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as well as of three cottages 28, 29 and 30, on the south side of Shepherd street - brought also from the Priory - was a Mr. William Weller. This proprietor was afterwards the Hastings Gaoler who was brutally murdered by a prisoner. On the north side of Shepherd street, and opposite to the three houses, just described, is the "Foresters' Arms", formerly the "Black Horse," beer-house and its adjoining property, re-built from Rope-walk materials by "Jemmy" Hyland, whilst the houses 6 and 7, just above, were transplanted from where the Holy Trinity Church now stands by Mr. Milstead. Higher up Shepherd street, the two larger houses, 10 and 11, were also brought from the Priory, as the property of a Mr. Hammond, of Bexhill. Then, on turning round to North street, may be seen two small houses (22 and 23) owned by Mr. C. Chapman, which were originally in the Rope-walk, as the property of old "Charlie" Chapman, a grandfather to the present possessor, and a milkman of the olden time, who could bear a good-natured joke when told that he had lost his best cow in the removal of the Priory-farm pump. About the centre of North street are Nos. 11, 12 and 13, the first of which was built by Milsted from a Priory house, and the other two by John Foord, sen., who conveyed them from Rope-walk, during the general exodus from that locality when the Crown took possession of the site. It will be thus seen that at least two-and-twenty houses in the district of St. Leonards-without, were those which had formed part of the "squatters' colony" in the parish of the Holy Trinity; yet, as shown in a previous enumeration, the owners of such property were but a minority of the population which migrated to St. Leonards from the same district. No wonder then, that whilst the parishes of Holy Trinity and St. Michael became depopulated, the sister parish of St. Mary Magdalen received a large accession of inhabitants. Equally non-surprising it should be that some of the rivalry and jealousy previously existent between the "regulars" of the old town and the "irregulars" of squatterland, as separated by the Priory Water, continued to show itself, even after the rivals had placed a mile of vacant ground between them. Both in conversation and in print it used to be stated that the Priory people were "a lawless and disreputable lot," but it could be easily shown that many hard things were laid to their charge which were not justified by facts, and that, as a whole, the "Americans" were quite as law-abiding and respectable as an equal number of their traducers. Even my old friend, the late Mr. John Banks, in his "Smugglers and Smuggling," tells his readers that "It became a locality for the drunken and the lawless, and it was really not safe to pass over it after dark." Now, as I resided there several years with my parents, and knew almost every one of the inhabitants, it behoves me to say that the above quoted statement is a libel, begotten of prejudice. There were a few bad characters, but even those were not worse than the same class in the old town from whom they had separated. As a test of respectability, take the names already mentioned as having removed their property to St. Leonards, and add to them those of Messrs. Beale, Coe, Thorne, Weller, Reeves, Noakes, Newell, Harding, Chester, Levett, Picknell, Gallop, Stanley, ^{(illegible text)}, Brooks, Barnes, Hills and Woolgar; also those who were afterwards honoured members of the Town Council, such as Mr. Kirk, who was twice Mayor; Mr. Neve, Mr. Austin, Mr. Bicknell, and others.

Marriage of Holy Trinity Couples at Hollington

It was even said that most of the inhabitants of the Priory ground lived in a state of concubinage, as proved by the very few marriages that took place. This, too, either through malice or ignorance, was the reverse of truth. For reasons which it would not be difficult to explain, the marriages of Holy Trinity people, as well as those of St. Mary Magdalen, St. Leonards and even St. Mary's-in-the-Castle that were solemnised at the two old Hasting churches were comparatively few, whilst those that took place at Holington were very numerous. The Holy Trinity or Dissolved Priory began to be peopled about the year 1822, and became depopulated in 1834, and the following list of marriages from that small parish that were celebrated at Hollington between those dates, if it had been presented, would not only have refuted the statement of detractors, but would probably have greatly surprised them. They were:

William Monks	to	Mary Apps
William Bates	to	Sophia Bayley
Henry Weller	to	Mary Whylston
Thos. Bovis	to	Jane Wood
David Woodgate	to	Ann Munn
John Chatfield	to	Jane Marris
Thos. Reeves	to	Mercy Trimer
Fredk. Tapp	to	Sarah Skinner
John Huggett	to	Hannah Jones
Wm. Picknell	to	Sarah Collins
Samuel Smith	to	Mary Bryant
Wm. Downe	to	Phillis Mills
Jas. Waine	to	Mary Fuller
Robt. Poole	to	Mary Ann Newnham
Edward Honess	to	Louise Bowyer
Geo. Foster	to	Sarah Jane Wakeling
Wm. Kirby	to	Mary Molls
Robt. Everson	to	Jane Merricks
Geo. Kent	to	Eliz. Casswell
John Buxton	to	Charlotte Briers
Wm. Longley	to	Catherine Martin
Thos. Noakes	to	Harriet Noakes
Edmund Chapman	to	Eliz. Shackelford
Geo. Savage	to	Phillis Balkham
David Bryant	to	Harriet Hoof
Thos. Burgess	to	Leonora Parris
Edw. Crittenden	to	Harriet Collins
Wm. Pilbeam	to	Mary Ann Buss
Mary Ann Reeves	to	Robt. Saxby
Thos. Carpenter	to	Jane Hook
Hy. Easton	to	Sarah Goldsmith
Wm. Eaton Foster	to	Sarah Gallop
Jas. Eason	to	Eliz. Burgess
Hy. Pocock Clark	to	Ann Waters
Jas. White	to	Ann Farrell
Jas. Carley	to	Caroline Sims
Steph. Farrell	to	Margt. Howell
John Howell	to	Frances Cheesman
Sam. Wells	to	Hannah Headman
Mark Stubberfield	to	Mary Colbrain
Wm. Nash	to	Charlotte Honiss
Steph. Buss	to	Martha Molls
John Perry	to	Eliza Chapman
Wm. Whyborn	to	Jemima Hutchings
Geo. Winter	to	Hannah Snelling
Jeremiah Grisbrook	to	Eliz. Cobby
Thos. Freeman	to	Hannah Collins
Robt. Aldridge	to	Sarah Russell
Geo. Gorring	to	Ann Page
Geo. Kent	to	Ann Wimble
Francis Jno. Reeves	to	Jane Ransom
Jas. Howell	to	Eliz Gurr
Jas. Harding	to	Martha Sheather
Thos. Starr	to	Philadelphia Follington
Steph. Starnes	to	Eliz Starnes, widow
Edw. Waters	to	Margt. Vine
Sarah Thomas	to	Jas. Hook
Philly Thomas	to	Rich’d. Earl
Wm. Mortimer	to	Joanna Haisell
Hy. Beney	to	Jane Miller
Wm. Crittenden	to	Mary Bray
John Chainey	to	Harriet Fuller
Wm. Turner	to	Ann Harris
John Francis Martin	to	Ann Hook

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