Warrior Gardens is situated a couple of streets to the north of Warrior Square, and is numbered from no. 1 downhill to no. 23, which is close to Western Road. The houses are joined together as a terrace but the architectural styles vary to some extent. They are typically several floors high.
Formerly there were also nos. 24-26. Rather than being further west, such as the corner premises occupied by the Cactus Hound bar (numbered as 20-23 Western Road), I am confident that they were always on the south side of Warrior Gardens, between Western Road and Warrior Square (which does go up that far), and formed the northern side of a small block now occupied entirely by Southern Water’s waste treatment plant. The block was badly damaged in World War II.
The 1940 Kelly’s directory lists on that block as Warrior Gardens, from east to west, an unnumbered electric washing machine store or warehouse; no. 26, the Victoria Institution for Trained Nurses, under Miss Hull, the lady superintendent; and, after Alexandra Mews, no. 24, George Lake, confectioner. As for the much longer space now occupied by a car park for a tall block of flats, this was occupied from 1878 by the Royal Concert Hall, and from 1921 the Elite Cinema. Both had their front doors on Warrior Square’s road leading up to Warrior Gardens. The building was badly damaged in World War II, rebuilt, burned down a week later, and was in ruins for many years. The map below makes this clearer. This post will concentrate on the other houses on the north side of the street.
The planning applications as indexed in The Keep’s catalogue provide a fair amount of information just from the catalogue entries.
On the 7 January 1876 the application for building nos. 7-9 was permitted as DH/C/6/1/1901, and is described as ‘Three houses for A D Womersley, Hastings by W L Vernon, Hastings, architect.’ The document is unfortunately ‘unfit for production’. It was normal for the owner to be the builder. In the 1871 census Alfred Womersley, at 52 St Andrews Road, Hastings, was an auctioneer and upholsterer, but in the 1881 census he was a builder on Laton Road. Walter Liberty Vernon (1846-1914), who was also responsible for the Royal public house around the corner, was later advised to leave England as he suffered from bronchial asthma. He emigrated to Australia in 1883 where he designed many government buildings in New South Wales.
The next permitted were two applications on the 7 July 1876. DH/C/6/1/1902 for no. 10 does not have any details, other than it is also ‘unfit for production.’
Nos. 1-3 were also permitted on that date, as DH/C/6/1/1903, which was for ‘Three houses for George Geary, 74 Warrior Square, St Leonards by W L Vernon, Hastings.’ Geary was a builder. Yet again, it is unfit for production.
On the 4 May 1877 nos. 5-6 were permitted as DH/C/6/1/2022. There is even more detail in this catalogue entry: ‘Two houses for the Rev. G Edmondson, 7 Church Road and E Plummer by W L Vernon, Hastings, architect and G Geary, St Leonards, builder.’ Unfit for production…
On the 4 October 1878 two applications were permitted. No. 21-23 were permitted as DH/C/6/1/2238. Nos. 17-20 were the subject of DH/C/6/1/2241. In both cases no details are given, other than… unfit for production. This is very bad luck that so many documents cannot be seen by enquirers.
The next day the Hastings and St Leonards Observer had the following report:
NAMING A ROAD. The following report was adopted: — A memorial is read from various owners, &c., of property in the new road at the rear of Warrior-square, asking that for the reasons therein mentioned the name Warrior Gardens (which was refused to be approved of by the Authority some two years since) may be adopted for that road, and the Committee having considered the allegations contained in the memorial, recommend that the request of the memorial be acceded to.
On the 7 March 1879 DH/C/6/1/2296 was permitted. This was for no. 25. The entry states ‘Stables, rooms and workshops. Note: The building is now demolished and Coombs Motors have built on site’. I suspect that this was in the Alexandra Mews mentioned earlier. On the 3 February 1882, with DH/C/6/1/2780, an application was permitted for the apparently adjacent no. 26, ‘Dwellinghouse and office.’
On the 2 July 1880, with DH/C/6/1/2497, a conservatory was permitted at no. 21.
