistrates took an antipathy towards
him, owing to the unbounded patronage which he received from the
ladies in general. They considered him an unwelcome resident ; so,
by their mandate, supported by an obsolete Act of Henry VIII.,
THE STEINE AND ITS TBIBTJTARTKS 205
he was excomnmnicated from all the libraries, as, at this time he
had taken up his abode at Mr. T. H. Wright's Library, then just
established at the south-west corner of Pavilion Street, Gradually,
however, he resumed his position at the establishments of Lucombe
and Tuppen ; but notwithstanding the presiding influence of those
two patterers and wits, assisted by Mr. Stacy, the present librarian
at the Royal Albion Booms, and Mr. Wheeler, the box book-keeper
at the Brighton Theatre, the destruction of the fashionable prome-
nade, by curtailing the Steine of its fair proportions, so distorted the
throng and habit of fashion, that Pam fell into desuetude and the
libraries, unsupported by him, became failures.
Five and twenty years since, Brighton abounded with libraries,
Wright's, in the Colonnade, North Street, removed from the
Pavilion Parade, and Eber's, in Castle Square, a branch of the
London establishment, being amongst the principal of those that
then existed. Furnishing food for the mind, however, was a less
profitable speculation than supplying materials for the under-
standings, as Mr. Tozer on the former premises, and Messrs. Dutton
and Thorowgood on the latter, by the sale of boots and shoes, have
matured businesses that may vie with any of the same trade in the
kingdom. It is somewhat remarkable, too, that a portion of the
premises in Prince's Place, occupied by Mr. Lulham, boot and shoe-
maker, and the house in the occupation of Messrs. Sharman and
Co., North Street, as a boot and shoe mart, were the libraiy of Mr.
Taylor. These facts certainly confirm the adage, — at any rate when
besieged by the multitude with a civil view, — that " there is
nothing like leather."
From time to time libraries of more or less pretensions have
been started, either by private parties or by societies of membership ;
but most of them have become things of the past, which in their
short lived career possessed nothing to warrant a recital of their
history.
The oldest established now in existence is Mr. Folthorp's North
Street Library, originally Cheat's, and then Loader's. It is
admirably situated, and has a supply of books, periodicals,
and newspapers equalled by no other circulating library in the
county. The only proprietary literary establishments, with the
206 HISTOKY OP BEIGHTHELMSTON.
exceptiou of those attached to the several places of public worship
and their schools, are the Brighton Royal Literary and Scientific
Institution, Albion Rooms, to which a Chess Club is attached ; the
Railway Library and Scientific Institution, for the use of persons
employed on the railway ; and the Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion, in Middle Street. Some of the booksellers have a lending
library connected with their businesses. The principal of these are
DoUman's, "Western Road, and Burrett's, "Waterloo Street, Hove ;
Styles's, North Street, Sugg's St. James's Street, and Grant's
Library and Reading Room, Castle Square. The literary character
of which the Steine formerly boasted is now entirely gone, and it is
content to be considered the emporium of the followers of Galen
and .^sculapius, who as much there abound as the students of Coke
and Blackstone throng Ship Street, and give that locality of quips,
quirks, and the law's delays the appellation of Chancery Lane.
Chapteh XXIX.
THE THEATRES.
Besides the Assembly Rooms at the Castle Tavern and the Old
Ship Hotel, and the Libraries, the Theatre has been, and still is,
a place of fashionable resort in Brighton. The remnant of the
first Theatre ever erected in the town has recently been restored to
public notice in consequence of the premises undergoing alterations
in the process of converting them into ale and porter stores, by
Messrs. Charlton and Co. They are situated in North Street, and
are approached by a doorway between the shops of Messrs. Cunditt,
jewellers, and Mr. Pritchard, confectioner. To the old inhabitants
they are better known as Wallis's wine and spirit vaults ; and at a
recent date they were occupied by Mr, Cordy, the son-in-law and
successor of Mr. "Wallis. In 1789 they were used as the printing
office of Messrs. "William and Arthur Lee, who in a few years
removed their establishment to Lewes, and then Mr. "Wallis took
possession of them.
THE THEATEES.
207
In this building David Garrick displayed his inimitable
histrionic talent. The main structure and its original front have
long since passed away ; but the stage yet remains entire, with its
several traps and appointments. An excellent porh'ait of Garrick,
till lately graced the •wall, but the modern destroyer of many a
work of art, whitewash, has entirely obliterated every feature
of it.
Annexed is a copy of the " Bill of the Play," in the possession
of Mr. Cunditt, referring to this Theatre : —
Theatre, North-Street, Brighthelmston,
On "Wedxesday, Octoher 6, 17B5, will be presented,
A COMEDY, called THE
SUSPICIOUS HUSBAND.
Hangey, . .
Frankly, . .
Bellamy, . .
Jack Meggott,
Tester,
Buckle,
Simon,
And Mr. Strickland,
Mrs. Strickland,
Jacintha, . .
Lueetta, . .
Millener, . .
And Clarinda,
by Mr. Graham, Jun.
by Mr. "Wewitzer.
by Mr. Williams.
by Mr. Frost.
by Mr. Follett, Jun.
by Mr. Phillips.
by Mr. Daniell.
by Mr. Lestrange.
by Mrs. "W.vlcot.
by Mrs. Boltox.
by Mrs. Edgar.
by Miss Stevenson.
by Mrs. Elliott.
(From the Theatre Royal, Dublin, Being her First Appearance on this Stage.)
Dancing, between the Acts, by Master and Miss Michel.
To which will be added a F^VECE, called,
WHO'S THE DUPE?
Old JDoiley, .. . . . . . . by Mr. Follet.
Sandford, .. . . . . • • by Mr. Frost.
Granger, . . . . . . . . by Mr. "Williams.
And Oradus, . . . . . . . . by Mr. Graham, Jun.
Miss Doiley, . . . . . . . . by Mrs. Bolton.
Charlotte, . . .. , . . . by Miss Edo.\r.
Tickets and Places for the Boxes to be taken of Mr. Baily, at the Theatre.
Doors to be opened at Six, and to begin exactly at Seven.
The Tragedy of RICHARD III, .and the New Pantomime of ROBINSON
CRUSOE, or, HARLEQUIN FRIDAY, (as performed for Eighty Nights, at
the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane) is obliged to be postponed till Friday Evening,
on account of the machinery not being quite ready.
The following are extracts from the Diary of Mr. Bew : —
1778.--Tuesday, September I.— -The Settle. — Stetsb. —lili. Griffith, of
208 HISTOET OP BEIGHTaEIMSTON.
Druiy Lane playhouse, with much civility, conducts me to the Theatre, in North
Street, in which company he is concerned^ am fearful tlie manager is most con-
cerned, at — the hadncss of the season, for thero seems a plentiful lack of company.
But, not to play too much upon words, it is a pretty building, something larger
than that at Richmond, and seems well adapted to its intended uses.
Friday, 4. — Ai the Theatre. — In the evening went to Griffith's benefit, the
West Indian, by desire of Lady Mills ; much, but pleasingly disappointed,
because the company performed a great deal better than from information I had
been taught to expect ; the ladies also were, what all stage-ladies not always are,
— extremely decent.
Previous to 1774 there was no other temple dedicated to Thalia
and Melpomene, than a barn. The first theatre was built by the
late Mr. Samuel Paine, and let in 1774, to Mr. Eoger Johnstone,
formerly the property-man at Covent Garden Theatre, who, having
continued it for three years only, it was then leased to the late Mr,
Pox, of Covent Garden Theatre also, in 1777, for the term of fifteen
years, at the annual rent of sixty guineas.
It was understood, however, between the lessor and the lessee,
that the former, in addition, was to have the net receipts of the
house on one night, to be called his benefit night, clear of all
expenses, in every succeeding year ; and that his family should be
free of the theatre, or possess the right of witnessing the perform-
ances there, at all times, without being liable to any charge as the
consequence of their visits.
The latter stipulation was correctly introduced into the cove-
nants of the lease, but not so the former, net profits being there
stipulated instead of net receipts ; the issue of which was, that Mr.
Paine was called on to defray the expenses of his first benefit night,
contrary to what had previously been understood, and orally agreed
upon, between him and Mr. Pox.
This circumstance had nearly given rise to an unpleasant litiga-
tion between the parties ; in which Mr. Paine, in all probability,
would have been the suff'erer, for the want of a document to estab-
lish the propriety of his claim ; but such a mortification and injury
he preserved himself from, by having recourse to the following
expedient : —
The right of gratuitous admission to the theatre, to himself and
family, as above specified, was undisputed ; and as no place in the
house was stipulated as the only part they should be permitted to
THE TOEATEES. 209
enter in thoii* visits, he determined to avail himself of his privilege
to the full extent of its bearing. He, therefore, collected his family
together, and with them entered the theatre for a succession of
nights, resolutely occupying the best seats in the boxes, to the
exclusion of other and more profitable applicants.
The manager, thus opposed, and law and equity pronounced by
the public as both in favour of Mr. Paine, consented to ratify his
first agreement, and the system of warfare adopted to harass and
punish him, ceased. Before the expiration of the fifteen years' lease
the house was found inadequate to the accommodation of the in-
creased population of the town, and a new one was erected in Duke
Street. The license for the theatre was yearly obtained from the
magistrates at the Quarter Sessions at Lewes; and Mr. Fox, on
finishing the house in Duke Street, applied for the removal of the
the license to that place. His application was granted, no opposition
being offered to the measure by Mr. Paine.
The latter, however, discovered the error of his non-resistance
before the next application for the license became requisite, when
his opposition to it was a matter of course ; but which proved
ineffectual from the delay, and the license was granted to the same
house, on which, without opposition, it had been bestowed the year
before. The family of Paine were, therefore, pecuniary sufferers of
several hundred pounds per annum by this event, and for which
the onlj' compensation ever received fell short of one hundred and
twenty pounds, or guineas.
On the death of Mr. Pox, the Duke Street Theatre was pur-
chased by H. Cobb, Esq., of Clement's Inn, who built the present
house in the New Road, 1807, and removed the license thereto,
having first satisfied the ground-landlord in respect to the measure.
The building had a plain front of wood, draAvn out to imitate
blocks of stone, unpicrccd with windows, and was approached by a
semi-circular carriage and foot-way from the street, as it was set
back from the main road to nearly the present frontage of
Mr. Patching's house, on the site of which the Theatre then
stood. The projecting entrance to the Boxes, in the centre
of the front, was by a Grecian portico supported by four Tuscan
pillars, from which branched brackets supporting two round
p
210 HISTORY OF BRIGHTHELMSTON.
shaped oil lamps. The buildings abutting east and west had also
similar lamps. The Pit and Gallery entrances were on the east side,
approached by an external passage, that had a door, over which was
painted " Pit and Gal." The stage door was a little to the west of
the principal entrance, where the word " Boxes " was conspicuously
painted. Five posts divided the footway on each side of the portico.
A print of the Theatre was published in London, April 1st, 1804, by
T. "Woodfall, Yilliers' Street, Strand, and several figures therein
exhibit the peculiar fashion of the day in dress. The license to
this Theatre Eoyal was granted by a special Act of Parliament,
which passed in the year 1788.
An anecdote connected with this Theatre, and noted in
"Brighton Past and Present," by Mrs. Merrifield, is worthy of
quotation : — " It was during the time that Pox was manager that
the celebrated Mrs. Jordan trod these boards as an actress. A friend
of mine, who sometimes visited the green room, one day found her
in great distress, threatened by a Sheriff's Officer, on account of the
debt of an extravagant brother. Mrs. Jordan solicited my friend to
become surety for her. ' "When I went into the room,' said my
friend, * I thought her one of the plainest little women I had ever
seen, but I had not been in her company half-an-hour before I
thought her charming.' It is almost unnecessary to say that he
complied with her request, and relieved this fascinating actress from
her embarassment ; nor had he cause to repent of his goodnature,
for Mrs. Jordan paid the debt as soon as she was able, and thus
released him from his engagement."
Annexed is a copy of a bill of the performance at this theatre :
For the Benefit of
Mr. PALMEE, J UN.,
The last night but Two of performing this Season.
Theatre, Brighton,
On "Wednesday, October l5th, 1794, will be presented, the popular play of
THE J E W.
Sheva (for that night only,) , . by Mr. Bannister, jun.
From the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
Sir Stephen Bertram . . . by Mr. Dokmer.
Charles Ratcliffe .. . , by Mr. Palmer, jun.
THE THEATEE8. 211
Jahel . . . . . . . . by Mr. Simpson.
Frederick . . . . . . by Mr. Palmek.
From the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, — positively the last time of his performing
here this Season.
Miza . . . . . . . . by Mrs. Simpson.
(End of the Play.)
A Comic Medley, by Mr. Edwin.
After which, the Farce of
THE VILLAGE LAWYER.
Sheep/ace' (for that night only,) by Mr. Parsons.
From the Theatre Jioyal, Drury Lane.
Snarl . . . . . . . . by Mr. Simpson.
Scout .. .. .. .. by Mr. Bannister, jun.
The whole to conclude with the favourite Entertainment of
THE L Y A R.
Young Wilding .. . . . . by Mr. Palmer.
Papillion . . . . . . . . by Mr. Palmer, jun.
Miss Grantham . . . . . . by Mrs. Palmer, jun.
Being her first appearance.
*#* The Xobility, Gentry, and Public are respectfully informed that, on
account of the great call for places, part of the Pit will (for that night) be laid
into the Boxes.
Tickets to be had, and places for the Boxes taken, of Mr. Palmer, jun.. No.
11, Russell Street, and at the Tlieatre, from Ten till Three o'clock.
The returns for the house on the occasion were : —
£. s. d.
Six Box Tickets 1 4 0
Fifteen Pit ditto 110 0
Two Gallery ditto 2 0
Taken at doors 7 8 0
Total £10 4 0
The " Brighton New Guide," 1800, published by Fisher, Old
Steine, says : " The scenes are painted by Mr. Carver, of Co vent-
Garden Theatre, and they do honour to the abOities of that ingenious
artist ; and if the abilities of the actors are not sufficiently powerful
to excite the enthusiasm of applause, they are not so contemptible
as to create disgust. Candour must acknowledge, that the theatrical
business at Brighthelmston is conducted with great regularity, 'and
that if perfection is not reached, mediocrity is surpassed."
In 1672, a tax on plays was proposed; but the court party
objected to it. They said the players were the King's servants,
and administered to his pleasures. Sir John Coventry pleasantly
asked, " Whether the King's pleasures lay among the male or the
p 2
212 HISTORY OP BKIGHTHELMSTON.
female actors ? " Charles, who, besides his other mistresses, enter-
tained two actresses, Mrs. Dans and jS'ell Gwynne, was hurt by this
sarcasm, and took an unworthy revenge. Some of his guards
attacked Coventry, and slit his nose. The Commons expressed their
indignation, by passing what is called the Coventry Act, by which
maiming and deforming were made capital crimes, and those persons
who had assaulted Coventry were rendered incapable of receiving
the King's pardon.
In July, 1805, when the Prince of Wales bestowed his
patronage upon the Duke Street Theatre, and first attached to it
the gracious adjective, " Royal," great improvements were effected
in the house, those in his Eoyal Highness' s box particularly so :
blue panels, with sparkling gold stars, on a dark ground, and
ornamented with festoons of roses, superbly distinguished
it ; a crimson curtain of velvet depending from the ceiling also
heightened the effect, and gave an indescribable appearance of
grandeur to the whole. The box was also carpeted throughout,
and handsome painted chairs with cushions in lieu of fixed seats,
made part of its furniture.
On the 13th of August, 1805, a piece was produced in honour
of the birthday of the Prince of Wales, and was called Tlie
Twelfth of August. The plot of the piece was : " Sofa Hazleby,"
the daughter of an opulent farmer, a resident of Brighton, who has
numerous suitors, has promised to become the bride of him who
can give the best solution to a question which she will submit to
their consideration on the Green, on the Twelfth of August ; and
the reason she assigns for choosing that day for a decision so
momentous to her, is because it gave birth to England's Heir, — a
Prince whose suavity of manners, benevolence of heart, and mental
endowments have rendered him the pride of his countiy and the
admiration of Europe. " That auspicious morn," she continues,
'* could but appear to me as most grateful and best adapted to my
purpose, in which every honest countenance I might gaze at should
be brightened with exulting smiles." — The preceding part of the
drama being over, in which her eccentric suitors afforded much
mirth to the audience, the final scene presents a supposed view of
the South Downs, and the entrance of Brighton, the latter brilliantly
THE IHEATKES. 213
illuminated, the initials P. W., the feathers, and a blazing star,
being appropriately conspicuous.
In 1799, Mr. Alexander Archer was manager of the Duke
Street Theatre. Upon stripping the paper from the walls of 34,
Bond Street, on the 20th of May, in the present year, to effect
some alterations, a relic in the character of a "play bill," was
brought to light. It is thus worded : " Engagement of Mr. Quick.
Doors open at half-past six. Begin precisely at 7 o'clock. Mr.
Quick's fifth night. Theatre Brighthclmston. On Tuesday, July
13th, 1802, will be performed the admired comedy of She Stoops
to Conquer; the part of ' Touy Lumpkin,' by Mr. Quick. After
which will be added St. Pair ich's- Day, or the Scheming Lieutenant.
Lee, Printer, Brighton." The house had just been vacated by the
descendants of Johnson, who for many years was the bill-sticker
of the town. The first stone of the present Theatre was laid
on the 24th of September, 1806, by Mr. Brunton, senr. ; and the
building was opened on Saturday, the Gth of June, 1807, with
the tragedy of Hamlet, when Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kemble re-
presented the Prince and Ophelia.
The Brighton Ambulator — a publication almost extinct, — thus
speaks of the present theatre as it was when opened by the first
lessee, Mr. Trotter : —
THE THEATRE.
This place of public amusement is situated in the 2s ew Road, leading into
North Street. It is a very handsome structure, h;;ving a colonnade, which runs
along its whole front, supported by neat stone \ i liars. The entrance into the
Boxes is in the centre ; and that to the Pit is on the right, and the Gallery on the
left of the building.
The interior h;is two tier of boxes. The Prince Regent's box is on the left
of the stage, divided from the other boxes by an iron lattice work, gilded, which
gives it a pleasing and private appearance. The pit and gallery are well con-
structed for the audience, particularly the latter, which has a prominent view of
the stage.
The house is illuminated by nine cut-glass chandeliers, and a range of patent
lamps at the foot of the stage. The stage is exceedingly convenient, and has a
length proportioned to the structure. The whole is fitted up with a tasteful
elegance, and we must acknowledge, that it reflects honour on the discriminate
judgment of Mr. Trotter, the manager.
This account of the theatre describes it as it was more than
half a century since ; as of late years it lias been, externally and
internally, greatly modernized ; although the chief lightin*
21'4 HISTOKY OF BKIGHTHELMSTON.
attraction in its transition from oil and wax to gas, a noble and
"well supplied chandelier, which was lowered and raised at pleasure
over the centre of the pit, has long since been removed, the light
from it detracting from the scenic effect, and the great heat which
it disseminated militating against the comfort of the audience,
especially the "gods."
The present owner of the property is George Cobb, Esq., an
Alderman of the Borough of Brighton, who, a few years since,
purchased of the executors of the late Sir Thomas Clarges the
moiety which that baronet held.
Sir Thomas, in his latter days, was what is modernly termed,
a little "cracky" in the cranium. Just about the period of the
murder of the Italian boy, by Bishop and Williams, when pitch
plasters were in vogue, and were as much terrors in the public mind
as garottings now are, Sir Thomas had a pony which he imagined
was unwell, and beyond the aid of veterinary skill. He therefore,
with the manual service of his groom, undertook to cure it himself,
and thus proceeded : — He procured a sheet of canvass, which he
spread with a composition of pitch, tar, and tallow, and in this
cere-cloth he encased the body of the animal, and twice daily, in
the midst of Summer, took it, with merely a horse-cloth over it, on
the Eace-hill and submitted it to severe exercise, the groom walking
it briskly, and himself riding beside it on horseback for two hours
at a stretch. His intention was to pursue this course till all the
virtue in the composition would become absorbed by the aflflicted
system of the animal, when its cure would be effected and the
canvass would of its own accord drop off. The severity, however,
of the process, was too much for the poor creature ; for having
borne the punishment somewhat more than a week, one morning,
when Sir Thomas and his man went to the stable in Eock Mews,
where a box had been specially fitted up, the straight -jacketed small
edition of a horse was a stiffened corpse.
Immediately previous to her retirement from the stage, Mrs.
Siddons filled an engagement here for three nights, namely,
Tuesday, August 8th, 1809, as "Mrs. Beverley" in The Gamester ,''••
* A copy of the bill of the performance ou this occasion is iu the possession
pf Aldennan Martin.
THE THEATEES. 215
Tuesday, 15th, as " Lady Macbeth," and ou Thursday, 18th, as
" Isabella," in the tragedy of that name. The receipts of the house
for the 15th, amoiintcd to £172 16s, a sum by far exceeding that
which the Theatre could boast of having held on any night previous.
On August 29th, she also appeared as " Margaret of Anjou," in
the tragedy of Earl of Warwick, for the benefit of Mr. Murray,
on which occasion the receipts amounted to £150 5s; and on
September 12th, as "Lady Macbeth," for the benefit of Mr. Cress-
well. On the last occasion Mr. Charles Kemble, for the first time on
any stage, made his appearance as " Macbeth." Every actor of
celebrity has trodden the boards of the Brighton Theatre, which
has been the nursery for supplying many first-rate performers to
the patent houses of the Metropolis. At a Masquerade which took
place here, October 8th, 1812, a great disturbance arose in con-
sequence of Theodore Hook and his friends appearing unmasked.
The several lessees have been Mr. Trotter, Mr. Grove, Mr.
Brunton, sen., — father of the late Dowager Countess of Craven, who
at the time of her marriage was acting on the stage of this Theatre,
in her father's company, — Messrs. Jonas and Penley, Mr. (Romeo)
Coates, Mr. John Bmnton, jun., Mr. (Jeny) Russell, — when the
house was open only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, — Messrs
Bew and Vining, Mr. Charles Hill, Messrs. Walton and Holmes, — a
commonwealth, — Messrs. Saville and Harroway, Mr. Hooper, Mr.
Poole, Captain Belcour, Mr. H. Farrcn, :ind the present respected
lessee, Mr. H. ^ye Chart. Formerly, I'.ie season extended from
July to October ; now the house usuallj- continues open from the
latter end of July iintil the beginning of March.
Upon the completion of the present Theatre in the New Road,
a permanent building for a Circus was erected on the Grand Parade,
between Carlton Street and the weigh-bridgc, which, for obtaining-
the weight of the loads in the waggons and carts that traversed the
turnpike road to Lewes, stood at the spot that forms the bottom
of Sussex Street. It was completed by Messrs. Kendall and Co.,
and opened in August, 1808. The building had a frontage of neat
design, in width one hundred feet, which was also its depth, that
extended into Circus Street. A wing to the north of the Circus
was appropriated for a billiard loimge, confectionary, &c. ; and the
216 HISTOBY OP BEIGHtHELMSTON.
corresponding wing to the south for a coffee-house and hotel. The
representation of a prancing horse surmounted the centre of the
structure.
The only incident worthy of record which took place in this
building during the few years that it was devoted to equestrian
exhibitions, was an accident which befel the daughter of the lessee,
Mr. Saunders, on the evening of Monday, August 28th, 1809, on
the occasion of a bespeak of the Duke of Marlborough, when, while
riding round the ring, which was thirty-six feet in diameter. Miss
Saunders lost her equilibrium and fell. She was borne away in-
sensible, amidst the intense anxiety of a most fashionable audience.
The announcement, however, of the Acting Manager, Mr. Clark,
that she had received but a slight injury, gave a salutary relief to
all present. At her benefit, which took place on the previous
Thursday, under the patronage of Lord and Lady Somerset, the
house was crowded in every part.
In 1812 the Circus closed from want of support, and for a few
years the premises were occupied as a Bazaar, a speculation which
was quite a failure, although every inducement in the way of loos,
lotteries, and lucky-bags, was introduced, with occasional displays
of fireworks and the ascents of fire-balloons from the parade ground
opposite, now the extreme north Enclosure. At that period, and
for some years afterwards, the land northward from the Pavilion
boundary wall to the Level was enclosed with posts and rails in
areas like the present, and formed a public promenade, and the
parade ground of the military. How it became enclosed with iron
railings and planted with trees and flowers, to the exclusion of the
inhabitants, has never been satisfactorily explained. Occasionally
attempts have been made to investigate the business ; but inasmuch
as money is required for such a purpose, and the majority of the
ratepayers are contented with the excellent manner the Enclosures
are conducted, they allow the Trustees who have possessed them-
selves of the right, to continue in undisturbed possession.
From time to time since the demolition of the Grand Parade
Circus, various troupes of equestrians have visited Brighton.
Saunders's was the first, his exhibition, which took place on the
present site of St. George's Place, being termed a Mountebank
BHIGHTON FROM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PEE9ENT RENOWN. 217
performance, and consisting, besides feats of horsemanship, of such
tricks as are witnessed in shows at fairs and races. On Thursday
evening, June 21st, 1821, from six to eight thousand persons
assembled to witness the equestrian exploits, &c., of this company.
In the midst of the amusements one of the scaffoldings, on which
were nearlj'' a hundred persons, — men, women, and children, — gave
way, and the whole fell to the ground, a depth of about four or five
feet. Many persons leccived severe bruises, and Mr. Siller, of
His Majesty's private band, had his leg broken in two places.
The chief prop of the scaffolding was some slight paling, the*
yielding of which to the great pressure above occasioned the
accident, which, under the circumstances, might have produced
far more serious results, as manj' persons were immediately
under it at the moment. Cook and Bridges — familiarly
known to the juveniles of the time as "Cock and Breeches,"
— afterwards came and took up their position on the Level ;
and then followed Eyan, Cooke, Batty, Tournaire, &c., in
more or less permanent buildings ; followed by the flpng visits of
troupes in mammoth tents. The last erection for the exhibition of
horsemanship, and that still in existence, is the affair in Sussex
Street, the hitherto success of Avhich is evidence that the intelligent
portion of the community have not failed to appreciate the talent
which has been produced.
Chapter XXY.
BEIGHTOJ?" FROM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PRESENT
REXOW:!^.
The primitive state of Brighthelmston, both as respects the
condition and habits of the inhabitants and the position and style of
the habitations, must to a considerable extent be left to conjecture,
as there is no doubt the great changes which have taken place in
and about the town to give it the importance which it at present
218 HISTORY OF BRIGHXHELMSTON.
possesses as England's " Queen of Watering Places," have all been
effected within the last 150 years.
An engraving in " The Antiquities of England and Wales,"
published in 177 5'^', showing the ruins of the Blockhouse at that
period, gives a representation of the houses on the Cliff at the spot
whereon now stand the Old Ship Hotel and the premises adjacent.
The south end of Black-lion Street is very conspicuous, the corner
houses consisting only of dwellings one story in height, of a
cottage or hovel-like appearance, very singular in architectural
^design when compared with the present noble block of buildings of
Messrs. Hedges and Butler, the wine merchants, on the east side.
The author of a "Tour through Great Britain," date, 1724,
says: — "Bright Helmston, commonly called Bredhemston, is a
poor fishing town, old built, and on the very edge of the sea. The
fishermen have large barks, in which they go away to Yarmouth, on
the coast of I^orfolk, to the fishing fair there, and hire themselves for
the season to catch herrings for the merchants ; and they tell us
that these make a very good business of it. The sea is very unkind
to this town, and has, by its continued encroachments, so gained
upon it that in a little time more they might reasonably expect it
would eat up the whole town, above one hundred houses having
been devoured by the water in a few years past ; and they are now
obliged to get a brief granted them to beg money all over England,
to raise banks against the water ; the expense of which, the brief
expressly says, will be eight thousand pounds ; which, if one were
to look on the town, would seem to be more than all the houses in, it
are worth."
The Rev. William Clarke, Kector of Buxted, and grandfather
of the celebrated traveller, thus writes to his friend : —
Brightlielmstoii, July 22, 1736.
Dear Bowyer,
We are now sunning ourselves upon the beach at Brighthelmston, and
observing what a tempting figure this Island made formerly in the eyes of those
gentlemen who were pleased to civilize and subdue it. Such a tract of sea ; such
regions of corn ; and such an extent of fine carpet, that gives your eye the
command of it all. But then the mischief is, that we have little conversation
* By Francis Grose, Esq., F. A. S. London : Printed for S. Hooper, No. 25,
Ludgate HiU, 1775.--(Imp. 4to.)
BRIGHTON FEOM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PRESENT EENOAVN. 219
besides the clamor nautieus, -which is here a sort of treble to the plashing of the
waves against the clitfs. My morning business is bathing in the sea, and then
buying fish ; the evening is riding out for air, viewing tlie remains of old Saxon
caraps, and counting the ships in the road, and the boats that are trawling.
Sometimes we give the imagination leave to expatiate a little ; — fancy that yon
are coming down, and that we intend next week to dine one day in Dieppe, in
Normandy ; the price is already fixed, and the wine and lodgings there tolerably
good. But though wo build these castles in the air, I assure you that we live
here almost underground. I fancy the architects here usually take the altitude of
the inhabitants, and lose not an inch between the head and the ceiling, and then
dropping a step or two below the surface, the second story is finished something
under 12 feet, I suppose this was a necessary precaution against storms, that a
man should not be blown out of his bed into New England, Barbary, or God
knows where. But as the lodgings are low they are dheap ; we have two parlhurs,
two bed chambers, pantrij, %c., for Ss per week ; and if you will really come down
you need not fear a bed of tlie proper dimensions. And then the coast is safe ;
the cannons are all covered with rust and grass ; the ships moored, and no enemy
apprehended. Come and see.
Nee tela temeres
Gallica, nee Pietum treraeres uec littore toto
Pro^piceies dubiis ventura Saxona veritis.
My wife does not forget her good ■ivishes and compliments upon this
occasion. How you would surprise all your friends in Fleet Street, to tell them
you were just come from France, with a vivacity that everybody would believe to
be just imported from thence !
In this year, 1736, the poor rates were eight pence in the
pound on the rack rent, " which was then," says Dunvan, " an
intolerable burthen." About this time visitors of distinction began
annually, in Summer, as soon as the deep roads of Sussex became
passable with any degree of convenience, to frequent the town ; but
lodging-houses had not then been put in requisition, the only
accommodation being a few indifferent inns; and the principal
diversions were hunting, occasional horse-racing, and water
excursions.
About the year 1750 the medical use of sea- water in scrofulous
and other glandular complaints, under the unwearied and successful
attention of Dr. Richard Russell, who removed hither from his scat
at Mailing, near Lewes, established his fame and also that of the
town all over the kingdom. He, may in truth, be considered the
founder of Brighton's greatness ; and it is much to be regretted
that the inhabitants while appreciating the laudable services and
good qualities of modern Royal and Noble patrons, and perpetuating
individual virtues by works of art in marble and on canvass, have
Jiitherto omitted to mark their gtatitude to the memory of the
220 HISTOET OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
learned Doctor, there being amongst the treasures of the town no
memento whatever of him. His portrait, it is true, graces the
Telemachus room of the Old Ship Hotel, but it might as well be
stowed away in the ex-clock tower of the Pavilion, so rarely have
the public an opportunity of seeing it. This hint perhaps may
induce the possessor of the portrait to make a present of it to the
Corporation, who have recently received several additions by gift
to their choice collection of paintings.
The erection of lodging-houses soon became . a profitable
speculation in Brighton, and that late obscure fishing village began
to increase in population aiad celebrity. The wonderful success of
the industry and discernment of Dr. Russell appeared by several
cases of cures which he cited in his work, " A Dissertation on the
use of Sea-water ; " and the most eminent members of the faculty
in England bore willing testimony to the great acuteness and
utility of his professional investigations. The benefits which the
diseased have ever since received from sea-water are, therefore, in a
great measure, to be imputed to the medical labours and sagacity of
this good man, in grateful commemoration of whom the proprietors
of a new street, — the first that was erected, composed principally
of lodging-houses for the accommodation of invalid visitors, —
named it after him, Russell Street, many of the original houses of
which that stiE remain, though now occupied by a difi'erent class of
persons than those for whom they were designed, show the improve-
ment that had then taken place in house property. The E,ev. Dr.
Mannington, of Jevington, in the following epigram, simply, yet
elegantly estimates the philanthropical abilities of Dr. Russell : —
Clara per omne ajvum Eusselli fama manebit,
Dum retinet vires unda marina suas.
Thus translated : —
Admiring ages Eussell's fame shall tnow,
Till ocean's healing waters cease to flow.
Dr. Russell's son, William — afterwards Mr. Sergeant Kempe,
on assuming the name of his maternal grandfather, — however, who
appeared to have been one of the wits of the town at that period,
by the following lines, knew the limit of his father's skill : —
Brighthelmston was confess'd by all
T' abound with females fair ;
BEIGnTON FEOir ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PEESEXT EEXOWX. 221
But more so since fani'd Russell has
Prefer' d the waters there.
Then fly that dang'rous to\vn, ye swains,
For fear ye shall endure
A pain from some bright sparkling eye,
"WTiich Russell's skill can't cure.
Dr. Russell died in 1759, aged 72 years, and was interred in
the family vault at South Mailing, on the 25th of December. He
■was the son of Mr. Nathaniel Russell, a surgeon and apothecary
of Lewes, and clandestinely married the only daughter of Mr.
William Kempe, of South Mailing. After his marriage he studied
at the University of Leyden, and received instruction under the
learned Tioerhaave. His death took place in London Dr. A.
Relhan was his worthy successor, inasmuch as he fully developed
the causes of the salubrity of Brighton, the invaluable efficacy of
sea-bathing, and the medical virtues of the chalybeate spring, at the
"Wick, now the property of Sir Francis Goldsmid. In his " Treatise
on the Salubrity of the Town and Neighbourhood," the Doctor
writes : —
The town, (June, 1761,) at present consists of six principal streets, many
lanes, and some spaces surrounded with houses, called by the inhabitants squares,*
The great plenty of flint stones on the shore and in the neighbouring cornfields,
enabled them to build tht walls of their houses with that material, when in their
most impoverished state. At present they ornament the windows and doors Avith
the admirable brick which they burn for their own use. The town improves
daily, as the inhabitants, encouraged by the late great resort of company, seem
disposed to expend the whole of what they acquire, in erecting new buildings,
or improving the old ones. Here are two public rooms, the one convenient, the
other not only so, but elegant, (the Old Ship), not excelled perhaps by any in
England, that of York excepted.
The endemial or popular disorders of temperate people being the product of
air and diet, the best proof of the hcalthfulness of the air of any place is
deduced from the customary longevity of the inhabitants, and the rate of the
Bills of Mortality. By the poor's rate of this parish, there are 400 families in
Brighton, each of these may be supposed to contain five souls (the common
calculation in England is six in a family), and consequently the number of
inhabitants, exclusive of those supported in the work-house, who, at a medium,
amounted to 35, may be estimated at 2,000.
In seven years, beginning with 1753, and 1752, the baptisms were 388, and
the burials 227 ; so that the baptisms were annually to the deaths, nearly as five
to three.
But as the dissenters are nearly a tenth of the whole, I may be allowed to
add to the number of baptisms 35 for the seven years, which is five annually,
* Castle Square and Little Castle Square.
222 HISTOEY OP BBIGHTHELMSTON.
and nearly a-tenth, and mates the whole of the haptisms 423 to 227 hurials.
By this the baptisms are annually to the deaths as 60 to 32, -which is nearly
two births to one death. In London there is annually a death in every 32
persons, which is nearly two to one in favour of Brighton.
"With regard to the sea water at this place, it appears by experiments that in
Summer (weather tolerably dry) there are in every pint of it at least five
drachms and fifteen grains of defecated salt ; about five of bittern, or a decom-
posed earth, attracting humidity from the air ; and six grains of white calcarious
earth. This proportion of clean contents, being nearly a twenty-third of the
the whole, is as great, or perhaps greater, than is to be found in the sea water of
any other port in England, and must be owing to its peculiar distance from the
rivers, it being further from such, I apprehend, than any other sea port in
England.
Dr. Coe, writing ia 1766, says : — " Brighton is a small ill-built
town, situated on the sea-coast, at present greatly resorted to in the
Summer season by persons labouring under various diseases, for the
benefit of sea bathing, and drinking sea water ; and by the gay and
polite on account of the company which frequent it at this season.
Until within a few years it was no better than a mere fishing town,
inhabited by fishermen and sailors ; but through the recommendation
of Dr. Russell, and his writings in favour of sea water, it has become
one of the principal places in the kingdom. It contains six principal
streets, five of which are parallel with each other, and are terminated
by the sea, namely. East Street, Black-lion Street, Ship Street,
Middle Street, and "West Street ; and North Street runs along the
other ends of the five, from the Assembly Rooms, kept by Mr.
Shergold, almost to the Church."
The Rev. "WiUiam Gilpin'''', in his " Observations on the Coasts
of Hampshire, Sussex, and Kent," made in the summer of 1774,
observes : — " Soon after, we reached Brighthelmstone, a disagreeable
place. There is scarcely an object either in it or near it of nature
or of art, that strikes the eye with any degree of beauty," and then
in a somewhat contradictory manner, adds : — " One of the most
picturesque sights we met with at Brighthelmstone, was the sailing
of a fleet of raackarel-boats to take their evening station for fishing,
which they commonly continue through the night. The sun was
just setting when all appeared to be alive. Every boat began to
* Vicar of Boldre near Lymington. The book published by his trustees for
the benefit of his school at Boldre, and printed by T. Cadell and W. Davies,
Strand, London, 1804. Imp, 8 vo. 136 pp.
BRIGHTOIT FROM IT3 SrSfPLICITV TO ITS PRF.SKNT EENOWN. 223
weigh anchor and unmoor. It was amusing to see them under so
many different forms. Some in a still calm -with flagging sails,
were obliged to assist their motion with oars ; others were just
getting into the breeze, which rippled the Avater around them, and
began gently to swell their sails ; while the fleet, the water, and the
whole horizon, glowed with one rich harmonious tint from the
setting sun."
Mrs. P. Hill, in her " Apology*," — now a very rare work, —
in 1787, five years after the Prince of "Wales first honoured the town
with his presence, complains of the "doors opening direct into the
sittings rooms," and of the inconvenience of not being able to be
* out ' to any visitor."
Bew writes, Sunday, August 30th, 1778 : — " This town is built
on spots, in patches, and for want of regularity does not appear to
advantage: every man, as to building, seems to have done what
appeared right in his own eyes. Here is no magistracy : if there is
an affray, the parties must go as far as Lewes, which is much the
prettier town, to have it settled. Upon recollection, this town may
be quieter for having no trading justices resident on the spot. Am
since informed, a gentleman in the commission of the peace attends
here occasionally from Lewes. — There can be no antiquities; for
Brighthelmston was only a small obscure village, occupied by fisher-
men, till silken Folly and bloated Disease, under the auspices of a
Dr. Russell, deemed it necessary to crowd the shore, and fill the
inhabitants with contempt for their visitors." In his "Diary,"
also, Tuesday, September 7th, 1779, he writes : — " Am viewing my
worthy friend, Mr. Bull's house, or rather box, upon the Clift,
between Ship Street and Black-lion Street. — He beckons me in, and
shews it throughout. It is one pretty room to the height of three
stories, with a semicircular window comprising most of the front,
* Mrs Hill's "Apology," for having been induced, by particular desire, and
the most specious allurements that could tempt female weakness, to appear in the
character of Scrub, Beau Strategem, for ouc night only, at Brighthelmston, last
year, 17S6, when the Theatre was applied for by the Honourable George Hanger,
and engaged for that purpose ; with an address to Mrs. Fitzherbert. Also, some
of Mrs. Hill's letters to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Mrs. Fitz-
herbert, and others. The denouement with events and remarks that may not be
deemed uninteresting to this nation at large. By Mrs. Hill.
£24 HISTOKT OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
and on each floor overlooking the sea all ways, which makes the
situation most delightful. The ground whereon it stands is copy-
hold— indeed the ground in and about Brighton is mostly so —
measuring nearly eighteen feet square. The fine is both certain and
small. About fifty years ago, this piece of land was sold for four
pounds ; thirty years since, a purchaser gave eleven ; and about this
time two years, the Alderman bought it for one hundred pounds to
build upon." The premises here referred to are 35, King's road,
those in the occupation of Mr. Eidley, boot and shoe maker. In the
same Diary, date Monday, September 7th, 1778, he remarks : "Mr
Alderman Bull, of London, is building a house on the Clift ; a semi-
circular window is in each story. Am told he meets with many
obstacles in the execution of his design. — Surely it is to the interest
of these people (meaning the inhabitants) to have such men become
resident among them ; but he is denied a convenient entrance to his
building. A cellar window to the adjoining house projects before
his street door."
That Brighton at the present day possesses fine architectural
features cannot be denied. The magnificent Squares and Crescents
which flank its sea-frontage, and even form part of the frontage,
possess strong claims on our admiration, especially when we glance
at the general state and style of architecture of our time, and reflect
upon the rapid rise and development of the town — looking to what
it was and considering what it is.
During the close of the last, and the beginning of this century,
architecture had reached its lowest ebb in England. Our true
indigenous Gothic had almost passed into a tradition : the Classic
models, from their extreme ill - adaptation to our climate, had
undergone such deterioration, that the application of the term even
to the best of later works was an absurdity. The influence
of Sir Christopher "Wren had been of the most baneful character ;
not that he was himself deficient in genius, but that his style,
which hardly attains to grandeur even in the Metropolitan Ca-
thedral, was of a character which inevitably degenerated in feeble
hands. Thus it happened that we were left almost without a
national style, or, at least with one utterly devoid of intrinsic merit
of any kind. The churches and other public buildings were erected
BEIQHTON FEOM ITS SIMPLICITr TO ITS PEESENT EENOWN. 225
upon no principles ; and in accordance only with the taste, or want
of taste, in the architect, who no longer represented an Art, but
devoted himself to a Profession.
Of course, when all the higher and more important offices of
architecture were thus indifferently served, it was not to be expected
that street-architecture would fare very happQy. Our streets, in
fact, gradually lost all their picturesqueness and variety of the olden
times, and gained neither dignity nor beauty. Complacent builders
shrugged their shoulders in pity at ancestors who had covered houses
with roofs like over-sized wigs ; or had recourse to hanging stories
one projecting over the other until the light of heaven only stole
into the streets through a narrow aperture above the road. But
though these things were quaint and barbarous, there was a some-
thing about them which had in it the sense of beauty, — something
which makes one even now prefer the High Street of Eastgrinstead
to the latest built, the most elegant and supematurally genteel of
our modern terraces.
This, however, has only just begun to be felt, and when Brigh-
ton rose like a dream upon the remains of a fishing village, none of
these things were thought of. People had certainly discernment
enough to see that the rude \*illage style would not do. A visitor of
Dr. Russell's time describes Brighton houses as consisting of one or
more stories, and with the door-ways so low that you must stoop to
enter, and then probably stumble down a step or two into the
sitting room. A person has only to go into the Twittens, the
narrow lanes between Middle Street and Black Lion Street, to
witness even now such illustrations. The Railway booking office,
in Castle Square, is a specimen of the architecture of Brighton after
this period ; and under George IV. it was beginning its marv-ellous
development.
This sort of thing it soon became necessary to alter, and year
after year saw the gradual improvement in the streets of the town.
But though this resulted in fine streets, and in lofty and commodious
houses, the element of beauty was always wanting, simply because
there was nothing like a principle in the minds of builders. They
had some vague notions of the Palladian oracles, of a bastard
Italian, a debased Renaissance, applicable to dwelling-houses ; but
Q
226 HISTORY OP BKIGHTHEIMSTON.
the results of the application were and have been, up to the present
time, deplorable.
Brighton is not alone in this matter, — ^indeed, it rises superior
to very many of its compeers ; but when its position and infinite
diversity of sight are reflected upon, there cannot fail to be regrets
upon the Brighton it might have been. Supposing, for example
that an earlier recognition of the claims of Gothic and an English
style had taken place. Suppose that the public buildings, instead, of
being of the packing case order in beauty — hollow cubes with a
sham frontage of stuccoed pilasters — had presented the variety in
structure and beauty in detail which is found in a minor degree
in St. Peter's Church. Suppose further that the streets, instead
of having, as at present, flat, level surfaces, without a Hne of beauty
in themselves, without a curve or an angle to reflect the sunshine
or hold the shadow, which is so exquisite, had retained even the
quaintness of early times, what a town Brighton would have been !
No continental town coidd, from its very situation and the formation
of the ground upon which it stands, have exceeded it in picturesque
loveliness. And short of this, even had the purer Italian models
been followed, had builders attempted such erections as those of
Palmeira Square, or those of the Pavilion Buildings, — and they
are the best specimens of that class of street architecture which we
possess, — the result would have been a grandeur and a beauty
which would have left the visitor no ground for a moment's doubt
that Brighton is indeed the " Queen of Watering Places."
The improvement in the style of the buildings was the natural
result of the great accession of visitors for the benefit of the sea-
bathing. Bew remarks, Sunday, September 13th, 1778: — "Took
the liberty of surveying all the bathing-machines. Pine ladies
going, — fine ladies coming away. Observe them at the instant of
bathing, — how humiliating ! They appear more deplorable than
so many corpses in shrouds, and put me in mind of the old dialogue
between Death and the Lady. Methinks the guide is saying, in
the character of Death, —
Fair lady, lay your costly robes aside,
Nor longer think to glory in your pride."
An idea may be formed of the rage for bathing at this period
^
BEUCHTOW FJBW rMllIKCBl,
c
BRIGHTON FROM ITS SIMPLICITY 10 ITS PRESENT RENOWN. 227
from an entry of the same diarist, Thursday, September 9th, 1779 :
— " Each man runs to a machine-ladder as it is dragging out of the
sea, and scuffles who shall first set foot thereon : some send their
footmen and contend by proxy ; others go in in boots, or on horse-
back to meet the machines: — so that a tolerably modest man, on a
busy morning, has generally an hour and a half, perhaps two hours,
for contemplation on the sands, to the detriment of his shoes, as
well as the diminution of his patience." And on Saturday, the
11th of the same month, he writes: — " Have matched the bathers
and bathees this trip however, having corrected them all handsomely
— without quarrelling — ^have given them the slip; but take the
particulars : — About 6 a.m., I drew along the sands, the machine
of which I had become seized by prescriptive right, by legal
possession, having deposited part of my wearing apparel therein,
tho' I had requested the assistance of the marine centaur, the man
on horseback, in vain. As the tide was flowing, I soon plunged
into the sea, stretched a long way out into the offing, and continued
rolling and laughing among my brother porpoises, to think what a
loss the company on shore would sustain for want of one machine
out of seven, it being a very fine busy morning. The bathers
holloa'd and bawled in vain ; for I could not, indeed would not
hear them. After swimming backwards and forwards along the
shore, about four miles in the whole, the tide setting strong to the
eastward all the time, I returned about nine ; and Sraoaker,
growling like a bear with a sore head, swore bitterly."
William (Smoaker) Miles was a great celebrity, being the
principal bathing man. One day, when the Prince of Wales was
bathing, he ventured out further than Old Smoaker considered
prudent. In vain Smoaker called "Mr. Prince, Mr. Prince, come
back," his holloas only causing His Royal Highness to dash out
further. As the only means to exact obedience, in rushed the old
man, swam up to the Prince, and, seizing him by the ear, lugged
him, nolens volens, to the shore. When his young aquatic student
remonstrated upon receiving such treatment, Old Smoaker rolled out
a round oath or two, adding, "I ar'n't agoen' to let the king hang
me for letten' the Prince of Wales drown hisself ; not I, to please
nobody, I can tell'e." The incident pleased the Prince, who ever
a 2
228 msTOEY OP beighthelmston.
afterwands patronised him. To testify, also, His Eoyal Highness's
respect for the straightforward, honest, but blunt fellow, he
established the Smoaker Stakes, which were run for at the
Brighton Races, Friday, July 25th, 1806, with the following result :
The Smoaker Stakes of 20gs. each, one mile ; 8 yr. olds to carry 7st. 4 yr.
olds 8st. 31b. 5 yr. olds Sst. 91b. 6 yr. olds 9st. lllb., and aged 9st. lib.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales's b.h. Albion, 6 yrs. old . . 1
Mr. Termer's b. c. Hippomenes, 4 yrs. old 2
Lord Egremont's b. m. Slipper, 5 yrs. old 3
Mr Howorth's oh. c Patagonian, by Pegasus, 3 jts. old . . . . 4
At starting the odds were 3 to 2 in favour of the field. Albion Wi\s the
favourite ; 2 to 1 against Hippomenes and Slipper ; and 3 to 1 against Patagonian.
A good heat between the two horses first in. Won by about a neck.
Old Smoaker was a bit of a wit in his way. On one occasion,
while he was standing near the Ship in Distress Inn, now the Sea
House Hotel, two dandies of the day addressed him, stating that
they had come down to Brighton for the benefit of their health, and
had been recommended to drink asses' milk, could he inform them
how it was to be obtained. Miles, more plain than polite, replied
that he did not then exactly know, but he should advise them, for
the sake of saving themselves trouble, to suck each other.
"WUliarn Miles was succeeded, as Royal Bather, by his brother
John, who, when too old to follow his occupation, was pensioned
off by Royalty, as long as he lived. A song of the time, then very
popular, ran thus : —
There's plenty of dippers and jokers,
And salt-water rigs for your fun ;
The king of them all is " Old Smoaker,"
The queen of 'em, " Old Martha Gunn."
The ladies walk out in the morn,
To taste of the salt-water breeze ;
They ask if the water is warm,
Says Martha, "Yes, Ma'am, if you please."
Then away to the machines they run,
'Tis surprising how soon they get stript ;
I oft wish myself Martha Gunn,
Just to see the young ladies get dipt.'
Martha Gunn had a world-wide fame, and was the cotemporary
of Mrs. Cobby, the original bather. Old Smoaker's daughter was
known as Martha's handmaiden, she being the chief dipper with
the "Lady of the Bath."
BRIGHTON FEOM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PRESBNT RENOWN. 229
The following extracts from the Morning Herald will give an
idea of the importance of ilartha and her occupation : —
July 15th, 1805. — The venerable Priestess of the Bath, Martha Gonn, was
busily employed this morning.
August 4th, 1806. — The bathing machines were in active use this morning,
and Neptune's pickling tub exhibited many beauties in brine.
August 16th. — Many of our lovely belles took duclcn for their breakfast this
morning, purchased of their cateress, Martha Gunn, who boasts that from the fair
profits she gains by the sale of her ducks, she is often enabled to purchase a goose
for dinner.
August 28th. — The Beach this morning was thronged with ladies, all anxious
to make interest for a dip. The machines, of course, were in very great request,
though none could be run into the ocean in consequence of the heavy swell, but
remained stationary at the water's edge, from which Martha Gunn and her robust
female assistants took their fair charges, closely enveloped in their partly coloured
dresses, and gently held them to the breakers, which not quite so gently passed
over them. The greatest novelty, however, that this part of the coast exhibited
this morning, was in a gentleman's undressing himself on the Beach, for the
purpose of a ducking, in front of the town, attended by his lady, who sans
diffidence, supplied him with napkins, and even assisted him in wiping the humid
effects of his exercise from his bra\vny limbs, as he returned from the water to
dress.
In the following season the practice of bathing from the beach
became so general that on Thursday, August 19th, a Vestry Meet-
ing was held at the Old Ship, for the purpose of adopting measures
to prevent the indecent practice of indiscriminate bathing in front
of the town. Earl Bathurst and Mr. Wilberforce were present, and
subscribed five guineas each to defray any expenses of prosecutions
that might be deemed requisite to rid the town of the evil. The-
resolutions passed, that proceedings should be taken against
offenders, for awhile had the desired effect ; but in 1808 the
nuisance was revived, resulting in a prosecution at the Horsham
Assizes, on Monday, March 21st, 1809. The case was : —
The Kino v. John Crundex. — The defendant was indicted for indecently
exposing himself on the beach at Brighton, on the 26th of June, and 2nd of July
last.
Mr. Gumey having opened the indictment, Mr. Serjeant Sheppcrd stated the
circumstances of the case. lie observed, that it had long been the practice of
various persons to undress and bathe so near to the houses, and within view of
the inhabitants of the town of Brighton, that at length many respectable persons
had associated themselves into a Committee, to prevent such an indecent nuisance.
They had accordingly met and pointed out the limits within which persons not
using machines might bathe in the sea, and in general most persons acquiesced in
230 HISTORY OF BEIGHTHELMSTOK.
their resolution. In order, however, that no person might complain of any hard-
ship, they resolved that all persons who were invalids, and to whom it might be
inconvenient to walk to the distance prescribed, should have tickets given them on
application to the Committee, which would entitle them at any time to the use
of a bathing machine gratis. - And still further, to pre3erve public decency
they had built a hut on the beach, wherein any person might undress himself
under cover. jVotwithstanding these ditferent accommodations, the defendant,
who was a tailor, at Brighton, refused to conform to these reasonable regulations,
but obstinately persisted in the indecent practice of bathing within a few yards
of tlie houses. He had been frequently remonstrated with, but his uniform
answer was, the sea was free, and he would bathe when and where he
pleased. Nor was he merely content in doing this in his own person, but he had
induced many others to follow his example, and he constantly came at the head
of his companions, by whom he was denominated the Captain, and in defiance of
all decency and remonstrance, daily exposed himself naked on the Beach.
The Learned Serjeant here called witnesses to prove the facts he had stated.
Mr. Marry att addressed the jury for the defence, in which he stated it had
been the custom at all times for persons to bathe where the defendant now bathed,
and they ought not to be disturbed because Mr. Ellis, the witness, had thought
proper to run up houses within view.
The Chief Baron thought this a serious question, and stated his opinion that
it was an offence against decency and morality. If a town grew up, the inhabit-
ants must not be annoyed with indecent spectacles ; and therefore it became the
duty of the bather to retire to remoter situations. — The Jury found the defendant
Guilty.
For awhile this example had a very salutary effect ; but, more
or less, until the present season, the nuisance has continued. Ifow
the New Bye Laws prohibit bathing from the beach in front of the
town, except before the hour of six in the morning or after nine in
the evening ; and all persons bathing from the machines are com-,
peUed to wear gowns, drawers, or some such suitable covering.
Less than thirty years since the bathing from the Ladies' Bathing
Machines, between West Street and Middle Street, was not of the
most pleasant character, as it was customary for coal brigs in fine
weather, to discharge their cargoes at that spot, and frequently, so
was the surface of the water covered with fine coal dust, that many
a child who dreaded bathing, was compelled to be dipped an extra
time or two by the bathing women, to rinse oft' the black particles.
Some years have elapsed since the universal practice prevailed
of discharging cargoes of coal, stone, timber, &c., in front of the town,
greater facilities than formerly existed being offered now, at Shore-
ham, for unloading at the wharfs, without the risk of the vessels —
as was very frequently the case, — being stranded. Great quantities
BEIGHTON FEOM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PSESENT KETTOWN. 281
of coal is also transmitted to Brighton by raU from Deptford
Creek, so that that useful household commodity is much reduced in
price to what it formerly was. In the week prior to Christmas,
1812, such was the scarcity of coal in the town, from adverse winds
prevailing and preventing the arrival of shipping from the north,
that persons in even comfortable circumstances, whose cellars were
exhausted, purchased only to the extent of a bushel at a time, and
so indifferent were the coal merchants to part with their coal
even at £5 a chaldron — about equal to the present ton, — that at the
coal-yard of Messrs. Edmund Savage and Bonham, which was
situate opposite Ship Street Lane, in North Street, immediately
above the shop of Messrs. Palmer and Green, ironmongers, the
purchaser of half-a-bushel of coal was compelled likewise to buy at
the same time sixpenny worth of uncleft wood.
The following will show the cost of coal per chaldron at that
period to the coal merchants in the town : —
Newcastle on Tyne, the Sixteenth day of Novemher in the year of our Lord
One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirteen.
