Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Williamson. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Williamson. Sort by date Show all posts

Hove Plaques Index W

Listed below:- Waterloo Street Arch, Charlie Webb, Admiral Sir George Westphal, James Williamson, Captain Theodore Wright V.C.
 ******************************************

Waterloo Street Arch
Judy Middleton (2003 revised 2014)

copyright © J.Middleton

Although the Old Market is situated on an island site between Lower Market Street and Upper Market Street, it was always listed in Directories under Waterloo Street.

The Market House was not a success as a market and was only in operation for a few years. It was soon put to use as a Riding Academy. When Alfred Dupont took over the premises, he decided to emphasize the connection to Waterloo Street by erecting a handsome arch. The structure is tall with a keystone and pediment and it is topped off with a segmental decoration while a large diamond shape embellished the pier on either side.

The arch was erected in 1877 and it became a Grade II listed building on 10 September 1971.

copyright © J.Middleton
Waterloo Arch, Waterloo Street

By 1980 Hove Council had plans to restore the arch to its former glory. But it was not such a simple matter because there was a temporary structure attached to it made of steel and asbestos and it was still in use. Howard and Sheila Kent ran their removal business from the premises and moreover they employed a dozen people. When they purchased the building in 1979 they had no idea Hove Council would develop an interest in it, or rather its adjacent arch. The Kents had spent some £20,000 on their building but Hove Council only offered them £15,000. Then there was a dispute about whether or not the couple actually did know about the council’s plans.

Eventually, by 1985 Hove Council owned the arch and the problematic building but had run out of money for restoration. Residents were horrified because the site rapidly became an eyesore and 150 people signed a petition calling for immediate action.

By February 1986, funding was in place and restoration work began. Local architect Christopher Dodd worked on the scheme and Dixon Hurst & Partners were appointed structural engineers. Contributions towards the cost of restoration came from English Heritage, Hove Council and a private trust – the Montpelier and Clifton Association.

The pathway underneath the arch was laid with York stone while the restored arch was painted in Regency Cream and floodlit at night. In June 1986 the Mayor of Hove, Edward Cruickshank-Robb, and his wife, the Mayoress, formally opened Waterloo Arch.

In recent years a delightful garden has been created on the west side of the arch, further enhancing the elegant ambience.

copyright © J.Middleton
Waterloo Arch Garden

Sources
Argus
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Copyright © J.Middleton 2014
********************************************************************************

Charlie Webb (1886-1973)
Judy Middleton (2014)

copyright © J.Middleton
Charlie Webb lived in this house 15 Frith Road. Somewhere under the foliage there is a plaque. 

Charlie Webb was a truly international figure because he was Scottish by ancestry, born in Ireland, but chose to put down roots in England, well Hove actually. The reason he was born in Ireland was because his father was serving in the Black Watch (as did his grandfather) and the family was based at The Curragh, near Dublin. But young Webb was brought up in Edinburgh. In 1904 he followed family tradition by joining the Army and history repeated itself in a small way because he too was despatched to the Emerald Isle, albeit with the Essex Regiment. When he was off-duty, he enjoyed playing football with local clubs and in 1908 he secured an Irish amateur cap. Later on he upset the Army authorities by playing football with a professional side. Realising he would not be able to square his love of football with the demands of duty, he chose to buy his release.

His long association with Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club is legendary. It spanned a period of 40 years (with an interval for the war) during which he was a player and then a manager. The club was also proud of the fact that while he was with them in the early days, he was chosen by Irish selectors to play against Scotland and Wales. Webb also became top scorer for Albion in the Southern League with 64 goals to his credit. Although he was a supremely fit athlete, he was as susceptible to injury as the next player and received a bad leg injury in 1914.

Webb rejoined the Army in the Great War, having had the pleasure of instructing his fellow players in the mysteries of rifle drill at the Goldstone Ground. Not that the keen souls were a danger to anyone because their rifles were nothing more than pieces of wood. As Webb had already seen Army service, he was commissioned into the King’s Royal Rifle Corps as a Second Lieutenant and was later promoted to Captain.

In March 1918 whilst serving in France, the Germans captured Captain Webb and he became a prisoner of war. He spent the closing months of the conflict in a camp at Mainz. But while still behind barbed wire, he was much cheered to receive a communication from Henry Miles, Albion Chairman, offering him the post of manager.

In June 1919 Webb returned to Hove and moved into 15 Frith Road, not far from the Goldstone, and became manager of Brighton & Hove Albion. He was a first-class manager, seeking out old favourites, while at the same time being a good judge of budding football talent and he secured new players for the team. He earned the admiration and respect of colleagues and players and retired in 1948. Webb also served as an officer in the Home Guard during the Second World War. This was similar to the experience of famous cricketer Sir Jack Hobbs who moved to Hove in 1946 and had also been in the Home Guard in the Second World War and served in the Royal Flying Corps in the Great War.

copyright © J.Middleton
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Team for 1919-1920, photographed by G.A. Wiles. Charlie Webb is the handsome
man in smart suit, white shirt and tie, standing in the middle of his players in the third row (and inset right) 

Charlie Webb died in 1973 aged 86. A slate plaque was placed at his house 15 Frith Road, Hove. The lettering ran ‘Charlie Webb 1886-1973 Player and Manager Brighton & Hove Albion for 40 years, Lived Here 1919-1973.’ It was sponsored by Brighton & Hove Albion Collectors’ and Historian’s Society.

copyright © J.Middleton
This nostalgic photograph of a typical crowd at the Goldstone was taken in 1922.
copyright © J.Middleton
In 1925 there was an impressive number of staff employed at the Goldstone. 
Behind the gentleman in the bowler hat and sporting a walrus moustache, stands the trainer Mr Nealms wearing a knitted waistcoat.

Sources
Carder, Tim & Harris, Roger Albion A-Z. A Who’s Who Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. (1997)     
Middleton, J A History of Hove (1979)

Copyright © J.Middleton 2014
*********************************************************************************

Admiral Sir George Augustus Westphal (1785-1875)
Judy Middleton (2003 revised 2014)

copyright © J.Middleton
Plaque – 2 Brunswick Square

The Westphal family originated from Germany and their forebears were the ancient Counts of Westphal. But George Augustus Westphal was born in Nova Scotia. He had a useful relative in his great-uncle who was also Preceptor to the Duke of Kent. The Duke became patrons of young Augustus and his brother Philip and thus ensured they had a good start on the career ladder. It is interesting to note both boys climbed to the top of the tree and finished their naval career as admirals.

