The Burtons’ St Leonards Society held today a very enjoyable event in the joined, beautiful gardens of 81 and 83 Pevensey Road in sunny weather. Our host kindly provided tours of some of the rooms of both houses which have been handsomely restored to their 1880s look, including the furniture. No. 81 is now a bed and breakfast as St Benedict, an early name for the house.
Next door at no. 83 there is a small, beautiful Orthodox chapel. The event was partly to help in the on-going raising of funds for the purchase of a larger church building at the old independent church site on nearby Albany Road. The gardens are normally open to the public on Saturdays, with cake and tea available to help with the fundraising.
I have already written about Mr Danvers, who appears to have been the first owner of no. 81, in my post James Farish Danvers and Swithland which includes a photo from the road showing no. 81 and the adjoining no. 83. I noticed in a front room of no. 81, in a stained glass window, the date ‘1881’, which is almost certainly when the house was built. Danvers was responsible for the 1886 planning application for ‘Additions’, which is at The Keep, Falmer, as DH/C/6/1/3255. I have not seen it.
Mr Danvers moved almost across the road in about 1894 to 44 Pevensey Road. A Mr and Mrs T.H. Kirkman then renamed it from Swithland to Yealand, but the couple were only there for about two years. It was then a Mr Parry who chose the name of St Benedict.
This account will only cover some of the many people who lived at the address.
In the 1901 census there were seven occupants:
Philip Parry, M[arried], 59, living on own means, b London
Louisa Parry, wife, 49, M, b Essex, Stratford
Philip C. Parry, son, S[ingle], 21, undergraduate Oxford, b London
Beatrice L. Parry, daughter, S, 19, b London
Gordon E. Parry, son, S, 14, b Surrey, Dulwich
Kate A. Saxby, serv, S, 19, housemaid (domestic) b Sussex Catsfield
Rosina Phillips, serv, S, 45, cook (domestic), b Sussex St Leonards
In the 1891 census in Norwood, Surrey, Philip Parry was a book publisher. However, when he was burgled in 1866 he was a bookseller in Islington, London (thanks, Old Bailey database !).
In about 1904 a new occupant appeared. This was Colonel Vallings. In the 1911 census this was the household. For the first time in the census it was asked how many rooms were in the household (12, in this case) and also the very intrusive questions about how long a couple had been married, how many children, and – in particular – how many were still alive. In this case those answers were 39 years, 4 children, 2 still alive. Six were in the household.
Adolphus Vallings, Colonel Indian Army, born London St Pancras
Blanche Mary Vallings, wife, 63, born Benares, UP, India
Blanche Violet Mary Vallings, dau, 37, S, born Edwardsabad, NWF, India
Clara Markwick, servant, 33, S, cook, born Sussex Hooe
Rosa Tubb, servant, 35, S, housemaid domestic, born Middlesex Harlington
Lydia Bristow, servant, 18, S, parlourmaid, born London Chelsea
The couple had married at Brighton in 1871. The Colonel had served in the 41st Bengal Native Infantry and then the Frontier Force. He died at no. 81 on the 19 April 1918. His widow died in Devon in 1930.
An interesting question is, for me, what happened to a house after the death of the householder. The Hastings and St Leonards Observer (HSLO), 6 July 1918, tells us that it was ‘recently let’ by Dawson & Harden. The 15 February 1919 issue states that the executors had ordered a sale by auction, on the premises on the 11 March, of both the superior furniture and of the house itself – it is not indicated if it was leasehold or freehold. The house was described as a ‘well-built modern residence in the best residential part, and containing excellent and well-arranged accommodation. With vacant possession.’
The new occupants were, at least from the 1920 electoral register, the Palmers. For the last time we have the census to help us, in 1921. The house was described this time as having 13 rooms. There were four occupants:
Horace Palmer, age 52 years 6 months, born Suffolk Bradfield S. George, none [occupation]
Florence Palmer, wife, age 47, born Middlesex Acton, home duties
Eileen Palmer, daughter, age 17 years 7 months, S, born Suffolk Bury St Edmunds, music student
Joan Palmer, daughter, age 13 years 8 months, born Suffolk Bury St Edmunds, student whole time
In about 1904 a new occupant appeared. This was Colonel Vallings. In the 1911 census this was the household. For the first time in the census it was asked how many rooms were in the household (12, in this case) and also the very intrusive questions about how long a couple had been married, how many children, and – in particular – how many were still alive. In this case those answers were 39 years, 4 children, 2 still alive. Six were in the household.
