Humphrey Charles Holman – almost invariably cited in newspapers as H.C. Holman — was a very active auctioneer and estate agent, and also an important hotel proprietor. He was an energetic booster for St Leonards on Sea, and was particularly protective of Warrior Square Gardens. This was perhaps due to his company owning two hotels on the square, but I like to think he also cared about his adoptive home. This is a long post but could easily have been twice as long.
He was born on the 7 December 1869 at Hadley, a small village in Hertfordshire, just outside London. His father was a chemist and druggist, and the family were in the village in the 1871 census. In the 1881 census the family was at Chiswick, with H.C. the eldest son among eight children.
The earliest newspaper citation to him that I can find was in Hastings’ Evening Journal, 7 May 1890, where it was stated that he had recently established himself as a house agent at 17 Kings Road, but now also had a branch at 3 Pelham Arcade, Hastings. He had entered into a partnership with Charles Nelson Atlee, late of Kimberley, South Africa, to be called H.C. Holman and Co.
On the 15 October 1890, he had a Catholic wedding at St George’s, Worcester. As of St Leonards, his bride was Rose Maria, daughter of Charles Richard Landon. She was born at Bruges, Belgium. The Dutch language civil registration for her birth in 1866 stated that her father was born in London and her mother in Worcester. They had six sons and one daughter.
In the 1891 census the couple were at 62 West Hill Road. He was 22, auctioneer, valuer and estate agent. She was 24. There was also a general servant.
By 1894 they had moved into Ravine Lodge, 56 Hoads Wood Road, Hastings. A planning application for new bathrooms, waterclosets, lavatory and pantry was permitted on the 16 April 1894 as DH/C/12/1/144 at The Keep, with William Cooper the architect.
In December 1894 a new partnership with Albert Edward Isaac as house and estate agents and auctioneers at 41 Robertson Street, as H.C. Holman and Co, was dissolved. Holman was to pay any debts, meaning that he was carrying on the business. It was sold in December 1898 to A. Godfery & Co. Later Holman’s business was concentrated at Cheapside, now the RockOptika optician at 41A London Road, where it meets Kings Road, opposite the Old England public house.
In the 1901 census the family was at Ravine Cottage, Ore. There were five sons, a governess, a cook, and Robert Vine, age 28, as a ‘housman’, with ‘ag cattle’ added in another hand, which sounds mysterious – where they running a smallholding ? There was also a one-year-old nephew, Alfred D. Holman, born Hastings.
A rather bizarre incident was reported in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 13 March 1909. He was Captain of the 2nd Home Counties Field Company of the Royal Engineers, a Territorial unit. It was marching in wet weather to Warrior Square to muster with the other Territorials. Instead of meeting up with the other soldiers, his unit kept on marching along the front towards Hastings.
There had been an ‘unfortunate difference’ between Captain Holman and Colonel Cafe. Holman was told to consider himself under arrest. He had announced beforehand that he would bring along school cadets and working lads cadets, who had no right to be there as they were not Territorials. The exchange of letters before the parade were printed in the newspaper, probably supplied by Holman, and is given below.
That evening, before dismissing his men at the Drill Hall, Holman read out to his men the two letters and also gave the gist of a telephone conversation between Cafe and himself. It is almost beyond parody, and as the newspaper wryly commented, the astonished crowds watching saw two parades and not one that Saturday. It is unclear if Holman was ever actually placed under arrest or punished. It would appear that H.C. had a stubborn streak ! The photo below is ambigious but implies that the inset photo is of Holman.
H.C. was released from what was probably theoretical arrest and was temporarily suspended from his duties as a Territorial officer.
At some point H.C. became the managing director of the Edinburgh Hotel, St Leonards Limited. The Hastings and St Leonards Pictorial Advertiser, 23 December 1909, has a report on the 3rd AGM, with H.C. chairing as the managing director. Besides the Edinburgh Hotel itself they had taken over in March the Sussex Hotel at 110 Marina and were planning to take over the Warrior House Hotel on the 11th January. The Edinburgh and the Warrior Square were both on Warrior Square, facing each other. The account describes improvements to be made to the Warrior House Hotel, and concludes with the statement that for all three hotels ‘Mrs Jenner being responsible for their supervision and catering.’