It is this day mutually agreed between Mr. "William Spence, owner of the
good ship or vessel, called the "Eliza," Wra. Hunter, master, of the burthen of
96 tons, or thereabouts, now on her passage to Sunderland ; and Messrs. Savage
and Bonham, of Brighton, merchants, freighters of the said ship, for one voyage,
at and from Sunderland to Brighton Beach. That the said ship being tight,
staunch, and strong, and every way fitted for the voyage, the said master, with
said ship, shall, with the first opportunity, after arriving at Sunderland, take on
board a full and competent cargo of Nesham Main Coals. And being so loaden,
the said master, with said ship, shall therewith proceed to Brighton Beach, or so
near thereunto as he may safely get, and deliver the same to the order of the said
freighters, on being paid freight, at the rate of Thirty-eight Shillings per chal-
dron, Winchester measure ; the fi-eighters paying Bang's duty. Town dues at
Brighton, Ramsgate and Dover Harbour dues, and the owner lights, metage,
delivery, and pilotage, during said voyage. (Restraints of princes and rulers, the
dangers of the seas, of whatever nature, fire, and enemies, always excepted.)
Freight to be paid on delivery by what cash wanted for ship's use, and for the
remainder a good Bill on London, at two months' date. Two days allowed
said freighters (if the ship is not sooner despatched), for unloading the said ship
at Brighton. Demurrage, Three Guineas per day, for every day's detention, over
and above the days allowed as aforesaid. "Witness our hands the day and year
above written.
"Witness, Matt. Faucisss. "William Spence.
The incidental expenses attendant upon freighting a vessel
brought the actual cost to £3 16s. 3d. per chaldron, as thus : —
£. s.
d.
1 18
0
17
0
10
0
3
0
6
4
0
1
0
2
6
3
£3 16
3
232 HISTORY OP BRTGHTHELMSTOIT.
Freight per chaldron
Nesham Main Coals at
King's Duty ptr chaldron
Town Duty do
Spoutage at Newcastle do . . . .
Cartage from Beach- do . . . .
Metage and Trimming do
Earasgate and Dover Lights do
Beer to men do . . . .
Added, to this, Mr. Savage, tipon this occasion, to obtain the
cargo with the least possible delay, made a journey to ^Newcastle,
the expenses of which amounted to £20.
In 1805, persons interested in shipping, the coal merchants
especially, entertained the idea of a basin or harbour for the safety
and accommodation of vessels trading hither. The project did not
meet with approval amongst the inhabitants generally, as they were
desirous of retaining the town as a place of fashionable resort,
rather than make it a trading port ; and in April, the following year,
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales having caused it to be
signified through Mr. Thomas Saunders, High Constable, that he had
not bestowed his sanction or patronage in favour of the project, and
that he did not intend to possess any such intention, the idea was
abandoned. Some of those, however, interested in the scheme, bore
their disappointment with but an ill grace, and for some years after
the payment of the coal duties was the source of much disaffection.
The principal of those who combatted against the payment was
Mr. William Izard, whose reasons of objection were embodied in a
handbill which he issued, as follows : —
To the Vistors and Inhabitants of the Toivn of Brighthelmston, and to all
such other persons as it may concern.
Whereas sundry reports and misrepresentations have been propagated, and
widely circulated concerning myself, in consequence of ray having lately refused
to pay the Coal Duty of three sliillings per chaldron on all coals landed (from my
own vessels) at this place, for the use and consumption of the inhabitants, as
heretofore levied by the Commissioners acting under the Town Act, for the
express purpose of " Building and repairing Groyns, Sea Walls, and other works,
for the protection of the town of Brighthelmston against the encroachment of the
?ea, pursuant to the powers and by virtue of and by the authority of an Act of
BUIGHTON PEOM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PRESENT KENOWN. 233
Parliament made and passed in the 50th year of his present Majesty," for the
hcfore-named purposes ;
In vindication of my own conduct, and in strict justice to mj'self and famil)',
and that the public may not form an opinion which may in any wise operate to
my prejudice, I do hereby beg leave to state ray several objections for so rcfusinfj
to pay the said Coal Duties, so unwarrantably demanded, viz : —
First. — Because it clearly appears to me, from the best account that I have
been able to obtain from Mr. T. Attree, the Commissioners' Clerk and Treasurer,
that since the passing of the aforesaid Act of Parliament and the levying of the
said Coal Duties, that the Commissioners have actually been in the receipt of near
Eight Thousand Pounds from that source only !
And that it also appears that the said Commissioners have not expended
Three Thousand Pounds of such monies so received, for the protection of the
town, agreeable to the express provisions and in strict conformity to such enact-
ments as are set forth in the said Act of Parliament ; so tiiat it seems that there
is now a balance of between four and five thousand pounds in favour of that
particular and specific account, and which balance of Surplus Duties now remains
unapplied towards those sacred purposes for which it was raised, by and under the
authority of the aforesaid Act of Parliament.
And notwithstanding tlie inmiense balance in favour of the Groyns just
before stated, and irreconcilable and incongruous as it may appear, these very
same Commissioners are now actually paying the interest on the sum of £1140
money borrowed on the credit of the said Coal Duties, and that, in direct oppo-
sition to the very terras of the aforesaid Act of Parliament, which strictly restrains
Commissioners from applying any money arising from that branch of their finance
to any other use or purpose whatever, whilst there shall be any money due or be
owing upon the credit of that account.
And yet under all these circumstances the Commissioner? are still endeavour-
ing to increase their balance of Coal Duties, although it is not wanted for the
purpose for which it is levied ; and were the Commissioners to convert such
balance to any other use, it would in them constitute a great abuse of power, and
a high breach of their trust !
As I do not chuse to participate in either of these crimes, I am unwilling to
increase the guilt of such a portion of the Commissioners as may chuse to indulge
in such gross misconduct, by continuing to do that to ray own wrong, which
would ultimately increase theirs.
It is upon these grounds and upon them only, that I have been induced to
refuse the payment of Groyn Dues; and I must also beg it to be unequivocally
understood, that when the before-named balance of between Four and Five Thou-
sand Pounds shall have been legally and fairly expended and properly accounted
for, and if circumstances should hereafter make it necessary, I shall most willingly
and cheerfully submit to the payment of the Coal Duty as heretofore.
Brighton, August 24th, 1814. "Wm. Izard.
Since the publication of the above address, Mr. "Wm. Gates, principal Coast
OflScer of the Customs at this place, and the Commissioners' Collector of Groyn
Dues, assisted by Mr. T. Attree, their Clerk and Treasurer, accompanied by the
Brighton Magistrates, and also by Mr. Robert Ackerson, the present High
Constable, and a great possy of " Headboroughs " and other persons have
thought proper to make a seizure in my Coal Yard of Eight Chaldron of Coals, to
234 HISTORY OF BEIGHTKELMSTON.
satisfy themselves for the payment of such Dues as they pretend to claim as due
from myself : to effect which, the violent measure of breaking open my Coal Yard
gate, by forcing the lock, was resorted to, on Thursday last ; but as the merits of
this transaction are put into a fair train of legal investigation, I have to request
that the candid public will be pleased to suspend judgment till the issue shall be
so determined.
Wm. Izard,
Ship Owner and Coal Merchant.
Brighton, August 29, 1814.
The power of the authorities prevailed, and the Dues continued
to be exacted.
The female attendants of the machines are, as respects dress
especially, of the primitive order of their race, except that they do
not in the afternoon appear in their best prim attire, as of yore they
were wont to do, to " tout" in Castle Square, on the arrival of the
coaches. Their last grand show day in their aquatic costume was on
the occasion of their visit to the Exhibition, in Hyde Park, 1851,
when, to defray their expenses, subscriptions were raised amongst
the inhabitants. At the Exhibition they were the observed of all
observers ; and had but the original idea been carried out of their
travelling from the London Bridge Terminus to the building, in
their machines, the arrangements of the day would have been com-
plete, and the unsightliness and primitive construction of the
vehicles would have excited the sympathy of some inventor and
induced him to bring out something that would have had a credit-
able appearance.
Almost coeval with sea-bathing in establishing the reputation
of Brighton, were the baths, first established by Dr. Awsiter,
on the spot now occupied by Brill's Ladies' Swimming Bath,
and for so many years known as "Wood's Original Hot and Cold
Sea-water Baths. The first stone of these baths, which were after
a plan of Mr. Golden, architect, was laid in the year 1 759. Mr.
George Lynn erected the present building.
Dr. Awsiter, in a pamphlet, called " Thoughts on Brighthelm-
ston," published in 1768, says, "The utility of these baths is
obvious : they may be used either for hot or cold bathing. There
are some individuals to whom cold bathing would be serviceable,
could they be able to bear the fatigue of being dipt in the sea, and
(what is more material), to be exposed to the cold air. If the
BMGHION PBOM ITB SIMPLICITT TO ITS PEESENT KEITOWN. 235
weather happens to be stormy, and the sea so rough, as not to admit
of bathing in it, recourse may be had to the baths : by this means
bathing would become more universal, be unattended with terror,
and no cure protracted. 3kIoreover, invalids Avould have the
advantage of this bathing remedy all the year round; whereas,
on account of the variableness of our climate, it is denied them at
present, except in the Summer months, and then only in calm
weather."
The Artillery Baths, the next established, obtained their
original fame from the proprietor, Mr. Smith, having discovered a
method of curing the gout, by means of an air pump, from whence
many persons of rank and consequence received great benefit. They
are known now as Hobden's Artillery Baths.
Williams's Hot and Cold Baths, which occupied the site of the
present Lion Mansion, at one period received extensive patronage,
and the Morning Herald of August 17, 1807, says, "Williams's
Baths are in very fashionable request. Numberless elegantes were
in hot water there this morning." On Mr. Williams's decease they
were carried on by Mr. Bannister, who was succeeded by his son-
in-law, Mr. William Knight. The halcyon days, however, of these
baths had fled, and the premises, after remaining in a very
dilapidated state for some time, were cleared off for the erection of
the present noble mansion.
The personage who acquired the greatest fame for his baths,
and obtained the highest and most extensive patronage, was Sake
Deen Mahomed, who, although not bom in Brighton, yet, this
highly favoured town was the theatre where his name became
patent for the alleviation of suffering mankind, and hence he is
entitled to special notice.
!E[e was a native of India, and was bom at Patna, the capital
of Bahar, about 290 miles N.W. of Calcutta, in the year 1749.
Having been educated for the surgical profession, he entered the
East India Company's service in that capacity, which he after-
wards relinquished, and for fifteen years acted exclusively in a
military character. In the year 1780 he was appointed by Major,
afterwards General Popham, to a company, but in 1784, he left the
Bervice and came to England, where be continued to reside the
236 HISTOET OP BEIGHTHELMSTOK.
remainrler of his valuable life. In his early days having devoted
much time and attention to Oriental bathing, both medicinally and
as a luxury, on his arrival in England, he was induced to think
serioiisly of introducing the Indian Vapour Bath, and the art of
Shampooing, and sedulously employed himself in preliminary
experiments, to prove the correctness of the hypothesis he had
formed, that what was a luxurious restorative in India, might prove
in England a wonderful remedy for many diseases.
Justified by proof, he repaired to Brighton, where he pro-
mulgated his discovery, but at first with little success, as the public
were ill-prepared to receive a system which should supercede Warm
Sea-water Bathing. Fortunately, however, he efi'ected several
gratuitous cures, — cures which quickly gained circulation amongst
those who had prejudged and condemned his bath ; and adduced
the most positive and convincing proof of the great superiority of
Shampooing over every other description of treatment, in particular
cases. All prejudices were quickly removed, and his wide-spread
fame soon gained him the appointment of Shampooing Surgeon
to their Majesties George lY. and "William IV. Presents, con-
veying the expressions of the deepest feelings of gratitude and
thankfulness, crowded upon him. The Muses poured forth their
eulogiums ; the several organs of the press — national and local —
their panegyrics.
He exemplified the curative and invigorating influence of his
Art in his person and his longevity. He died the 24th of February,
1851, at the advanced age of 102 years, and was buried in the
church-yard of St. Nicholas, Brighton, where an unassuming tomb
records his age and death. He was father of Mr. Frederick Mahomed,
of the Gymnasium, Palace Place.
Mahomed's Bath establishment opposite the Star and Garter
Hotel, King's Road, is now the property of Mr. Charles Brill, who is
likewise the proprietor of the Ladies' Swimming Bath, before
mentioned, and the extensive baths and the Gentlemen's Swimming
Bath, originally Lamprell's, at the bottom of East Street. Buggins's
Baths in Western Street, are a great acquisition to the western part
of the town; where also, in the Western Eoad, Hove, is the
■J^urkish Bath of J)r. Toulmiu, who is well supported in his popular
BEIGHTON FROM ITS SIMPIICITT TO ITS PEESENT SENOWN. 237
treatment. Other baths have from time to time, beea started,
mostly, however, with a very ephemeral existence.
Great as was the success of Mahomed's process, he was in no
inconsiderable degree indebted for the many cures he effected to
the perseverance of Mr. Henry Harrap, to whose memory the author
of this book has a grateful respect, for enabling him to retain and
ably use a leg, the amputation of which had been recommended by
the faculty. Little is known of his early career, more than that
he was born at Helston, in Cornwall, October 21st, 1794. He left
home at an early age, and during the short peace previous to the
Battle of Waterloo, he was a private in the 51st Foot, the iJuke of
York's Own. In 1817, he was with his regiment stationed at the
Infantry Barracks, Brighton, being then an officer's servant. His
brother Eichard was also in the same regiment, as Sergeant-Bugler,
and, during his location here, he married, at Preston, a young
woman, the widow of Corporal Fudge, late of the Gloucester
Militia. But shortly after his marriage he deserted. His wife
however, provided two substitutes, and paid £40 for his discharge ;
she also bought Henry off, and the two brothers, tiU the year 1828,
followed the trade of boot and shoe making, in Ivory Place. The
maiden name of his wife was Short, a native of the village of
Hangleton, and she was married to Fudge before she Avas 14 years
of age, in consequence of her mother, who was a widow, being
about to be married to another coqioral in the same regiment, the
man refusing to wed her with an incumbrance. Eichard died in 1 828,
and in the following year Henry was married to his brother's "widow,
at St. George's in the Borough, London. By neither brother had she
any family ; but b}- her first husband she had four daughters. She
died in July, 1843. In 1838, Mr. Harrap discentinued the business
of shoemaking, and converted the shop-front of his premises on the
Grand Parade, at the corner of Sussex Street, to one of a more
private character, devoting the whole of his attention to professional
rubbing.
At the zenith of the career of SakeDeen Mahomed, Mr. HaiTap
obtained the custom of that professor, and for a long time coutiuued
to make and repair shoes for the family. This circumstance caused
him fre<iuently to visit Mr. Mahomed's establishment, where he
5^38 HISTOEY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
principally obtained that information wliicli enabled him to com-
mence the practice of rubbing, omitting the shampooing process, his
inventive genius enabling him to substitute as many contrivances as
the numerous cases of affliction entrusted to his skill and care required.
Many of his inventions, which had been of benefit to sufferers, formed
a species of Museum in a room at Mahomed's establishment. From
Mrs. Williams, too, a neighbour, in Ivory Place, who was celebrated
for her healing unguents, Mr. Harrap gained much of his surgical
knowledge.
Mr. Harrap was totally uneducated, and, at the commencement
of his professional career, entirely unacquainted with medical
science and nomenclature ; yet, progressively, by natural instinct
as it were, and studied practice, he acquired a knowledge of
anatomy which astonished those who were conversant with that
science ; and gentlemen of high position in the medical profession —
including the late Sir Matthew Tiemey, Sir Astley Cooper,
Sir Benjamin Brodie, &c., — acknowledged his worth by awarding
him that credit which they considered due to an energetic and
gifted man. His perseverance enabled him to amass a large fortune ;
and after having been a great sufferer for more than two years,
from a cancer of the bowels, he was removed by death from the
scene of a most useful life, on Saturday, the 12th of October of last
year, leaving a wife, the widow of the late Sidney "Walsingham
Bennett, Esq., solicitor, to lament her irreparable bereavement, and
a large circle of grateful patients and sincere friends the remem-
brance of an honourable, and honoured man.
Toy some time previous to his decease he had been unable
to attend actively to his professional duties ; yet, he was present
daily, at his house of business on the Grand parade, watching, and
instructing his step-son, now his successor, Mr. Sidney Bennett, who
qualified as a surgeon on the 29th of May, 1861, and there is little
doubt his perseverance in the course pursued by the deceased will
add a lustre to his father-in-law's name, and coixfii'm a credit due to
the memory of a man who was never ambitious of praise, but
perseveriugly sought a remedy to alleviate the sufferings of the
afflicted. Deceased was buried at the Parochial Cemetery, Lewes
Road.
BEI6HX0N FROM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PEE8ENT BENOWN. 239
Nature has been peculiarly bountiful in her goodness towards
Brighton ; as, independent of the salubrity of the position of the
town and the superlative excellence of its sea-water, the Chaly-
beate spring at the Wick is possessed of great curative properties,
the opinion of Drs. Russell and Relhan, being confirmed by Dr.
Henderson, who thus writes : —
This water, when first taken from the spring in a glass, in appearance
greatly resembles a solution of emetic tai-tar in common water. The taste is not un-
pleasant, something like that upon a knife after it has been used in cutting lemons.
It does not seem to contain the smallest portion of sulphur ; it neither changes
vegetable blues, red, nor does it effervesce with alkaline salts, calcareous earths*
magnesia, nor fossil alkali ; neither does it change vegetable blues, green, nor
does it effervesce with acids ; yet it curdles soap, and renders a solution of it in
various spirits milky.
It seems to contain a considerable portion of calcareous earth, mixed with
vitriolic acid in the form of its sclenites, and also a considerable portion of iron,
as will appear from the following experiment : Sixty-four ounces of this water
by measure being evaporated to dryness, there was a residuum of a brownish
colour, full of spiculse, weighing eight grains, four ounces of which, with an
equal quantity of charcoal, was made into a paste with oil, and calcined. On
trying the calcined matter with the magnet, two pieces nearly in the metallic
form adhered to it ; and when put upon paper, at the distance of half an inch,
moved in every direction with the magnet. These two pieces weighed one-eighth
of a grain.
The gross residuum neither effervesces with alkali nor acids, and is suflSciently
soluble in water.
This water becomes instantly transparent, like distilled water, on the
addition of any of the mineral acids, especially the vitriolic.
A solution of galls in common water, added to an equal portion of this
water, becomes black like ink, in a few minutes.
The Chalybeate has been found serviceable in several cases of general debility,
crapulas, indigestion, atony of the stomach, and fluor albus; and in all those diseases
where chalybeate and tonic remedies are required, it promises, under due regu-
lation, to be useful.
Dr. Henderson was a physician of eminence in the town ; and
a minute of Vestry, at the Unicorn Inn, February 10th, 1794,
shews the esteem in which he was held by the inhabitants. It runs
thus : — " Dr. Henderson presented with a pint silver cup, for his
care and attention to the parish."
A character of the time, who also practised the healing art, is
not so favourably mentioned in the Vestry Book, February 4th, 1805,
the entry of him being : — " Resolved that Michael Cobby be allowed
eight shillings per week, on his quitting the Poor-house ; and hia
240 HISTOKY OF BBIGHTHELMSTON.
drugs and effects delivered up to him." It must not, from this,
however, be supposed medicine and surgery were so at a discount
that parish relief was requisite to maiutain
The wise physician skilled our wounds to heal.
Dr. Cobby, as he was familiarly known, had talent, but he was more
a disciple of Bacchus, than of Galen, and the natural reply to him,
as he tendered his services in his tattered clothes, which his poverty
bespake, and as a foul specimen of the unwashed, would be
" Physician, heal — cleanse — thyself." IS'ot that Brighton at that
period had waned in the least from the character it had obtained
for healthfulness, as a memorandum, made August, 1806, states : —
" Such is the healthy condition of the town, that the doctors and
apothecaries complain dolefully of their declining businesses, and
undertakers are literally starved out, the latter declaring, 'All
trades must live,' but the residents are determined not to serve
them." In 1580, there was but one medical man in Brighton, Dr.
Mathews, who lived in Middle street. His terms for attending in
confiaements were : At Portslade and Rottingdean, 5s ; at Blatch-
ington, 3s 6d ; and anywhere in the town of Brighthelmston, 2s 6d.
In the early part of 1786, a sad pcourge, the small pox,
pervaded the town, and on the 25th of January, that year, when
the population amounted to 3620, the following return of its
virulence was made : —
Those who had the small pox. iVo«. who had not.
West Street 351 322
Middle Street and Lanes 231 272
North St. and ditto 234 295
Ship and Blk-Lyon do 318 336
Knab, Cliff, Brighton pi. ) ^qq 291
and Little East St. )
East St. and Tsth Row, ) ^na 291
Steyne and Pool Lane j
Poor in the House 31 50
Number supposed ) 0 30
After taking numbers j
1733 1887
A general inoculation in consequence, was ordered at a Vestry
Meeting; and the 1887 who escaped the disease were inoculated
by Messrs. Lowdell, Gilbert, Pankhurst, and Tilston, the charges
BRIGHTON' PBOM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PRESENT RENOWN. 241
being : The poor, servants, and day-labourers, at 2s. 6d. each ; and
other persons at Ts. 6d. each. The return of the deaths is not made
in the Vestry minute book.
One of the crowning features of Brighton, as a health-provid-
ing town, is the German Spa, Queen's Park, an establishment for
manufacturing the Artificial Mineral "Waters, -Nvhich, by the faculty,
are pronounced to be so perfect an imitation of the original springs
in Germany, that the most celebrated chemists can detect no
diflference between them. They are the production of Dr. Struve,
of Dresden, who some years ago turned his attention to the analysis
and imitation of the original, and patients who have drank both
can discover no difference in their flavour or effect. The artificial
waters supplied are : —
"Warm "Waters Carlsbad . . The Sprudel . . 1651° Fahrenbeit-
Neubrunnen .... 138"
Mulhbrunnen ..138«
Tberessebrunnen 122°
Emms . . . .Tbe Kriinchen . . 117"
Kesselbrunnen . . 84°
C OLD Waters . . Mariexbad . . Kreutzbrunnen
AuscHowiTz Ferdinandsbrunnen
Eger Frazenbrunnen
Pyrmoxt
Spa
Seidschutz
PULLX.\.
Mr. G. S. Carey, in a "Poetical Tagg, or Brighthelmstone
Guide,"* July 28th, 1777, gives the following on the rise and
progress of the town even at that date : —
This tovra, or village of renown,
Like London Bridge, half broken down,
Few J ears ago was worse than "Wapping,
Not fit for human soul to stop in ;
But now, like to a worn-out shoe,
By patching well, the place will do.
You'd wondtr much, I'm sure, to see,
How it's becramm'd with quality ;
Here Lords and Ladies oft carouse
Together in a tiny house ;
Like Joan and Darby in their cot,
"With stool and table, spit and pot ;
And what his valet would despise,
• A Rural Ramble to Brighthelmstone, &c. Printed for R. Thoma,s Bright-
helmstone.
242 HISTOEY OF BKIGHTHELMSTON.
His lordship praises to the skies ;
But such the ton is, such the case,
You'll see the first of rank or place,
With star and riband, all profuse,
Duck at his door-way like a goose :
The humble beam was plac'd so low,
Perhaps to teach some clown to bow.
The air is pure as pure can be,
And such an aspect of the sea !
As you, perhaps, ne'er saw before,
From off the side of any shore :
On one hand Ceres spreads her plain,
And on the other, o'er the main,
Many a bark majestic laves
Upon the salt and buoyant waves ;
The hills all mantl'd o'er with green,
A friendly shelter to the Steyne,
"Whene'er the rugged Boreas blows,
Bemingled with unwelcome snows :
Such is the place and situation.
Such is the reigning seat of fashion.
Brighthelmstone,
July 28th, 1777.
Pour years previous to the date of this " Tag," namely, in
1773, an Act of Parliament was passed, giving power to sixty-
four Commissioners, elected by the inhabitants, to light and cleanse
the streets, lanes, and other places within the town of Brighton,
and for the general regulation and improvement of the town. In
1809, meetings of the inhabitants took place at the Old Ship, for
and in opposition to obtaining a new Act of Parliament ; and on the
21st of February, 1810, a very large majority of the Yestry, at a
meeting held at the Old Ship, resolved that the Bill as framed by
the Town Committee, which had been appointed by the inhabitants,
should be forthwith pi'esented to Parliament, to be passed into a
law. The Act passed that year, augmenting the number of Com-
missioners to one hundred, and raising the duty on coal from six-
pence to three shillings per chaldron. On the 22nd of June, 1825,
(6 Geo. IV.) this Act was repealed and another passed, extending
the number of Commissioners to one hundred and twelve, and
giving them increased powers, in consequence of the extensive
enlargement and requirements of the town.
Under the provisions of this Act some of the greatest improve*
menta in the town were eifected. The most prominent of these was
BRIGHTON FR03I ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PRESENT RENOWN. 243
the Sea "Wall, wMch forms the southern front of Brighton from
Cannon Place to the west end of Kemp Town. As early as
1799 the requirement of a wall at the foot of the East Cliff, now
the Marine Parade, to prevent the encroachments of the sea,
occupied the attention of the possessors of property in that vicinity,
as amongst the Conditions of Sale of the land for the purpose of
erecting the Royal Crescent, — sold by auction by Mr. Christie, at
the Old Ship Inn, Monday, September 16th, 1799, — was the
following : —
If it shall be judged necessary to build a Sea-Wall under the Cliff, for Use
or Ornament, the Purchasers and Plot Holders of each Ground Plot to contribute
their Proportion for Building the same.
The building of the Crescent commenced forthwith ; but, in con-
sequence of one of the most prominent of the speculators absconding,
the whole of the houses were not completed until the end of
December, 1807, at which period the area in front of the Crescent
measured four acres. jS'o wall was then considered necessary at the
foot of the Cliff, but a dwarf wall was built on the south side of the
carriage road, in lieu of posts and rails, which guarded in a most
irregular manner the other portion of the road-way from the Steine
to Black-Rock. On widening the road as now existing in con-
sequence of the construction of the present massive sea-wall, not
only was the dwarf wall removed but the crown of the rise of the
road, which there ranged with the present paving of the
Crescent, was taken off, and the incline made on the turfed area,
which was considerably contracted by setting back the iron railings
in a line with the front of the other property' immediately east and
west.
A statue of the Prince of Wales, by Rossi, seven feet high,
on an ornamented pedestal, eleven feet high, was, in 1 802, placed
in front of the Royal Crescent. His Royal Highness was repre-
sented as dressed in his regimental uniform, with his arm extended
towards the sea. The statue, wliich was made of plaster, cost
upwards of £300. In November, 1807, some person broke off the
fingers of the extended left liand. Eventually the other arm with
a portion of his mantle was knocked away, and in that condition
the mutilated figure was allowed to remain several years, till
R 2
244 HISTOKY OP BRTGHTHELMSTON.
becoming more and more unsightly from parties continually adding
to its disfigurement, it was removed.
Two incidents of a most melancholy character, in connexion
with the Royal Crescent, claim a record. The first was the death
of a workman, named Leggatt. He was engaged in forming the
words " Eoyal Crescent " on the tablet which surmounts the centre
house, and had finished the 8, when, on stepping back to observe its
agreement with the other letters, he over-balanced himself, and,
falling upon the iron railings below, he was unfortunately killed.
The other event was the death of a soldier, named Charles MiUegan,
of the Second Battalion of the Coldstream Guards, which occurred
on Christmas night, 1835, behaving accidentally fallen down the
Cliff from the Crescent wall. A stone to his memorj^ erected by
the privates of his battalion, in the north burial ground of St.
Nicholas Church, has the following inscription as a tribute of respect
by his comrades : —
Oft may the tear his green sod steep,
And sacred he the Soldier's sleep
Till time shall cease to run.
And ne'er beside his lonely grave
May Briton's pass and fail to crave
A blessing on the fallen brave,
For such was Millegan.
The first section of the town Sea- Wall, that between Ship
street and Mahomed's — now Brill's Baths, — was constructed in 1825,
Then followed the execution of the difficult enterprise, the union of the
east and west sea-drives and promenade, by the formation of the
Junction Road round Brill's Swimming Bath, and thence across the
outlet of the Pool Valley, and southing the Albion Hotel. To
effect this great undertaking, the sea had to be repelled, hence
recourse was had to the erection of a series of large groynes, and the
facing of the wall, which is of concrete — a due admixture of grey
lime and shingle, — with piles and planking; and this proceeding
resulted in the sea being forced against the clifts beyond the Chain
Pier, storm after storm making such inroads that in some places the
Marine Parade was not of sufficient width for a vehicle to pass.
The proprietors of houses along the Marine Parade, in consequence,
became alarmed for their property. The Commissioners there-
fore, took immediate steps to prevent the incursions of the
BEIGHION FBOit ITS SIMPLICITy TO ITS PRESENT EENOWN. 245
ocean, and numerous groynes, which were erected between the Chain
Pier and the Black-Rock groyne, having in some measure answered
the purpose of keeping back the raging water, a plan was attempted
to be carried out of forming a battering or leaning wall of flint as a
facing to the cliff, which was widened and filled in as the wall
progressed. The scheme, however, proved a fallacy ; as the amazing
mass of unsettled earth with which it was backed up, having
become saturated with heavy rains, forced out the foot of the wall,
the whole of which slid out into the sea, or on the beach.
A concrete wall of amazing substance, was then substituted
with the greatest success, at a cost of £100,000, under contracts, by
Mr. "William Lambert, an extensive builder of the town. In many
parts, the wall — which is in some places sixty feet high, — is twenty-
three feet thick at its base, and batters — inclines — on an average,
four inches to the foot on the face. More recently, other portions of
the sea-front of the town have been extended in width, by the
same process, to admit of the increased road traffic, so that Brighton
may now boast of an uninterrupted sea-drive and promenade of
more than three mUes' extent.
The other public structures erected by the Commissioners are
the Market and the Town Hall. The former is a lofty and com-
modious building, standing principally on the site of the Old Work-
house and Town Hall. It is J shaped, with the transverse head
towards the east, opposite the Town Hall, a building which occupies
the space whereon, till the erection of the new structure, the Market
formerly stood. The corner stone of the Town Hall was laid in
April, 1830, by Thomas Eead Kemp, Esq., the contractor for the
building being Mr. Doublcday, whose tender was £12,491 Is. 7d.
The cost, however, of the building, from the various hewings,
hackings, and cuttings, which it has undergone, has exceeded, at a
moderate calculation, £60,000. It is after the plan of Mr. Thomas
Cooper, but it is minus a most important wing. This defect
arose from the Commissioners omitting to purchase land for the south
portion, the owner of the property refusing to sell after the building
had pretty far advanced. The consequence is that the approaches
to the upper rooms of the southern portion are wanting, and hence
much inconvenience is experienced.
246 HISTORy OF beighthelmston.
The Town Hall is used for town meetings, public assemblies,
the Council meetings, and the general purposes of the Borough. In
it are offices for the Town Clerk — C. Sharood, Esq., — and his staff,
for the Collectors of the Municipal and Parish Eates, and for the
Borough Surveyor — Mr. Philip Lockwood, — and his staff. The
Magistrates' Court, which occupies the southern basement, is like-
wise used for the Borough Quarter Sessions, the Eecorder being
John Locke, Esq., Q.C., and M.P. for Southwark. The police-force
originally established on the 15th of April, 1830, under Chief-
Officer Pilbeam, — the Police Station then being in Steine Lane,—
has at present Mr. George White for the Chief-Constable,
he having succeeded Mr. Chase on the 21st of December,
1853, his predecessor, — who succeeded Mr. Pilbeam, — Mr Henry
Solomon, having been murdered by John Lawrence, on the 13th of
March, 1844. The Superintendents are Mr. Owen Crowhurst and
Mr. Isaiah Barnden ; and the Inspector of Elys, &c., is Mr. James
Terry. The force consists of 80 men, — inspectors, sergeants, and
privates, — who occupy the south-west portion of the basement,
immediately contiguous to the Magistrates' Court, the dungeons for
the uncommitted and, perhaps, innocent, being in the most remote
portion of the underground vaults at the north-east of the building.
Prior to the establishment of the Police-force the care of the
town was entrusted to a few "Watchmen of the antique school, by
night, and a Beadle in cocked-hat and general suit of his order, by
day, assisted by the Town Crier of similar mien and garb. The
"Watchmen had succeeded the Patrol, a species of self-guardianship
which the inhabitants imposed upon themselves in rotation, under
the supervision of the High Constable and his Headboroughs.
During the "Winter months it was also customary for a bell-man to
perambulate nightly most of the old streets of the town, and hourly
proclaim the time and weather. The stocks in the Market place,
and the parish pound at the back of the Old Church were then in
vogue.
A portion of the principal room on the basement, to form the
County Court, is temporarily taken off by means of a partition, in
two sections which swing back on hinges to the side walls. The
Court is held every alternate Friday, "William Eurner, Esq., being
ye,
^
>Y
( ^^
-V
0
BEIGHTON FEOM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PBESENT EENOWN. 247
the Judge. The only residents of the building are Friend Paine —
the Hall-Keeper, — and his wife. Paine, at one time, was in himself
the fire brigade of Brighton. Eight men, whoso peculiarity of
costume for the office consisted in wearing white hats, had previously
been engaged to work the engines in the event of any fires ; but
none occurring, the white-hatted force was dispensed with, and
eventually such an arrangement Avas made by the Town Council
with the Brighton, Hove, and Preston Constant Service Water
Company, that the fire-hose being fitted to plugs and standards in
connexion with the water-mains, the service of the fire-engines
was dispensed with, the position of the reservoir of the Company,
on the Race HiU, giving a pressure sufficiently strong to force the
water over the highest edifices in the town. In 1825, a Sussex
County and General Fire and Life Assurance Company was pro-
jected, with Mr. Barnard Gregorj' as Managing Director. The
office of this Company was on the premises in North Street now
well known as Folthorp's Eoyal Library, where, in front of the
house, a fire-engine, fire-escape, and other appropriate apparatus,
were prominently displayed. Firemen, bedight in the antique
fittings of their order in London, with silver-plated badge on their
arms, bearing the Brighton Arras, — two dolphins, — surmounted with
SVX, and encircled with " Bkighthelmston ix sigilvm," and
" Sussex Cotjntv and Gexeual Fire axd Life Assttkance Com-
pany," perpetually showed themselves about the premises which
had been previously used as the Mess House of the officers of
regiments from time to time stationed at the Infantry Barracks,
^Church Street. The career of the Company was very br\ef, and the
exploits of the firemen were confined to one fire only, namely, that
at Major Russell's mansion, Portland Place, September 12th, 1825,
known in Brighton, — where the great rage for building had then just
set in, — as the year of the panic. Kemp Town at that period, and
for some few years afterwards, was a town of carcasses, many of
the houses being not only floorless and Avindowless, but roofless.
In this district, but in the parish of Rottingdean, — to avoid the
Brighton coal dues, — the Brighton Old Gas Light and Coke Com-
pany erected their works in 1818-19, much to the dissatisfaction of
the inhabitants, who petitioned Parliament on the 6th of May, 1818,
248 HISTORY OF BEIGHTHEL3IST0X.
against the introduction of gas into the town. Some considerable
time elapsed before it was much used for in-door lighting, persons,
in general, having a fear of explosions. For illuminating it was
first used on the 12th of August, 1819, when, to oblige the Com-
pany, Mr. Stone, shoemaker to His Royal Highness the Prince
Regent, gave them permission to fit up, at their own expense, over
his shop in East Street, at the corner of Steine Lane, a design — the
Prince of Wales' Feathers, — in gas, the effect of which excited the
wonder and admiration of the whole town, and completely re-
conciled the inhabitants to the use of gas.
As early as 1806 the Incorporation of the town was mooted,
and on the 2nd of July, that year, a meeting of the inhabitants,
at which the Yicar, the Rev. R. Carr, presided, took place at the
Old Ship, respecting a communication which had been made from
the Piince of "Wales to Sir Henry Rycroft, on the subject. The
meeting was numerously and respectably attended, and the subject
was ably and dispassionately discussed. After a debate of several
hours, the Incorporation by Charter was unanimously negatived,
and an address of thanks was voted to His Royal Highness for his
condescension, and the kind interest which he took in the welfare
of the inhabitants of the town. During the meeting it was
announced that the Prince had no particular desire that the
Incorporation by Charter should be adopted, unless the inhabitants
should conceive that such a measure would promote their interests ;
and that any other mode which they might better approve of, for
the impartial administration of justice in the place, should be
honoured with his Royal sanction.
The subject of Incorporation then remained dormant till about
the year 1852, when, the inhabitants thinldng that Brighton was
of sufficient importance to be placed on an equality with other
towns of like population and influence, agitated for a Charter. The
opposition of the old governing body was very great, and the " tug
of war " continued, each party contending and hoping most zeal-
ously. At length the contenders for the Incorporation prevailed,
and the Charter under the Municipal Act, and bearing date, April
1st, 1854, was granted. In 1860, in order to remedy many known
defects, the Local Government Act of 1858, was adopted, after a
.#
Y/.y( //////. V/^ )
J ^ ■
r,,J,l,-l..,l -tr-i,/ l-'l.l>,> /„■ H.nrv ihlhlirii X' l" lon/illll .'Ir.
BRIGHTON FllOM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS TRESENT BENOWN. 249
severe contest. Tiie Corporatioa consists of the !Mayor, the Recorder,
12 Aldermen, and 36 Councillors, six for each Ward, the Wards
being the Park Ward, Pavilion Ward, Pier Ward, St. Peter's Ward,
St. Nicholas' Ward, and West Ward. The Magistracy consists of
the Mayor, the last ex-Mayor, the Eecorder, the Stipendiary Magis-
trate,— at present A. Bigge, Esq., — and other Magistrates whose
appointments are sanctioned bj'' the Secretary of State for the Home
Department. The present Magistrates are. His Worship the Mayor,
J. Allfree, Esq., J. C. Burrows, Esq., W. Catt, Esq., J. Eawcett, Esq.,
W. Furner, Esq., W. M. Hollis, Esq., M. D. Scott, Esq., B. Stent,
Esq., W. F. Smithc, Esq., T. Warner, Esq., and W. Alger, Esq.,
who also acts in that capacity by virtue of being the last ex-Mayor.
Ewen Evershed, Esq., is the Clerk of the Peace.
The Mayors hitherto, have been : —
1854. — Lieut. -Col. Fawectt.
1800.— W. Hallett, Esq.
1856.— I. G. Bijss, Esq.
1857. — J. C. Burrows, Esq.
1858. — J. C. Burrows, Esq.
1859.— AV. Alger, Esq.
I860.— W. Alger, Esq.
1861.— H. Smithcrs, Esq.
The great increase of the population during the course of the
last hundred years, is the surest criterion whereby to judge of the
rapid progress of the toAvn : —
In 1761 the population of Brighton was 2,000
1786 3,600
1794 5,669
1801* 7,339
1811 12,012
1821 24,429
1831 40,634
1841 46,661
1851 65,573
1861 77,693
Brighton had, comparatively speaking, stood aloof from politics
till the passing of the Reform Bill, in 1832, the inhabitants, not
being free-holders, having had no voice 'in framing the House of
Commons. Under the fostering wing of George IV. Brighton could
not be otherwise than Tory ; but the Royal Patron of the town
being dead and his successor William IV. possessing different politi-
cal views to his deceased brother, and others besides the aborigines
• The vear when the first Census was taken.
250 • HISTOEY OF BKIGHTHEIMSION.
having taken up their abode in Brighton, diversities of political
opinions arose, and hence, on the first election of Members for the
Borough there was opposition.
The following have been the polling results of the elections to
the present date : —
December lltliand 12tli, 1832.
Isaac Newton Wigney, Esq 873
George Faithfull, Esq 722
Captain G. R. Pechell, R.N 613
"William Crawford, Esq 391
Sir Adolphus James Dah7mple, Bart 32
January Sth and 9tli, 1835 : —
Captain Pechell 961
I. N. Wigney, Esq 523
Sir A. Dalrymple 483
G. Faithful], Esq 467
Jul)-, 2oth, 1837 :—
Captain Pechell 1083
Sir A. Dalrymple 819
I. N. Wigney, Esq 801
G. Faithfull, Esq 183
July 1st, 1841 :—
Captain Pechell 1443
I. N. Wigney, Esq 1235
Sir A. Dalrymple 872
MrC. Brooker 19
May 6th, 1842, on the Bankruptcy of Mr. Wigney : —
Lord Alfred Hervey 1277
Summers Harford, Esq 640
Mr. C. Brooker 16
July 30th, 1847:—
Captain Pechell 1571
Lord A. Hervey. 1230
W. Coningham, Esq 886
July Sth, 1852:—
Sir G. Pechell 1924
Lord A. Hervey 1431
J. S. Trelawney , 1173
J. Ffooks 119
Upon Lord A. Hervey's appointment as a Lord of the Treasury,
under the Derby Administration, his re-election took place on the
4th of January, 1853, without opposition.
!'^,^^ jZ-o^ u^^^ ^ *^^^ ^ ^>^^^^^ ^2/X%^^^
THE MABINE PAVILION AND ITS OCCUPANTS. 251
March 20th, 1857 :—
Sir G. PechcU 2278
W. Coninghani, Esq 1900
Lord A. Hcrvey 1080
-April 30th, 1859 :—
Sir G. Pechell, 2322
W. Coningham, Esq 2106
Sir A. MacXab 1327
July 16th, 1860, inconsequence of the death of Sir George PechcU :^
J. White, Esq 1588
H. Moor, Esq 1243
E. D, Goldsmid, Esq 571
Chapter XXVI.
THE MAEINE PAVILIOX AND ITS OCCUPANTS.
The ascendency of Brighton over every other marine resort in
the kingdom may be regarded as having been established by the
attachment to the town of His Royal Highness the Prince of
"Wales, George IV., who in 1782 — when he was about twenty years
of age, — honoured it for the first time with his presence on the
occasion of liis visit to his uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, who
then occupied Grove House. The auspicious event was celebrated
by the inhabitants with a general illumination, every pane of glass
in the town displaying a candle stuck in a lump of clay, the primi-
tive style of candlestick for illuminations before coloured glass well
oil-lamps, called Coronation Lamps, came into vogue, previous to
the adoption of gas.
The following year the Prince repeated the visit, occupying tho
house adjoining Grove House, belonging to Thomas Kemp, Esq., of
whom it was subsequently purchased by his Royal Highness. This
house formed the nucleus of the Marine Pavilion, the erection of
which commenced in 1784, and the building was completed in 1787.
At this period a barn stood out abruptly in East Street, at the
corner of North Street, but as it incommoded the public drive it was
taken down, and a handsome house,— the original of the present north
252 HISTOEY OF BBIGHTHELMSTON.
east corner of North Street, — was erected at the rear of its site, by
Mr. Hall, surgeon. The other dwellings, northward to CarKsle House,
were then built. The east or sea front of the Pavilion, which
extended about 200 feet, consisted of a circular building in the
centre supported by stone Doric pillars, and crowned with a dome,
and on each side there was a range of bow-fronted apartments one
story high above the basement, with balconies and verandahs. The
entrance front was towards East Street. It consisted of a plain
main building to which, in 1802, were added two projecting wings,
that formed a square fore-court, in the centre of which was a hand-
some sun-dial, supported by the figure of a negro that was much
admired for its beauty of design and accuracy of sculpture.
Immediately north of the Pavilion was Marlborough House, the
property and residence of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough.
It was a massive square building of brick, two stories high, and a
part of the east front formed a noble bow having three windows on
each floor. There were six windows also on each floor in this front
besides those in the bow. A range of nine windows on each floor
faced the north. The northern boundary wall of Marlborough House
was in a direct line with the present southern wall of the Pavilion
Stables, and the cluster of elms on the gentle mound just north
of the present Pavilion marks the site of the Duke's residence,
which was a temple of benevolence and charity, the poor and needy
daily participating in his bounty. The following extracts from the
Morning Herald will show that his Grace's good deeds to the poor
extended over a series of years : —
Brighton, August lOth, 1796.— The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough,
■with their household, leave here on the 17th inst. Six weeks is generally the
time for their Graces' residence hero, but this summer they have overstepped their
stay. The Duke of Marlborough's liberality affords a good and generous lesson
to the other nobility who occasionally reside here ; for the victuals and milk (the
latter a scarce article in this town), that is left amongst the household, is dis-
tributed every morning, in parcels, to the poor of the place; a good day's pro-
vision for several fishermen's wife and children.
August 18th, 1806. — The Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and Lady
A. Spencer seemed greatly to enjoy, from the windows of Marlborough House,
the parade of the South Gloucester Militia on the Level. — A crowd of the
indigent inhabitants of this place, from the kitchen of Marlborough House^
returned with smiling faces, and aprons, &c., well filled with provisions, to their
families, at an early hour this morning.
TITE MAREN^E PAVILION AKD ITS OCCUPANTS. 253
The entrance of Marlborough House was to the west, where
the road formed the public way from East Street to Marlborough
Row, which consisted of nine houses, whereof North House — that
now contiguous to the northern entrance of the Pavilion Gi'ounds —
was 'No. 9. It was a bqulder-fronted house, having adjoining it to
the north, Coupland's blacksmith's shop, with three horse-shoes on
a board adorning its front. These premises projected from the front
line of the south side of Church Street ; and, connected with them,
were the dwelling-houses of Mr. Coupland and Mr. Beattie, and
Beattie's donkey stables, the whole group of buildings, for many
3'ears after the Pa^•ilion and Grounds became royal property, dis-
gracing the approach to the Sovereign's residence and destroying the
uniformity of the street. Eventually, the town purchased the pro-
perty, and it was then wholly cleared away. The other houses of
Marlborough Eow were cant-bow fronted and were approached by
four steps each. They were principally lodging-houses; but in
1800, No. 2, — opposite Marlborough House, — was in the occupation
of Mr. John Wymark, baker, and in September, that year, on the
occasion of a fire breaking out upon his premises, on a Saturday
night, the Prince of Wales received the unfortunate family, and
exerted himself in protecting their goods, which were taken for
safety into the Pavilion.
The grounds attached to the Royal Pavilion and Marlborough
House were, originally, of very limited proportions, those to the
east front consisting only of a narrow lawn west of a direct line
northward from the east front of the houses that form the north-east
comer of Castle Square, on the Steine. But in consideration of the
Prince and the Duke constructing in 1793, the sewer to carrj^ off
the stream which flooded the Steine in winter, the Lords of the
Manor, — Brighthelmston-Lewes — with consent of the homage, gave
them permission to enclose a certain portion of the Steine, — the
Marlborough Steine, as it Was termed, — adjoining their houses
respectively ; but never to build or encumber it with anything that
might obstruct the prospect, or be any way a nuisance to the Steine.
The ground then taken in was parted from the Steine by park
palings, and posts and rails were put along the outer side to form a
foot- way for the public.
254 HISTOEY OF BEIGHTHEIMSTON".
In 1 800, His Eoyal Highness purchased the principal portion
of the Pavilion property to the south, of Mr. "Weltjie, but no
important improvements were undertaken until the following year,
■when, His Royal Highness having purchased the Elm Grove Gardens,
the permission of the inhabitants was given him to enclose the old
Loudon Eoad, which ran direct northward from the top of East
Street, on his making the New Eoad at his own expense. By this
alteration, the Grove, and the shrubberies and pleasure-grounds of the
Duke of Marlborough, which he likewise purchased, became united
with the Pavilion Ground?.
The Promenade Grove or Public Gardens, which were under
the particular patronage of the Prince of Wales, occupied the space
of the present Pavilion Grounds, directly south of the Eoyal Stables,
as also the site of the stables, and were approached by way of
Prince's Place, an arched gateway occupying the space whereon
stand the premises now occupied as the Eirst Sussex Yolunteer Eifle
Orderly Eoom. Prince's Place was intended chiefly for the ac-
commodation of the London tradesmen who came to Brighton with
their wares for the season. An enclosed shrubbery of small dimen-
sions occupied the centre of the open space, and the carriage drive
was about it.
The gardens were surrounded with large overspreading elms,
hence the name of the Grove, and in the hottest day of Summer a
luxuriantly refreshing shade was afforded the fashionable pro-
menaders who supported by subscription the establishment, which
was open every day during the season. On Wednesdays a public
breakfast was provided, when a band of music attended, and played
at proper intervals select pieces of music. The breakfasts, when
the weather was fine, were well attended, and boasted of all the
elegance and the fashion in Brighton. Parties also, at other times
went there to breakfast, drink tea, take refresliments— which were
provided in abundance, — read the papers, &c. It possessed a well-
appointed saloon, fitted up in an elegant style : adjoining which was
an octagon-shaped orchestra. On particular nights the Gardens
were brilliantly illuminated, and displays of fireworks were given j
at which times the admissions were half-a-crown, and the entertain-
ments were conducted with the greatest order and decorum. Upon
i
i
I
lE^lTAlHj ^UlAISITji&iS
THE MAEINE PAVILION AND ITS OCCUPANTS. 255
stripping the walls of the house formerly inhabited by Mr. Johnson,
recently purchased by Mr. Bradley, in Bond Street, a bill, having
reference to these Gardens, and printed as follows, was brought to
light :—
Under the patronage of His Royal Highness
THE PRINCE OF WALES.
PROMENADE GROVE.
The Nobility, Gentry, and Public are respectfully informed
that there will be
On Thursday Evening, August 8th, 1802,
A GRAND CONCERT,
of
Vocal and Instrumental Music.
After which a
MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY OF FIRE-WORKS.
Designs and Fire-works by
Mr. Mortram.
By Permission of Colonel Jones, the Band of the
18th Dragoons will perform on the Lawn.
Admission at Half-past Seven ; Concert at Eight, and
Fire-works at Nine O'clock.
Managers, —
Messrs. Verney and Johnson.
The Promenade Grove, as a place of public entertainment,
closed with a Grand Gala, which tei'minated with the spectacle of
the eruption of Mount Yesu\-ius, on the 19th of September, 1802.
In 1805, the Royal Stables were commenced, after the plan
and under the direction of Mr. Pordcn. They may be reckoned as
the first great architectural work in Brighton. The centre of the
building which supports the dome is circular, and contains a
spacious reservoir of water for the stables which surround it. In
this circular area the doors of various stables, comprising sixty-two
stalls, open. Somewhat elevated, a gallery leads, by way of two
staircases, to the several apartments of the servants required about
the stables. The circumference of this spacious building is 250
feet, and the dome which surmounts it is nearly of the magnitude
of that of St. Paul's Cathedral, London. On the west side is the
magnificent Piding School, 200 feet long and 50 broad ; and east-
ward of the dome was a spacious Tennis Court. The Parochial
Offices occupy much of this latter space, which had previously, by
256 HISTOKY OF BRIGHTHELMSTON.
order of William IV., been added to the stables, a blank screen
front to the east giving the buildings an appearance of uniformity.
There are two grand entrances to the stable?, the one from Church
Street, through a lofty archway which enters into a spacious square
court, containing the coach-houses, carriage-horse stables, and
general offices. A similar archway leads to the circular dome,
opposite to which is a corresponding entrance from the Pavilion
lawn. On the east and west sides of the circle are similar arch-
ways leading to the Eiding School and the Tennis Ground.
The neglected state of these premises is a disgrace as well to
the nation as to the town ; for while Englishmen pride themselves
on the vaunted greatness of their country, such is the reduced con-
dition of her military resources that she is compelled to beg house-
room of the civil authorities for the accommodation of her soldiers,
in a town where two ranges of barracks are inadequate to the re-
quirements of a single regiment. The Town Council are bound in
justice to the ratepayers to appropriate the premises to purposes for
which little or no provision is made. The Courts of Justice in
Brighton are libels on the name ; the police accommodation is
meagre in the extreme, persons only suspected of a crime being
placed in underground dungeons similar to which criminals con-
victed of the darkest crimes would not by any British Government
be permitted to be consigned; and while other towns with less
pretensions to greatness than Brighton have their Public Baths and
Wash-houses, these premises, which may be easily converted on a
small outlay to meet all the requirements alluded to, are permitted
to be illegally let and grossly misapplied, to the detriment of the
property and the inconvenience of the inhabitants.
The most memorable event, in connexion with the Royal
Stables, was the celebration of the Jubilee of the Fiftieth Year of
the Beign of George III., by Mr. Philip Mighell feasting 2,000 of
the poorest inhabitants of the town, by permission of the Prince of
Wales, in the Royal Riding Room, on Wednesday, October the 25th
1809. The following is a copy of the letter to Mr. Mighell, con-
yeying the sanction of His Royal Highness : —
Pavilion, Brighton, Oct. 20tb, 1809.
Sir, — I am commanded by the Prince of Wales, to acquaint you that His
THE MARINE PAVILION AND ITS OCCUPANTS. 257
Boyal Highness will have great satisfaction in affording the accommodation of his
Kiding House upon the happy occasion to which your letter refers, and which His
Royal Highness sees in a most laudable view.
Sir, your Obedt Servt.,
Ben J. Bloomfield*.
P. Mighell, Esq.
The eventful day was ushered iu by the ringing of bells, the
British Flag majestically waving on the venerable tower of St.
Nicholas' Church, to which place of Divine Worship the Free-
masons of the Royal Clarence Lodge, and their visiting brethren
from the neighbouring Lodges, pi'oceeded in procession, about eleven
o'clock, the Band of the South Gloucester Militia taking the lead,
and announcing their approach by their harmony. An appropriate
sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Tilt; at the conclusion of
which — there being then no organ in the church, — the Musicians of
the Prince of "Wales's Band performed the Coronation Anthem. At
one o'clock a royal salute was fired from the Battery, and it was
repeated by a gun-brig, then lying off the town. About half-
past one o'clock the doors of the Royal Riding House, in Church
Street, were thrown open for the admission of the benevolent Mr.
Mighell's party, in number about two thousand three hundred,
exclusive of a hundred stewards, who assisted upon the occasion.
The greatest order and decorum prevailed throughout the feast;
everybody was happy, and not an unpleasant incident occurred to
mar the harmony of the pi'oceedings. Mr. Phillips, of the New
Inn Hotel, who was afterwards known as Jubilee Phillips, had the
management of the dinner, the potatoes for which were a gift, and
were dug from Mr. Mighell's garden, — whereon now stands Queen
Square, — by his nephew, Mr. Richard Mighell, at present of
Albany Villas, Cliftonville. In the farm-yard of Mr. Scrase, about
thi-ee hundred yards from the Riding House, fifteen hundi'ed poor
* IVIaster of the Household to His Royal Highness. His appointment to
that office arose from the singular circumstance of the Prince enquiring of
Colonel Slade if he knew of any gentleman who played the violoncello ? The
Colonel replied, that he knew only of Captain Bloomfield of the Artillery.
" Bring him here to dinner," said His Highness, " and tell him to bring his
violoncello, and we'll play something." The Captain attended, and pleased the
Prince, who desired him to call upon him the next day. He attended at the
Pavilion accordingly and soon gained such favour as to obtain tho|couHdence of the
Prince. He was first made Sir Benjamin, and afterwards Lord Bloomfield.
S
258 HISTOEY OP BEIGHTHELMSTON.
persons were also dined, at the expense of a party of gentlemen,
who opened a subscription for the same benevolent purpose, and
similar order and harmony prevailed. On retiring, — which they did
about five o'clock, — the grateful recipients gave expression to their
loyalty, and invoked blessings on Mr. Mighell and their other liberal
friends. The Freemasons dined in their Lodge Room, at the Old
Ship — then kept by Mr. John Hicks, — where, also, in the evening,
was a Ball and Supper.
In 1803, the Prince purchased property in Castle Square, ad-
joining the old stables, and year by year, till 1806, constant
additions and improvements were made to His Eoyal Highness's
property. Castle Square, just at its junction with North Street,
was, in July 1811, the scene of the last punishment by the pillory
in Brighton. The ci Iprit was a man named Fuller, a native of
Lewes ; at the petty Sessions of which town — Brighton then having
no bench of magistrates, — he was convicted of passing at Brighton
a two-penny for a two-pound note. The structure of the pillory
was upon a platform raised about ten feet from the ground. It con-
sisted of a frame connected with an upright pillar, around which
it revolved, and was made with holes and folding boards, through
which the head and hands of the criminal were put, and from
twelve to one o'clock he continued to take the circuit of an area of
about eighteen feet diameter, under the superintendence of Mr.
Harry Colbron, the High Constable, who, with his Headboroughs,
escorted their prisoner to the place of punishment from the King
and Queen Inn, to which house he had been brought from Lewes by
the authorities of the House of Correction. A great concourse of
the inhabitants assemliled to witness the punishment, which was
conducted by Catling, the beadle. The stage and piUory were con-
structed by Messrs. Colbron and Saunders.
