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New Year Mob
From the Hastings Mail of 03/01/1903
“Can no effort be made to induce the mob of four or five hundred who dance and sing round the Memorial clock tower to spend the last half hour of the Old Year and the first 30 minutes of the ...
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The Empire Theatre laid on a “colossal” Christmas dinner for the poor, just after noon on Tuesday 30 December. Over 600 people crowded into the Drill Hall in Middle Street. “The menu consisted of roast beef, roast mutton, cabbage, sprouts, ...
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Dead Man on Beach
From the Hastings Mail of 03/01/1903
Ecclesbourne mystery: An unknown man was found with a bullet wound to his head on the beach at Ecclesbourne Glen on 21 December.
Rich Help Poor
From the Hastings Mail of 03/01/1903
A letter from John L Lamb, secretary of the Trade and Labour Council, said the directors of Messrs Plummer, Roddis and Tyrrell were promising the company would “assist any who are in real distress” by giving one gallon of bread ...
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There was a fire at Sargood Williams shop in Claremont, and the office in the rear in the occupation of Mr Henry Cousins burnt out. [Cousins was a partner of FJ Parsons, Observer owner, until the mid-1870s, and was author ...
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A St Leonards bandstand site was recommended by the appointed Committee, opposite Messrs Philpots drapery establishment, 37/38 Marina, between two gardens on the promenade.
Hastings fishermen were entertained as guests of Mrs Freeman-Thomas at the Market Hall, George Street. The 400 fishermen and their wives were invited to a substantial meat tea. The large banner of the Hastings Fishermens Society was hung up.
The St Leonards Christmas Ball took place at the Albany Hotel, Warrior Square. The stewards included Lord Brassey, Alfred Burton, Major Freeman-Thomas MP, Admiral Garforth and Major-General Finch.
Railwayman Richard Hodges, aged 38, was injured at Hastings Station, being crushed between the buffers whilst coupling up a van. His head and ribs were severely injured.
A Council meeting on 16 January agreed to publish their official report on the lift accident; the lift staff were to blame. The "rather serious accident" happened about 5pm on Monday 22 September 1902. There were "13 passengers in the ...
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Wood Paving
From the Hastings Mail of 17/01/1903
The Council meeting on 16 January referred to committee a request from residents of Carlisle Parade and Robertson Terrace for the macadam in their roads to be replaced by wood paving, as had now happened everywhere else along the Front ...
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The Council meeting on 16 January renamed the following streets: Castle Road and Castle Hill as Castle Hill Road; St Johns Road (off Mount Pleasant) as Calvert Road; Sedlescombe Road as Sedlescombe Road North/South; Union Street (Bourne to All Saints ...
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Fire Ladder
From the Hastings Mail of 17/01/1903
The Council on 16 January agreed to buy a telescopic fire escape, reaching a height of 60 feet, for the West Marina area of the Fire Brigade. The single quote of £94 10s was accepted. An amendment to obtain rival ...
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The Bopeep sewage outfall was to be extended 217 feet south-westerly to low water mark at spring tides, the Council decided on 16 January. This was despite the high cost - £1,851 – and the limited life it would have, ...
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Distress in Ore
From the Hastings Mail of 17/01/1903
The Ore Relief Fund reported more distress. Their letter to the Mail said “This severe weather has entirely put to a stop what little work there was to be had, and has much increased the distress and sickness in this ...
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The inmates of the Workhouse were given tea and entertainment by Major and Mrs Freeman-Thomas on Monday 19 January. Over 100 inmates were in the dining room, and the same in the wards.
Death on 19 January of Miss Helen Wood at her residence of North Lodge [the gateway house built as an arch over Maze Hill, the northern boundary of the original St Leonards]. Aged 87, she was the last of three ...
