Hove in the Past: Chronicles of Hove and its Vicinity 1050-1900

Judy Middleton & D. Sharp 2019

"View of Hove" by George Hilditch, showing two figures sitting on top of a hill overlooking fields and a view of Hove. St Andrew's Old Church can be seen in the centre and the sea to the left. c.1850.

1050 – Edward the Confessor bestowed the Manor of Hove on Godwin, Earl of Sussex

1067 – Hove Manor, given by William the Conqueror to William Earl de Warenne

1148 – Hou, or Hove, mentioned in the Archives of Winchester.

1150 – St Leonard’s Church, Aldrington erected.

1216 – Richard Poore, Bishop of Chichester, founded St Andrew’s Church, Hove.

1379 – Poll Tax levied on inhabitants of Hove.

1402 – William Bolle entered as a hermit the Lady Chapel at Aldrington.

1539 – Vicarage of Hove valued at the Reformation at £20 2s 11d. Per annum.

1612 – 11 March – Inventory of Hove Vicarage made by Samuel Harsuet.

1622 – 20 September – Subsidy levied by James I on Hove.

1638 – 2 January – First Court Leet held by John Scrase, Lord of the Manor.

1672 – 17 May – Quakers first convocation at West Blatchington.

1695 – 1 May – Burial Act instituted at Hove.

1702 – August – Ship Tavern, Hove Street, opened.

copyright Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
An etching of the remains of St Leonard's
by Copley Fielding (1787-1855)

1703 & 1705 Fierce storms and floods destroy last remaining houses and St Leonard's Church at Aldrington.

1756 – Turnpikes placed on roads at Hove.

1779 – Presbyterian meeting house opened in Hove Street.

1783 – 2 October – Burials first registered in the Church books at Hove.

1785 – 26 May – Hove House commenced building in Hove Street.

1793

Military Camp formed at Goldstone Bottom.

26 April – Rooke and Howell gibbeted near Goldstone Bottom for robbery of the Mail.

1795 – Cooke and Parish shot at Goldstone Bottom for Mutiny.

1796 – Long Baru Farm erected at Hove.

1800 – Wood steeple erected on St Andrew’s Parish Church.

1802 – 8 August – Captain Codlin scuttled Adventure brig off Hove Street.

1810 – 11 June – Bull bait at the Ship Inn, Hove Street.

1815 – Hove Fishery Company collapsed.

1819 – 10 October – Seven smugglers captured by Preventive men of the Hound cutter at Hove.

1822 – James Mills erected Mills Terrace.

1823 – Lower road to Shoreham between Hove and Kingston Buci opened.

1825

Brunswick Market, Waterloo Street, built.

Brunswick Square and Brunswick Terrace commenced by George Cheesman.

1828 – St Andrew’s Chapel, Waterloo Street, consecrated.

1829 – Sir William Freemantle agitated for local government in Hove.

1830 – Adelaide Crescent begun.

8 April - Brunswick Square and Brunswick Terrace Commissioners formed.

1833 – 30 August – Antheum, Palmeira Square, collapsed.

1834

March - Gorse Stones buried near Goldstone Bottom by William Rigden.

28 April - Extension to Shoreham Road decided.

2 May - Vestry accepted tender of £ 1,920 to rebuild St Andrew’s Church.

1835 – 1 July - Hove annexed to Steyning Union.

1836

Brighton, Hove and Preston Waterworks commenced.

18 June – Hove Parish Church open for Divine Service.

1837 – 27 March – Constables’ rate a farthing in the pound levied by John Mills.

1839 – 2 April – John Tucker appointed first organist at the Parish Church.

1840 – 12 May – Railway opened through Hove to Shoreham from Brighton.

1845 – 24 November First Railway station at Hove opened.

1848 – 7 April – Meeting at the Kerrison’s against amalgamating Hove in the Brighton Corporation Act. 28 May – Brunswick Cricket Ground, Hove opened by C. H. Gausden.

1850 – 4 August – First house at S.W. corner of York Road commence.

1851

24 February – George Basevi J.P. died at 73 Brunswick Square, aged 84.

March – Great well bored and lifting machinery erected by G. Gallard at his brewery.

George Gallard quartette bought 16 acres in Lower Cliftonville.

7 August – Act to extend the limits of Brunswick Terrace passed. October

Site for St John the Baptist’s Church given by Sir Isaac Goldsmith.

1852 – William Kirkpatrick and G. Gallard bought Hove Lawns from Miss Iuman.

