Padgham and Hutchinson were an important building partnership in St Leonards and Bexhill in the 1890s and early 1900s. A great deal of information is in the useful Discovery database that includes archives for East Sussex at The Keep, plus of course mentions in the newspapers.
In Discovery, putting in say a street or an exact address can be restricted to East Sussex mentions by asking for only such material (as provided for in the left hand column when results appear), or by inserting DH as the reference (which limits the search to Hastings planning applications, 1851-1960). Although the information is normally very limited it can be interesting to identify, say, an old planning application to convert a house into flats. The dates in the entries are the date of approval or disapproval, not of application.
David Padgham was born in about 1861 at Northiam. In the 1871 census he was a scholar in the village, his father David a watchmaker, born Ewhurst. In the April 1881 census David Jr. was age 20, lodging at 2 New Road, Bohemia, as a carpenter, in the house of William Barden, also a carpenter.
He married, on the 4 July 1881, Northiam parish church, as a carpenter, of St Matthew’s, Silverhill, son of a watchmaker. His bride was Mary Ann Britt, of Northiam, daughter of a mariner.
In the 1891 census he was a 3 Lorne Villas, Silverhill, which is close to Asda, on Sedlescombe Road North. His wife was born at Rye. There were five sons, only the youngest of whom was born at Silverhill. There was also his brother George, age 18, a bricklayer, and visitor Matilda Padgham, 25, probably a sister.
In the 1901 census, the family were at Sunny Bank, Battle Road. His wife Mary Ann sadly died there on the 31 May 1902, age 42, leaving an estate of £241, and no will. Her widower died on the 18 May 1905 at 22 Springfield Road, aged 45. He only had an estate of £256, and as he too had made no will his affairs were dealt with as an administration by sons Charles David Padgham and Albert Henry Padgham, carpenter. According to the brief obituary and funeral details provided in the Hastings and St Leonards Advertiser, 25 May 1905, he had died ‘somewhat suddenly’, and had ten children. Canon Hodges of the Anglican church at Blacklands presided over the ceremony. The notice ended with ‘He was very popular with his workmen and those with whom he came in contact.’
The government’s official journal of record, the London Gazette, cited partnerships ending (to sort out who was liable for debts) but did not record partnerships being formed. Normally such notices were when one partner retired. It shows that they had three offices: 255 London Road, York Road, and Sedlescombe Road South, all in or near Silverhill. I only show the first part as the uninteresting second part is on the following page.
Percival Hamilton Hutchinson, or Percy Hutchinson, was born in 1860 at Rye. In the 1861 census at Rye he is listed as Percy Hamilton, aged 5 months, with sister Emma Hamilton, age 2, born Ashford, and mother Maria Hamilton, traveller’s wife, born Ramsgate.
In the 1871 census at Northiam the whole family was named Hutchinson except Maria Bell the mother, who was also the housekeeper. Robert the father, born at Canterbury, was a farmer of 80 acres with two men and two boys working for him. There were six children, with Percival the eldest. Robert had married his first wife in 1842. She died in 1893, with no evidence of a divorce, let alone a second marriage to Maria.
In the 1881 census David Jr. was at 38 Mount Pleasant Road, Hastings, carpenter, and a lodger in a gardener’s house.
In 1884, in the Rye district, David married Orlow Paine. The marriage was probably Methodist as she, in particular, was noted in her funeral notice as being a faithful member of Park Road Methodist Church in Bohemia. Anglican marriages are on the Ancestry database but local non-Conformist or Catholic marriages are not available on any database.
In the 1891 census he was at 14 Vale Road, Silverhill. The household was:
Robert P. Hutchinson, head, M[arried], 30, builder, born Sussex, Rye
Orlow Hutchinson, wife, M, 25, born Sussex, Brede
Ernest Hutchinson, son, 3, born Sussex, Northiam
Frank Hutchinson, boarder, S[ingle], 25, painter, b Sussex, Winchelsea
Frank was a brother. In addition there was a lodger, Emma Banister, a 40-year-old widow, who worked as a laundress, who had four children in the house, three with the same occupation. The house only has three or four bedrooms so it must have been quite crowded.
In the 1901 census they were at the same house, Grasmere, Vale Road.
In 1904 he became a member of the Abbey Lodge, Battle, as a freemason.