In 1814, the Prince purchased Marlborough House ; and the
same year the houses and shops on the north side of Castle Square,
and the whole of the old stables and coach-houses between the
south side of the Pavilion, and terminating in a line with the
bottom of North Street, were pulled down, and a noble range of
domestic offices v\'as erocted on the site. Immediately north of the
stables were the residence and grounds of Mr. Louis "Weltjie, Clerk
r^- J
T*^
1
The rAVILIOJV jIT BJil\^'f/TOAr,
c
THE MAEIXE PAVILION AND ITS OCCTTPANTS. 259
of the Prince's Kitchen. A portion of his brick-fronted house still
remains, just within the southern entrance of the Pavilion Grounds.
"Weltjie and his wife were Germans, who had saved money while in
the service of several of the nobility, and they invested it in the
purchase of the property which they afterwards disposed of to the
Prince, who reposed such confidence in "Weltjie, that in December,
1 788, upon His Royal Highness being — as was his perpetual con-
dition,— in pecuniary embarrassment, and it had been determined
by himself and his royal brothers, the Duke of York and the Duke
of Clarence, — who were also in difficulties, — to speculate upon the
prince's accession to power in consequence of the afflicting malady
of their royal father, George III., Weltjie was selected as one of
a party to effect a negociation in England, Ireland, and Scotland, of
some post-obit bonds. Weltjie, however, fearing the consequences,
withdrew from the project by introducing two persons of property
and extensive money connexions, one of whom on the 16th of that
month, perfected a bargain secured by the three royal brothers, for
£30,000, payable when a certain event should take place. The bonds
went into " The Market," and the witless purchasers who had
obtained them at a premium, being afraid to acknowledge that they
held any such obligations, — inasmuch as by anticipating the death
of the sovereign they subjected the parties to all the penalties of
petty treason, — their redemption was never claimed. Annexed is a
copy of the bond referred to : —
Kxow AXL men by these presents that "We, George Prince of Wales,
Frederick Duke of York, and "William Henry Duke of Clarence, all living
in the City of "\\^estminster, in the County of Middlesex, are jointly and
severally, justly and truly indebted to John Cator, of Beckenham, in the County
of Kent, Esquire, and his executors, administrators, and assigns, in the penal
sum of Sixty Thousand Pounds of good and lawful money of Great Britain,
well and truly paid to us at or before the sealing of these presents. Sealed with
our seals this 16th day of December, in the 29th year of the reign of our
Sovereign Lord George III., by the Grace of God, Ring, Defender of the Faith,
Anno Domini 1788.
The condition of the above obligation is such, that if the above bounden
George Prince of Wales, Frederick Duke of York, and William Henry Duke of
Clarence, or any or either of them, or any other of their heirs, executors, or
administrators, shall well and truly pay or cause to be paid unto the above-named
John Cator, his executors, administrators, and assigns, the full sum of Thirty
Thousand Pounds of lawful money of Great Britain, within the space or time of
siz calendar months next after any one or either of us, the said George Prince of
s 2
260 HISTOB.Y OF BRIGHTHELMSTON.
Wales, Frederick Duke of York, and William Henry Duke of Clarence, shall
come to and ascend the throne of England, together with laAvful interest on the
same, to be computed from the day that such event shall happen, up and home to
the time of paying-off this obligation, then and in such case, the same shall be
null and void ; otherwise to be and remain in full force and virtue.
George Prince of Wales, *
Frederick, *
William Henry, *
Witnesses,
Andrew Robenson,
Charles Bicknell.
In May, 1813, at a Court Baron of the Manor, — Bright-
helmstou-Lewes, — leave Avas given to the Prince Eegent* to
extend the fence which surrounded the Marlborough domains to
the Eoyal Mews, and in 1815 His Koyal Highness erected the
lower section of the east and north boulder-fronted wall, placing
on it the dwarf palisading that now crowns it, as raised to its
present height ; and in 1817 Marlborough Eow became the Prince's
property, and its site was added to the B,oyal Domain, which was
then made to occupy an area of about seven acres.
Prior to 1817, the royal visitors to the Prince of "Wales had
been his Royal Consort, the Princess of "Wales, in August, 1795,
his daughter, the Princess Charlotte, July 27th, 1807, his brothers,
the Dukes of Sussex, York, Clarence, Kent, Cumberland, and
Cambridge, and their Royal Mother, Queen Charlotte, who paid her
only visit to Brighton, accompanied- by the Princesses EKzabeth
and Mary, on the 24th of October, 1814, and they continued
their stay till the 29th of that month, during which period
Her Majesty graciousl}- ordered the distribution of £50 to the poor,
and became, with a liberal donation, the Patroness of the Dollar
Society for the relief of the indigent. The Princesses were also
donors to the Society. The foreign potentates who had been
visitors were the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia.
Yarious princes of thu crowned heads of Europe had also paid
their respects to the Prince, whose companions were the elite, if
not the most dissolute of the nobility of the day. So notorious,
in fact, were the doings at the Pavilion, that Lord Chancellor Thur-
low, himself not the purest in conduct nor the most refined in man-
* Appoiutod to tlie Segency, February 5th, 1811.
THE MARIXE PAVILION AXD ITS OCCUPANTS. 261
tiers, refrained from calling upon the Prince. One day, while walking
on the Steine, his Lordship -was met by His lloyal Highness, in
company with Lord Barrymore, Sir John Lade,* and other like com-
panions. " Thui'low," said the Prince, " how is it that you have
not called on me ? You must name a day when you will dine with
me." Lord Thurlow, casting a look round upon the Prince's friends,
said, " I cannot do so until your Royal Highness keeps better
company." Lord Thurlow died of the gout at Brighton, on the
12th of September, 1806, his dying words being, "I'm shot if I
don't believe I'm dying."
Amongst the most notorious of the Prince's companions were
the brothers Barrymore, the eldest, — who had been ordained to the
church, — being known amongst them, for his irreligious propen-
sities, as Hellgate ; the second, for his immorality, Newgate ; and
the third, for his lameness, Cripplegate. The latter was the
survivor of the infamous trio, his infirmities not permitting him
to indulge in the vices which prematurely terminated the career
of his brothers. They had a sister, who surpassed them in evil
qualifications, and she bore, for her coarse volubility, thp nickname
of Billingsgate. Another of the clique was Colonel Hanger,
familiarly known as George Hanger, the Knight of the Black
Diamond, the -wit and satirist of the party. His Life,f written
by himself, abounds with sarcasms and truisms, but though designed
to "point a moral," it does not " adorn a tale," that teems with
sensualities. Upon one occasion Sheridan and Hanger were dining
in the room of the old building where the Prince usually dined,
* Lade was in receipt of an annual pension of £100, as driving tutor to
His Royal Highness. His wife, Lady Lade, who w;is born in Luckner's Lane,
St. Giles's, London, was one of the most abandoned women of the Court. She
was for some time the mistress of the notorious malefactor John Rann, known as
" Sixteen Stringed Jack," who expiated his crime upon the scaffold, at Tyburn.
The Duke of York then took her under his protection, and he transferred her by
marriage, to Sir John Lade. Such was the style of language of this infamous
woman, that when the Prince of Wales wanted an object of comparison in the
vulvar practice of swearing, he was universally accustomed to say, " He swears
like Letitia Lade." Some of the descendants of Sir John are still living, and
reside at Ovingdean.
t The Life, Adventures, and Opinions of Col. George Hanger, written by
himself. Two volumes, 8vo. London: Printed for J. Debrett, Piccadilly, 1801.
5^62 HISTOET OP BBIGHTKELMSTON.
termed by them, in consequence of its contracted dimensions and
generally excessively heated condition, the Royal Oven. In the
course of the meal Sheridan said, " How do you feel yourself.
Hanger?" "Hot, hot;— hot as h— 1," replied Hanger. "It is
quite right," was Sheridan's severe rejoinder, "we should be pre-
pared in this world for that which we know will be our lot in
another." Reckless roistering and inconsiderate practical joking
were the delight of the Pavilion party, the hours of the night being
principally the time when they immoderately enjoyed themselves.
Upon one occasion, on a dark evening, they procured a coffin, and
having put into it something resembling a corpse, dressed in a
shroud, they stood it on end, without a lid, in front of the door of
a tradesman's house, at which they knocked, and then hid away.
On the servant " answering the door," as it is termed, the light of
the candle in her hand displayed the spectre-like figure, which so
frightened the poor girl that she shrieked and fainted. The inmates
of the house, taking the alarm, ran to the door, and were equally
terror-stricken. Cries of help quickly brought to their assistance
many neighbours; but the concoctors of the joke had taken the
precaution to fix to the handles of the coffin a strong rope, by means
of which they, with little trouble, drew away the cause of the
alarm ; and there being thus nothing left to be frightened at, the in-
mates of the house became, for some time, laughing stocks for their
credulity.
The numerous tricks practised upon the townsfolk did not in
the least offend them, as in the event of any damage being done,
that could be recompensed in a pecuniary way, the greatest
liberality was always shown; in fact, the inhabitants had found
that Royalty was the staple article upon which they existed, and
they so assimilated their ideas with their position, that their chief
fears were that they might by some inadvertence or mischance give
the Prince offence, hence His Royal Highness was their chief study.
The feeling, however, was graciously reciprocated by the Royal
visitor, as exhibited upon the occasion of the anniversary of the
birthday of His Royal Highness, August 12th, 1806 — and it was
generally so on like events — when a deputation of the inhabitants
THE makint; taviliox axd its occupants. 263
presented to the Prince the following address, to whicli every
householder of note had previously subscribed liis name : —
To his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales,
We, the Ministers, High Constable, Churchwardens, Overseers, and principal
Inhabitants of the Town of Brighthclraston, with tlic most grateful recollection
of the many gracious instances of your lloyal Ilighness's patronage conferred
upon us, to which alone are to be attributed that prosperity and those advantages
unfelt by, and unknown to, any other Provincial Town, most humbly approach
your Royal Highness, to express the dutiful and thankful sentiments which this
recollection inspires, and more particularly calls forth on tlie anniversary of this
day. While we entreat your Royal Highness to accept these our humble
acknowledgments and congratulations, we devoutly implore the Supreme Disposer
of all events long to preserve a life so invaluable to us, to whom your immediate
protection is so liberally dispensed, and so dear and important in its general
consequences to the nation at large.
His Eoyal Highness replied : —
Gentlemen,
Accept my best thanks for this Address. Be assured that I feel a lively
interest in the prosperity of this place, and shall ever promote its welfare as far
as lies in my power.
George, Prince.
It has hitherto, in general, passed current, that the predilec-
tion of the Prince of "Wales for Brighton arose from the combina-
tion of the extent of the maiine view which the town commanded,
the salubrity of the place, and the great superiority of its sea-
bathing ; in confirmation of which last attraction prints are extant
representing, of life size, Martha Gunn, the bather, bearing in her
arms a naked "four-year old" baby, purporting to represent the
youthful form of His Royal Highness, about to undergo the process
of dipping ; whereas it is well known that he had attained the age
of a score of years before he first visited Brighton. The portrait
of Martha no doubt is correct, but the infant in her arms is but an
adjunct to distinguish her from the fish women, whose costume at
that period was similar to the female bather. The lloyal Bathing
Machine, which for some years was so conspicuous on the beach at
the bottom of the Steine, was that used by the Prince when he
bathed under the guidance of Smoaker Miles, at the bottom of
Russell street. It finished its days at the Steine, whither it was
removed for the transit of His lloyal Highness along the sand, at
low- water, to the boat that conveyed him to and from the Royal
264 HISTOET OP BRIGHTHELMSTON.
yacht, -which, during the temporary abode of the Prince ill
Brighton, was usually stationed, with a convoy of two ships of
war, off Brighton, at the moorings, which were laid down and
marked by buoys about six miles from the shore. The Eoyal
machine was retained at the Steine, amongst the ladies' bathing
machines, as it was much in request by the gentler sex, who were
, always anxious to occupy the machine from whence the Prince had
taken a " header," or travelled to his yacht.
Much, in the way of anecdote, has been transmitted to us
orally, respecting Martha Gunn, especially in reference to the Prince
and the Pavilion ; but, besides being a bather little of her life is
known. In a rare work, " A Donkey Tour to Brighton*,'' occurs
the following:—" 'What, my old friend, Martha,' said I, 'still
queen of the ocean, still industrious, and busy as ever ; and how do
you find yourself?' — * Well and hearty, thank God, Sir,' replied she,
* but rather hobbling. I don't bathe, because I a'nt so strong as I
used to be, so I superintend on the beach, for I'm up before any of
em ; you may always find me and my pitcher, at one exact spot,
every morning by six o'clock.' — ' You wear vastly well, my old.
friend, pray what age may you be ?' — ' Only eighty-eight. Sir ; in
fact, eighty-nine come next Christmas pudding ; aye, and though
I've lost my teeth, I can mumble it with as good relish and hearty
appetite as anybody.' — ' I'm glad to hear it ; Brighton would not
look like itself without you, Martha,' said I. — ' Oh, I don't know,
it's like to do without me, some day,' answered she, ' but while I've
health and life, I must be bustling amongst my old friends and
benefactors ; I think I ought to be proud, for I' ve as many bows
from man, woman, and child, as the Prince hisself; aye, I do
believe, the very dogs in the town know me.' — ' And your son, how
is he?' said I. — ' Brave and charming, he lives in East Street; if
your honour wants any prime pickled salmon, or oysters, there you
have 'em.' — I promised her I'd be a customer ; she made me a low
curtsey, and I left her hobbling to the side of the London coach, to
deliver cards from the repository of her poor withered, sea-freckled
* The Observant Pedestrian Mounted, or a Donkey Tour to Brighton, a
Comic Sentimental Novel, in three volumes. London : W. Simpkin and R.
Marshall, 1816.
TEE MABINE f A-VILIO^ AND ITS OCCXTPANTS 265
bosom ; for, like a woman of fashion, her bosom was her pocket."
The Prince of Wales had an unbounded propensity for
gallantry, and his companions of broken fortunes about him ingra-
tiated themselves in his favour by pandering to his evil propensities.
The Pavilion of Brighton, therefore, being secluded, was chosen as
his favourite resort, whereto were brought the mistresses of his
passions ; and such a notoriety did the building attain that it was
commonly spoken of as " the residence having at one end a harem,
and at the other a chapel." An incident of one of his early visits
to Brighton will exhibit his irresistance of temptation. His Royal
Highness, while walking on the beach, was struck with the
beauty of a nymph who was reclining by one of the groynes. Her
name was Charlotte Fortescue, an illiterate female, who counter-
acted her defective educational qualifications by artifice and intrigue,
and by her art she threw such an air of simplicity and innocence
over her actions as to hide the real nature of her character from the
Prince, whose exalted position she soon discovered. Again and again
he met her ; and believed that he had gained her confidence. Tears
suffused her cheeks as she spoke of a marriage to which she was
about to be forced, that would take her from her native country. The
Prince eventually proposed an elopement, and in order to give a
romantic air to the aff'air, it was arranged that the dress of a footman
was to be procured for his frail fugitive, and that His Royal High-
ness that evening should have his phaeton in waiting a few miles on
the London Road, to bear away his prize. However, while the Prince
was dressing for dinner. Colonel Hanger, who had just commenced his
life of profligacy, was announced. At dinner the Prince excused
himself upon ha^^.ng to leave them early, as he had most important
business to transact that night in the metropolis. Hanger spoke of
having left there that morning in search of a girl for whom he had
provided private apartments in London, and remarked, " The hussy
takes it into her head every now and then to absent herself for a
few days ; and I have now been given to understand that she is
carrying on some intrigue with a fellow at this place. Let me but
catch him, and I will souse him over head and ears in the sea."
A little explanation sufficed to convince them both that the run-
away was none other than the female with whom the Prince was so
266 HISTOKY OP BRIGHTHELMSTON.
smitten, and it was ai-rangerl, in order to outwit her, that Hanget
should put on one of the coats in which she had been occasioned to
see her Royal lover, and take his seat on the coach-box, instead of
the Prince. That night Hanger bore off his mistress to London,
much to her chagrin that the romantic elopement should have such
an unexpected termination, as the manner in which His Royal
Highness travelled, one horse before the others, the first ridden
by a postilion, and himself managing the other two, prevented a re-
cognition till the female footman descended from the " dicky," in
London. The imposition terminated their intimacy.
To detail the numerous acts of gallantry of the Prince and his
associates would in nowise add to the improvement and enlighten-
naent of the present age ; nor is it necessary to give a biographical
sketch or even a list of all his companions. His connexion, however,
with Mrs. Pitzherbert* demands some mention to be made of that
excellent lady who received the most cordial kindness and formal
honours from the first families of distinction in the land. The
Royal Marriage Act, which passed soon after the commencement of
the reign of George III., in consequence of the marriage of the Duke
of Cumberland with Mrs. Horton, and the Duke of Gloucester with
the Countess of "Waldegrave, declared that the descendants of George
II., except the offspring of such of the Princes, as were married to,
or might marry foreign Princesses, were incapable of marrying till
the age of five-and-twenty years, without His Majesty's consent
previously obtained; or after the age of five-and-twenty, in the
event of His Majesty's refusal, without the consent of both Houses
of Parliament. The marriage, then, between the Prince of Wales
and Mrs. Pitzherbert, which Home Tooke declared did take place,
inasmuch as he was acquainted with the English clergyman who
performed the solemn ceremony on the 21st of December, 1785,
was nidi and void. Mr. Pox, in the House of Commons, denied
that there had been marriage; but his denial was an act of ex-
* Born Mary Anne Smythe (daughter of "Walter Sraythe, Esq., of Bara-
bridge, in the county of Hants), she was first married to Edward "Weld, Esq.,
of Lulworth Castle, Dorsetshire; secondly to Thomas Fitzherbert, Esq., of
Swinnerton, Staffordshire. She was a second time a widow, living on a hand-
some jointure, and greatly admired in society on account of her beauty and
accomplishmeats.
"Er HOPE AN" iVJj-VfGAZIl^^E
/
•/
¥,.
.^
.;*«
r
"at;.
C-y^Ks jrjYZHER BER T
. /',,/■//./>/ /y ]J,,.;/y fir„/„'//,-7^^'>'.
2L
THE MAEINE PAVILION AJTD ITS OCCUPAKTS.
267
pediency, as, according to the Act of "William III., the admitted
marriage of the Prince of "Wales would have prevented his
taking upon himself the Regency of the country, as the people, from
his having married a Papist, would have been absolved from their
allegiance. Amongst the real friends of the Prince his connexion
with Mrs. Fitzhcrbert was an event of much gratification; for
irregular as might have been its natui'e, it preserved him from the
vulgar propensities to which he had been previously prone. Dowers
and legacies of two previous marriages qualified her to command all
the elegancies of fashionable life, and to perform many noble acts of
charity. A separation only took place in 1795, when the Prince
was about to marry (for the payment of his debts), the unfortunate
Caroline of Brunswick. In such high esteem was she held by the
Royal Family that upon "WiUiam the I"V. ascending the throne, he,
with his Royal Consort, Queen Adelaide, paid her numerous visits of
courtesy. The remains of Mrs. Fitzherbert, upon her decease, 27th
March, 1837, were deposited in a vault beneath the Roman Catholic
Church, St. George's Road, where a handsome marble monument, by
Carew, has been erected to her memory. Her age was eighty-one.
Some romantic notion gave forth the rumour that a subter-
ranean communication existed between the Royal Pavilion and Mrs
Fitzherbert's house, on the Steine. A greater fallacy never gained
credence. All that she possessed, connected in any way with the
estate, were the stables in the New Road, immediately north of the
row of trees which bounds the Pavilion Grounds on the east. These
stables — erected in 1806 — are now used as the chief depot of the
Borough Fire Brigade, under Inspector Quartermain, They were
immediately contiguous to the Burial Ground of the Society of
Friends, — now the Corporation premises for depositing the Town
Surveyor's materials, —and for a window in the stables that over-
looked the ground Mrs. Fitzherbert paid one penny per month, as
will appear by the following minute of the Committee of Friends : —
Brighton, 13th of 11th month, 1806.
Committee for the management and disposal of Lands at Brighton belonging to
the quarieriy meeting of Friends of Sussex.
This committee having taken into consideration the request of Maria
Fitzherbert for permission to continue the window in the north side of her
stables which looks into the premises belonging to Friends,
^68 HISTOBT OF BRIGHTHELMSTON.
This committee, unwilling to pursue a conduct which may assume the appear-
ance of acting otherwise than neighbourly (notwithstanding injury may arise to
the said premises by complying with such request), consents to the window not
being stopped up for the present, upon condition of Maria Fitzherbert's agreeing
to pay one penny per month for such permission, and also undertaking to brick-
up the same, at any time within one week after notice for that purpose from any
of the trustees or committee for the said premises, and in default thereof that
any of the Friends be authorized to brick-up the said window at the expense of
the said Maria Fitzherbert, and that such agreement be prepared, signed and
delivered to the said committee within two weeks from the date hereof, otherwise
the foregoing proposals to be void.
William Tuppen is requested to take a copy of the above minute to Maria
Fitzherbert, and obtain her sentiments thereon, and report the same to this
committee.
Signed in and on behalf of the committee,
Jno. Glaister.
A subterranean passage is in existence from the Pavilion to the
Stables, and was the medium by which, in disguise, the Prince and
his friends went to and returned — comparatively in private — from
their nocturnal rambles. Its immediate connexion with the royal
suite of rooms was by means of a trap in the floor of one of the
apartments, beneath wljich was an intricate staircase that gave him
a means of ready exit ; as, besides using it on occasions of fun and
frolic, his constant fear of attempts upon his life from political
motives, — as on the occasion of his being shot at with an air-gun,
on his return from opening Parliament in 1817, — or in consequence
of his numerous amorous peccadillos, rendered a means of escape
desirable, and he was enabled also, in case of emergency, to attain
with great facility the various galleries that ramified the roofs of
the building.
The New Eoad — previously the garden of Mr Furner, the
Prince's gardener, — was formed in 1805, by privates of the Eoyal
Artillery ; and on Monday, August 12th, — the anniversary
of the birth-day of the Prince of Wales, — His Eoyal Highness gave
the men employed on the work a guinea each. In 1807, there was
a west entrance to the Pavilion Grounds, directly opposite the
Theatre. On the 14th of August, that year, it happened that the
Prince, purposing going out that way in the evening, found the
gate shut and locked. His Eoyal Highness called out to his atten-
dants to break the gate open, — an order which they attempted to
obey, but found themselves unequal to the task. The Prince
THE MAKINE PAVILION AND IXS OCCUPANTS. 269
smiling, desired them to stand aside, as he had no doubt but his
strength was sufficient to force the place, though their's had failed.
In an instant he wrenched the gate from its hinges, and with his
party passed on to the Theatre.
The ti-ees in the Xew Road were not planted till 1812. The
double row of elms immediately west formed the east range of Elm
Grove, and in 1817 became the first resort of the rooks, which had
been driven away from Preston Rookery by JMr. Stanford. These
birds do not winter in Brighton, but come from Stanmcr Park —
whither they migrate, — annually towards the end of February.
The great additions to the Royal Pavilion, or rather its re-
construction, so as to remain and adopt some portions of the original
building, commenced in 1817, Xash being the architect. It is of
no fixed style of architecture, but is a composite of the Moorish
and Chinese. An Indian style was offered by Repton, who on the
publication of it, upon its being rejected by the Prince, adopted the
term " Pavilion," both in the plates and in the letter-press. The
style selected is admired by some persons, but much ridiculed by
critics. Sidney Smith said " the building looked as if the dome of
St. Paul's, London, had come down to Brighton and pupped;"
whilst "William Cobbett observed that " a good idea of the building
might be formed by placing the pointed half of a large turnip upon
the middle of a board, with four smaller ones at the corners."
The Pagoda towers, which form the north and south wings, are
much admired for the beauty of their proportions, and for their in-
version from the roof in a spheroidical elevation. They are covered
with thin plates of iron, coated Avith mihl or mastic of great diirability .
The domes, and the minarets, which consist of open cupolas on taU
pillars, have a similar covering of mastic.
In adapting the north pagoda to a cuncex't room, every atten-
tion was paid by the architect to combine the harmony of the music
in the perfect equilibrium of tone produced by each instrument.
The Prince of "NYales, who was a fine judge and promoter of music,
made many suggestions to counteract the too great elevation of the
ceiling, which somewhat destroyed the combination and vibration
of sound, and under his accomplished taste the acme of scientific
proportions of combination and sound was attained. The fiffit tim«
270 HISTORY OF BRIGHTHELMSTON.
that this music room was used was about the middle of January,
1818, the performers being the Prince Regent's private band. The
organ, by Mr Lincoln, was not erected till the end of that year.
The organ previously used in the Pavilion was taken there on the
18th of November, 1805. The instrument now used in the room
formerly stood in the Eoyal Chapel, and was the gift of her
present Majesty to the town.
It is unnecessary to give a detailed description of the whole of
the apartments of the Pavilion, or the furniture therein ; it will
suffice to say that with the exception of the Chinese Gallery, and
the suite of rooms which forms the east front, there was not, while
it remained Royal property, a room that would content any com-
moner of substance. The throne room, with its tawdry adjuncts,
was vile in taste and of meagre proportions ; wholly devoid of the
grandeur and nobleness which should attach itself to Royalty. A
casual observer of the present day would be led to suppose that the
apartment was the lodge-room of some benefit society, or the
smoking crib of George IV., the raised canopied dais being
appointed for the chairman at Lodge Meetings, or for His
Gracious Majesty when he presided over his Royal Pavilion
midnight orgies. The whole of the King's Apartments, as they
were designated, were of a like character ; but they afforded him a
contentment, inasmuch, as, from his bedroom, — by the secret stairs
to which the bloated Marchioness of Conyngham descended from her
chamber, — to the capacious marble bath where his Majesty laved,
there was a seclusion to which in his later j^ears he became habit-
uated. The upper rooms of the Pavilion, are, for a Palace, low
pitched, of very contracted dimensions, and from two windows alone,
those in the large dome, is a sufficient view of the sea obtained to
permit of the building being termed a Marine Pavilion. The
furniture throughout the building was costly in the extreme, but
incongruous. Huish, in his " Memoirs of George lY.," says : —
" Nothing could exceed the indignation of the people, when the
Civil List came before Parliament in May, 1816, and £50,000
were found to have been expended in furniture at Brighton,
immediately after £534,000 had been voted for covering the excess
of the Civil List, occasioned entirely by the reckless extravagance
THE MARINE PAVILION AND ITS OCCUPANTS. 271
of the Prince Regent, whose morning levees were not attended by
men of science and of genius, who could have instilled into his mind
wholesome notions of practical economy ; but the tailor, the up-
holsterer, the jeweller, and the shoemaker were the regular atten-
dants of his morning recreations." On one of these occasions his
servant entered his apai'tment at the Pavilion with the information,
"She is come, your Royal Highness." "She!" exclaimed the
Prince, " who is she ?" " She is come," repeated the servant. " I
ask," replied the Prince in an angrj- tone, " who is she Y — where
does she come from ?" " It is Shea the tailor, from London, your
Royal Highness." The Prince smiled, and the Shea was admitted
immediately into the royal presence.
Irrespective of the great alterations and improvements at the
Royal Pavilion marking an epoch for Brighton, in 1817, that year is
also memorable in the town for the 5th of November riot, which
then took place, referred to in page 114, and thus satirised by
Thomas Herbert*: —
TuE Card, or Poster.
'Twas t'other day a printed card,
A sort of petty war declared
Against some little boys I
Three silly men, to say no worse,
Must needs pursue a foolish course
To rob them of their joys !
This, being canvassed round and round,
At first produc'd a whispering sound
"Which soon grew into noise.
The Morning.
The morning lowers
And heavily in clouds brings on the day
Big with the fate of three deluded men.
A council, now, these three conven'd,
To see what mischief could be schem'd,
Their victims to annoy ;
This caus'd a dinner to be had,
Our heroes being very sad,
To renovate their rage ;
And at the dinner they got drunk —
Which soon produc'd a mighty funk,
They wanted to engage.
* "War at Brighton, or the Battle of The Tar Tub, a short I^ovember
Tale. By Thomas Herbert, London : John Rowe, Corahill,
272 ' HISTORY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
The Dinner*
The dinner's over and the table clear,
Each has a bumper of his favorite cheer,
Kow up erect the company arise,
The Regent's health ! the soaking herof cries ; —
The Regent's health! repeats the sable Knight,|
We must him cheer or else it wont be right !
Most certainly repli'd the chief, half soaken,
"With three times three 'twill be a loyal token ;
For three times three, ray boys, prepare your lips,
And you, dear sable, please to give the hips.
The glass pass'd round, with sentiment sublime.
Some choosing punch and some prefering wine ;
Until at length, they growing pretty mellow,
'Tis said, their chief these words aloud did bellow : —
Stand by me, boys ! I'll teach 'em such a story !
If you'll stand firm I'll lead you on to glory.
When having drank as long as they were able,
While some sat up and some lie under table,
I must go home exclaim'd the soaking chief-
Remember boys, you come to my relief !
And so must I — repli'd the sable hero,
And otf they trudge like Beelzebub and Nero.
At Soaker's Door.
Soaker to BlacJc. — My dear friend Black I'm much afraid
There'll be a row — the soaking hero said.
Black. — I think so too, indeed, upon my word.
So I'll go home and sharpen up my sword.
Soaker. — That's right my boy, then shortly after tea
Come here again, I shall you want to see,
And as I fear this job will end in strife —
I'll just step in and reconcile my wife.
Black. — That's spoken well, and so my friend will I,
Then for the present you — I'll bid good by.
Soaker. — Good by my friend, good by — good by — good by.
At Black's.
Mrs, Black. — My husband, dear, what makes you look so white ?
My heart forebodes 'twill be a shocking night.
Black. — Should it be so, pray don't you be alarm' d —
You know, my dear, I always go well arm'd.
Mrs. Black. — Alas, my dear, you look as almost dead —
A dreadful stone may smite you on the head.
Black. — Suppress these fears, with tears flush in his eyes,
Suppress these fears, the trembling hero cries;
* The dinner took place at the Dolphin, now the Queen's Hotel,
t "Williams, of the Royal Baths, Hig-Ji Constable.
X "White, Oaetle Square.
lllE ILiUIM. I'ANlJ.lo.V AMI US OtCtPAMS. 273
Should iu the riot your dear husband fall,
The will he made conveys to you his all.
So one sweet kiss ! and then, I go away,
'Tis duty calls, I must my love, obey.
Then for his sword the fear-struck hero cri'd —
The cause demands it, so, my dear, don't chide ;
His sword is brought, and buckl'd round his waist,
With great precision, like a man of taste —
Away he swaggers, and bis hands he rubs.
Looking, quite bold, like u new jack of clubs,
At Soaker's.
Mi-M. Soaker. — Oh, if, my deai-, you must to night go out,
I pray, my love, mind what you are about.
Soaker. — My honor calls, indeed, my dearest wife !
My love, my joy, my only hope, my life !
And should the rebels your dear husband kill,
III yonder drawer you'll find his honest will.
I must away, my dear, 'tis growing late.
So kiss me love, and give me up to fate.
At SoAKF.ii's Door. — Biack avu Soaker MEE-r.
Soaker. — At yonder corner when a man you place,
Bid him stand firm, and not our cause disgrace ;
At that place, too, another must be fixed ;
Likewise a third, the interval betwixt:
And the rear guard — ;is well as our vau
Must all stand firm, ay, even to a man.
The Stein t.
The signal made — the blazing foe appears —
Had you been there, you must have smelt their fears.
The scene was grand, illumining around,
You might have pick'd a sixpence from the ground ;
The lookers on appearing at first glimpse,
Just like the Old One. and so many imps ;
"NVith heart-felt joy, and truly loyal shout,
'Tis uow the hoys the tar tub roll about ;
Oh, 'twas a pity such a uoble sight.
Should be the signal for a bloody fight.
The soaking hero runs amidst the crowd.
And in a rage vociferates aloud —
Patrole I d'ye hear! you're denf upon my soul!
These villains take and lod;^e in the black hole !
The battle rages and the missile flics.
To fetch tlie troops the soaking hero hies ;
He skulks away to tlic sage monster's* housj
As much alarm'd, as e'er was cat-caught mouse.
Seijeant Ruunington, chairmaii of the Brighton Bench of Magistrates.
T
274 HlSIOItr OF BKIGHXHELMSTOX.
At Monster's House.
And wlien arriv'd at tins great legal source,
He pli'd the knocker with uncommon force —
The door is opcn'd, in our hero goes,
And to the bear disgorges all his woes.
Assist us, sir, or else, this very night,
I and poor Sable shall be niurder'd quite !
At this request the learned bear turns out,
And looks like one they, sometimes, load about.
I'll pretty soon, he roars, the rabble cleai",
I'll read the riot act, I've got it here !
Go get the troops, and then we need not fear !
How many troops ? the soaking hero cri'd,
All that you can, Jhe learned bear repli'd.
The Barracks.
Now to the Barracks flies the soaking chief,
And calls for troops ; assuming, bold and brief;
I want some troops, to sergeant he did say
At your peril dare to keep away !
The sergeant-major to the guard-house hies,
Turn out the piquet, there, he loudly cries,
The word is pass'd, the soldiers prompt obey,
And to the Steine that instant march away.
The Steine.
The troops arriv'd close to the learned bear,
He reads the proclamation in their rear.
And otf he sculks half dead with dread and fear !
The soaking chief, like one bereav'd of wits.
And almost going into fainting tits,
Charge on, exclaimed, no mercy I'll afiord I
"Why don't you charge } You heard me give the word.
Charge ! charge ! charge ! charge ! the sable knight replies,
Charge ! charge ! again the soaking hero cries.
The charge is made, alas, poor luckless Bowles,
Thy life is gone, through these ambitious fools;
The battle's ended, and they look around,
When some are lying stretch'd upon the ground;
Some too with cuts and bruises there are found.
Just at the end of this disgusting scene,
A man of pence was walking on the Steine,
The soaking hero cri'd What brought you here?
Go home ! go home ! roar'd out the learned bear,
To these insults the man of pence replies,
With indignation beaming in his eyes,
Nothing I said, nor nothing have I done ;
So when I please I, therefore, shall go home.
You won't go home, roar'd out the learned bear,
Bt) mind to-monrow, from mc von shall hcnr.
THE MAury>; paviliu.v xsti irs occupams.
You look disdiiiiiful in my very face !
I'll bind you o'er to keep the public peace ;
In this, believe me, though it seems absurd,
The learned monster strictly kept his word ;
The peaceful man, however hard his fare.
Was bound, they say, next sessions to appear!
A frantic mother running on the Steinc,
A poor man ask'd, have you my Billy seen ?
The man repl'd, I havn't, on my soul ;
You'd better ask, I think, at the Black Hole.
The wretched woman now borne down with grief,
Flies to that place in hopes to tind relief,
Raps at the door, "Who's there ? with voice quite grim,
The ni^^ht watch cried, we cannot take more in.
'Tis full of young and old, besides a quaker prim.
Woman. — Oh, pray sir, pray, relieve a raothci-'s fear,
And tell me if you have my Billy here ?
Watch. — Ay, that he is, I'm sure beyond a doubt,
And so to-morrow you may bail him out.
Woman, — She walks away, but still she sheds a tear —
And calls for imprecations on the bear.
Next day the learned bear flies to his station.
To be the judge of his own depredation ;
'Tis now the foaming monster roars aloud,
With face as black as a November cloud.
Bring in your charge, but mind I say.
At your perils let him get away.
Now with a double guard there enters in
A child, but just escaped from leading string.
The monster with a dreadful stare, at large.
Against the pris'ncr ask'd what was the charge ;
The sable hero, with assurance ample,
'Tis dreadful, sir, exclaim'd, beyond example !
As I stood on the Steine with sword in hand,
I saw him brandish a huge fire brand.
Oh, fy, saith pris'ner, what a wicked fib.
'Twas but the paper of a discharg'd squib.
Pris'ncr, your age ? exclaim'd the learned bear,
While down his little face would steal a tear.
The truth, come tell mo, or I'll commit you straight ;
I am, saith pris'ner, somewhat turn'd of eight.
The monster roared, witli truly savage grin,
Discharge the brat, and bring another in.
Tke De.\tu.
Alas, alas! poor lifeless Kowle-,
It grieves me to relnte —
Thy fam'ly lo.st its duarcit friend
By thy uutiuicly fate.
i 2
276 JIISl'OllY Or UKIGUXHELMSTOX.
•May Providfiice tlieu guide tlic law,
Thy slaughter be avenged ;
And may the halter catch the right,
For equity's just end.
Oh, may thy widow find su[)port,
Thy family to rear :
And may she live to bring thcin up,
The living God to fear.
The visits of George lY, to Brigliton were discontinued iu
1824, in consequence of a deep resentment "which His Majesty felt
at some personal affront that was given by some of the inhabitants,
to his then favourite mistress, tlie Marchioness of Conyngham, who
was the Lady Steward of the Eoyal Household, and arrogated to
herself the privilege of arranging the entree to the King, and of
possessing control over the commonest domestics of the establishment.
Her effrontery, however, was too intolerant for some of the towns-
folk to brook ; and, their virtuous indignation being aroused, they
indulged in remarks upon her, and were so indifferent in courtesy
towards her, that His Majesty considered the affront as almost given
to himself. In fact, the extraordinary ascendency which the
Marchioness had obtained over the roj^al mind, Avas then so
apparent in all the King's actions that he was a Sovereign governed
by one subject, and that subject more influential and powerful iu
her authority than the first minister of the State. Upon the
retirement of the King from Brighton, the Princess Augusta was
a frequent visitor to the town, her residence, by permission of her
Royal Brother, being one of the private houses, to the west, just
Trithia the then southern entrance to the Pavilion Grounds
The lloyal Pavilion was a favourite autumn and winter resi-
dence of William IV. and Queen Adelaide, who made their first
visit to Brighton on Monday, August 30th, 1830. Tlieir Majesties
effected many important alterations upon the Eoyal Property,
causing the erection of the ivy-clad range of buildings known as
the Dormitories, extending along the south margin of the western
lawn, from Prince's Place to Carlisle House. A southern entrance
to the Grounds was erected in 1831. It stood across the top of
East Street, in a line with the north side of Xorth Street; but upon
ths Eoiv'al Pavilion e%tut<3 bet-bming the proptM-ty of the Towu of
/
^// ' t/^^ui/i^' Qy£^.f/y^e/ /y..
//
.lliabf J by D.Culbarn. G.' Maxlbro' StriOct. JUJa.
I
97
Painiins? in the possosfaon of lier Majosiy 'b'"
Ills MOST (ntAllors MA.IKSTY, W I 1. 1 . 1 AM - II KN KY THK l-OliHTH.
isimn. son t c» i.om>oB . i83j
THK ilABIXE PATILIOX A>'D ITS OCCUPAXTS. 277
Brighton, in 1850, the building was taken down; as, besides tho
structure being in nowise handsome, it was a screen that completely
hid the Pavilion, and hemmed in the property now known as the
Pavilion Buildings. The elegant northern entrance — a noble and
faultless building, exhibiting every chai'actevistic of boldness and
statelinesR. — was erected in 1832.
During the occupation of the Royal abode by "William and
Adelaide, — when it received the name of The Palace, — it Avas a
continued scene of regal festivities, juvenile parties being very
frequent. The present Duke, then Prince George of Cambridge,
was a great favourite with Their Majesties, who specially humoui'ed
his fancies and frolics, lloyalty, however, is very tenacious of its
dignity; whereof the following is a proof: Upon occasions when
the youthful aristocracy were invited to the Palace, it was invariably
usual for the arrangements of the evening to be under the immediate
superintendence of the celebrated maitresse de danse, Madame Michau,
who, not unfreqnently, was assisted in her duties by her son, now
well-known as Mons. James Michau, and the arrangement graciously
received the Royal sanction. With the Prince and his youthful
associates the son of the dancing mistress was considered fair game
for their sporting humour ; they therefore resorted to practical
joking upon him, well-knowing that difference in position forbad his
making a retort. But it happened upon one occasion that cither the
Prince exceeded his usual indignities, or that young Michau was not
in a philosophic placid temper, as he oflered a remonstrance, which
excited a blow from His Roj^al Highness, resulting in a bout of fisti-
cuffs, from which the Prince came off second best. The indignity, thus
justly administered, was forthwith resented, the Royal commu-
nication, through Mr. Cfee, Her Majesty's page, being that Madame
Michau's services would not again be required. A retributive
incident shortly after occurred that entirely put an end to the
Palace youthful gatherings. Prince George, for a diversion, had
purchased a mechanical mouse, and, having wound it up, he placed
it upon the floor, when it chanced to travel in the direction of the
Queen. Her ^Majesty had not observed the toy until it closely
approached her, when, feeling a sudden alarm, she rose hurriedly,
uttering an ejaculation of fear, a px'ocedui-e so uudignifying to her
278 HISTOKT OF BRIHHTHELMsrON.
exalted position that she immediately retired, and no other juvenile
party at the Palace ever after took place.
Queen Victoria paid her first visit to Brighton, October 4th,
1837, and had a most enthusiastic reception. Her Majesty's second
visit took place the following Autumn. In February, 1842, the
Queen and Her Royal Consort, Prince Albert, made the stay of a
month in Brighton ; and on the 7th of September, the following
year, Her Majesty and the Prince Consort landed from the Royal
Yacht, at the Chain Pier, on their return from a visit to Louis
Philippe, at Chateau d'Eu. The circumstance of their landing is
commemorated by Mr. R. H. Nibbs, in a most exquisite painting
which is placed amongst the local works of art that adorn the
Borough Council Chamber, at the Town Hall. The Queen and
Prince Albert embarked on the 12th for Ostend. In September,
1844, the last royal visit was made to the Pavilion, the Prince of
"Wales, the Princess Royal, and Prince Alfred being sent down for
the benefit of their health. Their stay extended to a fortnight.
Hopes were entertained that Her Majesty would again visit Brighton ;
but time passed on, and at length it was announced that the Queen
had purchased an estate in the Isle of Wight, where she would have
a marine residence, in the strictest sense of the word, easy of access,
and so admirably situated that she could, with the greatest facility,
indulge in her favourite pastime — a water excursion.
Gradually the Pavilion became despoiled of its costly furniture and
fittings, many of the latter being ruthlessly torn down and destroyed.
Eventually it was announced that the building was to be razed to
the ground, the materials sold, and the land disposed of for building
purposes. In I^ovember, 1848, it became known that the Royal
Commissioners of the "Woods and Eorests intended to introduce a
Bill the next Sessions of Parliament, for the sale of the property, to
obtain funds for further improvements at Buckingham Palace. The
Town Commissioners put in their claim for a restoration by the
Crown of the road which formerly went through the Pavilion
Grounds, from south to north from East Street. It was also pointed
out that some portions of the ground that had been sold to the
Prince Regent, had restrictions against building, which restrictions
could not be removed without the consent of the Lords of the
Manor.
IlMIiMOBI C,liACI0V3 "MAJliS'i'Y*
yjca'oiii^ .
ithb.me Plai-i-
1
^-—^ y^-^ .---^y .'-t~~SlJ '^ ~ ^y^,^ ~^ -— -^
'-rs
THE MAHIXE PAVrLFOX AND ITS OCCtTPANT*. 279
The Bill for the disposal, however, passed, and on the 27th of
July, 1849, a Yestry meeting of the rated inhabitants, determined
upon purchasing the property for £o3,0()0, the sum required for it
by the Commissioners of the Woods and Forests. Another Bill had
yet to he obtained to give the Town Commissioners power to pur-
chase the estate. Such an opposition to the purchase in the meantime
sprung up amongst some of the ratepayers, and at a Vestry meeting
called to approve of the Bill, that, after two days' polling, the amend-
ment, in effect " that the purchase be stopped," was only lost by a
minority of 36, the numbers being : for the purchase, 1343 ; against
it, 1307. The Bill was read in the House of Commons a second
time, without opposition, on the 14th of February, 18.50; and was
read a third time in the House of Lords on the 2nd of May, 1850.
The money for the purchase, and £7,000 for the expenses of obtaiu-
ing the Bill, and to restore the building, amounting in the whole to
£60,000, was borrowed of the Bank of England, and on
the 13th of June, 1850, the Commissioners of the "Woods and
Forests were paid the sum required. The building is not yet
wholly appropriated, but, immediately upon the completion of the
purchase, the. late Mr. Christopher "Wren Yiok was employed to
effect the work of restoration, and he succeeded in obtaining the
original blocks from which the former paper-hangings of the grand
suite of rooms were printed, and also in engaging Mr. Lambelet, —
who has since died in poverty — the artist who executed the original
decorations. On the 21st of Januarj-, 1851, the Pavilion was re-
opened with a grand ball of the inhabitants; since which time
numerous balls, concerts, and meetings of scientific, benevolent, and
other societies have taken place there, and it has now an excellent
gallery for paintings, and several rooms have been set apart for the
Brighton Museum, an institution that is well deserving of support.
Paintings, by purchase and gifts, adoni many of the walls of the
building, and in the Vestibule and Chinese Gallery arc some
excellent specimens of sculpture, principally by our local sculptor,
Mr. Pepper. The most prominent is a full length statue by Noble, of
the late Captain Pechell, sou of the late member for Brighton, Sir
G. R. B. Pechell, Bart. The gallant young officer fell during the
Russian "Wai-, in the Crimea.
28ft niSTOTtY OF JiBTGHTHELMSTOX.
Besides the Pavilion and Grounds, the estate has many
private houses, including the niaguificent range called Pavilion
Buildings. The debt consequent upon the purchase is being
gradually reduced, and the opponents to the purchase not feeling
the burthen which they dreaded, have the gratification of knowing,
that, as a lung to their magnificent town, they have that which no
other town in the kingdom possesses, — an extensive park of its
own in its very centre.
Chapter XXVII.
ON AND ABOUT THE RACE-COUESE.
Royalty had scarcely taken ixp its abode in Brighton, when,
according to the Eacing Calendar, in 1783, racing commenced its
career on the eastern down, better known as White Hawk Down,
Brighton, The sports were principally amongst the officers of the
Militia Eegiments which were then quartered in the town, and
they received the patronage of the Prince of Wales. Beyond the
authority of the " Oldest Inhabitant," transmitted orally, there is
no account of the extent, formation, or the tenure of the course.
It is understood to have been about two miles in length, and to
have occupied, as at present, the horse-shoe shaped ridge of the
hill, and was defined, on sufferance, by the clearing away of the
furze.
The Eace Ground proper consists of 105 acres and 30
perches, over which the right of pasturage has become vested
in the Marquis of Bristol, by purchase from Mr. Thomas
Eead Kemp, who bought it for £780, subject to public rights,
as the erection thereon, by the inhabitants, of booths and stalls
for the accommodation and recreation of the public during
the races. The Course is two miles in length, and what is known
as the New Course is one mile long. The counterpart of an
alleged lease was in the possession of Mr. Thomas Attree, Queen's
ox ANT) ABOUT THE R.\C»COrBSE. 281
Park, bearing date June 24th, 179G, purporting to ba a demise of
the Race Stand to various inhabitants, — all of whoni are now
deceased, — for 99 years, at the annual rent of one guinea. The
counterpart came into the possession of Mr. Attree in 1822, many
years prior to which no rent had been paid or demanded, and no
lease could ever be discovered. On the 2nd July, 1 816, a com-
mittee of the Town Commissioners were informed by Mr. Attree
that he claimed tlie Stand for himself and others who had subscribed
£400 for its erection, in eighteen shares, A^^hereof he held nine, and
that the sum still remained a charge upon the building; but he
offered to sell the Stand for £400 to the Race Committee. The
Committee considering that no valid lease was in existence, — inas-
much as in deeds, dated 1822, and to which Mr Attree was a party^
whereb}' the Race Stand was specially granted, no allusion what-
ever was made to a lease or other incumbrance, — declined the offer.
They furthermore considered that the debt alleged to be due and
charged thereon ought long since to have been liquidated from the
proceeds of the letting, and that the inhabitants beneficially in*
terested therein were exonerated from such debt, charge, or
encumbrance.
In 1849 a new Race Committee was formed, and their first
step was to purchase the Stand, giving for it, to the surviving
shareholders, Mr. T. Attree, Mr. H. Blackman, and Mr. Tamplin,
the sum of £360, the London, Brighton, and South-Coast Railway
Company liberally presenting to the Committee £100 towards the
amount, independent of their annual subscription to the Race Fund
of £200. The following six gentlemen also came forward as
Trustees : Mr. Alderman Burrows, Mr. Alderman Martin, Mr. Robert
Williams, Mr. H. F. Stocken, Mr. Lewis Slight, and Mr. Lewis
Slight, jun., and the shabby Avooden building, erected in 1798,
gave place to the present commodious and handsome structure, the
design of Mr. Allan Stickney, the Town Surveyor, at a cost of
£5,000, the whole of wliich has been discharged by the Race
Committee, who have likewise increased the public money from
£350 given in 1848, to nearly £2,000 annually.
The old Race Stand, built in 1803, succeeded the first building,
which was erected in 1 788, and dpstroved bv fire on the 23rd of
28^ MTSTOEY OF BMGHTHELM3T0N.
August, 1796. The fire arose iu consequence of the carelessness of
the family who had been permitted to occupy the building. Not-
withstanding the unfortunate occurrence took place about mid-day,
it was distinctly seen at a distance of upwards of thirty miles.
Many people from various parts of the county, some on horseback,
and some on foot, entered the town during the succeeding night
and day, to make enquiries respecting it, as apprehensions prevailed
that the enemy had made a descent on that part of the coast, and was
evincing his love for the natives by setting fire to their dwellings.
A singular incident occurred during the fire : An officer
of the Prince's regiment, attracted to the spot by the volumes of flame
and smoke, was reviewing the terrific encroachments of the devouring
element, when a cat, dreadfully singed and terrified, sprung through
the blaze, and alighted on his shoulders. The officer, somewhat sur
prised, at first endeavoured to shake her off"; but poor puss, firmly
fixing her claws in his jacket, was not so easily got rid of. Per-
ceiving, then, her reluctance to leave him, he at length humanely
determined, that as she had, in the moment of danger and fear,
flown to him for protection, she should accompany him to the
Barracks, where she was well taken care of by her new master and
his comrades.
A curious circumstance took place on the morning of the Races,
August 4th, 1805. The farmer who rented the race ground having
explained to the Jockey Club that he had not received the usual
compliment of the fourth of a pipe of wine for the previous season,
threatened to plough up the course if he was not paid what he con-
ceived to be his due. Accordingly, he set his plough to woi-k, but
a press-gang appearing in sight, his ploughman fled, and resigned
the course to the gentlemen of the turf, the farmer the while declaring
that he would not be jockeyed out of his wine, as he would have a
sort of a race for it in Westminster Hall. The cause, however,
never came off.
The support given to the Brighton Races by the Prince of
"Wales and those immediately about him, made the meeting amongst
the nobility quite a national feature, as the elite of the turf were
always in attendance, and a gaiety prevailed that no other place
•eould boast of. The course was thronged with equestrians and the
•N AND ABOUT THK HAOE-COURSB. 288
fashionable equipages of the day, baroucheg and four, driven by-
lords and baronets. Conspicuous amongst them was His Eoyal
Highness on his German Waggon — as his barouche was called, —
driving his six baj^s, with Townsond, of Bow Street, as his com-
panion, as well to protect the Prince from insult as from robbery.
But it was a position which gave His Ilo5-al Highness an opportunity
to practise upon his guardian a somewhat unpleasant joke. Turn-
ing suddenly towards Townsend, just at the termination of a race,
he exclaimed, " By]Jovc, Townsend, I've been robbed ; I had with
me some damson tarts, but they are now gone." "Gone?" said
Townsend, i-ising, "impossible!" "Yes," rejoined the Princey
"and you arc the purloiner," at the same time taking from the
seat whereon the officer had been sitting, the crushed crust of the
asserted missing tarts, and adding, " This is a sad blot upon your
reputation as a vigilant officer." " Ilather, say your Royal Highness^
a sad stain upon ray escutcheon," added Townsond, raising the gilt
buttoned tails of his blue coat and exhibiting the fruit-stained seat
of his nankeen inexpressibles.
The Brighton Races are now held on the Tuesday, Wednesday^
and Thursday following the Goodwood meeting. Thursday id
devoted to the racing of the Brighton Race Club, established ill
1850. Formerly they were either on Saturday, Monday, and
Tuesday, as shown by the calendar of the Brighton Races, July
28th, 30th, and 31st, 1804, now in the possession of Mr. Alderman.
Martin ; or, as in 1810, on Friday, Saturday, and Monday, August
3rd, 4th, and 6th, when two races a-day took place, distinguished
in their time of running by "Before Dinner," and "After
Dinner." The arrangement of the days was to admit of a fair,
termed " White Hawk Fair," being held on the east down on tha
intervening Sunday. It has now been abolished about forty years.
The Morning Herald, Sunday, August 2nd, 1807, makes the
following mention of this fair : —
"White Hawk Fair, as it is termed, has attracted much company to the Eace
Down to-day, though but few individuals of fashionable note were to be seen in
the throng.
Connected with this Down is the
LEGEND OF THE WHITE HAWK LADY.
Less than half a century since, the remnant of a moss-covered
^84 HISTORY OF BRIGHTnELMSTOJf.
tmhewn stone marked the sj^ot in Ovingdean churchyard, -where, ils
gossips then, said, were deposited tlie remains of Margaret Ladrone,
probably a name conferred on her from the pilfering propensities
of the gipsies, a tribe to which she belonged, though she was
familiarly spoken of as " Mag Lade," a sybil or fortune-teller of
her day, whose visits to Ovingdean were annual in the month of
August, on the occasion of White Hawk Fair, a holiday gathering
on White Hawk Down, at which the rustics were wont to learn
their fate of the wise woman, as she was termed by the \inmarried
who would know the future through the vista of happiness ; hut
the old crone or witch, by those whose stei'ii thought attributed all
the mishaps that befel either themselves or their substance to the
influence of an evil one, with whom she was proclaimed to be in
league. At other periods'of the year she practised her vocation in
various places throughout the county, so that she had a regular
cii'cuit, through the course of which the burning fervour of youth
hailed her advent with earnest anticipations, equalled only by the
dread entertained by mature age, that blight and murrain were her
attendants. It happened on one occasion, the date whereof is
immaterial, that Editha Elmore, tlie only daxighter of the rich
squire of Woodingdean, while intent on the palmistry of Mag, —
whose hand she had crossed with a broad silver piece, — by chance
cast her eyes upon the form of a dark young man of goodly mien,
the very type of him whom the gipsey prophetess essayed to be her
future husband. In the next country-dan^ he was her partner,
and also the envy of one who, from their childhood, had been her
companion, and was looked upon by the parents of each as her
intended bridegroom. The festivities of the day closed ; the dark
stranger bade her adieu ; the villagers returned to their homes ; and
ere the shades of night had gathered over the Downs, not a vestige
was left of the scene which had been one of genei'al festivity.
Ralph Mascall, the son of the farmer at the Grange, 0\4ngdcan, as
had been his custom from a child, accompanied the fair Editha
to Woodingdean, where he received the accustomed welcome of
her parents ; and, before midnight, he was on his way homewards
somewhat disturbed in mind that ho had a rival. His visits, how-
ever, to Squire Elmore's were not the less frequent ; nor did the
ox ASD A.B01T XEK KACE-COURat. 28^
affection shown towards him by Editha in the least appear to wane.
And so anotlicr j-ear passed on, and the annual festival again arrived.
There again was Mag, whom Editha sought once more, to learn
her destiny. Tlie Fates had not altered their decree ; and there, as
twelve months since he stood, was the dark comely stranger. The
very type of previous years were the proceedings of the day ; the
same homely village simplicity, the jocund song, the rustic dance,
the same potations of home-brewed and cider ; the same greetings,
the same partings. Somewhat later than was considered within the
bounds of prudence, the handmaid of Editha, accompanied by Giles,
her lover, approached the wicket that opened on the lawn before
Squire Elmore's mansion, where she was met by the dark stranger
of the Eair, who, tendering her a golden coin, — by way of hush
monej', — bade her convey to her young mistress a note of delicate
proportions. Promise of secrecy was exacted ; the parting kiss was
exchanged between the blushing Abigail and Giles ; and the latter
accepting the companionship of the stranger, the two bent their
steps to Rottingdean, where the honest rustic returned to his home.
