John William Hills was born at the Police House in Glynde, East Sussex on 5th February 1891. His father (also John) was the village policeman. In 1912, John moved to East Dean when his father was transferred there and they lived in the Police House facing the village green near Dennetts Stores. During the Great War, John served…
Category: East Sussex
A Sussex Bonfire Speech from 1900
My grandfather, Ebenezer Roberts (1867-1947) was an interesting character. He first worked as the driver of a goat-chaise on Eastbourne seafront before being promoted to a ‘bath-chairman’. He later worked as a greengrocer in Old Town and as a painter and decorator. He was the Chairman of the Eastbourne Old Age pensioners Committee and a…
A Policeman killed on duty at a Shoreham Air-show.
A national Roll of Honour is maintained by the Police Remembrance Trust and lists officers who were killed or died during the execution of their duty. You may be surprised to learn that one of the constables recorded was a Glynde man, Lawrence Alfred Haines. (Always known as Alfred) Alfred was born in Beddingham in…
Flush-Brush-Flush
Amongst the archives of the Eastbourne Society, is large full length portrait of a smiling, alert, dark-suited woman with her hands crossed on her lap. She looks like a lawyer but this is Rannie, a long-serving Eastbourne headmistress. Elise Orange Randall was born on the island of Guernsey in 1884. She was the daughter of…
The Miracle of Old Tom
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…
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…
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…
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…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 