1854

St John the Baptist’s Church, consecrated.

6 July Revd G.P. Malleson presented with silver tea service and £400 at Hove.

1855
25 January – George Hall failed for £35,458 at Hove.

10 March - Copley Fielding buried in Hove Churchyard.

19 October - Sussex Hotel opened by Henry Jones.

1856 – Bronze Age Amber Cup found near Palmeira Square.

1858

Three acres added to Hove Churchyard.

14 August – Hove Local Improvement Act confirmed.

23 July Hove Police enrolled.

20 October – St Patrick and St James, Cambridge Road opened by license.

Church School, George Street opened.

1859

27 April Baron Goldsmid died, aged 81.

3 October – Adur Inn, Aldrington Gap opened by Thos. Cordwell.

1860 – 25 March – Western Branch of the Brighton Dispensary opened at 4 and 5 Farm Road.

1861 – Hove Post Office Savings Bank opened.

1862

23 April – Deerfoot won four miles foot race for £250 by 20 yards at Cricket Ground.

6 June – Hove and Brighton drainage commenced at a cost of £30,000.

2 June – Water found in Goldstone works at 118 ft.

Holy Trinity Church, Eaton Road, commenced.

1863

1 January – George Hall died at 1 Albany Villas.

7 April – Dr. Gilbert laid foundation stone of the Holy Trinity Church.

Wall at the top of George Street removed.

1864

Revd Walter Kelly presented with a purse of £250 by District Ladies.

8 June – Holy trinity Church consecrated.

28 July Hangleton annexed to Portslade.

20 August – Ventnor Mission Hall opened.

1865 – 10 December – Grand organ by Wills, opened in St Patrick’s, Cambridge Road.

1866 – 1 January – Mahomed’s Gymnasium opened in Lansdowne Road.

1868 – Emmanuel Church, corner of Norfolk Terrace erected

1869 – Omnibuses commenced plying from Castle Square to Cliftonville.

1871 – West Brighton Estate commenced.

1872

Whit Monday – Sussex County Cricket Ground and Hotel opened in Eaton Road.

27 June – Meeting for the extension of Hove Lawns.

Stanford Estate opened up.

1873

27 January – Great Meeting to oppose annexation of Hove to Brighton.

10 May – Brighton and Hove Co-operative Stores opened.

4 September – Final meeting of old Commissioners at Hove.

1874

1 January – First sittings of Hove Commissioners at Town Hall (Brunswick) Henry Endacott appointed Assistant Town Clerk.

Rigden’s Farm built in Fonthill Road.

The Drive commenced.

1875

12 January – Sir George A. Westphal died aged 90.

18 January – Dr James Hollis Pickford, J.P. died.

2 June - £5,500 borrowed by Commissioners for Hove drainage.

1876

29 February – Arnold Taylor’s inquiry as to the sale of the West Brighton Waterworks.

21 March – Edmund Bachouse’s inquiry concerning the uniting of Brighton and Hove.

19 May – First section of Church Road opened.

22 May – West Brighton Waterworks sold for £27,500 by William Morris to the Brighton Corporation.

12 August – Thomas A. Goodman appointed Magistrates’ Clerk at Hove.

6 November – Hove Bank, 1, Western Road opened.

18 December First School Board elected. - Waterworks at Goldstone Bottom finished.

1877 – First Hove Regatta.

1878

March – St Leonard’s Church, Aldrington restored.

29 September – Revd J.G. Gregory, from Chelsea appointed to Emmanuel Church.

29 September - Primitive Methodist Chapel Goldstone Villas opened.

November – Convent of the Sacred Heart.

The Drive opened.

1879

Hove disunited from Preston.

2 April – Revd Thomas Peacey appointed Vicar of Hove.

1 July – West Brighton Railway Station opened.

13 October – Ellen Street Board School opened.

1880 – 22 May – First stone of Hove new Town Hall laid by J.W. Howlett J.P.

1881 – June – Church of Sacred Heart, Norton Road, opened.

4 November – new organ placed in the Parish Church.

1882

27 March – Foundation of St Barnabas Church, Sackville Road laid.

7 April – Hove Cemetery opened on Old Shoreham Road (25 acres).

8 July – Hablot Knight-Brown (Phiz) deid aged 67 at 8 Clarendon Villas.

13 December – New Town Hall, Church Road opened; cost £35,000.

24 December – Brighton & Hove Gas Company and the Black Rock Gas Company amalgamated.

1883

Parish Churchyard closed for burials.