In the 1911 census Hutchinson was at 11-roomed 26 Clinton Crescent, born Rye, wife Orlow born Brede. He was a builder and contractor. His wife and son were both involved in the business. Orlow was his correspondence clerk, while Ernest Paine Hutchinson was his general clerk. Besides four children (the 16-year old a milliner’s apprentice) there was a servant, Alice Lawes, age 32, from Peckham.
The house was in fact built by the partnership in about 1900. The planning application, DH/C/6/1/6584, was approved on the 19 October 1900 as DH/C/6/1/6608. The Hastings Observer the next day in reporting on planning applications stated
Detached house, Clinton-crescent: Messrs Padgham and Hutchinson, owners, per Mr F.H. Humphreys, architect
Frank Humphreys had worked with the partnership on at least 13 houses in Clinton Crescent during 1900-02, and with builder J. Cruttenden on another two. Humphreys had also worked with the partnership on at least four houses in Vale Road, Silverhill in 1891-97 (which, I’ve just realised, is earlier evidence than 1893 about when they were partners).
In the 1921 census the family was again at no. 26. Age 60, Hutchinson was a builder and contractor, at 236 London Road. The household only included beside him his wife and his sister in law Emma Paine, 60, ‘retired’.
Percival Hamilton Hutchinson died on the 2 January 1934, age 73, of Dunollie, 26 Clinton Crescent. He left an estate of £7090. His wife died in 1938. Both were stated in the newspapers to be Methodists.
The first evidence of a partnership that I am aware of is the Hastings and St Leonards News, 5 May 1893. There was a news item on the result of tenders for two separate construction projects in Silverhill. The first was a successful tender of £525 for the building of three shops in front of 3 and 4 Clarence Villas, William Cooper being the architect. The second was an unsuccessful tender of £218 for alterations to the shop of Mr Webb at 52 Bohemia, £161 being the lowest and successful tender. Most of the mentions of the partnership during the next few years were similar, but later they took to buying plots and building on them.
An example is that in 1897 they built my former house: 52 Vale Road, Silverhill. They had purchased the plot from the Eversfield Estate on the (normal) 99-year lease. Numbers 52 and 54 formed a semi-detached pair of houses. The partners quickly sold it on to get their money back and make a profit, as of course they had spent money on the plot, labour and materials. Most builders at the time worked at this time on the same principle of buying a few plots and quickly selling on to get the cash back. Unfortunately I have not been able to identify the planning application.
Besides mentions of planning applications, there are covenants between the partnership and Hastings Urban Sanitary Authority. Such covenants were to do with drainage, and of course the implication was that they wanted to develop the plots. DH/C/15/91 from 1904 is for 27-30 Burry Road. DH/C/15/285 also from 1904 is for 5-7 York Road. DH/C/15/254 from 1932 was only for Hutchinson and was for 35-39 (odds) St Saviour’s Road, so be was still building then.
The partnership carried out extensive work in Bexhill. The Bexhill Chronicle, 7 February 1896, reported on eleven tenders to construct a Methodist chapel on the corner of Sackville and Parkhurst roads. Their bid of £1500 was the lowest and was accepted. The newspaper continues:
The contractors undertake to complete the structure in 22 weeks from time of commencement. It will be remembered that the successful firm built the S. Barnabas School, and the S. Barnabas Vicarage, at Bexhill.
It still stands as the King’s Church. Another project was their work on renovating the St Leonards Baptist Church (Hastings and St Leonards Advertiser, 16 August 1900).
The newspapers indicate that they also had planning applications for building houses on St Helen’s Down in Hastings, 1899-1900.
