Hove in the Past: Goldstone Villas, Hove

Judy Middleton 2002 (revised 2022)

Background

Since the road led up to Hove Railway Station, at first it was named – somewhat prosaically – Station Road, Cliftonville. However, the Hove authorities never cared much for the word ‘station’ in an address, and soon changed it to Goldstone Villas Road, although there were already two other streets with ‘Goldstone’ in their addresses. This was not the end of changes because it was soon simplified by leaving out the ‘road’ part of it. It is amusing to note that another road on the border with Portslade was also called Station Road, and it led up to Portslade Railway Station, which apparently caused confusion to some people who were unsure where exactly Hove Station was situated. The name was changed to Boundary Road, Hove, while Portslade retained their original name of Station Road.

Early Days

Goldstone Villas began to be developed in the early 1870s, and it seems that Charles Nye, junior, was responsible for building at least two houses then. One of the first times the road received a mention was when there was a complaint about black smoke pouring from the chimney of Povey’ s bake-house.

In the early 1880s the road was in very poor condition. During the winter it was described as a perfect quagmire, while during the summer it became a ‘wretchedly uneven and unsafe strip of ground’. At that time the road was not classified as a public highway, having been made by Mr Gallard in 1880, with the freehold belonging to houses on either side.

In 1880 George Rushman, a firewood dealer from Conway Street, was travelling down Goldstone Villas in his horse-drawn van, when the front wheel dropped into a rut. The unfortunate Rushman was flung out, the wheels ran over him and he died. An inquest was held at the nearby Cliftonville Hotel (now The Station), and the foreman of the jury was William Hollamby, who was something of a celebrity at Hove, famous for being the one who ascertained where the Goldstone had been buried, and had it rescued and set up in Hove Park. He was also a champion of the working classes, often against fierce opposition, and later served on Hove Council for 22 years; he pioneered the creation of allotments, founded a Workmen’s Club, and was a member of local cricket, football and athletic clubs.

The inquest on George Rushman heard that the fatal rut had been caused by recent road works when pipes had been laid. The hole was duly filled in, but the surface later subsided. The Hove authorities decided that something ought to be done, and in October 1880 they accepted Mr Marshall’s tender to carry carry out street works at a cost of £1,370. In January 1881 a petition signed by several property owners of houses on the east side was sent to the Hove Commissioners. They asked that the proposed pathway might be laid with ‘patented silicated stone’, instead of the bricks now ordered, and offered to pay the extra cost; their request was granted. A portion of the road was declared a public highway in 1881, the rest following in 1882. Still to be seen are a reminder of Victorian days in the mysterious letters ‘HCS’ carved into three kerb-stones – the letters stand for Hackney Carriage Stand.

It seems that the householders on the west side were not so particular about how their footpath looked. At any rate, they had bricks laid. Later on it became an on-going project to replace the bricks with artificial stone slabs and a new granite kerb. The improvements started off in 1895 when the part between Clarendon Road and Conway Street was finished; next came the part between Blatchington Road and Goldstone Road, completed in 1895, with the last part between Shirley Street and Clarendon Road being finished in 1900. The three schemes cost respectively £185, £240 and £160.

The Flight of Steps

copyright © J.Middleton
The notorious flight of steps leading up to Goldstone Villas, while a piece of street art brightens up the approach

At the top of Goldstone Villas there is a flight of steps leading down to Conway Street. In June 1896 the steps were pronounced so worn by continuous use that the sum of £25 was to be spent on re-facing them. The steps needed attention again in 1909 and this time the work cost £36. The steps remain to this day and still appear a little worn in the centre.

The steps occupy a little niche in local mythology because they led from respectable Goldstone Villas to working class areas around Conway Street. At the foot of the steps were ‘The Shades’ of the Cliftonville Hotel, where there were frequent brawls after copious drinks on Friday nights (pay-day). In fact, the place was popularly known as the Bloody Hole. Mothers from the Goldstone Villas area forbade their children from venturing down the steps; of course this led to children peering hopefully down the steps when passing by just in case there was something interesting going on.

