Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2023)
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copyright © J.Middleton
Palmeira Mansions was photographed on 8 September 2015
from Palmeira Lawn. |
These fine mansions in Renaissance style were erected in
the years 1883 and 1884. There was a block of six houses between Salisbury Road
and Palmeira Avenue and a block of six houses between Palmeira Avenue and
Rochester Gardens. The houses had a frontage to Church Road, overlooking
Palmeira Lawn but were separated from it by a private carriageway and wall.
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copyright © J.Middleton
Photo left:- Palmeira Mansions between
Salisbury Road and Palmeira Avenue
Photo right:- Palmeira Mansions between
Palmeira Avenue and Rochester Gardens. |
Jabez Reynolds
Jabez Reynolds, senior, of Brighton was the owner and
builder of Palmeira Mansions. He was baptised in the Wesleyan Chapel, Dorset
Gardens on 23 May 1824. He married Caroline Yates on 30 May 1846 at St Nicolas
Church, Brighton. In 1877 he purchased a house on the east side of Wilbury Road
from Osmond Dash who had bought it from the Stanford Estate the previous year.
Reynolds built seven houses in
Lansdowne Street in 1881 and some in Cambridge Road. Two houses he built in
Cambridge Road were too close to the boundary wall (contrary to the plans) and
had to come down. He built four more houses in 1882 at Cambridge Road.
Palmeira Mansions are his most
memorable work and he also erected stabling in connection with these houses in
1880s in St John’s Road, known then as Palmeira Mews Road. The stabling
included coach houses and living quarters for the grooms.
His son Jabez Reynolds, junior,
built houses in Church Road, Cambridge Road, Wilbury Road and Goldstone Villas.
Opulent Mansions
It seems that no expense was spared in the building and
fitting-out of Palmeira Mansions. The entrance was through a porch of
rusticated columns supporting entablature, frieze and cornice, leading to a
lofty hall. The ground floor contained dining room, morning room, billiard
room, boudoir, bachelor’s room, bathroom and lavatories. The floors were of
tessellated pavement, there were carved marble chimney-pieces and over-mantels,
marble fenders and tiled hearths. Mr A. Granville Greysmith of Ship Street,
Brighton, painted frescoes on the walls. Venetian blinds were fitted
throughout.
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copyright © J.Middleton
The ‘rusticated columns’ are a typical feature of
Palmeira Mansions. |
Shanks & Co provided the
baths and lavatories. The basement contained kitchen, servants’ hall,
manservant’s bedroom, various external cellars and a completely fitted wine
cellar. The attics were light and roomy and suitable for servants’ bedrooms.
This description of the properties is taken from an article printed in Brighton
Gazette (21 February 1885).
Slump
Unfortunately, Palmeira Mansions were erected just as the
property market was going through one of its periodic slumps. It was the same
story when houses in
Palmeria Square were newly built. The 1885 Directory
recorded that only four houses in Palmeira Mansions were occupied but by 1887
the number had risen to ten. However, the 1891 census recorded six unoccupied
houses.
The slump affected Henry Jones Lanchester badly because he
found his work at Hove had all but dried up. He was therefore obliged to leave
Hove and remove with his family back to London.
Coffee Stall
In April 1884 Mr Reynolds, owner of Palmeira Mansions, and
Messrs Humphrey & Son, owner of Palmeira Terrace, asked Hove Commissioners
to remove a nearby coffee stall, probably thinking it lowered the tone of the
neighbourhood. This coffee stall was allowed to operate during weekdays on the
east side of St John’s Church. When other residents heard about the move, they
were horrified and soon a petition bearing 287 signatures asking for the coffee
stall to be allowed to remain was presented to Hove Commissioners. That august
body then decided it was not necessary to order its removal.
For twelve years the coffee stall happily plied its trade
and then abruptly in September 1896 Hove Commissioners withdrew their consent
and gave the coffee stall keeper one month’s notice to quit.
Pageboy in Danger
In 1885 a policeman was passing by Palmeira Mansions when
he noticed a pageboy standing on an outside ledge in order to clean windows.
In September 1885 Mrs Whitefield of 29 Palmeira Mansions
was summoned before the courts for permitting a servant to stand in a dangerous
position on a windowsill. The magistrates inflicted the full penalty of a fine
of £2.
Trees and Lamps
On 5 July 1894 the surveyor
reported that owing to the trees on the north side of Church Road in front of
the mansions, the light from the lamps situated on the private wall was
considerably obscured. He recommended erecting two new lamps on the kerb of the
pavement, one midway between Rochester Gardens and Palmeira Avenue and the
other midway between Palmeira Avenue and Salisbury Road; the lighting of the
two existing lamps should be discontinued.
