30 June 2022

Carlisle Road, Hove

Judy Middleton 2002 (revised 2022)

copyright © J. Middleton
J. J. Clark wanted Carlisle Road to have a leafy environment

Background

The road was laid out on land that was once part of Lord Sackville’s Estate. It was developed by the enterprising John Jackson Clark, and named to commemorate his connection with Cumberland (Cumbria) where he was born and from whence he moved at the age of seven.

House-building started in the 1890s, and many of them show the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement, which was in vogue at the time. The result was that some houses were adorned with hung tiles arranged in alternating rows of scalloped and plain tiles, while gables, terracotta finials, and ridge-tiles enlivened the roof.

In December 1896 the Borough Surveyor reported that seventeen houses had been built, and thirteen of them were already occupied.

Street Lights

In 1896 there were only two street lamps, and the Borough Surveyor recommended that an additional lamp should be installed. It was customary at the time for house-holders to pay for the luxury of having street lamps erected but the Council undertook to pay for the gas used in them.

In 1897 the Council informed the house-holders that if they paid for four more lamps to be installed, then they would cover the cost of lighting them.

Road Works

In 1899 Hove Council accepted the tender of W. A. McKellar to execute road works in Carlisle Road for the sum of £1,204-11-9d.

In 1903 Carlisle Road was declared a public highway.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 16 May 1914

Pillar Box

copyright © J. Middleton
This venerable pillar box bears Queen Victoria’s cipher

In around 1901 the postal authorities wished to instal a pillar box opposite number 51 Carlisle Road, subject to the approval of the Borough Surveyor. Apparently, the pillar box now standing on the north east corner belongs to the reign of Queen Victoria since it boasts the ‘VR’ cipher. The pillar box was manufactured by Andrew Handyside of Derby who were in business from 1855 until 1931.

Trees

John Jackson Clark was keen for this road to be a leafy environment. But perhaps he was a little premature in his enthusiasm, causing trees and shrubs to be planted while some houses were still in the process of being built. The result was that by 1906 only twenty-nine of his original planting remained alive with the rest having suffered irreparable damage during building operations.

It is interesting to note the Borough Surveyor recommended that the euonymus shrubs should be removed from Carlisle Road and planted on the Western Lawns instead. The Council agreed to spend the sum of £33 on providing new trees for Carlisle Road.

In 2021 a few trees remain from the original planting, and can easily be spotted because of the generous girth of their trunks. However, it is sad to note that some have succumbed to Dutch elm disease, and been felled, leaving only the stump behind.

Tree / Pavement Gardens

copyright © J. Middleton
One of the mini-gardens in Carlisle Road

A new idea is to create mini-gardens beside the tree bases in the road, and it is certainly a colourful sight, especially where a bare tree stump exists. Some of the mini-gardens are surrounded by large pebbles painted in bright colours, while others are decorated with figures or ornaments as well as plants. Altogether there are five streets at Hove that have similar displays, and there is even a competition for the best one. Karen Young came up with the competition idea, and in 2021 the second competition was won by Carlisle Road.

House Notes

Number 2Marlborough Conrath (1853-1938) lived at this address from 1912 until 1938, he was the former owner of an upholstering company in London and an art decorator. Conrath was a director of the Brighton & Hove & Preston Omnibus Co. Ltd., and also a director of the Greenwich Linoleum Company in New York. Conrath held two USA patents (1887) for his mechanical wall covering invention.

Number 3

copyright © J. Middleton
Arthur Russell lived at number 3

Arthur Russell lived in this house in 1898, and caused quite a flutter in the local Press where he was describe thus: ‘A gentleman well known in the town. His familiar figure was often to be seen driving a natty little dog-cart along the front, while he also owns the yacht Ariel, which lies off Hove.’ The story unfolded under the dramatic head-line ‘Sensational Arrest at Hove’.

Detective Sergeant Parsons arrested Arthur Russell while he was quietly walking along the front with another gentleman who was smoking a cigarette. It transpired that Russell’s son had been employed for some time at the business house of Thomas Richard Ayres, London jewellers and diamond merchants. Unfortunately for the Russells, a stock-taking exercise uncovered the fact that items valued at between £1,500 and £2,000 were missing.

