I feel at home living next door to Eastbourne’s parish church, particularly as many of my ancestors were baptised and married there. Unlike me though, they seemed to be models of bravery and goodness – take for instance one of my cousins* Thomas Boniface. Boniface is an old Eastbourne name and over the years has been…
Author: sussextalks
The Murder of Inspector Walls
On the evening of 9th October 1912, Countess Sztaray left her house at 6, South Cliffe Avenue near the Grand Hotel, Eastbourne for a dinner appointment in town. As the Countess got into her carriage, the coachman, David Potter noticed a man on the ivy-clad balcony above the front door. The Countess returned to her house and…
Spending a Penny in Eastbourne
There are complaints on social media today that Eastbourne toilets now cost £1. Local loos however have always been an issue …. Despite our idea of Victorians being genteel and prudish they would have got used to seeing people going to the toilet in public. If you stayed at a hotel or inn you would have…
The Adventures of a Sussex Marine
Frederick (Fred) James Gordon was my great-uncle. He was born at 1am on 11th February 1894 and was delivered by Doctor Muir Smith at 23, Commercial Road, Eastbourne. His parents (my great-grand parents) were Frederick and Hannah Gordon. Frederick had a long and adventurous life and my cousin Leeanna and myself hold photographs and postcards that he sent…
The Last Sussex Clown
James Ward Doughty was born in Bristol in 1818. He was a nephew of Theodore Hook (1788-1841) who was famous as a practical joker and the receiver of the first postcard. Hook was responsible for the infamous ‘Berners Street Hoax’ of 1810 (Google it!). Maybe James picked up on his uncle’s penchant for entertainment as, at the…
An Incorrigible Thief
One morning in September 1888, Mrs Mary Torry left her bedroom at the Diplocks Hotel in Eastbourne and went downstairs for breakfast. She left her bedroom door unlocked and when she returned she noticed that money and jewellery were missing from her handbag. Suspicion fell on the young, well-dressed chap in the adjacent room. He…
Known to millions but now forgotten
When the Reverend Power died in Eastbourne in 1899 the press said that his name was ‘a household word’ and he was ‘known in millions of homes around the world’, but today he is virtually unknown. Philip Bennett Power was born in Waterford, Ireland in 1822. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin where he…
Pew Openers and Pew Rent Problems
George Paul (1837-1920) was the last ‘Pew-Opener’ at St Mary’s Church, Eastbourne. This task was basically the role of a church usher. In Victorian times about two-thirds of the church were reserved for the gentry who paid pew-rents, not only for themselves but for their servants. The pew-opener would know who sat where and move on…
Lullington & Lost Keys
A few years ago my wife and I were on holiday in Italy and spent a wonderful day at the beautiful walled town of Lucca a few miles north of Pisa. Enjoying my history, I just had to take in the Cathedral and a few of the churches (but only after we had stopped for a…
The Sussex Man who never was.
The graveyard attached to St John Sub-Castro (under the castle) Church in Lewes is full of interesting gravestones. Yesterday I visited the sloping grounds with two old schoolfriends and pointed out some graves of interest. Many years ago, when we lived in Lewes, my wife and I ‘adopted’ three graves to look after, but much of…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 