This still did not solve the
problem and in January 1899 the surveyor suggested four new lamps should be
placed on the curb and new lamps should replace the old ones on the wall.
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copyright © J.Middleton
In this 1908 postcard the tree problem in front of
Palmeira Mansions is obvious.
Note the original lamp on the right and the
hackney carriage stand on the left. |
Private Roadway
In 1914 Mr R. Tilt, property
owner, erected two posts in the private roadway, thus preventing through
vehicular traffic. Although a private roadway, it had always been open to
public use and by May 1914 one post had already been knocked over by a cab. Hove
Council ordered the remaining one to be removed.
It is interesting to note that in
recent times when renovation of the area was taking place, the vexed question
of who actually owned the private roadway had to be looked into before work
could begin.
Omnibuses and Excessive Speed
In 1923 some of the owners of Palmeira Mansions complained
to Hove Council about the nuisance and damage to property caused by ‘excessive
speed of the omnibuses’ especially early in the morning and late at night.
The Chief Constable took it upon
himself to time no fewer than 79 omnibuses. He recorded that on one occasion
two omnibuses travelled at 13mph and two at 14mph while another notched up
15mph. At the time the maximum legal limit was 12mph.
Renovation
In the late 20
th
century Palmeira Mansions were something of a sorry sight. Their drab exteriors
made them look run down, and this was because there was no legal requirement
for the façades to be repainted at regular intervals, as was the case with
Brunswick Square and
Terrace, and Palmeira Square. There was one house in
particular that stuck out like a sore thumb because it was still in its
unadorned state of what used to be called Roman cement whilst all its
neighbours had succumbed to a pleasing coat of creamy white. At last, this
house too joined the club and today Palmeira Mansions have never looked so
handsome.
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copyright © J.Middleton
This postcard view dating back to around 1904 shows
Palmeira Mansions before the façades were painted and
still displayed the
original Roman cement. |
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copyright © J.Middleton
One of the lovely new lamps was
photographed on 6 April
2002. |
There has also been a trend to
re-convert the mansions from offices to residential use; plans for such
conversions were before the council in January 1999 and July 2000.
The upturn in their fortune was
no doubt helped along by the restoration of the private wall, which was
completed by December 1991. Hove and Brighton Conservation Board were
responsible for the work, which cost £60,000, and it was the first scheme they
undertook. The walls and piers were renovated and then specialist Robert Cook
re-plastered them.
New lamp stands and lanterns were
re-created from an original model and they are an impressive sight today.
The area was further enhanced by the installation of new
bus shelters, which instead of being brash and modern, were especially chosen
to harmonise with the surrounding architecture.
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copyright © J.Middleton
Palmeira Lawn and Palmeira Mansions look their best in
this photograph taken on 22 August 2015. Note the discreet bus shelters in the
background. |
House Notes
Number 9
Lieutenant-General Sir Edwin Henry Hayter Collen
GCIE CB (1843–1911) lived at 9 Palmeira Mansions in 1905, he served on the Council of the Viceroy
of India. Edwin was born in London, the son of the famous
Royal miniature portrait painter Henry Collen.
He saw military service in Abyssinia, Afghanistan
and Sudan. Later in his army career in 1895, he served in India. Sir Edwin retired from
military service in 1901.
Number 11 |
copyright ©
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 14 September 1912
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Number 15
The Countess di Avido lived at number 15 from 1893 until 1893
Number 21
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copyright © G. Glastris 21 Palmeira Mansions in 1900
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It is wonderful to be able to have a glimpse
inside the spacious residence of Lady
Edwardes’s Residence at 21 Palmeira Mansions, and see the
lavish furnishings of the Victorian / Edwardian era. Just how large
Lady Edwardes’s home was can be gauged from the fact that by 1907 it
had been divided into no less than five flats. |
copyright © G. Glastris
The almost hidden gentleman is
Major James Murray Irwin,
Lady Emma’s nephew, and the rather
stern-looking woman is his wife Nora with their daughter Edna on the
left – the trio overlooked by the bust of Sir Herbert Edwardes.
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Lady Emma Edwardes
(1823-1904) lived at number 21 from 1892 for a period of twelve years
until her death, and she enjoyed the services of four domestic
servants, as well as her personal masseur, while her butler was an
Indian-born ex-British soldier.