Augustus was thirteen years old when he joined the Royal Navy. Seven years later when he was a midshipman he sailed aboard the frigate Amphion to the Mediterranean in the company of Lord Nelson. On arrival at their destination, Westphal transferred with his chief to HMS Victory.

It was at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 that Westphal, was wounded and carried down to the cockpit where the mortally wounded Nelson had also been taken. Both the Dictionary of National Biography and the writer O’Byrne state Westphal was badly wounded. But Clarke and MacArthur’s Life of Nelson (1809) included a list of the wounded extracted from the Victory’s Log and Westphal’s name appears under the heading ‘Slightly Wounded’. It seems probable that Westphal suffered a flesh wound to the head that bled copiously, as head wounds tend to do.

While Westphal was lying in the cockpit awaiting the attention of the surgeon Mr Beatty, Nelson’s coat was thrust under his head to act as a pillow. There has been considerable interest in the precise identity of this garment; was it a boat cloak or Nelson’s undress uniform coat? The story handed down in Westphal’s family was that it was a cloak but the cloak that survives in Greenwich to this day (and incidentally it is a rare example of a boat cloak of that period) is undamaged whereas the garment put under Westphal’s head was cut. The reason being that the bullion fringe of the epaulette became, in Westphal’s own words, ‘so firmly glued, unto my hair, by the coagulated blood from my wound that the bullions, four or five of them, were cut off and left in my hair, one of which I still have in my possession.’ This piece of bullion became a treasured heirloom of the Westphal family and was exhibited at the Chelsea Royal Naval Exhibition in 1891, item 3343. Mrs A. Loftus-Tottenham lent the relic to the exhibition and she lived at 2 Brunswick Square in the same house for so long occupied by the Westphals. 

Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, donated Nelson’s coat from which the bullions had been cut to Greenwich Hospital (later the National Maritime Museum). The coat was also marked by a musket-shot hole in the shoulder. It is claimed that Westphal was able to authenticate the garment as belonging to Nelson.

When Westphal had recovered from his head wound, he spent two years serving aboard the sloop Demerara in the West Indies. His next adventure occurred when he was being invalided home aboard the merchant ship Highlander. This ship had a crew of 35 and it must have seemed a hopeless outlook when a French privateer with a crew of 140 attacked them. Westphal forgot about his illness and at once took command. The resistance of the Highlander’s crew was so spirited that the conflict lasted three hours before the French finally managed to board their ship. Westphal was badly injured and had the indignity of being placed in a hospital ship in Guadeloupe. But he soon managed to escape.

In 1809 Westphal became associated with Commodore Sir George Cockburn who wrote the following in his official report on events in North America.

‘Of Lieutenant George Augustus Westphal whose exemplary and gallant conduct it has been necessary for me to already notice in detailing to you the operations of the day, I shall now only add that from a thorough knowledge of his merits I always, on similar occasions expect much from him, but this day he even outstripped those expectations.’

During his service in America, Westphal commanded a successful boat expedition up the Elk River against French Town in 1813 and not long afterwards a similar expedition against Havre-le-Grace on the Susquehanna River. In the latter engagement he was shot through the hand.

In 1813 he was given command of the large American brig Anaconda, which he had captured and the following year he took part in an expedition against New Orleans.

In 1824 Westphal had a peaceful commission for once when he conveyed Lord Amherst to India aboard the Jupiter to take up the post of Governor General. On his return Westphal was given a knighthood. Sir Robert Peel pointed out waspishly the honour was not for taking Lord Amherst off to India, but for Westphal’s distinguished services.

In 1834 Westphal left active service and took up residence at 2 Brunswick Square, which he occupied for almost 40 years. He was one of the first Brunswick Square Commissioners and he was also a magistrate. He was twice married. His first wife was Alicia, whom he married on 8th January 1847. She was the widow of William Chambers and there were no children from his first marriage. His second wife was also a widow. She was Mary Ann and her late husband was Lieutenant Adenbroke Gore RN. In 1850 she gave birth to Westphal’s only child Mary Augusta while the doting father was 65 years old. But the Royal Navy had not forgotten about him and in 1851 he was promoted to Read Admiral, followed by becoming Vice Admiral in 1857 and finally a full Admiral in 1863.

The 1861 census recorded the Westphal family at home. He was by then aged 76 but was still a magistrate, his wife was 48 years old and their daughter Mary Augusta was eleven years old. The household included her governess, three female servants, one male servant, plus William Pollard, coachman, his wife, their son 15-year-old Edwin who assisted his father in his duties, two other sons and a daughter.

Westphal could never have expected his daughter to predecease him and it was a great tragedy for the family when she died in her 20th year on 20 April 1870. Mary Augusta was married to Stopford De Vere Beauclerk and they all lived at 2 Brunswick Square. It seems she must have died in childbirth because in the next census Westphal’s grandson was noted as living at the house.

copyright © J.Middleton
St Andrew’s Old Church, Hove.
The Westphals were a family accustomed to longevity. Augustus survived until his 90th year, which is remarkable considering his long period of active service and his injuries, while his brother Admiral Philip Westphal died at the age of 98. Admiral Sir George Augustus Westphal died on 12 January 1875 and he made it known that he wished for an unostentatious funeral; even so there were four mourning coaches and eleven carriages to follow the hearse. The carriages mostly belonged to residents of the square who wished to pay their respects while the first three coaches contained family members and the fourth was filled with servants. His coffin was laid to rest in a vault under the nave of St Andrew’s Old Church, Hove. His brother-in-law laid a wreath of laurels on his coffin while his son-in-law laid a wreath of snow-white camellias on Mary Augusta’s coffin assisted by Mrs Stubbs, an old and respected servant of the family.

There is a simple memorial stone to Westphal on the wall of the north aisle to ‘the last surviving officer of the glorious Battle of Trafalgar’. Outside, to the west of the church, stands a large memorial surmounted by a cross with inscriptions to Westphal, his second wife and their daughter. His widow Mary Ann, described as Victorian convention dictated, a ‘relict’, died on 3rd May 1881 aged 68. At the base of the monument there is a stone scroll bearing inscriptions to four members of the Tottenham family. There was a family connection and in 1891 Mrs A. Loftus-Tottenham lent the precious bullion from Nelson’s coat to an exhibition, as noted earlier in this article.

copyright © J.Middleton
Westphal’s Memorial, St Andrew’s churchyard, Hove.

