he having no suspicion that it was a sheep, instead of a ship, “loaded with wool and tallow,” which Stubberfield was thinking of. My readers have scarely(sic) need to be told that a Sussex rustic usually pronounces sheep as ship. Whether the semaphore was set to work to ascertain the truth of Stubberfield’s statement, or whether Isum went to Bexhill only to find himself befooled I do not know; but the “ship (sheep) loaded with wool and tallow” was for a long time a standing joke. Another of Stubberfield’s grim jokes was that of going to the Blockade station on the Rope-walk (now Robertson Terrace) with an immense conger eel, declaring to the Lieutenant that the Bexhill labourers had dug it out of the Amsterdam, and that therefore it belonged to the Lord Warden. This he did in derision of the claim set up by his lordship for the stores which the said labourers recovered from the sunken ship. The conger eel which the huckster had dragging along at the tail of his cart was of gigantic growth and was regarded as a monster of its species.
I have been assured that the creature was 16 feet long. It did not, however, come out of the Amsterdam, but was one of a large number of congers which at that time mysteriously drifted ashore. I wonder if it was a progenitor of the great sea-serpent which has been so often seen but never caught! Stubberfield was the owner of a couple of dogs, and to show that he was not always successful with his practical jokes, I may state that these two curs while going over the old White-rock hill, attacked a large Newfoundland dog belonging to Sir Godfrey Webster. Seeing that his two dogs were getting worsted, Stubberfield jumped from his cart. and laid his whip about the animal, which appeared to be more than a match for two. Just then, however, he received a "one-two-three" from the powerful digits of Sir Godfrey, which sent him reeling to the fore. He took his punishment with good grace, and acknowledged his fault with the frank exclamation, “ All right, Sir Godfrey, I desarved(sic) it, and I've got it.” I must hasten on, however, and just one more anecdote of the eccentric huckster, must conclude my notice of him. In after years Stubberfield was afflicted with a diseased leg, and getting reduced in means, he was obliged to go into the Battle Workhouse. While there his leg was amputated, and immediately after the operation, he asked to be allowed to sit up and sing a song. This request was not granted, the surgeons, I suppose, regarding the proffered vocal accompaniment to their labours as too great an innovation.
It was in 1832 that the seven houses, 65 to 72 Marina, were erected, the church meanwhile between that range and a similar range on the east side, being hastened on to completion. But although built in that year, they were not thoroughly finished until the following year, and were not inhabited by recognized or rateable tenants until 1834, when their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria having taken up their abode at 57 Marina, the houses in question were briskly requisitioned. The house nearest the church (65) was built by Mr. William Waghorne, and tenanted by Mr. John Painter, who afterwards let it to the Duke and Duchess of Buccleugh. For the use of this family, Mr. Murdock used to milk a cow in front of the house twice a day, thus affording proof of the genuineness of the article supplied, and receiving, I suppose, an adequate compensation for his trouble. The other six houses (66 to 71) were the property of Mr. T. J. Rawson, a gentleman who also at that time owned the Sussex Hotel and some of the cottages in Cliff (now Caves) road. The tenancy of 65 Marina was transferred from the Duke of Buccleugh to Sir Francis Burdett, and at about the same time, Nos. 66, 67 and 68, were respectively occupied by the Rev. Edward Allen, the Rev. J. Harvey Ashworth, and the Rev. Sydney Henry Widdrington. These seven additional houses, westward of the church where the three clergymen resided next door to each other are shown in the accompanying view.
