Hove in the Past: Courtenay Terrace & Mills Terrace, Hove

Judy Middleton 2002 (revised 2022)

Background

It is generally stated that the terrace was built in around 1840 but a long-term resident told me that at least one house was built in 1831. Whenever they were actually built, they were contemporaries of the building work going on at Brunswick Town. They also occupied a unique position, being old properties of the Manor of Hove, and the only ones locally with gardens running right down to the beach – this was of course before the spacious houses in Western Esplanade were built, and before Hove Council appropriated part of their gardens to enlarge the promenade.

A possible clue to the choice of name lies in the Honourable Elizabeth Courtenay who married Lord Charles Henry Somerset in 1788, and the couple had seven children. She died at the Cape of Good Hope in 1815 where her husband was governor for thirteen years. They are both remembered in a wall tablet at St Andrew’s Church, Waterloo Street. It seems that there was some difficulty in the correct spelling of the name – for example, Directories up until around 1890 favoured ‘Courtnay’, while from around 1903 to 1905 it was ‘Courteney’, and from 1905 it has been ‘Courtenay’.

In 1854 there was a complaint about a Mr Brooks who was busily engaged in repairing his boat on the beach in front of Courtenay Terrace. Probably, he had no idea he was trespassing upon private property, but he was soon informed of the fact. By 24 August 1854 both he and the boat had gone.

Originally, there were just four houses in Courtenay Terrace – they were Courtenay Lodge, Courtenay Beach, Courtenay House, and Courtenay Tye. It was later on that Courtenayside and Courtenay Towers were added to the terrace. The two latter were once known as Hoove Lea, a mid-19th century villa. The first four houses received received Grade II listed building status on 24 March 1950 but the last two had to wait until 10 September 1970 for similar protection.

Compulsory Purchase

In 1903 Hove Council purchased for £100 a 6-ft strip of land, plus the foreshore, opposite number 4 Courtenay Terrace. With hindsight, the council secured themselves a bargain.

In 1907 Alderman Isger stated that the only part of Hove sea-front not in the possession of Hove Council were the gardens belonging to the owners of Courtenay Terrace. Naturally, councillors did not relish the fact that their wide promenade was interrupted by private property. It seemed only logical that King’s Gardens Esplanade and Medina Esplanade should be linked. This led to a Compulsory Purchase Order being served on the owners of number 1, 2, and 3 for a portion of their gardens and beach. However, the relevant owners were not going to submit to the loss without a fight. Hove Council offered them compensation of £1,150 all told. But the owners refused, holding out for a much larger sum, that is £5,400. The only course of action was for an independent body to determine on the amount of compensation to be paid.

copyright © J.Middleton
This postcard shows the rather handsome walls and piers built after Hove Council enlarged the esplanade

This led to a Sheriff’s Court being held at Hove Town Hall in June 1908 to determine the amount of compensation Hove Council would be obliged to pay the owners.

Mr Bartlett, Deputy Sheriff for Sussex, presided over the court, and the special jury included Edward Lloyd (1845-1927), a famous tenor, who lived at Hove, as well as a count. The compensation was agreed as follows:

Courtenay Lodge – It was stated that some £6,000 had been expended on improving the house, although it had subsequently been sold for £5,000. The frontage was 39-ft and 3-in. George Bush, the freeholder, was to receive £663, and Charles Rowe Sawyer, the tenant, was to receive £480. By the time the common seal of the borough was affixed to the conveyance on 9 November 1908, the name on the document was Mrs Ferdinande F. de Varios Sawyer.

Courtenay Beach – Francis Middleton, owner and occupier, was to receive £600 and costs.

Courtenay House – Colonel Bennett, the owner, and Mr H. M. Isaacs were to receive £620 together.

Hove Council thought that on the whole, the outcome was satisfactory.

The Borough Surveyor had already prepared drawings for the new boundary wall to be erected at the rear of numbers 1, 2, and 3 Courtenay Terrace, and the south end of Medina Lawn. The wall was to be 6-ft 6-in high with gates and piers, the same as had already been carried out at number 4 and Hoove Lea. There was to be an ornamental cast-iron railing at the south end of Medina Lawn; the cost came to £480.