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Augustus Hare Dies
From the Hastings Mail of 24/01/1903
Death on 21 January of Mr Augustus JC Hare at Holmhurst, The Ridge, Baldslow, the well-known local author. Titles included The Story of Two Noble Lives and Wanderings in Spain. He was a "Conservative of Conservatives". He had lived there ...
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Harbour Failure
From the Hastings Mail of 31/01/1903
The Harbour Consultative Committee decided on 26 January that they could not recommend to the Council to give their consent to the Harbour Bill No 2. During the proceedings Alderman Idenden, the key figure, resigned as chairman of the Harbour ...
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A Mail reporter visited the Ore soup kitchen in Old London Road on Saturday 24 January. A large crowd waited to enter the cottage. 250 families were fed each Saturday by the Ore Relief Fund. In the winter of 1901/2, ...
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Lifeboat Problems
From the Hastings Mail of 31/01/1903
The Lifeboat Hastings Committee failed to induce the Parent Committee to provide a launching slipway at the Piers. There was also now a question of whether a lifeboat was needed at Hastings.
Arthur Henry White, builder and contractor of St Leonards, was in the Bankruptcy Court.
Hospital Deficit
From the Hastings Mail of 14/02/1903
Hastings and St Leonards and East Sussex Hospital were in deficit to £1,000 because of the great increase in patients. They appealed to the townspeople on 10 February.
Anti-Tram Rally
From the Hastings Mail of 14/02/1903
Front Line anti-tramites met on 12 February for a last stand in their fight to oppose the tramway bill. They despaired of the Council.
The Town Council threw out the report of the sub-committee in favour of erecting a bandstand on the Marina. But West End ratepayers reacted angrily – “deprived of municipal music”. The site was not perfect, however, with the lower garden ...
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A Hastings artist was honoured: Edmund J Sullivan, an old pupil of the Hastings School of Art, was elected an associate of the Royal Water Colour Society on 20 February.
A Council meeting on 20 February decided to make spitting - ‘expectorating’ - in public an offence. The Council also refused further concessions on the latest Harbour proposal.
The Corporation invite tenders for the construction of a new road upon the Brisco Estate, from St Margarets Road to Bohemia Road, and the laying of pipe sewers.
Large numbers of people were attracted to the Public Hall, Robertson Street, to hear Mrs Bramwell Booth of the Salvation Army preach.
Ore and Clive Vale Harriers held a walking race from the Clive Vale Hotel to the Harrow.
John Valentine Carter plunged into the sea at St Leonards, committing suicide. He was dashed against the parade.
Severe Storm
From the Hastings Mail of 07/03/1903
There was a storm at Hastings on Monday 2 March, one of the most violent gales for the past few years. The threshold of the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Beach Terrace was torn up. The sea flowed into George Street ...
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George Heaton, chemist of Robertson Street, appeared at the Bankruptcy Court.
Mystery Death
From the Hastings Mail of 14/03/1903
The Coastguard on 13 March unearthed the body of Nellie Swaffer, aged 20, missing from Ashford, under the East Cliff at Foul Ness, just east of Rock-a-Nore. The next day, there was an open verdict on her death. The mystery ...
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Harbour Voted Down
From the Hastings Mail of 21/03/1903
The Harbour: Two contractors submitted offers, Messrs Dowell and Co to complete it for £143,000, or £123,000 in cash, and Messrs Punchard, McTaggart, Lowther and Co (previous contractor) for £150,000. Messrs Trinder, Capron and Co (the Commissioners’ solicitors) provided a ...
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Dear Water
From the Hastings Mail of 21/03/1903
The Brede Valley water works exceeded the Borough Engineer’s estimate. The total cost was £133,000.
The Liberals celebrated a great Rye victory. Crowds collected around the Liberal Club in Wellington Square, and there was a triumphal procession in Hastings.
Bigger Golf Course
From the Hastings Mail of 04/04/1903
St Leonards Golf Course: Informal play was to commence on the additional nine holes, probably next week. The course was to formally open in a few weeks time. It would then be 18 holes, with nine holes each side of ...