On the 6 January 1882, with DH/C/6/1/2773, nos. 11-16 were permitted as ‘Dwellinghouse.’
I believe that that concludes the building of 1-23 Warrior Gardens. I cannot account for no. 4, but as it has a close resemblance to nos. 1-3 it is perhaps also by Vernon. Many other houses further downhill have a similar look and are, I suspect, by Vernon.
Not all housed a single family. In the 1885 Pike’s directory 11 were lodging houses and two were boarding houses. There is also the mysterious DH/C/6/1/3292, permitted 12 June 1886, for, on Western Road and Warrior Gardens, ‘Hotel. Note: Not built.’ This was perhaps on the south side of the road, or where the Cactus Hound bar is now.
Note from the map that nos. 5-6 and 18-19 were rather larger than their neighbours. I will now turn to 19 Warrior Gardens as an example of what might be found about a single house. In this case rather more than I normally find turned up, such as the arrival of the householders.
The Hastings Observer, 9 October 1880, had two separate notices:
The Misses Mortimer have arrived at 58, Warrior Square.
The Misses Mortimer have taken 19, Warrior Gardens, as a permanent residence, and are expected shortly.
The 18 November issue had this:
The Misses Mortimer are now residing at their residence, 19, Warrior Gardens.
The census on the 3 April 1881 indicated that nos. 11-16 were not built, besides noting that nos. 10 and 17-18 were uninhabited. The plots for nos. 11-16 were not permitted for building until the following January. Although formerly it was normal to number houses as they were built, by this time the Council was insisting on empty plots being already numbered, to avoid having to repeatedly renumber a street. That practice did imply that the houses would be similar sizes.
For no. 19, the household was as follows:
Margaret G. Mortimer, head, U[nmarried], 37, stocks & shares, born Waterford Ireland
Elizabeth L. Mortimer, sister, U, 36, stocks & shares, born Waterford Ireland
Philippa F. Mortimer, sister, U, 33, stocks & shares, born Waterford Ireland
Eliza Mills, serv, U, 76, domestic servant, born Cashel Ireland
Fanny Elms, serv, U, 42, parlour maid domestic, born Roaslestown, Ireland
Julia Baddock, serv, U, 22, housemaid domestic, born Bauchley Kent
Emily Mitchell, serv, U, 44, cook domestic, born London
Emily Escreet, visitor, U, 26, born London
Florence G. Escreet, visitor, U, 18, born Croydon
One hopes that the 76-year-old servant’s duties were nominal.
In the 1871 census, at Chichester, sisters Cassandra, Margaret, Elizabeth and Philippa Mortimer had a ‘visiting’ head, their mother Cassandra Mortimer. She stated that she was 67, a solicitor’s widow, born Cheltenham.
Her husband had been Michael Mortimer, whom she had married, as Madden, in Ireland in 1838. He died in 1854 at Rockshire, Waterford county.
The 1890-91 electoral register for local elections gives us the following information. Apparently two sisters were part owners, but Cassandra’s legal position is a little mysterious. Ownership of houses was required as a qualification for women who of course could not vote in Parliamentary elections.
Mortimer, Cassandra. House.
Mortimer, Elizabeth Louisa. House (joint)
Mortimer, Philippa. House (joint)
The 1891 census had this household:
Cassandra Mortimer, head, S[ingle], 49, living on own means, born Waterford Ireland
Margaret Mortimer, sister, S, 47, living on own means, born Waterford Ireland
Elizabeth Louisa Mortimer, S, 46, living on own means, born Waterford Ireland
Philippa Frances Mortimer, sister, S, 43, living on own means, born Waterford Ireland
Eliza Mills, servant, S, 85, domestic servant nurse, born Cashel Ireland
Fanny Elmes, servant, S, 56, domestic servant parlourmaid, born New Ross, Ireland
Harriet Hartridge, servant, S, 27, domestic servant cook, born Tonbridge Kent
Elizabeth Mahala Mears, servant, S, 25, domestic servant housemaid, born Staplehurst Kent
The indefatigable Mills was still working at the age of 85 – she died in 1894 — and Elmes had also been in the household in 1881.