All this only gives us glimpses of the business activities of the partnerships. Many firms at the time had annual day outings for their employees, and interesting and human touches often come from the enthusiastic newspaper accounts. For example, the Hastings Observer, 17 July 1897:
EMPLOYES’ OUTING.—The employes of Messrs. Padgham and Hutchinson, builders and contractors, of Silverhill, had their annual outing on Saturday. Mustering at 6.30 a.m. to the number of over 60, a start was made from Silverhill in three fine four-horse char-a-bancs, supplied by Mr. Dick Russell. Cranbrook was the ultimate destination. The direction taken was through Battle and Robertsbridge, halting on the way to breakfast at John’s Cross. Here, in a decorated marquee, Host Hall had an excellent breakfast waiting. The journey was continued through Hawkhurst, and Cranbrook was reached about noon. Here at the Bull Hotel Mr. and Mrs. Bone, the genial host and hostess, had prepared a splendid dinner. After the repast a short toast list was submitted by Mr. W. Stevens (the chairman). After the loyal sentiment the Chairman proposed “Our Employers,” and said the very fact of their presence with them that day evidenced the kind feeling that existed between them and their workmen. Their conduct towards every man was such as to inspire feelings of respect and confidence.—Mr. Padgham, in responding, remarked that it gave Mr. Hutchinson and himself great pleasure to be with them all in their holiday, and he trusted the association would be the means of fostering the kindest understanding between them. He liked to be with them in their enjoyment as well as in their work.—Master E. Hutchinson then gave two pianoforte selections, for which great praise is due.—”The health of Mr. Hayhurst, the shop foreman,” to whose efforts were mainly due the satisfactory arrangements of the day’s pleasure, was drunk, and the Chairman then gave “The Host and Hostess.”—Adieu was bidden to Cranbrook at 4.30; tea was taken at Mr. F. Comport’s, Northiam, and after a stoppage at Sedlescomb home was reached about 11.15, everyone having enjoyed himself.
This is a very typical account of such excursions. Besides the little details we learn that the partnership had 60 employees, and the implication was that they were regularly employed and not just on a casual basis. Note Master E. Hutchinson playing on the piano — this was Ernest, who would have been about nine years old. The following year they went to Heathfield (Hastings Observer, 23 July 1898). I did not look for other outings, which the newspapers sometimes called beanfeasts.
The partnership would have had their own carts and horses and hence drivers. The Hastings and St Leonards News, 15 July 1898, reported on a hayrick in a field belonging to them being set on fire by boys.
The Hastings and Bexhill Independent, 3 January 1901, reported on the theft of lead cuttings worth five shillings from a house at Silverhill, the property of Padgham and Hutchinson, plumbers. This is the only hint I have seen of the partnership installing plumbing, unless it was there for other workers to use. Henry Thrift said he was very sorry but he was still sentenced to 14 days’ hard labour [at Lewes Prison].
There are so many mentions in the newspapers that it is hard to choose, and it becomes repetitive, but it does show the considerable scale of their operations. They put in many tenders for work, not all successful, such as for a new road and sewers where their bid of £1193 was accepted (Hastings Observer, 21 March 1903). In the same edition they offered for sale a well-bred bay mare, six years old, no price mentioned.
A very detailed article discussing Warrior Square Mews, which (somewhat rebuilt, no doubt) is on Western Road, facing the western end of Terrace Road. They had carried out improvements to the mews, which were owned by Skinners, the leading transport company in the town (Hastings Observer, 25 July 1903).
The Hastings and St Leonards Advertiser, 6 August 1903, reported on their haystack with 30 tons of hay, in a field on Beaufort Road, Silverhill, catching fire. It took six hours for the fire brigade to put it out. It was insured.
Another successful tender was to build a fire station in West Marina, with an offer of £699 (Hastings Observer, 6 August 1904).
I will conclude this account with a dramatic description of a horse bolting on Maze Hill in the Hastings Observer, 17 September 1904. I initially confused the hotel with the St Leonards Assembly Rooms, so this is a correction. The account may be referring to the deep basement area to the right of the back porch of the hotel but is not clear. There were three headlines: A HORSE CHOLOROFORMED. EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT. EXCITING SCENE AT ST LEONARDS.
A horse had an extraordinary experience at St Leonards on Thursday morning, and it was almost a miracle that it escaped with its life.
The animal was the property of Messrs. Padgham and Hutchinson, builders, and was standing attached to a van, which, fortunately, was empty at the time, in Maze Hill-road, at about 11.30 in the morning. It evidently took fright and bolted at a terrific pace down the hill to the back of the Victoria Hotel, which is surrounded by a terrace of stone pillars. It dashed into this with terrific force, broke several of the pillars, and half fell into the area, being suspended in mid air.
The area is very narrow, and has a depth of about 20ft. When assistance arrived it was found that the only thing to be done was to cut the traces attaching the horse to the van, and the poor animal fell with a crash to the bottom.
It was with the greatest difficulty that it was raised to the surface. A couple of scaffolding poles were fixed, and after a sling had been placed round the animal’s belly, it was lifted by means of a pulley. Before this could be done, however, the animal had to be chloroformed. It was nearly four hours before the task was accomplished, and the operation was watched by hundreds of spectators.
The horse was not so much hurt as might have been expected, though it was badly cut and bruised.