At Clerkenwell Police Court, Russell, senior, aged 45, was charged with receiving jewellery worth £700, while Russell, junior, aged 17, was charged with stealing diamond jewellery worth £700. Evidence was forthcoming from a number of pawnbrokers from both Brighton and London who were able to produce articles of jewellery pawned by Russell and under other names too.

Number 11Lieut-Col. John Robert Henry Homfray C.B.E. lived at this address in the 1930s. He was born in Serampore, West Bengal in 1868 the son of Major J. R. M. Homfray. He served in the Royal Marines Artillery from 1897 until 1919. In the Great War he took part in Naval actions with the Grand Fleet. He was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his defence work in the West Indies in 1917. After the Great War he went into teaching as a Master at Brighton College.

Number 13

copyright © J. Middleton
Maurice Jacobson lived at number 13

From 1973 Maurice Jacobson OBE (1896-1976) lived at this address. He was a man of many talents because as well as his musical ability, he was also a businessman being connected with the firm of J. Curwen & Sons, the music publisher, first as a director, and then as chairman. He was born in London, and showed sufficient merit to be awarded a scholarship to the School of Music in London. He was also fortunate enough to study composition at the Royal School of Music under such eminent men as Gustav Holst, and C. V. Stanford.

He went on to become a pianist, composer, teacher, and an adjudicator at music festivals. He is said to have ‘discovered’ Kathleen Ferrier, Norman Proctor, Denis Matthews, and Dame Ruth Railton. In a way, Ferrier repaid the compliment by popularising two of his cantatas, The Hound of Heaven and The Song of Songs, and recorded them both. It is pleasant to note that The Hound of Heaven was revived in January 1976 when it was broadcast to celebrate Jacobson’s 80th birthday. Jacobson himself regarded it as one of his finest works, along with The Lady of Shalott. Jacobson’s landmark birthday was also celebrated locally at a special concert held in the Unitarian Church, Brighton, where his music, including compositions for the piano, cello, and viola, plus three cantatas, was performed.

copyright © J. Middleton
The Unitarian Church

Jacobson married Constance Suzannah Wasserzug, and they had two sons. The couple were firm friends with the poet Stevie Smith whose most famous poem is Not Waving but Drowning. The friendship ended abruptly when the Jacobsons discovered they had been parodied in her book Novel on Yellow Paper (1936). They were bitterly upset.

Number 16

copyright © D. Sharp
Number 16 the home of Sidney Kilner Levett-Yeats


Sidney Kilner Levett-Yeats, C.I.E. (1858–1916)
lived at number 16 from 1915 until his death in 1916. He was the son of Charles Levett-Yeats the Under-Secretary to the Government of Bombay. Sidney served as Lieutenant in the Punjab Light Horse. On leaving the army he joined the Indian Civil Service and served for 15 years as Deputy Examiner in the Public Works Department in the Punjab. Sidney married Amy Steggles, an American citizen, in Calcutta in 1881. Their marriage produced two children, Cecil in 1885 and Ethel in1886. Sadly both children died within a month of their births. Amy died in Lahore in1889.

Sidney wrote historical romance and swashbuckling adventure fiction in his spare time in India. His novels were amongst the best sellers in late Victorian times and many were serialised in newspapers and magazines throughout the English speaking world.

Levett-Yeats was a friend of Rudyard Kipling who were both members of the Lahore's Punjab Club. Kipling wrote of Levett-Yeats, “When I knew him in the Punjab Club in the old days, he was full of notions about a mutiny tale and he may have something up his sleeve that would be worth getting at.”

The Bookman reported in 1896, “Mr. S. Levett-Yeats has recently completed the script of a new short story entitled A Legend of Vibrac. It is not perhaps generally known that Mr. S. Levett-Yeats is in the Indian Civil Service. Owing to greatly increased duties in connection with the Indian famine, his literary output has been very small lately.”

