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…
Category: Women
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…
Crypt-ic clues to Lost Names
Family Roots (The Eastbourne Family History Society) have published the Monumental Inscriptions (MI) for many locations but I am particularly interested in those for St Mary’s Church, Eastbourne as I live close by. Over the years many of the memorials have eroded and are now impossible to read. One of these is a cream-coloured marble ledger…
Damaris, the Lost Love.
Damaris is an unusual name. It is thought to derive from ‘little calf’ an old Greek term of endearment. The name is mentioned in the bible and indeed the Greek Orthodox Church recognise Damaris as a saint. Damaris Richardson was born in Brede, East Sussex in 1834 and baptised at St George’s Church, Brede on 27th April that…
Summerdown Kate
Early in the Great War, the Summerdown Convalescent Camp was established on fields to the north-west of Eastbourne just off the East Dean Road. The camp had its own entertainment troupe called the Knut Kamp Komedy Kompany which were based in the camp Recreation Hut and gave weekly concerts. The troupe consisted of musicians, comics and even…
The Eastbourne Chair (Part 2 Finding Fanny)
One of my recent history items concerned the inventors of the ‘Eastbourne Chair’, an invalid chair patented in 1899 by Dr Astley Roberts and Fanny Sophia Smith of Eastbourne. It was not difficult to find details about Astley Roberts as he was a prominent local doctor but I couldn’t find any information about Fanny Smith,…
Honour your eyes and visit West Dean!
Every year tens of thousands of visitors get off the bus at Exceat and head along the river to view Cuckmere Haven and the magnificent Seven Sisters. However if those visitors went in the opposite direction, a short walk up a hill and then down into a fold of the South Downs they would find…
THE SHE-BULLY OF EASTBOURNE
The Brodie Family and a tale of two portraits. I enjoy visiting the Old Parsonage at Eastbourne for a coffee on a Thursday morning. You will always get a warm welcome at his ancient half-timbered building – and usually home-made cake too! The room is dominated by two portraits, the severe, glowering portrait of the Reverend…
Alone with the Doodlebugs
My grandmother Bessie Gordon was in her early 40s during the Second World War. Her husband Alex, had been seriously wounded in the Great War and it is likely that he suffered from ‘shell-shock’. Alex and their 9 year old son Roger, had been evacuated to Dursley in Gloucestershire along with his sister Dorothy (Dolly)….
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 