One of the great losses of the Great War was the enigmatic Field Marshall Lord (Horatio Herbert) Kitchener whose face and pointing finger recruited thousands of men. He was Secretary of State for War and a Cabinet Minister. In 1904 a young man had joined Lord Kitchener’s Staff. He was Oswald Arthur Gerald Fitzgerald from Eastbourne,…
Category: Maritime
Anchored
Symbolism on gravestones is often lost. In coastal Eastbourne we would expect a grave swathed with a large chain and anchor to represent the sea, maybe a fisherman or lifeboatman, but Henry Coleman Hurst was neither. He was one of the Hurst family who had arrived in Eastbourne at the time of the Civil War and who…
The Sailor-girl with a Rocky History
The ship Coonatto started its life in Rotherhithe on the south bank of the Thames in 1863. She was built by Thomas Bilbe & Son to a new design which used both timber and iron – known as “composite hull construction” Although this made the hull stronger, it was of course heavier. She was a square-rigged clipper and…
A Nutty Shipwreck and her Figurehead
A few years ago I was shown two ivory nuts which had just been found on the beach at Seaford. Although the shingle of Seaford beach is relatively new I think that they may have originated from the hold of the ship the ‘Peruvian’ which grounded in Seaford Bay over 100 years ago. The…
The Prime Minister who helped a Sussex Coastguardsman.
Not many small towns like Seaford can claim to have had three of its MPs serve as Prime Minister. George Canning was the only one of the three who was MP for Seaford and Prime Minister at the same time. George Canning was born in Marylebone in 1770 and had a difficult start to life….
The Remarkable Adventures of a Sussex Bee-Keeper, Film Maker, Explorer and Rebel
In 1898 a swarm of bees made their home at Exceat Farm, close to Cuckmere Haven on the bend in the road between Seaford and Friston. Some would consider this lucky but sometimes bees can stray inside an old house and become a nuisance. In 1909 it was decided to remove the swarm. The man who was chosen…
Quicksilver and Lemons
The ‘Nympha Americana’ was a Spanish owned American ship of 400 tons however, despite being armed with 23 large guns and 6 swivel guns, she was captured by an English privateer ‘The Royal Family‘ off Cadiz in March 1747. A privateer was basically a legal pirate ship which was licensed by the British Government to attack enemy…
The Great Storm of 14th November 1875.
On the morning of Sunday 14th November 1875 the good people of Seaford braved stormy weather to attend church. The town was already on alert as high tide was expected at midday and, although seawalls had been built, the area of land between the sea and the town, (the Beamlands), regularly flooded during the winter…
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…
My St Georges’ Day Hero
My grandfather Alec Gordon, was a Royal Marine and was seriously injured in the fateful Zeebrugge Raid on St Georges Day, 23rdApril 1918. Alexander Robert Gordon was born in London in 1896, the son of Frederick and Hannah Gordon. In 1910 the Gordon family moved to 1, Romney Road, Eastbourne and his parents worked at…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 