Adolphus Vallings, Colonel Indian Army, born London St Pancras
Blanche Mary Vallings, wife, 63, born Benares, UP, India
Blanche Violet Mary Vallings, dau, 37, S, born Edwardsabad, NWF, India
Clara Markwick, servant, 33, S, cook, born Sussex Hooe
Rosa Tubb, servant, 35, S, housemaid domestic, born Middlesex Harlington
Lydia Bristow, servant, 18, S, parlourmaid, born London Chelsea
The couple had married at Brighton in 1871. The Colonel had served in the 41st Bengal Native Infantry and then the Frontier Force. He died at no. 81 on the 19 April 1918. His widow died in Devon in 1930.
An interesting question is, for me, what happened to a house after the death of the householder. HSLO, 6 July 1918, tells us that it was ‘recently let’ by Dawson & Harden. The 15 February 1919 issue states that the executors had ordered a sale by auction, on the premises on the 11 March, of both the superior furniture and of the house itself – it is not indicated if it was leasehold or freehold. The house was described as a ‘well-built modern residence in the best residential part, and containing excellent and well-arranged accommodation. With vacant possession.’
The new occupants were, at least from the 1920 electoral register, the Palmers. For the last time we have the census to help us, in 1921. The house was described this time as having 13 rooms. There were four occupants:
Horace Palmer, age 52 years 6 months, born Suffolk Bradfield S. George, none [occupation]
Florence Palmer, wife, age 47, born Middlesex Acton, home duties
Eileen Palmer, daughter, age 17 years 7 months, S, born Suffolk Bury St Edmunds, music student
Joan Palmer, daughter, age 13 years 8 months, born Suffolk Bury St Edmunds, student whole time
After World War I it was common for even middle class households not to have servants living in the house, as more lucrative jobs, with shorter hours and less stress, had opened up. The Palmers may have had servants working part-time, or simply living nearby.
Horace was in fact Walter Orbel Horace Palmer. Walter was son of a Suffolk farmer, and was a law student in the 1891 census. The couple were still there in the 1924 electoral register.
On the 3 April 1925 a planning application for ‘Conversion’ was approved, and is at The Keep as DH/C/6/1/9517. I have not seen it, but we have a little bit of information from the 4 April issue of the HSLO, which announced a number of successful planning applications. These included ‘Conversion into two maisonettes, 81, Pevensey-road West, Dr R.M. Johnston, owner, Mr Henry Ward, architect.’
The mention of Dr R.M. Johnston is a valuable one, as it suggests to me that the Palmers were tenants, or had possibly sold the house to him. He was Robert Macfie Johnston, a Glaswegian who had been living at 72 London Road since at least the 1911 census. His doctorate was as might be guessed in medicine, not in for example music ! He was the Medical Officer for the borough.
The architect, Ward, had moved from London in his late twenties, and was very prolific locally, being responsible for large projects such as the Gothic Revival town hall next to the Priory Shopping Centre, and the Plummer Roddis department store, later Debenhams. He died just before it was finished, in 1927. Other large projects in the area are mentioned in his Wikipedia article. Ward readily worked on small commissions such as this one.
The electoral registers frequently indicate who lived on what floors in divided houses. However, the 1927 electoral register has no. 81 as three, and not two, flats. The basement was occupied by a Henry Dorrington Ward, the ground floor by Marie Whitehouse, and the first and second floors by Alice Nicholson Gibbs. At least, these were the voters, remembering that until 1928 only women over 30 had the vote, while men could vote from the age of 21.
It would be hard work to try to trace who they and subsequent tenants were. Henry Dorrington Ward, for example, was in the 1925 electoral register on the first floor of 359 London Road. In the 1921 census at nearby Westfield he was age 37, born Hastings, an architectural draughtsman. And so on…
I will conclude with the occupants in what is simply called the ‘Register’, a list of all UK civilians made on the 30 September 1939. It was compiled for rationing purposes, though why exact dates of birth were relevant I have no idea. The relationships between the individuals would have been helpful for genealogists, but we are only told the marital status, such as W, widow, M, married, and S, single. The house was divided as no. 81, no. 81A (which was apparently vacant) and no. 81B.
81. Worthington Atkin, Alexandra, W, b 10 March 1863, unpaid domestic duties
Worthington Atkin, Winifred L., S, b 22 Oct 1902, unpaid domestic duties, ARP Reserve of British Red Cross, member of A—- Casualty Service
81A. line, implying vacant.
81B. Townesend, Charles J.F., M, b 12 Oct 1854, civil engineer retired
Townesend, Emily C.M., M, b 27 July 1872, unpaid domestic duties
Townesend, Georgina M., S, b 8 Nov 1897, dressmaker retired
Alexandra Worthington Atkin was the widow of the Rev. Joseph Worthington Atkin who had died in 1920 at Anerley, Kent. Both had been born in Dublin, and Winifred was their only child, born in Cork. ‘Unpaid domestic duties’ is the usual term in the Register for household labour by the wife or daughter.
Charles Townesend had been an engineer on the Southern Punjab Railway. He died only a few months later at the house, in December.
Marvellous research, thank you.