Sources
Dictionary of National Biography
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
Census Returns
Dale, Antony Fashionable Brighton (1947)
HMS Victory. Official Guide
Information from the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Internet searches
Local newspapers of the time
Middleton, Judy A History of Hove (1979)

Copyright © J.Middleton 2014
 *********************************************************************************
James Williamson (1855-1933)
Judy Middleton (2003 revised 2017)

 copyright © J.Middleton
Plaque - Cambridge Grove

James Williamson was born on 8thNovember 1855 in Kirkaldy, Fife but he was brought up in Edinburgh. By 1868 he was to be found in London and in 1877 he moved to Kent. While he was in Kent he completed his apprenticeship to a pharmacist, married Betsy Heaysman and became the father of three children.

Move to Hove

In 1886 the family moved to Hove where four more children were born. Williamson purchased a chemist’s shop at 144 Church Road, Hove, and Hove Library has in its collection two photographs of how the window was dressed during his tenure. One of them shows three traditional carboys at the top of the east window above a sign stating ‘Every requisite for the Sick Room and Nursery’ while the west window contains a variety of objects plus the message ‘Every Kind of Photographic Work Done for Amateurs.’ In 1897 Williamson put frequent advertisements in the Hove Echo about the photographic services he provided and the camera on sale for a guinea (£1-1s).

 copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
J. Williamson Chemist, 144 Church Road, Hove

This shop has since been renumbered and is now 156 Church Road. Recently it was occupied by Leighton’s Opticians and is now the Eye Care Centre.

Williamson’s great interest was in photography and he delighted in doing his own developing, printing, enlarging, mounting and re-touching while he undertook much of his research at the back of his shop. He was also fascinated by X-rays (called Rontgen Rays in those days) and had his own equipment; he would happily X-ray patients with broken bones. He was also liked to give public demonstrations and in November 1897 took his equipment along to Hove Town Hall where Hove Camera Club was holding an exhibition. He and George Albert Smith were both members of Hove Camera Club. It seems likely that Williamson was the inspiration behind Smith’s early film entitled The X-Ray or The X-Ray Fiend.

 copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
James Williamson Hove film pioneer (1855-1933)
(photograph form The Royal Pavilion, Libraries and Museum Review October 2003)

Into Film-making

Williamson acquired his first film projector in 1896 and made his first films the following year. Such was the interest locally that a reporter from the Hove Echo interviewed him in 1897; the article appeared under the heading ‘Animated Photographs’. It was stated that Williamson had devoted considerable time and patience to this as well as giving ‘a good number of very interesting and amusing displays at various local …entertainments’. Williamson told the reporter films were cheaper to buy in 1897 than they had been in the previous year and it was possible to purchase a very good film for £2-10s whereas it cost £4 in 1896.

Some of Williamson’s most popular films were Ring-a-Ring of Roses and Fox and Geese, which featured his own children. Audiences enjoyed these films so much that they generally asked for it to be shown a second time.

Another hit was a film showing Hove Coastguards going through their cutlass drill. Williamson said ‘Many and many a night I have been working into the small hours of the morning developing the films.’ He explained to the reporter that each film was 75 feet in length and he found it most difficult to handle because he had been so used to developing a single photograph in a small dish. He also showed him a new machine he had recently purchased, which took ten photographs with each turn of the handle. However, the slight jerk between photographs was a problem that had not yet been resolved.

A Move to Western Road

In 1898 Williamson decided to devote all his energies to film production and moved from Church Road to larger premises at 55 Western Road (later re-numbered to 83). In 1898 he made 39 films and to take just one example – in July 1898 nine British films were produced of which eight were by James Williamson and one was by George Albert Smith. This fact demonstrated the unique and important place that Hove holds in the history of early film production. It is only in comparatively recent times that Hove’s claim to fame in this respect has been officially acknowledged. It is not without a touch of irony that in 1989 an exhibition was held in Hove Museum entitled From Hove to Hollywood.  It turned out to be the first milestone in the long road to recognition.

From 1902 to 1912 Williamson’s company produced an average of 50 films a year

Hove Town Hall as a Cinema

In those early days, there were no purpose-built cinemas in which to show films and consequently Hove Town Hall was a popular venue. In January 1900 Williamson wrote to Hove Council suggesting that wires should be installed and terminals fixed in the balcony of the Great Hall for the purpose of giving magic lantern shows. The Council agreed as long as the total cost did not exceed £6 and there was to be a charge of 3/6d each time there was a show.

Ivy Lodge as a Film Location

In 1900 Williamson made Attack on a China Mission. It was a topical theme because there was great interest in the Boxer rebellion in China. The location he used was Ivy Lodge, which had a large bay window and a graceful balustrade above. The Vallance family owned Ivy Lodge and Williamson hired it more than once. Ivy Lodge stood in its own grounds in the area now covered by Vallance Road and Vallance Gardens. The film was the first to show two storylines shown alternately. Williamson hired his old friends the Hove Coastguards who appeared as ‘Blue Jackets’ coming to the rescue of the hapless residents. They were filmed advancing four abreast whilst firing their guns at the same time. Another of Williamson’s films was Hove Coastguards at Flag Drill.

In 1901 Williamson produced Fire! He again utilised Ivy Lodge as a location. But this time the Hove Volunteer Fire Brigade filled the starring part. Williamson shows the fire engine emerging from the Fire Station in George Street, and the horses being harnessed. A later shot reveals a one-horse vehicle, followed by the fire engine pulled at dashing speed by two white horses. The firemen are ranged along the sides of the vehicle, their brass helmets gleaming, as the fire engine races south along St Aubyns. Then the scene switches to the burning house with a rescue being effected by a ladder and later an occupant throws himself from the first floor onto a jumping sheet. To add to the dramatic effect, the film was tinted red. There is a touching moment when a father sees his daughter rescued from the fire.

A Classic Chase

Also in 1901 Williamson was responsible for inventing that classic film device – the chase in more than one shot. In Williamson’s case it was three shots. But the film Stop Thief! started a trend that continues to this day. It was way ahead of American films of that date where the Edison Company were still showing films of more than one shot in a row of peep-hole machines and would continue to do so until around 1906.

Comic Films

Williamson made comedy films too. Amongst this number is The Big Swallow made in 1901 in which a close-up of a man’s mouth appears to swallow both camera and photographer. It is possible the film was made in the back of 55 Western Road. Other humorous sketches are Jealous Painter in which the hero pours whitewash over his rival; Eccentric Dances featuring Norah Mayer (the quick change dancer) and An Interesting Story in which a man is flattened by a steam-roller before being restored to normal size by being inflated by bicycle pumps.   

