George Higglett, a child of three years, while crossing the road near the parade, was run over by a chaise-cart and considerably hurt; and a woman, who saw the accident, went into a fit.
On the 21st of May, the wife of fisherman Edward Kent, set fire to her clothes while in a state of intoxication. Her husband and a man, who was called in, extinguished the flames, but not till the woman was seriously burnt.
A Fatal Fall.— On Saturday the 22nd of June, the entire parapet and some of the scaffolding of the east side of a house in Wellington Place suddenly fell whilst the men were at work, and one of the bricklayers, named Thos. Francis, was thrown to the ground and killed. The house was the property of Mr. Richard Styles, and was being built on the ground formerly used by Ransom and Ridley as a ship-yard. The ex-royal family, at St. Leonards, passed the spot soon after the accident, and seeing the road strewed with wrecked masonry and timber, made enquiries and headed a subscription with £5 for the deceased man’s young widow.
Five days later (June 27th) a waggon, with hay, was coming out of the Swan Yard, when the greater portion of the load fell off, and broke two squares of plate glass and the frame of Mr. Amoore’s shop window.
On the 2nd of July a party of young folk journeyed from Hastings to Bodiam for a day’s pleasure, and on returning home at night, the shaft of their vehicle broke, and they had to walk the rest of the way from Sedlescombe.
Four days before the last-named accident, Richard French was jerked out of a waggon on the Hole Farm, and the wheels passed over his breast, but broke no bones. It was regarded as little short of a miracle.
An Injured Eye. — A young gentleman from Cambridge, staying at White-rock Place, while trying to break a stone by throwing it against another, so injured an eye by a sharp fragment as to necessitate his being taken to London, where it was thought the sight could not be recovered.
Rock-Fair Accident. — Before 1822, Rock Fair was always held under Cuckoo Hill where now are Claremont and parts of Robertson street and Trinity street; after that date in a field belonging to the Priory Farm; but in 1850 it was held in a field of Mr. Brisco’s, over the White Rock, where now are White-rock Gardens and Trinity Villas. On this last-named location a man named Polhill was at the fair with his wife, and both fell over a high part of the bank into a sand-hole. The woman had to be taken to the Infirmary, she having sustained concussion of the brain. Also, a man fell over the cliff behind 12 White-rock Place, where he lay for about five hours, and was then hauled up with ropes. He was drunk at the time and fell asleep. He was not much hurt, but his escape from death or severe injuries was regarded as miraculous.
