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Hastings Education authority banned from today all elementary schoolchildren living outside the borough boundary from attending authority-controlled schools within the borough. This was the result of a refusal by East Sussex Education authority to contribute towards the cost of educating ...
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Distress Again
From the Hastings Mail of 05/01/1907
The first meeting of the Hastings Distress Committee this year was held. It appealed to the public for funds. There was no Queens’ fund this year. An appeal letter was published in the Mail, saying that the distress in the ...
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A meeting of the Social and Political Debating Society was held at the Castle Hotel. Mr Willard spoke of the benefits of municipal ownership.
There were impressive funeral scenes for the late Lady Ashburnham at Guestling Church. She had died at her residence, Broomham Park.
The Front Line car service started this morning, Saturday 12th. Twenty cars had to be adapted for the Dolter underground system, but so far only six had undergone the process, so initially they only ran from the Memorial to Bopeep. ...
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Coal Tax Scandal
From the Hastings Mail of 12/01/1907
The working class people of Hastings were subsidising the well-off, via the centuries-old coal tax, declared the national paper, Lloyds News on 6 January. The tax dated from when Queen Elizabeth allowed the governing body of Hastings to collect a ...
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The Mail commented that for the first time in the history of Hastings the unemployed artisans and labourers had taken part this week in organised processions - a human picture sorrowful in the extreme. These men, ...
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The Mail said the Hastings coal ring was flourishing, with coal merchant managers lining their own pockets. It compared prices for Hastings, Bexhill and Brighton.
Many flags were at half-mast on fishing boats in memory of Mr William G Eastland, a fisherman aged 34, who died at his residence Scrivens Buildings, Crown Lane, last week.
John William Sisley, poulterer and fishmonger of 5 Kings Road, and Frederick Cockle, grocer of Queens Road, appeared at the Bankruptcy Court.
The Mail commemorated 12 months of Du Cros as MP. It said it ironical that on anniversary day, 15 January, there had been a big demonstration of the unemployed. His slogan had been 'Vote for Dy Cros and Prosperity for ...
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Death of Mr George Randell - tragic seizure in the Eversfield Hotel, St Leonards, following scholastic career and public work in Hastings.
A Distress Committee meeting took place on Monday 21 January. There was a dispute over payment of trade union wages. It was finally agreed they could pay a trade union rate if the men worked a fewer number of hours, ...
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A woman was arrested in connection with a Hastings mystery: Jeannie Beacham was arrested at Brighton after a tin trunk and leather-covered square box deposited at Hastings Railway Station during November 1905 were found to contain the decomposing bodies of ...
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Far-reaching schemes for pensions were propounded at Hastings and the poor law condemned, at a meeting in the Market Hall, organised by the Trades and Labour Council. The speakers were Mr GR Roberts, Labour MP for Norwich, and Frederick ...
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The Hastings and St Leonards Ancient Order of Druids entertained the inmates of the Workhouse.
At the 1 February Council meeting, a communication calling attention to the amount of unemployment in Hastings and urging the Council to enforce the halfpenny rate was received from the secretary of the Hastings branch of the SDF. Alderman Tree ...
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Unemployed parades had been abandoned, as there were better prospects for the future. The Hastings unemployed meeting on the beach on Thursday morning (31 January) was addressed by James Thompson . He was glad to see such a small body ...
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A large grocery establishment in London Road was gutted by fire on Monday 4th. The shop at 257 London Road occupied by George Ockenden was totally destroyed by fire. It was in the block between Tower Road and Lower South ...
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The remains of a mummified baby were found under the floor in a house in Priory Avenue, No 16, the home of the Charltons.
Tariff reform was voted down at the fortnightly meeting of the local Social and Political Debating Society at the Castle Hotel. Cobb, Willard, Councillor Reed, Kerr, IE Mannington, A Paine and William Perrins all spoke.
SDF Hits Back
From the Hastings Mail of 09/02/1907
The Mail had a letter to the editor from a “Social Democrat”: “Councillor March and some of his confreres feel annoyed that the Social Democrats should have the audacity to take an interest in their own municipal affairs. They object ...
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A letter from Mr Kerr, the secretary of the Hastings branch of the SDF, was sent on 11th to the Distress Committee setting forth a scheme for the letting of the Pilot Field in allotments, which might keep 50 people ...
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A concert was held at St Peters Parish Room to augment the funds of the Distress Committee.
A petition of nearly seventy shopkeepers in Queens Road asked that the thoroughfare should be lighted with arc lamps.