Country Life reported in August 1897, “Mr. S. Levett-Yeats, writing in those rare moments of leisure which an Indian official can afford, is evidently destined to make for himself a great reputation as a romantic writer. A Galahad of the Creeks attracted much attention, but The Chevalier d’Auriac is ever so much better. Mr. Levett-Yeats has clearly the grand romantic style at his command.”

The London Correspondent of the
Canterbury Times (NZ) in his August 1897 review wrote, “Next to Mr Stanley Weyman, the most successful English disciple of Dumas is without doubt the Indian Civil Service official Levett-Yeats. His Honour of Savelli was a capital romance, and dealt with a peculiarly interesting period, and now we have another almost equally brisk and attractive story from his pen entitled The Chevalier d'Auriac.

Levett-Yeats’ most popular book was The Honour of Savelli, set in the era of the Borgias. The Book Reviews stated “The freedom and dash of his recital, and the general ability shown in the handling of his characters and in the quality of his style are his strongest credentials”.

The New York Tribune in its review of The Heart of Denise and Other Tales reported, “He has romance and pretty turn for dramatic episodes.”

Some of Levett-Yeats publications:-

The Romance of Guard Mulligan, and Other Stories (1893)
The Widow Lamport
(1895)
The Honour of Savelli
(1895)
The Chevalier d'Auriac
(1897)
A Galahad of the Creeks.(1897)
The Heart of Denise, and other tales (1899)
The Queen’s Roses (1899)
The Traitor's Way (1901)
The Lace Kerchief (1901)
The Sleep-God’s Stronghold (1902)
The Lord Protector (1902)
Orrain (1904)

In 1907 Sidney married Mildred Eagles (1876-1966) in Lahore. In
1910 he was appointed Accountant General to the Government of India for Post and Telegraphs. In the King George V Birthday Honours list for 1912, Sidney Levett-Yeats was made a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire.

Sir Duncan James Macpherson was living at number 16 from 1918 until 1925, he served with distinction in the Indian Civil Service. Among his many positions were District Magistrate for Bengal, Chairman of Calcutta Port Commissioners and Member of the Imperial Legislative Council of India. He was decorated for his humanitarian work in the Indian Famine of 1896-1897 and he served in the Foreign Office from 1916-1919. In 1925 Sir Duncan moved to Norton Road.

Number 18Sir Thomas Crossley Rayner (1860–1914) lived at this address from 1900 until 1902. He was a Colonial Judge in the Gold Coast in 1887, Trinidad in1891, Governor of Tobago in 1892 and Chief Justice of Lagos, Nigeria in 1895. In 1902 he was appointed Attorney General of British Guiana.

Number 30

copyright © D. Sharp
Number 30

From 1900 until 1902, Colonel Villiers William Caesar Hawkins (1824-1909) lived at this address, he was the son of Sir John Caesar Hawkins. He served in the Crimean War and was awarded the Medal with Clasp for Sebastopol and the Turkish Medal. Hawkins was an Assistant Commissary-General, apart from Turkey he was also posted to the West Indies, Australia and South Africa during his military career.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 7 July 1906
Francis A. Pulvermacher (1880–1956) lived at number 30 from 1903 until 1910. Francis was born in Cape Colony, South Africa, in 1880, the son of Benjamin Pulvermacher a Russian born British citizen. In 1911 Francis and his young family moved to The Elms in Southwick Street (Southwick, West Sussex) but by 1915 his family had moved back to Hove and were living at 79, Langdale Road where they lived until 1918.

Francis was a journalist, author and prolific playwright and wrote under the pseudonym of ‘F. Morton Howard’. Many of his novels were serialised for Australian newspapers.

Locally, and performing under his pseudonym, 'F. Morton Howard', Francis was very active in local dramatics, in charity events for St Leonard’s Church and many other venues for the Hove Mummers amateur dramatic club.

