Hove in the Past: Mortimer Road, Hove.

Judy Middleton 2002 (revised 2022)

Background

It seems probable that the street was named after the former landowner, the Right Honourable Mortimer Baron Sackville (1820-1888). In 1896 when plans were first drawn up for this road, it was said to be part of Upper Rutland Estate.

The builder T. Simpson & Son was much involved in work in this road. The firm’s other activities in Hove are listed below:

1896 / 1897 – Molesworth Street

1896 / 1897 1898 / 1899 – Mortimer Road

1897 /1898 – Tamworth Road

1898 / 1899 – Addison Road

Mews

There are two mews in the road. There is a small mews running off 1A Mortimer Road, and a large one called Mortimer Mews containing one detached house facing east and four terraced houses facing south. Relics from the past are a huge iron hook at the top of the archway, and the iron gates at the entrance.

Re-numbering

In 1900 the road was re-numbered.

Public Highway

In 1902 the road was declared a public highway.

Montpelier Steam Laundry

The laundry was situated at number 9 and was there in 1901. On 10 September 1903 there was a terrific storm, causing waves some 40-ft in height to crash onto the shore and smashing many bathing machines. At Hove the worst-hit establishment was this laundry with the reporter from the Sussex Daily News writing that the premises had the appearance of ‘having been bombarded by a battery of artillery’. The roof of the boiler house blew off, and the huge boiler and chimney were dismantled. The drying grounds were littered with broken glass, slates and chimney pots.

Perhaps the storm delivered a fatal blow as well, because by 1914 there was still a laundry on the site, but it was no longer called the Montpelier Laundry. Instead it was the Walsall Laundry. It is interesting to note that in the Directory Mrs Waller’s name came first – obviously it must have been her enterprise, and underneath appeared ‘Ernest Waller’. By 1920 the laundry had closed.

In 1931 C. Hounslow, sheet metal workers (store) was located at 9a.

Messrs J. Cawardine

In May 1910 Hove Council approved plans submitted by Mr J. Cawardine for a workshop on the north side of Mortimer Road. In 1913 a permanent building and a timber shed were erected, plus a temporary structure on Council-owned land.

The firm played its part during the First World War by being one of the first local employers to take on women to do vital carpentry work. Technically, their work came under the designation of ‘Munitions’ but they had nothing to do with explosives, and the women crafted suitable boxes to contain ammunition or shells. They were therefore more fortunate than those Hove women, who after an appeal from the Government, went to work in munition factories in London and other places. It was perilous work, and in addition exposure to such noxious substances turned their skin, and even their nails, yellow. They were thus nick-named ‘canaries’.

In 1920 the Cawardine factory was taken over by Messrs Pickets Ltd.

T. B. Colman & Son

The Colman firm were shopfitters and they were active in the area for many years. For example, in 1914 they designed the new shop-front at 97/99 George Street for Mr F. Stringer, and in 1921 they fitted the new oak reredos at St Nicolas Church, Portslade.

Originally, the Colman factory was situated in Ruskin Place, but by the 1930s it was listed under Mortimer Road. In 1926 the firm wanted to rent some council-owned land in Mortimer Road so that they could fence it in and thus ‘save the front of the premises from becoming a playground for the large number of children who are continually trespassing on the forecourt.’ The council agreed to rent the land to them for £1 a year.

copyright © National Library of Australia
The Australian Women's Weekly 4 April 1956

It is interesting to note that the celebrated actor Sir Donald Sinden (1923-2014) started work at Colman’s in 1939. As a child, Sinden suffered badly from asthma, and missed so much schooling that he failed his School Certificate. His mother would have liked him to work at Hove Town Hall but this was not possible without qualifications. His maternal grandfather, Albert Fuller, had been Assistant Borough Surveyor to Hove Council. Sinden wanted to train as a draughtsman but there were no vacancies, and so he became an apprentice. Frank Verral was the joiner who instructed young Sinden, while Ernie taught him the properties of the various timbers in use ranging from English oak, beech and sycamore to maple, rosewood, burr-walnut, yew and zebra wood, not to mention the varieties of mahogany and the weight of lignum vitae thrown in. It sounds wonderfully exotic but there was a war on, and Sinden was put to work creating ammunition boxes, as well as special rattles that would be used in the event of a gas attack.

The Colman factory contained three floors with the metal workshop, French polishing and veneering department occupying the top floor, while the middle floor was home to around twenty work-benches. The machinery was to be found on the ground floor, and contained such tools as circular saws, planers, band saws, and spindles.

Colman’s acquired the patent of an invention by a Mr Van Kannel, and thus managed to corner the market when it came to installing revolving doors, each structure being embellished with a small plaque stating Colman-Van Kannel. The patent allowed the use of a vital technique whereby, in an emergency, the doors could be snapped open to allow people a quick exit. The doors were beautifully finished and installed in top London Hotels including the Cumberland Hotel and Bentalls. It is claimed that the revolving doors at the Dudley Hotel at Hove were installed by Colman’s.

By the 1990s the building was in a sorry state of dereliction. There had been a fire, and the structure was windowless and roofless. Residents and councillors called for some action to be taken. But it was not straightforward because there were two landowners involved; London-based Dimemade Ltd owned part of the site, while British Rail owned another part for safety purposes because they needed a gap between the railway and any property that might be built there. Meanwhile, youngsters were getting through the fencing, and throwing chunks of masonry around. Finally, in December 1999 the building was demolished and the site cleared. Then nine new houses arose on the site in a joint venture between the council and the Downland Housing Association. Today, the new houses are firmly located in Ruskin Place, and it is astonishing how tall the birch trees have grown in the intervening years; there is now no trace of the once-famous factory.