House Notes

copyright © J.Middleton
Courtenay Terrace was built to enjoy sea views, and this is part of terrace fronting Kingsway

Courtenay Lodge

The 1861 census recorded that this house was to let, but meanwhile Sarah Ann Reeves, a 50-year old needlewoman, was looking after the premises.

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Lawrie (1846-1915) - lived at Courtenay Lodge from 1911, he was the former resident surgeon of the Calcutta Medical College Hospital from 1874-1879.
In 1879 until his retirement in 1885 he was professor of surgery in the Lahore Medical College, one of the most important medical appointments in India.

When the Brighton hospital for sick and wounded Indian soldiers was opened, he was appointed anaesthetist and carried out his duties in the Royal Pavilion and at York Place. He was an ardent advocate of the claims of chloroform to be the best and safest anaesthetic in general use, his views on this subject were published in a book entitled Chloroform: A Manuel for Students and Practitioners (1901).

The property is now divided into flats.

Courtenay Beach

The Anderson family lived in this house for many years. On one memorable occasion after a fierce gale the basement kitchen was flooded with sea-water but fortunately the fire brigade came to the rescue and pumped out the water. As for the garden, the salt-laden air did not allow delicate flowers to be cultivated but the marigolds did not seem to mind and the tamarisk flourished.

Dr Anderson had a small brass plate fixed to the tall pillar next to the pavement so that his patients would know where to find him. Mrs Anderson was remembered in the neighbourhood as a kind person, and she enjoyed treating two local youngsters, Paul and Louise, with visits to the ice shows and Gilbert and Sullivan performances. There were two Anderson daughters.

Mrs Anderson came from an aristocratic background and was in fact the Honourable Cecilia Claribel Anderson, her father being the 6th Baron Waterpark (1876-1948). In addition, under her stage name of Celia Cavendish, she enjoyed a career as an actress and singer. While she lived at Courtenay Beach, her portrait was painted there, and it now hangs in the Royal Academy of Music.

Her mother Isabel Jay (1879-1929) was an even more eminent presence on the stage, becoming the principal singer of the D’Oyley Carte Opera Company. Her fame coincided with the popularity of the picture postcard, and since she had such a large fan base, a great many different images of her portraying her various roles could be purchased. (See also Westbourne Villas where Isabel Jay spent her early childhood)

The top flat was rented out to Graham Phillipson, who was only too pleased to help around the place. He was the nephew of Paul Phillipson who, between 1970 and 1986, played no less than 168 times for Sussex County Cricket team.

Trove Newspapers

(N.L of Australia)

5 April 1935

This house is still a single residence.

Courtenay Tye

Elizabeth Allan (1910-1990) – The popular star lived in this house for many years. She enjoyed a long career in the public eye, spanning over forty years, with appearances on stage, screen and television, and there were around fifty films to her credit. In 1932 she married her agent, Wilfrid J. O’Bryen, popularly known as Bill O’Bryen. He also attained the rank of major, having had the distinction of serving in both world wars.

When Bill became ill, Elizabeth decided it was time to retire as she wished to look after him – they were a devoted couple. When he died in 1977, she decided to stay in the house. A local youngster called Paul used to deliver the newspapers to her house, come rain or shine, from Jenners in Victoria Terrace. His family still treasure an envelope signed by Mrs O’Bryen in which was enclosed Paul’s Christmas ‘box’.

In 2016 this house, still a single residence, was on sale for £4. Perhaps the price was a little steep, and the property was finally sold recently for £3 million.

Courtenay House

Sir Cooper Rawson (1876-1946) lived in the house from the 1920s until the Second World War. He was born at Whetstone Pastures, Leicester, on 26 July 1876. He served as a sub-lieutenant in the RND in 1915, and was in the RNVR from 1916 to 1918. He never forgot his Naval background, and in 1918 he was granted a commission as an honorary commander attached to the Sussex Division. Indeed, the hall at the former HQ of Hove Sea Cadets was known as the Cooper Rawson Hall. In 1940 he was made an honorary captain RNVR. When Hove extended its boundaries in 1927, he marked the occasion by flying Naval pennants from his residence to spell ‘Welcome’, and took a prominent part in the celebrations.