Where the stranger rested for the night has never transpired.
Early the following morning ilag was at the mansion, the domestics
of which, anxious to leai-n how they were ruled by the
stars, parted freely witli their silver pieces. The Abigail of the
previous night's adventure was particularly anxious to learn her
destiny ; and the truth which was essayed of her Giles, his age, his
complexion, his temper, and his prospects, gave full assurance of the
marvellousness of Mag's divining skill, to which the fair Editha,
with whom she also had an interview, gave implicit credence. Eour-
and'twenty hours, however, wrought a great change at the mansion,
and likewise in the hamlet of Ovingdean. A more than usual op-
pression and sultriness pervaded the atmosphere thi'oughout the
day, and towards nightfall the war of elements commenced, the
sharp flashes of lightning increasing in vividness, the artillery of the
heavens roaring in awful solemnity, and the massive clouds dis-
charging their di-enching cataracts. Such a night liad never been
preiously known in the neighbourhood; and every person anxiously
waited the coming dawn to learn the havoc of the dreadful storm.
The iamfctos of the mansion were t^rly stimng, ^ud, much
286 HISTORY OF BKKJHTHELMSTON.
sooner than usual, Mr. and Mrs. Elmore were at breakfast. But
they had not been long seated when they were informed that
Miss Editha could nowhere be found, and that by the appear-
ance of her bed-chamber she had not retired to rest during the
night. The note which had been delivered by the stranger, and
was then lying on the dressing table, appointing a midnight inter-
view upon the Downs, was all that could be found to account for
her absence. The most diligent search of the premises and the
plantation contiguous was immediately made, and a dispatch with-
out delay was sent off to Oviugdeau, in the hopes that tidings
might be heard of her there; but all was fruitless. Previous,
however, to the news reaching tbat village, upon passing by the
church, the sexton discovered, in the south-west corner of the
burial ground, the charred remains of a female, which, upon
examination of the dress about them, were declared to be those of
old Margaret Ladrone. At the place were they were found, there
in the course of the day, were they interred, without any funeral
rites, and the stone, before referred to, was placed over them to mark
the spot. The dark stranger was never afterwards seen.
The story continues, that, every stormy night after, the figure
of a lady in white paced the White Hawk Down, and that always
on the morning after the figure was seen, a foot-print, cloven like
that of an ox, was found at the same particular spot. The
Morning JSerald, of July 17th, 1807, has the following: —
" Brighton. — A few days ago were dug up upon the slope of the
Downs to the north-east of this place, the bones of a woman,
which, fi'om their position, clearly evinced that they had been
deposited there many years before, without ceremony. A singular
rumour is now afloat of a young person having been ravished and
murdered there, by a person of unsuspected character." It may be
proper to add that since the finding of these bones the "White Hawk
Lady has not walked abroad. The Elmore and the Mascall families,
after the mysterious disappearance of Editha, removed to Brighton ;
but it is a very singular fact that the name of Lade is now very
common at Ovingdean, it being even that of the Sexton of the
parish, who is a descendant of Sir John Lade, spoken of in the last
Chapter. As, however, the church register dates back only as far
^
Iteatea "by Tho? Ptallips, R.A.
Engraved "by H. Cook.
GEORGE- O Ji]UE>' W V N 1) 11 A M . I'. K S &• E S A . EAKL OE EGREMONT.
FlSllKR. SON & C? LONDON, 1834.
O.V AXD ABOUT TUE RACE-COlTRSE. 287
as the year 1 700, the genealogy of the family, even if it did come
through Old Maij, cannot be more remotely traced.
The death of the Earl of Egremout, who was a great patron of
the Brighton sports long after Royalty had abandoned contending on
the course, was a severe blow to Brigliton llaccs ; added to which,
the Duke of Richmond, a warm supporter of the turf, withdrew his
influence in favour of Goodwood. Year by year the Races waned,
with the prospect of an early dissolution, which, on the witlidrawal
of the Queen's Plate, in 1819, seemed inevitable. Persons, it is true,
continued, as of yore, to journey in from the country to witness them,
but there was a continual falling off in tlie attendance of the
aristocracy, and a rage for gambling of a most pernicious character,
in thimble-rig, roulette, Brunswick lottery, prick-in-the-garter, &c.,
having set in, the townspeople with-held the subscriptions which
they had been accustomed to grant pretty freely to the races,
as they found that instead of having an equivalent for their money
in sport, they were only paying a premium for the encouragement
and dissemination of vice. Eventually, legislation put a stop to
the nefarious proceedings of the gamblers ; and, in the very nick of
time, the great modern civilizer, the railway, was inducted from
London, to give an impetus to the prosperity of the town, which had
perceptibly declined when the Queen gave a preference over Brighton
to the Isle of "^'iglit, for a marine retreat. The Railway was the
turning medium for the resuscitation of the Brighton Races, and the
new Race Committee promptly and successfully availed themselvea
of it, as it opened the prospect of a new class of supporters, in the
inhabitants of the metropolis, who were by it within two hours' dis-
tance of the course.
At various periods since 1783, when troops were first stationed
at Brighton, — in consequence of the Pavilion becoming a Royal
residence, — reviews and sham fights of the military have taken
place on the Downs contiguous to the Race Course, the spot being
admirably adapted for army tactics. The troops upon such occasions
have been generally of the line and the militia regiments quartered
at the several Infantry Barracks in the town, and at the Cavaliy
Barracks on the Lewes Road, other regiments at Ringmcr, Lewes,
and East Blatchingtun marching in to take part in the evolutions.
288 HlSl'Olti' OJfc' BKIUHTHELMSTOX.
The Cavalry Barracks were completed in 1795. In 1801 a range
of stables was erected, for the reception of 400 horses, immediately
in front of the main buildings, and abutting on the east boundary
wall contiguous to the Lewes Road ; but in 1818 these stables were
removed, and the spacious grounds were thrown open to public
view. The fives-court, between the wings, in the centre of the
back court-yard, was erected in 1810, by the officers of the Prince
of Wales's Eegiment, the 10th 1103-al Hussars.
The modern grand military features of the Eace Hill have been
the sham fights of the Volunteers, and known as the Battle of
Ovingdean, Easter Monday, April 1st, 1861, under Lord Eanelagh ;
and the Battle of White Hawk Down, Easter Monday, April 21st,
1862, under Lord Clyde ; both gretit successes, and aifording proofs
of the valuable services and admirable efficiency of this noble
auxiliary of England's military power. The force present on the
first occasion numbered between 7,000 and 8,000 men, thus
brigaded": —
Artillery Brigade. — Colonel Estridge, commanding. 1st Battalion
Brighton Artillery, 4th Cinque Ports, 2nd Hants, and 2nd Sussex.
First Brigade Rifle Volunteers. — Lieutenant Colonel Faunce, com-
manding ; Captain Deedes, Brigade Major. 1st Battalion— Colonel M'Leod,
1st Middlesex Engineers ; 32ud Middlesex (Guards). 2nd Battalion — Major
Atherley, 2nd South Middlesex. 3rd Battalion— Capt. Ives, 11th Middlesex,
(St. George's), 36th Middlesex (Paddington).
Second Brigade. — Lord Eadstock, commanding; Captain Chitty, Brigade
Major. 1st Battalion— 9th West Middlesex, 2nd Middlesex (A.B.) 2nd
Battalion — Colonel Money, 6th Tower Hamlets; -Ith Tower Hamlets; 7th
Middlesex (Islington). 3rd Battalion — Colonel Colville, 39th Middlesex
(Finsbury) ; Kent Rifles, (Captain Jackson), 4th, 13th, 17th, 21st, and S-ltb,
Third Brig.vde. — Colonel Moorsom, commanding ; Major Panton, Brigade
Major. 1st Battalion — 3rd Sussex (Administrative Battalion). 2nd Battalion —
1st Cinque Ports. 3rd Battalion — 2nd Sussex (Administrative Battalion).
FounTii Brigade. — Colonel Yallancey, commanding ; Major Deedes,
Brigade Major. 1st Battalion — Colonel Couran, 1st Hants (Adminisirative
Battalion), Winchester; 3rd Hants (Administrative Battalion); 6th Hants.
2nd Battalion — Major Roupell, 19th Surrey (Lambeth) ; lOth Surrey (Ber-
mondsey). 3rd Battalion — Sir H. Fletcher, 2nd Suirey (Administrative
Battalion) ; 20th Surrey (Norwood).
Reserve.— 3rd City of London ; Brigliton Cadets; 11th Tower Hamlets.
The troops were formed in battalions on the Level, from whence
they marched by waj' of Marine Parade, and by the County
Hospital to the summit of the hill on the ri^jht of the Eace CoursOj,
ON AND ABOUT THE RACE-COUfiSE. 289
along whicli, past the Grand Stand, they marched in review, before
Major General Sir James Scarlett and his staff.
Upon the crown of this hill, during the wars with Xapoleon,
stood a signal-house and telegraph semaphore communicating along
the coast with similar stations at Seaford and Shorcham, and
forming a link in the important chain of signals which was in use
between Portsmouth and Dover. There is very little doubt, that
about that locality at a much earlier date than sporting records hand
down to us, racing of some description took place, the Town Book
having the following entry : —
Memorandum, that on ye 7th of November, 1713, Henry May, Esq., paid
us a half-pcuny acknowledgmt for carrying the Corpes of his father Sr Richard
May, deceased, through the Laine, commonly called the Hilly Lainc, from the
place were formerly stood a Race post, to the town of Brighthelmston, it being
noe high or Common Road, we Say red the Same for sufferance, Per us
Richard Masters,
Simon Wisdex.
JoHx Gold.
The payment was doubtless exacted under the erroneous notion
that the unobstructed conveyance of a corpse gave the public a
right to the way or road along which the body was borne ; and it is
the generally received opinion that the right of road by the foot-
path or bridle-way from Blatchingtou, by way of "Watts's Laundry
to the road on Church Hill, was obtained by a corpse having been
conveyed from Blatcliington for burial in the church-yard of St.
Nicholas, Brighton.
The several corps engaged in the Review having passed up the
Course took up heir first position on the ridge of heights overlooking
Brighton, and afterwards formed an extended line on the crest of
one of the hills running inland and parallel with the race-hiU. This
long line of about a mile in length was supported by four guns on
the extreme left. At the time of commencing operations the furze
on the side of the hill was, either by design or accident, set on fire.
Huge volumes of smoke rose from the burning gorse, and as tlie line
opened and kept up a heavy firing fur some time, the imaginative
spectators on the distant eminence might suppose that some quiet
hamlet had been set on fire, cither by the enemy or by the brave
defenders of their hearths and homes. After some very heavy file-
290 HISTOEY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
firing from right of companies, and two or three ■well-delivered
volleys, the line fell back, protected in its retreat hj the guns in
position. The enemy was supposed to have followed them, but, like
the Spanish fleet, they could not bo seen, because they were not
iu sight. Lord Ranelagh's force was too small to admit of division
into two forces ; but even had it been larger, it is doubtful
whether a Yolunteer euemy would submit to be beaten according to
orders, with so much cheerfulness, and with so much steadiness, as
is the case with the regulars on the field-days of Aldershot and else-
where. The retreating force next deployed towards the sea, the
action became more general, and several battalions were moved up
in support of the line. There were more rattles of musketry, and
more volleys, and then, wearied out with the persistence of the
enemy, two brigades, forming the right, charged down on the
enemy's left and drove them over hill and dale. The unseen and
flying enemy, however, got some imaginary reinforcements, and
returned to the attack and retrieved their laiu-els. The gallant
brigadiers led back their unwilling, biit not disheartened men on the
left wing ; then the centre fell back, and the right, unable to stand
alone, followed the example. Lord Ranelagh's eye instantly saw
the cloud of dust which told of the approach of horsemen. Quick
as lightning there went forth the command — " Form square to
receive cavalry," and the order was promptly obeyed; and had
there been any cavalry, they would no doubt have been very
warmly and heartily received, in obedience to orders. The division
took up a fresh position — again advanced — the Battle of Ovingdean
was fought and won, and the well-known strains of the "National
Anthem " told of the loyalty, as many courageous deeds had told
of the valour, of the Volunteers.
At the second Easter Yolunteer Field Day there were 19,000
of the following corps present : —
Cavalry. — IStli Hussars, Lieut. -Col. Knox. 1st Hants Light Horse,
Capt. Bo-wer.
Artillery. — Field Batteries. — Lieut. -Col. Ormsby, E.A., commanding
Staff: Capt. Tupper, K.A., Capt. Pitt, E.A., Capt. Ward, ll.A., Capt. Blackwell,
R.A. 1st and 2ud Batteries — Major Dalbiac, 1st Sussex. 3rd Battery — Capt.
Darby, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sussex. 4th Battery— Major Harcourt, 4th Cinque
Ports'.
ON' AXD ABOUT THE KACE-COrESE, 291
Garrison- Brioade.— Lieut.-Col. Estridgc, commanding; Capt. "Woodhead,
Srd Jliddlesex Militia, Aide-dc-Camp ; Capt. Wolf, R.A., Major of Brigade.
1st Battalion— Lieut.-Col. Sturdoe, 1st Hants. 2nd Battalion— Lieut.-Col. Lord
Truro, 3rd Middlesex. 3rd Battalion— Major Creed, 3rd Esse.\, 1 A Cinque
Ports, 1st Middlesex, 2nd Middlesex, 1st Tower Ilamlets.
Intan'try. — First Dmsiox. — Major-Gencral Crauford, commanding ,
Staff: Capt. Smith, Grenadier Guards; Lieut. Hon. J. C. Eliot, Grenadi'er
Guards.
First Brigade.— Lieut.-Col. the Duke of "Wellington, E.G., commanding;
Capt. Gotf, oOth Foot, Major of Brigade. 1st Battalion— Lieut.-Col. Macleod^
1st Middlesex (Engineer), 1st Tower Haiplets (Engineer), and two companies
16th Middlesex. 2nd Battalion— Lieut.-Col. the Hon. C. Hugh Lindsay 11th
18th, and 36th Middlesex. 3rd Battalion— Lieut.-Col. G. Warde, 1st City of
London. 4th Battalion — Major Whitehead, 1st ^Middlesex.
Second Bkigade.— Lieut.-Col. the Jfarquis of Donegall, G.C.H., com-
manding; Major Mackenzie, Antrim Militia, Aide-de-Camp ; Brevet-M:yor
Shaw, R.A., Major of Brigade. 1st Battalion- Lieut.-Col. Jeakes, 4th and 37th
Jliddlescx. 2ad Battalion— Major Vernon, 28th Middlesex, and 4th Bucks. 3rd
Battalion — Lieut.-Col. Lord Enfield, 29th Middlesex. 4th Battalion — Lieut.-
Col. Lord Bury, 21st, 30th, 38th, 42nd, 43rd, and 44th Middlesex.
Third Brigade. — Lieut.-Col. Viscount Eanelagh, commanding ; Capt.
Templar, Dorset R.V.C., Aide-de-Camp; Brevet- JLijor Deedes, 60th Foot
Major of Brigade. 1st Battalion — Major Atherly, South Middlesex. 2nd
Battalion— Lieut.-Col. Somerset, 40th Middlesex. 3rd Battalion— Sir John
Shelley, 46th ]\Iiddlesex, 2nd City of Loudon, and 4th City of London. 4th
Battalion— Lieut.-Col. Bigge, 20ih Middlesex.
Fourth Buig.vde. — Brigadier-General Haines, C.B., commanding; Lieut.
Arbuthnot, 10th Hussars, Aide-de-Canip ; Capt. Wovell, 41st Foot, Major of
Brigade. 1st Battalion — Mujor Beresford, 2nd, 7th, and 12th Surrey. 2nd
Battalion— Capt. Trueman, Acting Major. 10th, 19th, 21st, and 23rd Surrey.
3rd Battalion — Major Farnell, 1st Administrative Battalion of Kent. 4th
Battalion — Major Sir H. Flctchei', oth, 13th, and 14th Suirev, and 2nd
Admiuistrative Battalion of Surrey.
FiiTu Brigade. — Jlajor-Geneial Taylor, commanding; Capt. Pemberton,
Scots Fusilier Guards, Aide-de-Camp ; Major the Hon. W. J. Colvillc, Eitle
Brigade, Major of Brigade. 1st Battalion — Lieut-Col. Capper, 5th and 9th
Essex. 2nd Battalion — Lieut.-Col. Buxton, 1st Administrative Battalion of
Tower Hamlets. 3rd Battalion — Lieut.-Col. Money, 4t]i and 6th Tower Hamlets,
4th Battalion— Lieut.-Col. Walker, 2nd, 8th, 9th, and 12th Tower Hamlets.
Second Ditisiox. — Major-General Hon. A. Dalzell, commanding; Staff:
Colonel Taylor, C.B., Colonel Walker, C.B., and Capt. Carleton, 21st Foot.
First Brigade. — Lieut.-Col. Lord Radstock, commanding; Lieut. Peake,
Aide-dc-Camp ; Major Gooch, unattached, Major of Brigade. 1st Battalion —
Lieut.-Col. Wilkinson, 2nd Administrative Battalion, Jliddlesex. 2nd Battalion
—Lieut.-Col. Bathurst, I9th Middlesex. 3rd Battalion— Lieut.-Col. Colvill,
39th Middlesex and 26th Kent. 4th Battalion— Capt. Fcnton, 9th Middlesex.
Second Brig.vde. — Brigadier-General Brown, commanding ; Lieut. Savery,
78th Foot, Aide-de-Carap ; Capt. Morgan, ooth Foot, Major of Brigade. 1st
u 2
292 HISTORY OF BKTGHTHELMSTOX.
Battalion — Lieut.-Col. Grimstou, 1st, 2nd, and 16th Hants. 2nd Battalion — ■
Lieut.-Col. Conran, 3rd Administrative Battalion, Hants. 3rd Battalion — Lieut.-
Col. Dunsmore, 1st Administrative Battalion, Isle of "Wight. 4th Battalion—
Lieut.-Col. Valiancy, 2nd Administrative Battalion, Hants.
Third Brigade. — Lient.-Col. Moorsom, commanding ; Lieut. IMoorsoin,
Royal Artillery, Aide-de-Camp ; Capt. Penton, 3rd Middlesex Militia, Major of
Brigade. 1st Battalion — Acting-Major Meek, 3rd Sussex Administrative
Battalion. 2nd Battalion— Sir Percy Burrell, Bart., M.P., 1st Sussex Ad-
ministrative Battalion. 3rd Battalion — Licut.-Col. Gage, 1st Cinque Ports
Administrative Battalion and 17th Kent. 4th Battalion — Lieut.-Col. Barttelot,
2nd Sussex Administrative Battalion.
Fourth Brig.ide. — Brigadier- Gen oral Garvock, commanding ; Hon. Cap^.
Chetwynd, Aide-de-Camp ; Capt. Jones, 20th Foot, Major of Brigade. 1st
Battalion — Lieut.-Col. Lord Elcho, 1.5th Middlesex. 2nd Battalion — Lieut.-Col.
Brewster, 23rd Middlesex. 3rd Battalion — Major Richards, 3rd City of London
and 32nd Middlesex. 4th Battalion — Lieut.-Col. Lord Grosvenor, 22ud Middle-
sex, 1st Battalion. 5th Battalion — Lieut.-Col. Lord Gerald Fitzgerald. 22ad
Middlesex, 2nd Battalion.
Upon tlie arrival of the various corps, they were marched to
their several places of rendezvous, on the Level, St. Peter's Church
and IS'orth Steine Enclosures, the Pavilion Grounds, and the Steine,
■where they partook of refreshments. At 11 o'clock the " assembly "
■was sounded, and very soon after the -whole of the corps were on
their march to the Eace Hill, by way of the Marine Parade and
Elm Grove, the Divisions meeting again in White Hawk YaUey,
■whence they paraded down the Course and passed in Eeview
opposite the Grand Stand, before Lord Clyde, the Earl of Chichester
— Lord Lieutenant of the County, — and Lord Cardigan, passing out
at the south end of the Course, and then descending to their original
position in the Valley. The field evolutions took place principally
on A^Tiite Hawk Down, and were eminently successful, and the
whole of the arrangements of the day, civil and military, were a
practical demonstration of the facility with which troops might be
moved towards a threatened point on the particular railway which
would be most likely to be required for such a duty in an actual
case of emergency. On the morning of the Eeview, 6,922
Yolunteers were despatched from London Bridge in two hours
and 41 minutes, and 5,170 from the Victoria Station in two hours
and 20 minutes, without difficulty. They were conveyed in 16
trains, each composed of an engine and tender and 22 vehicles, and
each carrying on an average 20 officers and 735 men ; and they
ox AXD ABOUT THE EACE-COURSE. 29^
reached Brighton in an average of 2 hours and 28 minutes from the
time of starting. The Brighton Company borrowed on tliis occasion
72 carriages from thi-ee neighbouring companies, and 79 carriages
also brought Yohmtcers over their railway, from other lines; but
they had to pro\ade for their ordinarj- passenger-traffic on that day,
as well as for the Easter Monday traffic to the Crystal Palace, which
was very considerable, and to convey upwards of 2,000 Volunteers
along the south coast from the several stations on their own line.
Indeed, the total number of passengers who travelled upon the
London, Brighton, and South-Coast Railway on that day was
132,202, including Volunteers and the liolders of season and return
tickets.
As a proof that the Queen takes a deep interest in the
Volunteer moveraent. Her Majesty, several times during the day,
telegraphed to be informed of every special incident in connexion
with the military evolutions. Happily no accident happened to mar
the general proceedings ; but, to meet any casualty that might have
arisen. Brigade Surgeon Burrows of the First Sussex Volunteer
Artillery, issued a notice that every convenience for * temporary
hospital purposes was provided in a tent to the west of the Race
Stand, in a tent at the south of the battle-field, and at tlie Industrial
Schools.
The Industrial Schools are built upon what is known as the
Warren Farm, which occupies an area of ten acres of arable land
immediately north-east of the Race Course, and was purchased for
£2,000. The project of erecting these Schools for the purpose of
training poor children to habits of industry and relieving them of
the ban of pauperism, was first entertained by the Board of Guardians,
in 1853, but no steps were taken to carry it out till it received the
sanction of the Vestry in 1856 ; and even then, from time to time,
numerous impediments arose, in the selection of plans and in borrow-
ing the requisite money of Government, so that the first stone of the
building was not laid till the 26th of March, 1859, the plans
selected being those of Mr. Geoi'ge Maynard, the Parish Surveyor.
Mr. John Fabian, of Brighton, was the builder, at a contract price
of £8,223, the sum of £5,269 having pre%aously been expended in
forming roads, and necessary incidental work. On the 1st of
294 * HISTOEY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
December, 1859, Mr. Fabian, as stipulated, completecT his task, and
delivered over the building to the Board of Guardians. Sub-
sequently, Mr. Pabian erected the farm buildings at the cost of
£1,514 16s, and Messrs. Patching and Son erected the boundary-
wall for £560.
An establishment to consist of more than 300 persons would of
necessity require a good supply of one of the chief elements of
existence, water ; it therefore became a question vf ith the Guardians
how that supply was to be obtained, whether by sinking a y/ell, and
thus have their own source of the clement, or by having pipes laid
on from the Brighton Water Works. The Guardians decided upon
the former course, as, having it in contemplation to erect a new
"Workhouse on a seven acre piece of land, which they had pur-
chased for that purpose, between the Reservoir and the Race Hill,
their own well would supply both establishments, — hence was pro-
jected the Warren Farm Well, the fame of which has spread to all
parts of the civilized world.
This celebrated well was commenced on the 25th of Ma^'ch,
1858 ; but at the depth of 418 feet 3 inches, Avhere a heading was
driven laterally, a contraet which had been entered into with Mr.
North was abandoned, and the Board, after a consultation, determined
to proceed with the Avork themselves, and commenced by driving
another heading opposite the former, at a depth of 421 feet 9 inches,
and from this a second perpendicular shaft, four feet in diametei',
was dug, the superintendence of the labour being entrusted to Mr.
Isaac Huggett, who persevered unremittingly with the work, and
eventually, after surmounting innumerable difficulties, found on
Sunday, the 16th March, 1862, at a depth of 1,285 feet, so
abundant a supply of excellent water, that in a few days there
were more than 200,000 gallons of that pure beverage in the well.
To celebrate the success of the undertakiug, Mr. Henry Catt, a
Guardian, entertained the whole of the members of the Board, with
the Vicar, and their Officers, and likewise Mr. Huggett and his men,
at a dinner at the Town Hall, 120 guests sitting down to the repast
under the presidency of the delighted liberal donor, Mr. Church-
warden Marchant and Mr. Alderman Brigden occupying the vice-
chairs. Aa a memento, also, of the happy event, Mr. Catt had
PAST AND PEESENX B^STniEfl. 295
silver medals struck by Mr. Xorris, jeweller, West Street, one of
which was given to each man who had worked in the Well. The
medals bore the inscription : "By the blessing of God, on hard
work, patience, and perseverance," and " Warren Farm Well
Brighton. Water found, March 16th, 1862." The medal presented
to Mr. Huggett was of gold.
Immediately consequent upon finding water for the establish-
ment, was the completion of the farnishiug of the buildin",
and obtaining the requisite staff of officers ; and ou Thursday,
August 14th, 1862, the Institution being ready for occupation, the
juvenile portion of the inmates of the Workhouse, 77 boys and 65
girls, were removed thither under the care of the Industrial Schools'
Committee, many other of the Guardians and their friends taking
part in the procession, which was headed by the Industrial School
band. Mr. and Mrs. Sattin, the Governor and Matron of the
Workhouse, also accompanied them to deliver over their youthful
charge to Mr. and Mrs. Hales, the Superintendents of the Schools.
The occupation of the Industrial Schools is at present the last
public feature of the Eace Hill and adjacent Downs.
Chapter XXVIII.
PAST A^^D PEESEj^T PASTIMES.
Fickleness in the habits of civilized nations is in no manner
more clearly exemplified than in the pastimes of the people ; for
although jnany sports are characterised as national, and are of great
antiquity, modernization has greatly destroyed their originality,
and refinement has detracted from the natural enjoyment of them.
Even in the rural districts of England, Harvest Home possesses but
little of the rustic homeliness and jollity of yore, and the happy
season of Christmas lacks the " Squires of Old," and the festivities
and the freely dispensed bounties of the Baronial Halls. In towns,
especially those which come under the denomination fashionable.
296
HISTORY OT BMGHTHElMSTOJf.
there is a constant revolution in the " rounds of amusements."
Brighton has heen particularly prominent in this respect, a vast
variety having run its course during the past century.
Without doubt the Toy Fair, now in a wretched state of deca-
dence, was the earliest people's festival. It was formerly held on
the Cliff, between Ship Street and Black-Lion Street ; but the town
increasing and the Eair assuming a corresponding magnitude. Belle
Vue field, whereon now stands Begency Square, was its location.
From thence it was translated to the Level, where, on the 4th of
September, 1807, a Sheep Fair was first held, notification of the
same having been in the Brighton Herald, and in the WeeUy Jour-
nal, published at Lewes, as follows : —
The rapid strides wliich agriculture lias made within the last ten years, in
this country, and the extreme utility which has been the result of its present
scientific mode of practice, has commanded the attention and admiration not only
of all England, Lut of all civilised Europe. To those who are interested in the
purchase of any particular breed of stock, it must be of extreme im-
portance that their stock be genuine and uncontaminated.
To fix. therefore, a spot where a pure unmixed breed shall always be pro-
duced, and where the purchaser (who perhaps comes from a distance) shall be
sure of unadulterated stock, appears to be a great desideratum. In no instance is
it more so than in that useful and highly productive animal, the South Down
Sheep. Those who possess this breed, true and genuine, liave had much reason
to lament that at fairs, where a great variety of sheep are brought to market,
many are sold for South Down Sheep which have no pretensions to be so called ;
and which afterwards not answering the purpose of the buyers, bring unmerited
disgrace (5n such as are really genuine. "We, therefore, the undersigned breeders
of true South Down Sheep, have come to a resolution to establish a Fair, to be
bolden on Brighton Level, the 4th of September, 1807. And we pledge ourselves
to bring to it genuine South Down Tups, Stock Ewes, Ewe Lambs, and Wether
Lambs; and moreover we will not, knowingly, either ourselves introduce, or
Buffer to be introduced to this Fair any but what shall be of the gemiine and true
South Down breed :
Alexander, W.
Blaker, N.
Beard, T.
Ball, J.
Boys, J.
Bine, —
Botting, J.
Beard, N.
Blaker, G.
Chatfield, J.
Croskey, S.
Dyer, R. L.
Elmes, "W.
Fuller, H.
Falconer, "W.
Gorring, "NV.
Geer, T.
Hard wick, J.
Hodson, "W.
Eodson, T.
PAST A\D PRESENT PASTniES. 29 ^
Hamshar, J,
Hanishar, E.
Hall, X.
Hart, E.
Hodson, A. W.
Hurley, E.
Ingram, J.
Lidbetter, T.
Murrell, W.
Marcliant, J.
Xoakes, W.
Newuham, —
Pilfold, J.
Poole, T.
Page, W.
Stanford, W,
Sorase, "W".
Scrase. T.
Yallance J.
Ycrrall, E.
Wood, J.
About 20,000 prime South Down sheep of all denominations
found a ready sale, buyers being plentiful. That year, on the same
day, the general Fair vras held on the Marlborough Steine, the
southernmost of the present North' Steine Enclosures, where ginger-
bread stalls, whirligigs, and roundabouts were iu abundance. The
next year the Sheep Fair was equally well attended ; but notwith-
standing the most strenuous exertions of its promoters, it had but
an existence of four years. A Cattle Market was established on a
piece of the Parish Ground on the Church Hill, adjoining the "W^'est
Hill Estate, in 1831. Like the Sheep Fair, however, it had but a
few years' duration, thei'e being no meadows near for the
accommodation of stock. The Corn Market, by sample, is held
every Thursday, at the King and Queen Inn, iu a spacious and
commodious room. From the Level, where Gully and Cribb,
on the 11th of August, 1807, in the presence of the Prince of
Wales and his Eoyal Brothers, had a sparring match, the town
authorities eventually ejected the Spring and Autumn pleasure
Fair, which has since sought refuge upon any available spot con-
tiguous. A few years more and it will be amongst the things
of the past.
The Level has at various periods been the arena for the
festivals in celebration of important national events, as on the 19th
July, 1821, upon the occasion of the coronation of George TV.,
when two bullocks were roasted whole, and distributed hot, and
four, previously dressed, were served out, the expenses being
defrayed by a public subscription. The roasting of the two
bollocks commenced on the preceding night, when partial fii-es
298 HISTOEY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
were kindled to heat the carcasses tliroixgli the thickest part. But
about five o'clock in the morning the real roasting commenced.
The grates were then piled high with blazing fuel, and a savoury-
vapour spread through the atmosphere. About six, one of the spits,
a stout scaffold pole, gave way under its ponderous weight, but at
the expense only of an additional spar, and a score or so of blistered
fingers.
The work of carving commenced shortly after two o'clock,
when Mr. Thomas Palmer, the King's cutler, in a Avaggon con-
verted into a suitable platform for such a display, decorated with
devices and waving streamers, and containing several hogsheads of
ale, presented to Mr. John Vallance, the Chairman of the Managing
Committee, a carving knife and fork, and a corkscrew, all of ex-
tensive dimensions, with the request that the coronation beef might
be carved with the former, and the bungs extracted from the casks
by the latter, and that they might be furthermore preserved by the
local authorities, for use on similar occasions. The work of carving
occupied about an hour, during which time many thousands of per-
sons partook of the hot and the cold.
At this period there lived in a hut of very rude construction,
consisting of but one room, on the southern incline of Eound Hill,
Corporal Staines, an old marine who served under IN'elson at the
siege of Copenhagen. He was very crippled, and obtained his
living by exhibiting his miniature fortifications, constructed by him-
self of chalk, the soldiers and cannons which surmounted the
battlements being likewise formed of chalk ; as was also a very
rude model of the gallant ship, the Victory, bearing, under a black
canopy, a coffin containing the body of the Hero of Trafalgar. Upon
great national anniversaries and festivities it was his custom to fire
Eoyal salutes from four pistol barrels which he had formed as a battery,
and every day he was accustomed to fire the sun-set gun. While the
feast was being made off' the roasted oxen, the old corporal fired a
Eoyal salute, for which he was rewarded with a good substantial
dinner and a compliment of m.oney, besides presents which were
made him by the holiday folk. Corporal Staines first took up his
abode at Brighton in a cavern hewn in the Church Hill chalk-pit,
the site— filled np,— of the east end of Upper North Street.
PAST AND rilESENT TASTIMES. 299
Agreeing with liis residence in tlic clialk-pit is the following entry
in the Yestry book : —
October 2nd, 1809.— That Corporal Staines be allowed a Waiiket and a
great coat during the winter.
Staines removed from the chalk pit to a hut constructed by
himself, immediately east of the Manor Pound, then at the back of
the Parish Church, on the spot now occupied by the entrance of the
northern Burial Gi'ound, contiguous to which were the Parish Stocks,
that were afterwards removed to the Market Place, in the Bartholo-
mews. Upon the re-building of the Market, the Stocks were placed
against its southern wall at the back of the Thatched House Inn,
where, after remaining a few years as a relic of a barbarous age,
they Avent to decay. In 1824, the Pound was removed to the
north-west corner of the Workhouse grounds, on the Dyke Eoad.
In course of time, however, it became obsolete for the impounding
of cattle, and in 1853 it was purchased by the parish of the Lord
of the Manor, for £100. For some years after his removal from
Church Hill, the old marine took up his abode in the east bank of
the pond at the junction of the old Shoreham and Ditchling lloads,
on Rose Hill ; but when the ground adjacent was enclosed by Mr.
Colbatch, he translated himself to just without its eastern boundary
wall, on the incline of the hill which commands an uninterrupted
view of the Level and the Steine in general. He ended his days
in Brighton Workhouse.
The earliest town record of the Proclamation of a Sovereign
is a minute of Vestry, date, March 19 th, 1701, which runs thus : —
Israel Paine, Constable, being aceompanycd with the chief Inhabitants of
the town (after open proclamation made by the Cryer) did in the njercat place
about Eleven of the clock in tlio forenoon, solemnly proclaim our Gratious
Sovereign Lady Queen Anxe, Queen off England, Scotland, Fi-ance, and Ireland ;
upon which there followed great shoutings and acclamations of all the people.
Saying, God Save Queex Anne.
The coronation of rter present Majesty was celebrated on the
Level, June 28th, 1838, in a similar manner to that of George IV.
The last occasion of public rejoicing there was to commemorate the
Peace with Russia iu 18.55. The great Peace Festival, consequent
upon the overthrow of the sovereignty of iS'apoleon Bonaparte, on
his retiring to Elba, took place on the 12th of August, 1814, on the
300 HISTOKY OP BBIGHTHEL3IST0X.
Prince Eegent's Cricket Ground, wliicli occupied tlie exti'eme north
of the Level, immediately in front of the Peii-cy Alms Houses, Lewes
Eoad. The animated scene which the Cricket Ground presented on
the memorable occasion yyas, in the highest degree, interest-
ing. Seventy-five double rows of tables were formed, each in an
oblong square, open at the bottom only, and each adapted for the
accommodation of one hundred and twentj^-two persons. These were
furnished in a plentiful manner, with true old English fare of roast
beef and plum puddings, garnished with a suitable number of hogs-
heads of ale and brown stout, at convenient distances, giving an air
of hospitable importance to the whole. At each table a president
was appointed, with six assistants, under the denomination of
stewards; the former wearing white sashes, with the inscription,
" Brighton Festival," and the latter purple and white favours,
bearing the number of the table at which they were to officiate,
affixed at the left breast. Flags of blue silk, lettered in gold,
" Peace," " WeUington," " Blucher," &c., waved at the head
of the various tables, where were seated upwards of 7,000 persons.
At two o'clock a bugle sounded from No. 1 table, at which
presided the Eev. J. Carr ("Vicar), who rose and pronounced the
following benediction : —
0 Thou wlio art the great God of Nations, Thou hast filled our hearts with
joy by the restoration of Peace and the prospect of Plenty : we meet under the
canopy of Heaven as members of Thy family. May this Festival be crowned
^vith Thy blessing, and may our lives express the gratitude which Thy goodness
iuspii-es, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord, jimen.
This was repeated by Mr. Eobert Ackerson (High Constable)
at the lower table, and by the Presidents of tlie other tables
S3verally, and then tlie busy scene of feasting commenced in the
presence of some thousands of spectators, who, in carriages,
waggons, carts, and caravans, took up their positions just without
the boundary rails.
The sound of the second bugle having announced the dinner
at an end, the Yicar rose and thus returned thanks : —
Merciful Father, our grateful hearts acknowledge Thy goodness ; may
Charity ever assist the poor, and the poor confess their infinite obligations unto
Thee, as the Bountiful Giver of all their blessings, through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen,
PAST AND rSESENT rASTIlIKS. 301
The following toasts and airs then succeeded, the Band of the
3rd Buffs being in attendance and adding to the pleasures of
the fete : —
Our Good Old King.—" God Save the King."
The Prince Regent.—" Rule Britannia."
The Queen and Ro3'al Family. — '■ The Brunswick Jlarch."
The Duke ofWellington. — "See the Conquering Hero comes."
The Allied Sovereigns. — " The March to Paris."
Louis XVIII.—" Henri Quatre."
May Peace produce Plenty and Plenty Gratitude. — " Speed the Plough."
Prosperity and Uaauimity to the Town of Brighton. — "Tight little Island."
The after part of the day was devoted to dancing, blind-man's-
buff, jingling matches, foot-racing, stool-ball, kiss-in-the-ring, jump-
ing in sacks, &c. ; and the happy throng concluded the day by
joining hands and forming long chains of human beings, and thus
in high glee they " threaded the tailor's needle " to Castle Square,
where, after singing " God Save the King," they, in the most
orderly manner, dispersed, and made for their several homes.
Cricket was a favourite pastime with the Prince of "Wales,
who was frequently engaged in the manly game with the noblemen
and gentlemen of his suite, on the Royal Ground, which had been
granted for his use bj^ Mr. Thomas Reed Kemp, the Lord of the
Manor. His Royal Highness, however, upon coming to the throne,
retired from cricket, and hence the Ground was given up. Mr.
Kemp then made the grant of a portion of it to the Town for the
recreation of the inhabitants, and the road to the north of the
Level was formed.
In 1822, an enterprising townsman, Mr. James Ireland, became
the purchaser of ten acres of the land immediately north of the road,
and in the following year, Ireland's Gardens and Cricket Ground
were opened to the public. The original entrance was at the south-
west comer, where was a neat lodge that conducted to the cricket
ground, and an excellent bowling green, with raised banks, and a
billiard room with colonnade and rustic seats in front. At the
lower or east end was the tavern department, the Hanover Arms
Inn, where, also, was an excellent fives' court. The Gardens were
approached either by crossing the Cricket Ground, or by a separate
road that skirted the property.
302 HISTOEY OF BEIGnxnELMSTOIf.
Mr. Ireland was the successor of Mr, Daniel Constable, vrho,
with his brother William as shopman, commenced May 29th, 1802,
the drapery business, now the well-known establishment of Messrs.
Hannington and Son, at ]N"o. 3, !N"orth Street. Mr. Ireland became
the purchaser of the business in 1806, and it passed from him to
the late Mr. Hannington, the successor also, at No. 4, of Mr. William
Diplock, who, in the summer of 1819, when Brighton churchyard
was despoiled of its dead, announced himself as sole agent for the
sale of patent metallic coffins, of the security of which he assured
the public, every person would be satisfied. Previous to the
formation of the Hanover Grounds, Mr. Ireland carried on the
business of woollen draper and undertaker at No. 10, North Street.
A noble and conspicuous building, comprising reading, refresh-
ment, and dressing rooms on the basement, and an elegant prome-
nade room, eighty feet by thirty feet, over them, formed the junction
of the Cricket Ground with the Gardens, just within the entrance of
which was the ladies' bowling green, surrounded by a beautiful
lawn and tea arbours. There were likewise, adjacent, an aviary
and a grotto. A Gothic tower and gateway approached by a bridge
that spanned a piece of water at the north end of the main central
avenue, was the entrance to a Maze, in the centre of which was a
Merlin swing. From the want of that support from the public
which was due to Mr. Ireland, for the spirit he evinced in so
zealously catering for their entertainment, the thousands which he
expended were entirely lost to him, and he retired from that which
ought to have been a benefit to the town and himself, a ruined man.
During the time that he held possession, a public declaration
was made by the town crier that a man would fly from the top of
the assembly room to the extreme north of the Grounds. All
Brighton was tickled by the announcement, and hours previous to
the time stated for the intended flight, throngs of people were
wending their yvaj northward, and taking up their position, where
they imagined they could obtain the best view of the sight. The
Round Hill was covered with one mass of human beings, whose
C5'es were concentrated upon a slight scaff'old that was erected on
the roof of the building. From the top of this structure a stout
cable was stretched to the foot of the bridge at the maze, affording
PAST AlfD PRESENT PASTIMES. 803
sufficient evidence that no hoax was intended. Expectation, there-
fore, was on tip-too; and after patience had undergone a long
endurance, a slightly-built man, in light fleshings, with Zephyr-
like wings, was seen to ascend the scaffold, causing an universal
clapping of hands, and the firing of the guns at Staines's mimic
fort. About a couple of minutes sufficed for the performer to make
the necessary adjustments for his flight, and then, amidst loud
huzzas, he, waving a flag in each hand, gracefully glided down,
head foremost, beneath the cable, along which revolved an arrange-
ment of wheels, to which he was attached longitudinally. Thoso
who had a gi'atis view of the exploit smiled, and contented them-
selves with the satisfaction that the sight had cost them nothing;
but those who went into the Gardens and paid, to see whatever
could be seen, felt sorely vexed, and some were so excited as to
attempt a castigation of the exhibitor. His friends, however,
quickly liberated him from his machinery, and he took a flight
through the maze that enabled him to elude his pursuers.
The " Flying Man " was Mr. "William Constable, who, on the
disposal by his brother of his business to Mr. Ireland, accompanied
Daniel to America, where they devoted themselves to scientific pur-
suits. His flying freak, on his return, was as well for a scientific
purpose as to benefit Mr. Ireland, and the principle has been since
applied in saving human life in cases of fire and shipwreck. In
1841 he introduced the art of photography, then called Daguerreo-
type, into Brighton, his " blue room " being a very attractive
feature on the Marine Parade, near Atlingworth Street. He died
on Sunday, December 22nd, 1861.
Other speculators from time to time, with but little better
success than Mr. Ireland, tried their luck upon the estate. Year
by year showed the gradual decay which neglect engenders ; the
buildings became dilapidated and unsafe for occupation, the flower-
beds were transformed into a Avilderness of weeds ; and at length,
after having been made even tlie asylum for wild beasts, and the
arena for the dissoluteness of pleasure fairs, the Gardens, that
might have continued one of the chief prides of Brighton, and
the Cricket Ground — the fame of which is perpetuated by Mason's
celebrated print of the renowned players of Sussex and Kent, and
304 HISTOKY OP BRTGHTHELMSTON.
their supporters, — tlie envy, as it was, of other cricketing counties,
■were sacrificed to the spirit of building, from the want of foresight
in the inhabitants, who now universally admit that both should
have been preserved to the town, as they Avere an establishment for
the people's amusement and recreation, with which nothing of the
kind in the county could compete. The present, the Royal Bruns-
wick Cricket Ground, kept by the veteran Box, is capacious and
well-formed ; but it lacks the picturesqueness, and the spectators
have not the shelter from wind and rain, and the shade from the
trees which gave so vast a superiority to the Hanover Ground^
Previous to the formation of Ireland's Gardens, some tea-gardens
were in existence on the Marine Parade, about the locality now
occupied by Eaton Place. They were merely a summer retreat
for a cup of tea during an afternoon stroll, and a place of call in
winter for a glass of hot elderberry wine.
In the "good old times" the people's entertainments differed
much from the sports of the present race, as the following copy of
a handbill will show : —
COCKING.
To be fought at the Cock Pit,
WHITE LION,
North Street, Brighton,
ON
THUESDAY,
The 18th April, 1811,
A Main of Cocks for Twenty Guineas
a Battle, and Fifty Guineas the Main;
between the Gentlemen of the Isle of
Wight and the Gentlemen of Sussex.
Feeders f Poljard, Isle of Wight,
( Holden, Sussex.
N.B.— A pair of Cocks to be on the Pit at
Eleven o'clock.
[RuDDTJCK, Printer, Brighton Place, Brighton.
On Easter Monday, April 23rd, 1810, the holiday folks, in all
their Sunday finery, assembled in great numbers, as was their
custom, at the Bear public house, Lewes road, on the ground con-
tiguous to which they were entertained with the polished diversions
of cock fighting and the baiting of a badger. On the following
day, Easter Tuesday, according to annual custom, a buli-bait came
PART AND PRESEXT PASTIMES. 305
off at Hove ; when, during the proceedings, the bull unexpectedly-
broke from the stake, and in an instant charged upon and routed the
compact phalanx of gazers, happily without inflicting material
injury on any one. The incident caused a postponement of the bait
till June 11 th. The hand-bill announced :
A BULL BAIT AT HOVE,
ox
MONDAY,
June 11th, 1810.
A Dinner will be provided, and on Table at
Two o'clock.
The dinner took place at the Ship Inn, Hove, in the field
belonging to which, — that whereon the Coast Guard Station is
erected, at the bottom of Hove Street, — the baiting took place.
The vicinity of Brighton is admirably adapted for Hunting, a
sport which received considerable impetus from the Prince of Wales
having an excellent pack of harriers kennelled at the Prince's
Dairy, a suburban retreat on the London Road, which His Royal
Highness purchased of Mr. William Stanford, in October, 1805.
In October, 1821, some of the dogs exhibited symptoms of
hydrophobia ; the whole pack was in consequence destroyed by-
poison, and the carcasses were conveyed away in a waggon and
buried in a pit, purposely dug to receive them, in the south part of
Streeter's garden, just within the gateway, to the right of the
church path, opposite North Street Brewery. The Duke of
Richmond at that period hunted his fox hounds in the neighbourhood
of Brighton, Tlie present packs are supported by subscription, and
consist of the Southdown Fox Hounds, and the Brighton and
the Brookside Harriers.
About forty years since "hobby horse " exercise was a very
favourite diversion with the gentry. These "hobbies" were the original
velocipedes, now worked by a crank action ; but they then consisted
only of a fore and a hind wheel, with a slight saddle rail between,
upon which the rider sat, holding on by a handle that guided the
front wheel, and then, by striking out his feet with a walking
action, the machine became propelled, its speed being i-egulatcd by
the ability of the horseman. Much practice and great judgment
V
806 HISTORY OP BKIGHTHELMSTON.
were required to make a proficient rider. Many extraordinary
feats of pedestrianism were performed with these machines ; but the
most arduoiis were the competing with the stage coaches to and from
London. The earliest account we have of stage coaches at Brighton
is in 1798, when the Princess of Wales pair-horse or post-coach was
put on the road to London by way of Steyning and Horsham, the
same route by which the eight-horse fly-waggons had previously
travelled. Pack-horses were the only mode of performing the jour-
ney prior to the fly-waggons, and the lanes and bye-ways then
being very narrow, recesses in the hedge-rows were made in certain
places to permit of the laden animals standing aside that they might
be passed, as their packs, which extended considerably on each
side of the animals, would otherwise, frequently come in unpleasant
contact with the fair sex, who on pillions occupied similar positions
to merchandize when on horseback. In 1801, two pair-horse coaches
ran between London and Brighton on alternate days, one up, the
other down, and they were driven by Messrs. Crossweller and Hine.
The progress of these coaches was amusing. The one from London
left the Blossoms Inn, Lawrence Lane, at 7 a.m. ; the passengers
breaking their fast at the Cock, Sutton, at 9. The next stoppage
for the pui'pose of refreshment was at the Tangier — Banstead
Downs, — a rural little spot, famous for its elderberry wine, which
used to be brought from the cottage "roking hot," and, on a cold
wintry morning, few refused to partake of it. George the Fourth
invariably stopped here and took a glass from the hand of Miss Jeal,
as he sat in his carriage. The important business of luncheon took
place at Reigate, where sufficient time was allowed the passengers to
view the Barons' Cave, where it is said the Barons assembled the night
previous to their meeting King John at Runnymeade. The grand
halt, for dinner, was made at Staplefield Common, celebrated for its
famous black cherry trees, under the branches of which, when the
fruit was ripe, the coaches were allowed to draw up and the
passengers to partake of its tempting produce. The hostess of the
hostelry here was famed for her rabbit puddings, which, hot, were
always waiting the arrival of the coach, and to which the travel-
lers never failed to do such ample justice that ordinarily they found
it quite impossible to leaveat the hour appointed ; so grogs, pipes
1
PAST AND PEESENT PASTHEES. 703
and ale were ordered in, and, to use the language of the fraternity,
"not a wheel wagged " for two hours. Handcross was the next
resting place, celebrated for its " neat " liquors, the landlord of the
inn standing bottle-in-hand at the door. He and several other
Bonifaces, at Friar's Oak, &c., had the reputation of being on
pretty good terms with the smugglers who carried on their operations
with such audacity along the Sussex Coast. After walking up
Clayton Hill a cuj) of tea was sometimes found to be necessary at
Patcham ; after which Brighton was safely reached at 7 p.m. It
must be understood that it was the custom for the passengers to
walk up all the hills, and even sometimes, in heavy weather, give a
push behind to assist the jaded horses.
About 1809, a great revolution took place in coach travelling.
Some gentlemen, — at the head of whom was the late Mr. "William
Bradford, or, as he was then styled, "Miller" Bradford, — 12 in
number, formed a capital by shares of £100 each, and established
two four-horae coaches. The cattle were cast-horses of the Innis-
killing Dragoons, then stationed at Brighton. In 1815, another
vehicle of the same class, the "Bellerophon," a huge concern,
built with two compartments, one can-ying six, the other four
inside, and with several out, was driven by Mr. Hine. This coach
received its name from the ship in which Bonaparte, after his
defeat at Waterloo, was conveyed to exile at St. Helena. The
" Bellerophon " was soon found to be too heavy for the improving
speed, and was abandoned for lighter vehicles, until traveUing
attained its perfection on the Brighton road, the time taken in
the transit having diminished from twelve hours to five, and on
one occasion the "Quicksilver," with a "Kings speech" of
"VYilliam IT., made the journey down in three houi's and forty
minutes! From the year 1822, at different periods of the year,
not less than sixty coaches were on the road, — thirty each way.
On a moderate calculation, Hine must have brought into
the town more than one hundred thousand persons, and that with-
out an accident ; a circumstance which, in its day, was as beneficial
to Brigliton as is now the proverbially high character for safety,
convenience, and civility of the London and Brighton Railway.
Amongst the celebrities of the day whom Hine was accustomed to
T 2
308 HISTOllT OF BETGHTHELMSTON.
bring down, were Mathews, in his " prime and hang-up," who
used invariably to borrow the huge box-coat of seven capes;
Munden ; Lieutenant or Jack Bannister ; Quick, another famous
actor; "Squire" Thornton, of Clapham ; Eev. EowhmdHill; and
many noblemen of the Court of George IV. Most of these men
are, of course, like Hine himself, "dead and past away." Some
few passengers, however, who have travelled by the " Union " and
"Alert," and who have "booked " in East Street by Miss Hine, —
the honest old coachman's daughter and sister of Mr. H. G-. Hine, the
artist whose works adorn much of the illustrated literature of the
present day, — stQl' survive ; others must have had the name made
familiar to them by hearing their fathers and grandfathers talking of
the famous coaches and coachmen of Brighton.
In the height of Brighton coaching times. Castle Square upon
the departure and arrival of the coaches, — but more especially at
noon, when from the "Blue," the "Eed." "Snow's," and the
" Age" offices, the " crack " whips, the elite of passengers, and the
best "blood" on the road, started at the striking of the Pavilion
clock, — was thronged with company to witness a most animating
and animated scene. Of coaching nothing now remains at Brighton
but the parcels' booking office of the Railway Company, originally
the " Red" and subsequently the " Blue " coach office.
By a singular inadvertence the word " Company " was omitted
in the original Act of the Brighton Railway, so that the Directors of
it were of the London and Brighton Railway, and not Railway
Company. The amalgamation of the Eastern and "Western branches,
under more recent Acts, has constituted the whole scheme in
connexion with the main line, the London, Brighton, and South-Coast
Railway Company.
As early as 1825 the construction of a railway between
Brighton and London was contemplated ; but it was not till 1835
that the subject was entertained with earnestness. Five schemes
were then propounded, known by the names of the different
engineers who projected them, namely : Stephenson's, Rennie's,
Gibbs's, and Cundy's ; and the South-Eastern. The first scheme was
most favourably received,; and in September of that year, at a
public meeting of the inhabitants of Brighton, a resolution was
PAST AND PHESENT PASTIMES. 309
passed requesting the Borough Members to support its adoption in
Parliament. Upon reconsideration, the inhabitants were impressed
with the idea that they had bocn too precipitate ; as the Terminus
of Stephenson's line, being immediately to the west of Brighton,
would only favour that special district, instead of being beneficial
to the town in general ; they therefore reversed their decision in
favour of Eennie's, or the Direct Line. The public mind being
thus fickle, the other competitors anticipating that there was j^et a
chance for them, pressed forward their suit, resulting in a severe
contest, which gave promise of a great expenditure of money, with
no line at all ; as, protracted by the accumulation of oppositions, the
Session of Parliament for 1837, was about to terminate without its
sanction to either project. The interposition of Government deter-
mined the business ; a military engineer, Captain Alderton, was
deputed to investigate and report upon the merits of the several
lines, and his conclusion was, " That the Direct Line is the best
line between Loudon and Brighton." That line, then, was accord-
ingly adopted, and on the 8th July, 1837, the Bill for its con-
struction received the Royal assent, with this clause attached,
" That the total capital of £1,800,000 be raised by the subscribers
to the several lines in the following proportions : — The Direct
line — llennie's, — £550,000; Stephenson's, £550,000; Cundy's,
£100,000 ; South-Eastern, £330,000 ; and Gibbs's, £70,000."
The various contracts for the formation of the line were soon
entered into, and on the 4th of February, 1839, Mr. Alfred
Morris laid the first permanent rail of the line, at Hassock's Gate,
Mr. Samuel Thornton being the contractor, and Mr. T. H. Stutham
the resident engineer.
On the 11th of May, 1840, the first six miles of the western
branch, to Shoreham, was opened ; on the 25th of March, 1841,
the main-line from London to Hayward's Heath, within fifteen
miles of Brighton, was opened ; and on Tuesday, September 21st,
1841, the whole of the line of railway from Brighton to London,
was opened with some little ceremony and great rejoicing, the first
trip — from Brighton to London — being performed in tAvo hours
and a quarter ; leaving Brighton at 6.45 and arriving at London
Bridge Terminus about 9. From time to time other additions,
310 HISTOET OF BEIGHTHELMSTOW.
as branches from the main trunk, have been added, affording
facilities for travelling to most parts of the kingdom south of the
metropolis.
The handsome building of Italian style, which constitutes the
Brighton Terminus, is the design of Mr. Mocatta ; and the original
sheds attached to the Terminus were designed by Mr. Rastrick,
whose remains, under a massive granite monument, are deposited in
the Extra-Mural Cemetery, Lewes Road. The Railway is con-
sidered a passenger and pleasure line, and, during the Summer
season, excursion trains make important items in the traffic returns,
as the line is in the direct route from London to Paris, via Kew-
haven and Dieppe, and at the various stations throughout the line
villa residences are the retreats of the families of the London mer-
chants who diurnally travel to and from their places of business.
Hobby Horse racing round the Level formed an attraction to the
fashionable company that, daily, ouhorsebackandin good old-fashioned
andaristocatic hammerclothed coach-box and powder-bewigged coach-
men and footmened family carriages, thronged Morris's Eoyal Reposi-
tory : for that great toy-mart and favourite lounge really had regal
patronage, especially from William and Adelaide, who were fre-
quently extensive purchasers. His Majesty, upon one occasion,
when Duke of Clarence, was struck, while there, with the entrance
of three ladies in the garb of Quakers ; and as the two eldest were
looking over some articles of peculiar attraction, His Royal Highness
addressed himself to the youngest, who was about fourteen, and
said, " So, I see that thou art not above the vanities of this gay
world." The fair young Friend said nothing; but the matron,
under whose care she was, gave a look more expressive than words.