On the 7 July 1893 application DH/C/6/1/5462 was for a W.C. Before U-bends were invented for toilets – attributed to the famous plumber Thomas Crapper, in 1880 — which removed smells (and hence, it was widely thought, disease) — it was normal for toilets to be in outhouses in the back.
Cassandra Mortimer, as of no. 19, died at Richmond, Surrey, on the 14 August 1893. Administration of her estate of £8152 went to sister Elizabeth. This was equivalent to about £914,000 today, and did not include any real estate – this only began to be taxed the following year.
There is a brief but informative notice on her death in the Sussex Express, 14 August 1895, although it cites Kilkenny for the actual Waterford:
17 Aug 1895. Sussex Express. MORTIMER. On the 14th Aug., at Queen’s-gardens, Richmond, Surrey, suddenly, Cassandra Mortimer, of 19, Warrior-gardens, St Leonards on Sea, eldest daughter of the late Michael Mortimer, Esq., of Rockshire, county Kilkenny.
The 1901 census had this household:
Elizabeth Louisa Mortimer, head, S, 56, living on own means, born Ireland Waterford
Margaret Grace Mortimer, sister, S, 57, living on own means, born Ireland Waterford
Philippa Frances Mortimer, sister, S, 53, living on own means, born Ireland Waterford
Priscilla Thomas, servant, S, 32, cook (domestic), born Sussex Hastings
Rose Merrell, servant, S, 28, parlour maid (domestic), born London Holborn
Margaret Beisley, servant, S, 22, house maid (do), born Kent Faversham
The 23 July 1903 issue of The British Journal of Nursing had this advert:
WANTED (end of July) NURSE, with some experience, for invalid lady. Heart disease. Age about 30. Lifting required. Comfortable home.
Miss Mortimer, 19, Warrior Gardens, St Leonards on Sea.
The 21 December 1906 issue of the Irish News and Belfast Morning News:
MORTIMER. December 16, at Warrior Gardens, St Leonards on Sea, Margaret Grace Mortimer, second daughter of the late Michael Mortimer, of Rockshire House, near Waterford, Ireland.
The South-Eastern Advertiser, 22 December 1906, adds that she died ‘after long, patient suffering’. Hence of course the nurse.
In the 1911 census we are told for the first time the number of rooms in the household, in this case 17.
Elizabeth Louisa Mortimer, head, 66, S[ingle], private means, born Co Waterford
Philippa Frances Mortimer, sister, 63, S, private means, born Co Waterford
Elizabeth Rose Merrell, servant, 38, S, parlourmaid (domestic), born London Holborn
Evelyn Apps, servant, 23, S, cook domestic, born Kent Willesborough
Florence Ann Chivell, servant, 29, S, housemaid domestic, born Devon Buckfastleigh
Mabel Elsie Page, servant, 16, S, Betweenmaid (domestic), born London Tottenham
Philippa Frances Mortimer died at no. 19 on the 28 October 1916, leaving an estate of £7192, leaving Elizabeth as the last sister.
The 1921 census stated that the house now had 14 rooms, and had this household:
Elizabeth L. Mortimer, head, 76, S, born Waterford, independent.
Elizabeth R. Merrell, servant, 49, S, born Holborn London, housekeeper (private)
Ethel Mary Furley, servant, 24, S, born St Leonards, housemaid (private)
Alice L. Carey, servant, 15, S, born Hastings, general domestic (private)
Mary Ann Merrell, visitor, 74, M, born Preston Hall, Scotland
Lucy Louisa Merrell, visitor, 44, S, born London EC
It was unusual but not unheard of, in my experience, for the relatives of servants to be visitors in the census, so Elizabeth Merrell was not exceptional. Mary Ann was her mother; her father had been a coachman. Elizabeth Rose Merrell was living with Sarah Merrell in 1939 on Newgate Road, Bohemia, as a retired domestic, and died at St Helens Hospital in 1955. The same Lucy in the census was the executrix to her estate of £2034.