27 December – Hill & Co.’s tender for sea defences for £25,000 accepted.

1884

8 January – Revd Dr. James O’Brian (St Patrick’s) died.

28 April – Sir Michael Costa died aged 74, in Seafield Road

June – Mainway to Shoreham commenced

14 August – Major G.J. Teevan appointed Chief Constable at Hove.

1885

28 August – Arthur Bigge J.P., died at 23 Cambridge Road.

1 October – William Rigden died in Seafield Road.

1886

23 January – F. Batts, Parish Clerk died.

24 January – Henry Endacott appointed Vestry Clerk of Hove.

1887

Williamson Home for Ladies built by Jane Hannah MacDonald.

1 September – Devil's Dyke Railway opened

13 September – Coal duties abolished at Hove

1888

22 January – Revd Walter Kelly (former Vicar of Hove) died.

18 April – Connaught Road Board School opened.

1889

22 June – George Gallard died at Hove.

12 September – Dr Ernest Sexton Metcalf elected Medical Officer of Health.

9 October – Stephen G. Dancy appointed Clerk to School Board, Hove

1890 – 9 October – Alfred DuPont killed in the Grand Avenue.

1891

13 April – Farewell banquet to J.W. Howlett.

1 May – Consecration of the nave and aisle of All Saints, Eaton Road.

2 May – Hove Recreation Ground opened

3 May – Thomas Barry Sullivan (actor) died at 46 Albany Villas, aged 67

14 May – Banquet to G.B. Woodruff.

26 June – Charles S. Parnell married Catherine O’Shea at Steyning.

29 June – West Blatchington Church restored.

9 July – Electric lighting adopted by Hove Council.

6 October – Charles S. Parnell died at 10, Walsingham Terrace, Aldrington.

5 November – Church School, George Street, re-opened.

12 November – Hove electric lighting contracted for, by Compton & Co.

14 December – Hove Public Library, 11 Grand Avenue opened.

23 December – Board of Trade rejected the erection of a Pier at Hove.

1892

2 January – Roman Catholic School, Coleridge Street, built.

14 March – Portrait and candelabra given to J. W. Howlett.

6 May – Hove Recreation Ground, Old Shoreham Road opened.

9 June – Hove Commissioners refuse to license Meyner’s Bus Service.

14 July – School of Art founded in Hove.

11 August - £11,000 borrowed for Hove Esplanade.

29 October – Princess Christian laid foundation stone for Police Convalescent Home, Portland Road.

8 December – Contract confirmed by the Council with Electric Light Company.

1893

2 May – Aldrington annexed to Hove.

6 May – Board School in Goldsmid Road opened.

24 June – Duke of Portland gave a site for St Philip’s Church, Aldrington.

21 July – Police Convalescent Home opened.

31 October – Dinner and presentation to W. H. Cockburn, by Hove Regatta Committee.

Hove Laundry and Hove Baths opened.

