been made. So far as I can learn, no parish boundaries had been perambulated during that duodecennial period, and I dare to say that until a vestry meeting was called to consider the application of Mr. Wastel Brisco to divert one of the prettiest paths out of Hastings, not one in ten of the parishioners knew that the said path was within the Magdalen boundary. I have before dwelt upon the grave mistake that was made in allowing this diversion whereby the public footpath, instead of gently ascending as it had hitherto done from the steps near where is now the Central Weslyan Chapel and through the Step-meadow and an adjoining paddock to Shornden Wood, was turned down into a deep hollow as it now exists from the University School and the Hastings railway tunnel. The resolution passed as the vestry meeting was as follows :-
At this vestry, considering the proposal made by Wastel Brisco, Esq., for diverting a certain part of a public footway leading through the lands of the Earl of Cornwallis and Sarah Milward, widow, the Trustees of the Hastings Charity Estates and of the said Wastel Brisco, within the parishes of the Holy Trinity, and St. Mary Magdalen, commencing in a field called the Step meadow (part of the Priory Farm) and terminating at Shornden Wood, of the length of 1296 yards or thereabouts described in the plan now produced, and to stop up the first-mentioned footway; it is resolved that this vestry agree to the proposal; and that the chairman be directed to order the surveyors of this parish to apply to two Justices to view the said footway, agreeably to the Act, with the understanding that all expenses be paid by Wastel Brisco and upon his undertaking to raise the intended footway at the bottom between Hilly-glen Field and the Spring Field to the height of 8 feet at least.
It is presumable that the small number of persons who passed the resolution thought more of the gain likely to accrue to the parish by the increased rating of Mr. Brisco's mansion and grounds than of the inconvenience to the public. But the said rating was a bone of contention for a considerable time afterwards, the "laird" of Bohemia applying more than once for an abatement in his assessment, but without success.
St. Leonards Deaths in 1840
As compared with after years the St. Leonards community in 1840 was still inextensive, and in so moderate a population many events which in the present day might lose some of their significance were at that time regarded as of sufficient importance to be treasured in the memory. Some of these I have, however, purposely omitted but it occurs to me that as I have already referred to the deaths of some of the early settlers as well as to the births of the first boy and girl in the new town, it might be appropriate to close the record of events for the year under consideration with a list of births, marriages and deaths. But as it is only of the last named that my list is complete, I must of course confine myself to that, merely remarking that of the other two the births had probably a considerable preponderance over the deaths, whilst the marriages, in all likelihood were much fewer than either. Among the births, however, there was one which I remember of being especially noteworthy. It was of twins, - a boy and a girl, - and as the children were born on the 10th of February, the day when Queen Victoria was married - the local celebration of which has been fully described - the mother of the children (a poor woman) had them appropriately christened Victoria and Albert. The deaths, exclusive of a few visitors, whose remains were conveyed away from the town, were 22 in number; and these, together with the ages and months in which they occurred (omitting the day of the month, of which in some cases I am not certain) are as follow (sic) :
| Name | Month | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Henry Veness | January | 28 years |
| Sarah Offen | January | 65 years |
| John Collins | February | 2 months |
| William Taylor | March | 22 years |
| Thomas Bell | April | 2 days |
| Ann Bell | April | 48 years |
| Emma Bell | May | 6 years |
| John White | April | 3 weeks |
| Geo. Lewis Bumstead | April | 2 years |
| Robert Shepherd | April | 79 years |
| Edward Roper | April | 14 months |
| Jane Noakes | April | 2⅔ years |
| George Waterman | May | 15 months |
| James Smith Bower | May | 4 years |
| Ella Sophia Raffles | May | 19 years |
| Eliza Williams | June | 20 years |
| James Francis Scott | July | 4 years |
| William Lloyd | July | 26 years |
| Elizabeth Freeman | November | 9 months |
| Elizabeth Milson | November | 55 years |
| Mary Colbran | November | 9 years |
| Absalom Constable | December | 18 months |
In the above list is Robert Shepherd, who was known as a quiet, respectable lodging-house keeper, at 16 Marina, and who, with Mrs. Shepherd, had previously kept a lodging-house in the Rope walk, ere the Priory Ground was claimed by Government. He built the first houses in Shepherd street, as heretofore stated, and thus gave the name to the street. He died in his 80th year,and his widow died ten years later, in her 82nd year. Another name in the list is that of Mary Colbran, aged 9 years. She was the daughter of a shoe-maker, who lived in Mews Yard, and her death, which resulted from accidental burning, is remembered by the writer as one which necessitated an inquest, in which he acted for the first time as a juryman, when an unsuccessful attempt was made to "colt" him, his excuse being that the occasion was not a fit one for a social drinking bout. Happily, this unseemly custom is now more honoured in the breach than in the observance. It may be stated that the remains of all the above-named persons were interred in the St. Leonards Burial Ground, and that the Rector and Curate at that time were respectively the Revs. C. W. Leslie and James Murray. The marriages of that year at the St. Leonards Church included that of Arthur Sawyer Brook, of Bexhill, and Ellen Carswell, of Hastings.
I have stated that the penny post commenced on the 10th of January, 1849, and that it was when I was writing that portion of this History that I received a circular issued by Mr. Patrick Chalmers, and published in 18 of the London papers, drawing attention to a pamphlet that had been published by the same gentleman showing that the penny postage scheme of Rowland Hill was not his own conception, but that he commenced to carry out in 1837 a scheme which was embodied in a recommendation, in 1836, in the "5th Report of the Commissioners of Post Office Enquiry", such recommendation being a low and uniform rate of 1d the ½ oz. to be charged by weight and prepaid by stamp.
