Hove in the Past: Salisbury Road, Hove

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2023)

Background

Salisbury Road began to be developed in the 1870s, being laid out on land belonging to the Wick Estate, and it was still a part of it in 1924. According to the 1878 Directory there were only two houses in the road, numbers 1 and 3; but by 1881 there were ten occupied houses.

It seems likely that the road was named after the British Prime Minister, the 3^rd Marquis of Salisbury (1830-1903). He was first elected as a Member of Parliament in 1853, and went on to serve twice as Secretary of State for India, and three times as Prime Minister. He succeeded to his title in 1868. His colleague Benjamin Disraeli once described Salisbury as a ‘great master of jibes and flouts and jeers.’

Street Lighting

In August 1877 the Hove Commissioners agreed to meet the cost of gas used in street lamps, but only after the residents had paid for such street lamps to be installed. This was standard practice at Hove in those days.

Presumably, a few lamps were erected, but in September 1879 there were complaints about inadequate lighting. However, the Commissioners replied that since it was a private street, residents had better make a complaint to the owners. Again, they reminded them that if such lamps were installed, the Commissioners would pay the wages of a lamp-lighter to light and extinguish them, as well as paying for the gas consumed.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
This 1898 map shows central Hove with the east side of Salisbury Road undeveloped

Fly-tipping

Of course such a term was not in use in Victorian times but it was a problem all the same. In May 1899 it was recorded that there was an accumulation of rubbish at the top of Salisbury Road. But it was not the responsibility of the newly-formed Hove Council who informed the residents that they should bring it to the attention of the Wick Estate.

Planning

Since Salisbury Road was a private concern, there were no planning applications to the Hove Commissioners / Hove Council in the early days. Indeed, the first planning application to be recorded in Hove Council Minutes was on 5 October 1911 when approval was given to plans drawn up by Parsons & Sons on behalf of Dr W. A. Hollis for a detached house on the east side.

Public Highway

Salisbury Road was declared a public highway in two stages, the first part in August 1900, and the second part in April 1902.

The Military

It is astonishing to note just how many high-ranking Army officers decided to make their home in Salisbury Road, as can be seen in the House Notes.

Today

To look at Salisbury Road today, you could say it is something of a hybrid. This is because on the west side there are tall and stately Victorian houses, some five storeys high, while the east side is mostly occupied by large, new developments including blocks of flats. A wide roadway separates the two incongruous aspects. The numbering also differs from the usual Hove practice. The Victorian houses are numbered in strict numerical order, rather than the usual odds and evens.

House Notes

Number 1 – In 1905 the house was occupied by Colonel H. B. Chambers.

By 1912 Revd G. L. Blake was living there. The Directory of 1914 placed the letters R.N. after his surname, and so presumably he served in the Royal Navy. By 1921 the premises had been turned into flats.

Number 2

Hon. Gertrude Smyth (née FitzPatrick)
by John Chancellor 1860s
NPG Ax46388

The Honourable Lady Gertrude Skeffington-Smyth lived in this house in 1905, and continued to be in residence until she died in London in 1912.

By the time she lived in Salisbury Road, she was a widow, her husband Colonel Edward Skeffington having died at 11 Brunswick Terrace in 1897. She lived in considerable comfort in number 2 with four servants to see to her needs, and no doubt the German butler was smartly dressed.

Both Gertrude and Edward had Irish links. Gertrude was the daughter of Wilson FitzPatrick, Lord Castletown of Upper Ossory, Ireland, while Edward hailed from Portlaoise, Ireland.

It is also fascinating to note that Gertrude was the aunt of Lady Helen Augusta Younghusband whose husband was the intrepid explorer Sir Francis Edward Younghusband (1863-1952). In 1886 he was to be found exploring Manchuria, while in 1902 he went to Tibet, and subsequently brought that secretive place to the attention of the west. He was born in India, and wrote extensively on it and central Asia. In 1936 he founded the World Congress of Faiths, being a man of deep religious faith himself.

Number 4 – In 1905 Colonel Johnstone Mackay occupied the house, and he was still there in 1914. By 1921 it was just his widow living there.

Number 5 – In 1947 the house was called Kingsway , and was noted as ‘residential’ while also being home to a Bridge Club.

Number 6 – Lady (Bertha) Jane Kennedy (1860-1936) lived in this house for one year in 1889 and from 1899 to 1901 while her husband was away on Diplomatic Service.