The 7th AGM as reported on in the Hastings and St Leonards Pictorial Advertiser, 13 December 1913, gives much information under the title ‘Prosperity at St Leonards’. It was held in the billiard room of the Edinburgh Hotel and was chaired by H.C. as managing director. Despite rising costs in provisions, the cost of the insurance tax on employees (now National Insurance) and the Compensation Fund Charge, by being economical they were able to pay out a 10% dividend (less tax) for the seventh year in succession. £905 had been spent in repairs and renewals. They had paid off the last debenture of £350 so there was no charge for the shareholders to pay off. An extra £100 had been added to the reserves, now at £1100. There was no mention of the income and profit, nor any suggestion of improving the pay and conditions of the junior staff.
At the end of the AGM, H.C. thanked Mrs Jenner, who had ‘worked so hard and loyally in the interests of the Company for the past seven years, and done so much to secure the shareholders their handsome dividends.’ Mrs E.B. Jenner, listed as attending, was the manageress of the Edinburgh Hotel. She was eventually to become his second wife.
In 1898, at Bexhill, Elizabeth Blanche Wall had married Alfred George Jenner, a music professor from St Leonards. In the 1901 census they were at 13A London Road, St Leonards, he 29, born at St Leonards, she 26, born Stamford Hill, London. Her husband died in December 1902, when of Dunmore, Combermere Road, but dying at Bridge House, Bexhill, leaving a tiny estate of £6 8s.
In 1907 she was fined 2/6 for having a chimney on fire at Warrior Square. From 1909 there were frequent adverts for the Edinburgh, naming Mrs Jenner as the manageress.
In the 1911 census Elizabeth was manageress of the Edinburgh Hotel, age 35, widow and company director, with eight-year-old daughter Grace. There were 57 persons on the premises in 60 rooms. Unusually, H.C. signed the form for the address rather than someone in the household. In the same census H.C.’s family was on the opposite side of the square at the Warrior House Hotel, with him, age 42, named as an estate agent, auctioneer, and managing director of a hotel company. He was living with his wife Rosie Marie, 44, son Oswald, 19, house agent’s clerk, daughter Beatrice, 8, and a governess. There were 76 persons on the premises in 74 rooms.
H.C. wrote many letters to the newspapers, and I will briefly mention some in this account. These included in the Hastings Observer, 29 June 1912, a detailed letter objecting to the idea of a bandstand at Lower Warrior Square Gardens, saying it would disturb the peace of the area. He signed as the managing director of the Edinburgh Hotel St Leonards Company.
The Hastings Observer, 3 March 1917, reported that Captain H.C. Holman, RE, had been in last Saturday’s London Gazette “mentioned for valuable services rendered in connection with the war.” He had recently been promoted to Major, with precedence from 5 November 1916. This appears to have been restricted to home duties. His son Malcolm was a Lieutenant RE on his marriage in 1916 at (Anglican) Holy Trinity, Brompton.
Earlier, in the Hastings Observer, 24 June 1916, there was an appeal to the East Sussex Tribunal regarding conscription. Exemption had been given for [only] three months, and more time was wanted. W.F. Wyatt was the chef of the Warrior House Hotel. Captain H.C. Holman appeared in support and said he was the MD and on active service. The chef at the Edinburgh Hotel was an old man while Wyatt 28 or 29. He also attended to the hot water and helped with the automatic electric lift and was the only man of military age on the staff. ‘Captain Holman said he was known as a very keen recruiter. He would not have applied if the man could be spared. They had applied to the Labour Exchange and the Y.M.C.A. and for discharged soldiers.’ The appeal was dismissed.
H.C. wrote another (long) letter to the Hastings Observer, 8 March 1919. He was decrying locals who disparaged Hastings. He wanted more publicity for the many sights. In the Channel Islands every shop had free pamphlets about the sights, and the Borough Association should do the same. Advertisements would cover some of the cost. ‘I say to Hastings, Smile, damn you, smile. If this demeanour could become perpetual with us the borough would quickly boom.’