Rawson was a member of Wandsworth Borough Council from 1911 to 1922, and Mayor of Wandsworth from 1918 to 1919. In 1926 he was created a knight, as well as being awarded the Légion d’Honneur by the French government in recognition of his services to France through the British Legion of Help. Rawson was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Brighton from 1922 to 1944, in the days when Hove was part of the Brighton constituency. He has the distinction of winning his seat in 1931 with the highest majority ever to be recorded – a feat unlikely to be exceeded in these more fractious times – his majority was an incredible 62,253.

copyright © E. Rawson
Elizabeth Robson (later Lady Rawson)
resplendent in her wedding dress decorated
with bands of scalloped lace

Rawson was an acknowledged expert on the roadstone industry, and was chairman of the following companies:

Montsorrel Granite Company

Endaby Stoney Stanton Granite Company

John Ellis & Sons

Durex Ltd

When a Bill was introduced into the House of Commons to permit municipal quarrying on a large scale, he led the opposition, and it was withdrawn.

In February 1934 Princess Helena Victoria (1870-1948) took luncheon with the Rawsons before going on to officially open a new extension to Hove Hospital. The princess was Queen Victoria’s grand-daughter, and in 1917 when George V gave up all German titles to become the House of Windsor, the princess became known by these Christian names, instead of being Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein. She never married, but devoted herself to good works.

It was in 1902 that Rawson had married Elizabeth Robson. Lady Rawson became a JP, and was president of the Shoreham branch of the British Sailors’ Society. In 1940 a rumour went around that the Rawsons had left Hove. This was not true and he let it be known via the Brighton Herald that they had merely moved house, and were now located at 11 Upper Drive ‘which with increased taxation and a diminished income is more appropriate to my means’.

Sir Cooper Rawson died in January 1946 and his funeral was held at All Saints Church, The Drive, on 16 January with Bishop Crotty officiating. There was a large congregation, including members of the RNVR, Navy League, Sea Cadets and British Legion. The coffin was covered by the Union Flag, surmounted by sword, hat and decorations. He was buried in Putney Vale Cemetery.

Major Adrian Cornwell-Clyne (1892-1969) – He was an author, artist and musician who lived at Hove for twenty years, and during the 1960s occupied the penthouse of Courtenay House. He was brother of the popular novelist Denise Robins who lived in Adelaide Crescent for a while. In 1912 Cornwell-Clyne became the first to hold a one-man exhibition of purely abstract art, but two years later he abandoned this form of art. During the First World War he was wounded a the Somme, and consequently spent one year in hospital to recover. In 1916 he founded the first school of camouflage, known as the Special Works School, in Kensington Gardens. During the Second World War he organised huge, colour transparency maps of the whole of the British Isles for the benefit of the RAF. Ironically, his only son Christopher was killed in the war while serving in the RAF.

Hoove Lea

The strange name of the house was taken from the old pronunciation of Hove – the present-day short ‘o’ being of comparative recent origin. This house was sometimes numbered as 10 Mills Terrace. John Besemeres occupied the house in the 1860s.

copyright © National Portrait Gallery, London
Sir Joseph Henry Hawley, 3rd Bt
(Men of the Day No. 7. "The purist of the Turf.")
published in Vanity Fair 21 May 1870
NPG D43432

Sir Joseph Hawley 3^rd baronet (1813-1875) – He was the son of the Sir Henry Hawley, the 2^nd baronet, and the eldest in a family of ten children. It seems his first love was yachting but when he was aged 30 he decided to venture into pastures new, so to speak. It is his second grand interest that gained him immortality, and that was his great success as horse-owner and breeder, and as such a leading Victorian character. He had the distinction of his horses winning all five of the English classic races. One of his famous horses was Teddington winner of the 1851 Derby. Hawley was an inveterate gambler, and placed so much money on Teddington’s success that he was able to walk away with £80,000. However, his gambling made him unpopular in certain circles, although not with his jockeys who were well pleased with his generous presents. He was married with three daughters.