Pathos

The Volunteer is a drama rather than a comedy. It features a soldier who in the opening shot is shown happy at home with his family in comfortable surroundings. Later on, he returns from war to find the baby is sick and the family practically destitute. He goes out to steal a loaf of bread from a Forfar’s baker’s van with ‘established in 1852’ on the side. The soldier’s desperate act is witnessed but when a policeman turns up at his home and sees the sad circumstances, he does not arrest him but gives him money instead.

In The Chorister an old man returns to his boyhood village and the film has the earliest known use of fading out at the end of scenes. It is also interesting to note that Williamson’s work also foreshadowed the little man in the bowler hat, some five years before Mr Sennett appears on the scene and ten years before the arrival of Charlie Chaplin.

In 1909 Williamson produced the film ‘The Boy and the Convict’. This 12 minute length silent drama film was a very condensed version of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. The scene with the boy at his Mother’s grave and his meeting with the escaped convict was filmed in St Helen’s Hangleton churchyard by the west wall.

Family as Extras

In 1903 Williamson made use of his family in his films again. In this case it was his sons Stuart and Tom. The title was Home for the Holidays and according to Butcher’s Catalogue it depicts the ‘pranks of the dear boys home from school’. It was rather expensive to buy because it cost £7.

Giving Private Film Shows

Williamson often appeared in his films and was responsible for the stories too. When he gave a show, he used some of his films, others made by Smith and yet others created by other people. Williamson also sold his films to distributing companies such as Butcher, Gaumont and Urban.

Quite often he would be asked to give a show in a private house as an after dinner entertainment. Such an invitation involved engaging two men to take the equipment, including projector, screen and gas cylinders, to the appropriate address beforehand. He would give the men enough money to enable them to hire a cab but as often as not they preferred to pocket the cash and borrow a hand-cart. One of the men was Stanley Mumford who went to work for Williamson in 1906 and later shot films at Shoreham.

Cambridge Grove

 copyright © J.Middleton
Williamson’s film studio was located 
in this house at Cambridge Grove.
In 1902 Williamson embarked on an ambitious plan to create a ‘Photographic Study Atelier’ plus cottage. W.B. Sheppard drew up the plans and Hove Council turned them down on 20 March 1902 but after minor adjustments passed them on 17 April the same year. The location was the north side of Cambridge Grove, off Wilbury Villas.
In 1904 Williamson made Our New Errand Boy in which he used Wilbury Villas and Lorna Road as locations and that were of course practically next door to his studio. The street name ‘Wilbury Villas, Hove’ is clearly seen in the background of one scene where an unsuspecting passer-by is covered with flour. In the scene featuring Lorna Road, Hodder’s Store at number 2 is clearly visible while a further scene provides a portrait of one of the water-carts used to water the streets in summer to keep down the dust; the water-cart has ‘Corporation of Hove’ in large letters on the back. The naughty errand boy alters the direction of the hose attached to the hydrant and the jet soaks the workman.

Selling the Chemist Shop

In around 1904 Williamson sold the chemist’s shop in Western Road to Sanders & Crowhurst who advertised it as being late Williamson’s & Co. They followed in Williamson’s tradition by describing themselves as photographic dealers and X-ray specialists.

The Problem of Sound

Also in 1904 Williamson produced his own camera, which enabled special effects to be created because it could go forwards or backwards. He also experimented with Vivaphone where he tried to synchronize phonograph recordings with his own films. The system was tried out at the Empire Picture Theatre in Hove but it proved to be too problematic and he did not develop it further

Expanding the Studio

Over the years Williamson submitted other plans relating to his film studio; in 1905 for a motor shed and scenery stores and in 1908 for an addition to the studio to be built against the railway bridge by Parsons & Sons. In 1910 Williamson sold the Cambridge Grove work to Charles Urban and George Albert Smith.

A Move to London

After the sale Williamson moved to London. He then called a halt to his film productions because the British Film Industry was going through a difficult time. In the USA a protectionist group led by Edison called the Motion Picture Patents Trust ensured that only films made by Trust members could be shown, which cut out all British films. This was a double whammy because British cinema managers found it cheaper to show American films than the more expensive British ones.

However, Williamson and his sons still thrived because they created a very successful business manufacturing film apparatus and developing film. Williamson died at his home in Richmond on 18 August 1933.

In May 1990 a plaque was unveiled at Cambridge Grove, which read ‘James Williamson 1855-1933 cinema pioneer worked in these premises.’

In 1996 there were celebrations to mark the centenary of cinema and on 3rd May 1996 Frank Gray, curator of the South East Film and Video Archive, unveiled a ‘Cinema 100’ plaque at 156 Church Road, which read ‘1896-1898 site of the First Film Studio and Laboratory created by James Williamson.’

 copyright © J.Middleton
Plaque - 156 Church Road
 Sources
Early Film-makers of the South Coast booklet
Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade  
Gray, Frank & Cushan, Ewan, Hove to Hollywood (ND)
Gray, Frank, editorThe Hove Pioneers and the Arrival of Cinema (1996)
Hove Echo (October 1897)
Internet searches

The early films of James Williamson can be viewed at Hove Museum where there are specialist rooms devoted to Hove’s early film-makers. As well as some of the films being played on a continuous loop, there is also a tiny cinema where longer ones can be viewed. The exhibition includes a display of old camera equipment.
***************************************

Captain Theodore Wright V.C. (1883-1914)
Judy Middleton (2019)

 copyright © J.Middleton
Plaque - 119 Lansdowne Place
 

Captain Theodore Wright has the distinction of being Hove’s only holder of the Victoria Cross. He was born on 15 May 1883 at 119 Lansdowne Place. A blue plaque was unveiled at the house in 2016 as part of the campaign to honour Brighton & Hove’s Victoria Cross Heroes.

Theodore Wright was educated at Clifton College, and later attended the Military Academy at Woolwich. In October 1901 he joined the Royal Engineers being promoted to Lieutenant in 1905. He served in Gibraltar and Cairo, and so by the time of his heroic actions in 1914 he was a seasoned soldier and a Captain.
 copyright © J.Middleton
A wreath of poppies attached to scaffolding
while Theodore Wright's former home was
in the process of renovation in 2019

On 23 August 1914 a company of Royal Scots Fusiliers were at Jemappes, Mons, Belgium, desperately trying to hold their barricade located on the north side of a bridge spanning the Mons-Condé canal. The battle was so fierce, and the casualties so numerous that there was no option but to retire from the scene. Captain Wright was also present – by then he was with the 57th Field Company, Royal Engineers.