Trees

In 1894 Hove Commissioners decided that trees should be planted on the west side between Clarendon Road and Hove Railway Station at a cost of £7. By 1899 there were trees on both sides of Goldstone Villas.

Street Lighting

It is interesting to note that in 1881 the Hove Commissioners agreed to purchase for £5 a lamp that had already been erected by Mr Tamplin opposite the Cliftonville Hotel.

In 1892 a new lamp was placed on the west side opposite number 2 at a cost of £7.

In May 1899 the Borough Surveyor reported that there were nineteen lamps in Goldstone Villas; he recommended that two more should be added, and the present ones re-arranged. Eight of the existing lamp columns needed to be rplaced as well. All the lamps would be fitted with number 4 incandescent gas burners.

In 1923 it was decided to replace gas lighting with electricity.

House and Shop Notes

copyright © J.Middleton
It is good to see some interesting shops open again after lock-down, the photo being taken on 20 July 2020

Numbers 2 & 4 – In the 1880s Mr W. W. Pettitt ran the West Brighton Grammar School in the two premises, which had been built in 1874. Three shops were established on this site in 1898. These were replaced by the new Woolworth’s store in 1935.

Number 8 – Dr William John Treutler moved to Goldstone Villas in 1890. He was a Fellow of the Meteorological Society and President of the Brighton & Hove Natural History & Philosophical Society. From 1912 to 1914 Dr Treutler made copious meteorological observations at this address.

Number 12 – From 1921 to 1956 Hove Day Nursery was situated here. The Nursery began its life in premises at 56 Livingstone Road, and was the brain-child of Revd Walter Kelly, vicar of Hove, who realised that some working class women needed to go out to work to earn money, and it would help them greatly if there were somewhere safe to leave their babies. Revd Kelly also considered those mothers who unhappily were too ill to be able to look after their children. Working hours were long in those early days, and thus the Nursery was open from 7.30am to 9pm every weekday. The Nursery fulfilled a need, and by 1917 there were 30 babies. But the situation was precarious because money was short, and there was no garden. In 1921 Hove Day Nursery moved to larger premises in Goldstone Villas, and Hove Council resolved to make an annual grant of £100. For the financial year ending on 1 April 1938, it was stated that there had been 9,126 attendances, being the highest figures recorded since the peak year of 1929. By 1938 mothers had to pay seven pence for a full day’s care but a second child from the same family could be admitted for four pence. The Second World War brought such a high demand for places that a second house was taken in Clarendon Villas, which could accommodate 50 children aged from two to six years of age, while there were 25 places at Goldstone Villas for infants under two years of age.

Number 30 – This house was purchased for £636 in the 1870s for the use of Revd William Dinnick who was the minister in charge of the Methodist Church in Goldstone Villas. He died in 1901, and the house was sold off for £945 in order to swell church funds.

Number 31 – It is fascinating to note that Henry Middleton (1853-1952) lived here for seven years. Just an ordinary name you might think, but he was born in a grand Plantation property called Middleton Place in Charleston, South Carolina, USA, which is now a National Historic Landmark. Naturally enough, in today’s current thinking he would be under grave suspicion because the Middletons owned slaves and lived on a plantation for generations. In fact, Henry Middleton was the last one of his family line to be born in Middleton Place, and he was there throughout the American Civil War 1861-1865. Henry’s family played a central roll in his Country’s history, his great grandfather was Arthur Middleton, a Founding Father of the United States and a signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence from Great Britain.