She was the third daughter of the 5^th Viscount Bangor, Ireland. Jane had the tragedy of losing her mother at an early age, but perhaps having two older sisters gave her some female companionship.

Jane’s mother was the Honourable Mary Ward, a lady with an enquiring mind who was definitely not going to confine herself to the domestic sphere. Instead she became famous as an author and artist, besides being a naturalist, astronomer, and microscopist.

Even the manner of her departing this life was dramatic when in 1863 she died after being thrown out of steam-powered experimental motor car near her home in Ireland; it was the first recorded auto-mobile accident.

Meanwhile Jane grew up and married her first cousin Sir Robert John Kennedy of Cultra, Ireland. It is pleasant to record that Jane lived a very interesting life because her husband was a career diplomat and the couple found themselves posted all over the place – to be specific, Spain, Turkey, Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, Persia and Uruguay.

Indeed she emulated her mother by co-authoring a book with her husband entitled Khorasan and Central Asia. When it came to retirement, the couple returned home to Ireland. While living in Hove, Lady Jane was Vice President of the Brighton Ladies’ Club.

George Herbert Dacres Walker CIE, BA lived at number 6 in the early 1900s; no doubt in his retirement found the winter months a trial, having been used to the heat of India for so many years. He was born in 1845, and educated at Oxford University before joining the Indian Civil Service. This service was held in high regard for its diligence, and members were well educated with a knowledge of native languages. Walker started off in the United Provinces, progressing to other posts before becoming Examiner of Accounts in Assam in 1884. Assam was a vast area, and his work must have been complex indeed. By 1886 he filled the post of Under Secretary to the General Government of India. He retired in 1903.

Number 8 – Herbert Flowers was born in Steyning on 25 November 1879. He obtained a BA at Hertford College, Oxford, and became a solicitor, going into partnership with his father, George Arthur Flowers at Steyning, although he lived at this address with his sister. He was a man with many interests, including ornithology and photography. He served as a 2^nd Lieutenant with the 8^th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment, 12^th Division. He was aged 36 when he was killed in action on the Somme, near Deville Wood on 1 September 1914. He was buried in Deville Wood Cemetery, Longeuval.

Number 9

Lady Ann Elizabeth Jones (née Patch) (1839-1889) lived at this address from 1888 until 1889. She was the widow of Sir Horace Jones (1819-1887) the architect surveyor to the City of London. He is most famous for designing London’s Tower Bridge and the markets at Billingsgate, Smithfield and Leadenhall.

Living with her mother in Salisbury Road was their daughter, Annie Horatia Jones. After her mother died in 1889, the 13 year old Annie Horatia was brought up by her Aunt Tamazine Billings (née Patch) and Uncle Sidney Billings in Surrey. Annie Horatia owned a unique cabinet-style dolls house which originally belonged to her mother. The model dolls included with the dolls house were caricatures of her own parents and helped keep the memories of her family alive for the rest of her life. The Annie Horatia Jones Collection is now a part of the London Metropolitan Archives. Annie Horatia died in 1969.

By 1947 the premises had become Chatsworth Guest House, the proprietor being Mrs N. Timeworth.

Number 10 – In 1889 Major-General William Russell Eliott lived in this house with his wife Frances, and their three servants. It is fascinating to note the different birth places of the family members. Eliott was born in Madras in 1821, while Frances was born in 1839 at the Cape of Good Hope; the couple had three children – the two daughters were born in the East Indies but the son was born in London.

No doubt Eliott was well accustomed to life in India because his father was Governor of Madras. Eliott did his own stint in the sub-continent and served in the Punjab Campaign of 1848-9, and was Deputy Commissioner of the Punjab 1858-74.

By 1891 the Eliotts had moved to Tisbury Road.

In the 1900s number 10 was occupied by Major Harold Jellicorse and his wife. In 1901 Jellicorse was a captain in the Royal Sussex Regiment, and he served during the First World War. His war experiences had a lasting effect on him, and after peace was declared, his thoughts turned to the plight of ex-servicemen. He obviously thought that the government was not showing enough compassion for their needs, and indeed he campaigned on a national scale to alert people to their immediate plight.

Jellicorse’s social conscience was also evident outside the military because he served as a magistrate as well as a local politician, and was chairman of West Sussex Hospital.

Jellicorse also found time to enjoy his sporting interests. He was fortunate his home was so close to the Sussex County Cricket Ground because he was a keen fan, and indeed became a committee member of the club from 1910 to 1912.

