MPs Win Libel Case
From the Hastings News of 23/04/1869
The two Hastings MPs, Frederick North and Thomas Brassey, both Liberals, were found not guilty of corrupt practices to win their seats in the November 1868 general election. Some members of the Tory Party had petitioned the Crown after the ...
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"The Municipal Election Petitions - Opening of the Inquiry at the Town Hall - During the past two months, one of the chief topics of conversation in local circles has been the subject of the three petitions presented against three ...
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Cllr John Howell, the town's leading builder and president of the local Liberal Party, was acquitted of perjury at Hastings Police Court. A private investigator, Mr Kendal, from London had alleged that Howell committed perjury when Howell had hired ...
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Conservative Club
From the Hastings News of 14/03/1884
A new Conservative Club opened at Silverhill, at the junction of Sedlescombe and London Roads.
Brassey Becomes Lord
From the Hastings Observer of 19/06/1886
Sir Thomas Brassey resigned as MP for Hastings. The Observer of 3 July reported that the by-election had resulted in Wilson Noble, the Unionist (Conservative), being elected; Brassey was Liberal. The Observer of 14 August said that Brassey was ...
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New Tory HQ
From the Hastings News of 17/05/1890
A special dinner was held on 14 May at the Castle Hotel to celebrate the opening of the new Hastings area Conservative Club at 12 Carlisle Parade, a prominent building. [This was the to be the Tory Party headquarters in ...
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The prime minister Lord Salisbury addressed a mass meeting at the Royal Concert Hall, Warrior Gardens, during a Conservative conference in Hastings on 18 May. There was also a banquet on St Leonards Pier. This was in the run-up to ...
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In the general election, the sitting Unionist [Conservative] MP Mr Wilson Noble beat the Liberal Mr Serjeant Hemphill QC by a majority of 449. Mr Noble was first elected in 1986 when Mr Brassey became a lord. In the run-up ...
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MP or not MP
From the Hastings News of 16/12/1892
The Hastings Conservatives governing body announced on 15 December that Mr Wilson Noble, the Hastings MP, would not seek re-election at the next general election. Mr William Lucas-Shadwell was recommended as the candidate.
The new Conservative Club at Silverhill was opened on Wednesday 6 September. The club was in specially built premises at the junction of Sedlescombe Road South and Battle Road, opposite the Clarence Hotel on the corner of Beaufort Road, the ...
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Lucas-Shadwell MP?
From the Hastings News of 01/02/1895
Mr William Lucas-Shadwell was adopted as the parliamentary candidate at the Hastings Conservatives annual meeting on 31 January.
Tory Club Opens
From the Hastings News of 10/04/1896
A new Conservative Club opened on 7 April on the West Hill. It occupied a floor of the Granville pub on the corner of St Georges Road and Whitefriars Road.
George Thorpe Dies
From the Hastings News of 21/08/1896
The four-times mayor and prominent local businessman George Archibald Thorpe JP died on 16 August at his residence, High Croft, Ore. He was born 5 September 1825 in Battle, the son of a shoemaker. At age 19 he came to ...
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Cllr Frederick Cruttenden, builder and contractor, of 20 Warrior Gardens, appeared for public examination in the Bankruptcy Court. He had been declared bankrupt several times since 1882. He seemed to take many chances in the building trade, most of which ...
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Major-General Sir Archibald Sherer died at The Residency, Church Road, on 29 July. He had been a Conservative councillor for the St Leonards ward.
Cllr Wickens Dies
From the Hastings Mail of 15/03/1902
Cllr Owen Wickens died on 11 March at his residence, London House, 246 Old London Road, Ore village (also his drapers shop). He was a popular and well-respected Tory councillor who had done much to help the poor people of ...
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Tory Stands Down
From the Hastings Mail of 29/03/1902
Conservative Edward Boyle declined taking part in a second fight for the Hastings Parliamentary seat.
Death on 19 August of Maurice Sarsfield Walsh JP, editor of the Hastings Observer. He died at his home, 4 St Helens Terrace, aged 59, following eight months of various illnesses. He was born 3 December 1843 in London and ...
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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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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.
A Tory Brassey
From the Hastings Mail of 08/08/1903
The Hon TA Brassey had defected to the Tories from the Liberals.
The millionaire Irish businessman Mr Harvey Du Cros was chosen as the prospective Conservative candidate for Hastings in the next election. The decision was made at a meeting of the Central Governing Body on Monday evening 4th at Mr LF ...
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Mayor’s Relief Fund: In it’s leading editorial, the Mail said: “There is still in the borough an extraordinary degree of poverty arising from scarcity of work. … There is, unhappily, no immediate prospect of increased commercial prosperity.” For several coming ...
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Tory AGM
From the Hastings Mail of 12/03/1904
The AGM of the Hastings and St Leonards United Conservative Association was held in the Hippodrome, Pelham Place, on the evening of March 9. “The building was packed from top to bottom.” Mr AP McEwen presided. The secretary was Cllr ...
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The mansion the Grove, Hollington, caught fire. It belonged to Mr AP MacEwen, president of the Hastings and St Leonards Conservative Association. The damage was estimated at £100.
The Affairs of Messrs J & A Bray: John and Arthur Bray appeared in the Bankruptcy Court on July 12 before registrar Mr EA Knight. The senior partner was John, an alderman and councillor for over 20 years. He had ...
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The Tories lost control of Hastings Council to the Liberals and Independents at the elections on November 1. The result exceeded the greatest expectations of the Liberals, winning five of the six wards in the elections. The only set-back was ...
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Tory Cross Erector
From the Hastings Mail of 03/06/1905
Death on June 1 of Henry Charles Richards KC, 'staunch Conservative' MP for East Finsbury, of the West Hill, St Leonards. Son of local JP Frederick Richards, of Ore and then St Leonards. Henry erected the Coronation Memorial Cross at ...
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The Hon TA Brassey, son and heir of Lord Brassey, who had switched from the Liberals to the Tories some time ago, stood down as the prospective candidate for Rye on July 29. He had declined “to become a mere ...
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General Election Looms
From the Hastings Observer of From the Hastings Mail of 13/01/1906
The general election taking place on Monday 15 January dominated the two main newspapers, the Mail and Observer. The Mail canvassed very strongly for the sitting Liberal MP Freeman-Thomas, calling on the working men of Hastings to support the Liberal ...
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There were three demonstrations on Monday 22 January. The Tories had a large parade of carriages, traps, motors, two stage coaches and various other vehicles, starting at noon from Warrior Square, going to Bulverhythe, then the Fishmarket and back to ...
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The Hastings Democratic League meeting took place on Wednesday 25 April at the Public Hall in Robertson Street. The Mail said it was a telling speech by John Ward MP (the Navvy MP). This mass meeting of the Hastings and ...
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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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