Hove in the Past: Wilbury Gardens, Hove

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2023)

Wilbury Gardens was developed at the same time as neighbouring Wilbury Avenue on the Stanford Estate land. In November 1892 it was recorded in the Minutes of the Hove Commissioners that Mr Udney’s new street plans on behalf of the Stanford Estate had been deferred from the previous meeting. The surveyor was to suggest that the road should be called Wilbury Gardens.

In 1893 the drainage plans were drawn up. The sewer was to be 825-ft in length, of which the upper portion for a length of 275 feet was to be of 9-in stoneware pipes, and the remaining 550-ft 550 feet to be of 12-in stoneware pipes, surrounded throughout the entire length by 4 inches of cement concrete. There were to be four manholes with ventilating grates at distances of 275 feet apart, six cast-iron gully tanks – three each side of the road – to carry off surface water.

In December 1896 the surveyor reported that ten houses had been erected, of which eight were occupied. The surveyor also reported that there was only one street lamp, and he recommended that two more should be installed, the cost to be paid by the residents. In 1902 the road was declared a public highway.

Today, you could say that Wilbury Gardens is a very leafy road. There are many mature trees, and the prospect north is more trees in Hove Recreation Ground. However, the presence of massive tree roots has left the tarmac pavement in a very uneven state, making it hazardous after nightfall. It is also notable that the two sides of the road differ as to the colour of bricks used in house-building; the west side has a fine array of white / yellow bricks while the east side boasts some handsome red-brick mansions.

House Notes

Number 2 – Edward and Sarah Winkworth lived in this house. Their son, 2^nd Lieutenant Henry Edward Vernon Winkworth, served with the 6^th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, 18^th Division in the First World War. Sadly, he was only a very young officer aged 21 when he died of war wounds on 16 February 1917. He was buried in Dernacourt Communal Cemetery Extension.

Number 3 – Charles John Arrow was formerly Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard, and newspapers described him as being the last surviving member of the ‘Big Five’. He lived in this house in the early 1930s and died there in May 1936.

Number 6 – Major General James Gordon lived in this house from 1898 to 1901. Like so many others living at Hove at this time, he was an ex-India hand, having served as a magistrate in Belgaura. Major General James Gordon died on 18th August 1907 in his 83rd year and was buried in Hove Cemetery.

Number 7 – James John Davies and his wife Edith Bona Davies lived at this address. Their son, Captain James Gordon Davies, having gained his B. A. degree at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, enlisted during the First World War and served with the 10^th Battalion, Welch Regiment, 38^th Welsh Division. He was aged just 24 when he died of his war wounds on 9 February 1916, and was buried in Touret Military Cemetery, Richebourg L’Avenue.

The Welch Regiment was a prestigious one, keenly aware of its prowess and pugnacious reputation. Two famous war poets also served in this regiment – they were Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon. Graves was always punctilious on insisting that the regiment was the ‘Welch’ not the ‘Welsh’. Perhaps Captain Davies was aware of the two men, although of course Davies went to Cambridge, while Sassoon was an Oxford man.

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Winston Joseph Dugan (1897-1951) occupied this house from 1926 to 1927. It was perhaps a brief stay at Hove but what a remarkable man he was, and what a brilliant career he enjoyed. It is a coincidence that his Christian name happened to be Winston, which was in fact a family tradition because his father was Charles Winston Dugan. But like Sir Winston Churchill, D. J. Dugan was an excellent soldier and administrator. W. J. Dugan hailed from Ireland where his father was noted as being of Oxmantown Mall, Birr, County Offaly. W. J. Dugan was educated at Lurgan College, Craigavon, Ireland, and Wimbledon College, London. He became a career soldier, starting off in the Royal Sussex Regiment, and serving as a sergeant. But perhaps promotion did not come quickly enough for his taste because soon he transferred to the Lincolnshire Regiment where he was promoted to 2^nd lieutenant in 1900. In that same year he went to Africa with a detachment in order to reinforce the 2^nd Battalion during the Second Boer War. Rapid promotion came while he was in South Africa because he became an adjutant in June 1901 and a lieutenant five months later.

In 1912 he found time to get married, and his bride was Ruby Lilian Abbott.

