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Chess Tournament
From the Hastings News of 16/01/1891
A Living Chess Tournament was held at the Royal Concert Hall in Warrior Square on 14 and 15 January, starring Lord and Lady Brassey.
Mr Edwin Smith, chairman of of the West Hill Lift Company, placed the last brick in the tunnel on Friday 16 January.
The Hastings harbour scheme was receiving the support of the South Eastern Railway Company. But on 30 January the News reported that the application to the LB&SCR for a grant had been refused.
The Council on 6 February adopted a motion on the St Leonards drainage scheme. The meeting also approved recommendations on the sea wall at St Leonards. Plus the Glynde water scheme was under consideration.
The Hastings fishing fleet suffered one of its worst-ever disasters in a severe blizzard on Monday 9 March. Two boats, the Linnet and the Henrietta, were wrecked on the beach, and many others were damaged. Three lives were lost.
The proposed widening of All Saints Street was discussed at a Hastings Ratepayers Union meeting, and a resolution was carried.
Gladstone in Town
From the Hastings News of 20/03/1891
The Liberal Party leader and former prime minister William Gladstone attended a Home Rule demonstration in Hastings on 17 March. [He became prime minister again in July 1892, when the Liberal beat the Tories in the general election.]
The West Hill Lift was declared open on Wednesday 25 March, two days before Good Friday.
Lord Warden Dies
From the Hastings News of 03/04/1891
Earl Granville, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, died on 31 March.
An electric lighting sanction was given at a Town Council meeting on 3 April to extend the main from Warrior Square along the seafront to St Leonards Pier. Plus it was agreed that the second floor of the Brassey Institute ...
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The well-known personality Harry Furniss gave a talk at the Public Hall in Robertson Street.
There was a revised proposal from the South Eastern Railway Company to replace the brick St Andrews Archway at the top of Queens Road with a new open bridge.
Gardens Open
From the Hastings News of 22/05/1891
The new West Marina Gardens were formally opened by the mayor, Mr Bradnam, on Wednesday 20 May.
The new Wesleyan Methodist Church on the corner of Mount Pleasant Road and Calvert Road was formally opened on Sunday 24 May. The News of 3 July reported that the foundation and memorial stone of the new Wesleyan Chapel on ...
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Hastings Workhouse
From the Hastings News of 29/05/1891
Resolutions condemning the proposed outlay on the workhouse were passed at a special meeting in town hall on Thursday 27 May. The News of 26 June reported that there was another workhouse scheme, involving the Pilot Field in Elphinstone Road ...
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Old Town Streets
From the Hastings News of 03/06/1891
Rival street widening schemes for the Old Town had been announced.
The Convalescent Home of the Chelsea Hospital for Women, at 119 West Hill, St Leonards [overlooking Grosvenor Gardens], was opened by the Countess Cadogan.
Tramway Proposed
From the Hastings News of 10/07/1891
At a Council meeting on 3 July, it was proposed that an electric tramway be laid along the seafront, from White Rock to West Marina.
The large new pleasure yacht the New Albertine was launched. For many years it was to be used to take passengers on short trips from the beach in front of the Queens Hotel, and is seen in many seafront photos.
New Mission Hall
From the Hastings News of 17/07/1891
The foundation stone of the Railway Mission Hall was laid in Portland Steps (between Portland Place and the junction of Stonefield Road and Castle Hill Road) by Mr TA Denny on 11 July. It was opened on Thursday 28 April ...
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The large new All Souls Church, in Athelstan Road, Clive Vale, was consecrated by the Bishop of Chichester on 16 July.
Shareholders decided on 31 July to wind up the Royal Concert Hall Company. The large hall, in Warrior Gardens, St Leonards, had been in financial difficulties for some time. But when it was put up for auction on 5 October ...
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MissMuriel Brassey, second daughter of Lord Brassey, married the Viscount Cantelupe, the second and only surviving son of the 7th Earl DelaWarr, Lord of the Manor of Bexhill, on Tuesday 4 August. Mr Henry Brassey had died on 13 May ...
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Tunnel Death
From the Hastings News of 28/08/1891
A young girl died in mysterious circumstances in the Bopeep railway tunnel on 25 August.
Priory Road School
From the Hastings News of 25/09/1891
The new Priory Road School, on the corner of Croft Road, opened on Friday 18 September. It had been built for the Hastings School Board. The News of that day carried a photo of it.
Schooner Wrecked
From the Hastings News of 25/09/1891
The schooner Esperance was wrecked off St Leonards on 18 September, journeying from Rochester to Guernsey.
Lord Warden Dies
From the Hastings News of 09/10/1891
The Right Hon WH Smith, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, died on 6 October.
Proposed Museum
From the Hastings News of 16/10/1891
A public meeting was held in support of the proposed museum on 14 October. The Rev JW Tottenham offered the museum committee his collection of local and other curiosities.
Lady Brassey formally opened the new St Leonards Pier on Wednesday 28 October. [It stood 50 yards west of the Royal Victoria Hotel, and was demolished in the early 1950s. Today, there is no sign of it.]
During a dramatic storm on 11 November, the large three-masted German barque JC Pfluger, bound from San Francisco to Bremen in Germany, was driven ashore at Bopeep. Her 24 crew were rescued by Coastguards using breeches buoy equipment. The schooner ...
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Hotel Reopens
From the Hastings News of 20/11/1891
The Royal Victoria Hotel reopened on 19 November, the renovations having been completed.
Mr AW Elliott, a well-known lawyer and president of the Hastings Mechanics Institute, died on 11 December.