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West Hill Baths?
From the Hastings Mail of 11/04/1903
A conference of West Hill residents was held on 8 April to consider the necessity of extending the Public Baths and Washhouses Act to the district.
Lift Re-Opens
From the Hastings Mail of 11/04/1903
The East Hill Lift re-opened on Thursday 9 April, the day before Good Friday. Men worked day and night to open before Easter. On Monday and Tuesday all the gearings and brakes were subjected to strong tests. On Wednesday afternoon ...
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New Lifeboat Crew
From the Hastings Mail of 11/04/1903
The lifeboat crew consisted almost entirely of new men, headed by the Coxswain, Superintendent John W Plummer, reported the Mail. [A full list of the crew was on page seven].
Fisher lads mustered for their naval brigade at the headquarters, the Fishermen’s Institute in All Saints Stree
A week’s chess festival opened, with inauguration at the Central Hall, Bank Buildings.
The mayor opened a four-day fisheries exhibition on 20 April at the Market Hall, George Street, in aid of maritime charities.
The new Workhouse opened Wednesday 22 April. It was inspected by a large number of guests at Alderman Tuppenney's invitation. The complete scheme cost £55,000, with the 9½ acre site costing £2,500, a large amount. There were then 258 inmates, ...
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The Financial Times on 25 April again castigated the Harbour, “that hopeless enterprise”. The Commissioners throughout “never seemed to know what they were doing or what they wanted. Already they have had four Acts, and the present Bill, if it ...
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Great Dog Show
From the Hastings Mail of 02/05/1903
The Hastings dog show on 29 April was a great success, with 500 dogs in the Central Cricket Ground.
General Sir Leslie Rundle unveiled the Peace Memorial to the fallen local men in the South African War, on the seafront at White Rock just east of the hospital, on Wednesday 6 May. The Front and road around were blocked ...
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Education Reform
From the Hastings Mail of 09/05/1903
A meeting to form a Citizen's Education Reform League was held in the Robertson Street Congregational Church on Wednesday 7 May. It was inaugurated on 23 June, chaired by the Rev C New. It was opposing what were seen as ...
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Tram Go-Ahead
From the Hastings Mail of 09/05/1903
Front Line Tram Bill: The preamble of the Bill was proved. The outbounds line to be first completed, and no overhead wires on the Front.
William Thomas Sadler, a window cleaner, fell to his death from the fifth floor of 2 Carlisle Parade on 12 May.
William Slade had formed a petition against the proposed Harbour Railway. The Mail of 25 April reported that the National Trust opposed the plans for a railway which threatened to disfigure the East Cliff, and strongly deprecated any interference with ...
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Death of on 17 May James Woodhams, head of Messers Woodhams, Son and Parks, prominent estate agents, of Havelock Road. He was treasurer of the local Conservative Party for many years, plus chairman or director of the Eversfield Hotel Co, ...
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A temperance restaurant (the Rainbow), plus a hotel and baths, had recently been renovated. They were situated at the junction of the London and Battle and Sedlescombe Road South. Provision of baths hot or cold. The Mail of 16 July ...
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William James Lawrence, a painter, of 9 High Bank, Mount Road, was knocked down and killed by a cyclist on 31 May. An inquiry was held.
New Galley
From the Hastings Mail of 06/06/1903
New rowing club: Major Freeman-Thomas donated £25, and a new galley was ordered.
Wick Gallop Dies
From the Hastings Mail of 13/06/1903
Death of Councillor ‘Wick’ Gallop on 8 June, a staunch Liberal and friend of the fishermen. He was born 1849 and had been the very popular councillor for St Clements since 1898. He went to sea as skipper of one ...
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Dead Baby
From the Hastings Mail of 20/06/1903
The body of a newly-born male child was found in a field at the top of Magdalen Road on 15 June.