House Notes

Number 1 – In 1901 J. Burgess ran a general store on the premises, but by 1908 Arthur Cooper was in charge. By 1914 the shop had changed from being a general store, and it was now a greengrocer run by G. Roberts who was still there in 1917. By 1920 the greengrocery was in the hands of Albert Edward.

Number 2 – In 1931 Thomas Pope, a plumber, lived in the house.

Number 5

Number 12 - Hove born Private Ernest Wakeham of the 2^ndBattalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, 1^st Division, was killed in action at Richebourg-l'Avoué on 9 May 1915, aged 33. Ernest and his wife Caroline Charlotte Wakeham lived at 12 Mortimer Road. Ernest Wakeham’s name is commemorated on the Le Touret Memorial in France and Hove’s First World War Roll of Honour in the foyer of Hove Library.

Number 13 - The builder A. Chadwell lived here in 1901, and he was still plying his trade in 1917. A glance at Hove Planning Approvals reveals that Mr Chadwell built nearly all the houses in Mortimer Road. At least he could be assured that his home was well-built. He had gone by 1920. In 1931 the premises were occupied by the Howard Brothers ‘furniture removers’.

Number 20

Mrs Perrin lived in this house in the First World War, which must have been a worrying time for her because she had three sons serving in the Army. No doubt she was a very proud mother when two sons proved to be such doughty fighters that they were both awarded a Military Medal, but one son was killed in action:

Private Dudley Perrin, West Yorkshire Regiment, died 31 December 1917.

Private Arthur Hockley Perrin enlisted in 1914, served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and was awarded the Military Medal in 1917. He was born at Brighton, and later worked as a fishmonger’s assistant.

Private Bert Perrin, Middlesex Regiment, was awarded the Military Medal in 1918.

Number 24 - Brighton born Sergeant Alfred Ernest Stunnell of the 12^thBattalion, Suffolk Regiment, 40^th Division, was killed in action at Cambrai on 24 November 1917, aged 34. Alfred and his wife Florence Lydia Stunnell lived at 24, Mortimer Road. Sergeant Stunnell’s name is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial in France and Hove’s First World War Roll of Honour in the foyer of Hove Library.

Number 26 - In 1908 C. Potter lived in this house and earned his living as a paper-hanger.

Number 31 – In 1931 Henry Haffenden & Son, boot repairers, were located here.

Number 37

Like Mrs Perrin at number 20, Mr and Mrs Thomas Avis, also suffered the anxiety of having sons serving during the First World War. They had four sons, and three of them died, which was a dreadful loss.

Harry Avis was born at Piddinghoe in 1883, and later lived in this house with his family. Before joining up, he and his brother George worked as labourers. Harry enlisted in the Royal Navy and became a stoker. He was lost at sea aboard HMS Good Hope on 1 November 1914 in an action also known as the Battle of Coronel. In fact the entire crew of officers and men perished in this disaster, along with all those aboard HMS Monmouth. It was a bitter blow to the Royal Navy, being notched up as its worst defeat since 1812.

copyright © J.Middleton
This window in St Andrews Church, Portslade, was given in memory of Lieutenant French who was lost in the Great War aboard HMS Good Hope. (The 'Lieutenant Edward John French' stained glass window was removed from St Andrew's in 2003 and installed above the High Altar in the Roman Catholic Church of St Anselm’s, Pembury, Kent.

Other local men who were lost with HMS Good Hope were:

Lieutenant Edward John French

Lieutenant Evelyn Eliot Gray

Able Seaman Frederick John Gates

Before the war broke out, William Avis worked as a billiard marker at the busy Cliftonville Hotel, near Hove Railway Station. He joined the 11^th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment, and became a Lance Corporal; he was killed in action on 3 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme.

George Avis served in the 5^th Battalion, Oxford and Bucks Regiment. He was killed in action on 16 September 1916. It is heart-breaking to think he died only thirteen days after his brother at the same Battle of the Somme.

Only one son came home from the war and he was Lance Corporal Charles Avis of the Royal Engineers.

Charles Avis continued to live in this house for a while, and was recorded there in the Directory for 1920.

Hove Planning Approvals

1896 – T. Simpson for Messrs Beves & Co, new street in the Upper Rutland Estate

1897 – T. Simpson & Sons for A. Chadwell, nine houses, north side

1897 – E. J. Coles, five houses, north side

1897 – T. Simpson & Son for A. Chadwell, one house and stabling, north side

1897 – T. Simpson & Son for A. Chadwell, two houses, south side

1897 – T. Simpson & Son for A. Chadwell, two houses, north side

1898 – T. Simpson & Son for A. Chadwell, nine houses, south side

1898 – B. James for A. Chadwell, two houses, north side

1899 – T. Simpson & Son for A. Chadwell, two houses, south side

1903 – W. H. Overton for W. H. & A. Whillier, two houses, shops and workshops with stables at rear, north side

1910 – F. Carwardine, workshop, north side

Sources

Argus

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Middleton, J. Hove and Portslade in the Great War (2014)

National Library of Australia

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Sinden, Donald A Touch of the Memoirs (1982)

Street Directories

09 September 2022

Mortimer Road, Hove.