Gilbert Road is a short road to the west of London Road, with Tower Road West to its north and Brittany Road to its south. The houses are only on the west side, with at present six houses, numbered from the south. Its origins were explained in the Hastings Observer, 3 May 1884: The Roads […]
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In the 1891 census at Deptford, Kent, Elvey Thomas was a 14-year-old clerk, born New Cross, his father a railway official. The Hastings and St Leonards Advertiser, 21 April 1898, announced that he had been appointed manager of the St Leonards Pier. He was only 21 ! As on this occasion, he was consistently described […]
13 May 1853, Hastings and St Leonards News: BATHING. Mr DEUDNEY spoke [at a Council meeting] of the nuisance to the bathers near Warrior square, in consequence of the sea being thickened by the earth carried down on to the shore from the adjacent building ground. He finally moved that a notice board should be […]
I have just come back from a very pleasant garden party at Ford Bank, together with many others from the Society. Many thanks to our generous hosts ! Enough to say it is an interesting example of, in effect, a forerunner of the English arts and crafts style. Below is a photo of the south, […]
A letter was published in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer in its 23 December 1911 issue. It included this passage: Many more visitors come to the town now than did during what we call the palmy days, but they come at a different part of the year, and mainly do not occupy the same […]
The Bird-in-Hand beerhouse was at 1, often numbered 1 and 2, South Street from before 1855 until 1921. Its exact location is however something of a mystery. It is well established that the Plasterers’ Arms, later the Prince Alfred, was at the corner of South and Cross streets, as 12 South Street. In other words, […]
Hastings and St Leonards News, 23 April 1852: DEPARTURES. Lady Wallscourt, 42, Marina, on Monday. Lady Williams, Upland Views, on Monday, after six weeks sojourn. Lady Hay, 25, Marina, on Tuesday. Hon. Mrs Edgcumbe and family, 16, Grand Parade, on Monday. Mr Hollond, M.P., and Mrs Hollond, Allegria, for London, on Monday. A SERIOUS CHARGE […]
This post is a summary of a talk which I have just given at the exhibition ‘A journey through time: the development of West St Leonards’, organised by the WSL Community Team. To encourage those who listened to the talk to read this post I have added some extra material. Peter Jenkins was at the time […]
Humphrey Charles Holman – almost invariably cited in newspapers as H.C. Holman — was a very active auctioneer and estate agent, and also an important hotel proprietor. He was an energetic booster for St Leonards on Sea, and was particularly protective of Warrior Square Gardens. This was perhaps due to his company owning two hotels […]

