This is the story of three confectioner families in St Leonards, all linked by living at one time or another at 43 Marina. Evidence is at first fragmentary, and we can only speculate about motivations.
The address is presently that of a four-floored carpet store, presumably with housing above the ground level, next door to the Cumbia restaurant, which is across the street and to the east of the Royal Victoria Hotel. A street listing of shops and householders in an 1880/1881 directory confirms that it was located at the same place, as side streets are named, so it can be firmly identified.
The 1841 census does not give house numbers, but two doors down from the Royal Victoria Hotel was the household of William Seems – a confectioner. I know nothing more of him. I could not identify the first of our families, the Roberts, in Sussex although they were in Hastings in 1833 for a baptism.
In the 1851 census the occupants of 43 Marina were as follows:
George Roberts, head, M[arried], 57, house agent, born Sussex Seaford
Philadelphia Roberts, wife, M, 54, born Sussex Robertsbridge
Mary Roberts, dau, 14, born Sussex St Leonards
Henry Roberts, son, U[nmarried], 20, carpenter, born Sussex St Leonards
The couple had married in 1829 at St Mary in the Castle.
I cannot explain what C.T. [Charles Thomas], How, coal merchant and ship agent, was doing at 43 Marina when he advertised from there in the Sussex Advertiser, 11 December 1855. Possibly it was a misprint for the house number.
At some point George Roberts changed his occupation. He was cited as a confectioner when his son Henry, a carpenter, married, 19 February 1857, at St Leonards parish church, Jane Hobden, daughter of a labourer, both of St Mary Magdalen parish.
The 1858 Melville’s Directory confirms this while showing that the same son was based at both 43 Marina and nearby 10 Stanhope Place:
Roberts, Henry, cabinet maker and upholsterer, 43 Marina, and 10 Stanhope place
Roberts, George, confectioner, 43 Marina
In the 1861 census the occupants of 43 Marina were:
George Roberts, 67, confectioner, born Sussex Seaford
Philadelphia Roberts, wife, 63, assistant confectioner, born Sussex Robertsbridge
Mary Roberts, dau, 24, assistant confectioner, born Sussex St Leonards
Sarah Massenden, head, visitor, widow, 49, born Ireland Dublin
William Massenden, son, unm, 25, Captain in the Army, born Ireland Dublin
Elizabeth Massenden, dau, unm, 22, born Ireland Dublin
Mary O’Donnell, serv, widow, 52, housekeeper, born Ireland Kildare
Eliza O’Donnell, serv, unm, 22, lady’s maid, born Ireland Dublin
Mary Christmas, serv, unm, 26, house maid, born Sussex Robertsbridge
It would appear that the house was also a lodging house. Mary Christmas was presumably the Roberts’ own servant, as she was born in the same parish as Mrs Roberts.
George Roberts died on the 1 June 1866, of St Leonards on Sea, confectioner. He left an estate of £600. Probate was to Philadelphia the widow and William Pannett of St Leonards, butler.
One can only speculate on why Pannett was chosen. In my experience the executors for tradesmen and retailers, besides of course relatives, were those in similar occupations. In the 1851 census Pannett was at 67 Marina, married, butler to Ann Braham, 56, widow and gentlewoman, so we know he was at least a neighbour. His wife Leonora was living at 5 Mercatoria, next to the Horse and Groom, a ‘butler’s wife’, with their 18-year old daughter, who was a milliner; a watchmaker’s family shared that address. It was normal for the families of married butlers to live nearby rather than in the employer’s house, an exception often being made for a butler married to the cook (if no children).
The 1871 census for 43 Marina suggests that the daughter, Mary, carried on trading as a confectioner:
Philadelphia Roberts, head, widow, 74, lodging house keeper, born Sussex Salehurst
Mary Roberts, dau, unmarried, 34, pastry cook & confectioner, born Sussex St Leonards
Ellen Peerless, servt, unmarried, 15, servant, born Kent Smarts Hill
However a change in the household was brewing. In the same census, at nearby 16 East Street, which is between London Road and Warrior Square, there was this household:
Elizabeth Addison, head, widow, 56, housekeeper, born Sussex Rye
Walter S. Addison, son, unm, 21, cook, born Sussex Rye
Harold G. Addison, son, unm, 19, fishmonger, born Sussex Rye
Charles P. Addison, son, 16, greengrocer, born Sussex St Leonards
The same address had a separate household for the family of Edward Addison, plumber, another son. Elizabeth had been married to William Addison, a Lewes-born plumber, who like George Roberts had died several years before. In the 1861 census, the couple had been at 4 East Street with eight children.
Perhaps Walter was already a cook working at 43 Marina. He certainly soon became one. On the 6 June 1872, Rye parish church, there was the following wedding:
Walter Stride Addison, full age, bachelor, pastry cook, of Hastings, Sussex, son of William Addison, plumber, and Mary Roberts, full age, spinster, of Rye, Sussex, daughter of George Roberts, confectioner. The South Eastern Advertiser, 8 June 1872, adds that she was the only daughter of the late George Roberts, of 43 Marina.
Addison quickly established himself at 43 Marina. He applied for a license to sell beer from that address as reported in the Hastings Observer, 21 September 1872. This was granted.
Their son was baptised on the 13 June 1873 at St Leonards parish church. This was Walter George Addison, recorded as the son of Walter Stride, confectioner, 43 Marina, and Mary Addison.
The Keep, at Falmer, has a document, ACC5290/30, dated 1874, which I have not looked at. The catalogue entry is that is a ‘Release from Henry Roberts of St Leonards, lodging house keeper to the executors of George Roberts late of 43 Marina in Hastings, confectioner.’ This was the cabinetmaker son; I am not clear as to its significance.