Lance-Corporal Charles Jarvis of the Royal Engineers was given the unenviable task of destroying the bridge. Unfortunately, Jarvis did not have the equipment at hand. Although Captain Wright had already received a head wound, he told Jarvis to return to the bridge while he would bring what was needed. Captain Wright then made desperate attempts to connect the leads: but the bridge was under close scrutiny by the Germans who were no further away than around 30-yards, and every time Wright raised his head above the tow-path’s level, the bullets whizzed by. At length Wright had to abandon the plan, and he began to swing himself back along the girders underneath the bridge: then, suffering from exhaustion and a head wound, he lost his grip and fell into the canal. Sergeant Smith managed to fish him out. For this brave action Captain Wright was awarded the Victoria Cross.

However, this was not the end of his war service. On 14 September 1914 he was at Vailly, Aube, by another stretch of water and another bridge – this time a pontoon bridge over which the 5th Cavalry Brigade was passing, and Wright was assisting them. This bridge too was under fire, and it was while Wright was trying to help a wounded man into shelter that he was fatally shot.

Sources
Argus (10 May 2016)
Internet

Copyright © J.Middleton 2014
page layout by D.Sharp

Hove Methodist Church

Judy Middleton 2002 (revised 2021)

copyright © J.Middleton
The magnificent wheel window immediately catches the eye

Background

In 1807 a Methodist circuit was formed covering Lewes and Brighton, while Hove was not included until 1808. In 1809 there were thirteen Methodists living at Hove while at Brighton there were 33. Methodism at Hove had fluctuating fortunes because after a few years no members were recorded. In 1827 the Bible Christian Society had six members but this group petered out too.

1891 Hove Street Directory - Bertram Road
was renamed Portland Road in 1894

In the 1851 Religious Census there were fourteen Wesleyans at Hove, although it was not recorded where they met. But a Wesleyan preacher came to visit them every Sunday, and sometimes on week-days too. Wherever it was that they met, it was recorded that 20 free seats were available. However, by 1857 there were no members, although by 1860 there were ten

In 1880 a place for meetings was secured in Shirley Street, and Mr J. Athol Wood started work with enthusiasm only to run into financial difficulties before long. But in the 1880s circumstances at last took an upward turn. On 31 March 1883 a site for a meeting house was purchased for £400 from timber merchants Edward Beves and Francis Tooth. The site had once formed part of the Vallance Estate and was in Bertram Road – eventually to be called Portland Road. At first the building they used for worship was a humble iron church that had come from the Preston Park area of Brighton where it had seen service in the 1870s as the Dyke Road Drive/Preston Road Wesleyan 'Iron' Church.

 copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
1887 drawing of the original Williamson Cottage Homes for Ladies in Portland Road, on the right is the Wesleyan Iron Church.


The Hove Commissioners were not impressed by such a structure, perhaps thinking it lowered the tone of an up-market road. At any rate, they issued orders that the structure should be removed by 1892. Once it had gone, the members were obliged to share accommodation with the Primitive Methodist Church in Goldstone Villas.

copyright © J.Middleton
The former Primitive Methodist Church in Goldstone Villas
 

A New Church

John Wills of Derby drew up plans for a new church to be built in Portland Road, and these were approved on 2 January 1896. Mr Wills then amended the plan of the frontage, and this was approved on 21 May 1896.

On 3 June 1896 Mrs Davenport gave a luncheon in the lecture hall of the Cliftonville Congregational Church before the company repaired to the site of the new church where a number of memorial stones were laid at the base of the font and chancel windows – they were laid by the following people:

Mrs E. R. Beecroft

Miss Sophia Beves

Miss E. Kathleen Dutton Briant

Miss Ethel D. Bryant

Mrs Corringham

Mrs Davenport

Revd Dr Finnemore

Mrs W. P. Griffith

Mrs Walford Green

Mr A. Heald

Miss James

Mr W. Johnson

Mrs J. H. Lile

Mr C. Mees

Miss Phillips

Mr J. Peters

Mrs A. D. Spong

Miss Mabella H. Sutton

Miss Sarah Sutton

A bottle was laid under Mrs Davenport’s stone containing a lithograph of the proposed church building. The church was built of the Gothic Romanesque style using Keymer red bricks ‘freely relieved with Monk’s Park stone’ in the Brighton Herald’s description. An unusual feature was the double flight of steps leading up to the double doors with the impressive wheel window above with twelve spokes and trefoil cusps. The church could seat around 600 people, while the classrooms under the church at ground level could accommodate 400 children. It was certainly a magnificent edifice in comparison to the old tin hut.

copyright © J.Middleton
This postcard dates from 1906, The Methodist Church between the 'Williamson Cottage Homes for Ladies' and the red brick Police Seaside Home.

The church was opened on 17 December 1896, and Mrs J. H. Lile had the privilege of wielding the silver key. The total cost, including the site and furnishings, came to £4,700, and not surprisingly by 1899 there was still a debt of £1,740. The debt was not cleared until 1906 when the treasurer found himself in the happy position of having £3 in hand.

copyright © G. Osborne

Some Ministers

Revd Robert Bond
– He was the first minister of the church from 1896 to 1899. At the time he was still a young man, but he went on to become an important figure in Methodism and in 1938 he became Moderator of the Free Church Federal Council.

Revd Ernest Kirtlan – He was the minister from 1908 to 1912, and was renowned for the booming voice with which he delivered his sermons. It was not unknown for the carafe of water to fall to the ground with a crash when he was in full oratorical flow. Dr Kirtlan was a recognised authority on early English literature, and he had translated Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, as well as Beowulf, and a 14th century poem called The Pearl. But he was the most dreadful car driver, and was often hauled up in court because of it.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 3 October 1914

Revd Douglas Sharp
– He belonged to the Sharp’s toffee family, and was minister from 1920 to 1923.

Revd John Naile – In July 1995 he embarked on a five-week exchange with the resident minister. Revd Naile hailed from St Clair, Michigan, and had to get accustomed to a more elderly congregation than was the case back in the USA. But he simply could not get used to the local parking problem, and preferred to use buses instead.

The Organ

In the early days before the use of electricity, the musician who played the organ relied on a man to manipulate the bellows. One of the organ blowers in those days was Bert Jelly, but he was liable to fall asleep during the course of a long sermon, and needed to be prodded awake in order to get the organ going to accompany a rousing hymn. The first organ used at Hove, was later donated to Portslade Methodist Church, while the next organ at Hove came from the church of St Michael and All Angels at Brighton.

In 1925 an organ fund was started but it made slow progress. A new one was not installed until 1932 and then it was only because a member of the congregation had left £800, and that combined with £700 already collected, was enough for the purpose.

copyright © G. Osborne
1930s wedding at the Methodist Church in Franklin Road, Portslade.

