the burtons' st leonards blog
Robert Richard Duke, a clergyman hotel keeper at Warrior Square
It is unusual for an Anglican minister to be a hotel keeper. Thanks to his going bankrupt there are many details of this man’s finances, which is unusual, both as [...]
read moreAn affiliation order for a servant’s child, 1863
This post is about the delicate matter of the master’s son taking advantage of a household servant, and his attempt to wriggle out of paying for his behaviour. If you [...]
read moreProperty deeds for 75 and 76 Marina, St Leonards on Sea, 1850-1895
An acquaintance of mine bought a year ago six property deeds on eBay which were for 75 and 76 Marina, covering the years 1850 to 1895. These terrace houses are [...]
read moreSt Leonards in the newspapers, 1850-51
In my monthly list of newspaper extracts I normally simply give them in date order. In 1850-51 there were numerous lengthy accounts of railway building, the AI sensation of its [...]
read moreNorman Buchanan, a Scottish hairdresser in Hastings and St Leonards on Sea
On the 1 February 1853 the London Gazette published the following notice: Norman Buchanan, insolvent debtor, by his petition at Hastings. Formerly of 28 George Street, Hastings, hair dresser and [...]
read moreA medical scandal: the appointment of Charles Thomas Knox-Shaw as Hastings’ Medical Officer of Health, 1881
On the 3 April 1881 the census recorded the following household at 33 Warrior Square: Archibald R. Shaw, head, M[arried], 58, physician, born Middlesex Laura E.S. Shaw, wife, M, 47, [...]
read moreThe Prince of Wales public house, 15 Western Road, St Leonards on Sea
The Prince of Wales public house reopened in brightly painted and refurbished style on the 5 March with the declared aim of being a not-for-profit enterprise as part of the [...]
read moreSt Leonards in the newspapers, 1849-50
9 February 1849, Hastings & St Leonards News: FIRE. – At noon, on Wednesday, a fire broke out in the workshop of Mr J. Smith, cabinet-maker, Norman Road West, which [...]
read moreThe Meiklejon family and their schools for the blind at St Leonards on Sea
In 1903 Mrs Meiklejon opened a school for blind children at 48 Kenilworth Road. She was born Mary Jane Noonan in Ireland in about 1858, and was elder sister to [...]
read moreHenry Edward Lewis, mesmerist and phrenologist, St Leonards on Sea, 1857
Henry Edward Lewis was an entertainer who continuously toured the British Isles from 1850 until his death in 1857, lecturing and practising before paying audiences ‘mesmerism’ or ‘magnetism’ (both terms [...]
read moreThe magnificent MacMunns: a dynasty of defiance
[Guest post by Helena Wojtczak, a local historian and researcher dedicated to uncovering the hidden histories of women, http://www.hastingspress.co.uk] In a terraced house in St Leonards, a letter was once [...]
read moreThe Christ Church St Leonards House Improvement Society, Ltd.
Recently I noticed houses in Union and Alfred Street with niches in their walls, as if for statues of saints, and wondered about them. They are at nos. 8 and [...]
read moreEvidence for flat conversions and war damage repairs to 1960 on Marina, St Leonards on Sea
This is an unusual type of post. It will obviously be of interest to those on Marina, but may also provide ideas for those researching buildings on other streets. I [...]
read moreSt Leonards in the newspapers, 1847-48
17 June 1847, Brighton Gazette: Mr C.J. Strode gave £10, in addition to bats, balls, and wickets, to the St Leonards club last week, to assist them in carrying out [...]
read more1a West Hill Road, St Leonards on Sea
From the 1880s onwards, planning applications were typically, though not consistently, reported in the local papers a day or two after either being allowed or rejected. Here we have some [...]
read moreThe early days of King Edward Avenue, St Leonards on Sea
It may be thought that little documentation can be found on relatively modern roads, but I found a great deal on a pre World War II road. As it happens, [...]
read moreSt Leonards in the newspapers, 1846-47
18 August 1846, Sussex Advertiser: Samuel Brown, of St Leonards, was committed for three months, in default of payment, under an order of affiliation made by the bench towards the [...]
read moreStephen Putland, merchant, at 7 London Road, St Leonards on Sea
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 [...]
read more19 Warrior Gardens, St Leonards on Sea
Warrior Gardens is situated a couple of streets to the north of Warrior Square, and is numbered from no. 1 downhill to no. 23, which is close to Western Road. [...]
read moreThe sanitary inspector condemns 1 St Clements Place, 1923
Mount Pleasant is a row of houses fronting onto a footpath, parallel to Norman Road. The houses face south over the English Channel. Opposite its beginning, which is next to [...]
read moreThe Jinks family of 4 Oban Road, St Leonards on Sea, in World War I
On Remembrance Sunday I am writing about what happened to a single local family in World War I. My main source is the newspaper, extracts from which are given in [...]
read moreSt Leonards in the newspapers, 1845-46
25 December 1845, Brighton Gazette: ST LEONARDS. On Saturday last J.F. Stanford, Esq., of 1, West Ascent, gave a musical soiree at his residence, when he invited the principal resident [...]
read moreThe sale of 2-7 Charles Road, St Leonards on Sea, in 1924
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 [...]
read moreJoseph Harvey of 53 King’s Road, St Leonards on Sea
I was looking through Pike’s 1901 directory for Hastings and St Leonards when I came across a full-page advertisement for Joseph Harvey’s shop at 53 King’s Road, as shown below. [...]
read moreRichard John Porter, the ‘Antagonist of connubial felicity’
There are a couple of mentions in the local newspapers for Richard John Porter, the proverbial servant who married his late boss’s widow. I came across a case before the [...]
read moreSt Leonards in the newspapers, 1844-45
7 November 1844, Brighton Gazette: DIED. At St Leonards, on Sunday morning, after a very short but severe illness, Mr Edward Chamberlin, second son of Mr William Chamberlin, of the [...]
read moreThe Campbell family and the Railway and Royal public houses in St Leonards on Sea
A year ago I led a pub walk around St Leonards on Sea and afterwards posted here on The pubs of St Leonards: closures in 1905. This post follows two [...]
read more‘An appeal to the charitable’: a distressed master mariner of 7 North Street, St Leonards on Sea
The Hastings and St Leonards Times, 18 January 1884, has the following: AN APPEAL TO THE CHARITABLE. – An appeal is now being made to the public for the purpose [...]
read moreMiss Northway and her boarding house at 52 and 53 Marina
I bought in an old town Hastings shop an old postcard for its view of Marina, looking westward, which states it was taken from St Leonards Pier. This was opposite [...]
read moreSt Leonards in the newspapers, 1843-44
27 July 1843, Brighton Gazette: WEST CLIFF COTTAGE, ST LEONARDS ON SEA. MISS LANDER, with the assistance of first-rate Masters, and a resident French Teacher, intends, on Monday, 31st inst., [...]
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