The First World War meant that a man with his experience would soon became a leader, and he was put in command of the 184^th (2^nd South Midland) Brigade on the Western Front in 1916. Conditions were harsh, and obviously Dugan was not one of those officers who stayed securely at base camp while ordering their soldiers into battle at the front. Dugan was himself wounded, and Mentioned in Dispatches no less than six times.

In the early 1930s Dugan was still using his military knowledge because from 1931 to 1934 he commanded the 56^th (London) Infantry Division, Territorial Army. Then in 1934, he retired from the Army and became Governor of Southern Australia.

He certainly was not a mere figure-head, but took a great interest in his surroundings, travelling around, and finding out where things might be improved for people; he was also generous in his support of various good causes, not to mention individuals in distress. By this time the couple were Sir Winston and Lady Dugan. He must have had the common touch because Australians would be loth to tolerate a snooty personage. Indeed, they were so popular that when he came to the end of his term of office, they would have been pleased for him to stay on.

Unfortunately for South Australia, but fortunately for Victoria, Dugan had already accepted the latter’s invitation to become their Governor. These Australians knew when they were on to a good thing, and his term of office was extended five times. Dugan returned to England in February 1949. Among his distinctions were the following:

Queen’s South African Medal with three clasps

Distinguished Service Order 1915

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George 1918

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 1934

Raised to the Peerage as Baron Dugan of Victoria, of Lurgan, County Armagh

Number 9 – Lieutenant-Colonel John Houghton Gibbon DSO lived in this house in 1921. He was a career soldier who joined the military before the First World War, and served in West Africa from 1901 to 1906. He was indeed fortunate to survive the war, although he was wounded, because he served right the way through, from 1914 to 1919. He was Mentioned in Dispatches.

Number 11 – Lieutenant Frank Nevill Jennings lived in this house from 1923 to the 1930s. He served throughout the First World War from 1914 to 1919 and was Mentioned in Dispatches. He was also awarded the Military Cross, and a more unusual honour – the Belgian War Cross.

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Arthur Jolly moved to Hove in 1910, becoming the first chartered accountant to practise in the area, and he lived at number 11. He was much involved in local affairs, putting in an astonishing 65 years of service. The following list gives some idea of his wide range of interests:

Brighton, Hove & District Badminton League, founder and secretary

Chairman of the Hove, Cliftonville, and Preston Building Society

Chairman of the Juvenile Court

Chairman of the Magistrates’ Court

Elder of the Presbyterian Church (St Cuthbert’s, Cromwell Road)

Freeman of the City of London (1936)

Freeman of Hove (1982)

Hove Chamber of Commerce, which he founded

Hove Rotary Club, of which he was a founding member

Member of the Citizen’s Advice Bureau

Member of the Further Education Committee

Member of the National Assistance Appeals Committee

Member of the Probation Committee

Member of the Youth Advisory Committee

Sussex Provincial Grand Master (Freemasons)

After the First World War, Jolly became involved with the Victory Loan Campaign, and managed to raise the magnificent sum of £1million in Hove. He also helped to set up an Old People’s Club with Alex Clarke. Arthur Jolly had two illustrious cousins, and it is interesting to note that one of them was Sir Alfred Sargeant, a notable Mayor of Hove, and only the second man to be elected a Freeman of Hove, while the other cousin was Michael Ramsay, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Arthur Jolly must have been a man of terrific energy, and he lived to the age of 90, dying on 22 May 1983. His daughter, nurse June Jolly, said he lived life to the full right up to the end, and the night before his death, he had enjoyed a game of billiards with a friend, and won.

Dr Richard Jolly was born at Hove, and was the son of Arthur Jolly. He was educated at Brighton College, and became an enthusiastic member of the Army Cadets; in fact he was one of the cadets chosen for the privilege of attending the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. However, by the time he reached university, he had completely changed his ideas, becoming a committed pacifist. He became a top economist, and a professor; he was deputy director of UNICEF (a charitable fund for children) and a trustee of Oxfam, and for twenty years he worked for the UN in New York. When he was a student he crossed the Alps on an elephant called Jumbo to experience how Hannibal managed to do the same feat, while also raising money to sponsor a UN refugee to spend a year in England. At Sussex University he served as Emeritus Fellow of the Institute of Development Studies. His wife Alison is a zoologist and studied lemurs.