In
1850 Emma Sidney married Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwards (1819-1868) while he
was on furlough from India. She dutifully accompanied her husband
back to India where he had important duties. But she found the
climate so enervating and impossible to bear that she was obliged to
return to England after trying to endure it for eight years. Her
concerned husband applied for furlough and returned to England in
1862, retiring in 1865. However, the climate and overwork played
havoc with his health as well, and the following year he died.
Lady
Edwardes married William Tollemache in 1875 and she was allowed to keep
her courtesy title, but her second husband died in 1886. Lady Edwardes
lived in Onslow Square, London, where she devoted her time to writing
a massive work in honour of her first husband entitled A
Memorial of his Life and Letters by his wife. She
obviously still carried a torch for him and a bust of him stood in
pride of place in her library at number 21, and when she died, she
was buried in Highgate Cemetery where he was also buried.
After
her writing was finished, Lady Edwardes decided she needed some sea air,
and moved to Hove in 1890 where she lived in Fourth Avenue. She was
not lonely because her niece Catherine Layard lived there too. Poor
Mrs Layard had been recently widowed and was left with two small
girls to bring up, aged four and one. In 1892 Lady Edwardes moved to
Palmeira Mansions, and Mrs Layard went to live in Bath.
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copyright © G. Glastris On the left Lady Edwardes' Drawing Room with paintings of India on the wall along with a drawing of Sir Herbert, on the right the hallway from the Drawing Room.
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As
regards Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes, he became a great hero in
British India, and finished his career heaped with honours and
letters after his name. This was after an inauspicious childhood and
youth because both parents had died by the time he was four years of
age, and he was brought up by a strict aunt, being packed off to
boarding school when he was aged ten. He dreamed of going to Oxford
but for unknown reasons, his guardians would not allow it; however,
he did attend King’s College, London.
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copyright © G. Glastris
Lady Edwardes' boudoir |
In
1841 Edwardes set sail for India and the following year he was to be
found serving as a 2nd
Lieutenant in an infantry regiment. He obviously had a rare talent
for languages and soon mastered Hindustani, Hindi and Persian, passed
his exams, and was an interpreter by the age of 26.
Edwardes wrote three important articles that impressed his
contemporaries, and in November 1845 he was invited to be on the
personal staff of Sir Hugh Goff, commander-in-chief in India, and
later on worked in co-operation with Sir John Lawrence. In fact
Edwardes was described as a brilliant soldier-diplomat. He did
sterling service in the Sikh Wars and Indian Mutiny.
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copyright © G. Glastris
Another view of Lady Edwardes' boudoir |
In
fact, in his memorial located in the north aisle of Westminster
Abbey, the eulogy contains the following – he ‘greatly
contributed to the security of the frontier and the salvation of the
British Empire in India.’ Strong words indeed. The bust in Lady
Edwardes' library is similar to the bust of white marble in
Westminster Abbey, and was given to her ‘by some of the many
friends who loved and admired Sir Herbert Edwardes.’
It
is interesting to note that although he died in 1868, Lady Emma Edwardes continued to use her title, although she later married
William Tollemache, and it must be admitted that Lady Edwardes has more
of a ring about it than Mrs Tollemache. What Mr Tollemache thought of
the situation is not known. But it was certainly Lady Emma Edwardes
in the Directories. Perhaps she still carried a torch for her late
husband because she diligently wrote a book called A
Memorial of his Life and Letters by his wife.
Number 23
Major General Robert Crosse Stewart C. B.,
D.S.O., (1826-1914), was born in Belfast and lived at 23 Palmeira
Mansions from 1901 until 1914 after moving from Wilbury Road. In 1845
he was recommended for a non-purchased commission in the army by the
Duke of Wellington to Queen Victoria because of Robert’s late
father, Major Archibald Stewart’s military service in the Peninsula
War and the Battle of Waterloo.
Robert trained in Madras
as a Hindustani interpreter. Captain Stewart served as Assistant
Executive Engineer in Rangoon, Burma. He later transferred to the 7th
Hussars and saw action at Meangunge in 1857 and the Relief of Lucknow
in 1857, where he was wounded, mentioned in despatches and honoured
with a medal for his bravery. Later in his army career he served as
Assistant Military Secretary in Ceylon, Adjutant General for the
Madras Army and represented Madras at the Imperial Assemblage at
Delhi in 1877. Major Stewart was an expert of the Enfield Rifle, he
gave lectures and wrote a book for servicemen on the subject.
In
1879 he was appointed Governor and Commandant of the Royal Victoria
Hospital at Netley and had the honour of receiving Queen Victoria
when she was visiting men wounded in the Zulu War. It was on this
occasion that the Queen decorated Private Fred Hitch with the
Victoria Cross for his heroism at Rorke’s Drift. In 1880 he
returned to India to serve as Commandant of Madras and retired from
military service in 1884.