The Duke felt it; and immediately purchasing a handsome work-
basket, respectfully asked the eldest lady's permission to present it
to her daughter. The answer was mild, but laconic. " She will
receive it, and thank thee, friend." The basket was accordingly
taken, with the same courtesy as given ; and thus the matter ended.
During the prosperity of the Repository, which had a fame
for the bows and arrows which it supplied, archery was much in
vogue, the Archery Club having their rendezvous in the Queen's
Park, which is situate on the south-west acclivity of the Race Hill,
?AST ANB PBESENT PASTIMES. 311
and is approached by an entrance that abruptly terminates Park
Street, contiguous to the German Spa. This Park, which is
between sixty and seventy acres in extent, was formed in 1825, by
Mr. Tliomas Attrcc, whose Italian villa, designed by the late Sir
Charles Barry, crowns its northern summit
Various as have been the attractions offered for the entertain-
ment of visitors, the meed of their success and duration has pre-
ponderated in favour of those projected in the vicinity of the sea,
which is the main feature of attraction to Brighton, that commands
an uninternipted marine drive and promenade along its whole three
miles' frontage. The promenade was of small dimensions at its
commencement, and originated with the owners of property
between Cannon Place and Preston Street, Mr. Pocock, coal
merchant, at its east extreme, and Mr. Robison, of Regency
House, at the west end, — the promoters of the undertaking, —
superintending its consti'uction. Its position was in about the
middle of the present carriage-way, which from time to time has
been widened to accommodate the increased traffic. The original
seats upon the Esplanade — for so from its commencement has the
walk been called, — bore the names of the houses in front of which
they were erected ; but the Commissioners of the Town, in the
plenitude of their wisdom, perceiving the improvement which
would be effected by extending the walk, took the control of it into
their own hands ; and earth from the excavations made for the
erection of the Places, Squares, and Streets adjacent, being abun-
dant, in a very short space of time the promenade was continued to
the extreme point of the parish, much to the discomfiture of the
owners of boats and bathing machines, who were accustomed, for
safety, to haul up their property upon the "Wharf that stood, pro-
tected by a strongly-built brick wall to the south, immediately off
the bottom of Regency Square, whereon, when it was known as
Belle-Yue Field, stood a large capstan, that was used by means of a
small tunnel under the road — through which a hawser passed, — to
haul up vessels upon the Deals, ship-ways that were fixed there for
repairing moderately sized craft.
Xot unfrequent sights at this spot were severed capacious boats
of slight build, which had been captured from smugglers, who had
312 HISTOUT OF BKIGHTHELMSTON.
had the temerity to try a cargo there ; as forty years since, and
even more recently, contraband ventures were of very com-
mon occurrence. The last successful "run" in broad daylight
took place about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, July 19th, 1821, at
the bottom of Ship Street, while the Custom House Officers
were attracted to the Level to witness the Coronation sports.
The working party had assembled in the Old Ship Yard, and at a
signal given, by way of the Gap 300 kegs of Hollands were slung
and off before the few persons present, who remained in the town,
could comprehend the scene. Most of the cargo was, as usual,
conveyed inland, where the readiest means were offered for its con-
cealment and disposal. Captured smugglers were, at that period,
put on board the Hound revenue cutter. Captain Butler commander,
which was stationed off Brighton, and a smuggler chase by her was
frequently a very exciting scene from the shore. Men who em-
barked in the hazardous enterprise were frequently missing ; but
whether their lives were sacrificed or they had been captured and
shipped off in the Royal Navy, upon foreign service, a considerable
lapse of time and a combination of circumstances only determined.
One of the most desperate of a noted gang in the neighbourhood of
Brighton was David Scales, who, on the night of November Yth,
1796, while going, with many more, over the hill to Patcham,
heavily laden, was overtaken by excise officers and soldiers. The
smugglers fled in all directions ; a riding officer, as such persons
were called, gave chase to Scales, who was likewise on horseback,
and called upon him to surrender his booty, which he refused to do.
The officer knew that Scales was too good a man for him, they
having tried it before ; so he shot Daniel through the head.
A monument to his memory was erected in Patcham church-
yard, with the following inscription, now obliterated by time : —
Sacred to the Memory
of
DANIEL SCALES,
"Who was unfortunately shot, ou Tuesday evening,
Nov. 7, 1796.
Alas ! swift flew the fatal lead,
Which pierced through the young man's head
He instant fell, resigned his breath,
And closed his languid eyes in death.
PAST AND PRESENT PASTIMES. 313
All you who to this stone draw near,
Oh ! pray let fall the pitying tear :
From this sad instance may we all
Prepare to meet Jehovah's call.*
On the 24th of April, 1806, au encounter took place off
Brighton, between the revenue cutter, Leopard, and a smuggler,
"when Aldridge, the commander of the contraband vessel, was killed
in the action, and one of his crew, named Morris, was so desperately
wounded in the chest that he died a few days afterwards.
As a more immediate than a sidelong marine walk, the Chain
Pier was projected, agreeable to the annexed prospectus : —
The utility of a Pier at Brigliton, carried a sufficient distance beyond high-
water mark, so as to enable Steam Packets and boats to lay alonirside, and embark
or land their passengers, is univer.sally admitted ; and the proposition has excited
greater interest since the resolution has been formed of establishing a Steam
Packet Company to France, because it is reasonably anticipated that the two
concerns, although not intended to be incorporated, must be essentially beneficial
to each other.
In a national point of view it is certainly most desirable, that the intercourse
between the two countries should be facilitated and extended ; and there can be
no measure adopted which could more effectually promote this end and increase
the prosperity of this great and flourishing town, than the proposed Pier.
Wlien so many advantages are evidently comprehended, both to the indi-
viduals who may be concerned in the undertaking, and the public generally, it
becomes a subject of deeper solicitude, that there should be no fallacy in the
principle, no imperfection in the constitution, which would endanger its future
security, and frustrate the important object.
First, with regard to the durability of the materials, it should be observed,
that it is intended to construct the Pier, wholly of iron, with the exception of the
platform. The oxedale of cast Iron is so incorruptible that its effects can scarcely
be brought within the scope of calculation ; and wrought iron, with common
attention to cleaning and paintiug, may be considered as almost imperishable.
But even if the time should arrive (which must be exceedingly remote) to render
it necessary to renew it, every bar can be taken out and the whole replaced in
detail, without any interruption to tlie passage of the Pier, so that the capital
invested in the concern is not chargeable \nt\i more than corammon interest. The
planking of the gangway will require to be renewed perhaps once in ten or fifteen
years, and this expense is accounted for under the head of charges.
With regard to its strength, when there are so many conspicuous examples
of the powers of piles to resist the sea iu the most exposed* situations, any theo-
retical illustration would be supeifluous. Cut before notice is taken of the works
which have preceded and given rise to the proposed plan, a few instances may be
♦ Contiguous was a headstone, whereon was the epitaph : —
She in afflicliou bore a son,
Tlic milk forsook her breast,
Her legs they mortified and run,
But hope she's now at rest.
314 HISTOET OP BETGSTHEIMSTON.
stated, such as the Sheers, the 'Whittalier, the Gun Fleet, and other beaconi on
the North Coast ; and coming nearer to the point itself, the iron beacon on the
Black Rock, near Leith, which is about two miles S.E. from the Trinity Pier, has
stood alone for years ; North Yarmouth ietty, and the Pier at Ostend, on the
opposite coast, remain firm, opposed to the sea from the S.E. and N.W. and
require no repair but what arises from the decay of the timber ; and atCronstadt,
in the Gulph of Finland, there are batteries erected on piles like so many islands,
■which have remained there from the time of Peter the Great.
It may now be noticed, without entering into so Avide a field, that the Trinity
Pier, which (although on the same principle) is in all respects a more slender and
inferior structure to the proposed Pier for Brighton, was erected during the
stormy season of the equinox ; and even in its unfinislied state, while it was of
course less capable of resisting the shock of the sea, it suffered no injury ; and
since its completion, the following reports will show that its strength and security
are beyond all question, and what is of as much importance, its utility has sur-
passed the most sanguine expectations.
Copy of a Report from the Directors of the Trinity Pier Company, dated
Leith, Sept. 20, 1821 :—
" These are to certify, that the Trinity Pier was loaded vnth 118 Pigs of iron
ballast, or upwards of 20 Tons, the same that were sent out by Mr. Crichton for
proving the said Pier, and that the above ballast was loaded between the piers
regularly placed. And we also certify that there was no interruption to the
passengers to and from the Steam Boats that were laying alongside at the time it
■was so loaded. And we further certify', that under all the circumstances of the
case, that the said Pier has undergone a more severe trial or proof than was
specified in the agreement with Captain Brown ; and that the said Pier is in all
respects perfect, and in good order.
" Given under our hands at Leith, this 20th day of Sept. 1821.
(Signed) "ALEXANDER SCOTT, > Directors of the
" ALEXANDER STEVENSON, / Trinity Pier."
Copy of the second Report from the Directors of the Trinity Pier Company,
dated Leith, the 16th November, 1821 : —
"Leith, Nov. 16, 1821.
" Captain Samuel Brown, R.N.
" Sir — In compliance with your wish to hear how the new Pier of Sus-
pension, at Trinity, has stood the late violent easterly gales, to which it is very
much exposed, we feel very great pleasure in informing you that it has not
received the most trifling damage ; and that since the pier-head has been length-
ened to 70 feet, the Steam Boats are able to lay on the lee-side of it with perfect
security in the strongest gales we have bad, the violence of the sea being exhausted
in passing through the different ranges of the piles.
" So little is the vibration of the chains and platform, that we have never
known the least alarm to be expressed by passengers going along it ; and great
numbers frequent it even in this inclement season, merely for the purpose of
taking a walk along it.
""We are. Sir,
"Your obedient Servants.
(Signed) " ALEXANDER SCOTT, | Directors of Trinity
"ALEXANDER STEVENSON,) Pier Company.
"GEORGE CRICHTON, Treasurer."
PAST AXD PEESENT PASTIMES. 315
As there will be plans upon an extended scale, laid before a general meeting,
or a committee of management, it is unnecessary to advert to them at present : it
may, however, be satisfictory to state, the extent, from high-water-mark to the
end of the Pier, 1,000 feet, and the width ten feet: each of the inverted arches
will be 251 feet span, and the outer Pier-head will form an area of about 4,500
feet, and an elevation of 10 feet above the highest spring-tides. The expense of
erecting a Pier and constructing a floating Break-water, which will be essential,
^ a protection from ships or vessels running foul of it, and at the same time
afford additional facility and convenience for ships putting to sea from the beach,
will be £27,000*. It is proposed that a Company should be constituted and
incorporated, under the denomin'ition of the Bnghton Pier Company, and that the
sum of £27,000, forming the joint stock of the Company, be raised by subscrip-
tions of £100 each. — The affairs of the Company to be conducted and managed by
a Committee, consisting of a Treasurer and 10 Members, who are to be chosen by
a majority of votes of the Proprietors, at a General Meeting ; and that five of the
said Committee are also to be chosen by a majority of votes to act as Directors
or Managers of the Company ; and that the Committee of Management and the
Directors collectively, shall have the power of appointing a Pier Master, and
other persons, whose services or avocations may be required for the genei-al
benefit and advantage of the Company. All other rules relative to the
reciprocity of interest and the financial branches of the Company, are to be fully
set forth and explained in a separate instrument, to be drawn up in a proper
legal form by a Solicitor.
The situation in all respects most suitable both for the convenience of the
public and the interest of the Brighton Pier Company, is opposite the East Parade
of the Old Steyne, and as T. R. Kemp, Esq., and C. S. Dickens, Esq., have, in the
most liberal and handsome manner, which must lay, not only the proprietor* of
the Pier, but the whole community, under lasting obligations, granted a sufficient
space of ground for forming the Pier, and relinquished all their manorial rights,
it will not be necessary to apply for an Act of Parliament for authority to levy
and collect a toll, or pontage in the Pier, because the beach is free for landing
and embarking in boats as heretofore, and it becomes perfectly voluntary or
optional to enter upon and pay for the accommodation of the Pier.
It is intended that the platform shall be horizontal with the East Parade,
and extend in the same direction out to sea — as there can be no doubt that the
Pier would become a place of fashionable resort, great emoluments would be
derived from this source alone, — independent of this, would be the specific revenue
secured by a lease to be paid by the Proprietors of the Steam-Packets, and as it is
one of the objects of the Pier to permit the shipment of carriages and horses,
under certain regulations consistent with the convenience of visitors, a consider-
able sum will be raised by this means.
It is not intended that Merchant's ships should load or discharge their
cargoes at the Pier, and no fish to be landed unless under particular circumstances
to be judged by the Pier-Master; — but as great advantages must be derived to
the Town, and Proprietors of the Pier, from the traffic m fruit, eggs, &c. &c.
with France, small-craft and boats are to be permitted to come alongside, by
* If the ships should discontinue" to run on the beach, and go into Shoreham Harbour or
Sfewbaven, the Breakwater may be.dispensed with, which will save £3,000.
316 HISTORY or BEIGHTHELMSIOX.
payinj^ certain dues for the vessels, and a certain rate upon tlieir goods, the amount
of which will be fixed by the Committee of Management ; pleasure-boats, and
boats hired for pleasure, are to pay certain dues for laying alongside the Pier, and
a further rate for the company landing from or embarking on board them, and the
shore boats belonging to the Town of Brighton and others, which are in the con-
stant practice of using the beach, whether owned in the town or not, are to be
permitted to land passengers, who are to pay the usual rate for landing on the
Pier; but the boats before-mentioned are to be exempted from paying any dues
for coming alongside, and the crew are to be allowed to land without any charge
being made : but such boats are not to continue at the Pier longer than is
necessary to land or take on board passengers or pleasure parties, and are to be
subject to the orders of the Pier-Master, in regard to the length of time to be
allowed for this purpose, and this permission alluded to is not to be con-
sidered as an abandonment of the right of the Pier Company to charge boats
of the above description the usual Pier dues, but as a favor and preference
given to the fishermen and boatmen belonging to the Town of Brighton and its
dependencies.
There is no circumstance connected witli tliis establishment of a Pier at
Brighton, which will be viewed with more satisfaction, either by the Proprietors
or the Public, than the ready means it will aflford of dispatching boats to the
assistance of vessels in distress — however well disposed the fishermen or pilots
mav be to venture to sea in a heavy gale to their relief, their utmost skill and
hardihood are unavailable to launch their boats through the serf at low water ;
and even at the height of the tide it is frequently impracticable ; it is therefore
intended either to construct a slip or inclined plane in the centre of the outward
Pier, to contain a boat of the largest class, and provide anchors and cables for her,
and appoint her in all respects ready to launch off in the heaviest gale at a
moment's notice, — or to erect Davits on each side of the Pier to support boats,
which will always be ready to lower down. — There are no description of vessels
better calculated for this service than what are termed the Brighton hog-boats, —
when they are fairly clear of the beach and breakers, (which the boat would be
the moment it was launched,) they work off the coast in the most surprising
manner.
As it will at all events be necessary to have a boat's crew of at least four
active able bodied men, belonging to the Pier, those men, in order to be available
for the duty alluded to, must be Pilots for Shoreham or Newhaveu, and when the
laro-e boat is to be sent to sea there can be no difficulty in engaging three or four
men to complete the compliment. That in the course of time many ships and
vessels may receive assistance, and be saved from shipwreck by this means, is the
most reasonable of all hypotheses — and as the vessel and other smaller boats would
be part of the property of the Company, and maintained by it, they would be
entitled to salvage or to a remuneration in proportion to the extent of services
rendered, as usual in such cases.
But the sources from whence the revenue of the Pier is to be derived, which
will yield a large interest to the Proprietors agreeable to the sum which they may
have respectively invested, will be so satisfactorily shewn in the following state-
ment, that it is not necessary to reckon on any profits arising from such contin-
gencies, however plausible and flattering the prospect may be.
PAST AND PRESENT PASTIMES. 31t
REVENUE :
'£
Pier dues from 4 Steam-boats, tach £100 yearly 400
" 25,000 passengers to and from France, per Steam- vessels, in
the course of the year, at 2s 2500
" Luggage, packages, &c. &c 500
" French vessels to pay Is per ton, and the crew to be exempted
from dues, viz. — 200 vessels averaging 20 tons each. Is . . 200
" Goods, packages, &c., from French vessels 300
" 100 carriages to and from France, 20$ 100
" 200 horses ditto ditto, 10s 100
" Pleasure Yachts, crews exempted, supposed 50
" Company embarking and landing, 2s 100
" Parties of pleasure in tlie Brighton shore boats 50
" Ship boats landing and embarking passengers 5s for the use
of the Pier, which will exempt the crew 50
" Produce of the Pier as a promenade, at £10 per day 3650
s
d.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
£8000 0 0
CHAEGES :
£ s d.
Pier Master, yearly 200 0 0
Boat's crew, 4 men, yearly 150 0 0
Two Toll-keepers 104 0 0
Wear and tear of ropes, &c 40 0 0
Painting Pier twice a year 40 0 0
Wear and tear of gangway of Pier 30 0 0
Lighting of Pier 20 0 0
Night watchman 38 0 0
Secretary, oflace, &c 300 0 0
£922 0 0
£922 0 0
Net produce yearly, or 25 per Cent, on amount of capital £7078 0 0
The merits of the plan are here brouglit to a very narrow compass, and it
is contidently believed that there will appear no disposition to overrate the
advantages, or to excite any undue bias in the public mind that might ultimately
lead to disappointment.
Subscriptions will be received at Messrs. Hall, West, and Borrer;
Messrs. Wioney, Stanford and Co., Brighton ; and Messrs. Willis, Perciv.\l
and Co., London.
It i.s much doubted whether the expectations of either the pro-
jectors or the shareholders have ever been realized, except as regards
outlay and charges. The structure was commenced in October,
1822, and completed in twelve months. On the 25th of November,
1823, it was opened by the skilful projector, Sir Samuel Brown,
318 HISTOEY OF BEIGHTHEIMSTON.
E.N". The Pier, which projects 1,150 feet, is approached by an
Esplanade 1,250 feet in length. The foundation consists of four
clumps of iron shod and nail-mailed piles strongly bound by cross
and wale pieces of great substance. The clumps are 250 feet apart,
and are crowned with cast-iron towers, over which pass the main
suspension chains that emerge from the cliff, into which they are
carried fifty-four feet, and are there fastened to a mass of iron, three
tons in weight, firmly embedded in masonry. The south ends of the
chains pass down a casing of wood to the rock, into which and the
massive piles of the extreme platform they are bolted and keyed.
Just one year after the completion of the Pier, namely, on the
23rd ISTovember, 1824, the structure underwent a severe trial, but it
nobly stood a storm which devastated the southern coast of England,
some portion of the wooden platform and the ornamental iron- work
alone receiving slight damage. Two dolphins, however, to the west
of the Pier in an angular position, consisting of small clusters of
piles, over the crown of which to the Pier-head large chains were
stretched to fend-off any vessels that might be driven in by a south-
west gale, were completely washed away. The havock to property
along the sea-front of the town was tremendous.
On the 15th of October, 1833, the structure received some
injury from lightning, and on the 22nd of jS"ovember following a
dreadful gale of wind, after causing the platform to writhe like the
action of a serpent, heaved-up the chains, twisting the pendant rods
into fantastical shapes, discharging the wooden roadway into the
raging surf, and wrenching one of the towers from its perpen-
dicular. The inhabitants, looking upon the injury done as a
calamity to the town, immediately set a subscription on foot, and
in a very short time, £1,200 was raised to effect the restoration of
the edifice, which was farther secured by a chain cable beneath the
platforms, attached to each clump of piles, to check all future
oscillation and heaving.
Eor many years the arrival and departure of steam packets,
employed in the passenger intercourse between Brighton and
Dieppe, formed a great attraction for visitors to the Pier. The first
steamer employed in the station Avas the Swift, of eighty-horse
power. A packet service by sailing vessels, previously existed, during
^
PAST AND PEESENX PASIIMES, 319
the times of peace, dating as far back as 1792, when the Prince of
"Wales, a schooner. Captain Burton ; the Princess Royal, a schooner,
Captain Chapman ; and the Speedwell, a cutter. Captain Lind, were
the vessels employed. These were succeeded by the jSTancy, Captain
Blabei', which was run down in mid -channel; Ann and Elizabeth,
Captain Daniels ; Xautilus, Captain "Wiagfield, who is still alive and
vends pork in Brighton 3Iarket ; Elizabeth, Captain Lind ; Lord
"Wellington, Captain Cheesman, who was afterwards, for years, in
the General Steam Navigation Company's service, on the same
route ; Prince Regent, Captain Bulbeck ; Neptune, Captain "Wallis ;
and the Thomas, Captaiu Clear. This vessel was instrumental in
saAring the life of Mr. Charles Green, the celebrated aeronaut, on the
occasion of his ascent from the Gas "Works, at Black Rock, October
1st, 1821, with his Coronation baUoon. The Thomas had left some
of her passengers and the Captain at Eastbourne, and was just off
Beachy Head, in charge of the Mate, Francis Cheesman, who bore
down upon the balloon, then unmanageable upon the water, and
driving the vessel's bowsprit into the silk of the aerial machine soon
liberated the gas, and rescued Mr. Green from his frail wicker-work
car.
At various periods the Chain Pier has been the medium and
focus of special entertainments in the separate and combined
attractions of fire and water. The structiu-e on the evening of its
inauguration was illuminated on both sides throughout its whole
extent, in coloured lamps forming " God Save the Queen, and the
House of Brunswick." More recently exhibitions of fireworks have
taken place upon it. The most memorable event by way of pas-
time was the Brighton and Hove Regatta, which took place on
Thursday and Saturday, July 21st and 23rd, 1853, when public
money to the extent of £364, was competed for, prizes of £120,
£105, and £52 10s, by yachts, and other prizes varying from £20
downwards, to the number of foiu-teen by sailing and rowing boats.
The weather for several days previous to the Regatta — which had
been arranged to extend through three days, — was most unfavour-
able, a strong wind from the south-west preventing the arrival of
yachts which had just contended in the Yarmouth Regatta. Several
however, of heavy tonnage were in the matches, the first of which
320 HISTORY OF BEIGnTHELMSTON.
■was gained by the Alarm, 248 tons, J. "Welds, Esf[., in a contest
■with the Sveridge, 280 tons, T. Bartlett, Esq., -which -was declared by-
yachting men unparalleled in the superior nautical tactics which were
displayed. The Hotel-Keepers' Prize of 50 guineas, with 50
guineas added, was won by the Arrow, 102 tons, T. Chamberlayne,
Esq., four competed. The Ship-Owners' Prize of 50 guineas was
gained by the Phantom, 25 tons, S. Lane, Esq., beating the Thought,
25 tons, G. Coope, Esq. The First Class Pleasure Boat match, £20,
was won by the Skylark, Mr, A. T. Mills; and in the Second Class
Pleasure Boat contest for 10 guineas, the Eoj^al Frederick, Mr. B.
Kent, successfully contended against three others. In the four-
oared Galley contest for £15, the Arrow, Mr. J. I^ottidge succeeded
against six others. Friday, the intervening day of the matches,
was an entire blank ; a dense fog with a drizzling rain prevailing
from sun-rise to sun-set. On the evening of Saturday, there was a
grand display of fireworks on the Chain Pier.
The Regatta was of simple origin. A few of the principal
tradesmen who were accustomed to meet of an evening in con-
viviality at the IN'ew Ship Hotel, chancedin the early part of March,
1853, to have in their company Captain Moore, connected with
several yachting clubs. He spoke of the admirable position of
Brighton for yachting matches, and the attraction they would be to
the inhabitants and visitors. A communication was forthwith made
to the Commodores of the various Royal Yacht Clubs, and the idea
being favourably entertained by them, a committee was formed, with
Mr. H. P. Tamplin, the High Constable, as their Chairman, and the
aiithor of this book as their Honorary Secretary. Subscriptions came
in bountifully, the whole of the town being most favourable to
the project. The Railway Directors presented 50 guineas ; the
Hotel Keepers gave a prize of 37 guineas ; the inhabitants of
Cliftonville 50 guineas ; the Ship-Owners 50 guineas ; and Chain
Pier Company 18 guineas. The Theatre was placed at the service
of the Committee, and the proceeds of an amateur performance
under the management of Mr. D. H. Greenin, aided the funds, as
did also a fete at the Swiss Gardens, Shoreham, and a concert at the
Royal Pavilion. So anxious and energetic, in fact, was the public
in general for the Regatta to be a great success, that at its termi-
¥.
,1
V
■I
J^/H>^-
%v
% ^
'V::-,
T< "^^^
^
v^
o
EMGMT©:^ & THE (CHAIIT. FUER JFIROM TME
PAST AND PEE8ENT PASTIMES. 321
nation the sum of £148 remained in the hands of the Treasurer,
arising principally from the weather preventing the whole of the
programme being gone through.
As an Englishman's conclusiou to a popular enterprise, a dinner
took place at the Old Ship Hotel; and then, at the New Ship,
where the Committee held their meetings, the Committee — of which
Mr. Charles Sprake, the landlord, was a member, — gave an invita-
tion dinner to the Honorary Secretary, who was presented, at tho
hands of the High Constable, with a most gratifying testimonial,
thus inscribed, — surmounted with the Brighton Arms, — upon a
silver-mounted portemonnie : — "Brighton and Hove Regatta, 1853.
Presented to Mr. J. A. Erredge, with a Complimentary Sum, by tho
Committee, for his Valuable Services, as their Honorary Secretary."
As a feature of and to commemorate the Regatta, Mr. John Smith,
King's Road, who fitted-out several of tbc Committee in nautical
attire, had an appropriate gilt button struck, of neat design.
Amongst the matches not contended for in the Regatta, was
that for the Cliftonville .Prize, which remained in abeyance till tho
Autumn of 1856, when fresh subscriptions and the interest of the
"money in hand, accumulating the Fund to £304, a second Regatta
XVas arranged, which came off on the 26th of August, when Prizes to
the amount of £207 were awarded. A grand display of fireworks
and tho discharge of incidental expenses cleared off the balance.
A great attraction to the Chain Pier, after the packets ceased
running to and from Dieppe, was a band of music that entertained
the company who promenaded the Pier-head. The Military Con-
certs at the Pavilion, however, are at present the musical feature
for visitors, who every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon throng
the suite of Assembly Rooms ; and, when the season and weather
are favourable, the eastern lawn, where also., for nine years past the
Brighton and Sussex Horticultural and Floricultural Society have
held their Summer and Autumn Shows, which annually increase in
attraction and importance. The Museum and Picture Galleries that
occupy upper portions of the Pavilion, likewise afford visitors
many an hour's agrcca1)lG ramble amongst the works of art and
other rarities which arc daily accumulating. An annual exhibition
iu comiexion with the Brighton and Sussex School of Art, with aa
w
822 mSTOEY OF bmghtheimstoit.
Art Union attached, takes place in the Galleries ; and there is also
an apartment appropriated to the School of Art. In the height of
the season, grand concerts by artistes of celebrity take place in the
Music Room, which, being easier of approach than the Town Hall,
has superseded the large room there, where on the occasion of
Jenny Lind — the Swedish Nightingale, — singing on the 23rd of
August, 1847, the receipts were £1,200.
A species of diversion, termed a soiree, has of recent years
been very popular, the intellectual being by it agreeably blended
with the recreative ; science and the fine arts gracefully admitting
a sistership with Terpsichore, the active votaries of which goddess
^in their sundry modern gyrations of polka and schottische, contrast-
ing strangely with "Lady Montgomery's Reel," led off in the
same Pavilion, August 13th, 1805, by the Honourable Miss Sey-
mour and a son of the Duke of Clarence, " with suitable ease,
spirit, and vivacity," and in a country-dance to the tune " Murphy
Delaney," the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Clarence "taking
an active part in the wholesome exercise." There was as great a
diversity then in dance music as at the present time, passing events
suggesting new ideas to composers and musicians. Upon one
occasion, Mr. Kramer, the leader of the Prince's private band,
being in the Telemachus Room of the Old Ship Hotel, arranging
the music for a ball which was to take place in the evening at the
Royal Pavilion, had his attention attracted by the voice of
a noted character from Lewes, Jemmy Gosney, who with a peculiar
nasal twang was announcing in Ship Street that he had for sale
*' Book almanack, new almanack, Moore's Almanack." To the
surprise of the vendor of Vox SteUarum, he heard his words
repeated at a window opposite, where, on his clarionet, Kramer so
imitated the old man's voice, that, in the evening, he " availed
himself of the incident to introduce it as a novelty, in the course
of a dance, much to the delight of His Royal Highness 'and the
company in general.
During the sojourn of William and Adelaide in Brighton, in
1834, Sir Andrew Barnard, at the request of his Majesty, enquired
of Mr. Gutteridgo, the organist of the Royal Chapel, if there was
anything to be obtained in the way of singing amongst the towns-
PAST AND PBDSENT PASTIiTES. 323
folk. Mr. Gutteridgc recommended the members of the Brighton
Madrigal Society, with whom, for eight guineas the evening, an
engagement was effected, but at so short a notice that the singers
were perplexed to procure the appropriate dress for the occasion,
namely, black coats and white vests. At the suggestion of a
friend, however, a second-hand clothes' shop in the Lanes was
visited, and there they found all that was required ; but one of the
party, who was desii'ous of the loan of a coat for the night, — for
which loan a half-crown was asked, — not having the cash about
him for the deposit that was required to ensure its safe return, was
necessitated to go out and obtain a well-known hair-dresser in Ship
Street as his bond. The performance of the Madrigals took place
in the Royal Music Room, in the presence of their Majesties and
party, amongst whom was Lady Kennedy Erskine, the King's
daughter, an excellent judge of music, who higlily complimented
them on the efficient manner in which they had acquitted themselves.
After the singing, they withdrew and partook of supper, at which
they were attended by two footmen in the Royal livery, to one of
whom the leader of the party — who had a black ribbon pinned in
his waistcoat pocket to simulate that he wore a watch, and who was
unaccustomed to a servant in waiting, — said, " Hulloa, old fellow,
don't bother yourself about us, sit down and have some with us."
The servant smiled, but declined, and only forgot his position as
attendant by taking, when urgently pressed, a glass of wine all
round with the guests.
In 1834, when Madame Sala, the mother of Mr. F. A. Sala,
the novelist, was in the zenith of her profession as a songstress,
and also as a teacher of singing, a placard on a board was placed at
Eber's Library, now Dutton and Thorowgood's shoo warehouse.
Castle Square, announcing a concert at the Town Hall, for her
benefit ; when some person, — it was supposed envious of her fame,
— two evenings previous to that'announced for her concert, disfigured
the placard by cutting out some of the letters of her name, making
it to read thus : — MAD SAL, which, coming to her knowledge,
caused ;^^;ldamc to abandon tlie concert from fear of further insult.
Tier patrons recompensfnl licv, but could not er?tse from her nxol-
lectiun the uumtrited malignity.
w 2
S24 HISTOET OF BEIGHTHEIMSTON,
Only a few years since, Brighton was greatly infested with
street music from organs, hurdy-gurdies, and pianettes ; a crusade,
however, of the peace authorities drove them from the town, to
which they have not since been allowed to return. Itinerant bands
of wind instrument players yet remain, greatly to the annoyance of
the inhabitants, of whom the performers most importunately ask
remuneration for the woful discord they discourse. An accredited
Town Band of no mean talent is in existence, supported by volun-
tary contributions and subscriptions ; but it struggled for some
years before it could attain a position, intruders upon their pre-
sumed rights frequently drafting off, by offers of superior engage-
ments, their best performers. German bands were at one time very
prevalent, but they remained only the novelty of a few seasons ;
pilferings by their leaders, petty quarrels and jealousies amongs.t
themselves, and the non-appreciation by the public of what by some
persons might be termed their talent, causing most of them to leave
the town, if not the kingdom. The most respectable of them formed
the nucleus of the Town Band, whose most general place of per-
formance is on the lower western Esplanade, contiguous to the
principal pleasure-boat station, where parties for a sail or row, or
fishing excursion meet with everything they desire for a nautical
pastime.
Persons who are desirous of witnessing deep-sea fishing can
also be gratified by making arrangements with owners of the
regular fishing boats ; and as the various kinds of fish, the habits,
manners, customs, and costumes of the fishers, and the mode of
fishing off this coast have not undergone any change by time, the
graphic description of the Brighton Fishery by the Welsh Zoologist,
Thomas Pennant, who died in 1798, is here most apposite : —
" The fish-market, both wholesale and retail, is kept on the
beach, a little beyond the baths ; the boats used in the fisheries are
from ten to fifteen tons, made remarkably strong to secure them
against the storms in their winter adventure. The mackarel boats
are navigated by three or four men and a boy ; there are about
forty-five for the mackarel fishery, and twenty-five for the trawling ;
they set sail generally in the evening, go eight or ten leagues to sea,
and return the next day. The fishing is always carried on in the
PAST AND PRESENT PAStniEa. 325
night. The crew are provided with tea, coffee, water, and a small
quantity of spirits, for at sea they are remarkably temperate ; their
indulgence is only on shore. They only take with them bread,
beef, and greens, which, and sometimes fish, they often eat Avith
their tea and coffee. They are a hardy race, and very healthy ; yet,
during the Summer season, they have very small interval from
labour. They get a good meal, and a very short repose by lying
themslves on a bed during the few hours in the day on which tliey
come on shore. They bring their fish in baskets to the beach, fling
them in vast heaps, and instantly a ring of people is formed round,
an auction"^ is begun, and the heap immediately disposed of; the price
is uncertain, according to the success of the night. Mackarel in
the year 1793, were sold from £1 to £7 a hundred; they have been
sold as high as £15 a hundi-ed.f Mackarel and soles are the great
staples of the place, nine or ten thousand have been taken at one
shooting of the net. Mackarel swim deep in calms, and rise to the
surface in gales, when the largest fish and the greatest quantity are
taken, t
"The nets consist of a number of parts, each of which is
from thirty-six to fifty yards long and deep, and are kept buoyant by
corks. These united form a chain of nets a mile and a half long.
Before they are used in the Spring, they are taken from the store-
houses and spread upon the Steinc ; a privilege, time immemorial,
granted to the fishermen. The boats are drawn on shore at the
latter end of the Winter, and placed in ranges on the lower part of the
* The sale is by " Dutch Auction,"— doubtless introduced by the Flemings,
— the salesman oflFering his several lots at whatever price he chooses, reducing it
till a buyer says " have 'em," when the name of the purchaser, and the price, are
entered in the salesman's book, and the fish are immediately transferred, but tho
payment is made after the business of selling is over. No sales arc allowed to
take place before six o'clock in the morning, when the market is opened by tho
ringing of a bell.
t In " Tarrell's History of British Fishes," mention is made that in May,
1807, the first Brighton boat-load of mackarel sold at Billingsgate for forty
guineas per hundred— 7s. each, reckoning six score to the hundred ; the highest
price ever known in that market.
t The Lord of the Manor of Brighthelmston, by his reeve, is entitled to
the claim of the six finest mackarel from each boat, on its landing. A few years
since some of the fishermen disputed this right, but the Magistrates, on the appeal
of the reeve, Mr James Henry Mills, acknowledged and enforced the right.
326 HlSTOEY OF BETGHTHELMSTON.
Steyne, and other places near to the sea. The interval from labour is
very small, for numbers of the boats are in the early Spring hired
out to dredge for oysters, to supply the beds in the Medway and other
places,
" The greater part of the fish is sent to London, packed in
baskets, usually weighing about three quarters of a hundred in
each ; they are put into small light carts, "which go post, carry from
fifteen to thirty baskets each, and reach our capital in eight or ten
hours.
"The mackarel are supposed to come from the Bay of Biscay.
In the early Spring they are taken off Dieppe ; they next appear off
Mount's Bay, where they are caught in seines, and sent by land to
London in small baskets ; the shooting of nets has not been found
to answer off the Cornish shore. They arrive in the channel off
Brighthelmston in the middle of April, and continue to the middle
of July, after which they will not mesh, but are caught Tvith hooks,
and are at that season nearly unfit for eating. In June they are
observed to approach nearer the shore ; they continue in the channel
till the cold season commences, when they go progressively north or
east. The fry is seen of very small size in October and November.
" The herring fishery begins in October ; those fish appear in
great quantities along shore, and reach Hastings in November. The
fishery is very considerable, and adventurers from eveiy country
engage in it. A boat has ten last of ten thousand each. The fish
which are not sent to London fresh, are salted or cured as red
herrings. The nets resemble those used in the mackarel fishery,
only the meshes are smaller : they are about twenty feet deep, and
are left to sink of themselves. The congenerous pilchards are
sometimes taken hero in the mackarel nets, but iu very small
quantities.
" Soles, the other staple fish, are taken in trawls in great
numbers- The fishery begins in April, and continues all the
Summer: in April, 1794, the weight of two tons was caught in
one night. I saw in the same month a heap of soles on the market
beach none of which were less than nineteen inches long. The
other congenerous fishes were turbots, generally very indifferent ;
brills or pearl ; smear dabs ; plaice, and flounders.
PASX AND PBESENX PASTIJIES. 327
" Yarious kinds of rays are taken here ; such as the skate, the
fuller, the thornback, the sand-ray, which has sharp slender ppincs
on the edges, opposite to the eyes ; minute spines along the edges
of the fins, and upon the fins like the fuller ; the buck and tail
shagreened, marked -with round black spots ; the teeth sharp and
slender. A ray, not uncommon on the Flintshire coasts^ is twenty-
one inches long, of which the tail is eleven ; the nose is pointed,
and semi-transparent ; two spines above each eye, and three placed
in a row on the back ; three rows on the tail, of which the middle
runs far up the back edges of the body from the nose to the anal fin,
rough, with rows of minute spines ; back quite smooth, of a fine
pale brown, regularly marked with circular black spots ; teeth quite
flat and smooth.
" Of the shark genus, the angel-fish is not uncommon. The
smooth sharks, or topes, are very numerous ; they grow to the
length of four feet. I saw opened several of this species,
and can vouch for the truth of the young entering the mouth
of the parent in time of danger, and taking refuge in the stomach.
I have seen from twelve to twenty taken out of a single tope, each
eleven or twelve inches long. This species is split, salted, and
eaten.
" I here met with the corbeagle of Mr. Jago. The length was
three feet nine inches, the thickest circumference two feet one inch.
It is a rare species, allied to the Beaumaris shark. The greater
and lesser spotted dog-fish are very numerous.
*' The common angler is frequently caught here, and sometimes
of an enormous size ; from the v&st width of the mouth it is called
here the kettle-man. The launce, and two species or weevers, are
rery common ; the greater grows to the If^ngth of sixteen inches, is
two inches deep, the weight of two pounds, and is a firm well-tasted
fish. The fishermen have a great dread of the spines, and cut them
off as soon as taken.
"The cod fish tribe are rather scarce, except the whitings,
which are sometimes caught in mackarel nets, but chiefly with
hooks. They are taken in April ; but the best season is in October.
I saw here the common cod, the whiting -pout, the coal-fish, and the
five-bearded cod.
328 HISTOET OF BRIGHTHELMSTON.
" The doree is frequently taken here : I saw one of fifteen
pounds weight, and the length of three quarters of a yard. I saw
here the lunated gilthead, and ancient wrasse, the hasse, and red
or striped surmullet: the last small. The red and the grey
gurnards were common.
" Salmons are unknown here, which I am told is the case on
all chalky coasts. The gar or needle-fish are often seen here, and of
great lengths. I shall digress improperly in saying that the razor
bills and guillemots, inhabitants of Beachy Head, are frequently
caught in the mackarel nets, unwarily diving in the pursuit of the
fish. Prawns are in their season taken in vast abundance near the
shores, which wanting rocks to give shelter to the lobsters and crabs,
those delicacies are brought from the more distant parts of the
coast."
A very general pastime with the low caste of the seafarers,
when the weather is too boisterous for their fishing and boating
operations, is sea-roaming, watching the margin of the turbulent
waves upon the beach, to pick up the trifles which the surge may
chance to throw up. Some years since, — before steam vessels were
in use, — when weather-bound ships were unable to get out of the
bay, of which Brighton forms the northern boundary, wrecks of
richly laden crafts frequently afforded rare prizes for the reamers,
who now, more than from the spoils, via jetsam et flotsam, pick up
from strangers whom they may chance to meet on their stroU, many
a silver coin, fictitious tales of their losses, bad voyages, and their
starving large families, rarely failing to exact a coin of the realm,
hence they are known amongst the better class of the nautical
fraternity by the name of cadgers. On the faith, too, that " early
birds pick up the worms," not to be despised a living is obtained
by frequenting at day-break the vicinity of houses where parties
have been held the previous night, in search of jeAvellery, trinkets,
or money that by any casualty may have been dropped. Por many
years this mode of life has been a monopoly by a man named
Simmonds, who, also, throughout the livelong day pursues with a keen
eye and a raking stick the business of gutter hunter.
J^r^tu-n A-LuAcy Itf C H.' TTOt
"\ ' ill ;i''. \^' III', ^s ';r' vCiiiiiiF'iF' IB u\i W- H TiO)lT
-I'.i I .L .1 L.. \x.""_ j: „.. I! 1 \|..„;.„-t?;l JJ • 1-
C
the mstobical btreet op the tovts. 329
Chaptek XXYIII.
THE HISTORICAL STREET OF THE TOWN.
For historical lore, few continuous ranges of buildings in tho
kingdom are connected with so many national and local incidents as
"West Street, Brighton, which was formerly approached from the
west, at the south end, by a hill, that ranged with Kent Street, which
originally terminated due south to tho West Cliff. The hill was of
an altitude that, upon its removal, to make the roadway level between
BusseU Street and West Street, the front doors of the houses were
one story above the pathway, compelling the construction of
flights of steps in the fore-courts, commencing from east to west half
the distance up, where a landing was formed, from whence another
flight set off northward to the door-ways. The Cliff there at that
time, was known as The Bank, a provincial term still used for it by
most of the aborigines. The incline of the Gap went from the cast
comer of the street, direct south to the sea, which washed it in
stormy weather, when, for safety, the bathing-machines and the boats
stationed thereabouts, were hauled into the street as high up as
Duke Street.
Upon the first house in the street, that at the south comer of
Kent Street, for many years, just beneath the parapet which sur-
mounted the front wall, was a Latin inscription in raised Roman
capitals, which at various periods, as some of the letters became
obliterated by their great exposure to the weather, and from their
restoration not being effected with promptitude, underwent several
changes, as, Excitat acta kobtie, strength awakens action, i.e., the
consciousness of power arouses men to acts ; Excitas actis KOBrB^
thou awakest strength by deeds ; Excitat actis eobub, he arouses
to strength by acts ; Excitas acta, bobue, thou wakest or
excitest to deeds or actions, 0 strength. Its last appearance,
ExciTira acta eopat, — which defied all efforts of translation, — being
the cause of much ridicule, the letters were entirely removed.
Immediately opposite this house, suspended from the Cliff, was the
town fire-cage, constractcd of iron hoops, wherein, at night, a fire of
strombolum — collected along the sea shore, — and common coal, was
generally kindled, as a guide to the fishermen on their return to shore.
380 biSTOEY OF BEIGHTHEIMSTON.
On N'ew Year's Day, 1810, a horrid act of brutal violence was com-
mitted in connexion with this land-mark : Two men, named Eolfe
and Barton, who were engaged to attend to the fii-e, having some
words in the course of the evening, Rolfe determined to arrange
the beacon by himself, and therefore procured a new iron frame and
suspended it accordingly. This, however, he had no sooner done
than Barton attempted to cut the fastenings and let it over the
Cliff, and as Bolfe endeavoured to prevent his carrying his ill-natured
design into effect. Barton thrust a knife into his abdomen, and
literally let out some of his bowels. Barton escaped, but a reward
of £20 being offered through the Town Crier, he was captured, but
only suffered a short imprisonment, as Eolfe, after having endured
great pain, eventually recovered.
The events connected with the King's Head have been detailed
in Chapter XVIIl. The low, stone-coloured, brick building
immediately opposite this hostelry, was the favourite residence of
Mrs. Thrale, the wife of the wealthy owner of the London Brewery,
now known as " Barclay and Perkins's Brewery." Amongst the
general visitors to Mrs. Thrale were Dr. Samuel Johnson and
Madame D'Arblay — Fanny Burney — the authoress of Evelena,
who in one of her letters — Madame d'Arblay's Diary — describes
the residence as being at the court end of the town, and exactly
opposite the inn where Charles II. lay hid previous to leaving the
kingdom. " So I fail not," she adds, " to look at it with loyal satis-
faction, and His black- wigged Majesty has from the time of its
restoration been its sign." Mrs. Thrale, who upon her second
marriage was Madame Piozzi, the mother of Mrs. Mostyn, who
died recently at Sill wood House, has her name thus recorded in the
parish book —
February 16th, 1791.— On application of Mrs Thrale, it is ordered that a
poor boy proposed by her be received into the Poor House, during the pleasure of
the officers, on being paid by the said Mrs Thrale 4s weekly for his board.
It happened upon one occasion that while Dr. Johnson was
visiting the Thrales, he accompanied them to the Baths, — those on
the site where Brill's Ladies' Swimming Bath now stands, — at which
public lounge he met the Vicar, the Eev. Henry Michell, with
whom, drawing their chairs close to the fire in the ante-room, he
THE HISTORIC A.L STllBET OP THE TOWK. 331
soon got into conversation. For some time their manner was calm and
their language subdued ; but at length some strong difference arising
in their arguments, the Yicar seized the poker, and the Doctor tlio
tongs, with which, upon the grate they suited "their action to the
word " with the utmost energy. The general company present, who
were enjoying a country dance, suddenly ceased their evolutions,
which could not be resumed till the Master of the Ceremonies,
Wade, with his proverbial politeness, pacified the heated debaters.
The water from a wooden pump at Thrale's house, was supposed
to be endowed with peculiar medicinal properties, from the circum-
stance that after his too potent night indulgences in wine. Dr.
Johnson was accustomed early the following morning — before the
family were about, — to slip down stairs in his dressing gown, and
doffing his wig, require of the female domestic to pump freely on
his over-heated bald head. Mr. Hargraves, apothecary, who after-
wards occupied the premises, being aware of the Doctor's infallible
restorative after his potations, strongly, in the way of business, pre-
scribed the marvellous liquid to customers who had been too devout
at the shrine of Eacchus.
Foote, the comedian, one day, dining at the house, with
Johnson and others, finding nothing to his liking, for some time sat
in expectation of something better. A neck of mutton being the
last thing, he refused it, as he had the others. As the servant was
taking it away, however, understanding that there was nothing
more, Foote called out to him, " Holloa ! John, bring that back
again, for I find it's neck or nothing."
Prior to 1794, a low public house, called the Half-Moon, stood
out prominently and fronted down the street immediately below
Bunker's HiU. It was the general resort of gipsies and beggars,
who so continued to throng the house during the Summer months,
that on their taking their leave at the termination of the previous
Autumn, the owner, Mr. Patching, demolished tho old premises and
constructed the present building, known as tho Brighton Sauce
Warehouse, to afford the wandering customers better accommodation
upon their return. The Winter of 1793-4 was very severe; to
facilitate, then, the progress of the buUding during the frost, the
boulders of which the fi'ont is principaUy compoeed, were heated at
882 HISTOEY OF BMGSTHEtMSTOS-.
the malt-kiln of the "West Street Brewery, the men employed iii
the work being principally the soldiers of the militia regiments
quartered in the "West Street Barracks. The new building proved
to be a great mistake ; as the migratory tribes, on their return in
the Summer, thinking that extra charges would be made upon them
to assist in defraying the expenses of the new erection, betook
themselves to other quarters, and hence, from lack of custom, the
license was transferred to a smaller house, the present Half- Moon,
at the corner of Boyce's Street, just below which, in Ashby Court,
lived an old matchman, a well-known character of the town.
Although "Lucifers" have almost rendered null and void the
flint, steel, and tinder-box, yet in villages the brimstone-tipped
bunches of flat matches are even now extant, and age picks up a
scant existence in vending them from door to door, to dames who
pride themselves upon their antiquated notions and doing what
their good mothers did before them ; their almost sacred observance
being always to have hot embers on%heir social hearth, from which
by means of a common match, a light may always be obtained.
In Brighton, the most celebrated of the match-vending craft,
was John Standiag, familiary known as " Old Eosemary Lane,"
from the following song which he incessantly uttered while pursu-
ing his daily avocation : —
There was an old 'oman
In Rosemary Lane,
She cuts 'em and dips 'em
And I do the same.
Come, buy my fine matches
Come, huy 'em of me,
They are the best matches
'Most ever you see.
For lighting your candle
Or kindling your fire
They are the best matches
As you can desire.
Standing was a native of Hurstperpoint, where for some years
he followed the occupation of a bricklayer, and was considered a
good workman ; but having had the misfortune to fall from a scaffold
when about 30 years old, ^,he was disabled from his usual employ-
ment, as he by the accident received a severe injury to the spine,
\
THE niSTOEICAL STREET OF THE TOWN. 333
which ever after prevented him from assuming an erect posture ;
and one of his eyea was knocked out, his thumb was broken tmd
reversed, and he was otherwise much mutilated.
At first his business circuit with matches was through the villages
under the hill, where he was very well kno'«Ti ; but other vendorp,
of the gipsey tribe, combining to drive him off their ground by
underselling him, ho moved on to Brighton, where his injured bodily
condition and the novelty of his ditty obtained him a good trade,
and in a very short time many regular customers. In fact, to tho
outward w^ld his prospects appeared so thiiving, that many per-
sons asserted he was, miser-like, accumulating a fortune ; for
although he never asked alms, his lame, blind, and aged condition
excited sympathy amongst strangers, who rather gave to him than
purchased of him.
John was married ; but his wife, who was also aged, was not
without her share of misfortunes. She was the manufacturer of the
establishment, and being exposed to hard work and the rigour of a
severe winter, the cold so affected her limbs that it was found
necessary to amputate one of her legs, and, also remove nearly all tho
toes from the other foot, from their becoming frostbitten ; added to
which, she by an accident lost an eye. In January, 1833, Standcn
was taken suddenly iU in East Street, during one of his morning
perambulations, and in a few days, on the 9th of February, he
terminated his life, after having for nearly 40 years traversed the
town, singing liis unvaried song, day by day, thi'ough all weathers.
His wife survived him but three days, the shock, occasioned by his
death, being too severe for her shattered constitution to withstand.
They were borne together to their grave in the Old Churchyard, by
some kind neighbours, their coflins having been provided by the
parish.
The house, the Albany Tavern, at the top of Duke Street,
commanding the view of the sea, down West Street, was for many
seasons during the abode of George IV. in Brighton, the residence
in lodgings, of Johnny Townsend, tho noted Bow Street Runner,
whowas in constant attendance for a long series of years, upon tho
Eoyal Personage when he was Prince of Wales and King. West
Street at that period was a place of foshionable resort, especially for
334 HISTOET OF BUTGHTITELMSTON-.
equestriana, Royal blood daily frequenting it, and often paying a
visit to Townsend, witli whom they frequently essayed to luncheon,
the viands for the occasion being sent up from the Eoyal Pavilion.
Townsend was a shrewd but illiterate man, a staunch politician of
the Tory school, kind-hearted, generous, and charitable, an
agreeable companion with his equals, a man who commanded the
respect of his superiors and his inferiors ; but he was a sore terror of
refractory boys and girls.
In the house immediately above Duke Street, and directly
oi)posite Cranbourne Street, lived, on his retirement from business,
Mr. Beach Roberts, a Brighton celebrity, who, at the commence-
ment of the present century was a tinman, carrying on a respectable
and lucratiTO business upon the premises now occupied by Mr. B.
Lewis, silversmith, Ship Street. In his latter days he was termed
the " Walking Newspaper," inasmuch as he was acquainted with
all — and sometimes more than all, of the news of the day. On the
13th March, 1810, some person, by way of a hoax, inserted in the
London papers, the following : — " Died, yesterday, Beach
Roberts, Esq., — a gentleman who had enjoyed a wider sphere
of connexion in the County of Sussex than most men, who had been
elected to the office of High Constable of this Parish seven different
times ; for the last twelve years been foreman of the Grand Jury at
the Quarter Sessions at Lewes; and who has left one hundred
thousand pounds ; ten thousand of which are to be applied to
charitable purposes within the limits of the town ; one thousand
towards the support of the Magdalen Hospital, and the remainder
to be equally divided between his son and daughter." The hoax
became the current topic of the day, and subjected Mr. Roberts to
several congratulatory addresses from his friends ; as he was at the
time about forty-five years of age, in the enjoyment of good health,
and of a promising constitution. It may be added that he never
served the office of High Constable, and that he had no children.
In the house next above that wherein Mr. Roberts lived, for
some little time resided — carrying on the business of a butcher, —
James Ings, who on the 23rd of February, 1820, was, on the
information of a confederate, apprehended with eight others, iu a
hay-loft> in Cato Street, Paddington, for being concerned in a plot
THE HISTOEICAL STREET OF THE TOWN. 335
to destroy the Ministers of the King, while at a cabinet dinner that
evening in Grosvenor Square, London, at the residence of the Earl
of Harrowby, the President of the Council. The plot is known as
the Cato Street Conspiracy, wherein Ings took so conspicuous a part
that it was arranged that on their leader, Arthur Thistlewood,
presenting a parcel at the door of Lord Harrowby's house, he should
head the rest of the conspirators, rush in where the company
were assembled, and massacre the whole of them indiscriminately.
Just previous to their apprehension Ings prepared himself for the
desperate enterprise, by putting a black belt round his waist and
another over his shoulders ; ho also put on two bags like haversacks,
and placed a pair of pistols in his belt. Then looking at himself
with an air of exultation he exclaimed, uttering an oath, " I'm not
complete now; I have forgot my steel;" whereupon he seized a
large knife, about twelve inches long, and, brandishing it about,
swore he would bring away two heads in his bags, and one of Lord
Castlereagh's hands, which he would preserve in brine, as it might
be thought a good deal of hereafter. The whole of the conspirators
were found guilty of High Treason, and on the morning of the first
of May, Thistlewood, Ings, and three others were hanged and
decapitated at Newgate ; the rest of the traitors were transported.
The executioner of these misguided men was James Botting, a
native of Brighton, and son of Jemmy Botting, the possessor of some
small property at the bacTc of "West Field Lodge, immediately to the
west of the bottom of Cannon Place, and known as Betting's
Rookery, from its being the resort of tramps of the lowest order,
Botting also, on the 30th of I^ovember, 1824, at Newgate, carried
out the last penalty of the law upon Henry Fauntleroy, the banker,
who formerly had his residence at the west end of Codrington
Place, "Western Road, and was found guilty of uttering a forged deed
with intent to defraud Frances Young of £5,000 Stock, and a power
of attorney to defraud the firm of Marsh, Stacoy, Fauntleroy, and
Graham, Bankers, Bcrner's Street, London, of which house he Avas
the acting partner.
For several years previous to his decease, which took place at
Brighton, October 1st, 1837, Botting, in- consequence of paralysis,
retired from his situation as public hangman, the latter days of liis
336 HISTOET OP BEIGHTHELMSTON.
existence being eked out by a pension of five shillings a "week,
granted by the Court of Aldermen of the City of London, for
whom, in the course of his duties, he had deprived 175 " parties "
— as he termed them — of their lives ; as during his career execu-
tions at !N'ewgate were very common, the offences for which life was
forfeited being so numerous that in one week thirteen persons,
namely, eight on "Wednesday, N'ovember 23rd, and five on the
Tuesday following, ITovember 29th, 1821, suffered, none of the
crimes for which they were executed — thanks to the enlightenment
of our legislators, — ^now exacting as a penalty the life of a fellow
creature. Botting, in his latter days, was a well known character
about Brighton, the streets of which he was accustomed to traverse
by means of a chair, which he alternately used as a species of crutch,
and as a seat, but he always appeared isolated from the world, as no
grade of society seemed ambitious of the acquaintance of Jack
Ketch.
The most commodious and commanding family mansions of the
Old Town are in "West Street, wherein have resided, during the past
forty years, several of the magistrates and the clergy, and many
members of the medical profession of Brighton. At the present
time several of the houses are occupied by opulent famUies : and
the lanes and courts which formerly on its west side detracted from
the general respectability of the street, having been demolished, the
property thereabouts has become considerably enhanced in value,
and is much sought after.