In the 1921 census H.C. and his wife appeared to have separated, as she was living at Richmond, Surrey with her son Oswald, rubber planter, and daughter Beatrice, no occupation. Mrs Jenner was again at the Edinburgh but I could not trace H.C. himself. In 1939 Mrs Holman was in Barnes, London, with the faithful Beatrice, of the WVS.
The Hastings Observer, 11 June 1921, gave a lengthy account, with a dark photo, of Joseph Cecil Holman, the youngest son, who had died at the age of 21.
He had joined the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) at the end of 1920, and was drafted to Gormanston and then Kilworth, near Cork. This was a time of considerable unrest when the IRA was fighting British forces in the struggle for Irish independence. Joseph was walking with a a lady near the barracks when he was shot at from behind a hedge. He received a full charge of shot in the left face, neck and chest and quickly died from shock and hemorrhage. The lady received two shots in the face. She fetched a nearby doctor, but nothing could be done. Her brother in law, also in the RIC, had been killed four months before. The killer escaped. Joseph’s body was conveyed to England and rested in the mortuary of the Roman Catholic Church of St Thomas and the English Martyrs on Magdalen Road. A very elaborate military procession took the body to Hastings Cemetery for interment. The mourners included the father, his four brothers, and Mrs Jenner and her daughter, but there was no mention of his mother.The account also states:
The late Mr Holman, during the war, was a cadet on a hospital ship, which was torpedoed in the Mediterranean. He, with some others, were rescued by the Germans with whom he had perforce to spend a week on a submarine, but was well treated. After being landed he was a prisoner for 18 months in a German camp.
Details of his grave are on the Friends of Hastings Cemetery website. The Hastings Observer, 7 June 1924, reported that in his son’s memory H.C. had conveyed to the Chief Constable and Town Clerk as trustees 36 Norman Road and 16 Warrior Gardens. The income from the long leases was for the benefit of the Police Aided Clothing Fund. Also in his son’s memory, the Hastings Observer, 7 November 1925, reported that H.C. had donated X-ray equipment to the Royal East Sussex Hospital. The cost was not given, only that it was ‘very expensive’, with a single X-ray bulb costing £40.
In the same paper, 20 August 1921, H.C. placed two small adverts. The first was presumably for Mrs Jenner and her daughter. The second he surely could have researched from his business as an estate agent:
WANTED, easily managed BUSINESS for lady and daughter; cash waiting for early possession. – Full particulars to Mr Holman, King’s-rd., St Leonards.
WANTED, to purchase, within 20 miles, comfortable HOUSE with good gardens or 50 to 100 acres. – Full particulars to Holman, Warrior House Hotel, St Leonards.
He was living at Cheapside at the time. His exact domestic arrangements in the next few years are hard to determine. In the 1925 electoral register he was entitled to a vote from 32C Kings Road but a note states that his actual ‘abode’ was 16 Warrior Square, in other words the Warrior House Hotel. Mrs Jenner was registered as a voter at 16-20 Warrior Square, so the same.
In the 1927 electoral register he was at Oak Lea, Silverhill Park (the large property also bordered Old Roar Road). Besides two men, almost certainly the chauffeur and the gardener in cottages, the voters included Louisa Eva Wall — the mother of Mrs Jenner. She only died there in 1942. Even then, H.C. had yet to marry Louisa’s daughter — his wife was still alive — and it must have made for an unusual domestic arrangement. Mrs Jenner, meanwhile, was resident as a voter at the Warrior House Hotel — at least in theory. In 1929, however, she, her mother, and H.C. were for the first time all voters at Oak Lea.
The Hastings Observer, 25 June 1927, reported on discussions about whether to replace the trams with trolley buses which would have overhead wires. Holman was one of those giving evidence to a Parliamentary committee. He said he was the MD of the Warrior House and Edinburgh Hotels, and a shareholder in the Royal Victoria Hotel. He supported the proposal, as motorists found the tramlines awkward. It mentions Mrs E.B. Jenner, a co-director, who had been asked to sign a petition against the trolley buses as unattractive, and implied that signatures had been obtained fraudulently.