It seems that Sir Joseph Hawley was at Hoove Lea at least by 1874, and when he died in 1875, his brother Henry (born 14 July 1815) succeeded to the title. He owned 7,600 acres, and had another house at 31 Gloucester Square, London, while the family seat was Leybourne Grange, near Maidstone, Kent. He was married twice, but died without issue at Hoove Lea on 5 October 1898.

In 1904 Hoove Lea lost some of its south-facing garden with steps leading down to its own beach when Hove Council acquired a strip of land 17-ft by 90-ft in length in order to extend the promenade.

The exclusive Hoove Lea School was to be found on the premises from 1909 to around 1916 when it moved to The Drive. (Please see under Hove’s Old Schools).

Sir George Donaldson (1845-1925) – He occupied this house after the school for young ladies had departed and stayed until around 1918 when he moved to 1 Grand Avenue where he had his own museum. In 1894 he donated his collection of musical instruments to the Royal College of Music, and in 1900 he gave a collection of furniture to the Victorian and Albert Museum.

Percy Macquoid (1852-1925)

Percy Macquoid on the beach at Hove aged about
70 years. The photograph was taken

by Major Leonard Dent, who had been a page boy

at the wedding of Percy Macquoid and

Theresa Dent in 1891.

He was an artist and designer, and was responsible for costumes and property at two London theatres – St James’s Theatre, and Her Majesty’s Theatre. Like Sir George Donaldson, he was an avid collector. He wrote an erudite volume entitled A History of English Furniture, which he later expanded into the Dictionary of English Furniture. His widow, Theresa, donated a collection of furniture, silver, porcelain, and pictures to Preston Manor where they were placed in the library, which in 1939 became known as the Macquoid Room. Percy Macquoid’s favourite piece of furniture was a 16^th century walnut cabinet-on-stand, which he believed to have once belonged to Diane de Poitiers, mistress of Henri II of France. Another favourite was a 17^th century oak draw-leaf table at which Charles II was supposed to have eaten before the Battle of Naseby.

On the 18 and 19 January 1932 there was a two-day auction of the entire contents of Hoove Lea on the orders of Mrs Macquoid, the auctioneers being Jenner & Dell of 22 Regency Square, Brighton, and 54 Church Road, Hove. Among the host of items were the following:

Portrait of Theresa Isa Dent by Percy Thomas Macquoid

(later Mrs Theresa Macquoid)

Single and elbow chairs of Carolean and later periods

A massive Tudor oak refectory table

A walnut and oak Charles II gate-legged table

A choice walnut marquetry chest of drawers

Three large panels of Flemish tapestry

Persian carpets

Dresden and Minto cups and saucers

Hoove Lea contained an entrance hall, an inner hall, morning room, drawing room, south principal bedroom, back bedroom and bathroom, five other bedrooms, servants’ hall, butler’s pantry, housekeeper’s room, small kitchen and kitchen and scullery. There were marble fireplaces, a huge chandelier in the drawing room, a conservatory and a verandah. It was far too large for one family in modern times, and in 1933 it was split into two residences.

Courtenay Towers

This property was created in the 1930s, and was formerly part of Hoove Lea. In the 1950s Bert Merrett was interested in the house but he was pipped at the post by he famous actress Eunice Gayson (1928-2018) but whether or not she actually moved in, is not known. Eunice Gayson became famous as the first of the Bond girls – appearing in Dr No (1962) and From Russia with Love (1963).

The property is now divided into flats.

Courtenayside

This property too was created from part of the former Hoove Lea. In the 1970s it was owned by the Beard Brewery family. It is still a single residence, and nowadays there is a swimming pool in the garden.