22 December – Dr William Kebble, Medical Officer of Health, died, aged 73.

1894

1 January – Reference Library, Hove opened.

4 May – Vera Fane Benett-Stanford died.

20 May – Edmond Hodson Yates, of The World, died aged 63.

29 May – Hove Swimming Club instituted.

9 June – Revd Fred. Reade retired from the incumbency of St John the Baptist, Hove.

14 June – Aldrington Recreation Ground bought for £10,000 by Hove.

14 June – Commissioners petitioned the Railway Company to re-name West Brighton Station “Hove”.

1 October – Building commenced of St Philip’s Aldrington.

5 November – Bishop of Chichester (Dr Durnford) reopened George Street Church School.

9 November – Dr Durnford laid foundation stone of St Philip’s Aldrington.

27 December – Hove Commissioners converted into a District Council.

1895

14 February – Faculty for forming a portion of Hove Parish Burial Ground into a road.

5 August – Hove Churchyard set back 31 feet.

10 October – Wood pavements laid for traffic in Hove.

25 October – St Philip’s Aldrington, opened by license.

5 November – Brighton refused to connect Aldrington drainage.

14 November – Re-arrangement of Hove Town Wards.

8 December – George Augustus Sala died at 58 Norton Road, aged 67.

1896

13 February – Urban Council decided to petition for a Charter of Incorporation.

1 March – Prince of Wales and suite attended service in Hove Parish Church.

23 March – Urban Council resolve to extend the sea wall westward.

9 April – Duke and Duchess of York visited Mr Reuben Sassoon at Hove.

3 June – Memorial stone of Wesleyan Church, Portland Road, laid.

15 July – Severe thunderstorm at Hove.

17 July – Hove petition the Privy Council for a Charter.

15 August – Urban Council arranged to give Band performances on Hove Lawns.

2 September – Corporation of Brighton protest to Privy Council against the Charter for Hove.

10 September – George B. Woodruff rejects the scheme of amalgamation with Brighton.

15 September – Monster Meeting in favour of Hove Charter.

29 September – Steyning Guardians support the Charter of Incorporation.

17 December – Westleyan Church, Portland Road, opened.

1897

17 January – Draft of the Charter sent by Privy Council to Hove.

27 May – H. Porter’s “History of Hove” published.

1898

14 March – Geo. T. Congreve died, aged 77.

22 April – Charter granted for Incorporation of Hove.

20 May – St Philip’s Aldrington consecrated.

18 July – Confirmation of Hove Charter by Privy Council.

8 August – Charter sent to Town Clerk of Hove (Henry Endacott)

11 August – Council decide on Third Avenue for Public Library site.

23 August – Public reading of Hove Charter at the Town Hall.

26 September – Aldrington Board School, Portland Road, opened.

2 November – Municipal Election of 30 Councillors at Hove.

9 November – Election of first Mayor and 10 Aldermen at Hove.

24 November – Bye-election of Councillors for Hove.

12 December – First Mayor Banquet at Hove Town Hall.

1889

2 January – Free dinners began to Hove children and aged poor.

11 March – Hove Town Council decides against wood-paving for Hove seafront.

16 June – Opening of Young Men’s Institute at Holland Road.

29 June – Town Council take wood-paving in Western Road from dilatory contractors and give the work to Messrs Mowland & Co.

13 July – Barnum’s at Hove.

29 July – Cricket: Visit of the Australian team to the County Cricket Ground, drawn game, Sussex 414 and 124 for 4 wickets, Australia 624 for 4 wickets (declared) Victor Trumper 300 not out, Australian record score in England.

3 November – Technical buildings at Connaught Road Board Schools destroyed by fire, damage about £1000.

22 December - Hove Magistrates distributes £103 10s in Christmas Doles.

28 December – Local Government Inquiry as to annexation of Preston Rural by Hove.

1900

Two contrasting items of news from the beginning of the 1900s:-

13 January - Hove Town Council passed a resolution to oppose before the Parliamentary Committee, the Bill that would allow Brighton Corporation to build an electric tramway service in Brighton and an electricity generating station near the Portslade Gas Works.

(Hove Council were concerned that the new electric power supply line for the proposed Brighton Tramway would not pass through Hove’s territory, therefore making it impossible for Hove to benefit from this new electricity power supply.

Brighton Corporation proposed to run the electricity power supply line north up Portslade Urban District Council's Station Road and Carlton Terrace and then east along the north side of Old Shoreham Road to central Brighton. The north side of Old Shoreham Road was in Preston Rural District Council's territory. Hove Council were only willing to withdraw their opposition to the Brighton Tramway Bill if the Local Government Board allowed Hove Council to annex Preston Rural into Hove)

January – There was an appeal for the able men of Brighton and Hove, who were good horse riders, to volunteer to fight at the Front (the ‘Front’ being the Second Boer War in South Africa)

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Mr H. Porter wrote in The History of Hove (1897) 'Perhaps the peruser in bidding au revoir to these pages will be impelled to admit that Hove does possess some interest to have a history of its own, and that the town is quite as worthy of consideration as its overbearing, overcrowded and overgrown rival – Brighton.'

When the compiler of The History of Hove called on Mr Frederick Willard of Church Road, he very ironically informed him ‘that Hove had no history, and that there was time enough in a half-century to think about collating one.’ Mr William H. Gibson, of the King’s Road, was even more assertive respecting the insignificance of Hove.
Mr H Porter wrote, 'So far the futility of their fragile remarks have been conspicuously contradicted. We hope it will be so in the future, and that the anticipations of the zealous and courteous town clerk, Mr Henry Endacott, will be verified, and that not only will Hove become populous, but powerful and prosperous.'

Sources

Brighton Herald
Brighton & Hove City Libraries
Porter, H. The History of Hove (1897)

Royal Pavilion & Museum, Brighton & Hove

19 March 2019

Chronicles of Hove and its Vicinity 1050-1900