Number 13 - Lieutenant-Colonel William Morgan Hodder (1861-1940) lived at this address in 1925. He was born in County Cork in Ireland in 1861 and was educated at Sherbourne School in Dorset. In 1880 he entered the Royal Engineer’s College in Chatham. During his military career he served in India, Mauritius, Jersey and St Lucia in the West Indies. While stationed in Mauritius in 1886 he was awarded the Royal Humane Society’s Bronze Medal for Bravery for diving into Port Louse Harbour saving the life of a Mauritian who had accidentally falling in.

Sir Henry Aaron Isaacs

('Men of the Day. No. 447.')

Vanity Fair 9 November 1889
NPG D44463

Number 17

Sir Henry Aaron Isaacs (1830-1909) lived in this house from 1904 until his death. London-born, his father was fruit merchant Michael Isaacs (1802-1859), and Michael’s bride was Sara de Mendoza (1793-1859). It is interesting to note that she was considerably older than her husband, and that she had an unusual relative in the shape of Daniel Mendoza (1764-1836). He is memorable as being the first Jewish boxer in Britain to become a champion. He was certainly not a big, brawny fellow, and indeed he was noted as being of small stature. It was all about skill and tactics, and in 1789 he produced a treatise entitled The Art of Boxing.

Sir Henry Aaron Isaacs was not content just to be a leading City trader, but immersed himself in the needs of his fellow citizens, and he particularly wanted decent housing for the poor. At the other end of the scale, he was a keen advocate for the building of London Bridge, and it is claimed that it was his persistence that enabled it to happen. In 1862 he was elected as a Common Councillor for the ward of Aldgate. His civic awareness was awarded by becoming an Alderman in 1883, Sheriff of the City of London in the 1880s, and Lord Mayor of London 1889-1890. He also served as a Justice of the Peace, and was Warden of Hambro Synagogue.

In September 1848 he married Eleanor Rowland (1830-1901). The couple had four children, and perhaps the fourth child came as something of a surprise because he was born in 1868, while the third child, Sarah, had arrived back in 1856. Unhappily, one of the children was born deaf, and of course without hearing, there was no speech either. This gave Sir Henry a new crusade – how to involve deaf children in a hearing world. He opted for oral teaching, rather than the sign-language we are familiar with today. To promote his theory he produced a pamphlet Sounds Versus Signs.

Sir Henry died aged 78 on 2 August 1909 at Hove.

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Lady Gladys Mary Chatterjee (née Broughton)
by Bassano Ltd, 25 June 1925, NPG x123394

Lady Gladys Chatterjee OBE (née Broughton;1883–1969) lived at Number 17 from 1932 until 1933. Lady Gladys was an Indian born British teacher, schools inspector, and barrister. Her maternal grandfather, Sir Michael Filose, designed the Jai Vilas Mahal (Gwalior Palace). She gained a degree in philosophy at University College London and in 1913 she went to India to work as an inspector of schools and returned during the war in 1916 to become a welfare officer in the Ministry of Munitions. In 1924 she married Sir Atul Chandra Chatterjee who was a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, while she was working for the Indian Educational Service. After Indian independence the couple moved to London. While Lady Chatterjee was living in Wilbury Gardens, it is not known if her husband, Sir Atul was living at this address at the time or away on business in India.

Number 19 - Lieutenant-Colonel Charles George Walton Lowdell (1855-1945), D.S.O., lived at this address from 1913 until 1919. He received his medical training at Guy’s Hospital, London and joined the Indian Army in 1879. He saw service in Bombay Medical Service where he was promoted to Surgeon-Major.