Perhaps he was best known for his love of croquet, and he penned a history of the Sussex County Croquet Club. He was instrumental in establishing the Southwick Croquet Club, and remained the president from 1908 until he died in 1951.

Number 12 – In 1937 Lieutenant Colonel E. C. L. Wallace DSO occupied the premises, and he was still there ten years later. He had seen considerable service overseas with the Punjab Regiment and with the Hong Kong Regiment. During the First World War he served in East Africa, and that is where he was awarded his Distinguished Service Order, which medal came up for auction on 5 July 2011.

Mrs Inez Frances Wallace lived at number 12 too, and she died on 11 July 1976. She was the niece of Grace d’Aguiller, the noted Jewish author of the nineteenth century. An uncle, Captain H. A. Aguiller, once lived at 62 Tisbury Road.

Number 12a – In 1935 the Revd John Freeman was living in this house, and his son Edward Geoffrey Canning-Freeman was also said to be living in Salisbury Road in the 1930s, and so perhaps he was living with his father.

copyright © National Library of Australia
The Examiner 1 March 1939
Lady Leconfield was married to
the Lord Lieutenant of Sussex

As a young man Canning-Freeman was active in social and charitable work, and he also used to appear in Brighton pageants – the most memorable occasion being when he dressed up as Sir Walter Raleigh in 1927. Canning-Freeman was well-known for his portrait sketches and watercolour landscapes. He was the organiser of the Young Sussex Artists Exhibition held at Lewes in the 1930s with the assistance of Frank Brangwyn, and under the patronage of Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll.

In 1935 Queen Marie of Romania sat for her portrait by Canning-Freeman at the Ritz Hotel in London. In fact it was the last portrait of her because she died in July 1938. Canning-Freeman had also painted a portrait of King Peter of Yugoslavia in 1937. Perhaps because of this connection he became interested in Yugoslavia, and in June 1942 he published a book in aid of the Yugoslav Relief Society. It was called Dalmatian Dreams and it was illustrated with eight colour plates and forty black and white sketches. It is a beautiful book printed on hand-made paper by the Ditchling Press in a limited edition of 250 copies. The colour plates are particularly fine and you can clearly see the brush strokes. It is therefore rather sad that in 2023 the book was on sale for just over £12.

Lieutenant Edward Canning-Freeman was invited to luncheon at Petworth House
by Lord Leconfield, the Lord Lieutenant of Sussex. After lunch Edward went for a walk
along the River Arun, whereupon he spotted a mysterious object in the river.
As he investigated, he fell into the river and muddied his clothes.
Edward hurried to a nearby village to dry off his clothes, where he
was arrested by the village policeman as he was thought to be a German parachutist.
The mysterious object floating in the river turned out to be a dead pig.

In 1961 Canning Freeman took lodgings in Hove, and sadly drowned himself in the sea. His body was found near Western Lawns.

Number 13

In times past the number 13 did not tend to bother people greatly, although later on developers carefully omitted having such a number.

Elizabeth Pole Harbord (née Schenley)
by Camille Silvy 30 December 1865
NPG Ax64677

Lady Elizabeth Pole Harbord (née Schenley) lived at Number 13 for the whole of 1889 and also from 1896 until 1899. In 1901 she moved to 25 Salisbury Road. Lady Elizabeth was the widow of the Hon. Captain Ralph Harbord who died in 1878, the son of Sir Edward Harbord the 3^rd Baron of Suffield, a Liberal M.P., anti-slavery campaigner and prison reformer.

Lady Elizabeth and Ralph’s marriage produced six children, and when Lady Elizabeth was living in Salisbury Road, the following children were living with her:- Florence (b.1866), Agnes (b.1872), Horatio (b.1875) and Ida, who was born in the year of her father’s death in 1878. Horatio served as a Lieutenant in the South Wales Borderers and was killed at the Battle of Elandslaagtye in 1902 during the Boer War.

Lady Elizabeth was born in Dutch Guinea (South America) in 1844, the daughter of Edward Wyndham Harrington Schenley (1798-1878).

Lady Elizabeth’s father had a remarkable life. He was a British Army Officer and fought in the American War of Independence at the Battle of New Orleans (1815) and in the same year he was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo. Edward was a friend of Lord Byron and even travelled to Italy for the funeral of Percy Bysshe Shelley at Leghorn (Livorno) which is where he married his first wife.
Schenley served as a British Government Official in Latin America. In 1825 he was appointed Vice Counsel in Guatemala, and in 1828 he became Counsel in Venezuela. In 1836 he was appointed as arbitrator to the British and Spanish joint commission addressing the abolition of slavery in Cuba.

