The 12 July 1862 issue of the St Leonards and Hastings Gazette & Visitors’ Vade Mecum reported on the sale of a ‘block’ of 13 houses and a plot of land at an auction at the Warrior’s Gate pub, the site of the present Post Office on London Road. The account is unusually detailed, and […]
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The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 marked the first step towards making divorce much easier, and also protecting the property of women who were divorced, separated or deserted by their husbands. This post tells two stories of the act being invoked, as first encountered in local newspapers. The first was an attempt to get a […]
The following is a list of the men in the 30 March 1851 census for St Leonards on Sea who were described as butlers or equivalents, plus wives who stated that their husbands were butlers. I have been able to match a few of those couples up. Some of the households were only staying for […]
I came across this citation in the Hastings and St Leonards Times (HSLT), 23 April 1898: A PROPERTY sale was held by Messrs John and A Bray, at their Auction Rooms, Claremont, on Tuesday afternoon. The following properties were put up for sale: Nos. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 50, 51, 52, […]
This story reflects badly on the servants, but it must be remembered that dutiful and loyal servants are rarely mentioned in newspapers except perhaps on their deaths, or in bequests by their masters or mistresses. Also, the magistrates were much more likely to believe statements by the master than by the servants. The Hastings and […]
10 August 1842, The Morning Herald: THE QUEEN’S ST LEONARD’S ARCHERS. – The ANNUAL PRIZE presented by her Majesty will be SHOT FOR on the 17th August (the grand target day); likewise the Royal Victoria Challenge Prizes, the Society’s Annual Prize, and Prizes for Visitors. There will be an ordinary, and a ball in the […]
I came across this citation in the Hastings and St Leonards Times (HSLT), 23 April 1898: A PROPERTY sale was held by Messrs John and A Bray, at their Auction Rooms, Claremont, on Tuesday afternoon. The following properties were put up for sale: Nos. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 50, 51, 52, […]
The 18 March 1911 issue of the Hastings and St Leonards Observer had the following letter. AGAINST WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE. RESULT OF A POLL OF HASTINGS WOMEN VOTERS. Madame Amy Wolfen, of 6, Warrior Square-terrace, asks us to publish the following: — As the Conciliation Bill proposes to enfranchise the women municipal voters, the Hastings and […]
In the 1 February 1947 issue of the Hastings and St Leonards Observer we have the following interesting autobiographical account. Veteran Driver’s memories WHEN BOROUGH HAD ONE MOTOR BUS. Days of the horse cabs and the town’s only motor bus, which plied between Hastings Station and the Fishmarket, are recalled by Mr George William Spice, […]
There is a dramatic account of the (successful) attempts to rescue the crew, and the captain’s family, from the Pfluger when it ran aground at West Marina, St Leonards on Sea, on the 11 November 1891. Sometimes accounts refer to the ship as the H.C. Pfluger, sometimes the (correct) J.C. Pfluger. This is from the Sussex […]