Number 21 – George Malleson Butt lived in this house in the early 1930s. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and entered the well-known local timber firm of John Eede Butt in 1905, which he ran in conjunction with his brother C. A. Butt. The firm was established way back in the 19^th century when they had a large timber yard at Littlehampton. In 1852 John Eede Butt was described as a timber merchant of Littlehampton when on 12 May of that year he acquired some land from Francis Henry Goldsmid of Lincoln’s Inn. This land was once part of the Wick Estate, later known as the Goldsmid Estate, and situated mostly in Hove and also over the border in Brighton. On the piece of land thus purchased, Goldsmid Road was laid out. Later on there was another timber yard at Baltic Wharf, Portslade. Portslade Council were well acquainted with the firm, having received the following stream of requests for planning permission:

1924 – petrol store

1927 – timber shed, timber storing sheds

1928 & 1929 – more sheds

1930 – boat shelter

1935 – extension to timber shed

1935 – wood refuse destructor

1936 – timber store shed

1946 – tool shed, sawmill, extension to timber shed

As well as Goldsmid Road just mentioned, John Eede Butt & Sons were also responsible for developing Highdown Road, Cissbury Road, Chanctonbury Road, Wolstonbury Road and Caburn Road at Hove in the 1890s.

George Malleson Butt died on 31 July 1936 at 21 Wilbury Gardens. A memorial service was held for him at All Saints Church in The Drive, to which came many friends, business associates, and employees from the local area as well as Littlehampton; there were 100 floral tributes.

Number 28 – Charles Smith Hannington lived in this house in 1899. His surname is a familiar one to older residents of Brighton and Hove because of the famous Brighton store, and yes he was related to that family, being the son of the managing director, Samuel Hannington. But it seems that C. S. Hannington decided not to join the family firm because his occupation was given as a ‘retired farmer’. He was born at Hurstpierpoint, as was James Hannington (1847-1885), his great-uncle. James Hannington has a unique place in history because he died an Anglican martyr. He was an evangelist and became Bishop of Eastern Equatorial Africa. Not everybody was ready to hear the Christian message, and on 29 October 1885 he died a heroic death, killed by two spears. He is remembered at Hove by church being named after him – Bishop Hannington Memorial Church, where a plaque to him carries the message Thou hast turned my heaviness into joy.

copyright © J.Middleton
Number 31 - Mrs Young, formerly the child violin prodigy Vivien Chartres, lived in this house with her husband

Number 31 – Mr and Mrs Richard Cleveland Ross Young lived in this house, although strictly speaking it was their base in England because they enjoyed foreign travel. They needed to return home now and then so that Mrs Young could see her children from her first marriage. The widowed lady became Mrs Young on 25 August 1927. The name of Mrs Young is virtually unknown, but when she was a young girl called Vivien Chartres, she was a celebrated child violin prodigy, playing to packed houses both in England and abroad. Souvenir postcards of Vivien holding her violin, wearing a short frilly dress with ribbons in her hair, were popular souvenirs. It is of interest to record that one appearance was on the 8 September 1907 at the Palace Pier Theatre, Brighton. Then when Vivien was aged seventeen, she stopped giving concerts, perhaps the pressure had become too much.

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copyright © National Library of Australia
The Sidney Daily Telegraph 22 August 1934
The New Zealand cruiser, The Diomede on its way to Melbourne for the
Australian Centenery, inset - Rear-Admiral Fischer Burges Watson

Rear-Admiral Fischer Burges Watson, C.B.E., D.S.O., (1884 – 1960) lived at Number 31 in 1938. Burges Watson joined the Royal Navy in 1900, by 1905 he was serving on the Royal Yacht and eventually rose to the rank Commander of H.M.S. Loyal in the First World War. In 1930, Watson was appointed captain of the battleship Nelson, later he was appointed to the New Zealand Naval Board, which he served on until retirement in 1935. In the Second World War, Captain Burges Watson came out of retirement and served in Atlantic Convoy Service from 1939–42, where he was mentioned in Dispatches. From 1943 – 1944 he served in the Mediterranean on the landing ship flotillas, again he was mentioned in Dispatches and awarded a bar to his D.S.O.

Coincidently Admiral Burges Watson was in Melbourne at the same Australian Centenery event in 1934 that Sir Winston Joseph Dugan was attending as the Governor of Victoria, Sir Winston had previously lived at number 7 Wilbury Gardens in the 1920s (see above).