In 1859 Schenley was elected Liberal MP for Dartmouth, but three months later he was unseated through a charge of corruption in the voting procedure.

Elizabeth’s father was married three times (widower twice) and because of his marriages to some very rich ladies he became a multi-millionaire in today’s values. Edward Schenley owned one of London’s prime properties, namely 13-15 Princes Gate. 1878 was a sad year for Elizabeth as both her husband, Ralph Harbord, and her father, Edward Schenley, died.

***

In 1937 Captain Annesley Warre lived at number 13. He was interested in more than just military matters because it was recorded that in 1931 he donated a tea-brick to the British Museum, while he was considered to be a major contributor to the Royal Academy Exhibition 1935-1936.

By 1947 the house had been divided into four flats.

Number 14 – Colonel Arthur Morris lived in this house in the 1890s. He was the brother of the famous William Morris (1834-1896).

By 1905 Lieutenant-Colonel J. D. Bradley occupied the premises, and he was still there in 1914. By 1937 the house had been converted into three flats.

Number 15 – Vice-Admiral Frederick Henry Stirling (1829-1885) lived in this house from 1882 until his death. The sea was in his blood, so to speak, because not only was he born at sea aboard the barque Parmelia, off the Cape of Good Hope, but his father was Admiral Sir James Stirling who became the first Governor of Western Australia.

By 1848 young Henry was already a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and there followed regular promotions as follows:

1860 – Captain

1870 – Commander-in-chief, Australian Squadron

1879 – Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Station

The ships he commanded were HMS Good Hope, and HMS Clio, and he also saw service in the Black Sea during the Crimean War.

Colonel Henry Burney lived at number 15 from 1917 to 1928. In 1871 he made a spectacular marriage because his bride was Countessa Ortensia Troili Asclepi, elder daughter of Count Asclepi of Rome. The good lady was obviously proud of her heritage, and rather than becoming plain Mrs Burney, she was identified in local directories as Countess Asclepi.

Colonel Burney was prominent in the affairs of Buckinghamshire where he was a major landowner in the Wavedon district. He was a member of the County Licensing Committee, and a Commissioner of Taxes. He held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the 3^rd Battalion, Oxford Light Infantry.

By 1947 number 15 was Kingsbury House, a guest house.

Number 18 – In 1886 Lieutenant Colonel W. R. Vandeleur lived in this house, and was still there in 1912. His son Captain William Mountcharles Crotton Vandeleur (1870-1914) served in the 2^nd Battalion, Essex Regiment, and was 44 years old when he was killed in action a the Battle of Le Cateau near Eznes on 26 August 1914. He was buried in Esnes Military Cemetery.

Number 19 – Edward Orange Wildman Whitehouse (1816-1890) lived in this house from 1886 to 1890. He was a surgeon by profession, but he was also passionately interested in electrical experiments. Somehow, the entrepreneur Cyrus West Field got to hear of his electrical prowess and decided he was just the man to mastermind a daring innovation.

Public Domain
Edward Orange Wildman Whitehouse

Whitehouse was appointed Chief Electrician, and his brief was to pioneer the first transatlantic telegraph cable for the Atlantic Telegraph Company, the route being from the west coast of Ireland to the east coast of Newfoundland.

The research and work started in 1854 and the first message was despatched on 16 August 1858. There must have much jubilation about the successful event, but unhappily the cable proved to be only viable for three weeks. Whitehouse then decided to boost the failing signals with a higher voltage; the result was a disaster. Unfairly, Whitehouse received all the blame, and has not received his share of fame. In retrospect, how many innovations are a success the first time around?

***

John Bazley-White Esq., (1848–1927) lived at Number 19 in the early 1920s until his death in 1927. John Bazley-White was the former M.P. for Gravesend and Hon. Colonel 3^rd Volunteer Brigade, Cinque Ports, Royal Artillery. His family’s company the Bazley-White Brothers were the biggest producers of Portland cement in pre-1900 Britain. His wife Lady Grace Bazley-White (née Leslie) was the daughter of the Countess of Rothes and continued to live at Number 19 until her death in 1933. Lady Grace’s nephew was the Earl of Rothes whose wife Lucy, hailed a heroine by the press, was a survivor of the sinking of RMS Titanic and coincidently died in Hove in 1956.