Leaving all that aside, Middleton possessed an inventive mind, and he travelled to England to study engineering and mathematics at Cambridge University, and became a noted civil, electrical, marine and mechanical engineer. In 1885 he married Mary Heatley from Jersey, Channel Islands. However, it seems he later had a second wife called Beatrice Esther and if there was a legal marriage, no wedding certificate has come to light. Middleton was active in another area too, besides his scientific research – the field of procreation because he had no less than fifteen children.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Two articles from the Brighton Herald for the 15 October 1905 and 29 April 1905

It was in the Goldstone Villas property that he had a large water tank where he carried out experiments with the model submarines he had invented. This was serious work and lead to his being granted a patent in 1917 for a ‘Natatory and Peripatetic Submarine Forts and Adjacent and Ancillary Apparatus’. By this time Middleton was living in London, having left Hove in 1908. He is also credited with inventing the electric bicycle and steam tricycle. Henry made fourteen applications for patents between the years 1893 and 1919, from such diverse subjects, as bolting doors to flying machines. (See also 1 Walsingham Road)

Number 34

From 1915 until his death, the Birmingham born Charlie Watson Mitchell (1861-1918) lived in 34 Goldstone Villas. He was dubbed ‘England’s Best Pugilist’ and was the first British champion in 1882. Mitchell was born at Birmingham on 24 November 1861. His fighting career spanned the transition from the old bare-knuckle fight to contests fought wearing boxing gloves. His first professional fight took place on 11 January 1878 with bare knuckles, while his first fight with boxing gloves was in April 1882; also in 1882 Mitchell became the first British champion.

In 1883 he sailed for the United States where he stayed for five years. He did not look much like a boxing champion, being only 5-ft 9-in in height, and in 1894 his weight was recorded as being just 159lbs. He thus held the record for being the lightest ever challenger in a world heavyweight contest. However, what he lacked in height and weight, he made up for in stamina and was more than capable of delivering a sharp punch.

A good example of his stamina was when he took part in one of the longest fights on record that lasted an incredible three hours, ten minutes, and consisted of 39 bouts. In the end it was not the fighters who threw in the towel, but the seconds who decided to call it a day and pronounced it was a draw. This fight took place on 10 March 1888 on the estate of Baron Rothschild, near Chantilly in France and Mitchell’s opponent was the legendary John L. Sullivan. No doubt there was an extra edge to the contest because the opponents had met previously on 14 May 1883 at Madison Square Gardens. Mitchell managed to floor Sullivan – the first man to perform such a feat – but Sullivan quickly recovered, and knocked Mitchell out of the ring in the second round. On 25 January 1894 Mitchell challenged James Corbett for the world heavyweight title at Jacksonville, Florida. But Corbett knocked him out, and Mitchell then felt it was time for him to retire. Mitchell’s final tally was 27 fights, of which he won thirteen, drew eleven and lost three.

When he died, Mitchell was buried in Hove Cemetery, and it is pleasant to record that many of the boxing fraternity took the trouble to attend his funeral. His grave is difficult to find, and required a photocopy of the official layout in order to pinpoint it. The inscription reads In Loving Memory of Charles Mitchell who died 2^nd April 1918 aged 56 and also Sergeant Charles Mitchell 24^th Battalion Royal Fusiliers only son of the above who was killed in action in France April 30^th 1917 aged 29 years. It is moving to note that the father died one year and 28 days after his son was killed, and the loss must have been a great trial for him. Sergeant Mitchell’s name does not appear on Hove War Memorial because he did not live there.

Number 38

Samuel Thomas Lewonski had a considerable impact upon Hove. He was thought to have been of Polish origin, and in the 1890s he was described as having a mane of black hair and a handlebar moustache. In 1897 Lewonski & Sons advertised as ‘proprietors of funeral horses, open cars, glass cars or closed hearses’ and the chief office was located at 37 George Street. The accompanying illustration certainly shows the glass-panelled coach to have been an elegant affair. This was not his only business by any means. He also advertised as an auctioneer and valuer, a manufacturing upholsterer, and there was a goods warehouse too. At that time his residence and office was a 201 Church Road, Hove. The auction room was at 37 and 37A George Street. In March 1928 the cinematograph licence for the Hove Electric Empire in George Street was transferred to his name.