Chapteb XXIX.
THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, CHARITIES, AND
ENDOWMENTS.
It is the pride of the inhabitants that no town in the
kingdom possesses so many Public Institixtions for the general
well-being of the commxmity, as Brighton.
THE PUBLIC rXSTITXITIONS, CHAMTIES, AND ElTDOWMElfTS. 337
Foremost amongst these, though a National Institution and but
co-equal with similar other branches to complete its general working
throughout the kingdom, is the Post Office, which, in all probability,
originally formed a part of the General Postal systems as established
in 1657 and 1660. We have no authority as to the primitive mode
of conveyance of letters, but doubtless it vi'as on horseback, and
aftervirards by mail cart,^as " A Description of lirighthclmston"*
mentions : — " During Summer the post sets out from Brighthelm-
ston for London every morning (excepting Saturday) at nine
o'clock ; and arrives there every evening (excepting Monday) about
seven. In the Winter season the post goes out at eleven o'clock at
night on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays} and re^
turns from London about eight on Thursday and Saturday morn-
ings." The Post Office was then at Widgett's, afterwards
Crawford's, and then Fisher's Library, Old Steine, the present
premises of Mr. Sbaw, confectioner, from whence, upon the throw-
ing of the Promenade Grove into the Eoyal Domain, in 1803, it
was removed to premises constructed in the Grove gateway at the
top of Prince's Place, when Mr. J. Redifer was appointed the Post
Master. During the time that Crawford was Post Master, his son,
one of the present Members of Parliament for the city of London,
was the only letter-carrier in Brighton. Mail coaches between
London and Brighton were not put on the road till 1807. On tho
22nd September, 1822, the Post Office was removed to 67, East
Street, where it continued till June, 1827, when the premises,
149, North Street, were appropriated for the business. From
thence, on the 23rd of September, 1831, it was removed to tho
house immediately south of the Unitarian Chapel, New Road, Mr
Ferguson being the Post Master.
The uniform charge for letters of one penny per half ounce, —
introduced in 1840, by Mr. Rowland Hill, — and afterwards the
abolition of the newspaper duty, when the postage of the public
journals, and subsequently and now all printed works passing at tho
rate of one penny for four ounces, rendering tho premises in the
New Road inadequate to the increase of btisiness, the Post Office,
* London: Trill tedfor Fielding andWiilker, Piitunionor liow ; fi, Widgett,
Brightkelmstou ; aud W. Let, Printer, Lewes, 1779.
X
338 HISTORY OP BEIGHTHElirSTON.
on the 26tli of March, 1849, was removed to the present site, opposite
Trinity Chapel, in Ship Street. The premises there were very-
narrow and contracted, till August, 1858, when the present com-
modious structure was erected. Mr. Charles Whiting, the present
Post Master, entered upon his duties in October, 1850. Previous
to the postage reduction, letters in the out districts of Brighton
were collected every evening by bellmen, who, for one penny, con-
veyed letters to the General Office. Branch offices superseded the
bellmen, or collectors ; and now, pillar-boxes, placed with great
discretion in all parts of the town, have rendered the branch offices
in some localities wholly unnecessary. The first pillar letter-box
in the kingdom was erected at the corner of Fleet Street and
Farringdon Street, London, in March, 1855. The Post Office
Savings Bank opened at Brighton on the 10th of March, 1862.
The first Bank in Brighton — the Old Bank, — immediately
opposite the premises subsequently and now the Union Bank, was
established in 1787, under the firm, Messrs. Shergold, Michell,.
Bice, and Mills. It withstood the panic of 1 825 ; but a few years
after, transferred its declining business. The New Bank was the
next established, the firm being Messrs. "Wigney, Eickman, Stan-
ford, and Vallance. Wigney, who was also a brewer, happening one
day to meet the builder of the sea wall of the Junction Eoad, Mr
Bennett, upon whom Dame Fortune rather frowned than smiled,
said, "AVhy, Bennett, surely, if I remember right, j^ou also, were
once a brewer?" "Yes," said Bennett, "but I made a sad
mistake, Wigney ; I turned at the same time a builder instead of, as
you did, a banker ; thus I have always continued a needy man,
from not having other people's money to speculate with." The
rejoinder was very significant, as the sequel proved. The Bank was
at first in Steine Lane, with a second public entrance by the side
way to the Pavilion Shades ; from whence, in 1819, it was trans-
ferred to the apartments, now the coffee room of the Pavilion Hotel,
Mr. Edmund Savage, who had obtained the license in 1816, having
arranged with the bankers that they should rebuild the house m the
Castle Square front, so that they might have the Bank on the ground-
floor of the new building, and give up the rooms in Steine Lane, in
exchange. The r-oom where the banking business had been trans.
THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, CHARITIES, AND ENDOWMENTS. 339
acted, Mr. Savage then appropriated to a smoking-room, and con-
verted the clerks' room into a Gin-shop. But as Mrs. Fifzherbert
was then living immediately opposite, in Steine Lane, he was
fearful of offending her by placing any writing on the house ; the
thought, however, struck him, that, inasmuch as the height of Mrs
Fitzherbert's house, to the south of him, prevented the sun from
shining upon his house, he would adopt the word " Shades," and
place it over the door, where had before been written " Bank,'
that being the only word used to publish the place. An immense
trade was soon carried on in that little room, where three young
men found full employment in serving at the counter, and two
as porters were engaged besides. The extensive trade thus, obtained
soon induced other publicans to adopt the word " Shades" to their
bars ; and at the present time there is scarcely a public-house in the
Jcingdom but uses the term. The only place previously where the
word "Shades" was adopted was at a Vault near Old London
Bridge, where nothing was sold but wine measured from th« wood.
When known as "Wigney's Bank, from the other partners
having withdrawn from the firm, the banking business was carried
on at the premises which occupied the western entrance of the
Avenue in East Street. Mr. Isaac Newton "Wigney, M.P., who
was then sole proprietor, to the dismay and ruin of many of the
inhabitants, stopped payment on the 4th of March, 1842. The
chief clerk of the New Bank, as it was originally constituted, was
Mr. Thomas West, who, on the 1st of August, 1805, with Messrs.
Browne, Hall, and Lashmar, founded the Union Bank, their
neighbour, Mr. Daniel Constable, being the first person to open an
account with them ; Messrs. Hall, Lloyd, Bevan, and West consti-
tute the present firm. Mr. Lashmar left the Union Bank, and, in
conjunction with Mr. Mugridge, opened the Sussex Bank, in St.
James's Street, which closed its doors on the pressure of the panic
of 1825.
The panic was also the death-blow to the County Bafik, at tho
south-dast corner of Castle Square, which a few years previous had
been opened by Messrs. Tamplin, Creasy, and Gregory, thp latter,
— who was the manager of tho concern,— being the not^ Barnard
Gregory, who alternately was a banker's clerk— at Masterraan's,
S40 HI8T0EY OF BEIGHTHELMSTON,
London, and Wigney's, Brighton, — wine merchant, chemist and
druggist, editor of the BrigJiton Gazette, chapel building speculator,
theatrical performer, manager of the Sussex and Brighthelmston
Fire Insurance Company, and finally, as a public man, proprietor
and editor of an infamous Loudon newspaper, the Satirist, for a
frightful calumny published in which, on the ex-Duke of Bruns-
^vick, he was incarcerated one year in Newgate. Later in a life
which has but recently terminated, he speculated on a second wife,
an elderly maiden lad)^, the daughter of Mr. Thompson, a wealthy
public-house broker, of the Prioiy, Hampstead. The circumstance
of his marriage with this poor lady is an illustration of the character
of the man. He was passing the evening with some friends, when
the facility of getting a wife became the topic of conversation,
Gregory spoke with his usual confidence : he could get a wife
whenever he pleased — at a day's notice. Being rallied on his.
vanity, he off'ered to lay a wager that he would be married, and to a
woman of reputation, before the next night. The wager wa&
accepted — the stakes deposited. Gregory was the winner. Before
the next day was over he had proposed, was accepted, had a wife,,
and, in compliance with the conditions of the wager, had brought,
her to Brighton from London, where the marriage was solemnised,,
before the close of the twenty-four hours.
The London and County Bank, Pavilion Buildings, a branch of
the London and County Joint-Stock Banking Company, Lombard
Street, London, first opened in Brighton, at the south-east corner of
Prince's Place, in 1838. It removed to the present premises in
1853. Mr. John Geddes Cockburn is the Manager.
The Brighton Savings' Bank was established in Duke Street, at
the top of Middle Street, in 1817, with Mr. George Sawyer as
Actuary. His successor, Bichard Buckoll, became a defaulter, and
absconded. Mr. William Hatton is the present Actuary, and the
business is carried on in the JSTew Eoad, upon premises erected by
Mr. John Pabian, to the plan of Mr. Baxter, architect, on
the site pf the Eoyal Pavilion ice-well. Upon its removal from
Duke Street, the Bank occupied a portion of the property on the
east Bide of Prince's Place.
2f 0 other Banks are now iu existence in Brighton. The Unity
THE rTJBtIC INSTITUTIONS, CHAKITTES, AND ENDOWITENTS. 341
Joint-Stock Mutual Banking Association, about four years since;
had a branch of their establishment at the north-cast comer of North
Street, but its business was so limited that it soon closed its doors. The
National Savings' Bank Association (limited), 1, Pavilion Buildings,
had for a time a puny existence, and then, on becoming amalga-
mated with a like institution, was lost to public notice. The Bank
of Deposit, — branches of which were in all parts of the kingdom;
and the Parent Office in Pall Mall, London, — on premises next to
the London and County Bank, held a position in public confidence
for some years ; but in 1861, in consequence of Peter Morrison, the
Manager, becoming a defaulter and a bankrupt, and eventually
absconding, many hundreds of depositors were irretrievably ruined.
The District Savings' Bank, contiguous to the Odd Fellows' Hall,
Queen's Road, after enjoying an unenviable notoriety, and involving
many small capitalists in pecuniary difficulties, in 1861 abruptly
closed. Bill discounters and usurious money-lenders abound in the
town, their business being principallj- amongst those whose bills and
promissory notes are not recognised by the regular bankers, who
abstain from transactions that afibrd a probability of proceedings in
the County Court ; hence exorbitant bonuses and interest — which
no fair trading can meet — are exacted, and the non-fulfilment of
payment becomes the precursor of ruin.
The Fourth Estate of the Kingdom, the Press, is, foi* inde-
pendence of principles, well represented in Brighton. The oldest
locally established of this important institution is the Brighton
Herald, first published in September, 1806, the proprietors being
Mr. Matthew Phillips and Mr. H. R. Attree, at 9, Middle Street,
under the editorship of Mr. Robert Sicklemore. Its price was seven
pence, and such was the size of the sheet — upon each of which
there was a stamp of three pence half-penny, besides a duty of three
shillings and six pence upon every advertisement, — that it did not
contain more than a quarter the matter now sold for two pence.
From Middle Street the publishing office was removed to 13, North
Street, from whence, after between two and three years, it was
removed to premises on the site now occupied by 114, in the same
street, immediately opposite the North Street Brewery. Since
March 25th, 1810, the Brighton Eerald has been printed and pub-
342 HisTOBT o:^ BEIGHTHELMSTON.
lished in Prince's Place, by Mr. William Fleet, who, about twenty
years since was joined by his son, Mr. Charles Fleet.
The first number of the Brighton Gazette was printed and pub-
lished on premises beneath Donaldson's Library, Old Steine, on
the 22nd of February, 1821, by Mr. Edward Hill Creasy. In
November of the same year the business was removed to the
premises^ 168, North Street, where it has ever since continued to be
published. On January 22nd, 1824, Mr. John Baker became part
proprietor, and on the 26th of February, 1835, it was first printed in
Church Street, at the office adjoining the National Schools. The
last publication of the BrigJiton Gazette with the name of Mr. Creasy
attached thereto, was on the 18th of July, 1844, only a few months
prior to his decease. On the 28th of December, 1848, the paper
first bore the name of the present publisher, Mr. Charles Curtis, and
in the Autumn of 1852, the printing office was removed to the
Pavilion Dormitories. In professed opposition to the Brighton
Gazette, the Brighton Chroiiicle was published on Wednesday, the
6th of June, 1821, at 3, Prince's place, by Mr. Cummins; its
career, however, was very short.
The Brighton Guardian made its first appearance under the
management and editorship of Mr. Levi Emanuel Cohen, on the
31&t of January, 1827. It was enlarged on the 30th of November,
1830, and, on the 1st of January, 1851, it appeared as an eight
page — small size — publication. In its present size it was first
published on the 3rd of October, 1853. From the day of its first
issue to the present time, the printing and publication have taken
place on the same premises, 34, North Street. For some years
prior to the decease of Mr. Cohen, which took place on the 1 7th
of November, 1860, the Brighton Guardian was his sole property.
His brother, Mr. Nathan Cohen, is the present proprietor. Strong
party feeling, some few years since, started the Brighton Patriot, in
opposition to the Guardian ; but its existence was very ephemeral.
The Brighton Examiner, which since its first issue, January 18th,
1853, has continued the property of Mr. J. F. Eyles, was originally
published at 33, Western Road ; from whence it was removed to its
present printing and publishing office, in North Street, opposite the
Queen's Road.
THE PUBLIC IXSTITXTTIONS, CHAKITIE3, AND EXDOWMEXTS. 343
Consequent upon the abolition of the newspaper duty, the
Brighton Observer — the original of the local cheap press, — made its
appearance at 54, West Street, on the 28th of November, 1856. It
was first enlarged on the 27th of November, 1857. On the 28th
of December, 1858, the printing and publication of the Brighton
Observer, the property of ilr. Ebenezer Lewis, took place at 16,
King Street, where, on the 30th of September, 1859, it was
again enlarged; and on the 25th of July, 1862, the office waa
removed to the premises where it is at present printed and
published, 53a, Nortli Street, the building which was originally thd
first Theatre in Brigliton, and, then, in 1790, the printing-office
of Messrs. William and Arthur Lee.
The only other local newspaper now in existence is the Brighton
Times, printed and published by Mr. William Pearce, Bartholo-
mews; established the 28th of April, 1860. From time to
time, since the repeal of the stamp duty, speculators have started
the Sussex Mercury, Brighton Chronicle, &c., but only as errors
consequent upon the lack of experience, and upon the parade of
great professions.
The Aims-Houses, those termed the Percy Alms- Houses, six in
number, immediately north of Hanover Crescent, and bearing along
their fagade " These Aims-Houses were erected and endowed at
the request of the late Philadelphia and Dorothy Percy, 1796,"
were built by Mrs. Mary Marriott, for the reception of a similar
number of poor widows, of the Church of England, Avho have
received no parochial relief, agreeably to the testamentary instruc-
tions of Mrs. Philadelphia and Mrs. Dorothy Percy, —daughters of
the Duke of Xorthumberland, — who endowed them with the sum of
£48 per annum, which amount was doubled upon the demise of
Mrs. Mary Marriott. Two gowns and a bonnet are also allowed to
each widow every year, and a Duffield cloak once in three years.
By a bequest of Mr. James Charles Michell, in 1833, the sum
of £1 16s. is added to the endowment; and there is also £300
invested by Mr. Skinner, for repairs of vaults, and the surplus in
coals. Attached to the Percy Aims-Houses are other similar
dwellings, the two to the north and three nearest the south ha-v-ing
been erected by Mr. John Fabian, for Miss Wagner, tho sister of
\
S44 aiSTORT OP BEIGHTHELMSTOlf.
our much respected Vicar, coajointly with -whom was huilt that
which bears on its face the following inscription: "1861. In
pious remembrance of the late Marquis of Bristol. M. A. "W. —
H. M. "W." pleasingly expressive of the purport of its erection.
In unison with this grateful memento, the annexed address of
condolence was presented to the present Marquis : —
The Eev. the Vicar of Brighton, to the Marquis of Bristol,
Brighton Vicarage, February 24, 1859.
My dear Lord,
Enclosed is an address of condolence on the part of the Brighton Clergy.
I make myself responsible for the signature of Mr. Henry Elliott, now on the
Continent, because I know his deep feeling of affectionate gratitude to your
venerated Father, from whom he, like mjself, received countless benefits.
I have the honour to remain, my dear Lord,
Your Lordship's ever faithful servant,
H. M. Wagnee.
TO THE MAEQUIS OF BRISTOL,
ADDRESS OF CONDOLENCE ON THE PART OF THE CLERGY OP
BRIGHTON.
Through a long period of time we have been connected with your Father
by so many holy and endearing associations, that we hope you will
allow us the privilege of a fellowship with you even in the deep affliction which
it has pleased God now to send upon you. We know that sympathy belongs
indeed to One, and we earnestly pray that He, who only can, will make all grace
and comfort abound to your own heart, and to the hearts of all your family, under
your present bereavement.
But while we thus feel how little worth is all human consolation in our hoars
of deepest sorrow, we nevertheless trust that it may not be unacceptable to you at
this time to receive, as certainly it is most pleasant to us to render, the united
tribute of our respectful gratitude to the memory of your venerated father.
Associated as he was with us for so many years as a parishioner, friend, and a
benefactor, there are few who can appreciate, as we can, the extent and the self-
forgetfulnesB and the humility of his singular benevolence.
It would be very difficult for us to give adequate expression to our sense of
the devotedness with which he used his high station, his property, and his influence
for the promotion of those holiest interests of religion and charity, of which we
are in some measure the guardians and representatives in this Parish. There
are very few of us who have not personally experienced, in some good word or
work, the great kindliness of your father's character. To the poor, his whole life
copied Him who " went about doing good." Very many are there of the
humblest and most indigent, who would be the first to testify that they ever found
in the Marquis of Bristol a brother's love. While the monuments of his munifi-
cence which stand forth amongst us, the record to many generations of his pious
care for the souls, and bodies of his fellow men, are, we believe, well nigh
unparalleled in any parish, the Sussex County Hospital, with its commodious
THE PTTBLIC INSTITUTIONS, CnAMTIES, AND ENftOXnTENTS. 345
Chapel, the Church of St. Mark, our Parish Church in its restored beauty, and
our two Cemeteries, with many other noble or sacred Institutions scarcely less than
these, — all associated with his ildnie) — bear witness, not only to his vast benefi-
cence, but to the wisdom also with Which he selected the channels in which that
beneficence should How. And over all he threw such a suavity of manner and
beautiful simplicity, that it was only when the action had passed that we woke
up to the discovery of its greatness, which the grace of his presence had forbidden
us to see.
Accept, then, at our hands the assurance of the sorrowing affection, not of
ourselves alone, but of a whole parish, which feels itself, like you, bereaved ; and
permit us to add the prayer, that your father's God may pour upon you, and upon
your children, and upon your children's children, the rich inheritance of that
father's spirit of universal love.
H. M. Wagner, Vicar of Brighton.
Thomas Cooke, Perpetual Curate of St. Peter's,
C. E. Douglass, Curate of Brighton.
John EUerton, Curate of Brighton. *
"W. Mitchell, Curate of Brighton.
James Vaughan, Perpetual Curate of Christ Church.
Thomas Trocke, Perpetual Curate of the Chapel Eoyal.
C. D. Maitland, Perpetual Curate of St. James's.
H. V. Elliott, Perpetual Curate of St. Mary's.
Edward B. Elliott, Perpetual Curate of St. Mark's,
Spencer R. Drummond, Perpetual Curate of St. John the Evangelist.
Joseph Hurlock, Chaplain of the Sussex County Hospital,
A. D. Wagner, Perpetual Curate of St. Paul's Church.
J. H. North, Perpetual Curate of St. George's.
Randolph Payne, Assistant Curate of St. Paul's Church.
Charles Beanlands, Assistant Curate of St. Paul's Church,
Thomas Scott, Assistant Curate of All Souls' Church.
J. Chalmers, Perpetual Curate of St. Stephen's.
H. H. Wyatt, Perpetual Curate of Trinity Chapel.
Frederic A. Stapley, Assistant Curate of St. John the Evangelist.
Alexander Poole, St. Mark's Church.
Henry G. Cutler, Assistant Curate of Christ Church.
Thomas Coombe, Perpetual Curate of All Saints'.
W. Fleming, Assistant Curate of All Souls'.
John Allen, Chaplain Brighton Workhouse,
R. S. Smith, Perpetual Curate of All Souls' Chumh.
What may be very appropriately termed the "Wagner Aims-
Houses — which are without endowment, — arc for the benefit of
xinmarried women, — spinsters, — above the age of fifty, and who
possess, or are ensured the yearly income of £15 at the least.
Howell's Aims-Houses, which are not yet endowed, aro
situated in an open space of ground approached by iron gates on
the west side of George Street. They are eight in number, and in
346 HISTOET OF BEIGHTHEIMSTOK.
'the cenAre of the block of buildings, surmounted by a dial, is the
following" inscription : —
HOWELL'S ALMS HOUSES,
ErecUd 1859.
Supported by voluntary Contributions, for the reception of reduced Inhabitants
of Brighton and Hove, under the regulation of a Committee of Management.
The inmates of these houses are elected by the donors and
subscribers, and all persons not under 60 years of age, who have
resided in Brighton or Hove at least ten years previous to the time
of election, and have not received parochial relief during such,
period, are eligible.
These were built by Charles HoweU, Esq., Dial House, Hove,
upon groHnd valued at £1,000. It was the original intention of
this philanthropic gentleman to have bequeathed the ground and
the money for the erection of the houses, by will ; but with the
very laudable desire of seeing his benevolent intention realized
during his life time, Mr. Howell preferred perfecting his work him-
self, and he has vested the property in the following Trustees : —
Henry Michell "Wagner, Vicar of Brighton ; Charles Wellington
Howell, Kobert Upperton, jun., John Pankhurst, and Piercy George
Pankhurst. He has also conveyed to the above named trustees
two houses in George Street, the rents of which, about £26 a-year,
are charged, first with the repairs of the Aims-Houses, and then for
the general purposes of the Charity.
The original plan provides for five more houses ; for the erection
of which and the endowment of the whole thirteen the co-operation
of the public is solicited. May the anxious wish of Mr. Howell
that the whole of the buildings be completed and permanently
endowed, before it pleases the Almighty to remove him from this
sphere of his benevolent acts, he speedily realised.
For mutual benevolence no institution has a firmer basis than
the Manchester Unity, I.O.O.F., whose Hall for the Brighton
district, forms a prominent feature of the Queen's Eoad, where the
first stone of the building was laid on the 27th of June, 1853, by
Mr. Tamplin, the then High Constable of Brighton. Mr. John
Fabian was the builder of the edifice, upon a piece of ground which
was purchased for£500 of the Eev. James Edwards. The building
-fHE PUBLIC IN8TIT17TIONS, (JHAMTIES, AITD ENDOWMENTS. 347'
proceeded without interruption until the 27th of August, when a
Bill in Chancery, to restrain the erection, was filed by Mr. Alderman
Patching, who possessed property and resided immediately opposite
the Hall. The building was thus delayed ; but, on the 4th of
November, an appearance was put in on behalf of the Building
Committee, when the case, Patching v. Lubbins, came on for hear-
ing before Vice Chancellor Sir Page Wood. The plaintifi's plea
was, that in the covenant under which he bought the ground upon
which his premises stood, it was stipulated that no building, except
monuments or headstones, should be erected on the plot of land
opposite, which was an unburied-in portion of the Hanover Burial
Ground. Defendant's counsel argued the fact that plaintiff had per-
mitted the erection of the Dispensary on a portion of the same
ground, and had allowed two months to expire since the building waa
commenced before he filed his injunction; and further, that tho
building was not opposite, but a foot or two to the north of being
opposite. The case was argued at length, and the Vice Chancellor
gave a verdict for defendant, with costs.
The building then proceeded ; was formally opened on the 26th
of June, 1854; and its opening was shortly after celebrated Avith a
public banquet, at which the Mayor of Brighton, Lieut.-Colonel
Fawcett, presided. The total cost of the ground, building, fittings,
furniture, &c., was £3,000. Four Lodges of the Order hold their
meetings weekly in the Hall, and endeavours are being made to
establish Schools upon the premises for the education, at a reasonable
cost, of the children and orphans of members. Five other Lodges
meet in various parts of Brighton and Hove. The first Lodge, 118,
one of the oldest belonging to the Unity, was established in
Brighton, in 1822. The Widows and Orphans' Fund, in connexion
with the District, has been in existence twenty-one years, having
been established in 1841, audits members, with very few exceptions,
include the whole of the members in the Brighton District. It has
an accumulated capital of over £6,000, chiefly invested in deben-
tures on the rates of the town.
Lodges of the Brighton, London, and Nottingham Unities of
Odd Fellows, are held in various parts of the Borough, as are also
Lodges and Courts of the several Orders of Druids and Foresters.
348 HISTOli? OP BHIGHTHELMSTOIT.
The Free and Accepted Masons hold the Eoyal Clarence LodgCy
No. 394 ; the Royal Brunswick Lodge, 1,034 ; the Lennox Chapter
Lodge, No. 338; and the Royal Sussex Chapter Lodge, No. 1,034,
at the Old Ship Hotel, where also the Lodge of Instruction is held.
The Brighthelmston Dispensary, now known as the Brighton
and Hove Dispensary, from a branch being established in the latter
parish, was founded under the patronage of the Prince of Wales,
November 27th, 1809. The Institution -was opened on January
1st, 1810, on premises in Nile Street, contiguous to the Old
Vicarage, or, as it was then called, the Parsonage House. In
July 1811, it was removed to North Street, at the comer of
Salmon Court, opposite Ship Street, where in November, 1812,
was added the Sussex General Infirmary. Early in 1819, the joint
establishments were removed into Middle Street, the premises now,
occupied by the Young Men's Christian Association, the purchase
of -which property was completed the following year. The present
noble building of the Institution, — which is entirely supported by
voluntary contributions, — was built by Messrs. Cheesman, — Mr.
Herbert "Williams, architect, -^and was completed and occupied in
1 849, a committee of gentlemen, amongst whom Mr. Gavin E. Pocock,
Surgeon, was most zealous, having with untiring energy raised the
Ineans of entirely freeing the edifice from any debt.
At a meeting of the Governors and Subscribers of the
Dispensary, at the Old Ship Tavern, on. the 10th of February, 1813,
it having been announced that the Right Honourable the Earl of
Egremont, the Yice-President, had ofi'ered to contribute £1,000 to-
wards the erection of a County Hospital, the building of that
Institution for the reception of sixty patients was determined upon,
and contributions from other noblemen and gentlemen to the extent
of another £1,000 were at once made. It was not, however, till the
11th of December, 1824, that the erection of the building was fully
determined upon; and then the subscription of the noble Earl amounted
to £2,000 — afterwards increased to £3,000, — and that of Thomas
Read Kemp, Esq., £1,000 and the ground whereon the building
stands. The foundation stone of the main building was laid on the
16th of March, 1826, by the Earl of Egremont, Sir Charles Barry
being the architect. The Adelaide wing, to the east, Mr. Herbert
TUB PUBLIC mSTITTTTIOKS, CHAEITIES, AND ENDOVTMENTS. 849
"Williams, architect, and the Victoria wing to the west, Mr.
William Hallett, architect, have since been added. The
Institution is supported by legacies, benefactions, dividends of
stocks, and general voluntary contributions.
The Sussex and Brighton Infirmary for Diseases of the Eye
was formed at a public meeting of the inhabitants of Brighton and
the vicinity, held at the Bedford Hotel, August 27th, 1832, Dr.
Jenks being the physician, and 3Ir. (now Dr.) Pickford and ilr.
Seabrook, the surgeons. On the 12th of January, 1837, a resolu-
tion was passed by the Governors of the Institution that severe
cases and those for operation should have admission into the house,
then in Boyce's Street.
The first stone of the present buUding, in the Queen's Road,
was laid on the 29th of June, 1846, by the Eight Reverend Father in
God, Ashurst Turner, Lord Bishop of Chichester, from a design
after the temple of Theseus, from plans and specifications prepared
by Mr. Thomas Cooper, architect, the builders being Messrs. Wisden
and Anscombe. The cost of the site was £480, and of the structure
£1,273 7s., and the business of the Institution was transferred
from Boyce's Street to the new building on the 10th of ^November,
1846. At the annual meeting of the Governors, on the 14th of
January, 1847, resolutions were passed: —
That the Silver Trowel, with which was laid, 29th June, 1846, by the
Lord Bishop of the Diocese, the first stone of the builJiug, erected for the pur-
poses of the Charity, be presented to
James H. Pickford. Esq., M.D., M.R.I.A.
In acknowledgment of his successful efforts as the original promoter of the
Charity, of his unceasing exertions for the general interests of the Institution,
and in testimony of his talent and ability as a Medical Officer.
That the foregoing resolution be engraved on the trowel.
Dr. Pickford was, on the resignation of Dr. Jenks, appointed
physician, April 4th, 1853, and Mr. George Lowdell was then
elected surgeon. Upon the resignation of Dr. Pickford and Mr.
Seabrook, January 27th, 1859, the former was elected a Vice-
President, and the latter was appointed Consulting-Surgeon to the
Institution, which is supported by voluntary contributions.
The Blind Asj-lum at Brighton had its origin in 1 839, when
Mr. Moon the eminent teacher and printer for the Blind, becoming
350 HISTOET OP BHI&HTHELMSTON,
deprived of his sight, devoted his attention to the learning of
embossed reading ; and such was his progress that he soon, with the
benevolent assistance of a lady, advanced suflS.ciently to assist others
in learning also, first at their own homes, and then in a small class
at his residence. At length, the number becoming large, it was
considered advisable to establish a daily public school for the Blind
in Brighton ; and the use of a portion of St. James's Sunday School^
room was obtained for that purpose. This School, in which were
also a few Deaf and Dumb children, was opened on the 22nd of
October, 1839. In the following Summer, a Committee of Ladies
made an effort to raise the means for opening an Asylum to receive
as many of the Blind and Deaf and Dumb of the number thus
brought together,, as were desirous of partaking of the benefits
which such an Institution might afford. In the Summer of 1841,
it was deemed expedient to separate the Blind from the Deaf and
Dumb, which latter were retained in the Institution, but the Blind
pupils were re-formed into a daily school.
In 1842, the scholars were assembled for instruction in a class-
room of the Central National School ; and eventually the Rev.
H. M. Wagner — the Vicar, — raised sufficient funds to build premises
contiguous, in Jubilee Street, for the reception of twelve pupils,
who were admitted to the Asylum, as it was then termed, early in
January, 1846. Tear by year the number of pupils increased, till
at length, the accommodation on the premises being wholly inade-
quate to the demand, the Rev. H. V. Elliott, in the Summer of
1860, kindly gave the present site near the County Hospital, for the
erection of the New Asylum, to the building fund of which the
Bev. G. Oldham generously contributed the munificent donation of
£2,000, while the proceeds of a Bazaar amounted to £1,000 more.
The opening ceremony took place on Tuesday, 22nd October, 1861.
Mr. G. Somers Clarke is the architect of the structure, which
is Italian Gothic, of Venetian character, and is built entirely of
brickwork with stone dressings. The front is very fine. It has an
elevation of four stories, and by a somewhat liberal use of stonework
an almost palatial aspect has been imparted. The entrance is
double, and in a finely sculptured medallion over the door is an Angel
of Hercy teaching the Blind. The apex of t|ie doorway arch is con-
THE PITBIIC INSTITUTIONS, CHABITTES, AND ENDOVMENTS. 851 '.
tinued into a bracket whereon is placed a stone group of Charity •
Relieving the Blind. In the adjacent carving are introduced the ■
emblems of Faith, Hope, and Charity — the two latter being person-
ificd in the anchor and the pelican feeding its young from its own
body. The diffei-ent stories are shown by graceful mouldings on
which rest the stonework of the windows. Those belonging to the
two middle stories are very massive, the elegant proportioning of
the columns dividing the four lights being especially noticeable..
The harmony of the whole work is extremely good.
Mr. Moon, who, for his invention of a plan for teaching the
blind to read, has obtained a justly deserved world-wide fame,
continues his indefatigable exertions to ameliorate the condition of
his fellow-sufferers. Not only has he been enabled to emboss the
whole of the Bible in the English language, but portions of it also
in fifty more ; and he is daily receiving testimony from various
parts of the world of the high appreciation of his system, and of
the rich consolations of many of the blind who are thus enabled to
read the "Word of God for themselves.
The Brighton Institution for the Deaf and Dumb,— established
in 1 840,— first located at 12, Egremont Place, in 1842, and from
thence, in 1848, it was removed to the present building, in tho
Eastern Road, Messrs. Cheesman and Son being the architects and
builders. The new wing was added in 1854, Messrs. Wisden and
Anscombe being the builders.
Like the Blind Asylum, this Institution is supported by volun-
tary contributions. It has received several small benefactions,
amongst them £300 as a tribute of respect to the memory of tho
late Mr. George Gainsford, by his son and daughter, " in dutiful
remembrance of their father." To perpetuate also, the memory of
Miss Mohun, who was deeply attached to tho Institution, and
unwearily devoted her useful life and benevolent exertions in its
behalf, the "Hester Mohun Fund" has been commenced ex-
pressly to aid in educating or apprenticing a few poor deaf and
dumb children.
The Asylum for Poor Female Orphans, instituted in 1822, and
established in the Western Road, near tho comer of CroNvn Street,
for some years occupied the garden whereon uow slimd^ the north
S53 HI8T0KT OF BEIGHTHELMSTON.
Bide of Glo'ster Street. It was removed to its present situation in
the Eastern Road, — where so many monuments to Benevolence are
reared,— in 1853. The first stone of the building was laid on the
J 6th of June. The design of the Asylum is to save innocent and
unprotected Female Orphans from the too frequent misery attendant
on idleness and poverty, to instruct them in such branches of house-
hold employment and needlework as may qualify them to become
useful servants, while care is taken that their instruction and
employment shall be such as it is hoped may render them honest
.and industrious members of Society.
The Provident and Self-Supporting Dispensary was established
et 32, Middle Street, in 1837. Its object is to promote a feeling of
laudable independence among the working classes, that they may
help themselves, and so be prevented from seeking charitable assist-
ance from others ; to encoui'age habits of provident frugality ; and
to enable those to obtain immediate relief who are not able to pay
for it in the usual way, but are not in circumstances so indigent as
to justify an application to the gratuitous Dispensary.
The Brighton and Hove Lying-in-Institution and Dispensary
established in High Street, in 1831, has appropriate premises at
76, West Street, and by the means of subscriptions and donations
affords the requisite assistance and comfort to poor women at a time
when the evils of poverty are most keenly felt.
The Dollar Society, instituted in November, 1813, is so called
from every annual subscription to that amount entitling the
subscriber to recommend one person yearly to become a partaker of
the fund, such recipient not to be a person deriving assistance from
parochial resources. The Society extends its kindness to the
chamber of sickness and the abode of unforeseen calamity, and
particularly to deserving persons bending beneath the pressure of
years.
The Maternal Society, formed 28th July, 1813, provides child-
bed linen and other suitable articles of clothing, with nourishment
for poor lying-in married women, and such attentions and comforts
as their condition may require.
The Brighton Auxiliary Town Missionary and Scripture
ReadtTo' Society meet weekly at 25, Middle Street, with the view .
THE PUBLIC HJ-STITTTTIOXS, CHAHITIES, AlTD ElTDO^niKfTS. 353
to extend the knowledge of the Gospel amongst the poor of the town,
without regard to denominational distinctions.
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is a district
Committee for the Deanery of Lewes, and was established in 1815,
under the sanction of the Bishop of the Diocese, to promote the
diffusion of the Scriptures and Heligious Tracts amongst the lower
orders of society. The parent Society, in London, was formed by
members of the Church of England, in 1669.
The Provident and District Society, established in 1 824, under
most admirable arrangements, gives direct charitable assistance;
encourages the poor to make deposits, which are returned to them
in winter in useful articles, with the amount increased by a
premium ; and prevents mendicity by having an office, 108, Church
street, where beggars may be referred and have their cases
examined into. The Society has the town divided into districts,
for the purpose of visiting and inquiring into cases of distress. The
Benevolent Loan Fond, at the same office, grants pecuniary
assistance to those who, by misfortune, require temporary aid;
re-payments being arranged by easy instalments, and not subjecting
the borrowers to the usury of trading money-lenders.
The Brighton and Sussex Mutual Provident Society, Prince
Albert Street, commenced its operations in January, 1847. Its
rules and tables provide weekly allowances and medical aid in sick-
ness ; sums at death ; endowments ; and immediate and deferred
annuities ; it is the only local institution of the kind.
Bo wen, in his "Complete System of Geography,"* says,
" There are two considerable charity schools here, one for 50 boys,
who are taught arithmetic and navigation, and 20 girls, who are
put out to apprenticeship or services." These were termed Free
Schools, and that for boys was founded within the precincts of the
Bartholomews, in 1 725, by the Rev. Anthony Springett, who, in
addition to an annual subscription of 8s., in the year 1740 gave the
further sum of £25 per annum, for the education of twenty poor
boys belonging to the parish. In 1 735, Mr. George Beach left the
interest of £59 Is. 6d., and in 1781, the Pvight Honourable the
Two volumes, folio, London, 1717.
354 HISTORY OF BEIGHTHEIMSTON.
Countess of Gower gave the interest of £234 123. to the same
charity. The money, however, having been laid out in the short
annuities, the funds were not available to the intentions of the
founder, the school-house, therefore, and a small parcel of land
adjoining, were sold for £400, and in February, 1818, another
school, established upon its foundation, in the Lanes immediately
north of Black Lion Street, was opened, under the denomination
** N'ational School for Boys," the premises being sufficiently com-
modious to contain 300 youths, for education in reading, writing,
and arithmetic, and in the principles of the Established Church.
Another Pree School was founded by Mr. "William Grimmett,
for twenty boys, the children of parishioners, to be clothed, and in-
structed in reading, writing, arithmetic, merchants' accounts, navi-
gation, and the principles of the Established Church of England.
Mr. Grimmett had been instructed in the Eree School founded by
Mr. Springett ; and having afterwards been bred to the sea, he re-
alized by his industry above £10,000, nearly £2,000 of which —
now accumulated to £2,330 lis. 6d., producing an income of
£69 18s. 4d., — ^he bequeathed for the endowment of his School.
Some informality in his Will gave his heirs-at-law an opportunity of
contesting the legality of the bequest ; but his widow generously
maintained against them a suit in Chancery, and the validity of the
"Will was confirmed. But from the nature of the bequest, and the
disagreement that afterwards arose amongst the appointed Trustees,
the school was [not established before 1769. It is now managed
according to the directions of the devisor, by sixteen Trustees,
namely, the Vicar and three Churchwardens of the Parish, 'and
twelve other inhabitants of the town, chosen at a Vestry meeting,
among whom every vacancy by death, resignation, or removal from
the town, is in like manner to be always supplied by public election
of the majority of the parishioners, convened at a Vestry meeting
the 1st day of May annually ; and every vacancy in the School is
supplied by the election of the Trustees, or the greater part of them,
by ballot, at a public Vestry, of which notice shall be given on a
Sunday at the Parish Church, ten days at least before such meeting ;
no boy to be received into the school under the age of eight, nor
permitted to remain there after the age of fifteen years. Forty
THE PUBLIC INSTirmrONS, CHAEITIBS, AJTD ENDOWMEKTS. 355
boys are no-w educated on this foundation, at the National School,
in which it is merged.
The most remarkable man in connexion "vrith the Free School,
as founded by Mr. Springett, was Mr. John Grover, under whoso
care for instruction the inhabitants obtained signal benefit. He was
born of poor parents in Brighton, about the year 1648, and passed
his infancy and early youth in the lowest drudgeries of a country
life, and it was while tending a flock on the hills adjoining the
town that his youthful mind was often employed in exploring tho
power and relations of numbers; and when he was of sufficient
strength for the more laborious employments of agriculture, tho
moments of his leisure were still dedicated to study. On his spado
and shovel, with a lump of chalk, he worked his problems, and
calculated the motions of the tides and stars. The early acquire-
ments of this self-taught philosopher soon attracted public wonder
and investigation ; indeed, his intellectual powers and industry
coiild not pass without some notice and patronage ; and there is no
doubt he was chiefly assisted by the Scrase family, upon whose farm
he was employed, and the Eev. Mr. Falkner, the Vicar. Books,
paper, and time, were the only things his indefatigable genius
seemed to require ; and with such aid he soon became one of tho
best penmen and mathematicians of his time. Not long after ho
had thus established his fame for useful and abstruse science, he was
appointed master of the school, and his unambitious breast aspired
to no higher distinction, as he was enabled to apply the enthusiasm
of his genius to the cultivation of his favourite studies. This mode
of instruction, being that suggested by reason, not the initiativo
pedantry of schools, facilitated the attainment of the several
branches he taught. Navigation being the most necessary and
profitable science to the inhabitants of Brighthelmston, he taught it
with singular conciseness and precision. Mr. Grimmctt was amongst
the last of his pupils, as he died, universally respected, soon after
the commencement of the present century.
In 1788, in an apartment of the old Town Hall, a School of
Industry for Girls was established, under the patronage of Mrs.
Nathaniel Kemp and other ladies. It consisted of 150 girls, 70 of
whom were clothed in green, educated, and carefully initiated in
T 2
356 HISTOET OP BRIGHT'qiBaiSTOX.
the sentiments and practice of religion and industry. This School
is that known as the National School, the central or head huilding
of which Institution, erected in 1829 by Messrs. Stroud and Mew,
and subsequently enlarged by Messrs. Cheesman, is in Church
Street. The Gothic style of architecture is preserved throughout.
There is a shield with a scroll over the arched doorway of the
principal entrance containing the Arms of the Town and the inscrip-
tion " National Schools." Entering by the grand door of the
vestibule, three tiers of balconies present themselves, having stair-
cases leading to them and conducting to the several suites of rooms.
The hall, 50ft. high, is terminated by a groined roof. The Boys'
School is approached by an elegant flight of stone steps, the room is
75ft long, 35ft wide, and 20ft high, well lighted from the west, and
has also an entrance in Regent Street. The Girls' School-room,
which is of similar dimensions to the Boys', and immediately
above it, is approached by two additional flights of stone stairs. It
has a branch in Warwick Street, built by Mr. Ackerson. The
Infant Schools, in connection with the National Schools, are in Tipper
Gardner Street, Kent's Court, and "Warwick Street.
Swan Downer's School was founded in 1819, under the will of
Mr. Swan Downer, who in 1811 left the sum of £10,106 15s. 3d.,
for paying the expenses of providing a proper School-house for the
instruction of 20 poor girls of the parish in needle-work, reading, and
writing, and completely clothing them twice in every year, each of
such girls to have two suits of clothes at or on their election or
entrance. On the foundation of the said school he also provided that
out of the interest and produce of the trust funds — £303 4s — a
galary of £40 per annum should be paid to a competent school-
mistress, and the surplus applied to the education and clothing of
fifty girls, which has, since 1859, been carried on in a large room
temporarily rented by the Trustees in "Windsor Street. The first
.school was in Gardner Street, taken by the then Trustees at an
annual rent of £30, and at a loss of something like £400 in
appropriating the premises. A site for the erection of a New
School-house has been approved by the Trustees. It is situated in
North Street, adjoining Messrs. Smithers and Son's Brewery, and has
» frontage to the at^'eet of 33ft., and a depth of more than 60ffc.
•tSXi rUBLIC nCSTITUTIONg, CHAB1TEE3, AKD E!fDOWMENTS. 357
The situation thus selected combines two essentials, proximity to the
Parish Church, with which the founder connected the charity, and
a central position, so important to a day-school for the children of
the poor. The Union Schools, in Middle Street, were founded by
Mr. Edward Goflf, of Scotland Yard, London ; that for girls by a
donation of £400, in 1807, and that for boys by a legacy of £200
the following year. These schools, which are supported by volun-
tary contributions, were re-erected in 1837. The other National
Charity Schools, independent of Sunday Schools, are : British
Schools (Boys' and Girls'), North Lane; Ragged School, Dorset
Street ; Bagged Schools, Spa Street and Essex Street ; St. John's
Schools, Carlton Hill ; St. Nicholas' Church Memorial School,
Frederick Street ; St. Stephen's School ; Bethel Arch, on the Beach,
for Fishermen's children ; "Wesleyan Schools, Nelson Row ; St.
Mark's Church of England Schools, Rock Street ; St. Paul's, West
Street.
There are several public educational establishments in the town ;
the principal of which is the College. It was established January,
1847, at the top of Portland Place, on the premises now occupied by
J. Jardine, Esq., LL.D., and known as Portland House Boarding
School. The foundation stone of the present building, in Eastern
Road, was laid on the 27th of June, 1848, by the Right Rev.
Ashurst Turner Gilbert, D.D., Lord Bishop of Chichester, assisted
by the architect, Mr. G. G. Scott, of London, and the builders,
Messrs. "Wisden and Anscombe. A bottle was deposited under the
stone containing various papers connected with the College, and a
copy of the Tmes of that day. An elegant trowel, having a richly
carved ivory handle, and enclosed in a handsome mahogany case,
was presented to and used by the Lord Bishop on the occasion.
At first the principal front, which aiForded accommodation for 300
pupils, only was erected, since which has been built the Chapel
and other additions. The College is divided into two departments
—the senior and the junior. The pupils in the senior department
wear an academical dress. Students are admitted into the two
departments after nine and fifteen years of age respectively. The
education is of the very highest order, and will bear a favourable
comparison with that of any other Institution in England.
I
S5d mSTOKT OF BEIGHTSELMSTOir.
Patron, the Bishop of CMchester: Principal, the Rev. John
Griffith.
A short distance to the east is St. Mary's Hall, an institution
for educating the daughters of poor clergymen, established in 1836.
To the benevolence of the late Marquis of Bristol the building of
this institution is principally attributable. His benefactions -were
not few nor small ; they were, from first to last, every one of them,
the unsolicited spontaneous effusion of his noble heart.
His Lordship's first gift was £500, — to purchase a site for the
building, which was originally designed to look east and west, with
only frontage for the present lodge and the carriage-drive to the
Hall. On the land so bought St. Mary's Hall stands. But before
the excavations for the first design were finished, it was judged best to
turn the building, so as to look north and south, and to purchase the
additional frontage to the south. The piece of land at the back
was given by Mr. Enos Durant. These together cost £1,100, in
addition to the munificent ^gift of £500 from the Marquis, which
was given before a sod was turned. In September, 1849, his
Lordship gave to St. Mary's Hall its drilling room, which before had
been a painting room, as a free gift ; and, moreover, sold to St.
Mary's Hall, for £500 (about half its cost), No. 6, Hervey Terrace,
which had been connected with the drilling room. In 1842-3, he
gave a donation of £200, to mitigate the loss which feU on the
Institution, in consequence of a secret and outstanding mortgage
on the play-garden and kitchen-garden, which had been purchased
for £500. The Trustees were obliged to pay £700 more to reclaim
the land, after it had been walled-in and stocked. The last gift of
his Lordship was a cottage and half an acre of land at the north-
west extremity of the premises, together with his share of right in
the road leading to it. This gift was folly worth £400, and was
intended as an encouragement for the establishment of an Infant St.
Mary's Hall, which has not yet been carried out. President, Lord
Bishop of Chichester; Secretary and Treasurer, Rev. H. Yenn
Elliott.
THE CSTJllClIES AKl) CltAWtS. 359
CSAPTEK XXX.
THE CHURCHES AND CHAPELS.
Immediately in connexion with St. Mary's Hall, is St. Mark's
Church, Kemp Town. This is another instance of the benevolence
of the late Marquis of Bristol. In 1838-9, he conveyed to the
Trustees of St. Mary's Hall the land on which the Church now
stands. After the conveyance thereof, and when the land was no
longer his own, such was his zeal to hasten the erection of St.
Mark's, that, at the expense of some £2,000, he actually built the
carcase of the Church, roofed it in, and glazed its windows. If the
Church Commissioners would have sanctioned it, he originally
designed entirely to build and complete the Church himself.
Baffled in that desire, and feeling at his age the uncertainty of
life, he made over the property to the Trustees of St. Mary's Hall,
in the confidence that the interests of that Institution would induce
them, sooner or later, to complete his purpose. After eight years of
ineffectual effort and negociation, St. Mark's Church was at last
finished, and consecrated on St. Matthew's Day, September 21st,
1849; and for some years his Lordship was a worshipper in that
house of prayer. The cost of its completion and of the endowment,
in addition to his Lordship's free gift of the site and the carcase,
was not far short of £5,000. For this expense one of the Trustees
became personally responsible, on account of the immense value of
the Church, and its gratuitous accommodation to St. Mary's Hall.
The subscriptions and collections entrusted to him amounted to
£4,832 5s. 8d., of which sum Lord Bristol contributed a benefaction
of £500.
In grateful remembrance of his Lordship, a splendid Memorial
"Window and Monumental Tablet were erected to his memory, in
the Church, in 1860. The expense of the Window was defrayed
by subscriptions, chiefly by the members of the congregation, and
that of the Tablet by the Eev. E. B. Elliott and Lawrence Peel,
Esq.
The Memorial "Window is an elaborate work of art in the
Gothic style, the subjects of the paintings being well selected fro
sacred history. The centre compartment has two divisions. la
360 HISTORY OF BEIGHTHELMSTOir.
the upper division is the ascending Saviour, with His arms stretched
out iu the act of blessing His Disciples. The lower division
represeats the figure of St. Mark, vmting the concluding verses of
his Goapel. In the north compartment, the subject is the Lord
descending, after the Paschal Supper with His Disciples, from
Jerusalem towards Gethsamane ; the Disciples are sorrowing at the
thoughts of His speedy departure from them, and He is comforting
them with the hope of His going to prepare for their re-union in
Heaven, The south compartment contains a group of Disciples
looking towards the ascending Saviour, in the upper central window,
whilst two angels address them — as recorded in Acts I., ch. ii.
The Monumental Tablet is of Caen stone, bearing the following
inscription in Latin : —
FENESTRA
ORIENTALTS TRIPARTITA HUJnS ECCLESLK
A QUIBUSDAM AMICIS HIC SACRA COLENTIBUS
ALIISQUE OPPIDI HUJUSCE CIVIBUS,
QRATO ANIMO POSITA EST
In Mzmmam
FREDERICI GTJLIELMI, PRIMI MAECHIONIS DE BRISTOL.
NOBTLTTATE INSIGNIS, MUNIFICENTIA INSIGNIOR,
DIVITIIS NGN SIBIMET, SED ALUS, UTI DELECTATUS EST.
ECCLESIAM HANC,
PROPRIIS SUIS SUMPTIBUS QUOAD MUROS EXTRUCTAM,
CULTUI DIVING DEDTCANDAM IN ALIORUM MANUS TRANSTULIT.
AULJE SANCTiE MARI^, PROXIME ADJACENTI,
AGRUM PRETIOSUM PRO SITU DONAVIT.
HOSPITALI BRTGHTONENSI SACELLUM ADDIDIT.
CCEMETERIUM PABOGHIALE TRANS COLLEM LARGE AMPLITTCAVIT.
USaUE AD EXTREMAM SENECTUTEM VITA PROTENSA,
PACULTATIBUS MENTIS VIX LANGUIDIORIBUS
CORDIS BENEVOLENTIA, UTI PRIUS, MINIME IMMINUTA FRTJEBATUR.
TANDEM, MORBO LETHALI CORREPTUS,
RELIGIONIS C0NS0LATI0NTBU8
8ACRAQUE COMMUNIONE, NANU FILII IPSIUS MINISTRATA, BEFECTUS,
PLACIDE, FAMILIA SUA CIRCUMSTANTE, IN FIDE CHRISTI OBDORMIVIT.
QUOD ILLIUS MORTALE ERAT
IN CETPTA FAMILIARI SUBTER ECCLESIAM ICKW0RTHIEN8BM SEPULTUM
JACET.
IBI, UT SPERAMUS, BEATAM RESURRECTIONEM EXPECTAT,
QUANDG QUI OLTM ASCENDIT
KUBSU8, SECUNDUM PK0MI8SUM, GLORIOSE DESCENDET ;
SUOS SIBI UNDIQUE ET MORTUOS COACTURUS.
JESUS HOMINUM SALVATOR.
The base of the Tablet bears the Escutcheon of the House of
THE CBrtmCHES A»D CHAPELS. 3G1
Bristol. On a brass plate, that extends under the whole window, is
the following Latin inscription : —
in iHemonam
HONORARISSIMAM FREDERICI GULIELMI,
PEIMI MARCHIONIS DE BRISTOL.
FUNDATORIS HUJUS ECCLESI^.
Nati, A.D. 1769; Moetii, xv. Mar. 1859.
The present Marquis of Bristol bore the expense of the
enclosure of the Chancel and the painting of the walls in a style
accordant with the new ornamental window, thus completing the
work.
The Chapel in Prince's Place, subsequently named by special
Act of Parliament the Chapel Eoyal, was projected originally for
the accommodation of the increasing number of visitors, and
especially to lull an outcry prevailing at the time in consequence o f
the non-attendance of the heir apparent at any place of worship
during his periodical residence in Brighton. The comer stone was
laid with masonic honours by H.Pt.H. George, Princo of Wales,
E.G., G.M., &c., on the 25th November, 1793. Divine service
was performed in the building, which was unconsecrated until the
year 1803, by various clergymen connected with the Court, and
only during the season. Among them may be named Archbishop
Moore, Bishop Horsley, and Bishop Home, the latter of whom
preached his celebrated published sermon there, on the text, " The
sea is His, and He made it " The Prince regularly attended, and
the chapel was thronged with the nobility and gentry. A story is
told that H.R.H finally took umbrage at some very personal
remarks spoken at him from the pulpit by the Ecv. "W. Brooke,
who had taken for his text the words, " Thou art the man." Mr.
B. was then Curate of Brighton, and had been suddenly requested to
take the duty in consequence of the indisposition of the appointed
clergyman. The Prince never again entered the chapel, and
curiously enough Mr. Brooke soon after quitted the estabUshad
church and officiated for some years in a buildkig, erected by certain
of his followers, in Church Street. The last occupant of the Royal
Closet was H.E.H. the late amiable Princess Augusta, who died
862 HISTOfit OF BRtGSTSELMSTON.
in London in 1840. This chapel was the last place of public
worship in which H.R.H. was enabled to appear. In 1803,
during the incumbency of the Eev. T. Hudson, it was thought
desirable by him, as Vicar of Brighton, to secure the building as a
Chapel of Ease to the Parish Church, St. Nicholas. He held the
freehold, and obtained an Act, 43rd Geo. III., cap. 91, constituting
the Church a perpetual curacy, and reserving to himself and his
successors ip. the Yicarage the right of nomination. The incumbent
is subject solely to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Chichester,
" as if the curacy of the said chapel were a presentative Yicarage."
It may be mentioned that under the special Act, the perpetual
Curate is required to solemnize baptisms and churchings (marriages
are exempted), and empowered to demand double the fees usually
received at the Parish Church for the like duties. After Mr.
Hudson's removal from Brighton, the lay property of the chapel
passed, by purchase, to his successor (Eev. Dr. R. J. Carr) and
others. The present 'proprietors are E. Sedly THstone, Esq., of
Alverstoke and Moulse-coombe, E. C. Cox, Esq., of Taunton, and
Eev. Thomas Trocke, M.A., the present Incumbent. The building
externally is very plain, having none other decoration than a fine
cast of the Eoyal Arms in patent stone, on the pediment over the
central window in front. The interior, however, is somewhat elegant.
The Eoyal Closet still remains, and the Pulpit, Desk, and Altar
arrangements are very handsome. Over the latter, there is a valu-
able Painting of " The Crucifixion," by Van Een, a pupil of
Vandyke. The organ has two sets of manuels. There are sittings
for about 800 persons, of which 150 are thrown open to the public.
St. Peter's Church was commenced in 1824, the first stone
being laid the 8th of May. It is a beautiful Gothic structure of
Portland stone, embellished with various decorations, and from its
combined elegance and situation forms one of the most striking
features of the town. The interior is divided into three aisles, the
principal of which runs through the body of the Church, leading
fromvthe chief entrance to the altar, over which there is a magnificent
stained glass window representing the Evangelists and the Apostles,
which was presented by the Vicar, the Eev. H. M. Wagner. The
Church was designed by the late Sir Charles Barry, built by Mr.