There was controversy between the Cricket Ground Committee and the Volunteers regarding the right to drill in the enclosure.
First Regatta
From the Hastings Mail of 27/06/1903
The first boatman's and fishermen’s regatta was held, promoted by Mr GH Gooding.
Education Protest
From the Hastings Mail of 27/06/1903
The mayor and Mr White Ford were hissed by the Passive Resistants when leaving the Town Hall on June 25 after hearing the summonses of people refusing to pay the education rates. Thirty of these resistants in the parish of ...
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Ratepayers Unite
From the Hastings Mail of 27/06/1903
The recent rise in municipal rates by a third in a short time made ratepayers band together. A meeting resulted in the merging of the Hastings Ratepayers’ Union and the St Leonards Public Interests Association to form the Hastings and ...
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The Liberal party was condemned by the Mail for lacking leadership and cohesion, following the loss of the St Clements seat in the Council bye-election after the death of Cllr Gallop. “The colourless complexion of Liberalism in the Town Council ...
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Henry Page, car-man in a mineral water manufactory, was drowned in a boating accident just west of Hastings Pier.
Fanny Emma Cooke, 1 St Margarets Road, boarding house keeper, and Thomas King, 51 Robertson Street, ham and beef shop proprietor, appeared at the Bankruptcy Court.
Death of on 14 July of the Rev Henry Stent, the well-known vicar of Fairlight Church from 1857-1903, aged 72.
22 Council workmen were discharged by the Town Council; one had 17 years service. 20 were then re-engaged on temporary groyne work.
Harbour Board vacancies were filled. Councillor William Cooper took over from Councillor Idenden, and Councillor Felton Smith from Councillor Shoesmith.
A letter in the Mail from ‘A Toiler’ said the local trade unionists needed “an enthusiastic and voluntary worker as secretary, who can unite the toilers into one harmonious whole. With such a man to lead, trade unionism should make ...
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The new Conservative Club over Bray’s auction room in Claremont was opened for the first time to members. It had a library and reading room.
South Eastern Railway chairman Henry Cosmo Bonsor attacked the Hastings authorities in the Daily News. The Mail said he complained: “All the stations on the company's system had done well, except Hastings, which, he regretted to say, had been going ...
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Suicide by oxalic acid of James Richard Ball, 42, Omnibus Company stableman, living with Emily Oliver of 5 Cornwallis Street.
Fisherman Drowns
From the Hastings Mail of 08/08/1903
William Mann was drowned in a fishing accident on 2 August. The Hastings boat Florence May was discovered off Bexhill.
Haystack Fires
From the Hastings Mail of 08/08/1903
A haystack caught fire on 2 August; it was about 30 tons, belonging to Messrs Padgham and Hutchinson at Silverhill. On 2 September, in a fire at Ridge Farm, St Helens, a 130 ton haystack was damaged. There was a ...
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The annual meeting of the Hastings & StLeonards Public Baths and Aquarium Co was held on 6 August at the Queens Hotel. Deputy chairman Mr H Northey presided. There was a little increase in returns (rents etc) “but the season ...
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There was another attack on Hastings by the South Eastern Railway. General manager Vincent Hill said the cause of the problem was that the town had no winter attractions, criticising “the long dreary winter evenings … they must provide some ...
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“Instead of being done away with, as it was feared it might be, the Royal Concert Hall [Warrior Gardens], the only really large hall in Hastings or St Leonards, has been purchased by a local syndicate, consisting of Mr Edwin ...
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A Tory Brassey
From the Hastings Mail of 08/08/1903
The Hon TA Brassey had defected to the Tories from the Liberals.
Lift Success
From the Hastings Mail of 15/08/1903
The East Hill Lift had been a success: 40,958 passengers in 16 weeks.
A Hollington landmark had been destroyed. Two old railway carriages that stood near the Rising Sun Inn, 173 Battle Road [100 yards down from Tivoli Tavern], were dismantled. They had been owned and occupied for 27 years by Messrs S ...