Lewonski found time to be a Hove councillor as well. It is instructive to note that he was one of the councillors who opposed the acquisition of St Ann’s Well Gardens to become a public park – but it opened in 1908. Lewonski labelled the grounds as nothing more than a bog-hole and a quagmire. Quite why he took such a stance is not clear, especially considering that when Aldrington Recreation Ground was being laid out in 1897, Lewonski offered the council 150 loads of mould at one shilling a load, and the offer was accepted.

In April 1909 Lewonski’s furniture warehouse at 4 Shirley Street was engulfed by fire. It caused a local sensation, and soon postcards were on sale recording the scene of destruction. Later on, the Lewonskis lived at 38 Goldstone Villas. They had three sons, and one daughter. Mrs Mary Elland Lewonski died on 28 May 1926, and her funeral service was held at the Cliftonville Congregational Church. One of the mourners was her cousin James Coe who had a fishmonger’s shop in George Street. Lewonski died 21 December 1944 at the age of 89. The couple were both buried on the south side of Hove Cemetery where their grave is marked by an impressive round pillar complete with an urn on top.

This house is now number 40. Mrs Harriet Wilkinson lived in this house, and it is interesting to note that Mass was said on the premises for local Roman Catholics from 1879 until the Church of the Sacred Heart in Norton Road was opened in 1881.

Number 65 – According to the 1887 Street Directory the Misses Unwin ran a girls’ school on the premises.

Number 70

On 31 October 1894 Henry Brownings, Sanitary Inspector, seized seven pieces of beef and sausages with a total weight of 30lbs and displayed for sale but were quite unfit for human consumption. The meat was condemned at Hove Town Hall by the Medical Officer of Health, and proceedings were started against George Green Charman, the man in charge of the shop, who was fined £10 with costs, the total coming to £11-5s.

Number 71

copyright © J.Middleton
This house once served as a Home for Servants, as well as being the home of a young sailor who died in the First World War

According to the 1912 Directory Mrs Moore ran a servants’ home on the premises – given the large number of servants at Hove, there must have been a great need for such a home. In the next house, at number 73, a Miss Moore ran a girls’ school.

Mrs Moore’s son, 1^st Class Boy Sydney Victor Moore, was killed on 26 November 1914 when his ship HMS Bulwark blew up while moored in the River Medway. It was a terrible accident caused when something went badly wrong when ammunition was being taken on board. The explosion occurred early in the morning while the men were having breakfast, and the blast caused extensive damage in Sheerness besides rattling Southend Pier. Winston Churchill was obliged to report to the House of Commons that 700 men had been killed, and there were only twelve survivors. Young Moore was born at Hove, and educated at the Portland Road Schools – he joined the Navy in 1912.

Number 77

On 19 January 1893 a double murder and suicide committed by Arthur Black took place in this house. Arthur Black was educated at Brighton College, attended university, and graduated. At the time of the tragic event, he was aged 41, and lectured at Brighton School of Science. He came from a respectable family, his father being David Black, Brighton coroner, and his brother Ernest Black was a Brighton architect. Arthur and Jessie Black had been married for some four or five years, and she was fifteen years his junior. Mrs Black was also stated to have been ‘intemperate’ and suffered from hysteria and delusion. There was no maid in the house, and Mrs Black was incapable of doing any housework – he always had to make his own breakfast. There were two children of the marriage; the four-year old girl was staying with a maiden aunt with a view to adoption because of her mother’s neglect, and so she missed the slaughter of her family. The tragic little boy was aged eighteen months and had to sleep on his own in the basement while his parents slept in an upper room. This was on the directive of Arthur Black who did not like the child to sleep in their bedroom.

