This story starts with a sepia coloured photograph in the archives of the British Transport Police History Group titled ‘William Holman – Brighton Railway Police’. The photograph shows a bewhiskered, top-hatted man making a note in his pocket-book. But who was he? William Holman was born in Ightham, Kent in 1801. He was married to…
Category: Brighton
A Little Entertainment
Among my family archives I have a postcard showing four dancing midgets. The card is titled “THE WORLD RENOWNED WILLY PANTZER AND HIS WONDERFUL MIDGETS”. A little research found that Willy and his theatrical troupe of acrobats and comedians appeared twice at the Hippodrome in Eastbourne in the summer of 1928 and 1929. I was fascinated to…
The Flying Martello Tower
In 1860 a Mr Anderson published a paper suggesting that guns could be mounted on railway carriages to give them better mobility. Guns on trains may seem to be a good idea, but there is a big problem with recoil which means the size of gun needs to be restricted, especially if it is fired…
On Top of the World !
I recently saw a small report in a 1903 newspaper that related to ‘Mademoiselle Florence the Globe Walker’. Considering the attitudes of the time, It would have been amazing for a woman to have walked around the world in 1903 so I tried to find out more. Actually Florence, an 18-year-old from New Jersey in the…
The Battle of The Buckle 1545
On 18thJuly 1545, a French fleet led by the High Admiral Claude d’Annabant attacked the south coast of England. He was rather miffed that the English had just captured the port of Boulogne and was after revenge. At Portsmouth, Henry VIIIs ship “Mary Rose” had promptly sunk as it tried to engage them. Further down…
Pinch-Bum Day
Watch out for your bottom if you go out this morning because in Sussex today (29th May) is known as ‘Pinch-bum Day’ although in the rest of the country it is ‘Oak Apple Day’. During the English Civil War, in 1651 the future King Charles II was pursued by the Roundheads south across England following…
Bumping the Bounds
During May the spring festival of Rogation-tide was celebrated. This word comes from the Latin rogatio which means to ask for or to beg. In spring, seeds were sown and this was the time when God was asked or begged for them to grow. It was during Rogation-tide that the church would sometimes confirm the…
A Sussex May Day
May Day was celebrated by the Romans and the Pagans who knew it as Beltain. It falls midway between the winter and summer solstices and was a time of change and celebration before the hardships of the agricultural year. People would feel at one with nature and would be praying for a bountiful harvest ahead. …
Easter in Sussex
Writing in the 8th century, the Venerable Bede tells us that Eostre was the pagan goddess of dawn (hence the word ’east’). Her annual festival of Spring was held in April and known as Easter but by the time of Bede, Christians had replaced this with their own festival, ‘passover’ which celebrates the resurrection of…
Shrovetide in Sussex
Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) is the day before Lent commences. ‘Lent is a corruption of the Old English word ‘Lencten’ meaning ‘Spring’ Our ancestors would have shrove (confessed) themselves of sins in the morning. At noon the Shrovetide bell would ring from Sussex churches which would indicate that it was time to stop confessing and start…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 