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A report from the Hastings Board of Guardians meeting on 15 August said there was a record number of tramps, the majority of them artisans (carpenters, bricklayers, blacksmiths etc), not ‘neer-do-wells’. There were over 200 during the last week, compared ...
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Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show on the 20th drew thousands to Buckshole Field, St Helens Road. Colonel WF Cody introduced a grand review, his ‘Congress of Rough Riders of the World’ and the U.S Artillery. A prairie emigrant train drove ...
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There were more complaints of the public danger of slippery wood paving. The Front Line wooden road was not sprinkled with grit in wet weather; horses were seen to fall frequently.
Ore railway fatality: James William Jordan Nineham, a tailor of 109 Emmanuel Road, West Hill, was run over by a train.
An open boat, 15 feet long overall, sailed to Boulogne for a wager on Sunday 23 August. Messrs LI Hobbs, E Skinner and O Simpson launched the Maid of Kent without oars. It took about 24 hours.
The question of foreigners hawking on the Hastings parades and beach was engaging the minds of local shopkeepers. The town clerk sought approval for a series of bye laws to restrict beach hawking.
Start of a three day grand summer carnival, organized by the Hastings and St Leonards Amusements Association: Castle building competition, evening fete in the Park, kite flying and balloons on the West Hill, etc.
The Mail described how travellers seeking work were aided by the Society for the Suppression of Mendicity and the Relief of Distressed Travellers. An article suggested it was better to subscribe to this society than give tramps money, as there ...
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The Mail had extracts from a Daily Express article on Hastings trams: A line was projected from Kewhurst through Bexhill to Marina, St Leonards; another encircled the town, starting from the Memorial, up Queens Road, round by Mount Pleasant Road, ...
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Uplands School
From the Hastings Mail of 05/09/1903
A ladies educational establishment was soon to be opened, in Archery Road facing Archery Gardens; to be known as Uplands School.
Suicide of Ed WM Banks, lodged at 15 Shepherd Street, St Leonards. He was a clergyman in the Church of England.
Damaging Gale
From the Hastings Mail of 12/09/1903
A disastrous gale took place on Thursday 10 September. Fifty bathing machines were lost, houses and a chapel were flooded and steamboats were in a terrible plight. The greatest sufferers were Messrs Hutchinson Bros, proprietors of the bathing machines near ...
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Bankrupt Traders
From the Hastings Mail of 12/09/1903
Barry Burt, tobacconist and carpenter, of 146 Queens Road and 10 Castle Road, and Isaiah Cheale, miller of the Gables, Ore, were in the Bankruptcy Court.
Motor Boat Trial
From the Hastings Mail of 19/09/1903
A motor boat trial took place in the Harbour on Saturday 12 September. Councillor Blackman and friends engaged in giving a trial to a new petrol motor boat, built by Mr Duffie. The run took place in the smooth water ...
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Bryant Death
From the Hastings Mail of 19/09/1903
Death of Mr AD Bryant on 13 September, partner in the well known furnishing firm of Bryant and Son, of Queens Road.
The borough engineer reported to a Council meeting on 18 September the very defective condition of the upper part of the Albert Memorial. The stonework appeared rotten and the joints were open. The top part of the tower above the ...
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Cliff Death
From the Hastings Mail of 26/09/1903
The fatal fall of May Tombs took place on 19 September from the Castle cliff onto the roof of the Weekly Mail and Times office.
Resisters in Court
From the Hastings Mail of 26/09/1903
Passive Resistants were summoned before the Bench on 21 September, including two councillors and two clergymen.
Record Haul
From the Hastings Mail of 26/09/1903
There had been a record haul of mackerel for many years by Hastings fishermen.
Cllr George Hutchings, of Fern Bank, Croft Road, resigned as a member of the Harbour Commissioners. He was a prominent councillor for All Saints ward.
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