All three of Major Stewart’s sons served as
Captains in the army. One of them was killed in the Boer War in 1900.
His eldest daughter served as a matron in Queen Alexandra’s
Imperial Military Nursing Service and was awarded the Royal Red Cross
for her service in the Boer War. When Major General Stewart died in
1914, a number of newspapers around the Empire headlined their
obituaries as ‘Hero of Indian Mutiny passes away’.
Number 33
This house deserves a special mention because of the
impressive interior, fitted up to the specifications of wealthy Arthur William
Mason. This was not the first Hove house Mason occupied because his previous
rental property was at 11 Palmeira Mansions. Perhaps this house came to have
sad associations for him when his first wife died in 1889 of ‘disease of the
ovaries’, leaving a five-year old daughter called Christine.
The first occupant of number 33 was Mr R. Gillespie and in
1889 he sold the property to Mason, who was well able to afford it because his
father had just handed over his business to his three sons. It was thought that
after the business was floated on the stock market, the three brothers, as
managing directors, were able to pocket some £55,000 each.
The business in question was an ink manufacturing
enterprise that George Holt Mason had founded.
Arthur William Mason
A.W. Mason was obviously proud to have joined the ranks of
polite society and he commissioned a coat of arms and adopted the motto Facta
Non Verba (Deeds not Words). He made extensive use of his coat of arms and
it appeared on his cutlery, dinner service, on the side windows of his cars and
in stained glass windows in his house. At first glance the subject of the coat
of arms looks like a domino of sorts. In fact it is a try-square, a tool used
by masons and others to mark a right angle and check its accuracy.
Traditionally, the tool had a steel blade and a wood stock secured by rivets.
Mason used this device as an allusion to his surname whilst the five rivet
holes signified the five letters in the name.
On 17 December 1891 A.W. Mason purchased a piece of land
from the Goldsmid Estate for £720 in Palmeira Mews Road (now called
St John’s Road). He had stabling and a coach house plus living quarters erected on it.
Later on the stables were converted into a garage to hold his fleet of cars
consisting of two Rolls-Royces and a Daimler.
In March 1899 Hove Council approved Mr S.H. Diplock’s
plans on behalf of Mr Mason for a new porch at number 33.
The interior of the house in its heyday must have been a
wonderful sight. Fortunately, much of it remains to this day.
A.W. Mason was married three times, His second wife was
called Grace and they married some two years after his first wife died. They
had no children and she died in 1929. Although Mason was by then 72 years old he
decided to marry for the third time and his bride’s name was Florence. She was
some thirty years younger than he was while his first wife had been five years
older than her husband.
Mason died aged 80 in June 1940, the cause of death being
lung cancer. In September 1940 there was a two-day sale of the house contents.
Later Occupants
Number 33 became Palmeira Nursing Home and was in
operation from 1940 to 1961. In 1953 Ada Marian Jacobs ran the establishment.
Her career extended back to the Great War when she started a nursing home at 31
Brunswick Road, which by 1917 had expanded to number 33 Brunswick Road. But the
lease on the Brunswick properties expired in 1953.
In 1961 the English Language Centre acquired number 33 and
remain the owners to this day. Glen Davie, principal from 1962 to 1987, said he
found the interior very shabby when they took over and he personally sanded the
floors.
Marble Halls and Staircase
The entrance hall leads into a vestibule lined with white,
veined marble with a stained glass window on the right hand side depicting the
coat of arms. A startling wall-sconce light features a serpentine dragon of
iron rearing over hot coals at the top of the lamp. The dragon has a ring in
its mouth, which probably once held decorative chains. Steps lead into the main
hall and immediately in front of you there is a huge, oval mirror framed in
dark wood and decorated with cherubs, foliage and flowers. The hall is richly
embellished with Italian marble in colours of black, green and tan together
with alabaster from Derbyshire. The floor has a geometric design of red, grey
and white tiles and the pink, flecked pillars are fluted. The walls are
panelled in pale alabaster.
The curved staircase is also a marvel in marble. The newel
post is pale green on a black base, the balusters are rose while the rail is
flecked black. According to researcher Jackie Marsh-Hobbs there are similar
marble balusters on the grand staircase in the Foreign Office in London.