A meeting at the Public Hall, Robertson Street, heard the Rev Father Healy of the Church Socialist’s League speak on “Why Socialism is Christian”.
A women’s conference and mass meeting at the Public Hall, Robertson Street, were organised by the Home Counties Union of Women’s Liberal Associations and the Hastings Women’s Liberal Association, with a speech by Mr Ackland MP.
Arthur Claydon, 51, of Pevensey Road, was found dead in bed with his throat cut by his wife. He acted as caretaker at 55 and 57 Pevensey Road.
The Mail had a letter from Alfred Cobb to the editor about the Council and the unemployed. He said that out of 730 applications for work from the Distress Committee, some 400 had been set at work in shifts of ...
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Death of Mr Horace E Chapman, well-known local Liberal and chess player.
Death of Major General JA Smith, resident of Hastings for more than 18 years.
There was a bitter attack on Hastings in an Isle of Wight newspaper's comparison of Ventnor and Hastings, with between 700 and 800 empty houses, large hotels and boarding houses closed, others paying but small dividends, property going down in ...
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Mr Frederick James, superintendent and deputy chief constable of Plymouth, was to be the new Hastings chief constable.
Harbour Silting Up
From the Hastings Mail of 09/03/1907
The Mail said a great deal had been beard of late about the silting up of the harbour by the beach. “No doubt the Harbour Commissioners will do all they can to facilitate shipping in this historic bay.”
Death of Sir James Colquhoun, a direct descendent of a long line of Colquhouns, and the most aristocratic resident in the town.
Mr Fred Knee addressed a public meeting on the Housing Problem, organised by the Trades and Labour Council. Knee (National Housing Council) said that Hastings was not perfect in the problem of overcrowding and figures taken at the last census ...
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Hastings Pier Pavilion was burgled, leaving a scene of devastation. The night watchman heard nothing.
The Social and Political Debating Society discussed drink and poverty at the Castle Hotel.
Medical Banquet
From the Hastings Mail of 23/03/1907
There was a visit from the fellows of the British Balneological and Climatological Society. They discussed the treatment of tuberculosis by marine climates, and had a banquet at the Queens Hotel. Many of the local medical profession attended.
A public meeting was held at the Central Hall, Bank Buildings, under the auspices of the local branch of the SDF, with a striking address by Councillor J Jones of West Ham. Mr JM Kerr occupied the chair.
A Front Line tram collided with a Corporation water cart, driven by Mr Peddlesden of Ore, opposite the Hastings Pier.
The body of a newly born child was found on a hedge in a pathway leading from Elphinstone to Downs Road, by Lancefield RF Cloke, of 3 St Andrews Square, an errand boy for Patman Bros, ironmongers.
Ship Inn Sinking
From the Hastings Mail of 13/04/1907
The Mail said that inroads of the sea on the slice of marshlands between Winchelsea and Cliff End meant the destruction of that quaint old landmark the Ship Inn. The foreshore was eaten away to such an extent that at ...
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Doctor’s Suicide
From the Hastings Mail of 13/04/1907
Medical practitioner’s suicide at Silverhill: Thomas Richard Vaux Woodifield shot himself at 62 Vale Road.
The Mail reported the formation of "another socialistic organisation" in Hastings, a local branch of the Independent Labour Party (ILP). A meeting was held on Tuesday evening the 16th at the Ferrari Brothers restaurant, 28 Havelock Road, to consider setting ...
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Hastings fishing punt Our Dick RX 206 was sunk in collision with a torpedo boat destroyer. It was run into by HMS Adventure while anchored about 6 miles to SSW off the coast of Fairlight. Richard Breeds, the owner, was ...
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A Hastings cabman was fatally injured at Westfield: George Locke, of 53 Warrior Square, who for many years was employed by Edward Pope, a fly proprietor of 8 East Crescent. The horse bolted and the landau was wrecked.
The Mail editorial said the Distress Committee had wound up for another year. The weather had not been severe, although the number of unemployed who registered was an eye opener to those who were inclined to view that Hastings was ...
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The body of a newly born female child was discovered in a dustbin at 28 Warrior Square, which had been untenanted for some time past.
The Council on 3 May agreed to erect a Warrior Square bandstand.
A sparsely attended meeting, organized by the Trades and Labour Council, was held at the Central Hall, Bank Buildings, to advance the claims of trade unionism to painters and printers. A communication from the SDF asking to affiliate with the ...
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The trade newspaper Motor Finance had published a detailed report severely criticising the position of the Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd, of which Harvey Du Cros MP was chairman and his son Arthur managing director. The Mail covered the story, ...