Different Names

The church has been known by different names over the years. Originally, it was known as the Wesleyan Church, but in 1932 after the different branches of Methodism were reunited, it became the Portland Road Methodist Church. Today, it is simply known as Hove Methodist Church, the other Methodist establishments in Hove and Portslade having closed. One new member at the Hove one was Mrs Violet Osborn whose former place of worship had shut. It must have been a sad time for her because her husband George had been one of the original trustees of the Methodist Church in Franklin Road, Portslade. However, when she died in 1995 she left a handsome sum of money to Hove Methodist Church, being in the region of £200,000.

Youth Groups

The 22nd Brighton (Hove) Company Boys Brigade was formed in 1912, and the 16th Brighton (Hove) Girls Guildry was formed in 1926.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Revd H. W. Goldsack and Revd P. Townsend in the Children's Corner of Hove Methodist Church. 19 February, 1938.

Expansion

In the 1930s the idea began to grow that the church building might be extended, In 1936 the church trustees purchased a property in Cowper Street, and a further two properties were acquired over the years. But it was not until Midsummer Day 1964 that the minister, Revd Arthur Chambers, laid the foundation stone at the St Patrick’s Street entrance. The extension included an upper hall, an extended kitchen, and new youth premises, and it was opened on 7 April 1965. The scheme cost £25,000, but fortunately half of the cost was met by the Ministry of Education, and a further quarter by the local education authority with the proviso that youth organisations should use the premises on five nights a week.

Church Membership

In 1982 there were 209 members, with the ladies outnumbering the men by 158 to 51. The female numbers included 56 widows, and 43 unmarried women. The all-time high figure for membership was probably in 1964 when there were 440. By 1991 the numbers had dwindled to 140, but then the numbers began to grow and in 1996 there were 185 members.

A New Frontage

copyright © J.Middleton

The entrance as it was originally designed, was used for the last time on 7 June 1992. Then work began on an ambitious new frontage that involved demolishing the flights of stone steps, and replacing them with a glass tower. The tower had a useful function because there was a lift for those who had found it difficult to toil up the old steps. The tower also provided space for church functions, an office, a kitchen and a toilet for the disabled. The tower features an elongated cross of yellow glass with a starburst effect in red and blue. Keith Jones was the architect involved, and Paris Construction undertook the work. The final cost of all the improvements came to £266,000. In 1993 the new extension won an award for the best new building from Hove Civic Society and Hove Council.

It was ironic that the work had been completed just as it was announced that the church had been designated a Grade II listed building. If the application for the extension had been made after the listing, the final outcome might have been very different.

Radio Broadcast

On Easter Sunday 4 April 1999 the church service was broadcast on BBC radio. Dr Colin Morris gave the sermon, and the music was provided by Brighton Brass, Hove Methodist Church Singers, and the choir from St Christopher’s School. Afterwards, there was a buffet breakfast.

Ministers

1889 ? -1896 Revd William Cowlin Lawry, minister of the temporary Hove Wesleyan 'Iron Church' which was first listed in the 1889 Hove Street Directory as being sited in Bertram Road (Portland Road)

1896-1899 Revd Robert Bond, first minister of the new brick built Hove Methodist Church in Bertram Road (Portland Road)

1899-1902 Revd Frederick Clarke

1902-1905 Revd William H. Phipps

1905-1908 Revd Charles E. Hunter

1908-1912 Revd Ernest J. B. Kirtlan

1912-1915 Revd Revd Walter Trevor

1915-1920 Revd James F, Parkes

1920-1923 Revd Douglas S. Sharp

1923-1926 Revd Sydney P. Jacoby

1926-1929 Revd H. Clough Weaver

1929-1932 Revd William T, Sharpley

1932-1937 Revd Ernest C. Taunton

1937-1944 Revd Harold W. Goldsack

1944-1949 Revd A. Cecil Parker

1949-1953 Revd Conrad E. Job

1953-1958 Revd Ernest W. Griffin

1958-1964 Revd Arthur L. Chambers

1964-1967 Revd David Ball

1967-1972 Revd Harry Warne

1972-1978 Revd Ian W. Lewis

1978-1981 Revd D. Brian Dougall

1981-1986 Revd G. Clifford Hunt

1986-1990 Revd John Dale

1990-1991 Revd R. Martin Broadbent

1991-1996 Revd Colin A. Smith

1996-2002 Revd Rob Hufton

2002 - ? Revd Kathleen Allen

20?? - Revd Andy Lowe

copyright © J.Middleton

Sources

Argus

Brighton Herald

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Hove Methodist Church, Portland Road, Hove.

Mr. G. Osborne

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Smith, C. A. & Nurcombe, P. B. New Life Still Flows: A History of Methodism in Hove (1996)

Copyright © J.Middleton 2021
page layout by D.Sharp

Wilbury Villas, Hove

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2022) 

 copyright © J.Middleton
This group of houses were photographed on 15 September 2020
 
Background

Wilbury Villas was laid out on land that once belonged to the Stanford Estate. At first it was called Wilbury Road, but the authorities must have thought that Wilbury Road was already long enough, and that the northern extension might cause confusion, and thus it became Wilbury Villas.

In 1895 a letter was sent from Martyn & Martyn of London, on behalf of Ellen Benett-Stanford, to the Hove Commissioners asking them to take over the upkeep of Wilbury Road to the Old Shoreham Road. Part of the letter stated ‘The road, originally the communication between Hove and Preston, has been improved and maintained by the owners who have given up land on each side to widen it, and planted trees and formed footpaths.’ The surveyor reported that this portion of the road was 500-ft in length, of which 150-ft was 60-ft wide (from the bridge to Wilbury Avenue) with the remainder being 60-ft wide. The surveyor also stated that although part of the road was in good order, nothing had been done to maintain the road between Cromwell Road and the railway bridge in good condition, and this part was 340-ft in length with a width of 40-ft. The surveyor recommended this part of the road ought to be put improved before Hove Council formally adopted it.

In a report dated 15 February 1900 the surveyor stated that an agreement had been entered into between Hove Council and the railway company in respect of work on the bridge. The company had paid for the carriage-way to be metalled, but the council was responsible for paving the foot-ways and other works.