Some of the novels of F. Morton Howard:-

Happy Rascals (1920)
The Unfortunate Lover (1920)
A Man May Not Marry His Grandmother (1921)
The Little House in Fore Street (1921)
Orace & Co (1923)
Strictly Business (1923)
The Old Firm (1924)
Cakes and Ale (1927)
The Happy Ending (1939)

Some of the many stage plays that F. Morton Howard wrote between the 1920s until the 1940s:-

The Black Sheep, Poor Old Sam, Future Arrangements, The Fourth Proposal, Money Makes a Difference, The Last of the Fairies, Soon to be Wedded, A Waiting Game, Money for Nothing, Family Affair, Deep Waters, The Skipper's Entanglement, Haste to the Wedding, A Visitor for Christmas.

In 1939 F. Morton Howard’s novel Mr Chedworth Hits Out was adapted into an Australian made film entitled Mr. Chedworth Steps Out, directed by Ken G. Hall and starring, Cecil Kellaway, Rita Pauncefort, Joan Deering, James Raglan and Peter Finch, in one of his earliest screen appearances.

Number 34 – Preparatory School

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 19 April 1914


Number 41
copyright © D. Sharp
Number 41

Lydia Yavorska - Princess Bariatinsky (1869-1921)

Lydia Yavorska died at 41 Carlisle Road on 3 September 1921 while staying at the home of her friend, Major William Pearson.

She led a colourful and eventful life but came of humble origins, being born in Kyiv in the Ukraine, and her father earned a living as a policeman. But she had dramatic talent, studying in Paris to hone her craft, and where she became a famous actress as Lydia Yavorska.

She caught the eye of Prince Vladmir Bariatinsky whom she married in 1896. Not surprisingly, his family were absolutely horrified by the event, considering he had lowered the family’s reputation by marrying a showgirl, and refused to meet her. Actually, it was not unknown across the Channel for famous ladies of the stage to marry members of the aristocracy. Perhaps that is why the couple moved to London in 1909.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Graphic 12 December 1914

It seems that her husband, although a prince, was not hidebound by tradition, and indeed delighted in his wife’s talent because she continued to appear on the stage in her own productions in the West End, besides appearing in Manchester and Liverpool. But then her husband was of a literary bent, and she appeared in plays he had written, as well as in plays by classic authors.

copyright © National Portrait Gallery
Princess Bariatinsky
(Lydia Yavorska née Hubbenet, later Lady Pollock)
by Bassano Ltd, NPG x85076

During the First World War the couple were to be found in Russia, and suffered from such privation that the experience might have shortened her life. All the same, she did her best to help Polish refugees fleeing from the Germans, and after the war raised money for poverty-stricken Russians. In the middle of all this upheaval she decided to divorce her husband in 1916. She married another playwright, John Pollock, whom she had met in her acting career, in 1920. But it was a short-lived marriage because she died the following year in Carlisle Road where she had come to live.

She was buried in the churchyard of St Nicolas, Shoreham, West Sussex, and a memorial service was held for her at the Russian Orthodox Church (Embassy Chapel) at 32 Welbeck Street, London. (this church closed down in 1922 and the Russian Orthodox Church moved to a new site in London).

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 11 September 1921

Why a St Nicholas churchyard burial?, St Nicholas/St Nicolas is the most venerated Saint in the Russian Orthodox Church and icons of the saint can be found in every Orthodox Church.

St Nicolas Church Portslade (2 miles) and St Nicholas Church Brighton (2 miles) are much closer to Carlisle Road than St Nicolas Shoreham (5 miles), but both these churches had been closed for burials for over 50 years in 1920, therefore the only alternative for a ‘St Nicolas burial’ was at Shoreham.

copyright © D. Sharp
Lydia Yavorska (Princess Bariatinsky)
St Nicolas churchyard, Shoreham, West Sussex.

Number 45

copyright © J. Middleton
The baritone Ian Blair once lived in number 45

Ian Blair arrived at Hove in around 1955 and lived in this house. He was a famous Scots baritone who, by 1959, had made no less than 215 broadcasts. In June 1959 the first series of BBC programmes presented by Wilfrid Pickles was broadcast from Hove Town Hall with the guest artist being Ian Blair. Apparently, both Blair and Pickles had met their wives in Southport, and they both had the name Mabel. In October 1959 Blair sang in the broadcast Grand Hotel. Robbie Burns is popular in Russia with his impressive grass-roots background, and in 1958 Blair presented the Russian Embassy in London with a record he had made of Burns’s love songs.

