Hove in the Past: The Stanford Estate

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2022)

The large Stanford Estate grew from modest beginnings in the 18^th century. Although William Stanford was only around five years of age when his father Richard died in 1769, he was fortunate in having able trustees to take care of things until he came of age. The trustees sold grain and livestock, and invested the money in stocks and loans so that when William (1764-1841) took over the reins, he found he was a wealthy young man.

William’s first marriage to Elizabeth Avery was advantageous because the heiress brought with her lands in Clayton, Keymer and Hurstpierpoint. Then in 1794 William purchased Preston Manor and lands comprising some 1,000 acres from Charles Callis Western for the huge sum of £17,600, and became Lord of the Manor of both Preston and Hove.

It is important to note that the land was not just all around Preston but stretched south through Hove to the seashore. It was bordered on the east by what later became First Avenue and Selborne Road, and on the west by Fourth Avenue and Norton Road. North of Eaton Road, the land stretched west along Blatchington Road to Sackville Road and north to the railway and what later became the Sussex County Cricket Ground. Hove Recreation Ground and Hove Park were both created on Stanford land, the former costing the Hove authorities £14,200 in 1887, and the latter costing £15,000 in 1899.

In 1808 Nathaniel Tredcroft sold the interest in Hova Villa and Hova Ecclesia to William Stamford. The following year it was divided with William Stanford becoming lessee of Hova Ecclesia and William Marshall becoming lessee of Hova Villa.

It seems that William Stanford was happy to keep his land intact, and keep it as an agricultural unit. Of course there were some transactions, but they did not include outright sales, only short leases or letting. But he did toy with the idea of property development in the area of Hove now known as The Avenues, and there is paper evidence to verify his thoughts. He asked two architects to draw up plans; Charles Barry, the architect of St Andrew’s Chapel, Waterloo Street, Hove, not to mention the Houses of Parliament, produced a design in 1826, and at around the same time Charles Augustus Busby produced another plan; Busby now being recognised as the sole architect of Brunswick Town.

But there was no need to rush into building developments because in 1833 there came the unexpected windfall of £30,000, paid up by the Railway Company for the right to run their route through Stanford land. Indeed, when William Stanford died in 1841 it was the general opinion that he was the richest man in Sussex.

The next William Stanford (1809-1853) married Eleanor Morris and the marriage settlement was dated 1 February 1842; this provided for £20,000 to be put in trust for his wife, and then his children. In his will, dated 10 December 1852, he left another £20,000 to be added to the same trust fund. He died on 11 April the following year. Unfortunately, he failed to name a guardian to safeguard young Ellen’s rights. It was an unfortunate oversight because it meant that some interested parties helped themselves to property that was not theirs. A concerned uncle felt Ellen Stanford ought to be made a Ward of the Court of Chancery, and the Bill in Chancery was dated 11 March 1854.

On 1 July 1854 Vice Chancellor Stuart was concerned enough about what he heard to order an Inquiry into the details of the late William Stanford’s property at the time of his death. Regrettably, it seems Ellen’s mother, plus the three Trustees and executors had appropriated the deceased’s personal estate, not bequeathed to them, and in addition they were pocketing rents.

On 28 March 1855 the Chief Clerk of the Vice Chancellor certified lands as being in the late William Stanford’s possession at the time of his death; the local details were as follows:

Hove Farm, and New Barn Farm, Preston, comprising 660 acres, tenanted by William Marsh Rigden for fourteen years from 29 September 1843 at a rent of £1,200.

Preston Farm, comprising 150 acres of arable land, and 55 acres of meadow, tenanted by Chandler & Burgess for seven years from 29 September 1854 at a rant of £525.

None of the land could be sold, but leases of 21 years or 99 years could be granted.

Development

Meanwhile nothing could be done to develop land at Hove without the sanction of Parliament, and until Ellen Stanford reached the age of 21; this birthday was celebrated on 9 November 1869. Ellen then lost no time in ensuring that she was in charge of the Stanford Estate, and this meant recourse to Parliament. In 1871 The Stanford Estate Bill was passed, and in 1872 a second Bill, an Improvement Act, went through Parliament too.

William Morris, the uncle of Ellen Stanford, became the lessee of some of the Hove land, and that is why the West Brighton Estate (The Avenues) was nicknamed Morris’s Portion. No time was lost in appointing James Knowles, who was later knighted, to be the architect, and he was responsible for the design of the two beautiful sea-front terraces known as Queen’s Gardens; unhappily the one on the east side has since been demolished.

In 1872 the West Brighton Estate was incorporated with John Morris being director. A gentleman by the name of Baron Albert Grant had oversight of the plans and street names, and it seems likely he was an investor in the scheme as well.

James Knowles had relinquished his post by 1873 for reasons unknown, and the next architect was H. J. Lanchester who was responsible for the elegant Palmeira Mansions.

There was something of a sea change in architectural style too. Thus there was no overall grand design as had been the case with Queen’s Gardens, or indeed as had been the case with Brunswick Town. Some houses were built of red-brick, some were built of yellow/white brick, and there was a variety of styles. But the Stanford Estate kept some control over the development by insisting on a residence being built on the plot within seven years with the penalty being that otherwise the site would revert to the vendor. In other words, an investor could not just purchase a plot as a nest-egg for the future and do nothing. The Stanford Estate also took the trouble of insisting on high-quality building, so that some houses cost £1.000 to build, which placed them firmly in the luxury class.