TiiK LATE Mr. EowAKn Jesse. — In the persoa
of ilr. Eilward Jesse, the veteran ualuralist, whose deatlk /-t) . ~^,
occaiTfd on Saturday last at his residence at Bri>;litoD,at the / O /j//^7'a 2^ -^ tiui.
rifle age of 88 years, society has lost cte of the last liokfli »
which counected it with the Court of George III., aud also
oue of the oldest and most respected ineinbers <it the guild
of literature. He was the bccou J son and fouri!) child ot
the late Jtev. Williani Jesse, a divine of some note in hia
day, who died at an ndvanceJ age in 1814 ; and the ^'randsoa.
of tiie Rev. William Jesse, who, while holding tho
vicarage of W'ellinjjton, in Somerset, had tlie cele^
brated Jjishop Home as his curate. Mr. El>vard Jesso
was born at his father's parsonage, Hutton Cran.swick,:
near Halifax, Yorkshire, on the 14th of January, 1780^
and received his early education tii-st under a clergy-i
man at Leicester, aud afterwards underaFrencli I'rolestanti
«mif/re at ISristol. In ITJf'; through the intiuence of Mr,
VVilberforce, he was appointed to a clerksliip in the San
Douiiogo-office, where his knowledc;e of Prrnch recom-
mended hiiD to the notice of Lord Dartmouth, who mada
him his private secretary when ho came to be President oE
the Board of Control. 'I'iie snine nobleman, on accepting the
office of Lord Steward of the Household, reconimeinled Mr,
Jesse to tlie notice of the King anii of other members of the
Court at Windsor aud at Kew. Having held for some time
a commission as lieutenaiit-eolouel of the Birmingham,
Volunteers, under his patron and friend Lord D.irtmouth,'
and afterwards that of captain in the Leiccstersliire Militia,
Mr. Je->se was appointed by Mr. Sylvester Dou;,da3 (after-
wards Lira Glenbervie) lo the post of Dopuiy-aurveyor
of the Royal Parks antl Palaces. In this capacity
the knowled'^'e of natural history which he had picked
up as a child stood him in good stead, and he wa»-
enabled to effect many useful and pernianeut improve*
rncuts in the Royal residences and gardens, more espo"
cially at Windsor aud at Hampton Court Palace. Mr..
Jesse held under George III. and IV. the honorary post of
Gentleman of the ^Ewry at Windsor Castle ; and Lord
Liverpool, during his premiership, bestowed upon him, ua«
solicited, a Commissiouersbip of Hackney Coaches. ThisposS
he retained until the abolition of the o*ce, when he retired,
on a well-earned pension. Mr. Jesse spent the greater part of
his long life in theneighbourhoodof Windsor, Hampton Court,
and Richmond ; but in ISiii he removed to Brighton, where
his tall, handsome figure aud courtly manners will long be
remembered, and where he took an active part iu t!ie esta-
blishment of " the Fishermen's Home." As an acknow-
ledgment of his services to the town his bust was placed
by subsci-iption, iu 18(J4 or 1805, in the great room of the
Pavilion. Sir. Jesse was the author of Olcuniniis in Natural
History, Anecdotes of Boas, A Summer Day at Eton and
Windsor, &c., and tlie editor of White's Se lloi-ne .xnii Walton
and nMon'sAnolcr. He also was a frequent contributor in his
day to the columns of Tht Times, tho Gentleman's Maga-
zine, Bcntlo/s MisceUuny, aud Once a IVce.':. lie was
twice married, and his widow survives him ; his first
wife was a daughter of the late Sir John Morri^
aud a relative of his early friend and }.atron. Lord
Dartmouth. By her he has left three ciiil.inii— two
married daughters, Mrs. Ciirwen and Mrs. Houstoun.
and also a son, Mr, John Heueage Jesse, who is well
known to the literary world as the author of The Court of
England mi icr the Stuarts and under the House »/ Hanover,
Memoirs of the Pretender, Memoirs of Otorye Sehnjn, and
also Memoirs of the JAfe and lieiyn of Oforije III., vnh'
hsbed last vear aud reviewed at considerable leni^tii in these
eoluiiHiS. Mr, Jesse, by observation and experiment, added
considerably to our knowle.lge of the animal creation.
At the time fof his death he was oae of the senior ma-
y^'Z
g^tratesfor Middlesex, having been put into thecommissiOQ
of tlie iJeace in order to control the visitors who came to
see Hampton Court Palace and were in the habit of com-
mitting depredations on the gardens. .
/
a2il[UtMHJl, XJJ UW JLXJ , ^^j iJ^x„.^, .^.. ,
(Second Issue), 80 to 82; ditto (1864), 85^ to 86^;
ditto (Debentures), 89 to 90 ; Greek, 12^ to 13';
ditto (Coupons), 5^ to 5| ; Italian (18()5), 74 to 7<> ;
ditto (JVIaremman.i Railway), 49 to 51 ; Mexi-
can, 16^ to Jr» ; Moerish, 98 to 100; New Granada,
131- to 13| ; ditto (3 per cent.), 34 to 35 ; ditto (De-
ferred), Gj to 0| ; i'eruvian (1SG5), 78i to 79^;
ditto (18G2), 94 to 95; i^ortu'.mese (1SG3, ^c), 39 to
40 ; ditto (Scrip), -^ to | pm. ; Russian (1822), 84
to 85 ; ditto (1850), 85 to 86 ; ditto (3 per cent.),
62* to 531; ditto (1862), 84 to 85; ditto (An<rlo-
Dutch), 87 to 88 ; Sardinian, 72 to 74; Spanish,
36^ to 37i ; ditx,o (Deferred), 34^ to 35i- ; Turkish
(1854), 86 to 88 ; ditto (1858), 59 to 60 ; ditto (18G2),
63 to 64; ditto (1863), 53 to 55 ; ditto (5 per cent.),
33^ to 33| ; ditto (18G5), 56 to 57 ; ditto (4 per
cent.), 101 to 103 ; Austrian, 52 to 53 ; Dutch (2^
ger cent..), 54 to 56; Italian (1861), 48i to 49";
rnited States' Bonds (5-20, 1882), 71^ to 72^ ; ditto
(1884), 69 to 71 ; ditto (1885), 70| to 71 ; ditto
(1868), 87 to 89 ; ditto (1374), 72 to 74 ; ditto
(1904), 6Gi to 67 ; Massachusetts, 89 to 91 ; Vir-
ginia, 52 to 56 ; and ditto (6 per cent.), 32 to 34.
The last price from Paris this evening was 69f.
42c., showing a further advance of an eighth.
In the foreign exchanges this afternoon, with the
exception that Italian rates were more in favour of
that country, no material variations occurred from
ttie quotations by last post.
This being the last day of the quarter, as well as
settling day in the Stock-Exchange, there was a
good demand for money at the Bank mminium of
2 per cent.
The su m of 4,O0OZ. in gold was taken from th»
Bank to-day.
The screw steamer Laplace, at Southampton, from
the River Plate, has brought 33,000Z.; and the
Hermann, from New York, 45,000^
The rapid advance in cotton during the past few
days has had the effect of checking business at
Manchester. At Liverpool the price of the staple
has been maintained to-day, but the proportionate
rise asked by the Manchester manafactiirers appears
not to have been responded to.
Messrs. Bischoffsheim and Goldschmidt have to-
day issued proposals for a Spanish Colonial 8 per
Cent. Loan, in 2,335,0©OL stock, with dividend from
the 1st of March, at the price of 93, payable
in instalments extending to the 20tb of August
next. The bonds arc to be redeemed at
par within 15 years by a cumulative sink-
ing fund, which, together with the interest, is
secured on the revenues of Cuba, Porto Rico,
and the Phi-lippine Islands, for the wants of which
possessions the loan is raised. Looking at the pre-
sent price of the Spanish Three per Cents., the con-
ditions appear satisfactory, but it must he borne in
mind that the old loans have the advantage of being
odicially current on the London Stock-Exchange,
while the present one will be liable to be excluded.
THE CHTTBCHES AND CHAPELS. 363
Eanger, and consecrated 27th January, 1828. Incumbent, Rev.
Thomas Cooke, M.A.
The following are the names of the trees planted in St. Peter's
Church-yard, with their symbolical description : —
Cedar of Lahanon — being the tree selected by Solomon for
building the Temple of Jerusalem ; Weeping Willow — a native of
Babylon, and the tree on which the unhappy Israelites hung their
harps when they bemoaned the loss of Jerusalem ; Sycamore — >
the tree on which Zaccheus climbed to see Christ pass on His way
to Jerusalem ; Thorn — to remind us of the Crown of Thorns ; Aspen
— it being the tree of which the Cross is said to have been formed ;
Lime — the principal papyraceous tree of the ancients, and on the
bark of which the Scriptures were probably first written ; Ash, — ■
esteemed a sacred tree in ancient times, and one to which the
Serpent is said to have a strong antipathy ; Plaiie — the favourite
tree of the Greeks, and under whose shade the Athenian philosophers
retired to study ; Birch — the tree from which the Lictors made their
fasces ; Elm — the funeral tree of the Romans, and the cofl&n timber
of Britons ; Cyprsss — the funeral tree of aU Eastern nations ; Yew
— the funeral Yew so famed in war, and a tree consecrated and
dedicated to the grave ; Arlor Vifce — although the tree of life, it
shows that immortality is not the lot of anything terrestrial ; ITollt/
— as being used in the decorations of churches at sacred festivals ;
Box — the plant formerly used in the feast of the Purification of the
Blessed Virgiu ; Poplar — a plant held sacred by the Romans, and
the tree used to mark the boundaries of their lands ; Maple — the
tree of which the bowl of hospitality was formed in days of yore ;
Pine— " And the tall pines for fvitnve navies,"— Bant utile lignum
Navigm Pimis, (the useful pine for ships,) "To thee I consecrate
the pine:"— in Pagan days it was consecrated to Diana; Bay— the
" Laurus Nobilis " of the ancient warriors, the crown of our Poet
Laureates, a supposed protection from lightning, and a purifier of
pestilential air; Laurel— as an honourable badge for those who
bravely defend their country and their laws ; Oak— once the refuge
of a British Monarch, and ever the best bulwark of our Church and
State.
Of all the places of worship in the town not one has a more
364 BlSTOaY OF BKIGSTHELMSTOff.
interesting history attached to it than the Countess of Huntingdon's
Chapel — commonly known as North Street Chapel, — facing the
'New Road.
Before entering into the particulars of this Chapel the follow-
ing anecdote may not be deemed uninteresting, as it is somewhat
connected with the subsequent motives of Lady Huntingdon* build-
ing a religious edifice in the town : — In the year 1755, the illness of
the youngest son of the Countess induced her ladyship to come to
Brighton for the benefit of sea-bathing. About this time the
following singular circumstance occurred, which Lady Huntingdon
related to the Eev. A. M. Toplady, and which is extracted from the
manuscript in the Posthumous Works of that gentleman, published
by the executors in 1780 : — " A gentlewoman who lived a little way
out of Brighthelmston dreamt that a tall lady dressed in a particular
manner would come to that town, and be an instrument of doing
much good. It was about three years after this dream that
Lady Huntingdon came to Brighton. A few days after her Lady-
ship's arrival, the above gentlewoman met her in the street,
and, making a full stop, exclaimed ' Oh ! Madam, you are come.*
Lady H., surprised at the singularity of such an address from an
entire stranger, thought the woman was bereft of her senses.
'What do you know of me?' asked the Countess. 'Madam'
replied the gentlewoman, ' I saw you in a dream three years ago,
dressed just as you are now,' and proceeded in the relation of her
dream to the Countess. This person was, in consequence of her
acquaintance with Lady H., converted in a few weeks, and died in
the triumph of faith about a year after.
About three months after her Ladyship's arrival she visited a
poor soldier's wife who had just been delivered of twins, and
administered to her temporal and spiritual wants. It happened
that next to that room was an oven belonging to a baker's shop>
thither the people flocked for bread. Overhearing the pious con-
versation, some of the poor women sought and obtained admission,
and from time to time they met there and conversed on religious
topics. The news of the religious labours of a person of rank
* Lady Selina Shirley, born 1717, married to Theophilus Earl of Huntingdon,
3rd June, 1738, and died in 1799, aged 82.
THE CirtTECnES AXD CHAPELS. 365
■V79S soon scattered through the town, and the people began to be
anxious of doing more good than was yet accomplished. The
Countess sent for her Chaplain, the Rev. George Whitefield. He
came, and preached his first sermon in a field at the back of the
"White Lion Inn, ^N'orth Street. A little society was formed in
consequence, and after a time there was a growing anxiety for a
place wherein they might hold their meetings. The Countess would
have been glad to have provided a house of meeting, but at that time
her funds were exhausted, she having already given some hundred
thousand pounds to the cause of God. She, however, devised a plan
for raising the necessaiy means ; she sent for her jeweller, opened
her casket of jewels, and disposed of them, the following account of
which cannot fail to interest : —
£ 8. (1.
Two 13 X drops 400 0 0
.Twenty-eight 13 X 3 drops 90 0 0
Thirty-seven pearls, at £4 ISs each 175 15 0
Seed pearls 10 0 0
Gold Box 23 0 0
£698 15 0
Her Ladyship at that time lived in a house which formed a
part of North street, — the business of the town then being trans-
acted in the Lanes, — and built a little Chapel with these funds at the
back of her private house, on the site of the present chapel, which
was opened in the Autumn of 1761, the Rev. Matthew Madden
preaching the opening sermon. It had only been opened six years
when it was found to be too small for its congregation, and, in
February, 1767, it was enlarged and re-opened by the Eev. M.
Madden and the Rev. G. "WTiitefield. In 1774 it was taken down
and rebuilt, this time at the expense of Miss Norton, a friend of the
Countess, who lived in an adjoining house. In 1 775 it was re-opened,
for the third time, by the Rev. W. Romaine, the then Rector of St.
Ann's, Blackfriars. In 1810, a farther enlargement was found to bo
necessary, and it was then made capable of accommodating 1,000
persons.* In 1821 another considerable enlargement took place,
* An interesting circumstance was recorded in the census of 1851 ; it was
said there, concerning North Stieet Chapel, that it was a huildiii^' capable of
holding a thousand people, hut. there were present on the morning of the ceiuui
eleven htmdred.
866 HISTOET OP BMGHTHEIMSTON.
making it capable of holding 1,500 persons. It was again enlarged
in 1842, — when the chapel-house was thrown into the body of the
place, — to its present condition.
Among the celebrated Ministers who have preached there,
besides those already mentioned, may be named, Kevs. A. M.
Toplady, Berridge, Jones, Fletcher, Henry Yenn, Dr. Rawes, — the
founder of the London Missionary Society, — and the late lamented
Pastor, the Eev. Joseph Sortain. The Eev. J. B. Figgis is the
present Pastor.
Union Street Chapel was erected, after the repeal of the Non-
Conformist Act, in 1698, and for upwards of one hundred years
continued in the hands of the Presbyterians. It now belongs to
a congregation of Dissenters of the Independent denomination. In
1810 it was considerably enlarged, under the Pastorate of the Eev,
Dr. Styles. In 1823, the Eev. J. N. Goulty, at the earnest request
of the congregation, accepted the Pastorate. At that time there was
a debt of £1,000 on the Chapel, only about half of which had been
provided for before he took the office. The attendance so increased,
especially at evening services, that it was found desirable, in the
Summer of 1825, to have it taken down and entirely re-built. The
expenses of this alteration were immediately subscribed by the con-
gregation, except about £500, which was lent upon debentures, to be
taken up in five years, which were ultimately satisfactorily settled.
It is now capable of seating nearly 1,000 persons. In January, 1862,
after 38 years' indefatigable labour, the Eev. J. N". Goulty resigned
the Pastorate, and was succeeded by the Eev. E. Yaughan Pryce,
M.A., LL.B.
Trinity Chapel is situated in Ship Street, and was built in
1817, by Messrs. Wilds, at the sole expense of Thomas Eead Kemp,
Esq., M.P., who officiated personally until 1825, when it was
purchased by the Eev. Eobert Anderson. It has undergone several
alterations, and is at present used as a Chapel of Ease to the
Church of England. The interior is extremely handsome. In
the centre of the ceiling rises a small dome, partly covered with
glass, which adds to the light, and gives a free ventilation of air.
The Eev. Henry Herbert Wyatt, M.A., is the present Incumbent.
Wesleyan Chapel, Dorset Gardens, was erected in 1808, and
TRINITY CHAPEL BRIGHTON
Sub." B" HA»»» MnWKtMl SfwEIT ST«tEr.l8J3
L'^
r"
TRINITY CHAPEL BRIGHTON
^
THB CmmCHES AND CHAPEIS. 367
is capable of accommodating 700 persons. There is no settled
Pastor to the congregation, but it is supplied with ministers appointed
by the Conference. In connexion with this Chapel are the
"Windsor Street and Upper Bedford Street (Zion) "Wesleyan Chapels.
St. James's Chapel, on the north side of St. James's Street,
was built in 1810. The Duke of Marlborough, on being apprized
that the scheme for the erection of this Chapel was on foot, and
that the expences attending it would be covered by voluntary con-
tributions, with that liberality which so distinguished him durin"-
his residence in Grove House, instantly subscribed £100, and
expressed a hope, on doing so, that — to use his own words — "the
playhouse method of receiving shillings for admission, as at the
Chapel Royal, would not be adopted when the building was
completed." His Lordship's hopes were fully realized, and the
Chapel, being built by shares, was called a Free Chapel. Some
few years after its erection, in consequence of the congregation
dissenting from the Established Church, it was taken by the late
Nathaniel Kemp, Esq., of Ovingdean, who purchased all the
shares, became sole-proprietor, and had it duly consecrated.
The property has now passed into the hands of his widow and
children. The Rev. C. D. Maitland, the present Incumbent, was
nominated in February, 1828. In 1836 the school-room was
built adjoining the Chapel, wherein about 250 children of both
sexes have been religiously instructed every Sunday since that
time, and 130 girls have been daily receiving an useful education.
St. Margaret's Chapel is situated in St. Margaret's Place, on
the west side of Cannon Place. It was built, in 1 825, as a Chapel
of Ease. This Chapel is "proprietary," though consecrated under
special Act of Parliament. The Rev. Edmund Clay, B.A., who was
appointed in February, 1856, pays a rental of £375 per annum, and
all expenses of repairs and others incidental to the due performance
of Divine "Worship : averaging over £200 per annum. In connexion
with this Chapel are the Industrial Girls' School, built by the Rev.
E. Clay, in 1856, at a cost of £1,600 ; the Youths' Evening School,
in Cannon Street, and an Infant Nursery, in Regency Square.
St. George's Chapel, built, in 1825, imder a special Act of
Parliament, in St. George's Road, and directly opposite the
368 HI8T0EY OP BEIOHTIEELMSTON.
Hospital, at the solo expense of Thomas Read Kemp, Esq., is
capable of holding about 1,200 people. The Rev. J. S. M. Anderson,
Chaplain to the Queen and Queen Dowager, officiated for a number
of years, and was very popular. He was succeeded by the present
Incumbent, the Rev. J. H, North, M.A.
St. Mary's Chapel, St. James's Street, was erected in 1827,
This Chapel is built after a model of the Temple of Nemesis, at
Athens. Incumbent and Patron, Rev. H. V. Elliott, M.A.
St. John's (the Evangelist) Chapel, Carlton Hill, was built in
1840, by Messrs. Cheesman, upon a site most unfortunately selected,
and without any architectural advice. There are four Schools in
connexion with this Chapel, under the clerical management of tho
Perpetual Curate, upon the principles of self-support, which are
calculated to exercise a powerful influence for good in this, the
very poorest portion of the town, the building being made over for
ever to the National Society for the Education of the Poor in the
principles of the Established Church, and placed under trust of the
Archdeacon of Lewes. Rev. A. A. Morgan, M.A., is the present
Incumbent.
Christ Church, Montpelier Road, was consecrated on 26th April,
1838, and built by Mr. G. Cheesman. There was no public laying
of the foundation stone. It is capable of holding about 1,200
people, 700 of the sittings being free. The Rev. James Yaughan,
M.A., has been Incumbent from the opening. Adjoining this
Church, in Bedford Place, are Educational Schools for middle classes,
erected, in 1843, by Messrs. Wisden and Anscombe. Besides these
there is an Infant School, connected with the Church, in Clarence
Gardens.
St. Paul's Church, West Street, is a large and handsome
building, built, in 1848, by Messrs. Cheesman, from a design by Mr.
Carpenter, architect. It is built of cut flints with stone coigncs,
and is intended to be finished with a lofty spire. It is in the
decorated English style. The Church is entered by a covered way
or cloister. The interior is highly decorated in the mediaeval
style. The roof of the nave is of timber, and that of the chancel is
painted blue with gold stars ; several of the windows are of stained
glass. It contains a nave, north and south aisles, and chancel, and
THE CmmCHES A>T) CHAPELS. 369
has a fine toned organ ; a peal of bells, the largest in the town, have
been hung in the unfinished tower. It was consecrated on St,
Xuke's Day, 1849. The Rev. A. D. "Wagner is the Incumbent.
Hanover Chapel, situated at the top of Church Street, in the
rear of the Odd Fellows' Hall, was opened for public worship on the
30th of August, 1825, and belongs to the Presbyterian denomina-
tion. It was erected at the sole expense (£4,000) of the Rev. M.
Edwards, of Petworth, who, with the assistance of some of the
most popular preachers of the day, also supplied its pulpit. It is
calculated to seat 1,200 persons.
Salem Chapel, Bond Street, was erected in 1787; was enlarged
in 1825, and rebuilt in 1861. It is now a very handsome building,
belonging to the Particular Baptists. The Rev.'Oeorge Isaacs is
Minister.
All Saints' Church, Clifton Road, is a fine specimen of early
English architecture. It was buUt in 1852 by Messrs. Cheesman,
It has a nave, side aisles, and chancel, and contains a fine toned
organ. Its spire remains as yet unfinished. The Rev. Thomas
Coombe, B.A., is Incumbent and Surrogate.
All Souls' Church, in Eastern Road, was erected by subscription
in 1833, by Messrs. Mew, for the accommodation of the poor and
working classes ; the seats are nearly all free. The benefice is a
Perpetual Curacy. The Rev. Richard Snowden Smith, M.A., is
Incumbent.
St. Andrew's Chapel, "Waterloo Street, in the parish of Hove,
is a neat buUding, and contains several handsome marble tablets.
It was completed in 1828, and will contain 600 people. The Rev.
"W. H. Rooper is the present Patron and Incumbent, assisted by the
Right Rev. Bishop Trower.
Providence Chapel, Church Street, is of the Calvanistic per-
suasion, and was built in 1805. Minister, Rev. Thomas Bayfield.
The other Calvanistic Chapel in Brighton ( Jireh Chapel) is in Robert
Street, Glo'ster Lane, of which the Rev. Thomas Dray is the
Minister.
Ebenezer Chapel, Richmond Street, was the second. Place of
"Worship erected in Brighton for the Particular Baptistf. It was
opened in 1825. Rev. Israel Atkinson, Minister.
z
370 HISTORY OF BEIOIITHELMSTOIT.
The other Baptist Chapels in the to-v\Ti are Queen's Square —
Kev. Joseph Wilkins ; Tabernacle Chapel, West Street— Rev. John
Grace; Bethsaida Hall Chapel, Windsor Street — Rev. Thomas
Stringer.
St. James's Church, Cambridge Road, is a noble edifice, of
Kentish rag and Bath stone, in the early decorative English stjde.
It has a lofty nave, chancel, two aisles, and chapels, and for
external beauty is one of the most imposing churches in Brighton.
It was erected in 1858, at the sole expense of the Rev. Thomas
O'Brien, D.D., who is now Patron and Incumbent.
Christ Church, New Road, originally known as the Unitarian
Chapel, was built from a design of Mr. Wilds. It has a
light and elegant fluted Doric portico, and is built after the style of
the Temple of Theseus. Since the appointment of the Rev. Robert
Ainslie great improvements have been made in the interior arrange-
ments, and the comfort of the congregation thereby much
enhanced.
There are three Roman Catholic Chapels in Brighton : St.
John the Baptist's, Bristol Road ; St. Mary Magdalene, 51, Upper
Iforth Street ; and West Cliff Catholic Chapel, Sillwood Lodge.
The first chapel of this denomination was in High Street. In
1833, the number of Roman Catholic visitors increased so rapidly
that it was deemed expedient to build a larger one, and in 1837,
St. John the Baptist's was opened, and the one in High Street
abandoned. The old Chapel is now used as a printing office, by Mrs.
Sickelmore. The interior of the Chapel in Bristol Road is very
airy, and commodious, but its external appearance is heavy, the
Corinthian pilasters being disproportionately large. The officiating
Priests there at the present time are the Veiy Rev. Canon Renrdon,
the Very Rev. Canon Rymer, and the Rov. William Stone. St. Mary
Ma;^dalene's was erected in 1861-2, by Messrs. Chccsman, from a
design by Mr. Rodley, and opened in February, 1862. It is in the
Gothic style. The R jv. G. A. Oldham is the priest. Of West CHff
Chfipol, the Rev. E. J . Clery is the priest.
The following is a list of the plac(3S of worship in Brighton, with
the officiatijig clergymen, in addition to those already enumerated :
—London Road Chapel, Ann Street^ Rov, R. Hamilton ; Queen's
HOYE AND CUPTONTIILI. 371
Square Independent Chapel, Rev, E. Paxton Hood ; Circus Street
Chapel, various; Pavilion Chapel (Independent), Rev. J. A.
Wallinger; Bible Christians, Cavendish Street, Rev. Paul
Foskett; Friends' Meeting House, Ship Street, various; Jews'
Synagogue, 38, Devonshire Place, Reader, M. S. Nuremberg;
Primitive Methodist, Sussex Street, various; Catholic Apostolic
Church, Grand Parade, various; St. Michasl and All Angel's,
Victoria Road, Rev. C. Beanlands, M. A., ; Temporary Church of St.
Mary Magdalene, Bread Street,— a branch of St. Paul's Church,
"West Street, which supplies the Ministers ; Huntingtonian Chapel,
Union Street, Mr. Christopher Sharp ; Swedenborgian Church, Odd
Fellows' Hall, Queen's Road, various ; St. Ann's Church,
Burlington Street, is now in course of erection by Messrs,
Cheesman, from a design by Mr. Terry, Architect.
Chapteb XXXT.
HOYE Am> CLIFTONVILLE.
Adjoining Brighton on the west, is the parish of Hove, which
still retains nearly its ancient name, being written in the Doomsday
Book Sbv. It covers a large area of ground, and, for the most part,
is laid out in fine open streets, and houses of noble elevation.
Palmeira Square and Adelaide Crescent, projected by the late Baron
Goldsmid, and now completed, is the most magnificent range of
buildings in the parish. In 1801, the population of Hove was only
101, in 1811 it increased to 312, and in 1831 to 1,360, in 1851 to
4,104, in 1861 to 9,818. This great increase in population during
the last ten years is to be attributed to the building of CliftonviUe,
forming quite a new town in the centre of the parish. The houses
generally are semi-detached villas and private residences, many of
which display much architectural beauty. The parish church (St.
Peter) is a flint and stone building in the Norman style, and was
restored in 1834 from tlie ruins of one which was formerly con-
sidered a structure [of great beauty and grandeur, the tower of
T 2
372 HISTORY OF BEIGHinELMSTON.
which fell down in 1801. After the falling of the tower, a wooden
pigeon-house steeple was erected, and the centre aisle sufficiently
accomodated the congregation up to the time of its restoration.
The accommodation afforded by Hove parish church, owing to the
rapid rise of Cliftonvillo, was soon found to be inadequate to the
requirements of the community, — as in certain seasons of the year
the intiux of visitors is so great that the population is considered
not less than 12,000; and in 1852, another church was erected at
the west end of the Western Koad, and dedicated to St. John the
Baptist, and even now the church accommodation is insufficient.
In 1855 a Town Hall was built by the Commissioners, This was
necessitated in consequence of Brighton having obtained a Charter
■ of Incorporation, and consequently criminal cases arising in Hove
and villages in its neighbourhood could no longer be adjudicated on
by the Brighton Bench. The County Magistrates are C. Carpenter,
Esq., John Borrer, Esq., W. Eumer, Esq., R. Henty, Esq., Colonel
Paine, M. D. Scott, Esq., F. S. Hurlock, Esq., J. H. Pickford,
Esq., W. E. Smithe, Esq., Sir G. A. Westphal, and P. Salomons,
Esq. The police force is very effective, there being one constable
to every 500 inhabitants. The fire brigade is made up from the
police force, and is organised under the direction of Superintendent
Breach. Building operations still continue in Hove to a large ex-
tent, a new road (Cambridge Road) being just completed, and a
new street having recently been laid out to the west of the Sussex
Hotel, in Clifton ville. The houses there are being built by Mr. Jabez
Reynolds, of Brighton, on a large scale, and bids fair to form one
of the finest streets in the parish.
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF LOCAL EVENTS.
693. — Bishop Briglithelra slain above Briglithelmston.
913.— First constable of Brighton appointed by Edward T. (the Elder), by the
statute of Winchester.
1008.— Ulnoth, the Lord of the Manor of Brightholmston, ordered by Ethelred II.
to equip and command the fleet sent by the county of Sussex to oppose the
Danes.
1014.— September 28th» a great sea-flood on this eve, that of St. Micha)l, which
spread over the land.
1046. — Earl Godwin dispossessed of Brighton by Edward the Confessor.
1053. — April 17th, Earl Godwin, son of Ulnoth, died suddenly while dining with
the King, Edward the Confessor, at . Winchester, where the Court then
fesided. His death was no doubt from apoplexy ; but the monkish writers
attributed it to a stroke of divine vengeance for the murder of Alfred
the son of Ethelred, in the monastery of Ely.
1066.— October 14th, the battle of Hastings fought.
1080. — Convent of mendicant friars, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, founded by
William de Warren and his wife, Gundred.
1081. — The survey of Sussex taken, by order of William the Conqueror. The
gahlum or rent of the manor of Brighlhelmston-Lewes was worth £12
a-year.
1313. — Charter for holding a market every Thursday obtained for the town by the
Earl of Warren, of Edward III.
1377« — Brighton pillaged by the French.
1513. — The town pillaged and burnt by a French fleet, under Admiral Primaugot.
1535. — Ecclesiastical valuation of the town made, by order of Henry VIII., a
thus :
"Deanery of Lewes; Prioet of Lewes.
" Brtghthelmyston.
"Farm of the Rectory there, with all first fruits and advantages, and
various things, let to Mr. llichard Nicolle, for a term of years, and the
rent thence by the year £16,"
"Priory of Michelh.im,
Whence,
Brighthelmyston.
" Farm of certain land and tenements there in the occupation of John
Smyth, otherwise Waterman, returning thence by the year, 100s.
1638. — The Parish Church register of baptisms and burials commenced.
l,545,_July 18th, the town attacked, pillaged, and burnt by the French, under
Admiral D'Annehault.
374 msTOET OP beiqhthelmston'.
1555.— Deryk Carver, a brewer, of Brighton, burnt at the stake, at Lewes, for his
resistance of Popery.
1558. — The Block-house and fortifications of the town erected.
In July, about the end, the Spanish Armada passed off Brighton, pursued
by the English navy.
1584.— The Bartholomews purchased by the town, of William Midwinter, a mariner.
1597. — Warlike materials, for the defence of the town against the Spaniards, were
sent from Lewes to Brighton.
1651.— October 14th, Charles II. escaped from Brighton to the continent.
1670. — Captain Tettersel appointed High Constable of the Hundred.
1703. — November 27th, a great storm, which did much damage to the town and
the vessels belonging to it.
1705. — August 11th, a terrific storm.
1713. — Mr. Henry May paid to the parish one halfpenny for permission to convey
the corpse of his father through Hilly Lane, from the Race Hill to the
town, there being no high road.
1727.— The Town Well, on the Knab, finished.
1749. — January, the Block-house partially destroyed by an extraordinay high
tide.
1750. — Dr. Richard Russell took up his residence in Brighton.
1764. — Russell Street (so named from Dr. Russell, the founder of the fiame of
Brighton) built.
1761. — Battery erected at the bottom of East Street.
- Lady Huntingdon's Chapel first erected.
1768. — The first baths in Brighton constructed, on the site of Brill's Ladies' Swim-
ming Bath.
1771 • — A small brass figure dog up in the Vicarage garden, supposed to be a votive
offering of some person who had escaped the horrors of a shipwreck.
1772. — First Local Act obtained.
1774. — Lady Huntingdon's Chapel re-built.
The Theatre built in North Street.
1777. — The peal of bells placed in the tower of St. Nicholas' Church.
1782. — The Prince of Wales first visited Brighton. The master gunner on the
occasion lost both of his arms while firing the Royal salute from the battery
at the bottom of East Street.
1784. — Royal Pavilion commenced.
1786. — November 17th, ^battery at the bottom of East Street washed down by a
storm.
— — Theatre in Duke Street opened.
1787.— Salem Chapel built.
1788. — First Race Stand erected.
On December the 22nd, in consequence of the severity of the frost, on the
receding of the tide, the water within the sand bar was frozen over.
1790.— January I3th, Mr. William Attree, at a public Vestry meeting at the Old
Ship, was appointed Vestry Cleik, at 10 guineas per annum.
1792. — September 20th, by order of the Duke of York, an ox was roasted whole.
Streeter's mill (the mill on the Dyke Road, above Preston Drove), yraa
removed by 86 oxen, from Bellevue field, now Regency square.
CHEOITOLOGICAL TABLE OP lOCAt EYENTS. 375
1792. — October 22ad, thirty-seven nuns, in the habit of their Order, landed at
Shorehatn, and afterwards proceeded to Brussels.
1793. — Brighton Camp is formed in the fields to the west of Brighton.
April 26th, Rooke and Howell executed for robbing the mail.
The east and west batteries erected . ' .
November 25th, the corner stone of the Chapel Royal laid, by his Royal
Highness the Prince Regent.
179i. — February 10th, Dr. Henderson at a Vestry meeting, held at the Unicom
Inn, was presented with a pint silver cup, for his care and attention to the
Parish.
— " April 16th, Howell's stables, in the Bartholomews, burnt down, and nine
troop horses consumed,
Cannons planted on the east and west batteries.
General inoculation, 2,113 persons, including 2oO from the neighbourhood,
were inoculated for small pox.
An encampment of 7,000 men at the west part of the town. It was broken
up in November.
1795. — Great flood and 18 weeks' frost.
June 12th (Saturday), Edward Cooke and Henry Parrish, shot at Goldstone
Bottom, for mutiny.
Cavalry Barracks on the Lewes Road completed.
1796. — By order of Vestry all vagrants and beggar.s were to be apprehended by the
Crier, who was to receive a shilling a-head for their capture.
• The Percy Alms Houses, Lewes Road, built.
1798. — The Royal Crescent commenced by Otto, who built three houses at each end
and then bolted, leaving his creditors in the lurch.
1799. — November 20th, several of the Brighton fishermen taken out of their boats
whilst fishing off Seaford, by two French lugger privateers, and carried to
France.
There lived at 3, Artillery Place, Mr. Nathan Smith, inventor, patentee, and
operator of an Air-pump for extracting the gout, &c.
1800. — The Pavilion property purchased by the Prince of "Wales.
The high-road from East Street to Marlborough Place closed.
The New Road opened from North Street to Church Street.
March 31st, Thomas Waring appointed parish beadle and town crier.
1802. — The two wings added to the Royal Pavilion.
October 26th, Capt. Williftm Codlin executed at Newgate, for sinking
his ship, the "Adventure," oflf Brighton, in August.
1803. — April loth, the Churchwardens and Overseers accept Dr. Bankhead'a offer
to attend the poor gratuitously.
August 23rd, Race Stand destroyed by fire.
The trees in the New Road planted.
A sewer constructed from Pavilion Parade to the back of Williams's Baths,
at the expense of the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Marlborough,
— — Chapel Royal consecrated, and an Act of Parliament procured, securing it
as a Chapel of Ease to the Parish Church.
1805. — April 18th, the Vestry Clerk's salary increased to £30 per annum.
^— July 29th, a boy killed on the Race Hill, by being thrown out of a awing
whereby his back was broken.
376 HISTOET OF BKIQHTHELMSTOjr.
1805. — September 23rd, grand review near Rottingdean of the Inniskilling (Queen's)
Dragoons, Artillery, and South Gloucester, Dorset, Monmouth, Brecon,
and South Hants Militia, under General Paget.
October, the organ at the Pavilion erected.
— r- October, the Prince of Wales purchased the Dairy at Preston, of Mr. W.
Stanford.
— — November 6th, at 40 minutes after 3 o'clock this afternoon, an express arrived
M the Royal Pavilion to announce to the Prince of Wales the glorious
defeat of the enemy's fleet at Trafalgar, and the death of the brave and
victorious Nelson.
December 26th, the Royal Stables, Church Street, completed.
1806. — March 12th, A heavy snow-storm, in which Neville, a well-known inhabitant
of Brighton was lost in a drift about the spot where the Adur Inn now
stands, at Aldrington.
March 13th, the subject of a Charter of Incorporation mooted at a Public
Vestry Meeting.
July 25th, the Earl of Barrymore and Mr. Howarth fought a duel at
Black-rock Bottom in consequence of a dispute at cards the previous night
at the Castle Tavern.
August 12th, mock invasion of the town.
Sept. Ist, Williams's Baths opened.
Sept. 12th, Lord Thurlow died at his residence, West CliflF.
Sept. 25th, Mr. Brimton, sen., laid the Foundation Stone of Theatre, in th«
New Road.
Brighton Herald first published.
1807. — Zion Chapel, Bedford Street, erected.
May 28th, the great county election contest terminated : —
Wyndham 4,333
Fuller 2,530
Sergison 2,473
Theatre in New road opened.
Sept. 3rd, the Sheep and Lamb Fair on the Level was well attended.
October 1st, Masked ball at Old Ship.
October 22nd, three brigs, two colliers, and a vessel laden with com, were
wrecked in front of the town.
1808. — Wesloyan Chapel erected in Dorset Gardens.
April 27th, Mr. Jonathan Grenville appointed poor-rate collector at a com-
pensation of 3d. in the £ on all monies collected ; the appointment to be
discretionary in the " Breast" of the parish officers.
Mr. Forth succeeds Mr. Wade as Master of the Ceremonies.
1809. — August 9th, neither a house nor lodgings to be got for love or money.
March 2l8t, a meeting held at the Old Ship Tavern to inspect and consider
a plan for the consideration of a harbour at Brighton.
Brighton Dispensary founded.
July 7tb, Mr. Tilt, proprietor of the Castle Tavern and Subscription Rooms,
died.
1810.— St. James's Chapel built. The Duke of Marlborough contributed £100.
Lady Huntingdon's Chapel enlarged.
The Town Act of 1773 repealed, and a new Act passed.
CHKONOLOQICAI. TABLE OF LOCAL EVENTS. 377
1810. — April 12th, the first catch of the season of mackerel, 116 In number, fetched
2s 4d each, for Billingsgate Market.
May 2l8t, the first mail coaches put on the road between Brighton and
London.
May 2nd, first meeting of the Town Commissioners, under the new Act of
Parliament, at the Old Ship.
May 31st, Holy Thursday, Brighton Fair held on the Cliflf, between Middle
Street and Black-lion Street.
June 28th, the London Road, by way of Hickstead, opened from Pyecombo.
The Royal Crescent built.
— — July llth, a court martial, held at the Castle Tavern, on Corporal Robert
Curtis, of the Oxford Militia, found him guilty of endeavouring to excite
disaffection amongst his regiment, and he was condemned to receive One
Thousmid Lasliea. He bore 200 lashes on the 30th ; the remainder were
remitted.
- July 25th, the Royal Circus, Grand Parade, opened by Mr. Brunton.
August 13th, Monday, Sham Fight on the Race Hill; present: — The
Prince of Wales, and the Dukes of York, Kent, Cumberland, Clarence,
Sussex, and Cambridge ; and 30,000 spectators.
— — The Racket Court at the Cavalry Barracks erected by the Officers of the
10th Royal Hussars.
— — August 16th, benefit concert of Mr. Wright, proprietor of the Musical
Saloon, Prince's Street, at the Old Ship.
- August 23rd, the first of the Brighton fishing boats, equipped aa gun-boats,
40 in number, made a succesful experiment with her 18-pound carronade.
October 20th, performance at Theatre in aid of the funds of the Brighton
Dispensary.
-— October 27tb, Coates, better known as Romeo Coates, performed the part of
Borneo at the Brighton Theatre.
1811. — January, in consequence of the flooded state of the London Road, the
coaches into Brighton were compelled to come by way of Preston Drove
and over the Church Hill.
— — Brighton Com Market is held at the Old Ship Tavern,
1812.— February 5th, robbery of between £3,000 and £4,000 of the Brighton Union
Bank notes — Messrs. Brown, Hall, Lashmar, and West, — from Messrs,
Crossweller and Co's., Blue coach, between London and Brighton.
— — February 20th, the marriage of Isaac Bass to Sarah Glayzier, took place at
the Friends' Meeting House.
—— September 9th, upwards of 5,000 sheep and lambs were penned at Brighton
Fair, on the North Level. The farmers, graziers, and butchers dined at
the Old Ship Tavern,
September 10th, an Infirmary added to the Brighton Dispensary.
The Magistrates of Brighton held their first Petty Sessions, Mr. Serjeant
Runnington, Chairman.
1813. — March 7th, organ at St. Nicholas' church opened.
— - April 12th, five boats detained by the Custom-house officers for having
appurtenances for rowing more than four oars, contrary to the Act for the
prevention of smuggling.
— — April 15th, the salary of Mr Battcock, parish surgeon, raised from £80 to
jGlOO per annum.
378 HISTOBY OP BEIQHTHELMSTON.
1813.— April 17th, Mr. Hope, afterwards Hope & Dartnall, and now Mr. Durtnall,
commenced business as Common Carrier.
May 25th, the tolls of Old Shoreham Bridge, were let by Auction by Mr
Attree, for £1,240 for the year.
July 5th, Brighton Auxiliary Bible Society instituted.
September 6th, the "Regent" Coach first ran from the Red Coach ofllce,
10, Castle square. It upset at Merstham, on Sunday 12th, coming from
London.
— — October Ist, the High Constable appointed Receiver of Assize Returns of
Bread.
- October 24th, Queen Charlotte paid her first visit to Brighton.
1815. — May 2nd, Martha Gunn died.
I8I7.— Mr T. R. Kemp's Chapel,— now Trinity,- built.
1818. — Two extra bells, making ten, placed in the tower of St. Nicholas* Church.
1819. — January 25th, Shoreham new harbour opened.
1820. — Carriage road opened from West Street to Middle Street.
1821. — April 22ud, evening service commenced at the Old ChUrch,
December 12th, Phoebe Hessell died, aged 108.
Lady Huntingdon's Chapel still further enlarged.
1822. — January 1st, the Pavilion Chapel, late the Assembly Room of the Castle
Tavern, and now St. Stephen's Church, Montpelier road, consecrated.
April 15th, private Thomas Blamay, 2nd Foot, shot himself in the barrack
yard. Church Street.
- The "Western Esplanade commenced.
— • June, in consequence of the reduced price of malt, Mr. Chandler, North
Street Brewery, reduced the price of his table ale from 14d. to Is.
— — July 11th, the Prince and Princess of Denmark arrived at the Steyne
Hotel, from Dover.
—— Present Workhouse built.
August, the Shoreham Road commenced from Hove Street to Kingston.
■ September 18th, the Chain Pier commenced.
'— At the monthly meeting of the Town Commissioners, Mr Frederic Cooper,
conjunctively with Mr Thomas Attree, was appointed the Clerk of the
Commissioners.
October, forty-two coaches were running daily between London and Brighton.
November Ist, the bell at the Chapel Royal, to announce the time of divine
service, erected.
- The magistrates removed their sittings from the Old Ship to the New Ion,
now the Clarence Hotel.
1823. — April 9th, Messrs Briggs and Knowles thrown over the Cliff and killed.
May, the Castle Tavern, Castle Square, pulled down.
Brunswick Terrace and Square commenced.
^— The Royal Gardens (Ireland's,) formed.
Russell House, Old Steine, pulled down.
— — May, streets of Brighton first watered.
—— October 5th, Dr. Styles preached his farewell sermon at the Union Street
Chapel.
— — The National School for boys opened in the Lanes.
CHBONOLOQICAL TABLE OF LOCAL ETENTS. 379
1823. — Brighton Savings' Bank opened in Middle Street.
Jane 3rd, Mr. T. Fumer appointed Town Surveyor.
September 8th, Old Steine enclosed.
September 22nd, Post Office opened in East Street.
November, Chain Pier opened.
I Infant Schools first established in Brighton.
1824. — Saturday, May 8th, first stone of St. Peter's Church laid by Dr. Carr,
Vicar.
— Queen's Park and German Spa, Brighton, formed by Mr. Armstrong.
May Ist, Ireland's Gardens, Lewes Road, opened.
— — May 11th, Brighton Royal Catch and Glee Club (from the Golden Cross
Inn,) meet at Old Ship for the first time.
— — May 3rd, Old Steine first lighted with gas.
— — First steam packet to Dieppe, the Swift, 80 horse power, put on.
— — June 1st, Rev. J. N. Goulty appointed to Union Street Chapel.
■ Brighton first lighted with gas.
— — August 1st, Rev. H. M. "Wagner entered on his duties as Vicar.
— November 24th, violent storm, which did great damage to Chain Pier.
— — December 11th, first meeting (at Old Ship,) for establishing the County
Hospital.
December 26th, St. Margaret's Chapel opened.
1825. — February 7th, at a meeting at the Old Ship a resolution was passed to con-
struct an iron railway between Brighton and Shoreham.
■ ■ Ebenezer Chapel opened.
— — June 22nd, Brighton Improvement Act passed.
-^— September 27th, Mr. Amon Wilds elected Town Surveyor.
— December 18th, Trinity Chapel opened by the Rev. R. Anderson.
— St. Margaret's Chapel built.
— German Spa, Queen's Park, established.
I St. George's Chapel built,
— — Hanover Chapel built. Opened August 30th.
— — Salem Chapel, Bond Street, enlarged.
1826.— Road in front of York Hotel formed.
— — Foundation stone of County Hospital laid, March 16th.
-^— "Western Esplanade, opposite Regency square, formed.
— — The name, King's Road, applied to the Cliflf roadway from East Street to
the extreme west of the town.
— — April 21st, Trinity Chapel consecrated.
1827. — Januiry 18th, St. Mary's Chapel consecrated.
— April oth, Mr. N. Cooke, organist of the Parish Church, died.
1828. — January 25th, St. Peter's Church consecrated.
— — June 12th, County Hospital opened.
—— October 11th, the statue of George IV., by Chantry, erected on the Old
Steyne.
— — October 29tb, Musical festival at St. Peter's Church.
1829 — June 27th, Bethel Chapel (site of the present St. Paul's) West Street,
opened.
880 mSTOBT OF BBIGEXUXUfSTOir.
1829. — August 16th, Mr. W. Crossweller, coach proprietor, died.
^— November 20th, St. Peter's clock erected.
1830. — The Battery on the King's road rebuilt further to the south.
— ^ April, comer stone of Town Hall laid.
April 12th, Mr. Somers Clarke appointed Vestry Clerk.
— • April 15th, Brighton Police Force established, under Chief-OflBcor Pilbeaii.
•*— August 30th, William lY. and his Queen (Adelaide) first visit Brighton.
— — National Schools opened.
— — First stone of the Town Hall laid by T. B. Kemp, £sq<
1831. — Eaater Monday, Road across the Steine opened.
■■ I July 16th, Celia Holloway murdered.
—— September 23rd, Post Office opened in the New Road.
—— October 20th, first stone of New Shoreham Bridge laid.
— — December 6th, Body of Hannah Hobba found.
■ December lOth, Holloway executed at Horsham.
1832.— Cattle Market opened on Church Hill.
— — > August 6th, Sand Cause decision.
— — December 11th, Firat Brighton Election, Wigney and FaithfuU returned.
1833.— May 12th, Fire at Wisden'e, Western Road.
■ September 30th, the Antheum, Hove, fell.
— — • October 15th, the Chain Pier partially destroyed during a terrific gale.
I ■■ Carriage road opened across the Steyue from Castle Square to St. James'*
Street.
— — Rev. T. Trocke appointed to Chapel Royal.
1836. — November 29th, Great storm, which destroyed much of the platform of th«
Chain Pier.
— — St. Mary's Hall, Eastern road, erected.
1837. — (5,598) Jews' Synagogue in Devonshire Place erected.
— . October Ist, James Botting, the Old Bailey Executioner, died at Brightoa,
his native place.
-^— October 4th, Her Majesty's first visit to Brighton.
December 25th, Great Snow storm.
1838. — January 15th, the Northern sewer commenced.
March 19th, London and Brighton Railway commenced.
April 26th, Christ Church consecrated.
— — May 28th, Swiss Gardens opened.
1839.— February 4th, first permanent rail on the London and Brighton Railway laid
at Hassock's Gate, by Mr. Alfred Morris.
1840. — February 18th, Upfold, stage coachman killed.
— — ,May 11th, Railway to Shoreham opened.
- June 9th, Rev. J. Allen appointed chaplain of the Workhouse.
■ July 14th, Court of Requests opened.
- August 1st, Crim. Con. trial, Iloaviside v. Lardner, at Lowes, damages
£8,000.
Court Martial at Cavalry Barracks, on Capt. R. A. Reynolds, Uth HuaMr%
who was cashiered.
1841.— June 30th, Peohell and Wigney elected.
CHEOXOLOGIOili TABLE OF lOCAl EVENTS. 381
1841. — July 5th, line opened to Hay ward' a Heath.
— — September 21st, Railway opened from Brighton to London.
1842.— May 5th, Lord Alfred Hervey first elected for Brighton.
1844. — February 1st, experiment of Bude Light on the Old Steine.
March 13th, Mr. Solomon, Chief-Officer of Police murdered.
• Lawrence executed for the murder of Mr. Solomon.
1845. — The Level planted with trees.
— — May 17th, first stone of the Viaduct over the Londoa Road laid.
■■ November 24th, Railway opened to Worthing.
1846. — May 25th, Fountain on the Steine opened.
■■■» King's Road widened from "West street to the Battery.
■ '•■■ June 8th, Railway opened to Chichester.
> June 8th, Railway opened to Lewes.
— — June 27th, Railway opened to Hastings.
July 12th, last Lewes coach ran.
August 23rd, Jenny Lind, sung at Brighton,
■ ■ ■ November 10th, Eye Infirmary opened.
1847. — March 5th, Mr. Maynard appointed Parish Aflsessor.
— — « General fast, on account of the famine.
— — April 16th, first County Court held.
^-^— June 14th, Line opened to Portsmouth.
— — July 31st, Pechell and Harvey re-elected.
— — > December 6th, Railway opened to Newhaven.
1848.— June 27th, the first stone of Brighton College laid by Dr. Gilbert, Lord
Bishop of Chichester.
—— July 1st, the clock is removed from the clock tower of the Pavilion.
— — The new Post Office in Ship Stieet erected.
— October 18th, St. Paul's opened by license.
— October 23rd, Mechanics' Institution inaugurated.
1849.— February 7th, Mr Griffith murdered.
— — July 28th, Race Stand purchased.
August 10th, Mr. Hatton appointed Actuary of the Saving*' Bank.
— >— September 21»t, St. Mark's Church consecrated.
— . November 3rd, Mr. F. Shght appointed Secretary to the London, Brighton,
and South-Coast Railway Company.
— Royal Pavilion property purchased by the town for £53,000.
—— « Post Office opened in Ship Street.
1850.— June 19th, the Town took possession of the Pavilion.
June 23rd, Sunday labour discontinued at the Post Office.
— — June 28th, Pavilion Grounds first opened to the public.
-r— July 17th, great storm. Pool Valley, &c., flooded.
-— November 27th, first interment in the Extra Mural Cemetery.
November 19th, violent storm. Two houses blown down near the Wick,
— — December 30th, first Pavilion rate made.
iKl.— January 21st, opening Ball at the Pavilion.
— — May loth, south portion of the Pavilion property sold for £17?2.
883 HISTORY OP BEIOnTHELMSTON.
1861. — Electric Telegraph opened to Brighton.
- ■■■■ August 11th, firat fute of the Mechanics' Institution at the Swiss Gardens,
S^o.'eham.
•>— • Augoei 14th, consecration of the Brighton Extra Mural Cemetry, by the
Bishop of Chichester.
» The Maatellian Academy of Science opened.
1852. — September 4th, fire at P. Salomons, Esq., Brunswick Terrace.
— — September 2Sta, fire at Bickford's King's Road.
• November 8th, Mr. Furse's shop, North Street, robbed of £400 worth of
jewellery, &c.
1853. — February 3rd, burglar shot at Shoreham.
—— March 6th, Caroline Sherwood murdered her child, at Hove.
- March 17th, explosion at the Railway Terminus, three men killed.
— - April lat, Messrs. Black and Foakes appointed Assessors.
— — May 16th, First stone of Female Orphan Asylum laid.
— — August 14th, Rev. F. TV. Robertson died.
— ^ December 21st, Mr. George White appointed Chief-Officer of PoUce.
1854. — April 3rd, Charter of Incorporation obtained.
—— April 8th, Parish Church restored and re-opened.
— — June 7th, Major Fawcett elected first Mayor of Brighton.
— ^ August 28th, Mr. and Mrs. Passmore appointed Governor and Matron of
the Workhouse.
November lat, Preston toll-gate removed.
1855. — July 9th, East Qrinstead line opened.
— - July 10th, Gregory's house, North Street, fell.
— — July 19th, Mr. Lewis Slight, jun., elected Borough Accountant.
■^— July 22nd, Mr. Hannington died, in his 71st year.
1856. — March 28th, Brighton Protestant Association formed.
— — June 4tb, Peace Demonstration at Brighton.
July 29th, fire at Stubbs's, Trafalgar Street.
— — September, fire at Funnell's, chemist. Upper North Street.
— — December 2nd, Tractarian defeat at the Town Hall.
1857. — April 7th, Dodson and Pevensey returned for East Su-ssex.
r June 25th, Brown, the Sussex cricketer, died.
■; October 7th, Day of Humiliation for the Massacres in India.
r— October 8th, Wreck of the " Pilgrim."
. November 3rd, Music Hall, Elward street, destroyed by fire, second time.
. ■■ November 18th, Anti-Tractarian Demonstration and Riots at Lewes.
Mr. Isaac Tester died, aged 54.
December 22nd, consecration of the Parochial Burial Ground.
I860.— Sir O. B. Pechell, M.P. for Brighton, died.
Great storm, wreck of the "Transit" and "Atlantique" off Brighton.
Mr. James White returned as a Member for Brighton.
1861 Easter Monday, Voluutcor Review on the Downs, under Lord Ranelagh.
August 2<3th, frightful railway collision in Clayton Tunnel, twenty-ono per-
^onB killed.
1862.— EiwtcT Monday, Volanteer Review on the Race HiU, under Lord Clyde.
CHKONOLOGICA.L TABLE OF LOCAL ETE^TS. 383
1862.— John O'Dea, a private of the 18th Hasears, shot in the Barrack yard, Church
Street, by Private John Flood, of the same regiment. Flood was tried at
the County Assizes and condemned to be hanged, bul the capit&I saQtenco
was ultimately commuted to penal servitude for life.
Water found in the Warren Farm Well.
Temporary Church of St. Mary Magdalene erected and opened in Bread
street.
October, Police Station built on the Level.
- November Sth, tho author of tlii.-* work died suddenly in hia .52nd year.
November 27th, first Brighton and Sussex Fat-Stock Show held.
— ■ December 12th, Mr. Lewis Slight, jun., Borough Acoountant, committed
suicide by hanging.
N"
The
th
A
Wh;
sioii
on \
hav^
Asscj
Brig
anyl
pied
Suss
ofE
Earl
1CG(
mer^
Nor]
V\
than
acco
spji
*S9q
^m
SdJI
^10]
eqj
Sail
jpii\
-Old
nop
JOU!
!»saiqi
pUTJ •
:)noqi
170
lance fulfilled. The most showy of monuments
was erected here, by Michael Kelly, "com-
poser of vine and importer of music," to the
most melodious of warblers, if not most exem-
plary of women, — Mrs. Crouch (who used " to
do" one of the singing Witches in 'Macbeth,'
with hundreds of pounds' worth of lace in her
dress). In contrast ^\^th this is a tomb with
its inscription to the memory of John Pocock,
who was, nearly forty years. Clerk of the
Parish, and during about a dozen years, the
more dignified Clerk of the Chapel Ptoyal.
