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…
Sussex Photographic Rambles 1924
My grandmother Bessie Roberts lived at Taddington Road, Eastbourne. She was interested in photography and owned a ‘Box-Brownie’ Camera. She was the secretary of the Eastbourne Brownie Photographic Club which met at the Technical Institute (Eastbourne Library is now on the site) and in 1924 kept a record of the club’s ‘photographic rambles’. All the photographs…
The Green Man
The Right Honourable Henry Cope, Earl Vernor was a well known character in pre-Regency Brighton. He would walk around Brighton followed by a green carriage, driven by a green-uniformed groom. He himself wore all green and his lodgings were painted green with a green sofa and green bed. It was even said that he would only eat green…
A Remarkable Eastbourne Engineer
Colonel Charles Manby lived at The Greys in Borough Lane, Old Town. (Greys Road is named after the building) Charles Manby was born on the Isle of Wight in 1804. He was the son of Aaron Manby (1776-1850) who was a Shropshire ironmaster who took his expertise to France where he established several ironworks. His father…
This isn’t a tall tale – but it is !
I joined the British Transport Police at Brighton in 1973, a month after my 16th birthday, however I was a Police Cadet. William Henry Auger was even younger than me and he joined the Police as a Constable! William was born on 27th December 1881 in Cardiff to Henry and Laurette Auger. Within a few months of…
He didn’t get home for Christmas
James Gorringe was the third and youngest son of James Gorringe of Upperton Farmhouse, Eastbourne. He was born in May 1866 in Eastbourne and educated at Brighton. James married Alice Maria Spray (1864-1948) from Pevensey and they lived at ‘Kingsley’ 27, Devonshire Place, Eastbourne. They had two children Alfred Edward Kingsley Gorringe born 18th September 1894…
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 Lewes Riots
This story has it all – rioting, nuns, a funeral and a Christmas carol – and it’s all based in Sussex! I suppose the story starts with Edward Bouverie Pusey (1880-1882). He was a theologian who, along with John Henry Newman (later Cardinal Newman) (1801-1890), was one of the founders of the ‘Oxford Movement’. This group…
The Greatest Man in the World
Document Ref: ACC10188/3/27 at the Keep Archive is listed as ‘Miscellaneous Printed matter collected by Captain James Ryder Mowatt.’ Mowatt (1755-1823) was the barrack-master at Eastbourne between 1797 and 1810. He was an experienced soldier have seen action with the Kings American Rangers during the American War of Independence. The Mowatt papers include a flyer for…
The Cuckmere Railway
The Cuckmere Railway The Cuckmere River (never the River Cuckmere!) has always decided its own route to the sea. This map shows the various places where the mouth of the river has been since the eighteenth century. The map shows something else of interest, a thin black line at the top marked ‘Tramway’. Cuckmere Haven once had its…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 