In February 1904 the Borough Surveyor stated that the length of the road between Wilbury Avenue and Old Shoreham Road was 690-ft in length. On the east side, sixteen houses had been built of which two were occupied; on the west side there were eight houses, all occupied. There were two street lamps on the east side, but none on the west side. He suggested an additional lamp on the east side and two new lamps on the west side. The house-owners would pay for the lamps to be installed but the council would foot the bill for lighting them.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museum, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 22 April 1905
 
In October 2012 Network Rail were obliged to close the bridge to vehicles although pedestrians were still allowed to cross. This action was necessary because a crack in the ironwork had been discovered after a routine check. However, nearby residents said they had raised concerns about a possible structural defect more than a year previously. It seems that drivers had been flouting, or been unaware of, the bridge’s 3-tonne capacity. Indeed, a man with engineering knowledge stated he had seen vehicles using the bridge that were six times the permitted weight. The bridge was closed to vehicles for some nineteen months and in April 2014 it was said to be opening shortly. One person to heave a sigh of relief was Melanie White, business owner of a nearby caf
é, which had only been open for five months before the bridge was closed. She said there would be a ‘proper old street party’ to celebrate the re-opening, and hoped to involve all the businesses at The Dock.

copyright © J.Middleton
An unusual house in Wilbury Villas that has rather grand, statement entrances

Film Location

It is interesting to note that Wilbury Villas and Lorna Road were used as outdoor locations when in 1904 James Williamson, the early Hove film pioneer, shot parts of Our New Errand Boy there.

Samuel Combridge (1862-1921)

Samuel Combridge was born in Hove in 1862, the son of Daniel Combridge, a butcher, and Sarah Pattison.

In 1915 Samuel lived at 15 Wilbury Villas after moving from Westbourne Gardens.

It was in around 1902 that Samuel Combridge took over an established bookshop at 56 Church Road, Hove. The firm later acquired number 70 Church Road as well. Combridges became very well known at Hove and lasted until the 1960s. It is interesting to note that Samuel Combridge had a half-brother, Mr C. Combridge, who ran a bookshop in Birmingham, and became a large supplier to public libraries.

Juliet Pannett (1911-2005)

copyright © J.Middleton
The artist Juliet Pannett was born in this house

The famous artist Juliet Pannett was born at 34 Wilbury Villas on 15 July 1911, the second daughter of Charles Somers and his wife May (née Brice). Eventually, there were to be seven children in the family. Even at the age of three young Juliet was quite happy to amuse herself with pencil and paper. Later on, she said the best children’s competition she ever entered was organised by Oxford Books for Boys and Girls and children had to submit a poster design. Juliet painted a library scene (perhaps based on Hove Library?) and came second. Her prize was to choose any books she liked to the value of £20. In around 1920 the family moved to Rutland Gardens.

Juliet attended a girls’ school called Girton House, situated on Kingsway, but she only stayed for two terms because she was bullied. Unhappily, her second school experience at Harvington School, Ealing, was no better, becausw she was bullied there too. Her happiest schooldays were spent at Wistons, a girls’ school in Dyke Road, Brighton, opposite to where the Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School was situated. A great advantage there was to be taught by Charles Hill Burleigh (1869-1954) an artist who strangely enough, lived at 7 Wilbury Crescent, not far from her birth-place, and whose wife Averil Burleigh, and daughter Veronica Burleigh were both artists too. Later on, when Juliet attended Brighton College of Art, she had the advantage of tuition from talented artists such as Morgan Rendle, Louis Ginnett and Charles Knight. She continued to handle paint in the way she had been taught and she particularly admired Ginnett’s work.

In around 1929 Juliet’s first studio was situated at 15A Farm Road, Hove, where she walked under an arch leading to the mews, and up some rickety steps to reach it – the rent was four shillings a week. In those days she painted under her maiden surname, and in 1932 she held her first public exhibition at the Wolseley Room in Hove Library. The critic from the Brighton & Hove Herald (9 July 1932) was enthusiastic, stating that Juliet Somers showed promise of an exceptional kind and that she could do ‘three things supremely well. She can draw. She can design. She can convey an impression’. Lady Wolseley instituted the custom that from every exhibition held in the Wolseley Room, one sample should be retained for the collection. The one chosen was a painting of West Blatchington Windmill.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museum, Brighton & Hove
A watercolour of the rear elevation of The Old Farm House in Hove by Juliet Kathleen Pannett FRSA (nee Somers)

 
On 4 October 1938 Juliet married Captain M. R. Pannett of the Devonshire Regiment at St John’s Church, Newtimber; he had been injured in the face during the First World War. Juliet was given away by her brother David, while the best man was her brother Stanley. Her 18-year old sister Leonore was one of the two bridesmaids. There was no formal reception; instead a sherry party had been held at Langford’s Hotel, Third Avenue, Hove, three days before the wedding took place. Her two children inherited her artistic talents.

Juliet Pannett made a number of character sketches from life, taking her sketch-pad onto the Downs to draw old-time shepherds such as Walter Wooler of Pyecombe and Charles Mitchell. Some were published in the Sussex County Magazine under the title ‘Sussex Types’. One sketch featured George May, a fishing-net maker of Shirley Street, Hove, and his wife, both aged 92. She drew gypsies at Broadwater, cricketers at the Sussex County Cricket Ground (including Maurice Tate), and Herbert Menges on stage at the Dome. When she came to have an entry in Who’s Who she entered under recreation ‘painting surgical operations, musicians and old barns’. One of the latter – a watercolour of Clapham Farm – hangs in Hove Library. The Forum Society presented it to the Library in celebration of their Silver Jubilee in 1983.

Juliet Pannett took samples of her work to Sir Bruce Ingram, editor of the Illustrated London News. He told her he wanted an illustration of a forthcoming occasion when Lady Reading was to be the first peeress to be introduced to the House of Lords. There was one problem – nobody was allowed to sketch inside the chamber: she had to position herself just outside the door, pop her head round the door to take in the scene, then withdraw to sketch, and so on until she had finished. She became Special Artist to the Illustrated London News from 1957 to 1964. She was the first person to be allowed to sketch in the Press Gallery in the House of Commons. One historic occasion was Sir Winston Churchill’s final day in the Commons – she produced a wonderfully succinct sketch – just a few lines but unmistakably Churchill.

Her first royal portrait was of Princess Marina; then followed portraits of the Duke of Kent, Princess Alexandra, and pastels of Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. When she painted the Queen, she was granted four sittings lasting 90 minutes each in order to complete a full-size painting in oils. She found the Queen to be absolutely charming. Pannett also made a pastel copy of the portrait as a rush job for presentation to Malta.