John was above fourscore when he died. We
are willing to believe that he was all that man
and even parish clerk could be. But there
seems to be some doubt on this point ; and the
epitaph adjourns the settlement of the question
till the day of Judgment. "In the discharge
of his duty," says the inscription, "how simple,
upright, and affectionate he was, will alone be
known at the last day."
Among the departed whose memories are
dear, that of Deryk Carver, the Flemish
brewer, who brewed good ale in Brighton
before the " Tipper " was heard of, and who
not only read the scriptures in English, but
interpreted them according to his doubly solid
Anglo-Flemish and reasonable understanding ;
for which exercise of Free Inquiry, Deryk
has the honour of being the first martyr for
religion's sake in the county of Sussex. He
suffered in 1554. Deryk was rather rude,
perhaps, when replying to the charges brought
against him, particularly when dealing with
Transubstantiation. " You say that you can
make a God!" cried the bold brewer; "you
can make a i)udding as well ! " — which was
more "saucy" than logical. There is some
part of Carver's story that has a very legendary
aspect. The Bible which was taken from him
at the stake is snid to have suffered merely a
slight discoloration on some of the pages from
the smoke. At the same time we are told,
in the same legend or tradition, that the blood
of the martyr who was burnt is visible on
several chapters of the Old Testament, but
particularly on the " Book of Ruth," which,
says Erredge, "is very much splashed with
the vital fluid." We can understand marks
of fire on this Bible, which is a " Breeches
Bible " ; but that sjilashes of blood are visible
upon it we cannot believe, — at least, as the
accident and part circumstance of Deryk's
burning.
N" 2337, Aug. 10/72
THE ATHEN^UM
167
SATURDAY, A CO VST 10, 1S72.
LITERATURE
The Programme of the BHtish Association for
the Advancement of Science: the Forty-second
Annual Meeting^ at Brighton.
When William de Warren entered into posses-
sion of the loot in land, wliich was conferred
on liim by William the Conqueror, he might
have rendered infinite service to the British
Association, which is just about to meet, at
Brighton. Warren, however, neglected to do
anything for posterity. He was too much occu-
pied, that greedy Norman, mth arranging his
Sussex estate, and wearing proudly his new title
of Earl of Sui-ret/. There were eighteen of those
Earls, from the Conquest down to the year
1660; when the title of the Earl of Surrey was
merged in the superior dignity of Duke of
Norfolk.
What would the British Association have
thanked the first Earl for? Why, for a fair
account of his Brighton estate, and of the
legends which had sprung out of it, from the
time the early Sussex lover put on additional
touches of woad, before he took his gift of
some of the ripe fruit of the country, hips and
haws, to the thick-tressed lady of his love,
down to the era when Earl Godwin's boys took
headers from their father's gilded barge. He
might have included anything he could col-
lect of the intervening time, when Romans
had their villas here, and British youths,
ashamed of their paint, adapted themselves to
the language, costume, and the very worst
manners of those irresistible foreigners.
What a discussion might have followed the
production of such an early history ! And what
a disputing of facts ! For there is nothing so
apt for dispute as your fact. The very air and
climate of Brighton have been rudely treated
by the doubters and deniers of most things.
Dr. Wigan, the kinsman of the actor so named,
not only wrote on the Duality of the Mind,
but on the Triality (if we may coin a word),
the threefold excellence of the Brighton atmo-
sphere. But when Sir -James Clark, on Climate,
just suggested that the West Cliff was "some-
what damp," how deeply were the scientific I
men of Brighton grieved, at his ignorance or
audacity. Tlie question being undecided, we
hope it will come before one of the Sections.
It is one easy to deal with, as Statistics lend
themselves to the general proving of anything.
Meanwhile, leaving prehistoric times and
much- vexed questions to the archaiologists and
other persons interested therein, we may re-
mark that Brighton has not uninterruptedly
progressed to its present condition. It has
had its ups and down. When, in the reign of
Charles the First, it numbered five hundred
families, — over two thousand inhabitants, — it
held up its head with any town in the county
of Sussex. The civil wars and the sea, between
tbera, caused this prido-to have a fall. Popu-
lation decreased, and year after year, the waves
swallowed up a bit of land and two or three
houses. It seemed to be nobody's business to
check the inroad of the waters ; and, indeed,
when an occasional good Samaritan presented
himself with a plan for obviating the calamity,
the easy-going people looked on him as a
troublesome person. They soon found the
ocean far the more troublesome of the two.
Li the first quarter of the last century the
sea, which had so often before swept the little
town by sudden assaults, subsequently retiring,
had permanently advanced to its very foot.
Thence it made inroads into the streets, house
after house falling upon their" undermined
foundations. It is no matter for surprise that
lodgings in the little low-roofed houses were
cheap ; ye* we may wonder at the tariff which
let two sitting-rooms, a couple of bed-rooms,
and "offices," for 5^. a week! A regular
season for visitors began about the year 1736.
It began as soon as the Sussex roads were
passable ; roads which were deservedly more ill-
spoken of than any of the other highways of
England. To Dr. Richard Russell the merit
is generally awarded of having what is
called " founded " Brighton as a sanitary resort.
In the middle of last century, he certainly
pointed out the advantages of the medical use
of sea-water. To Brighton, forthwith, repaired
not only the robuster goddesses of the day,
but the more fragile beauties who were " fine by
defect, and delicately weak." A rather feeble
epigrammatist advised swains to avoid the
double dangers of those combined syrens, lest
they should have to endure "a pain from
some bright sparkling eye, which Russell's
skill can't cure." A crabbed censor, at the
same time, divided the visitors into "Silken
Folly and Bloated Disease."
The tovra was not extensive even at a later
period. It took something more than a doctor
to invent fashionable Brighton. About a
century ago, Brighton consisted of half a dozen
streets, several lanes, and a couple of "spaces
surrounded by houses, called by the inhabitants
* squares,' " — that is to say, Castle Square and
Little Castle Square. It had its defamers.
In spite of the fun of looking at patients
drinking sea-water, in spite of Brighton's
primitive and harmless gaieties, some people
could see nothing in it. WilUam Gilpin had
an eye to appreciate the picturesque fishing
fleet abroad upon the waters, but in 1774, he
calls Brighthelm stone " a disagreeable place,"
and adds, " There is scarcely an object in it, or
near k, of nature or of art, that strikes the
eye with any degree of beauty." Just ninety
years have expired since George Prince of
I Wales was first attracted to the spot which was
I odious to GUpin. A piece of laud which then
cost four pounds would sell now for more
than as many hundred.^. The coming of the
Prince did not, immediately, cause any exten-
sive improvement in the town. In 1787, a
lady of local celebrity complained that as the
doors of most of the houses opened directly
into the sitting-rooms, it was impossible to be
" out " to any importunate visitor. The door-
ways, moreover, were low, and there was often
a step down into the parlour. People then
lived almost under ground. Non', in the lofty
palaces fronting the sea, they look over the
ocean from their seat in the clouds. We
sympathize with all the Brighton historians
who deplore the fact that tasteless architecture
has, in the present century, made of the place
a mere " London on Sea," instead of a beautiful
and appropriate Queen of Watering-places.
We agree with Mr. Erredge, a local historian
deserving the highest praise, that a quaint old
country-town-High-Street is more picturesque
than the most uniform of streets and squares.
There was a time when the local manners had
a rough i)leasantness about them, corresponding
with the primitive simplicity of the place. When
Miles (or Smoaker, as the Prince of Wales,
and therefore everybody, called him) was chief
bathing-man, he once saw His Royal Highness
swimming too far, as Miles thought, out at
sea. Miles hailed " Mr. Prince " to come back.
The Prince struck farther out. Thereupon,
Smoaker dashed in after him and brought His
Royal Highness back by the ear, exclaiming
as he thus towed the princely freight, "I
arn't a goen to let the King hang me for
letten the Prince of Wales drown hisself ; not
I, to please nobbudy, I can tell'e." The
Prince forgave the act in consideration of its
motive. In remembrance of it he founded the
Smoaker Stakes, and when they were first run
for, in 1806, the Prince, of course, won the
race with his own horse, Albion.
We have spoken above of the increase in
the price of land in Brighton. The increase
in the cost of medical attendance may be
illustrated by a curious fact. In 1580 there
was one solitary medical man in the then
village, and we are rather surprised to find
one there at such a period. His name was
Matthews. There has come do^Nii to us
his rate of charges in cases of midmfery.
For attendance at Portslade and Rotting-
dean, 5s.; At Blatchington, 3^. Gd.; in Bright-
helmstone, 2.*. Gd. The charges were sufficiently
high, if we take into consideration the change
in the value of money.
When Dr. Russell persuaded nervous persons
to feel unwell, and then, having drunk Brigh-
ton water, to fancy themselves better, he was
a little like Pope's inefficient artist friend in
the Guardian, who, not being able to draw
portraits after the life, used to paint faces
at random, and look out afterwards for people
whom he might persuade to be like them. Let not
the British Association be deluded by the idea
that Brighton was made by any medical man's
discovery of the efficacy of its mineral wells
and its salt waters. Let them not be led away
by the assurance that it was invented by the
Prince of Wales. Brighton was set upon the
legs of prosperity by one of the silliest and
most vicious of princes — that Duke of Cum-
berland who was brother to George the Third.
The Duke was residiug exactly ninety years
ago at Grove House, where the young Prince
of Wales, in a sort of youthful frolic, paid him.
a visit, and "stayed the night." The con-
sumption of candies and of clay to stick them
in for the general illuminating process to do
the Prince honour, was enormous enough to
raise the price of tallow, and give a rise in the
brick market. If the Duke had not been
residing there, the Prince would probably
never have gone down to old Brighthelmstone.
Let him have all the credit he can get by it.
We cannot deny that soon after the princely
meeting there was a significant increase in the
pubhcation of local guide-books, illustrated
and otherwise, with elaborate instructions how
to get to Brighton, how to pass your time
there with the least amount of inevitable
boredom (for one does weary of Thalatta after
a while), and how to get safely home again.
One at least of those guide-books was written
in so magniloquent a style, that a Monthly
Reviewer thought it must have come fi-om the
pen of Mr. Christie, the auctioneer, — a remark
which, we hope, will not do violence to the
sensitive feelings of that gentleman's repre-
sentatives.
T
16S
THE ATHEN^UM
N°233?, Aug. 10,72
N° 2337. Aug. 10,72
THE ATHEN^UM
To the Prince of Wales no doubt the town
was, and is, greatly indebted. He bought in
17^3 a smaU house of Mr. Kempe. It was
the seed out of which grew that serio-comic
Chinese pumpkin, or series of pumpkins, called
the Marine Pavilion. That unparalleled edifice
was like the Eternal City in one circumstance,
namely, it was not buUt in a day. It was
begun in 1784. Sanguine people whojumpid
to conclusions too readily, looked at the work
in 17S7, and said, "Behold, the Wonderful
Thing is completed ! " They were deceived.
It took a portion of two centuries, adding
turnip to turnip, bulb to bulb, and wings to
centres, before Brighton cuuld boast that the
Thing was finished. It was then a very large
Yauxhall Kiosk in a very small Vauxhall
Garden. It was a Lodge in the Garden, and
it left no space for cucumbers. Built in a
liollow, and only one story high, it was shel-
tered from the pitiless winds, and it was
convenient for Royal Highnesses not clever at
getting upstairs. Moreover, it had a sea front,
from which, wicked calumny has said, that the
sea could not be seen. This is false. If a
person in a first-floor room stood tiptoe on a
chair he might catch .sight of a wave, if he and
the wave were only tall enough. But in sober
truth a panoramic view of the wide expanse of
ocean, to say nothing of the land, might be
enjoyed by any of the PaviUon chimney-
sweepers. They alone possessed the privilege
which kings and kaisers felt obliged to forego.
The master of the Marine Palace looked upon
it as a chef-d'wuvre of architecture; but the
first architectural masterpiece of which Brigh-
ton long boasted was not the palace, but the
palace stables. It was only by degrees that
i,he Prince found " elbow room " for himself
and household by adding thereto such adjacent
laud as he could purchase. When something
.like a comfortable place was made of it, the
royal proprietor grew weary of his splendid
toy, and only assiduous house-maids prevented
Xhe spider from weaving his web in the princely
apartments.
The worthiest action on the part of His
Jloyal Highness during his residence was his
receiving into it, with their goods, the family
of a burntout bnker. The basest, in which
Lis next two brothersjoined, was raising mojiey
on post-obit bonds, by which the cash received
was to be repaid within six months after a
certain event. As the certain event was the
death of George the Third, the transaction had
.a treasonable tinge in it. The lenders of the
money had a direct interest in the old king's
death. The sooner he died the sooner they
would be paid. With that consideration in
their mind, they were incompetent to join in
the national anthem of ' God Save the King ! '
— which, to the hyper-loyal persons of that
time was a crime or a misfortune too dreadful
for contemplation.
We can hardly realize, at the present time,
the height and the bitterness of the ultra-
hiyalty of Brighton in the olden days, particu-
larly when there was a shaking of the nations
beyond sea, and England was sen.sible within
Jierself of a certain uneasiness. The simplest
of the men, with the very purest of motives,
had to consider twice before he spoke, lest his
■words should be twisted into traitorous mean-
ings. Even as a great lawyer said, that out
/jf a common note of three lines, he could, if
necessary, fiud matter which would lay the
writer under a charge of high treason, so the
listeners to speakers, in those dangerous days,
seemed to detect the same high treason in
common daily greetings, in the snatch of a
song, or even in the text or the substance of
There is an historical incident of this sort
connected mth Brighton, which is more curious
than any of its legendary stories, or its chro-
nicles of scandal. In the August of the revo-
lutionary period of 1703, the once celebrated
Rev. Dr. Vicesimus Knox happened to be
sojourning in Brighton with his family. The
Vicar asked the great Master of Tunbridge
School " to gratify the congregation " of the
parish church, the only episcopalian edifice in
the town, with a sermon on the following
Sunday. The sermon was delivered on the
text, •' The peace of God, which passeth all
underetanding.' That it was at once brief
and solemn, we may infer from the fact that
the Surrey Militia (quartered in Brighton), a
numerous portion of the congregation, were
highly satisfied and considerably impressed.
More orthodox hearers had nothing but con-
gratulations for themselves and the preacher ;
and Dr. Vicesimus Knox appeared on the
following night, at the Prince's birthday ball,
"at the Castle Tavern," with that air of com-
placency which is born of the conviction that
success has attended enterprise. The chief
business of very many persons, at both ball
and supper, seems to have consisted in worry-
ing the Doctor into a consent, which was not
very wilUngly given, to preach again on the
succeeding Sunday.
At the period in question, pretty well all
the world was engaged in war. People rushed
into warfare with alacrity, and other people
read the accovuits of the slaughter and suffer-
ing of their fellow creatures with the satis-
faction of men well out of both, Humanity
seemed dying out, and a universal savagery
was taking its place. Now, good Doctor
Knox was a man before his time ; he thought
arbitration a better means to a good end than
cannon shot. He would not, like a certain
Bishop of Orleans, have told armies, about to
destroy each other, that in cutting throats they
must do murder without rancour. Vicesimus
Knox would have > had them refrain from
mutual destruction altogether. Accordingly,
the good man thought he would put in a word
for peace an* chanty, and he selected ns the
subject of bis discourse, " Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, good will toward
men." He was listened to without any mani-
festation of dissent. Even the warlike militia-
men emitted no murmur, — but, they may have
been asleep ! The Doctor felt as satisfied as
the congregation seemed to be. A lady, how-
ever, who walked by his side, on leaving
church, quietly imparted to him that, pleased
as she was herself, she had observed hostile
symptoms in certain of the pews, occu[>ied
by people who hiited peace, and who were
little addicted to forgiveness ! The preacher
could hardly bt-Hevc his ears, but they had to
suffer worse assault. From a whisper there
grew loud report, and at last public accusation,
that this wicked Master of Tunbridge School,
having a church crowded not only with militia-
men, but with the regular army,— officers, rank,
and file from the camp, near Brighton {which
was not true), — had dared to preach *' peace,"
when war was so much more preferable, and
" good will toward men," when it was well
known to be the duty of every patriotic
Englishman to hale his enemy like the very
devil ! The Rev. Vicesimus Knox, D.D.,
meekly replied that he had only preached what
the Gospel imparted. He went to the camp,
and walked on the Steyne ; and on the Tuesday
night the Doctor, his wife, son, and daughter,
went to the Theatre, and from a stage-box
prepared to see * The Agreeable Surprise.'
Alas ! it was anything rather than agreeable.
The boxes were full of officers. There was
a coming and a going, loud murmurs, scornful
pointings to the Doctor and his party; and
finally a note was delivered to him, in which
there w;is a denunciation of his sermon, and
an order to leave the theatre immediately. At
the same time, the Doctor's box was filled by
officers, a number of others surrounding the
door, and loading the inmates with the most
opprobrious names. Knox was a brave man.
He at once addressed the audience ; he stated
his case; denounced the anonymous note as
impertinent, and he declared his intention to
remain with his family where he then was by
right of payment. But the speech could not
pacify those who came expressly to nourish their
wrath. The Doctor had preached "peace and
good will "; therefore he was howled at, called
a democrat, with several expletive adjectives
before the epithet to embitter its quality. There
was a proposal to turn him out, to whip him, to
put him in irons, also to bang this messenger
of peace. As he ultimately withdrew, the
"officers and gentlemen" grossly insulted not
only Knox, but his wife and children. The
son, a plucky little lad of fourteen years of age,
boldly shook his 6st at the assailants, crii.d
" Shame ! " upon them, and complimented them
satirically at their being twenty to one. But
he was mistaken. One stalwart fellow was
not afraid to oppose himself to the boy alone.
He seized the hul, shook him violently, crying
aloud, at the same time, " Who are you, you
dog? Vou ought to be hanged as well as your
father, — if he w your father,— and all such as
hold his demoralized principles, you dog, you!"
Finally, Dr. Knox withdrew from Brighton ;
and a report was at once circulated to the effect
that a mutiny had broken out in the camp, at
Wick, in consequence of his democratic sermon.
He received letters threatening his life ; and
the press thought that nothing was too bad for
him. Dr. Knox published a solemn and serious
asseveration of his loyalty and patriotism, and
a sharply satirical but now very rare pamphlet,
which we recommend to the notice of collectors,
should it ever fall in their way. It is called
* Prolegomena.' This publication ended an
affair which shook not only Brighton, but
Great Britain, though both soon foigot it, and
slept their usual sleep : — ■
tt jam Nox hutnida coelum
FrsBC'ipitat, euadeiitiiue c&deutia bidera somnoa.
In, about, and around the Marine Pavilion,
there was a condition of things which the Rev.
Dr. Vicesimus Knox would certainly have
honestly denounced. We are not going to
open the Brighton Chronicle of Scandal. Suffice
it to say, that it shocked the cursing, swearing,
blaspheming Lord Chancellor Thurlow. One
day, on the Steyne, the Prince was walking
between the rake. Lord Barrymore, and the
vulgar fellow who taught the Prince to drive,
fc*ir John lade. VvJgar i Well, Lade was
refinement itself iu comparison with his lady.
*'
But vulgarity was " Letty's " nature. She wiis
born with it in St. Giles's. According to fame,
Letty Lade had been the early Free Love Con-
sort of Sixteen- String Jack ; next, the Cynthia
of the hour to the Duke of York ; lastly, and
fittingly, the wife of the Jewish-looking groom.
Sir John Lade. Whenever the Prince wanted
to give an idea of the particular blackguardism
of one of his friends, His Royal Highness would
politely say, " He swears like L^titia Lade ! "
With this syren's husband on one side of
him, and ruffian Barrymore on the other, the
graceless trio encountered Lord Thurlow. The
Prince gaily rebuked the latter for not calling
on him, and condescendingly invited him to
name a day when he would come and dine
at the Pavilirin. "I cannot do that, Sir,"
said Thurlow, who was by no means extra-
particular in the matter of companionship, " I
cannot do that, until your Royal Highness
keeps better company." Company! The most
fashionable London paper of the day seemed
delighted to record that Brighton was full of
"little French milliners." If a man had
preached morality at St. Nicholas's, people
would have shaken their heads at him, and
have strongly suspected bis loyalty. The
" French milliners" were at least more modestly
dressed than some of the lady guests at the
Marine Palace, who walked as decolletees on
the Downs as when they sat down to dinner
at the Pavilion. It was not of them that it
was said, "Illis ampla satis forma, pudicitia."
Thurlow may well have been ashamed to go
among some of the guests. Many of the latter
had slang names, and slang generally prevailed
among august and illustrious personages.
Queen Charlotte visited the Pavilion but
once, and that was only two or three years
before the royal lady's death. If at her own
table at Windsor or Buckingham House the
Queen had often to strike in upon her princely
son's audacious stories with a '* Fie ! fie !
George," she was not likely to have less cause
for the exercise of such censorship at the
Pavilion. Perhaps during her brief sojourn
the Prince invited only fitting company to
wait on so virtuous a queen. At other times
he could condescend to very questionable
fellowship, to which, moreover, he gave the
most eccentric of names. As an instance,
may be adduced the throe brothers Barrymore
and their sister. They were severally known,
from respective characteristics, as Hellgate,
Newgate, and Cripplegate. The luAy, who
had not the soft voice which is so excellent a
thing in woman, nor sentiment, which would
be in "a concatination accordingly," passed
by the delicate appellation of Billingsgate.
The dining-room in the old building was
known to the Prince's friends, who in summer
had the honour of being baked there in his
company, as the Royal Oven. Col. Hanger
once pronounced it to be as hot as , the
place touching which Sheridan observed, as
they were all undoubtedly going thither, it
were as well to have a thorough antepast of it
before setting out. The observation was not
ill-founded, notwithstanding that civility to
heaven was combined with good service of the
devil, in a palace of which it was said, in the
very coarsest terms, that there was a chapel
at one end and a harem at the other.
In matters of conscience Brighton has
never been very tolerant. That is to say, no
religious party seems to have believed in the
169
sincerity of contemporary parties differing
only on small matters. There was much
profession and small measure of practice;
very many Christians, but no Christianity.
The Quakers, instead of staying, moved or
unmoved, in their meeting-house^ would rush
into the churches and abuse the preacher or
ridicule the prayers ; and orthodox magistrates
would condemn the offendera to stripes and
imprisonment. Ou all sides there was " too
much zeal." Erredge quotes from a publi-
cation, by a friend, a passage referring to the
way in which the Sussex Episcopalians treated
the Quakers, whose worship they were as
ready to break in upon as they were indignant
when their own was indecently interrupted by
the Quakers. The latter scornfully called the
steeple-house congregations "the professors,"
as if none observed Christian practice but
themselves. That the professors could stoop
to very unworthy practices, we gather from
a passage in the volume above noticed, and
bearing date 1G5S. From that we learn that
Episcopalians, on their way from church,
showed their religious zeal by attacking the
meeting-house if worship happened to be
going on. The assailants were guilty of many
indecent acts to show their orthodoxy, and
their contempt for those who held any other
doxy. One perfect Christian, lively, and
charitableold woman, particularly distinguished
herself on a certain Sunday. The sermon at
Brighton Church had been to her as the gad-
fly to the animal that it irritates and stimulates
to mischief. That excellent nld woman, on
her way home from church, broke the Quakers'
windows with her own Bible !
This lovely zealot should have been handed
down to fame at least ou her tombstone, but
we fail to identify her by any record in the
churchyard. In fact, there is not much to be
learnt in the old churchyard of individuals,
or of the poets by whom they have been
celebrated. Some of the quaintest of the
inscriptions have disappeared, often stones
and all. The old easy-gouig bard, or in-
different sculptor, perhaps both, may be seen
in an epitaph which says : —
They were two loving eiiterB
Who in Ibis duet now ly, that
Very day Anne was burjM
Elizabeth did dy.
Phoebe Hassel, who fought as a man at
Fontenoy, and whose life touched, if chronicle
be true, the reigns of Anne and of the fourth
George, has a simple record wlifch gives the
length of her days as makiug up the sum of
1 08 years. Now and then there is an attempt
at rather lugubrious fun. This is illustrated
in an epitaph on Mr. Law, which jingles
solemnly to this sort of tune: —
Stop, reader, and reflect with awe.
Fur Sto and Death have conquered Law,
Who in full hops resign'd his breatb
That Grace had conquered Sin and Death.
Let us hope that the second line carries no
reproof with it, and that Law was in a hopeful
state in a better sense of the word when he
tumbled over Brighton Cliff and was killed.
The tomb of Capt. Tattersell stands, and
still bears the record that the Captain success-
fully conveyed King Charles the Second
from near Brighton to France, "after he had
escaped the sword of his merciless rebels."
Other historical tombs have perished, or rather
they were destroyed about twenty-eight years ,
ago — the contents of the graves themselves i
not being respected— when the old church
was enlarged. The antiquary has much to
regret on this score. Meanwhile we may
record, that besides medical men who dis-
covered the salubrity of the waters and the ad-
vantages of attracting patients, besides princes
for whom the honour is disputed of having
at least shared with the doctors in inventing
Brighton, there rests an individual in old Brigh-
ton churchyard whose epitaph claims for him the
distinction of having produced thetransform.i-
tion scene in which Brighton passed from a
fishing village and rustic sea-bathing place to
a city of marine palaces The individual was
Mr. Arnon Wilds, who died in 1833. "Through
his abilities and taste," says the epitaph, " the
order of the ancient architecture of buildings
in Brighton may be dated to have changed
from its antiquated simplicity and rusticity."
'This is rather finely put. What follows is a
little obscure : " He was a man of extensive
genius and talent, and in his reputation for
uprightness of conduct could oidy meet its
parallel." Indeed, matter that was perfectly
intelligible does not seem to have been tolerated
by authorities which were not particular about
grammar or right spelliog. When John Jordan,
the hairdresser, was buried in old Brighton
churchyard, about sixty years ago, these lines
were added to the ordinary particulars —
This was plain, straightforward, but the clerical
censor had the Unes erased. Perhaps he
thought them presumptuous; or John had,
perhaps, been the object of some scandal, and
it was thought unseemly that the hairdresser
should send forth his note of aggravating
assertion from his grave. Besides, it was
making much ado about the honesty of one
man, as if all the rest of Brighton were knaves.
The talk about the chastity of Lucretia has
always seemed to us an aspersion on the cha-
racter of other Roman ladies, who were virtuous
without fuas being made about it, and who,
after all, would have compelled Tarquin
himself to respect them. "He comes too
near who comes to be denied " is one of the
many excellent adages to be found in Overbury.
But, speaking of honesty and knavery, as
one or the other may be found in Brighton,
the old church itself once had an emblem
which was interpreted in an adverse sense.
On the tower w.is a gilt arrow vane, but every-
body said it looked hke a shark; and a poet,
adopting the conclusion, like auother Polouius,
wrote thus: —
Say, why on Brighton's church we see
A golden shark display'd ;
But that 'twaa aptly meant to be
An emblem of its trade 1
Nor could the thing so well be told
In any other way,
The town's a Shark that lives on gold.
The Company its prey \
There is an illustration of the ruling passion,
strong in death, — to be found iu the old church-
yard,— which must not be passed over. Among
the silent citizens of the Necropolis, is the
once celebrated surgical instrument maker, Mr.
Weiss. The last instrument the great me-
chanician ever invented was borne with him
to the grave, piercing the inveutor's heart. It
was placed there by an eminent surgeon of the
time, Mr. Vallance ; Mr. Weiss, who dreaded
being buried alive, left a bequest to the surgeon,
for the performance of a duty, which Mr. Val-
^
170
THE ATHEN^UM
N" 2337, Aug. 10, '72
o
b
lance fulfilled. The most showy of
was erected hero, by Michael Kelly, "com-
poser of wine aud importer of music," to the
most melodious of warblers, if not most exem-
plary of women, — Mrs. Crouch (who used " to
do" one of the singing Witches in 'Macbeth,'
with hundreds of pounds' worth of lace in her
dress). In contrast with this is a tomb with
its inscription to the memory of John Pocock,
who was, nearly forty years. Clerk of the
Parish, and during about a dozen years, the
more dignified Clerk of the Chapel Royal.
John was above fourscore when he died. We
are willing to believe that he was all that man
and even parish clerk could be. But there
seems to be some doubt on this i)oint; and the
epitaph adjourns the settlement of the question
tOl the day of Judgment. " In the discharge
of his duty," says the inscription, "how simple,
upright, and aflfectionate he was, will alone be
known at the last day."
Among the departed whose memories are
dear, that of Deryk Carver, the Flemish
brewer, wlio brewed good ale in Brighton
before the " Tipper " was heard of, and who
not only read the scriptures in English, but
interpreted them according to his doubly solid
Anglo-Flemish and reasonable understanding ;
for which exercise of Free Inquiry, Deryk
has the honour of being the first martyr for
religion's sake in the county of Sussex. He
suflfered in 1554. Deryk was rather rude,
perhaps, when replying to the charges brought
against him, particularly when dealing with
Transubstantiation. "You say that you cau
make a God ! " cried the bold brewer ; " you
cau make a pudding as well ! " — which was
more "saucy" than logical. There is some
part of Carver's story that has a very legendary
aspect. The Bible which was tajcen from him
at the stake is said to have suffered merely a
slight discoloration on some of the pages from
the smoke. At the same time we are told,
in the same legend or tradition, that the blood
of the martyr who was burnt is visible on
several chapters of the Old Testament, but
particularly on the " Book of Ruth," which,
says Errcdge, "is very much splashed with
the vital fluid." We can understand marks
of fire on this Bible, which is a " Breeches
Bible " ; but that splashes of blood are visible
upon it we cannot believe, — at least, as the
accident aud part circumstance of Deryk's
burning.
But let us get back from Sussex martyrdoms
and Brighton Churchyard t^ the Dome beneath
which Dr. Carpenter will deliver his inaugural
address on Wednesday evening. What a
Nemesis has been ever seated there ! Under
that roof, where George the Fourth was, as he
thought, " every inch a King," Thackeray held
him up to the contempt of his hearers when
he lectured at the Pavilion, and made the
Georges look so disreputable in the reign of
Victoria. Strange contrast! — but Brighton
is full of them. Famed for its once reckless
gaiety and noisy dissipation, it sent forth, in
Robertson's sermons, a series of discourses the
publication of which has beeu moro popular
and a greater financial success than any other
collection of such homilies, except that of the
sermons of Blair. The Pavilion itself is still
the Palace of Contrasts. On one night Mrs.
Scott iSiddons enchants her audience by her
refinement aud passion j on another, a person
in a monk's dress preaches the Gospel "for
Jesus only," at ■1,'r,, 2s. C</., and 1*. adniis.sion,
with opportunity to buy his photngraph if you
are so disposed.
Brighton may look forward to a successful
meeting. The railway administration offer
certain facilities which travellers will appre-
ciate. The .working men will have a lecture
delivered to them, on ' Sunshine, Sea, and Sky,'
which is a universal subject. Oppressed minds,
brains that reel under excess of scientific
delight at the evening lectures, may find rest
and enjoyment at the two soirees and the
concert at each. There are not less than nine
excursions arranged for those who love to go
inquiringly abroad, with good objects,iu view.
For those who prefer to keep within the town,
there is the great aquarium, wherein many
an innocent fish has, during the late dog-days,
been literally done to death. There are nume-
rous other objects of attraction, unnecessary
for us to point out ; and therewith an abiding
hospitality, which has been, indeed, a Sussex
virtue from the earliest times.
The Lcadinri Ideas of the Gosjjels. By the
Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. (Macmillan
& Co.)
We have here the five sermons preached by
Dr. Alexander before the University of Oxford
in 1S70-71. Their aim is to cxliibit the
presiding purpose by which each of the four
Gospels is directed. In carrying out this de-
sign. Dr. Alexander justifies his reputation
as being the most eloquent of the disestab-
lished hierarchy, and a poet among bishops.
His sermons show that, though like most of
the Irish Protestant clergy of our day, espe-
cially those from the north, he belongs to the
Evangelical-Calvinistic School, he has been
led by his naturally aesthetic tendency into
lines of thought less harsh and arid than those
usually followed by his co-religionists. They are
pervaded throughout by a floridness of descrip-
tion aud a carefulnes>i of artistic detail, which
make it readily comprehensible how he has come
to be regarded by the votaries of a puritanical
regime as approaching too close to the borders
of ritualism to be altogether safe and sound.
While it is certainly the case that no extreme
party in the Church can claim him as its own,
the peculiar character of his style unmistakably
betrays his nationality. There is also a cer-
tain hardihood of positive assertion, and a
facility of epigrammatic invective, which must
have made tfi« cautious and reserved audiences
he would find ou this side of St. George's
Channel alternately wince and smile. He is the
very Justice Kcogh of the Irish Episcopal Bench.
Thus, we find him denouncing the philosophy of
Spinoza as "atheistic" ; and calling Dr. Man-
ning " a master of convenient assumption." Re-
specting certain recent Biblical critics, he
observes, "the academic Shimeis of England,
and France, and Germany, may seek for stones to
fling at him (Jesus) from the dust of the garden.
The French man of letters may cross Kedron,
and wave out his scented blasphemies, leaving
the unwholesome taint of Parisian patchouli
under the olives of Gethsemane." And he
disposes of modern science by saying, that,
"while the Church is looking for the resur-
rection of the dead and the life of the world
to come, outside there comes the response,
half-sneer, half-sigh, of the zoologist {misnamed
anthropologist)) I look for the fossilized bones
of pithecoid man, aud the everlasting death,
in a world which is the only world that ever
has beeu, or ever shall be." By no means
superior to the odium tJi€ologicu7n, he hesi-
tates to credit the holders of views fi'om
which he dissents with the possession of a
candid mind ; but he is sufficiently catholic in
his denunciations to allow that the " spirit of
hypocrisy and Pharisaism, of hollow sancti-
moniousness and hierarchical pretension, are
(sic) to be found among the sentimental pro-
fessors of a liberal and unsectarian Chris-
tianity, as well as in the priest's surplice or
the prelate's lawn." Upon modern Oxford
men he is very severe, for holding that religion
has for its object not a Divine Person, but a
beautiful idea; and says, that those "who
come back to Oxford in the evening of their
days, as they look back with bitter self-accu-
sation, remember that the time which they
most deplore, coincided exactly with the time
when, by shutting up their New Testament,
they shut out Christ's presence from their
lives."
Without canvassing the bishop for tite sta-
tistics upon which he founds this statement
respecting the pervading frame of mind of
elderly Oxonians, we may observe that this
sentence embodies the leading idea of these
discourses ; and we may remark, that, for that
large proportion of Christians for whom the
contemplation of the actual life and Person of
our Lord constitutes the essence of their reli-
gion, these sermons contain many striking
and suggestive thoughts. The various points
of view from which the Evangelists beheld
and treated their subject, differing according
to each writer's character and opportunities,
are vividly and poetically exhibited. We may
readily accord them a merit as sermons, which
we feel unable to gi'ant them as serious com-
positions representing the results of mature
reflection, and appealing to the judgment
rather than to the feelings. In illustration of
this, we have but to point to the curious pas-
sage in the first of them, in which the bishop
charges the Jewish race with pre-eminent
meanness in money matters, and dates it from
the time when the elders " gave large money
to the soldiers,'' to confess to the authorities
that they had incurred the penalty of death
by sleeping on duty, and thus allowed the
disciples to steal away the body of Jesus.
Without attempting to conjecture how this
instance of liberality in bribery came to suggest
to Dr. Alexander the notion of meanness, we
will let him speak for himself : —
" From that time baseness, baseness about
money, has entered into the Jewish nation, and
formed a leprous scurf upon it, thinned its noblest
blood, and ulcerated the hearts of the children of
those who were once homines desiderwruvt."
Here follows a passage, whose connexion
with the foregoing we are utterly at a loss to
divine ; but the bishop presently goes on : —
"This baseness of the Jews has become pro-
verbial. In spite of the splendid exceptions which
wUl occur to every one of us, popular feehng
recocnizes a truth in Shylock and Famn. The
base deed of fallen Judaism round the Holy
Sepulchre is avenged iu the wretched caricatures
of the children of Abraham, who haggle wih the
drunken and hunjiry over second-hand clothes,
and sell mosaics and jeweUery, the very words
being a witness against them. '
Now, we submit, with all deference, that,
had the bishop given a second thought to the
ATHEN^UM
N° 2337, Aug. 10/72
at 4-?., 2*. 6J., aud Is. admission,
aity to buy Ms photograph if you
id.
nay look forward to a successful
le railway administration offer
ties which travellers will appre-
s-orking men will have a lecture
lem, on ' Sunshine, Sea, and Sky,'
iversal subject Oppressed minds,
reel under excess of scientific
e evening lectures, may find rest
mt at the two soirees and the
ch. There are not less than nine
ranged for those who love to go
broad, with good objects^ view.
0 prefer to keep within the town,
great aquarium, wherein many
ish has, during the late dog-days,
done to death. There are nume-
bjects of attraction, unnecessary
it out ; and therewith an abiding
hich has been, indeed, a Sussex
tie eai'liest times.
I'leas of the Go-spfh. By the
Deny and Raphoe. ( Macmillan
re the five sermons preached by
r before the University of Oxford
Their aim is to exhibit the
rpose by which each of the four
rected. In carrying out this de-
exander justifies his reputation
most eloquent of the disestab-
:hy, and a poet among bishops,
show that, though Hke most of
itestant clergy of our day, espe-
lom the north, he belongs to the
'alvinistic School, he has been
laturally aesthetic tendency into
;ht less harsh and arid than those
■c:l bv his co-reUgionLsts. They are
ut by a floridness of descrip-
..ess of artistic detail, which
y comprehensible how he has come
d by the votaries of a puritanical
iroaching too close to the borders
to be altogether safe and sound,
trtainly the case that no extreme
Church can claim him as its own,
haracter of hLs style unmistakably
ationality. There is also a cer-
od of positive assertion, and a
igrammatic invective, which must
■■ ••" "
of pithecoid man, and the everlasting death,
in a world which is the only world that ever
has been, or ever shall be." By no means
superior to the OiJium tJieologicum, he hesi-
tates to credit the holders of views fix>m
which he dissents with the possession of a
candid mind ; but he is sufficiently catholic in
his denunciations to allow tL-^t the " spirit of
hypocrisy and Pharisaism, of hoUow sancti-
moniousness and hierarchical pretension, are
(sic) to be found among the sentimental pro-
fessors of a liberal and unsectarian Chris-
tianity, as well as in the priest's surplice or
the prelate's lawn." Upon modem Oxford
men he is very severe, for holding that religion
has for its object not a Divine Person, but a
beautiful idea ; and says, that those '•' who
come back to Oxford in the evening of their
days, as they look back with bitter self-accu-
sation, remember that the time which they
most deplore, coincided exactiy with the time
when, by shutting up their Xew Testament,
they shut out Christ's presence from their
lives."
Without canvassing the bishop for the sta-
tistics upon which he founds this statement
respecting the pervading frame of mind of
elderly Oxonians, we may observe that this
sentence embodies the leading idea of these
discourses ; and we may remark, that, for that
large proportion of Christians for whom the
contemplation of the actual life and Person of
our Lord constitutes the essence of their reli-
gion, these sermons contain many striking
and suggestive thoughts. The various points
of view from which the Evangelists beheld
and treated their subject, differing according
to each writer's character and opportunities,
are vividly and poetically exhibited. We may
readily accord them a merit as sermons, which
we feel unable to grant them as serious com-
positions representing the results of mature
reflection, and appealing to the judgment
rather than to the feelings. In illustration of
this, we have but to point to the curious pas-
sage in the first of them, in which the bishop
charges the Jewish race with pre-eminent
meanness in money matters, and dates it from
the time when the elders " gave large money
to the soldiers," to confess to the authorities
that they had incurred the penalty of death
by sleeping on duty, and thus allowed the
disciples to steal away the body of Jesus,
Without attempting to conjecture how this
in :n bribery came to !
POSTING DISTANCES FKOM BRIGHTON.
Alboiime miles 9
Alfriston 19
Angmering 17
Arundel 21
Ashurst 15
Battle 30
Bath 122
Balcombe 19
Seeding 11
Billingshm-st 29
Bisliopstone 12
Black water 56
Blandford 103
Blatchington, East . 13
Bognor, by Wor-
thing 29
Boreham 26
Bramber 11
Bridport 135
Bristol 134
Broadstairs 109
Broadwater 12
Buxted 18
Canterbury 78
Chatham 60
Cheltenham 136
Chichester 32
Chiddingly 17
Cowfold 15
Crawley 23
Croydon 42
Cross-in- hand 20
CuckEeld 15
Danny 9
Deal 95
Ditchling ... 9
Dorchester 119
Dorking ..." 35
Dover 86
Eastbourne 23
East Dean 19
East Grinstead ... 29
East Hoathly 16
Epsom 44
Exeter 173
Exminster 145
Fareham HILES 50
Ferring 15
Findon 15
Firle 13
Forest Row 26
Framfield 18
Friar's Oak 9
Gardner-street ... 24
Glynde 11
Glyndebourne ... 11
Godalming 42
Goodwood 30
Goring 16
Guildford 42
HaUshain 22
Handcross 17
Hapstead Green ... 21
Hastings, by Battle. 41
Hastings, by East-
bourne 46
Havant 41
HelUngly 21
Henfield 11
Herstmonceux ... 25
Hickted 12
Highdown 16
Honiton 157
Horley 27
Horsebridge 20
Horsham 22
Hurst pierpoint ... 9
Hythe 72
Ilfold 10
Kingston- on- Thames,
by Reigate . . . . 40
Kingston - on - Thames,
by Dorking 43
Kingston, nr. Lewes 8
Lancing, Upper ... 9
Lancing, Lower ... 10
Laughton 14
Lewes 8
Lindfield 17
Littlehampton, by
Sompting .. . . 21
Littlehampton, by
Worthing .. ..21
London MILES 52
Maidstone ... .
.. 50
Maresfield ... .
.. 18
Margate
..113
Maytield
.. 25
Midliurst ... .
.. 37
Mitchelgrove... .
.. 17
Newhaven ... .
.. 9
North Leach... .
..126
Oxford
.. 98
Pet worth ... .
.. 29
Piddinghoe ... .
.. 10
Portsmouth ... .
.. 50
Pulborough ... .
.. 28
Kamsgate ... .
..107
Eingmer
.. 11
Rochester
.. 60
Rodmell
.. 11
Rother field ...
.. 26
Reigate
.. 31
Richmond
.. .52
Salisbury
.. 84
Sandwich
..101
Seaford
.. 13
Sheffield
..218
Sompting ... .
.. 11
Southampton... .
.. 62
Steyning
.. 12
Stoney Cross... .
.. 73
Storrington ... .
.. 19
Sussex Pad ...
.. 7
Sutton
.. 41
Tarring, West
.. 13
Tunbridge Wells
.. m
Tunbridge Town .
.. 36
Uckfield
.. 16
WaUingford ... .
.. 86
Warminster ... .
..106
Washington ... .
.. 17
West Grinstead .
.. 16
Wilmington ... .
.. 19
Windsor
.. 70
Witney
..109
Woodmancote
.. 10
Worthing ...
.. 11
Wymboume ... .
.. 93
188 8
^^in^^^
cni.TLj..».V"'^®""*y °' California
dn^^V/"!"!' REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388
Return this material to the library
from which it was borrowed.
'.^^i^S^^
MRS. FiTZHEKBEUT'8 PALACE.
Great excitement prevailed in Brighton when it
2&me rumoured tliat George, Priuce of Wales, in-
ided building a palace for his beautiful wife, which
)uld rt '^"""^*' "*-~«W~».jiiaht;;g^dr$am of architec-
•e. arj"«««- "The Prince •'■ * ^
^1"estion, as she threw l,e,
j„^ pillow, ."Is about indul-.m.
ain tr-^<^''cise, your ladyship
■ish
lii.-> quiet rcfiL-'liin^ philusopiiy, i;;injreh the worlc
altogether." "I saw him once iu the Mall; he
looked sadly out of phice." " Not an much a.s a few
Sundays ago, when — but I beg your pardon, it is no
anecdote for you. My good friend suffers from
absence of mind." " That is because he is so drea<I.
was the ImK.'l^ "jjj.^ fer ; but the anecdote Doctor, please." "Oh,
»er arm feverishly over the ^^^^^^H- -^ letter from Kirkaldy tells me
..I j^ ^ little healthv ^**"^*^"1'*''*''* '*^ ^"'^*^^ '°^^ ^"^ ^'^'^^^^" ^''''"
replied the fashionable *'"^'' ^^'''Ko*' ^ 1'"* "" "■ single garment, and
r 1 medical man f. if ^ \. "-1"'*^" tne fa«h onable ""'b' ""^fe"'' "^ put uu a Hiugie gurmcui, aim
""iproSri.^ :.•"''"";,.?. fi'^.^'- was no more than a -* ^{ '^ ^^J^'^- .- ^is deep thought into
i a
alth
iwij
8t
org(
QUl
o
.red^
ir.o;« ^* *^°^ recipe. Rut his patient moanp.l «wk '© and road, and was only stopped by
pain for .he k„ew well the nalure of Te extci ' i« «^ r>unfe;mline and the Wle going
LnH f'» I ^"'■So"eD, it is the Jersey baU nir'hV irch. I would have given anything to
I m i^eorge has gone ; and did not sav L'ood bv^'' ^" t^e looks of some of them at the appa-
nnSn^r" t^tl^^: r''' .T' ^^ hi.sSlig,>L,s '' ^dam in his bed-gown." Thus the doctor's
' M'ghty attentive, forsooth ••
ball-
kour .o"''ed the patient'^
., ithlessuess
thought of dwelling upon
princes. Mrs. Fitzherbert"
"i-i Tir ~ " "' '■'•■'^ooth !" A pause • AbernptViv- -'* were never of long duration, " 1 have been
' ^liZr'^u^' P'"^^"^'*^'^^ '"■■i". sided personaliv with MrJ S^r of losing mv life four times ; I have been
jn^^ii'itzherbertinherviewoftheabsence, but rttemS^'w twice, and now am married U> the most
upon jtrinciide. It so haiipened the *'**^ '"'*" ^" Europe, and yet I have survived it
to pacify
lady Mas
her
^^^B ' II u'^i '"JPatient, and would not be m.ffip I Thus ran a paragraph of one of her letters.
^^^n.esufferlT\^'T'*^^^^ °«' ^""^'' **^^"^-^' ''"""^^^^ ^pe^^^ng, to
■/ "'I- sunerinL' here thrr>iir»i. *i • i , . ' "-"*'"i; _xi,..i. i _i.:ii i„f »i.„ * „ i i \r~..
^'o <rln *^"^f"°fe' ^^""^ througli the night It is' kTnd"f° ^t^'v's good skill, Wfore the town heard Mrs.
^^ „ioss It over, doctor, but I am wounded' tf ■'"^rt waa about again— iu her yacht, with its
^^^You h ^-^'''"^I "^''^ *^ ^ "«^er recovered- ^*^'' ' *"* ^^^ ''^^^'^' ^'^^^ '^'^ horsc-shocs of
"^ think D ^f reputation of saying what vou 1' ^" ^^^ sumptuous yellow and gilt chariot,
octor. to otiher ])eop]e, why not to me »'» N ^'"'"fis of amber-perfumed satin ; and again
said the gallant physician,
".Dear Madam,
; Your brother had been addressing
|of citizens, who ha.1 manifeTteTVhVdeS rteS
him, when the platform upon wS he Sood
wn talked of its palace. Every one seemed
1 a personal interest in its becoming an
ished fact. If the rate at which the heir-
ntelligence' to ("Pti^'e was living admitted, he must become the
he did it in this wise personage of the dominion, in which case the
"e nieetin r r^^ ^^ ^^® Sea" would be of incalculable benefit,
Sef i^t^^^h I e town. It w;us like tliat kiosque on the
lorus, towards the building of which everj'
In these days, when
in
being, as was subseqxfently a.cer^hTed;"v;;V i^^ecur? I ^
S' ?Lr7f ? "Vf ^« ^^" and Vroke S^^
neck. touid I be less delicate in my speech to J.V/
inH^rc'es-' '"Blsid:^"^"^;'^ '"''^^ sooth^ing ' warehouses, we cannot realise the
sent. lam curionfl'^Li^r.^^^*^'^. ^^'^'^ ^..be Pre
curious to
Turk contributed a st<jne
longer build i)alaces, and the art of the
tect is expended uftou railway stations, hotels,
sensation
ed by tlie small army of workmen who were
Tf ...,, .,, — — *^ee this youu"- milliom'irp tly afterwards engaged upon the Pavilion. Of
jonthUl will exceed our Brighton Palace in wonder' »« ^^ "»«* with its share of opposition. There have
oc or. "It IS then true his Highness contemplates ^^^ ^^" people to object to whatever was going
Qt marine residence? I have heard it'^"^^' »ot always with the justice of that
f, , , V ^^*^** <^o the people say of it '
^-^th: Ki'/Y .^%'^''^ -^*l be rl„ciled • • . ,
iving nrst, I suppose ? They have tic'darJ.V obliged by your giving orders for your
I think b""^ ^ ^* taken up ; it lijps against my street-door,
I . — c — .1.. from going to church."
]>rogressed and prospered,
permanent
i spoken of.
with
ard if '«*'^ • ""'' aiMci^o «ii« njc ju.-iuwc ui ui.n
. (],j^^ man who boarded the sluii as she lay at anchor,
mcilw? > addressing the captain, said, "Sir, I shall feel
^e '^"-^ -'^ ^'"'^^'"'^ Hou,se yet. Doctor.'
Welrt '^''"b'«/«'y little about' it. Maim!"^ P^^^'^'"'* "»>' ^'^»»1>-
vvelJ, of cour.se, I mean the better cla*«—thpVeithcless the building
nversatinnn. " «<r„ <„ „ ,. "f-i^^r ciase — ttte, ., . . , , P.
conversational,
mak
a«8ure you
In fact
. , , — , the chws that would ^ *''^ '^""^ decade of tlie century witnessed the
e It both Its business and plea.sure to trouh?* T^ud uprearing of another seat of monarchy and
re you I am like my friend Adam Smith who ia»Ple of art. )
Ss^jrW, ^
•/Tn.
University of California
SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
405 Hllgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388
Return this material to the library
'rom which it was borrowed.
am
MRS. FITZHERBERT'8 P^VLACE.
Great excitement prevailed in Brighton when it
»ecame rumoured tliat George, Prince of Wales, in-
ended building a palace for his beautiful wife, which
hould realize the Arabian night's dream of architec-
ure, and surpass all the palaces of the earth for
avnsli magnificence. Wild stories floated of how
he Imperial Fitzherbert had refused designs from
Ipain that would have ravished the heart of any
rdinary Queen ; of how the most famous designers
ud architects of distant lands, famous for their
I'ealth of architecture, had been consulted ; of how
rawings of every palatial edifice in Europe and the
Cast were submitted to her ; and of how Prince
ieorge would hardly have a word in the decision.
Vould Mr. Kemp's mansion, wliere the Royal party
ojourned, be pulled down, and the ambitious jiile be
eared upon the site ? Would tlie building occupy
tie most elevated out-look on the Downs ? The
'rince was known to be in favour of this ! Would it
e a chain of Swiss chalet-style , of gem-like
wellings, right along the sea front upon tlie sea
;vel ? This had b«cn suggested, and liad found
ivour. It would be a casket of ornamentation, a
tttage-ornc of fairj-->vorkmanship. Unfortunately
was affirmed by a practical and experienced Itjilian
rchitect that it would be neither safe or endunng,
uilt in such close vicinity to the sea. Then the idea
)xmd favour of resu.scitivting the grandest of
Egyptian or Assyrian courts, of crowding column
ud wall with the mystical allegory of their religious
ecorative art. Tlie walls would be canvassed, and
lereon tlie most famous painters would depict the
lories of the land of sand and sun ; a perepective of
le Nile, the h)oming shadow of pyramid, tiie
lorification of Osiris and Isis and all the pageantry
f the mythologj^ of .Egypticus. There would be
imer courts where the ibis, the antelope, and
lie giraffe, woukl luxuriate beneath the palm,
"^here the stork would descend broad stei)s of
orpliyry to a pool — the mirrors of the glories
round. Nubian minstrel-girls with the tliree-stringed
,re of ancient Egypt would fill the marble splendour
ith delicious strains. Mrs. Fitzherbert liked the
lea ! How superb she would appear costumed as
enobia, Nitocris, Semiramis, Cleopatra ! But it
as so ridiculed by the Countess of Jersey (whose
itire was of weight in her circle), and Sheridan's
uery, "whether the crocodiles would arrive by lan^
r water," caused so much displeasure to the IMucd
lat th''; scheme was Ukewise abandoned. A stp^y
as curVrtot that the Alhambra, with magnificent
loorish and Byzantine embellishments, would be
sproduced, and the town accordingly donned Orientiil
\ste8 and fsvshions on the instant. This idea liisted,
'e IjcHeve, .some nine days, wlicn Fox persuaded the
Irince it would be the revival of barbarism and at
ariance with ta.ste. George, who was easily in-
uenced by those associates he entertained a partiality
)r, surrendered in favour of the existing design, a
atchwork of several ideas, a nightmare of Pekin,
lonstantinople, and Vauxhall. Sydney Smith's
haracteristic remark upon first seeing the Pavilion
?ill ever be inelegantly a.ssociated, that " it looked
0 him as if St. Paul's had been down to the sea and
inpped." The building was altered and improved
ly Nash, but the ostensible features remained the
ame. Excitement raged in Brighton ! Already it
fas the grand resort of fashion, and if the palace
»ecanie a reality the town might hope to rival
..ondon, Paris, Venice. Things were improving,
tfnro vicif.^ra t.hnn r>vpr f;imfi down tlie vear the
his (juiet refru:<liing philosopiiy, i;4UcJrL^ (he world
altogetlier." "I saw him once iu the Mali; he
looked sadly out of place." " Not a« much a.s a few
Sundays ago, when — but I beg your pardon, it is no
anecdote for you. My good friend suffers from
absence of mind." " That is liecause he is so dread,
fully clever ; but the anecdote Doctor, please." " Oh,
a mere nothing. A letter from Kirkaldy tells me
in his pre-occupation he walked into his garden with-
out dressing, forgot to i>ut on a single garment, and
walked out of his garden in his deep thought into
the lane and road, and w.-is only stopped by
the bells of Dunfermline and the people goitig
to church. I would have given anything to
have seen the looks of some of them at the appa-
rition of Adam in his bed-gown." Thus the doctor's
talk beguiled the patient's thought of dwelling upon
the faithlessness of princes. Mrs. Fitzherljert's
illnesses were never of long duratioiL " I liave been
in danger of losing my life four times ; I have been
a widow twice, and now am married to the most
profligate man in Europe, and yet I have survived it
all." Thus ran a paragraph of one of her letters.
It was not long, thanks, humanly speiiking, to
Alxjmethy's good skill, before the town heard Mrs.
Fitzherbert was about again — in her yacht, with its
silken sails ; on her steed, with its hor.se-shoes of
silver ; in her sumptuous yellow and gilt chariot,
with its linings of amber-perfumed satin ; and again
the town talked of its palace. Every one seemed
to feel a personal interest in its becoming an
estiiblished fact. If the rate at which the heir-
presumptive was living admitted, he must become the
first personage of the dominion, in which case the
" Palace by the Sea" would be of incalculable benefit,
to the town. It was like that kiosque on the
Bosphorus, towards the building of wluch every
loyal Turk contributed a stone. In these days, when
we no longer build i)alaces, and the art of tlie
architect is expended upon railway stations, hotels,
and warehouses, we cannot reali.se the sensation
caused by the small army of workmen who were
shortly afterwards engaged upon the Pavilion. Of
course it met with its share of opposition. There have
always Iwen people to object to whatever was going
forward : not always with the justice of that
merman who boarded the sliip as she lay at anchor,
and, addressing the captiiiu, Siiid, "Sir, I shall feel
particularly obliged by your giving orders for your
anchor to l>e taken up ; it lits against my street-door,
and prevents my family from going to church."
Nevcitheless the building j)rogre.s.sed and prospered,
and the last decade of tlie century witnessed the
jiroud uprearing of another seat of monarchy and
teniiilc of art.
1
i
. i.
. • ,/7..i>.
.■^f
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11