Seaford Cemetery contains over 300 Commonwealth War Graves. Although they commemorate many local soldiers, most bear the Canadian maple-leaves. Nineteen graves however are carved with the crest of the British West Indies Regiment (BWIR). I have done extensive research and published details of the Canadian soldiers but this year I would like to tell the…
A Butcher’s Car Discovered
A couple of years ago Sue Jones of The Real Car Limited contacted the Eastbourne Local History Society regarding a Rolls Royce they had acquired. Real Car Limited is based in North Wales and specialise in selling early Rolls-Royce and Bentley Cars. The car in question was a 1928 20-horsepower Rolls Royce registration HC8815. ‘HC’ was…
The Canadian Farmer mentioned on a Sussex Grave
David James McCurdy was born in Winnipeg on 5th December 1886. His father was a farmer and he became a farmer too. His name is recorded on two graves – one in Canada and another thousands of miles away in Sussex On 14th August 1914, soon after war was declared, David enrolled in the Canadian Expeditionary Force at…
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,…
The Eastbourne Chair
The Eastbourne Chair was a style of invalid chair invented by a Sussex doctor, Astley Carrington Roberts and Fanny Sophia Smith. They were both named in the patent which was granted patent number 22,790 in 1899. The chair had wheels but also curved rear brackets which made it easier to get up and down stairs. (Easier but…
Ebenezer’s Bonfire Speech – 1894
The Bonfire Season started a month ago with the Uckfield Bonfire Society hosting its parade and displays on 7th September. Tonight (5th October) it is the turn of the Eastbourne Bonfire Society. I have marched with the bonfire boys and belles on many occasions and wish them all luck and favourable weather! My great-grandfather Ebenezer…
The Long Man & Bluebell the Cow
I have always had an affinity for the Long Man of Wilmington. It has been a constant part of my life, and I know that my family, particularly my grandmother, Bessie adored it too. The Long Man was even on my school badge. (Willingdon County Secondary School as it was then) The Wilmington Giant stands tall…
Centenary of a Sussex Tragedy
It is always good to visit Bexhill’s splendid museum but this weekend there are two particularly good reasons, both in connection with the fire-brigade. Firstly this week Bexhill Museum is proud to have on display, for the very first time, a newly restored Merryweather Fire Engine dating from 1895. Secondly this weekend marks the centenary of the…
The Big Bang Theory that Failed
For hundreds of years, the shifting shingle within it’s bay has caused problems for the town of Seaford. Even today we try to tame this movement with a convoy of massive bulldozers which try to put the beach in its place. The Ouse once entered the sea in Seaford Bay but the shingle constantly blocked…
27,000 MILES TO SUSSEX
In my family archive I have a small cutting titled “27,000 MILES TO VISIT FATHER’S GRAVE” This is just the thing that piques my interest and encourages me to find out more. Well here is the story! Ernest Alfred Berry was born on 10th December 1870 in Taunton, Somerset , the son of an umbrella-maker Alfred…
Quirky Sussex History by Kevin Gordon 