In the same, 17 December 1927, H.C. wrote a letter in protest as Company Secretary and MD of the Edinburgh Hotel Company regarding a proposed rockery in the lower gardens of Warrior Square. He said it might block the view of the promenaders as seen from the hotels. It would also go against covenants. A letter by freeholders of Warrior Square was mentioned, and deeds dated 23-24 October 1834 and 25 March 1835 between James Troup and the Eversfield Estate.
In the same, 15 September 1930:
UPPER WARRIOR SQUARE GARDENS.
The [Council] Emergency Committee had considered a communication from Major H.C. Holman, stating that, encouraged by comments in the Press, as to the desirability of the Corporation owning the Upper Warrior-square Gardens, he had approached the South Coast Residences, Ltd., who took over the gardens some years back, and made them an offer for the same, stating his intention to offer the gardens to the town, that the company have accepted his offer, and if the Town Council would like to have these gardens subject to existing rights, the transfer can be arranged as soon as the conveyance is ready.
The committee recommended that the offer be accepted with the grateful thanks of the council… [existing rights meant, for example, that, as Cllr Morgan pointed out, “We could not, for instance, construct a bathing pool there.”]
The Keep at Falmer has, dated 15 June 1931, deed DH/B/83/168, catalogued as ‘Upper Warrior Square Gardens. Leasehold acquired from South Coast Residences Limited and Humphrey Charles Holman under the Hastings Corporation Act 1924 by the Parks and Gardens Committee.’
H.C. wrote again to the paper on the 17 October 1936 about a proposal to relocate the Town Hall in the upper portion of Warrior Square (yes, really). He had purchased the land in 1930 and entered into a covenant with the Council on the 15 June 1931. He pointed out that the square’s gardens were always meant for the local residents, and referred to the 1834 conveyance to Troup.
In the same, 7 November 1936, H.C. favoured the idea of a solarium in Warrior Square Gardens.
In the same, 25 June 1938, 4 Winding Street in Hastings was to be compulsorily purchased by the Council from its owner and occupier Mr J.G. Johnson under the Old Town Clearance Scheme for a mere £15 ‘site value’. A ‘local resident’ had offered to buy it from Johnson for £200 and to hand it over to the Council. The newspaper had made enquiries, and could reveal that the offer had been made by Major H.C. Holman. The 23 July edition added that Johnson, a window cleaner and fried fish salesman, valued the house at £300. H.C. had upped his offer to £225, while the Corporation were offering £20 and removal expenses, but Johnson refused this offer. There are many poignant details of the eviction before 30 onlookers. Holman confirmed that his offer had been withdrawn after he had asked in vain for details of how much the house had cost.
From July 1938 H.C. wrote to the same criticising air raid precautions. On the 23 July 1938 one of his four proposals for the ‘development’ of Hastings was building air raid shelters in open spaces about the town. The other proposals were providing for playing bowls indoors in winter; an underground car park in the Falaise/ St Margaret’s Road area; and a coach station.
In the same, 30 July 1938, H.C. wrote ‘Air Raid Precautions. A dream by Major H.C. Holman.’ He gave very detailed suggestions, as if reality, and then said he had been woken by the maid. The letter ended with ‘Wake up ! Hastings.’ In the same edition his offer of an iron lung to the Royal East Sussex Hospital was gratefully accepted.
On the 22 October H.C. wrote again to the Hastings Observer about ARP precautions. He claimed that there were plenty of cellars and advised that St Clement’s Caves could be used by women and children. Also underground car parks and Bottle Alley. Sandbag walls could subdivide the underground car parks. Concrete bathing chalets could be used, and blackout precautions in houses were important.
In the same, 29 October 1938, H.C. wrote a letter saying that Hastings was not publicising itself enough. There were other letters by H.C. about the town which I have omitted, including his work with the Development Committee for the town.
In the same, 4 February 1939, in a long letter H.C. said that in recent years nearly £4 million had been spent by the Council in improvements. This refers probably to the work on the promenade, the Sun Lounge, and so on. His proposal of an indoor bowls facility was to be taken up at a cost of £22000. From the thousands of enquiries at the Information Bureau he believed that ‘We are in for an exceptionally good summer season.’
