21 December 2021

Pembroke Avenue, Hove.

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2021)

copyright © J.Middleton
Pembroke Avenue is so well endowed with trees that it is difficult to see the houses

Background


The road was laid out on land once belonging to the Vallance Estate, and the Vallance family chose the name because of their supposed descent from the Earls of Pembroke – a very important family in times past. The well-known firm of Clayton & Black drew up the plan for the new road. However, on 16 May 1895 the Hove Commissioners disapproved of the first attempt; amendments were made and the plans were passed on 6 June 1895.

Pembroke Avenue and Pembroke Gardens are unlike earlier developments at Hove such as the Avenues that were laid out in a north to south grid, instead the Pembrokes were designed with gentle curves. There was also a difference in architectural style with a reversion to red brick and tile-hung residences with other vernacular details.

On 4 January 1900 the Borough Surveyor reported that 26 houses had been completed in Pembroke Avenue and 21 houses were occupied.

At that time, there were only two street lamps, but it was stated that if the owners were prepared to pay for the erection of five more lamps, then Hove Corporation would undertake to light them.

Part of the road was declared a public highway in 1902, and the rest followed in 1906. The road was also re-numbered in 1906.

Bombs

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
The bombing raid on the Pembroke roads was probably a miss directed attack on Hove Gas Works in Church Road.
Sadly, Mr Albert Charles was killed on 15 July 1940 by a bomb that fell in Pembroke Gardens, whilst he was cycling home from his workplace, the North Road Postal Sorting Office in Brighton.

On 15 July 1940 nine high explosive bombs fell on the Pembroke area, killing one person, and severely injuring five more.

House Notes

Number 1George Matthias Kay was an architect who lived in this house in the 1890s. In 1898 he was elected councillor for Vallance Ward. In his profession he sometimes worked on his own account or with his brother when the undertaking was recorded as being by the Jay Brothers. According to Richard White, G. M. Jay designed numbers 11 to 17 Wilbury Villas. The following list of plans submitted by Kay comes from Hove Council Minutes:

1896 – Pembroke Avenue, Old Shoreham Road, Sackville Road, Portland Villas, Fourth Avenue

1897 – Palmeira Avenue, Pembroke Avenue, Sackville Road, Carlisle Road, Portland Road, Walsingham Road, Grange Road

1898 – Pembroke Crescent, Third Avenue

1899 – Pembroke Crescent

1900 – Third Avenue

1903 – Wilbury Villas, Cambridge Road, Bigwood Villas

1904 – Worcester Villas, Third Avenue

1905 – Worcester Villas, Bigwood Villas

1912 – St Leonard’s Avenue, Ruskin Road

1920 – Princes Square

1922 – Hove Street

It is interesting to note that a G. W. F. Jay submitted plans for homes in Glebe Villas in 1925, and in Errol Road in 1926.

The Hon. Captain James Terence Fitzmurice moved to this address in 1908 after previously living at Mercia House in Lansdowne Road.

copyright © J.Middleton
Another view of Pembroke Avenue with a flourishing tree

Number 3General Henry Renny CSI (1815–1900) lived at this address in 1899 until his death in 1900. He commanded the 81st Regiment throughout the Indian Rebellion of 1857. For this service and others performed by the 81st Regiment he was made a Companion of the Star of India (C.S.I.), and awarded the 1857 Medal. He commanded the 1st Brigade in the Sittana Expedition of May 1858 under Sir Sydney Cotton, being awarded medal with clasp. In 1869 he was appointed General Officer Commanding in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

From 1875 until 1881 he was the Colonel of the Royal Sussex Regiment. At the time of his death in 1900 he was Colonel of the 2nd Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.

Captain Henry Hume Chisholm Baird DSO (13 April 1878 – 22 February 1950) lived at number 3 from 1917 until 1920.
Henry was born in Wales and entered The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) from Sandhurst in 1897 and served in the Boer War 1899-1902. He took part in the Relief of Kimberley, followed by other engagements.
He was Mentioned in Despatches, awarded the Queen’s Medal (four clasps) and the King’s Medal (two clasps); he became a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order in September 1901.