Mills Terrace

It was in 1822 that James Mills built this row of houses on the south side of the coast road (later Kingsway) opposite to where the part between where Albany Villas and Fourth Avenue were later built. Viewed from the north side, Mills Terrace might appear to be a modest row of houses, but it was a different matter on the south side. At the south end of the garden there were a few low steps leading to a gravelled walk, with a wall on the sea side, and a tamarisk hedge on the north side. The south-facing windows thus looked out over gardens bright with flowers and a view to the sea. There were six smaller houses on the east side, and three larger ones on the west side, the two groups being separated by a path that led to a formal garden. A large house on the west side called Hoove Lea was sometimes numbered as 10 Mills Terrace. On the north side there brick pavements.

According to Henry Porter, James Mills was a constable and way-warden, while his son sought to better his social standing by adopting the prefix of ‘Sir’.

copyright © J.Middleton
James Mills of Mills Terrace died 11 April 1846 aged 71, the churchyard St Andrew's Old Church.

When James Mills died he was buried in the churchyard of St Andrew’s Old Church where his tomb can be seen to this day. The tombstone inscription records the following information:

James Mills of Mills Terrace died 11 April 1846 aged 71

Susannah, relict of the above, died 20 June 1850 aged 74

Son James Henry Mills died 18 April 1873

Caroline his beloved wife, died 3 February 1843 in the 34th year of her age

The 1851 census recorded the occupants of 9 Mills Terrace as follows:

James Henry Mills, widower and proprietor of houses

Jane, aged 18, daughter

Emily, aged 17, daughter

Eliza, aged 15, daughter

Fanny, aged 13, daughter

Susan, aged 11, daughter

Charlotte, aged 9, daughter

Perhaps the unfortunate Mrs Mills died in childbirth, her body worn out by child-bearing. All the daughters were born at Brighton, while James Henry Mills hailed from Tynemouth, Northumberland.

In the Hove Museum collection there was a portrait of James Henry Mills by J. Watkins dated 1870, while H. R. Nibbs executed a lithographic view of Mills Terrace.

The 1848 Directory stated that there were ten houses in Mills Terrace, which included three furnished houses. In 1851 there was a small school at number 4, while in 1854 Sir George Craufurd occupied number 2.

Some details from the 1861 census were as follows:

Number 3 – Charles Mare, 46-year old ship-builder.

Number 5 – James Cranstoun, aged 50, baron and landed proprietor, daughter, butler, page and five servants. He was born at St Kitts, West Indies.

Number 6 – Revd Edward Birch MA (Oxford) priest without care of souls, aged 29.

Number 7 – George Moulson, aged 48, a private tutor.

By 1891 four of the houses were being run as respectable lodging houses. For example, at numbers 3 and 4, Miss Eliza Nightingale, with the assistance of five servants, looked after five guests, including a gentleman, and a stockbroker. At number 5 Mrs Eliza Bradford had nine lodgers but managed the situation with only one live-in servant. At number 7 Mrs Sarah Chade, with the help of two nieces, had five guests on the premises.

Mills Terrace was demolished in 1899, but Hoove Lea remained. In December 1907 Messrs Venton, Bull & Cooper submitted plans for a block of flats to be built on the site. Alderman Henriques remarked that there were still plans in existence of the concert hall once projected for the site. But nothing came of the concert hall or the flats. In April 1916 it was stated that Ernest Joseph Budd, Mrs Violet Budd, and Mr Abraham Carlish had recently purchased the whole of the freehold land from the trustees of the late Sir Horatio Davies, and building operations were taking place. But this too came to nothing because by 1930 a miniature golf course occupied the site. It was in 1934 that Courtenay Gate was erected on the site.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums-Brighton & Hove
Courtenay Gate on the left was built in 1934 and is a listed building.

Sources

Brighton Herald (1905/1940)

Census Returns

Directories

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Hove Council Minutes

Porter, Henry The History of Hove (1897)

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Trove (15 July 1875)
Trove Newspapers (National Library of Australia)

With thanks to Jill Foley for sharing her memories

page layout by D.Sharp

10 September 2020

Courtenay Terrace & Mills Terrace, Hove