Number 53

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 2 February 1918
In 1918, number 53 could be rented for less than £1 per week

Number 60

copyright © D. Sharp
Number 60

Captain Herbert Lionel Upton (1886-1970) DSC, RD, ADC, RNR, lived at number 60 from 1932 until his death in 1970. He obviously spent some very long periods away from home in those years at sea.

Herbert, the youngest of four brothers, was born at 28 Medina Villas, Hove in 1886, the son of Dr Herbert Chrippe Upton. His father was the Councillor for the Medina Ward on Hove Borough Council. The Upton family had four servants in their Medina Villa home.

Dr Herbert Chrippe Upton was one of the founder members of the Relief Committee, set up in 1888, to aid the six widows and 25 orphans of the crew of the steamship Shoreham, that sank, losing all hands off the Kent coast while transporting coal to Hove's Gas Works.

During the First World War, Herbert served on six different Royal Navy ships and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross in 1917 for action against enemy submarines and the French Légion d'honneur in 1918 for minesweeping operations.

After the First World War he was employed as a Master Mariner with the New Zealand Shipping Company and given command of RMS Rangtane, on which he made six voyages in war-time conditions.

In 1940 on a voyage to Liverpool with food supplies and passengers, his ship was sunk by an attack from two German ships, the Komet and Orion, in the South Pacific. Five of his crew and six passengers were killed in the attack. The 296 survivors who were picked up by the German ships were put ashore on the British island of Emirau near New Guinea. The German captain sent a wireless message to Australia and the survivors were rescued by Australian forces two days later.

Strangely, the German Captain allowed Captain Upton and his merchant navy crew go free, on the understanding they did not take up arms against Germany in the future. All other survivors of military age were shipped back to Europe to be interned in a Prisoner of War Camp. RMS Rangtane was the largest allied passenger liner to be sunk in Second World War by German surface vessels.

In 1941 Captain Upton was appointed the RNR ADC to King George VI.

Captain Upton finally retired to his home near the sea in Carlisle Road in 1945 having served in both the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy since the age of 15.

Number 61Alan Bernard was educated at Hove High School and lived in this house at the time of the First World War. He was a surveyor’s pupil when in October 1916 he enlisted in the Royal Sussex Regiment and was sent on a training course. Private Bernard died on 20 January 1917 at Newhaven of gas poisoning, probably the result of a tragic training exercise.

Number 63 & 71

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Brighton Herald 11 November 1899
A house in Carlisle Road could be rented for almost £1 per week in 1899

Number 69Lieutenant Colonel Charles a' Court Remington (1858-1925) lived at this address in 1908 before moving to 81 Pembroke Crescent.

Number 71 – Mr and Mrs A. R. Hopkins lived in this house at the time of the First World War, and their son, Arthur William Hopkins, earned his living as a draper’s assistant. In November 1915 he enlisted in the army, and served in the Honourable Artillery Company Infantry. Private Hopkins was killed on 14 November 1916 at Ancre in the the Battle of the Somme. He was buried at the London Cemetery Extension, High Wood, Longueval.
His name is inscribed on Hove’s Role of Honour in the vestibule of Hove Library.

Number 75The Revd Ernest James Morgan lived at this address from 1897 until 1915, and was the vicar of St Leonard’s Church for nearly 20 years. Under his stewardship St Phillip's Church was built at the eastern end of the Parish and was consecrated in 1898 as a Chapel of Ease.

Numbers 79 & 81

copyright © J. Middleton
Numbers 79 & 81, the homes of the de Greys

The
Hon. Robert de Grey lived at number 79 from 1910 until the 1930s. His sister, the Hon. Mabel de Grey, lived next door at number 81 for the same length of time. The de Grey’s were the children of Lord Walsingham, coincidently the street name on the east side of Carlisle Road is Walsingham Road.