After the Boer War, Henry played first-class cricket for the British Army, the Marylebone Cricket Club, and a combined Army and Navy cricket team. Baird toured South America with the MCC in February/March 1902, playing in three first-class matches against Argentina. Between 1902 and 1913 in nine first-class matches, he scored a total of 308 runs and as a bowler he took 31 wickets.

At the outbreak of the Great War, Captain Baird served on the staff at Sandhurst Military College. Later in the Great War, Captain Baird was employed by the Ministry of Pensions, and was a vociferous campaigner for the education and training of war-disabled sailors and soldiers. This was probably the reason why the Ministry of Pensions eventually dismissed Captain Baird from his post.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Gazette 16 February 1918 - An interview with Captain Baird at his Hove home,
Brighton Gazette 16 March 1918 report of the Brighton Woolworth's protests over the removal of Captain Baird from the Ministry of Pensions.


It was remarkable that Captain Baird played first-class cricket. He was disabled having lost a part of his leg in action on military service. Captain Baird was the editor of the Service Man Magazine and the Buffs regimental newspaper The Dragon.

Henry was married to Margot Kerr, the daughter of the Member of Parliament for Preston, John Kerr. In retirement Henry was a keen golfer and served as Secretary of Prince's Golf Club Sandwich and died in Sandwich in 1950.

copyright © National Library of Australia
Women's Weekly 25 April 1956
James Edward Buchanan Boswell

Number 7James Boswell (1906-1971) lived in Pembroke Avenue in the 1960s, but it seems a most unlikely abode for a committed communist, and also a long way from his native New Zealand where he was born in the North Island. His name is interesting too because his father hailed from Scotland and earned his living as a schoolmaster. Perhaps there were family connections with the great James Boswell of Dr Johnson fame. Probably, the modern James Boswell must have become bored with people asking him about it. But this James Boswell was an artist, not a writer, and in 1925 he travelled to London. He was something of a radical, falling out with powers-that-be at the RCA painting school because they were rooted in the past, whereas Boswell wanted a more modern approach; he was kicked out twice. He joined the communist party, which was hardly a recommendation in war-time; for this reason during the Second World War he became an unofficial war artist, and not an officially recognised one. He served with the Royal Army Medical Corps and was posted to Iraq, finishing with the rank of major. Boswell created cartoons for the Left Review, advertisement posters for Ealing Studios, and a poster for the use of the Labour Party in the general election of 1964. He was married to Betty Soars from the 1930s until 1966 when they split up. He did not marry again, but lived with Ruth Abel.

Number 21 – In the 1970s Fred McNaughton (1903-1981) lived at Flat1 in this house. He was a fine character actor but there is remarkably little information about him. He enjoyed a long career going back to the 1950s but he seems to have joined the vast throng of forgotten actors. He must have been such a familiar face in classic British comedies but obviously one of those to whom you cannot attach a name. Probably, his best known roll was as the Mayor of Walmington-on-Sea in Dad’s Army (1968). Films and series he appeared in are as follows:

Doctor in the House (1954)

No Hiding Place (the TV series ran from 1959 to 1967)

Dr Finlay’s Casebook (the TV series ran from 1962 to 1971)

The Plane Makers (the TV series ran from 1963 to 1965)

The Power Game (1965)

Till Death us do Part (the TV series ran from 1965 to 1975)

Adam Adamant Lives (the TV series ran from 1966 to 1967

The Guardian
(1971)

Steptoe & Son (1972 he played Zita’s father)

The Protectors (the TV series ran from 1972 to 1974)

Oh, Father! (1973)

Fred McNaughton died at Hove on 12 January 1981.

copyright © J.Middleton
Phyllis and Zena Dare

Number 22Phyllis Dare (1890-1975) singer and actress lived in this house for around three years after a long stretch living at 15 Eaton Gardens, Hove. She died at the house in Pembroke Avenue.