On the 30 September 1939, with the war a month old, the ‘Register’ of civilians in the country was compiled for rationing purposes. These are the details for Oaklea, Old Roar Road:
Holman Humphrey C., M[ale], [born] 7 Dec 69, M[arried], Auctioneer & Estate Agent (retired) & Secretary Hotel Company
Jenner Elizabeth B, F[emale], 21 July 74, W[idow], Hotel Manageress & Director [with Holman and 12.5.44 written in, indicating her new surname on marriage at that date]
Wall Louisa E., F, 26 July 53, W, Private Means
Rees Mary E., F, 25 Mar 70, S[ingle], Cook
Smewing Christine F., F, 8 Apr 13, S, Housemaid
Gurr Alice A., F, 25 Apr 93, S, Chambermaid
There was also Oaklea Cottage, with Thomas Lawrence, the garderner, with his wife and presumed daughter (relationships are not stated in the Register), and Oaklea Rest, with Gilbert Cox, the chauffeur, his wife, and three possible children – possible because their entries are blacked out as it is thought that they are still alive, to protect privacy.
H.C. clearly owned some property in the town. The bomb damage returns at Hastings Museum mention him as an owner of damaged premises at 133 Bohemia Road, 9 and 10 North Street, 45D, E and F London Road, and 36 Pevensey Road. This is unlikely to be complete, if only because not all buildings were damaged.
Both the Edinburgh and Warrior House were damaged in the raids, which is why they are clearly rebuilt, especially the site of the Edinburgh, which houses a medical facility at ground level, opening onto Norman Road. Hence an advert such as this one, in the Hastings Observer, 12 June 1943:
MARRIED COUPLES
A SENIOR and responsible couple wanted to be in charge of Warrior House Hotel until rehabilitated; comfortable accommodation. – Apply Major Holman, Edinburgh Hotel, St Leonards.
In the same, 22 January 1944, H.C. advertised for a gardener ‘with knowledge of car’, with a cottage available. Two adverts down, Mrs Jenner advertised from the Edinburgh for a handyman as second porter.
H.C.’s wife Rose died on the 10 March 1944. On the 12 May he married Elizabeth Jenner at Hastings. I only know the date from the 1939 Register as I have not seen the marriage certificate. It does not seem to have been announced in the newspapers. It may not be a coincidence that the Hastings Observer, the day after the wedding, published this notice. H.C. is not mentioned as grieving for his loss.
HOLMAN. – Sincere thanks to all who have sent sympathy on the death of our dear mother, Rose Marie, who died March 10th, 1944, at Worthing (wife of Major H.C. Holman, of St Leonards). – Her devoted daughter Beatrice and her three sons.
In the first three months of 1957 Major Holman advertised for a gardener while Mrs Holman advertised for a housekeeper and then for a companion for an elderly lady. Two maids were kept as well as outside help. This number of staff was distinctly unusual by 1957.
H.C. died on the 20 May 1957. Although of Oak Lea, his probate record states that he had died at 31 De Cham Road. His obituary in the Hastings Observer, 25 May 1957, is as follows. I would have expected a longer obituary, if only his work as a hotelier.
Donor of Warrior-square Gardens, St Leonards, to the town in 1931, Major Humphrey Charles Holman, of Oak Lea, Old Roar-road, St Leonards, died on Monday, and cremation took place privately – at his wish – at the Borough Crematorium on Thursday. He was 89.
Major Holman took a great interest in the town’s welfare, and in the 1930s he conducted a campaign to brighten up the town’s advertising, and on a number of occasions addressed the committee of the old Borough Association.
Among his gifts to local causes was a large sum provided after the last war to further the housing schemes of the Old People’s Welfare Committee.
Before the war, Major Holman presented maroon-coloured robes to be worn by Town Councillors.
The Hastings Observer, 26 October 1957, reported on the bequests in his estate of £67405, equivalent to £1.4 million today:
After many personal bequests, he left the eventual residue of his estate for the benefit of the Hastings and St Leonards Old People’s Welfare Committee; the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Redeemer, Upper Church-road, Hollington (for the building of which he provided the money); Hastings and St Leonards Central Aid Council; the Hastings and District Police Court Mission; and the Salvation Army, for local needs.
His widow died in January 1958 at the age of 85 at Wivenhoe, Essex.