Some people wondered where all the servants were going to come from to work in such establishments. But the servants did arrive. Indeed, at one time there were more servants to be found at Hove than in the poshest parts of London.

The well-known builder J. T. Chappell was heavily involved in the construction of houses in The Avenues, and he was a pricey man to employ. In fact, when Chappell sent in his tender to build All Saints Church in The Drive, the authorities found it far too expensive, and chose someone else. It is interesting to note that the site of All Saints Church was the only piece of land the Stanford Estate donated to Hove. But commercial development was kept to a minimum.

Other developments were also going ahead. For example, on 20 June 1876 the Stanford Estate conveyed 14 acres, 2 roods and 32 poles to George Gallard, one of the developers of Cliftonville. On 2 May 1877 George Gallard sold several plots to George Freeman, a Brighton cement merchant, for £10,400. Clarendon Road was built on this land.

In the 1873 List of Landowners, the Stanford Estate was recorded as consisting of 1,000 acres, 1 rod, and 12 perches. In 1876 the Stanford Estate in Hove was stated as covering 367 acres. Then in Wiltshire there were some 5,026 acres, not to mention the acres at Preston. Altogether, the total land holdings stood at 6,997 acres. The names of Norton Road and Tisbury Road derive from the Wiltshire connection.

In the 1877 Directory, the Stanford Estate office was recorded as being located at 1 Selborne Road with Charles Nye, junior, being the surveyor, and W. H. Day the solicitor. By 1884 many plots of land had been sold, or were in the process of being sold, with the average price being £1,000 per acre.

In 1899 the Stanford Estate Trustees urged Hove Council to apply for the annexation of Preston Rural District in order that the land there could be properly developed too. At the time Hove’s jurisdiction at the north boundary still ended at the Old Shoreham Road. Hove Council replied that they were unable to annexe Preston Rural until urban powers and bye-laws were in place. But they resolved to make an application to the Local Government Board for a Provisional Order under section 54 of the Local Government Act 1888. However, it was not until 1926 that the extension of the boundaries of Hove Borough meant that part of Preston Rural came under Hove’s jurisdiction.

Meanwhile steps had been taken by the Stanford Trustees to offset the sale of land at Hove by acquiring new plots elsewhere. Thus, besides the land in Brighton, Hove, Preston, Keymer, Clayton, and elsewhere in Sussex, the Pythouse Estate and Norton Estates in Wiltshire. there was also property in Mitcham, Croydon, and Norbury in Surrey. Stanford land sales at Hove reached a peak in the 1920s.

In May 1935 John Montagu Benett-Stanford, Lieutenant-Colonel (retired) entered into an agreement with Henry Burtenshaw Nixon, Brighton builder, to erect detached and semi-detached houses on two pieces of land on either side of Hove Park Way with north frontages to Woodruff Avenue. In April 1937, when the freehold property known as Foxdale, later numbered 60 Woodruff Avenue, was sold to Mrs E. A. Osborne, the signatures on the deed were as follows:

J. M. Benett-Stanford (1^st part)

William Edward Martyn (2^nd part)

George Evelyn Laverton Atwood (2^nd part)

Barclays Bank (3^rd part)

H. B. Nixon (4^th part)

Mrs E. A. Osborne (5^th part)

A separate deed with the same date acknowledged Mrs E. A. Osborne’s right to the freehold, and was signed by Sir Stephen Gaselee of Kensington, and G. E. L. Atwood.

Last Remnants

In the 1950s the Stanford Estate decided to sell off its last remaining parcels of land in Hove. Leslie Swayne, a partner in the firm of Raymond Beaumont, dealt with the sale. At first, he tried to sell the whole 20 acres as a single lot, but there were no takers. However, once the land was parcelled up into individual plots, they sold like hot cakes. The houses built on this land completed Benett Drive and Shirley Drive.

In 1986 it was stated that estate agents Raymond Beaumont had acted as surveyors to the Stanford Estate, and a member of the firm owned a collection of maps covering the original Stanford Estate, marked up with details of the purchaser of each plot and how much was paid.

Stanford Estate Trustees

1852 - Avery Roberts, William Tanner, and Edward Stanford

1859 – Avery Roberts retired, and the new trustee was Charles Henry William Gordon of Newtimber Place

1870 – William Tanner died aged on 23 April at Patcham

1884 – Edward Stanford died on 21January at Brighton

1884 – C. H. W. Gordon retired; new trustees were Henry Arthur Fane, and Marmaduke Darell Jeffreys

1893 – M. D. Jeffreys died

1894 – Trustees were H. A. Fane, and G. H. Gordon

1898 – M. E. Jeffreys died

1914 – Henry Arthur Fane died

1914 – Trustees were G. H. Gordon, David Scott Porteous, and G. H. Sanders

1919 – G. H. Gordon retired; Revd G. H. S. Atwood became a trustee

1920 – Atwood retired; new trustee was Stephen Gaselee

1931 – D. S. Porteous died; Stephen Gaselee still a trustee, and new trustee was Robert Hildyard Henley Eden

1933 – Dame Ellen Benett-Stanford died; Gaselee continued as a trustee, and the new trustee was George Evelyn Laverton Atwood

Sources

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

The Keep

PAR 387/10/58 – Stanford Land 1852

09 January 2022

The Stanford Estate