Front Line & Contiguous Buildings in 1845 - Post Office Returns
The buildings in existence in 1845 between the Government ground (now Robertson street, &c.) and the St. Leonards Archway were Stratford place, Albert place, White-rock place, Verulam buildings, Agincourt terrace, Chiff cottages, Warrior square (a portion only), Seymour place and Adelaide place. At the time of writing only three of these ranges of buildings can be recognised by their original names.
Cliff cottages, as has been before explained, were the houses which are now numbered 5 and 6 Eversfield place, eastward of which was Lossenham Villa, in which Mr. and Mrs. Woodford resided, and to which Mr. Woodford afterwards attached four other houses, which he designated Agincourt terrace. At a later period Mr. B. Tree erected a contiguous range of houses, thus extending the front line still further towards Hastings, and for a time this block of buildings was known as the “Seven houses.” A time came for a further extension eastward, and ultimately the united erections merged into the appellation of Eversfield place. Mr. Woodford’s five houses were then re-named Glenstone (now 7 Eversfield), Alma [8], Rockingham [9], Agincourt [10], and Rushton [11].
It will be understood that the houses and shops constituting 1 to 4 Eversfield place were not then existent. These were built afterwards, as were also Nos. 2 to 12 Warrior square, immediately contiguous. The first three (2,4 & 6) were erected by Messrs Voysey, Cooper and Putland. Nos. 8 and 10 were built by Mr. John Kenwood, one of which was sold to Lady Paget, and the other to Mr. Ranger. No. 12 and the offices behind were built by Mr. Beecham, who, with his son occupied the said offices some years as solicitors. These were all designed by Mr. George Voysey.
Mr. Voysey also built Nos. 5 and 6, and afterwards No 7, Norman-road East, now known, without the distinction of east and west, as 15, 17 and 19 Norman road; the numbers thus running the reverse way. He also designed the Norman Hotel, the work of which was performed by Messrs, Smith and Nicholas. Having already given some particulars of the lower east side of Warrior square, I will take my readers across to the corresponding portion on the west side. The houses here known as 1 and 3 were designed by and built for Mr. Walter Inskipp; then followed 6 and 7, erected by Mr. Voysey. The next three houses, 9, 11 and 13, were built by Mr. Joseph Brown, whilst 16 (the afterwards enlarged, lavishly furnished, but. unsuccessful Oxford and Cambridge Hotel) was constructed by Mr. Howell. I am now reminded that the stately and strongly built mansions, 21, 23 and 25 Warrior square, erected in carcase for Mr. James Troup, ceased being proceeded with in 1845, and remained unfinished for several years, in consequence of Troup's disagreement with Mr. Ricardo. Troup’s idea, as I understood at the time, was that Ricardo was to advance money to any extent, whilst the latter gentleman contended that the amount, although undefined, was limited. Mr. Troup - as has been shown in other matters already treated of — was a man of unbending self-will, and to prevent a final adjustment of the dispute, betook himself for a long period to France. He did not, however, forget to order his distribution of Christmas beef to one hundred poor families.
It was in the same year that Henry Tompsett, the hale and active octogenarian and ex postman, commenced his bi-daily journeys between the Hastings and St. Leonards post-offices, and it was on one of these journeys that he was able to reply to the exclamation ”Hollo! what's all this?” of a workman engaged in preparing the foundation of a house in Eversfield place, by assuring him that he had dug down to the beached and faggoted road which skirted the crooks and crags of the cliff in bygone times. Yes, that was the road, portions of which, in Tompsett’s and my own remembrance, used to be frequently submerged by the sea, but which is now a hundred feet out of harm's way, notwithstanding the fuss and fume of some of our townsmen about the ever increasing inroads of the sea. Although Mr. Tompsett continued his official duties as postman many years after I had relinquished mine as post-clerk, I naturally felt an interest in the working of the Penny-post system which was developed by Rowland Hill, and the more so, perhaps, as it had been a part of my duty to prepare the local returns required for the purpose.
Five years had now elapsed since the new system was set in motion, and I have it on record that the Post-office returns for the year 1845 showed an increase of twenty two millions of letters on the number of the previous year, and consequently a still vaster number over the number before the penny postage was introduced. The Post Office has always been regarded as an economically conducted establishment, but in 1845 it was especially so, every effort being made to secure as large a nett revenue as was obtained under the old system. The number of employees was quite inadequate to the greatly augmented duties, and both the energies and temper of the officials were at times greatly strained. If anything went ever so slightly wrong, complaints poured in from all sides, whilst for any extra duties exceptionally well performed no acknowledgement was tendered as an encouragement.
Happily, this inconsiderateness has been changed; for, whilst I am writing, a circular is received from the General Post Office, dated January, 1884, which, in reference to the letter and parcels work of the Christmas week is worded as follows :— “ The Postmaster-General wishes to make known throughout the Service his high appreciation of the energy and zeal displayed in successfully meeting the unprecedented pressure of Post Office business experienced throughout the United Kingdom during the last few days.”