Number 20 – In 1905 Lieutenant-General H. Finch of the Royal Engineers lived here, and in 1914 he was still in residence.

Number 22 – In 1890 Colonel George Leith Fraser, late of the Bengal Staff Corps and Laird of Mearnes, Kincardinshire, Scotland, lived in this house with his wife Mary Annette, daughter of Sir John Henry Briggs, and their four children Annette, Percy, Alice and Forbes. The 1891 census reveals that the Colonel was aged 64 and there were four live-in servants – probably the most important one was the cook Agnes Hemsley, and there were also parlour maid Sally Meads, house-maid Emma Dowsett, and children’s maid Eugenie Dryasbere.

The daughter Annette Constance Fraser (1877-1963) was born in East Grinstead with the later surname Jardine. She became the Quartermaster of the Voluntary Aid Detachment / Red Cross during the First World War.

This house was later known as St John’s Lodge and served as the vicarage for the priest in charge of nearby St John the Baptist Church. For example, Revd Canon John Stephen Flynn was in residence and he served St John’s from 1904 to 1922. By 1937 the premises had been divided into four flats.

Number 25 - Lady Elizabeth Pole Harbord lived at this address in 1901 after moving from Number13 (see Number 13 above)

One cannot help recording that in 1937 a gentleman by the name of Ernest Frankenstein lived in this house. No doubt he was heartily sick of the inevitable jokes.

Number 27 – By 1912 this house had become flats.

Mrs Maynard lived at Flat 2, 27 Salisbury Road in 1914, she was the manager of the Clothing Department of Belgian Refugee & Relief Fund at 4 Adelaide Crescent, in 1915 she had moved to 49 Brunswick Place. Her husband Dr E. Maynard was the organiser of Hove’s Belgian Flag Day on 2 October 1915, an event which took place throughout the Nation on that day.

In 1947 Captain Alexander William Kinsley lived in flat 3, number 27. He was a First World War hero having been awarded the Military Cross by his ‘great gallantry and initiative’ in an action on 29/30 October 1918, east of Mazingheim, near the canal, when his unit relieved the Black Watch.

Number 32 – This block of flats occupies a corner site, and was named, somewhat pretentiously, Athenaeum, with the ‘a’ and ‘e’ correctly placed at close quarters. Athene was the Greek goddess of wisdom, and so the word ‘Athenaeum’ means a temple devoted to Athene. Perhaps investors were wise enough to be associated with such a development because in recent times a flat sold for the incredible sum of £365,000, which sum, not that long ago would have secured you a decent-sized house. But then the building does have underground parking in a city where parking spaces are at a premium.

39a – The south part of the building is occupied by the Brighton & Hove Cosmetic Clinic.

39b – The north part offers a Medical Spa and dental services.

Salisbury Lodge

For many years street directories only recorded 27 houses all on the west side. In the 1937 directory Salisbury Lodge was recorded on the east side, and the occupant was Joseph Lenze.

In the late 1940s the house was occupied by Colonel Charles Edward Copeman (1867-1949). He was the fifth son of Canon Copeman of Norwich. It is interesting to note that the youngster enjoyed two spells of learning at Cambridge University – the first stint was at Selwyn in 1886 and the second at King’s in 1906.

Copeman became a much decorated military man. In 1914 he was appointed Lieutenant-Commander of the 1^st Battalion, Cambridgeshire Regiment, having known it when it was still the 3^rd Volunteer Battalion, Suffolk Regiment. Copeman spent a short and brutal time in France with his men from February to May 1915. There was St Eloi in March and Ypres in April. At the St Eloi battle that Copeman described in a letter home, two officers were killed, two sergeants were missing presumed killed, six soldiers were killed and twenty wounded, while two remained missing. It is distressing to note that two men became deranged, so unexpected and fierce was the battle.

As for Copeman, the damp trenches caused havoc with his sciatica, and he was invalided home. He was later given command of the 9^th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, and became a colonel in 1918. In peacetime, Copeman lived at Wisbech, and was a solicitor and partner of Metcalfe, Copeman, & Pettifer, a firm that is still in existence. Copeman moved to Hove in later life and died in April 1949 aged 81.

Salisbury Lodge is no more, having been demolished to make way for flats.

Sources

Canning-Freeman, Edward Dalmatian Dreams (1942)

Census returns

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Hove Council Minute Books

London Gazette

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

National Library of Australia

National Portrait Gallery

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Street Directories

On-line Hove’s Roll of Honour

21 July 2023

Salisbury Road, Hove