Number 87

copyright © J. Middleton
Dora Carrington stayed in number 87 for a short time

The famous artist Dora Carrington (1893-1932) stayed in this house in December 1915 in order to nurse her brother Noel who had been injured in the First World War. Their father had served in the Wiltshire Regiment, and his sons, Noel, Sam and Teddy joined the same regiment. Noel was shot in the elbow by a German sniper, and the subsequent infection almost cost him his arm; Sam returned home with his nerves shattered by shell-shock, while Teddy was killed at the Somme in 1916.

copyright© National Portrait Gallery, London
Dora Carrington, Stephen Tomlin, Lytton Strachey and Walter J. H. (Sebastian) Sprott.
This photograph was taken by Lady Ottoline Morrell in June 1926. (NPG Ax142601)

During her stay at Hove, Carrington enjoyed a walk over the Downs with Noel to Rottingdean. Also while at Hove, she wrote a famous letter to Mark Gertler in which she lambasted the artists and writers who were quite happy to enjoy Lady Ottoline Morrell’s hospitality at Garsington Manor, but mocked her behind her back. Carrington wrote ‘What traitors all these people are!’ Lady Ottoline was of striking appearance but could never be called a classic beauty. But she enjoyed encouraging people working in the Arts, and one hopes that some of the beneficiaries acknowledged it, if only to themselves.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
This 1925 fireplace surround was designed by Boris Vasilyevitch Anrep (1883-1969).
The mosaic female torso at the top of the fireplace is that of Dora Carrington.
The fireplace once adorned Ham Spray House in Wiltshire, the home of Lytton Strachey.
This fireplace surround is now believed to be in storage in Brighton Museum.

Carrington so hated her Christian name of Dora that she was only ever known by her surname. Carrington’s great love was Lytton Strachey, the author of the celebrated Eminent Victorians. They lived together but never married, and the arrangement did not preclude them from taking other lovers – there was also the fact that he was homosexual. All the same, there must have been a deep bond between them, and when he died of cancer, Carrington was devastated and lost the will to live. For weeks afterwards, her worried friends kept a close eye on her, and her last visitors were Virginia Woolf and her husband. Unbeknown to them all. Carrington had stolen a gun from friends, and shot herself.

Miscellaneous

Carlisle Road & Brighton Workhouse

The residential Warren Farm School for pauper children was erected in 1862, two miles from Brighton’s Elm Grove Workhouse. The Guardians of the workhouse sought employment for the girls from the age of 14. Any child who was born in Brighton’s workhouse had their address at birth recorded as just 250 Elm Grove, Brighton, to hide the fact they were born in a workhouse and not to disadvantage the children’s future employment prospects.

Below is a list of girls from the Warren Farm School Register who were found placements in service occupations at addresses in Carlisle Road. The employer has left a comment about each girl’s character:-

7 November 1902Lily Blakenby, aged 15, employed by Mrs Bishop of 1 Carlisle Road, ‘As general help. A well behaved industrious little girl. Passed the fifth standard’.

23 November 1903Mary Garbutt, aged 16, employed by Mrs Marshall of 51 Carlisle Road, ‘As general help. A well behaved intelligent girl. She is very delicate. In the school she passed standard IV’.

18 September 1905Ida Knight aged 15, employed by Mrs Bishop of 1 Carlisle Road, ‘As general help. A quiet well behaved girl. Not very strong. Passed the fifth standard of education’.

2 April 1907Emily Smart aged 16, employed by Mrs John of 27 Carlisle Road, ‘As general help. A very well behaved girl but at times peculiar in her manner. Was in the fifth standard’.

27 April 1908Louisa Simmons aged 15, employed by Mrs John of 27 Carlisle Road, ‘As second servant. A hard working girl and of good behaviour’.

Cobra Media Productions – In October 1997 the young film-making brothers Howard and Jon Ford based their business in Carlisle Road, although they did not live there; Howard Ford, was the director of Cobra, while Jon Ford, aged 26, was the director of photography. Howard was educated at Hove Park School, and Jon was educated at Blatchington Mill School.