There are 22 works by Juliet Pannett in the National Portrait Gallery, but this is only a tiny sample of her output. At home she kept albums containing indexed images of some 900 leading figures she has portrayed over the years. There were separate volumes for different professions – thus, music, theatre, literature, politics and diplomacy. The following are some of the famous people she has portrayed:

Louis Armstrong

W. H. Auden

Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader

Sir Adrian Boult

Benjamin Britten

Gracie Fields

Christopher Fry

Lord Hailsham

Bishop Huddleston

Cardinal Basil Hume

Sophia Loren

Joe Loss

Yehudi Menhuin

Patrick Moore

Lord Mountbatten

Ginger Rogers

Margaret Thatcher

Lord Tonypandy

When Pannett painted Lord Hailsham, he continued to work at his desk as usual; while Harold Wilson chatted away during his sitting – Arthur Dickson Wright, the eminent surgeon continued to look gloomy but this was his habitual expression. Two of Pannett’s favourite sitters were Lady Baden Powell, founder of the Girl Guides, who became a great friend, and Sir Barnes Wallis, the famous inventor of the bouncing bomb.

The Pannetts purchased a house in Angmering in around 1963. Her husband died in 1980, and she had to give up painting in 2000 at the age of 88 due to eye problems. She died aged 95 on 22 August 2005.

Arthur Frederick Graves

copyright © J.Middleton
Mr Graves, who lived in this house, obviously appreciated fine furniture and excellent literature

In 1930 he lived at 36 Wilbury Villas. A year later a catalogue of furniture and effects from the house was produced and in January 1932 Graves & Son held the sale. It is interesting to note that Mr Graves must have been an avid reader because there was an extensive number of books in his library including the following:

18 volumes of Shakespeare

32 volumes of Dostoevsky

14 volumes of Balzac

19 volumes of Thomas Hardy

36 volumes of the Sussex Record Society

74 volumes of the Sussex Archaeological Collections

There were first editions of the following:

J. M. Barrie Peter Pan

Bernard Shaw St Joan

Rudyard Kipling Just So Stories

Lytton Strachey Queen Victoria

The paintings included examples from local artists such as Louis Ginnett and Robert Bevan. The house contents ranged from a valuable old English grandfather clock by Benjamin Lamb to a Henderson 5-valve portable wireless in a mahogany case. Cutlery included silver-plated knives and forks with pearl handles.

Mullard

Mullard was a British company making electronic components. They had premises in Wilbury Villas next to the steps leading down to Lorna Road. The firm was first mentioned in local Directories in 1949. During the 1950s there was a brief period of expansion when they had premises at 36 Davigdor Road, and from 1958 to 1962 they had premises at 80-86 Davigdor Road as well. But by 1964 they were just using the Wilbury Villas premises, and they were still there in 1974. In the Argus (5 September 1998) a photograph was printed sent in by Sylvia Edwards, former welder, showing staff members at the company’s annual dinner at its factory in Mitcham.

copyright © J.Middleton
This handsome building, also known as Lorna House, is now occupied by The Dock Hub

Rayner Optical Company

(For full details of the Rayner Company, please see separate page on Holland Road). From 1978 to 1986 the Rayner Optical Company had premises in Wilbury Villas. It operated as a subsidiary company within the Rayner Group known as Rayner Intraocular Lenses. It should be remembered that the first artificial lens in the world was made at Hove by Rayner. Although today cataract operations are relatively commonplace, back in the 1940s it was a revolutionary concept, and the first operation to cure cataract was carried out in London by Harold Ridley on 29 March 1949.

Red Cross

During the 1960s the Red Cross established their headquarters in Wilbury Villas. In October 1990 Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk, re-opened the HQ, which had undergone a renovation and extension programme costing £200,000. The architects for the project were Beecham More Partnership, while F. T. Wilson undertook the building work – both of them being local firms.

The Red Cross services in Sussex were run from here – the area covering a triangle bounded by Rye, Chichester, and Gatwick. Although the British Red Cross was responsible, together with their counterparts abroad, for emergency relief, the emphasis at home was on work in the community such as providing courses in First Aid, hiring out equipment (like wheelchairs for instance), and providing holidays for handicapped children. A unique service was their cosmetic camouflage to help people disguise their scars. In 1994 Brereton Nash-Wortham was the director of Sussex Red Cross, and Vicky Scourse was the president.

In January 1995 it was announced that the Sussex branch of the Red Cross had sold their HQ in Wilbury Villas, and moved to Howard Terrace, Brighton. In 1999 the Red Cross decided to divide its Sussex operations into five parts, with one part being the Brighton and Hove area, which had two centres – in Prestonville Road, Brighton, and at Marine Drive, Rottingdean.

St Teresa’s School

copyright © J.Middleton
The school was located at 31 Wilbury Villas, Hove.

This establishment was located at 31 Wilbury Villas and lasted from 1931 to 1970. It was purchased as a going concern from Mr and Mrs Morris who had run a school there since 1900 called Hawthorndean. (For further details, please see separate page under Hove’s Old Schools).

Other Educational Estabishments once located in Wilbury Villas:-

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museum, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 29 December 1917

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museum, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 4 December 1920

Hove Planning Approvals

1898 – A. C. Udney for A. Cresswell, 2 pairs of semi-detached villas

1899 – A. Cresswell, one pair of semi-detached villas, west side

1900 – C. Nye, junior, one pair of semi-detached villas, north-east end

1902 – A. Cresswell, 2 pairs of semi-detached villas, west side

1903 – G. M. Jay, 4 pairs of semi-detached villas, east side

1903 – C. M. Jay for W. & A. Elliott, 2 pairs of semi-detached villas, east side

1903 – C. M. Jay for Caxton Jay, one pair of semi-detached villas, east side

1905 – H. W. Sanders for A. Cruttenden, 2 houses

1905 – Overton & Scott for F. Reynolds, 2 semi-detached houses, east side

1905 – C. Botham for Parsons & Elliott, one pair of semi-detached villas, east side

1905 – Overton & Scott for B. Marston, one detached house, corner of Wilbury Crescent

1905 – Overton & Scott for B. Marston, one pair of semi-detached villas, east side

1905 – Overton & Scott for A. Cruttenden, one pair of semi-detached villas, west side

1906 – Overton & Scott S. Cropper, one detached house, north end

1906 – Overton & Scott for S. Cropper, one detached house, north end, west side

1914 – F. Parsons, one detached house, west side

Sources

Argus (5/9/98 / 23/10/12 / 2/11/12 / 14/4/14)

Brighton Herald

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Hove Counci Minute Books

Personal interview with Juliet Pannett

Royal Pavilion & Museum, Brighton & Hove

Copyright © J.Middleton 2020
page layout by D.Sharp