On 21st August 1878 a royal party arrived at Eastbourne from the Isle of Wight. This group consisted of Louis IV, the Grand Duke of Hesse and his wife Princess Alice, the Grand Duchess of Hesse. Princess Alice was the second daughter of Queen Victoria and had been visiting her mother at Osborne House. The…
Category: East Sussex
An Eastbourne Family Mystery
Family History is fascinating and all of us have a family with stories to tell. My own Great-Great Grandfather John Roberts had an unremarkable life but I have discovered some little nuggets of information about him. Although he spent most of his life in Hellingly and Eastbourne (where he had an unusual occupation) he died…
WW2 in Seaford & Lewes
Yesterday I met Dorothy Trethowan at her home in Polegate. This is what she told me… I am 97 years old. I have spent much of my life in Seaford. I was born Dorothy Gretton. My parents lived at a house called Sommerville, Highlands Road, not far from the Catholic Church (I remember the church…
60 years in the Police!
Today it is not unusual for Police Officers to transfer into the British Transport Police from other forces and it is not unknown for some officers to spend a few years in the BTP having retired from another force. After Walter Hebborn retired from the Metropolitan Police, he joined the Railway Police in Sussex…
The Hailshamberry
My Father met my mother when he was working at Knight’s Nursery in Hailsham. He drove all over East Sussex delivering fruit vegetables and garden produce. Knight’s Nursery actually once invented a new fruit called the Hailshamberry! It was first grown in 1911 and was a large, almost ever-green bush with large leaves which protected the fruit…
Tiny Lewes Letter
My thanks to Mrs Dorothy Trethowan of Polegate for sending me this absolutely TINY letter sent from Olive and Tom in Windsor Crescent, Lewes to Hindover Road Seaford in December 1943. The letter is a tiny folded sheet of paper in an envelope which is about the size of a penny coin! I will pass the…
An overenthusiastic Home Guard!
Just before Christmas I visited the delightful All Saints Church in Waldron. I was lucky to catch the Church Administrator clearing up after a Christingle Service and he generiously, not only showed me around the church, but allowed me to climb up on to the tower via a rather narrow stone spiral staircase. According to…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 