The inquest held in the Police Court at Hove Town Hall heard that the attack on Mrs Black was so violent that some portions of her brain were found nearby. The injuries were most likely to have been inflicted by a two-headed coal hammer found lying near Mr Black. She also had a bullet wound in her thorax. The child had a wound in the back of the neck. Mr Black then poisoned himself with chloroform before using his gun – there was a bullet wound in the right thigh. The verdict was that Arthur Black killed his wife and child, and afterwards committed suicide.

According to the 1912 Directory, the premises were the headquarters of the Sussex Imperial Yeomanry, A Squadron, and Sergeant Major T. Hoare was in charge.

Arthur Black had a remarkable sister – Clementina Black (1853-1922) whose life seems to have been beset by family tragedies. When her mother died, Clementina was a young woman aged 22, but it was the end of carefree youth because she had to look after her invalid father – not only that either, since there were no less than seven younger brothers. In 1893 there came the double murder and suicide, followed within six months by the death of her father. But she nobly adopted her unfortunate little niece, Gertrude Speedwell Black. Clementina never married because, not surprisingly, she recognised that the wedded state limited a woman’s freedom, and she surely deserved some choices in life.

She joined the Fabian Society, and became a passionate advocate of the suffragette movement; she also undertook extensive travel in order to inform working women about the advantages of joining a trade union. It is pleasant to record that she proved to be an inspiration to the remarkable Annie Besant who helped the female match-workers in their famous strike at Bryant & May. She wrote some novels, but more importantly, books about labour too, the most influential being Married Women’s Work (1915); this must be considered of some relevance in modern times because it was reprinted in 1980. (Wojtczak, H. Notable Sussex Women 2008)

Number 82 – In September 1892 the Sanitary Inspector reported that some ducks and chickens were kept in the back yard, which was in a foul (!) state. The occupant was given seven days in which to remove the birds, and thoroughly cleanse the yard.

Number 85 – In 1912 there was a school of cookery here run by L. and T. Cox.

Number 87

In 1912 it was noted that E. Compton & Son ran a business involving the restoration of pictures on these premises. In 1927 Edwin Compton and his wife celebrated their Diamond Wedding in this house. Mrs Compton must have had a robust constitution because she gave birth to no less than fourteen children. The couple were wealthy enough to own a large collection of paintings including ones by Turner and Gainsborough; they also owned a painting by John Hoppner (1758-1810) who was once so well regarded as a fashionable portrait painter that he was seen as a rival to Sir Thomas Lawrence – the painting owned by the Comptons was insured for £7,000. Mr Compton presented Hove Corporation with a painting by Julian Lessore entitled The King’s Road, Brighton.

Number 88 – In January 1920 the Postmaster at Brighton announced that the sub-Post Office at 88 Goldstone Villas would close although it had been in business for almost twenty years. There were protests and a petition signed by 97 residents, but the Postmaster was adamant that keeping it open could not be justified seeing as there were alternative Post Offices in Newton Road and Blatchington Road.

Number 90 – In the Hove Gazette (20 August 1898) the following information appeared. ‘The Proprietor of the Guernsey Dairy begs to intimate to the Nobility and Gentry of Hove and surrounding neighbourhood that the above Premises are now opened, being fitted on the most improved and hygienic principles ensuring the utmost cleanliness for the Sale of Dairy Produce of superb quality; and it is prepared to supply direct from the Farm to the Jug of the Customer pure Guernsey Milk of the highest quality, very rich in cream and much above the average.’

Goldstone Villas Primitive Methodist Church

A group of Primitive Methodists began to meet in Hove in 1876. They used a room in Blatchington Road, which they hired for £16 a year. Even when they began to plan building their own church there was no more than a nucleus of forty people. Revd Benjamin Dinnick had already found a suitable site when he was taken ill, and so his brother, Revd William Dinnick took up the work.

George Gallard, one of the developers of Cliftonville, took a keen interest in the project and donated £250 towards the costs. When the stone-laying ceremony took place on 22 April 1878, one stone was laid on Gallard’s behalf by Edgar William Dinnick, son of the superintendent. Mr T. A. Dennhy, a friend of the Dinnicks, laid the other stone.