They have been making films for ten years, and Hate, a 45-minute drama, won awards at seven international festivals in 1991. In 1994 they produced Mainline, set in Brighton, Hove, Shoreham and Maresfield; it starred Hugo Speer who was a huge success in the Fully Monty. The film was sold to TV and video producers in sixteen countries, and it is now regarded as something of a classic. They hoped there might be a video release in the USA, but as Howard remarked ‘America is a tough nut to crack’. In November 1997 it was said they were making their second feature film Distant Shadow. Helen Baxendale, star of the BBC hospital drama Cardiac Arrest, had agreed to play the main role, while John Inman, star of Are You Being Served?, taking the part of a quirky landlord.

Dorset Court – There is a plaque to the famous Charles Stewart Parnell on this building, although of course it is not the original structure where he lived. Neither is the plaque blue, but green to reflect his Irish roots.

copyright © J. Middleton
Charles Stewart Parnell’s plaque

In 1996 the windows were being replaced in this block flats on the corner of Carlisle Road and Kingsway. Scaffolding was in place but in February gale-force winds brought it crashing to the ground. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but several cars were wrecked, and ten people were evacuated from the flats. Not surprisingly, parts of Carlisle Road and Kingsway were sealed off for a time.

Homecroft Rest Home In November 1999 fire broke out on the premises. The home was due to close but the fire meant that it closed earlier than anticipated. Seven residents were evacuated before the arrival of the Fire Brigade. The blaze had started in an armchair and spread quickly. Although the firemen came indoors to tackle it, they were forced to retreat when the temperature rose so high that there was a danger of a flash-over. The fire was then fought from outside the building.

copyright © J. Middleton
Carlisle Road

Hove Planning Approvals

1894 – T. H. Scutt for J. J. Clark, six houses, east side

1895 – S. Richardson, three pairs semi-detached villas

1895 – H. Scutt for J. J. Clark, one house

1895 – T. H. Scutt for Mr Backshall, six houses

1896 – T. H. Scutt for J. J. Clark, 22 semi-detached villas, east side

1896 – W. A. McKellar, six detached villas

1896 – W. A. McKellar, two pairs semi-detached houses

1897 – G. M. Jay for J. Backshall, one pair semi-detached villas, east side

1897 – W. A. McKellar, six pairs semi-detached houses, east side

1897 – W. A. McKellar, four detached villas, west side

1897 – G. M. Jay for Mr Backshall, one pair semi-detached villas, east side

1898 – W. A. McKellar, one pair semi-detached villas, east side

1898 - W. A. McKellar, sixteen pairs of villas, west side

1898 - W. A. McKellar, four villas, west side

1899 - W. A. McKellar, twelve villas, west side

1899 - W. A. McKellar, one villa

1901 - W. A. McKellar, one detached villa, number 40

1904 – C. J. Kerridge for S. Gordon, bungalow at rear of number 16

1904 – W. A. McKellar, one block, two flats, east side

1905 – W. A. McKellar, one pair semi-detached villas, west side

1906 – W. A. McKellar, one pair semi-detached houses

1907 – W. A. McKellar, two houses, corner of New Church Road

1913 – G. M. Jay for E. Perrin, two pairs semi-detached houses, north-west corner

1926 – E. E. Brown, one detached house, number 66

1927 – E. J. Love for D. S. Barclay, one pair semi-detached houses, east side

1928 – E. J. Love for D. S. Barclay, one pair semi-detached houses and garages, north-west corner New Church Road

Sources

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Gerzina, G. Carrington; Life of Dora Carrington (1989)

Hovarian (October 2021)

Hove Council Minute Books

Hove Gazette (3 / 9 / 1898 / 10/ 9 / 1898)

Internet Searches

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

National Portrait Gallery

Peter Higginbotham The Workhouse

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Street Directories

UK Census

Wojtczak, H. Notable Sussex Women (2008)

Copyright © J.Middleton 2022
page layout by and additional research by D. Sharp