Number 36 Donald MacKay Scobie, a former Civil Engineer in the Indian Service and his wife Joan (MacEwan) Scobie lived at this address from 1914 until the 1930s, sadly their two sons, Lieutenant John Angus Nicolson MacEwen Scobie and Lieutenant Keith Macdonald Scobie RAF both were killed in the Great War, their names are listed on the Hove War Memorial in Hove Library.

Number 40Sir Henry Tanner (1849–1935) was a prominent British architect during the late 19th and early 20th century. He worked for HM Office of Works and lived at this address in 1910.

Sir Henry was involved in numerous building projects. Two of his biggest projects were the Post Office Savings Bank in West Kensington and the Registry in Lincoln's Inn Fields. After Sir Henry’s retirement he worked with his son, Henry, who designed the Park Lane Hotel, London, and the redevelopment of Oxford Circus.

Sir Herbert Smalley M.D., (1851-1945) lived at number 40 from 1921 until the late 1930s.
He was educated at St. Paul’s School and at King's College, London. Dr Smalley served as the Medical Officer for H.M. Prison at Parkhurst in 1897 and was eventually promoted to Medical Inspector of Local Prisons and Superintending Officer of Prisons 1897-1913. He was one of H.M. Prison Commissioners 1913-17.

Number 40Alderman Alexander Henry Clarke lived in this house in later life, and although he arrived in Hove in 1910 he had lived at other addresses such as Victoria Terrace and Sackville Road. He came from Mildenhall, Suffolk, and moved to Hove to take over a livery stable. He also founded the firm of A. H. Clarke, funeral directors. During the First World War he was rejected for active service, and so instead he became a special constable, as well as a volunteer with Hove Fire Brigade.

Clarke became a councillor and was Mayor of Hove from 1940 to 1945, carrying out the ‘ever increasing duties of the mayoralty … with characteristic urbanity, kindness, courtesy, and tact, and by his personality outside the borough impressed the dignity of Hove on many another town, great and small.’

There is a hilarious anecdote about an incident that happened to him during the war. In those days he lived in Victoria Terrace – a high-security area forbidden to people other than residents after night-fall. Those living there needed to ensure they carried an identity card with them. One dark evening, Clarke was walking home but unfortunately he had left his ID card and privilege pass behind in the Mayor’s Parlour. An armed and suspicious sentry challenged him and did not believe a word of his explanation, especially the bit about him being Mayor of Hove. Clarke was marched off smartly for interrogation under armed guard, the sentry remarking to his companion ‘He’s as much like a mayor as my old mule’s like a racehorse.’

In 1949 Clarke was awarded the Freedom of Hove. He initiated an Old Folk’s Club that bore his name, and used to meet at his premises in Sackville Road, before going to Clarendon Villas. He was honoured for his work on behalf of the borough by having a thoroughfare in the new Sunninghill Estate named after him – thus Clarke Avenue. He was closely associated with St Andrew’s Old Church for many years, acting as churchwarden. He was also well known in Freemasonry, and was a popular member of Hove Rotary Club. In December 1950 he and Mrs Clarke celebrated his Golden Wedding Anniversary. Alderman Clarke died aged 76 on 13 October 1951.

copyright © J.Middleton
St Andrew’s Old Church

Fantasy Fiction and the Pembrokes

It is a remarkable co-incidence that two authors who were unsuccessful in their day but are now much more esteemed, should had ended up living in fairly close proximity in The Pembrokes and became friends. They were David Lindsay, living in Pembroke Crescent, and E. H. Visiak, living in Pembroke Avenue. 

E. H. Visiak (1878-1972) – His real name was Edward Harold Physick, a wonderfully old-fashioned surname that suited his personality because he felt out of kilter in modern times. In his younger days he worked for the Indo-European Telegraph Company, and it was while he was thus employed that in 1910 he published Buccaneer Ballads, his first book of poetry.

The outbreak of the First World War caused him a grave dilemma because he was a conscientious objector and refused to take up arms. It was a brave man who took up such a stance, which was extremely unpopular both with the authorities and the general public. But he must have impressed the powers-that-be with his sincerity because he got off relatively lightly by being ordered to take up teaching, which he undertook in England and Sweden. His experiences bear no resemblance to painful times endured by another conscientious objector – Mr Greenfield of Portslade.