At 64 on the east side of the church, Lord & Lady Moray resided at the same time, whilst at 62 was Lady Brownlow. No 65 was afterwards tenanted by a rich family named Broadhead, who with the Hon. W. Dundas, Lady Lubbock, and a few other early residents of St. Leonards, displayed a liberality towards the middle and lower classes of the town, the like of which is now looked for in vain. It was, I believe, in the month of November, 1832, that the Duke and Duchess of St. Alban’s occupied apartments at the St. Leonards Hotel, and it was then or early in 1833, that the Duke, as Hereditary Grand Falconer of England, revived the sport of “ Hawking” at St. Leonards — a sport which is of Saxon origin, and which in this instance was witnessed by the Duke and Duchess of Cumberland, (then at Hastings), the Baroness Howe, Mrs. Camac, and a host of other notables. In this enumeration of the nobility, gentry and clergy who were among the first occupants of the Marina houses, I find I have omitted the names of Lord Brougham at 61, and Sir John Conroy at 55. My readers will understand that there were no houses between 71 and the Sussex Hotel until several years subsequent to 1832, but the intermediate arches for the coal-cellars were put in and the roadway was formed. Unfortunately, the new road, although higher than the old one, was allowed to slope westwards to the depth of ten or twelve feet, and the houses and store-yards beyond the Sussex Hotel — now forming a portion of the West Marina — having their foundations below the level of the springtide flood, were so frequently inundated, that many of the occupiers left them, and much of the property was tenantless for several years. Even as late as 1838 and '9, about half of the sixteen houses first built beyond the "Sussex" (now 111 to 127 Marina) were empty. So, also, were eleven of Mr. Burton’s houses in the rear (now known as the Old Market), as well as four or five cottages in Cliff-road, owned by Mr. Rawson. Whether Mr. Burton, Mr. Carey, Mr. Chas. Deudney, and a few other persons erected their property in that locality under the presumption that the immense ridge of beach which existed at that time would always prevent an inroad of the sea, this deponent sayeth not; but if such was the case "Davy Jones" very soon revealed to them the error of their ways. It was quite a common occurrence then for the sea to dash through the main entrances to the market, which sloped inwards from the front, as well as into the houses, most of which, however, had no underground kitchens in those days; and when one recollects the sad condition which befel the property and the people even then, one is at a loss to discover the wisdom in after years of giving underground basements to the houses and of extending the range to where the ground was even lower, without first taking precautions against a possible and probable inundation. "St. Leonardensis" himself — the name under which this History was first penned—recollects advising the late Mr. Birch, at a more recent date, to fill up the basements of two houses, and to put two additional storeys on the top. Now, however, that the battle with the tides in that district appears to have materially subsided, and a magnificent parade, together with a wider road, has been constructed, the stranger can only view the place as the beautiful West Marina, and can only imperfectly realise the change from a sparsely tenanted and often dilapidated Market Place, by the brief description given. "The Market" was really the only name by which all the property thereabouts was known during the first few years of its existence, there being, as already intimated, a considerable via media intervening that cluster of buildings and 71 Marina, and it not having been determined until a later date how many mansions should be built on the intermediate site. Would any of my readers care to know who were the first inhabitants of that region? Well, it would hardly be expected that I could enumerate them all, but I will cite as many as my memory will enable me for the period of 1830—'34. They were the families of Jas. Mann, Chas. Tapp, Wm. Barham, Samuel Bishop, Thos. Barnes, Wm. Bell, Jas. Oliver, John Lansdell, Wm. Smith, Michael Hanlan, John Carey, Chas. Deudney, Wm. Kirby, Geo. Brett, Robt. Reed, and John French. The last named kept the Sussex Tap, until about the year 1836, when he was succeeded by Edward Smith, who, together with Wm. Kirby, rented from Mr. Rawson the Sussex Mews, and were losers by the undertaking. The Tap was afterwards conducted by Mr. Horley, and during his time the long room was frequently used for dancing and other convivialities; it was, in fact, to the middle classes what the St. Leonards Assembly-rooms were to the upper. The acoustics of this room were most remarkable, and such as made a couple of musical instruments more effective than would some other rooms a full band. It was, indeed, a pleasure to experience this acoustical rarity, as I can well attest as the result of my own musical engagements thereat. That pleasing effect was, I believe, destroyed some years later, when the room was altered to form an integral part of the Hotel.