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copyright © J.Middleton
The marble staircase inside number 33. |
Ascending the staircase, original light fittings can be
seen as a spray of three flowers sprouting from the top of the wall. There are
stained glass windows on either side of the west wall. The pattern consists of
stylised leaves with red poppy-like flowers, bright blue roundels and the coat
of arms of course. Jackie Marsh-Hobbs also thinks the wall over the staircase
was once home to an important painting by Lord Leighton entitled Dante in
Exile. The painting measured an impressive 10 feet by 6 feet and there was
not enough space in the rest of the house to accommodate such a large work. The
full view from the staircase cannot be appreciated today because of the
partition erected on the landing to meet fire precaution requirements.
Originally, it was seen from below as an open plan area.
Front Room, ground floor
This room has the most extraordinary ceiling in Moorish
style with scalloped roundels. It looks heavy and rich but was actually created
from papier-mâché and painted green and gold. There is a marble panelled dado
in colours of red, black and green. The marble fireplace has a rose coloured
over-mantel with columns on either side and rose and cream insets. The ogee
arch in the chimney-piece matches the ogee arch above the door frame. The room
was designed as the dining room where guests dined from a 10-foot long mahogany
table while seated on mahogany chairs embossed with Moroccan leather. Against
the west wall there was a 12-foot long sideboard designed by Grohe of Paris in
Empire style. Above it hung a painting by Alma Tadema entitled The Education
of the Children of Clovis; the painting once belonged to King Leopold of
Belgium. The opulent style of the room is apparently similar to those to be
found in the Foreign Office.
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copyright © J.Middleton
The ceiling of the erstwhile dining room
must be the most magnificent one in Hove |
First Floor
Upstairs the passage has two Moorish horseshoe arches and
there is a painted and gilded ceiling that continues into the conservatory.
This conservatory, or enclosed balcony, is the only exterior hint at the riches
within. The stained glass is a swirling pattern with the colours of green and
yellow predominating. There is a wooden fireplace with an over-mantel decorated
with engraved mirror insets.
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copyright © J.Middleton
The conservatory / glazed balcony belonging to number
33
was sketched in 1979. |
Conference Room
It is probable that this was once the morning room and the
most interesting part is the chimney-piece. The over-mantel is a glorious riot
of crystal and glass executed by Osler of Birmingham, the firm who supplied
chandeliers to Buckingham Palace. The central part consists of nine small
columns with two larger ones on either side plus two more at either end all
created from brilliant crystal. A most unusual feature is a row of detachable
glass ink-pots. The fireplace is cast iron with some lovely tiles in yellow and
brown featuring snowdrops. The wood of the over-mantel is light coloured with
pretty graining – perhaps boxwood. There is an ornate door-case and an ink-pot
motif elsewhere in the room.
Second Floor
The room A28 has a fireplace with country views painted on
five panels in a vertical line, a different view being featured on either side.
There is a magnificent door with six panels. The top four depict dancing girls
while the bottom two contain stylised flowers.
There is another unusual fireplace in the Teacher’s Room
that has a concave decoration at the top of the over-mantel.
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copyright © J.Middleton
The Doulton chimney-piece in the former
Billiard Room
is just one of the elaborate
fireplaces to be found inside number 33. |
Third Floor
Room A31 was once the billiard room and it has a
reinforced floor to support the enormous weight of a full-size billiard table
by Burroughes & Watts. The room contains a fine patterned parquet floor,
which is similar to other floors in the house now covered with carpet to save
wear and tear.
There is an elaborate Doulton ceramic chimney-piece with
embossed and beaded tiles in colours of predominantly brown and green. On the
hearth are tiles depicting sunflowers with the motto ‘Think of Ease but Work
On.’ The door contains a central panel of a dancing girl.
Room A34 was once part of the billiard room but has now
been partitioned off. It has a rococo-style wood and plaster chimney-piece
incorporating a mirror over-mantel; Walter Crane designed the hearth
tiles.
Beatrice Nunberg Enes –
She was a portrait painter who lived in a flat at Palmeira Mansions
in the 1960s. She had studied in Paris and she was taught by Walter
Sickert (1860-1942), who strangely enough, used to enjoy spending
weekends at Walter Taylor’s house in Brunswick Square. Among Enes’s
paintings were portraits of King Constantine, Lord Nuffield and
Professor Joad.
Sources
Argus
Brighton Gazette (21 February 1885)
Directories
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
Mr G. Glastris
Hove Commissioners. Minutes
Internet searches
Kingsford, P.W. F.W. Lanchester. Life of an Engineer (1960)
Research by Jackie Marsh-Hobbs
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Site visit to number 33 on 24 June 2002
Copyright © J.Middleton 2015
page layout by D.Sharp