I came across an advert in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 14 June 1924, and it piqued my curiosity for two reasons. I like sales of adjacent houses, as it implies a common owner, and in this case there was also an attractive image of the street. I give it below, with a (very lightly) colorised version using Gemini AI of the actual street scene.
The houses are situated near the southern end of Charles Road, with Gensing Gardens opposite, and Clyde Road a little behind the photographer.
I wondered when the houses had been converted, and by whom. I was hoping that a combination of using the National Archives’ Discovery database and the (priced) digitised newspapers listing planning applications would yield light on this. I didn’t find everything I hoped for, but did find some useful material. For Discovery, inserting Hastings and the road name would provide planning applications up to 1960 at The Keep, Falmer, with numbers preceded by DH/C/6/1. Below are my findings in date order, with information from the newspaper in italics.
1 June 1917, no. 4, conversion [into flats], DH/C/6/1/8532
6 July 1917, no. 5, conversion, DH/C/6/1/8537. Alterations to No. 5, Charles-road; Goodwin Trustees, owners; Mr Henry Ward, architect.
19 Sept 1919, nos. 6 and 7, conversion, DH/C/6/1/8649
5 Feb 1920, conversion, DH/C/6/1/8689. Conversion into two maisonettes of 6, Charles-road, Mr R.H. Gaby, owner, Mr Henry Ward, architect
5 March 1920, no. 3, conversion, DH/C/6/1/8693
I probably missed some newspaper mentions. It was interesting to see that Henry Ward, architect for the old Gothic-style town hall and the late Debenhams building, was responsible for at least two of the conversions, and it is likely that he did them all. The Goodwin Trustees mention, though, especially intrigued me.
William Henry Goodwin was a solicitor whom I have written about before, in An 1898 auction of houses and shops on Marina, St Leonards on Sea. He had died in 1887, and his trustees were still around, trying to wind up his extensive property portfolio.
I checked the newspapers for mentions of both Gaby and Goodwin on the same page and as I suspected found that Richard Hale Gaby was a solicitor, from Bexhill, acting on behalf of the Goodwin Estate.
For example the Hastings Observer, 15 October 1910, reported on an action to try to improve the state of Old Roar Road. It would have meant the owners paying for at least part of it. Gaby was said to be of Phillips and Cheesman, solicitors, opposing on behalf of the trustees of the late W.H. Goodwin. Apparently, according to Mr Baily, another solicitor, ‘it was a lane used by young ladies and gentlemen taking their sweethearts in the evenings (laughter)’.
Gaby died in 1927 in Bexhill, age 66. His obituary is in the Hastings Observer, 15 October 1927, stated that forty years before he had joined Fred Goodwin as a solicitor. ‘He was a prominent figure in opposing the installation of trams on the sea front [in 1905] and, representing the Goodwin Estate, he was able to give valuable advice to the frontagers association. The removal of the old St Leonards archway had in him a strong advocate.’ We are told that he used to ride a penny farthing !
I also noticed newspaper references to planning applications to convert into flats two other properties of the Goodwin Estate, both in 1916, 53 Pevensey Road (with Gaby named) and 8 Anglesey Terrace, without his being named.
The advert above stated that there was 50 years left on the lease. The freehold was almost certainly owned by the Eversfield Estate, who seem to have owned most of inland St Leonards, and who habitually granted 99-year leases. This suggests that the land was sold off as plots to builders in about 1874.
This would match up with DH/C/6/1/1677, which is a planning application from 1874 for 45 houses for, says the catalogue entry, ‘Charles Road, Anglesea Road and opposite the Gensing Pleasure ground.’ I have not gone to Falmer to look at that application, which would reveal the architect as well as numerous plans (the newspapers did not report on planning applications in 1874).
At the end of my research I came across an earlier attempt to sell the houses, in the Hastings Observer, 10 March 1923. Actual rents and ground rents for houses are included this time. Admittedly, it omits three of the Charles Road houses. It does include, though, the Anglesey Terrace and Pevensey Road houses, plus a new mention of land on Beaconsfield Road. I could then have searched for Goodwin Estate plus Beaconsfield in the newspapers, let alone in Discovery. And so on, ad infinitum.
This research could also have been enhanced by looking at the 1921 census, which besides listing the residents would have given the number of rooms taken up by each flat (only in that census plus the 1911 census). It would also give the place of work as well as the occupation of each resident.
This research took me a little over an hour, and the same to write up as a post. A more painstaking search of the newspapers would probably find additional information, remembering that searching digitised text is not foolproof. Research never ends, though sometimes luck helps out.
The street looks very similar today, see below.