Thomas Monmouth of Farnham was the architect, although both Henry Porter in The History of Hove (1897) and D. R. Elleray in The Victorian Churches of Sussex (1981) state it was Thomas Wonnacott. Thomas Roy Lidbetter of 4 Monmouth Street, Hove, was the contractor, and 34,100 bricks costing £76-14-6d were used in construction. The cost of the church, schoolroom and house for the minister was expected to be no more then £2,500 but the actual cost was likely to have been closer to £2,774. The schoolroom was formally opened on 11 August 1878, while Revd J. Toulson from London came to open the church on 29 September 1878. Walter Lewonski donated the organ, and there was enough accommodation for 400 people.

copyright © J.Middleton
Although the building is now in secular use, at least we can still admire the elegant structure

At first the church was shared with the Wesleyan Methodists whose iron chapel in Portland Road had to be removed at the insistence of the Hove Commissioners. They continued to share the premises until the substantial new building was erected in Portsland Road. A house at 30 Goldstone Villas was purchased for £636 for the use of the minister, but was later sold off for £945 in order to swell the funds.

At first the Sunday School was very popular with 100 girls, 90 boys and 20 teachers. But Rev William Dinnick died in January 1901, new churches were opening, and membership started to decrease. The First World War did not buck the trend. In the 1920s the Sons of Temperance were allowed use of the rooms, providing there was no dancing or whist drives.

In February 1933 it was agreed that the church building should be sold to the Royal Cliftonville Lodge of Odd Fellows, and the final service took place on 26 March 1933. The building was sold on 6 April 1933 for £1,800 – a bargain price when you consider the building costs. The organ was removed to a church in London Road and some members went there too, others preferring to attend the churches in Portland Road, or Franklin Road, Portslade.

Later on, the Goldstone Villas building was used as a Christian Science Centre before being sold to the Olivetti Company in 1968 for £12,500. A skilful conversion was carried out and the building was transformed into offices. The stuccoed brick shell and timber floor were retained, and a new top floor of reinforced concrete was installed, supported by by reinforced concrete columns penetrating to basement level.

Today the building has preserved a fine classical facade while an attractive angled staircase has given it a contemporary touch. In the 1970s the building was sold to the Bell Group of Companies.

Miscellaneous

Terence Casey – During the 1930s and 1940s he was a famous cinema organist and gave broadcasts playing the BBC theatre organ. He lived in the street in the 1970s.

Dianetics – In 1987 it was stated that a branch office for this organisation was being established. Dianetics was closely associated with the Church of Scientology.

Mrs Leah Doctors – She was a spiritualist healer and featured in a book by J. Bernard Hutton entitled The Healing Power (1976). She lived in the street in the 1970s.

Sanctuary Housing Association – In May 1998 it was stated that an empty building was to be converted into fifteen self-contained flats for the association.

Hove Planning Approvals

1881 – Jabez Reynolds, junior, stabling at the rear of number 19

1882 – Messrs Parsons, one householders

1897 – Mr Ross for J. Parker, three houses on the east side

1899 – G. M. Jay for J. Grinyer, one house on the east side

1916 – A. H. Lainson for R. Major, two flats, lock-up shop and club room at number 70

Sources

Argus (1/11/08)

Elleray, D. R. The Victorian Churches of Sussex (1981)

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Hove Council Minute Books

Hove Gazette (20 August 1898)

Local old newspapers on micro-film at Hove Library

Middleton, J. A History of Women in Hove and Portslade (2018)

Middleton, J. Hove and Portslade in the Great War (2014)
Mr. R. Jeeves
National Library of Australia

Porter, H. The History of Hove (1897)

Smith, C. A. & Nurcombe, P. B. A History of Methodism in Hove (1996)

The Keep

Hove in the Past

Pages

29 May 2021

Goldstone Villas, Hove