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The old Wesley Chapel in Bourne Street reopened after renovation.
A conference was held by the PSA in the Public Hall, Robertson Street, on Thursday 9th on how to help the unemployed in the winter months. In seaside towns the building trade was at a low ebb and a great ...
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James Dorman Dies
From the Hastings Mail of 11/05/1907
Death of James Dorman, an elective auditor for the borough. He lived at 8 Braybrooke Terrace. He and Mr IE Mannington had been re-appointed Council auditors in late February 1907. Mr Charles Parker was elected as new borough auditor on ...
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There was another pier robbery: This time the St Leonards Pavilion was broken into, with £50 stolen.
Sidney Herbert Cross, landlord of the Bedford Hotel, appeared at the Bankruptcy Court.
Mr AC Simpson's bathing tents on the beach opposite Eversfield Place were so popular last year that permission had been granted by the Corporation to place them there again this year.
Commission agent Thomas Smith Lancaster committed suicide. He lived at 99 Mount Pleasant Road. Also on 31 May, Ernest Maitland Duncan, aged 43, was found dead in bed at 10 Lennox Street, Halton, of laudanum poisoning.
Notes in the Mail speculated that Mr F Barclay Hanbury was contemplating leaving Hastings for America. He was greatly interested as a mechanical inventor in patent questions. In a letter to the editor, Hanbury asked why local coach proprietors and ...
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The Council on 7 June decided to consider Corporation workmen wages and possible increases for anyone earning 25s or less a week. On 19 July the Council decided that Corporation workmen’s wages were to be increased by more than £600.
Two New Trains
From the Hastings Mail of 22/06/1907
Two new fast trains to run on the line from Hastings to Victoria, London.
Hastings school staffs: The education authority proposed drastic reductions – the gradual disposal of 38 teaching positions.
Big Motor Rally
From the Hastings Times of 29/06/1907
Hastings and St Leonards were invaded on Wednesday 26 June by motor cars and motor men who came from every part of England for the long talked of and eagerly expected automobile meeting arranged by the borough entertainments association in ...
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Members of the Independent Labour Party local branch had arranged an open air meeting at the Fishmarket on Monday evening (1 July) at 7.30, with Mr AP Hardie of Brighton as the speaker. This was intended to be the first-ever ...
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A shark was caught off Hastings by the Hastings fishing smack Endeavour, captained by Mr J Adams.
Arthur Du Cros took up residence in St Leonards at 106 Marina, the residence for two years of his father, Harvey, the MP. The Mail warned that this could be a sign of Harvey preparing to stand down as MP. ...
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An extension of the electricity mains to the lower parts of Clive Vale was agreed at a Town Council meeting on 5 July. There was a lively debate because several councillors believed few residents wanted (or could afford) the new ...
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The Mail recorded the sudden death on Wednesday 3 July of Thomas Penman, the 32-year old Scotchman who had been the editor of the Mail and Times until very recently. A month ago he had left Hastings to become a ...
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The annual meeting of the Hastings Trades and Labour Council took place at the Clarence Hotel, Middle Street, on the evening of Thursday 4 July. Mr GT Page (Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants) was re-elected chairman, Walter Campling (Typographical Association) ...
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Edward Joseph Hamnett attempted suicide by shooting himself in the head. He was the licensee of the Star Hotel, Undercliff, St Leonards.
The Council discussed and rejected the Special Committee’s report on the amalgamation of parishes. But in November the new Council revived the issue and examined it again
Coghill Death
From the Hastings Mail of 13/07/1907
Mrs Louisa Annie Coghill died at Bath recently. She was the widow of the late Mr Barry Coghill, and his second wife. Buried in the Fairlight Church graveyard.
The Council's Stonebeach Comittee proposed to set apart on the seashore, between the east corner of the Queens Hotel and the storm signal erection at the Fishmarket, 20 separate spaces of six feet in length and three feet wide, for ...
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There is a letter to the editor defending hawking, from Alfred Cobb. The 27 July Mail had another letter to the Editor by Cobb, on hawking and beach stands. He asserted that the majority of hawkers were not only residents ...
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Thomas Arthur Hook, aged 7, drowned in Buckshole Reservoir, in the park.
A Sunday evening meeting of the SDF near the Fishmarket met considerable opposition. The speaker was Frederick Knee, who addressed a large concourse of spectators. He denied that socialism was a menace to the world, saying it was only a ...