There is a poignant entry in the Hastings Observer, 14 April 1877.
April 5th, at 43, Marina, St Leonards on Sea, the wife of Mr W.S. Addison, of a daughter, who survived its birth only fourteen hours.
Mary Addison the mother died two months later. The Brighton Guardian, 13 June 1877:
On June 5th, at East Molesey, Mary, wife of W.S. Addison, of Marina, St Leonards on Sea.
Her widower soon began to advertise. The first advertisement appears to be the one given below, in the South Eastern Advertiser (published in Rye, but giving good coverage to St Leonards), on the 26 January 1878. Note that it says that the business was established in 1829, perhaps at other premises. He had also expanded to 32 White Rock, Hastings.
Addison’s mother in law Philadelphia Roberts died on the 18 June 1878 at 43 Marina, with the sole executor Addison, of 43 Marina.
Three months later Addison remarried, on the 24 September 1878, at St Leonards parish church:
Walter Stride Addison, 28, widower, confectioner, of 143 London Road, son of William Addison, deceased, plumber, and Ann Elizabeth Dadge, 26, spinster, of 43 Marina, dau of John Dadge, confectioner.
The Dadge family were from the West Midlands. Another confectioner ! I am guessing that the reason for the London Road address being given was that Addison family owned it, and they were living there from at least the 1911 census. Ann may have been both living and working at 43 Marina, but often addresses on marriage certificates were not to be relied on.
By this time Addison was well established. The Hastings Observer, 17 January 1880, has him as one of the proposed directors of the (temperance) Coffee Palace and Hotel, across the road from what is now the Odeon, on a site long replaced by a large pavement and a key cutting shop. Pike’s Directory for Hastings, 1880/81 edition, lists him as a confectioner of 43 Marina and as a pastrycook at 32 White Rock.
The Hastings Observer, 25 December 1880, has a vivid account of the range of goods available at Christmas:
At this season of the year, Mr Addison’s will prove a most attractive one to the West-enders. That gentleman has turkeys in every shape ready for the table, roast, boiled, and braised, boar’s head, hugh game pies, &c., in addition to cakes, sweets, bon-bon and fancy boxes, many of the latter being correct representations of animals which when the head is removed, are found to contain sweets, &c.
The family continued to be at 43 Marina in the censuses until, in 1911, appearing at the same 143 London Road.
At his death in 1928, Addison was of 143 London Road but died at Woodmancote, Woodland Vale Road, which I think was a care home. He left an estate of £23014 – equivalent today to £1.2 million. He was buried at the Church in the Wood, Hollington.
Meanwhile another confectioner with a connection to 43 Marina had appeared on the scene. This was John de Gruchy. The evidence I have for this is his marriage on the 27 June 1877 at St Leonards parish church:
John de Gruchy, 24, confectioner, of 43 Marina, son of Joshua de Gruchy, tailor, to Jane Bourne, 29, parlour maid, of Bexhill Vicarage, dau of Henry Bourne, deceased, shoemaker.
There is also the first of many advertisements he placed in the Hastings and St Leonards Times, 5 July 1879, given below. ‘From Addison’s’ meant of course he had been working there, and was relying on a certain loaned cachet. A ‘rout supper’ referred to evenings at home playing at cards.
The first mention of de Gruchy at those premises that I am aware of was in the Hastings Observer, 1 February 1879, when two boys were charged with stealing a box of chocolate and two tablets of butterscotch from John de Gruchy, confectioner, of 33 Gensing Road. They were Charles Tollemache, 13, and Thomas Rymill, 12. Their pretext for being in the shop was asking for a half penny stale bun. The boys denied theft, but the articles were found when they were compelled to empty their pockets. Tollemache said he had only wanted the chocolate for his mother. De Gruchy said that he did not wish to press the charge, and the police Superintendent also asked for leniency, as they were of good character. The magistrate sentenced them to a single day in prison ‘after a few words of advice.’
It is clear from the newspapers that de Gruchy did a good deal of catering. Also, in the same 25 December 1880 issue of the Hastings Observer, cited just now for Addison’s, there is a description of the shop’s fantastically creative Christmas display:
The great attraction, however, here [on Silchester Road], is the shop of Mr De Gruchy, confectioner. This gentleman has a well-executed model of a wedding breakfast table, with the bride, bridegroom, and guests entering to take their places. Another model in sugar is one of Hollington Old Church in the Wood, one of Temple Bar, one of H.M.S. Pinafore, &c. There are, of course, the usual display of cakes, &c.
The 1881 census for 33 Gensing Road:
John de Gruchy, head, married, 26, confectioner employing 3 men, born Middlesex, London
Jane de Gruchy, wife, 26, born Sussex Selmeston
Albert de Gruchy, son, 2 born Sussex St Leonards
Ruth de Gruchy, dau, 1 mo, born Sussex St Leonards
Edwin Yeo, serv, 18, cook & confectioner, born Middlesex, Kilburn
Eliza Catt, serv, 16, servant (domestic), born Sussex,
Walter A. Bourne, serv, 17, cook & confectioner, born Sussex, upper Dicker
Eliza Catt was probably related to the Mary Catt who was been serving customers at the time of the robbery by the two boys in 1879, while Walter Bourne was probably John de Gruchy’s brother in law.
The family was still there in the 1891 census, but by the 1901 census had moved to 22 Elphinstone Road, Hastings. He died in 1916 in Hastings.