Number 32 - Lt Col Arthur Herbert Nourse lived at this address from 1909 until the 1920s and served as a counsillor on Hove Council. Lt. Col. Nourse was the former Regimental Colonel of the West Surrey Regiment. Lt. Col. Nourse was very active in local politics, he served on the Hove Library Committee and for the duration of the First World War he was the army representative on Hove Council’s Emergency Committee.

Number 33

Henry Hall Borrer (1822-1909) was born on 16 August 1822, the son of John Borrer and his third wife Sarah Ann, and the family lived in Portslade Manor. Henry’s middle Colonel Bertrae name was his mother’s maiden name. He spent some 27 years living at Hurstpierpoint, and then he came to live in this house called Oakdene. In 1887 he was still Lord of Portslade Manor, while in 1895 it was noted that he owned a piece of land near the Stonery in Portslade. He died on 18 March 1909 in his 89^th year, and was buried in Hove Cemetery.

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Lieutenant-Colonel Bertrand Evelyn Mellish Gurdon CIE DSO (1867-1949) lived at number 33 in 1919. The Gurdon males were heavily involved in Indian affairs. Indeed, our lieutenant-colonel was born in Simla, Punjab, India, being the third son of Major-General Evelyn Pulteney. Bertrand was educated at the famous Haileybury Imperial Service College, established in 1809, and which had oriental languages on its curriculum. It was vital for the men who were destined for India, to be able to speak some of the languages. It follows that these men had a rigorous education. Afterwards, he progressed naturally to Sandhurst. He was still only nineteen when he was commissioned into the British Indian Army in August 1886.

Lieutenant B. E. M. Gurdon, D.S.O.
Image from of The Relief of Chitral (1895),
by George John Younghusband and
Francis Edward Younghusband.
Photograph by Esmé Collings of Western Road, Hove.

He served in the Foreign and Political Department. The various postings he held are listed below:

1892 – Chitral, Acting Assistant

1895-1902 – Chitral, Assistant Political Officer of State

1903-1906 – Gilgit Agency, Political Agent

1908 – Khyber Agency

1913-1916 – Phulkian States Agency, Political Agent

It should be noted that although this sounds like a desk-job, Bertrand took an active part during the Siege of Chitral in 1895 and his bravery was noted because he became a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. Although Chitral was only a small town, it was of strategic importance, and near the Chinese border. The garrison was composed of Indian troops, and so was a relief column, while surrounding them were irate tribesmen. Nearby was Gilgit, another small town, but also vital, and Lieutenant-Colonel James Kelly lead a small column from Gilgit to help the garrison at Chitral – Bernard also served at Gilgit. A young subaltern in the cavalry by the name of Winston Churchill visited the Malakand Pass in 1897. He found it all strangely exhilarating because in the early morning light he could see sword blades flashing from every ridge. He noted that the Malakand Pass had to be secured to keep the road to Chitral open.

Bertrand would have gone on serving in India, but his health gave way, and he was forced to take early retirement in 1918. The Indian climate could be cruel to an English constitution, but he must have rallied in the old country because he did not die until 1949.

Hove Planning Approvals

1894 – A. Lewis for Mr Kerridge, detached villa

1895 – G. P. Kerridge, six detached villas

1895 – G. P. Kerridge, one detached villa

1895 – T. H. Scutt for W. J. Collander, detached villa

1895 – G. P. Kerridge, 31 detached houses, east and west sides

1896 – C. Bullock for Kerridge & Kerridge, five houses west side

1896 – C. Nye, detached villa

1896 – Charles Nye for S. C. Smale, two detached houses, east side

1897 – C. Nye for H. Nye, two detached villas east side

1897 – C. Nye for A. E. Lewer, two detached villas east side

1898 – C. Nye for A. E. Lewer, one detached villa east side

1899 – W. McKellar for J. J. Clark, two villas east side

1899 – C. Nye for A. E. Lewer, four detached villas east side

1899 – W. A. McKellar, one villa

1901 – Kerridge & Kerridge, three pairs of semi-detached villas

1928 – T. Garrett & Son for S. G. Maxwell, garage and stores, number 4

Sources

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Holmes, R. Sahib: The British Soldier in India 1750-1914 (2005)

Hove Council Minute Books

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

National Library of Australia

National Portrait Gallery, London

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

06 May 2023

Wilbury Gardens, Hove