A lengthy pamphlet could be published on the many activities of Stephen Putland, and this account will only cover his occupation of 7 London Road, and his children. At present this corner address is occupied by a wellness studio next to Saxon Street, with Grand Parade further south, on the seafront. No. 9 is an art shop while no. 11 is a real estate office.
The early street numeration of London Road is unclear. In the Sussex Advertiser, 8 December 1857, Stephen Putland said that a few years ago it was decided to number London Road even numbers on one side, and odd on the other, “of course the numbers had to be altered, and so inconvenient did he find it that he now had no number at all”. Today there is indeed odd numbers on the east side, and th precise numeration seems to have stayed the same for that portion of London Road.
Earlier, the 1851 census showed the Putland household at 4 London Road, almost certainly the same as the future no. 7. Stephen Putland was 44, a coal and timber merchant, born Beckley. His wife Mary was born in Winchelsea. There were nine children, the eldest being Stephen Jr., 23, timber merchant and shopowner, born Buxted.
I had often encountered Stephen Putland in the newspapers, often cited as being of 7 London Road. Recently I came across a very informative advert for the sale by auction of 7, 9 and 11 London Road by auction in the Brighton Guardian, 6 February 1861. Besides a brief description which made it clear that the properties were between Saxon Street (as it is now, and not Saxon Road) and Norman Road, there was the mention of Stephen Putland having the lease, which was to expire next Midsummer Day. Anyone who cares to can measure the 57 feet between those two roads, and the 154 feet going east along Norman Road or Saxon Street. All this is valuable information !
Putland may have himself bought the property, or it is possible that the auction details were an unsubtle way to encourage Putland to pay a higher rent (I cannot find details of the auction). At any rate, he continued to occupy the premises. The image from the 1872 map below shows the arrangement of the coal store, a yard, a smithy and Royal Saxon Mews, all of which has been at some time replaced, if only because of war damage, which certainly applied to 7, 9 and 11 London Road.
In the 1861 census for 7 London Road Stephen Putland was a coal & timber merchant, surveyor and contractor, employing 12 men and 1 boy. Five children were still living there including Walter, 20, grocer, and Septimus, 18, an ‘assistant in office.’
In the 1871 census for no. 7 he was also a farmer of 80 acres employing 8 men [and] 1 boy.
He died on the 23rd January 1880 at no. 7, with an estate of £4000. His widow, late of 30 North Street, St Leonards, died shortly after at Preston, Sussex, on the 17 November 1880, with an estate of £100. Their marriage had been Anglican although Stephen was an active Methodist.
Meanwhile his son Stephen Jr. had been a timber merchant living at 24 Eversfield Place but in the 1881 census he was at no. 7, a coal merchant employing five men. The family appear to have owned at least one collier, and used a capstan at the end of London Road for unloading coal. The voyage typically took three days from northeast ports such as Seaham. At no. 9 was a baker. No. 11 was occupied by a grocer’s manager. Stephen Jr. in his turn died in 1886, aged only 59.
Stephen Jr. like his father was an active Methodist and a Liberal on the town council. Both father and son were involved in the charitable activities of the town.
The 1891 edition of Pike’s directory has in its street listing for no. 7 C.D. Putland, coal, coke and fuel merchant, house agent and auctioneer, plus Mrs Stephen Putland. The general directory of names adds that C.D. Putland’s offices were at no. 7 and 22 Norman Road, roughly opposite the modern day Heist, and a depot at West Marina. A separate entry is for his actual dwelling, Sunnyside, London Road. He was still at 7 London Road in the 1901 edition. In about 1911 it became a dyer’s and cleaners, Picketts.
So who was C.D. ? He was Charles Decimus Putland, who in the 1891 census was at Sunnyside, age 43, coal merchant, married to Emily. He was indeed the tenth child. He had many brothers but they had mostly predeceased him. He had married Emily Collins in 1870 at the Methodist chapel on Norman Road. Sadly Emily died soon after, and Charles married Marion Richardson in 1894 at St John’s, Upper Maze Hill, so an Anglican marriage. He died in 1916 in Alberta, Canada. I have not tried to find out what he was doing there other than noting that Charles Archibald, his son by his first marriage, had emigrated to British Columbia as a fruit grower in 1904.
The buildings at all four corners of the crossroads of London Road and Norman Road were destroyed or badly damaged in World War II. In 1951 no. 7 was the subject of what The Keep’s catalogue calls ‘W.D. rebuild’, war damage rebuild, with planning application DH/C/40/51/441. Kelly’s 1953 directory shows at no. 7 Flinn and Son, dyers and cleaners, with no entry for nos. 9 and 11. A year or two ago a new building went up at no. 7, a health clinic. Nos. 9 and 11 were also rebuilt after bomb damage. An application in 1954 and an amended plan in 1955 were both refused, but a 1959 plan was apparently accepted.