I think I have already made some remarks on the meteorology of 1845; but, at the risk of repetition, I may say that there was a gale with rain and a high sea on Easter Sunday (March 23rd) under the influence of a perigeal new moon, preceded by severe frost and deep snows from March 14th to 21st. There was also a late harvest, a wet autumn and a mild and boisterous winter. During a severe gale on Sunday, the 28th of December, a Dutch East Indiaman was driven ashore ”all standing,” at Pevensey Sluice, within the borough of Hastings, the said ship being 800 tons measurement, and laden with indigo, sugar, coffee, silk and other merchandise from Batavia for Amsterdam. She had a crew of 36, all of whom were fortunately saved except one man, who had been six weeks out of health. The ship grounded half a mile from shore, and at high tide was under water. The large poop, common to all Dutch vessels, was speedily destroyed, and a short time sufficed to reduce the ship to a complete wreck. The coast between Pevensey and Rye became strewed with the ship’s cargo, and for the carrying off some of the indigo, two St. Leonards men named Parfitt and Freelove were tried and imprisoned. Of this wreck not a wrack has been left standing, as is the case with the Amsterdam, a ship of the same nationality, which, although stranded at Bulverhythe 130 years ago, still presents its upper timbers to the gaze of the public, By the same gale a Normandy vessel foundered in Rye Bay, resulting, it is supposed, in the loss of the entire crew. A more satisfactory occurrence was the landing at Hastings on the 31st of October of no fewer than 60 lasts (700,000) herrings by 25 boats, the same being sold at from £9 to £12 per last.
When referring to the enormous increase in the transmission of letters at the General Post Office in 1845, it would have been opportune to have mentioned the exceptionally enormous increase of the Hastings Post-office work during the Christmas of 1883. This was the transmission of 640,000 letters and 8,127 parcels.
At the present time of writing the information comes to hand that some two or three old people of Hastings and St. Leonards have put off this mortal coil; and a reminder is afforded me that on the 5th of December (1883), a similar event occurred to Mrs. Maria Elford, the widow of Edmund Elford, the first organist of St. Leonards Church, and the man through whose exertions in collecting the necessary funds, the first organ was provided. It was either in 1845 or a short period antecedent that Mr. Elford resigned the situation, and the cause of his doing 80 ao to be still fresh in memory. The Rev. C. W. Leslie was Incumbent and the Rev. Markham Mills or the Rev. James Murray was curate at the time, both gentlemen resigning their clerical duties at the church not long after Elford’s resignation. But to my story. A daughter of Lord Leigh was in the habit of practising on the organ, with the understanding that she was to engage Mr. Elford’s organ-blower; not because it would be of any pecuniary advantage to the regular organist, but because of the man’s practical acquaintance with the work. It should be here stated that the organ being neither a new one nor a large one, there was a possibility of over-blowing it. From motives of economy — so it was thought — the amateur organist was somewhat inclined to evade the stipulated terms as to the organ-blower, and on one occasion she obtained the key from the curate and enlisted the services of her brother or some other gentleman to inflate the bellows of the organ. This service was indiscreetly performed, and as an unfortunate result the bellows became “ broken-winded.“ On the next practice night for the choir or the next Sunday service — I forget which — both the organist and his blower were disconcerted, and the latter was quite unable to exultingly ask the former, “ Didn't we do that well?” As may be imagined, there was a break-down in the musical service, and following upon that were some unpleasant altercations between the organist and the curate as to the cause and personal responsibility of the accident. Mr. Elford contended that the curate had no right to sanction the manipulation of the lever by an unskilful hand at the risk of disarranging the instrument, and the curate retaliated by expressing an opinion that the organist had purposely damaged the bellows himself to support a crotchet. Ultimately, Mr. Elford was desired to get the organ repaired at his own expense, which order he viewed as an act of injustice, and rather than comply with it, he declared he would give in his resignation. This he did; and so attached to him was his choir — a very excellent one — that as many of its constituents as were free to act as they liked, left the church at the same time, whilst the rest (chiefly school-teachers) cried the next service instead of singing it. It was not long afterwards that there was also a change of incumbency and curacy; but in the mean time many of the parishioners looked upon the disagreement as one that did not place the clergymen in a favourable light, and some of them, to give force to their news, ceased going to the church, At the same time a question was raised as to whether the organ was not more the property of the parishioners who subscribed the money for it, than that of the church. A printed or painted list of those subscribers (at the head of which was the name of the Dowager Queen Adelaide) used to hang in a frame over the stairs which led to the organ gallery, the organ being at that time near the vestibule; but for some purpose, which I cannot divine, unless it was in contempt for the parishioners’ claim, this framed list was first turned against the wall, and ultimately taken away altogether. Some other and still more unfortunate disputations attached themselves to the St. Leonards Church in after years, an account of which it is purposed to give at the proper time.