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Death of William Glyde, painter and decorator, of 189 Queens Road, found with his throat cut – suicide. The Mail of 27 July said a Hastings man, Joseph Redfern, was found drowned in the River Rother at Playden. He resided at ...
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There was much amusement, as trams were often delayed on a bad stud for several minutes, while the officials and trackmen gave the vehicle a lift with crowbars. The lighting of the cars was seriously defective, a distance of some ...
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Two members of the Trades and Labour Council were thrown out of work by local (unnamed) building firms because they were trade unionists. Messrs Lamb and Goodwin were intimidated as fellow members of the Painters’ Society.
Death and funeral of Alfred Seth Thomas Small, farmer of New Coghurst Farm. He had resided at Coghurst Farm for 27 years.
The Mail reported that for the first time in the history of the local socialist agitation two Hastings audiences were on Sunday (28 July) addressed by a lady, but one of the meetings - in the evening, at the Fishmarket ...
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Unemployed Suicide
From the Hastings Mail of 03/08/1907
The body of Charles Abraham Roper was discovered drowned in Buckshole Reservoir. He lodged at 23 Alma Terrace, Silverhill, and was unemployed. Suicide letters were found.
Du Cros Boat
From the Hastings Mail of 03/08/1907
The Cinque Port Rowing Club’s new galley was committed to the waves and named Patricia after the daughter of Mr and Mrs Harvey du Cros.
Two meetings of the SDF took place on Sunday 4 August, and were addressed by Mr Pidgeon of Edmonton and presided over by Mr Hutchins. It was mentioned in the evening debate at the Fishmarket the borough member Harvey Du ...
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A new amateur football club was to be formed, the St Leonards Amateur FC. It held a general meeting today Monday 12 August, at 6 North Street, central St Leonards.
Thomas Joseph Chessum, of 7 St Andrews Square, and George Mills, of 7 Stanley Road, shopfitters, bullders and decorators at 22 Castle Hill Road, Hastings; Henry Jeanes Trantum, trading as Trantum and Co, 96 Bohemia Road; and Harriet Beard, lately ...
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Details on Hawking
From the Hastings Mail of 31/08/1907
Between 150 and 200 people were engaged in street hawking. 12 or 14 had permanent stands allotted to them, including flower and shrimp stands; these did not get moved on by the law. Fruit barrows (about 40 in the summer ...
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The unemployed question, seen through socialist spectacles: A young Eastbourne bricklayer named Stevens, well versed in the principles of socialism, spoke at two meetings on the foreshore on Sunday (25th) for the local branch of the SDF. It was at ...
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Mr and Mrs James Kirkley and family, of Cleadon Park, Durham, were taking up residence at The Hall, Martineau Lane, Fairlight. Kirkley was one of the largest colliery owners in the north of England, and would divide his attentions between ...
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The Mail published an interview with Miss Ellen Terry, who stayed with her husband James Carew in a suite of rooms at the Queens Hotel.
There was an outbreak of fire at a motor garage occupied by Mr Stally in Queens Road. He ran a cycle shop at 186 Queens Road.
Death of Samson Sutton at the Workhouse at the age of 88. He was Hastings’s oldest fisherman, a native of the Old Town. He owned for a considerable period a smack named Samson which foundered in a great gale off ...
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Mrs Chambers, widow of the late Frederick Bell Chambers, applied for a grant from the poor box for help to emigrate to Canada, where her brother lived.
James Loveday was found drowned on the beach at Bexhill. He complained on the day he died that he could not get work and the police would not let him play his whistle-pipe in the streets. He remarked that he ...
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An exhibition was given on 17 September of lantern slides by the new lumiere process of direct photography in natural colours. This was said to be the first time shown in England, at the Public Hall, Robertson Street.
Trade unionists appealed for a standard rate of wages at the Council meeting on 20 September. Walter Campling, secretary of the Trades Council, wrote in reference to a carpenter employed at the Clive Vale Schools paid at one penny less ...
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Two candidates for the Trades and Labour Council for the forthcoming municipal elections were Walter Campling and Mr WW Jones, chosen for two wards in which a working class population predominated, viz Upper St Marys and St Clements. On Wednesday ...
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The steamer Bonnie Doon broke down off Bexhill and was taken in tow by the Lorna Doon for Newhaven harbour.
There were large crowds at the Sunday evening (22nd) meetings of the local Social Democrat Federation. Mr Glossop spoke at the Fishmarket. On Tuesday 24th a meeting to advance the claims of trade unionism was held at the Lower Central ...
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