The Hastings Observer, 15 September 1928, announced the death of the last of the sisters:
MORTIMER. On September 12th, 1928, at 19, Warrior-gardens, St Leonards on Sea, Elizabeth Louisa Mortimer, last surviving daughter of the late Michael Mortimer, in her 85th year. – Funeral Monday at 2.15, St Leonards Parish Church.
She left an estate of £16059. This would be about £880,000 today.
The property was put up for sale. An advert gives some details of the house and its furniture, in the Hastings Observer, 19 January 1929, as given below. There were four reception rooms and seven bedrooms, and a servants’ hall. It is useful to be told that the property was leasehold, but a mention of the length of the term would have been useful. The reference to the Misses Mortimer makes it clear that the house was still jointly owned. The auctions were to be on the premises.
On the 30 July 1929 planning application DH/C/6/1/10614, for the ‘conversion’ [into flats] of no. 19, was permitted. Some information about it is in the Hastings Observer, 3 August 1929:
Conversion into maisonettes, etc. 19, Warrior Gardens, St Leonards, Mrs A.J. Bruce-Shipway, owner, per Mr H. Burleigh, architect (approved on condition that the water supply, storage and fittings comply with the requirements of the Water Engineer).
The new owner was born Annis Josephine Dee, who, as the daughter of a gentleman, had married in 1890 at Holy Trinity, Hastings, Robert Bruce Shipway, a merchant from Cricklewood. The 1911 census for Guernsey showed her as a hotel guest, aged 39, married 20 years, five children, three still alive, born Philadelphia, father born Somerset, nationality American. The place of birth of the father was something I had not seen before in British censuses.
Her husband died in 1918 at Notting Hill, although of Hampton Wick. In the 1921 census his widow was at Havenside, De Cham Road, age 49, born ‘travelling London’, British, with two daughters, Hope, 20, and Faith, 19, and a companion, Margaret Edith Godwin, 48.
The 1939 electoral register lists the occupants by flat, indicating on which floor they lived:
Tull, Beatrice Laura (Basement)
Shipway, Annis Josephine (Ground Floor)
Perks, Mabel do.
Varney, George (1st Floor)
Varney, Alice do.
I chose that year because on the 30 September 1939 what is normally simply called the ‘Register’ was compiled: a list of all civilians in the UK, as a basis for rationing. However, anyone thought still to be alive has their data blacked out. The house numbers had 87 households, and for no. 19 the households were:
19a. [Household] 160. Tull Rachel L., F[emale], [born] 9 Jne 76, S[ingle], retired civil servant (Ministry of Labour).
Edwards [crossed through, replaced with Crush] Hevina G., F, 9 Jne 14, S, pastry hand
- 161. Shipway Annice J., F, 10 Mar 66, W[idow], private means
Thompson Elizabeth, F, 18 Dec 76, S, sick nurse
[blacked out entry, apparently one person in household 162]- Farney George, M[ale], 12 Jne 93, M[arried], automatic machine mechanic
Farney Alice, F, 11 Mar 05, M, unpaid domestic duties
The crossed through ‘Edwards’ meant that she later married a Mr Crush: in this case, by the end of 1939, in Southwark, to Arthur Crush. The employment details, given even for the retired, are invaluable. ‘Unpaid domestic duties’ is an accurate description and was the normal usage in the Register. Note that no relationships are shown, and also how the electoral and rationing details supplemented each other.
Annis Shipway died at no. 19 on the 22 May 1940, leaving an estate of £1973.
In the 1948 Kelly’s directory no. 19 was empty. For nos. 1-23, every house was divided into flats except for nos. 20-23, which were all single households, and no. 5, the Invergordon Private Hotel run by the Misses Laing. Some alterations have been made over the years as traced in The Keep’s catalogue up to 1960, or on the planning applications page from 1950 on Hastings Council’s website, but the street is unlikely to be very different today from how it looked when built, although the interiors no doubt have a much changed layout — a pity that some of the planning applications are unfit for production.