After the war, Visiak immersed himself in scholarship and research, and became a respected expert on the subject of John Milton (1608-74) and perhaps the mystic element of his writing might have sprung from his studies of the poet. His most treasured possession was a Milton second edition, which he always kept close at hand.

Visiak’s most famous work was Medusa, now recognised as an important work but virtually ignored when it was first published. Indeed, The Times played a part in making it sink from sight because it printed a damning review. It is bitterly ironic, therefore, that some forty years later, the same newspaper but no doubt using a different writer, should have proclaimed Medusa as a tour-de-force in Visiak’s obituary. John Cowper Powys, who gave his first public lecture to a tiny audience in Hove Town Hall, described Medusa as a tremendous book. The poet Walter de la Mare waxed eloquent too writing that it was ‘a most remarkable book – product of a mind as resolutely individual and as strange as Blakes’s’.

Visiak’s final years were spent in a rest home in Pembroke Avenue, and it is pleasant to record that although his body might have grown weak, his mental powers were by no means diminished, and he continued to put pen to paper to within a week of his death. In this he was encouraged by Mrs Helen Beere who asserted that ‘his mind was clear to the end’. During this time he produced two short stories, one of them being The Queen of Beauty, which did not see publication until 1976. It is a mysterious story of the sea, and it is obvious that he had some considerable knowledge of the subject; indeed, it calls to mind the sea stories written by Rudyard Kipling that were full of nautical details.

Buccaneer Ballads (1910)

The Haunted Island (1910)

Flints and Flashes (1911)

The War of the Schools (1912)

The Animus against Milton (1915)

The Battle Fiends (1916)

Brief Poems (1919)

Milton Agonistes (1922)

Medusa (1929)

The Portent of Milton (1958)

The Mirror of Conrad (1956)

Life’s Morning Hour (1968)

The Queen of Beauty (1976)

Hove Planning Approvals


1895 – J. M. Jay, two houses, west side

1896 – Clayton & Black for V. Young, two houses, Pembroke Avenue & Pembroke Crescent

1896 – G. M. Jay, two houses

1897 – G. M. Jay, two pairs of semi-detached villas, west side

1897 – G. M. Jay for Jay Brothers, three pairs of semi-detached villas

1897 – Jay Brothers, one pair of semi-detached villas, east side

1898 – G.M. Jay for Jay Brothers, two pairs of villas, east side

1899 – Clayton & Black for V. Young, four pairs of houses

1899 – Clayton & Black for V. Young, one pair semi-detached houses, east side

1899 – Jay Brothers,, six houses in Pembroke Avenue and New Church Road

1899 – G.M. Jay for Jay Brothers, four houses in Pembroke Avenue and New Church Road

1904 – Clayton & Black for C. Blanford, four houses, west side

1905 – Clayton & Black for Mrs Frost, detached house on corner of New Church Road

1905 – W. A. McKellar for Captain Walker, detached villa, west side

1913 – F. Parsons, pair of semi-detached houses, west side

1914 – F. Parsons, pair of semi-detached houses

1922 – F. Parsons, pair of semi-detached houses (numbers 10 & 12)

Sources

Argus

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Clute, J. & Nicholls, P. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1993)

Clute, J. & Grant, J. Editors Encyclopedia of Fantasy (1997)

Hove Council Minute Books

Lamb, H. edited by The Taste of Fear (1976 – first publication of Visiak’s short story The Queen of Beauty, also a biographical note)

Lindsay, D. A Voyage to Arcturus (reprinted by Gollanz 1971 with a note by E. H. Visiak)

Lindsay, D. A Voyage to Arcturus (reprinted by Penguin 2021 with a biographical note)

National Portrait Gallery

National Library of Australia

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Sullivan, J. editor The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural (1986)

Wilson, C. The Occult (1971)

Copyright © J.Middleton 2021
page layout by and additional research by D. Sharp