FOOTNOTES
[1] Temple Sydney’s History of England, published 1772, at Shakespear’s Head, No. 17, Paternoster Row, London.
[2] 4. Jac—Sir Edward Bellinghani held freely to himself and his heirs lands and tenements in Aldrington, as of the Manor of Atlingworth.—Rowe’s M.S., p. 156.—6. Hen. 6. De quarta parte feod. milit. in Athelyngworth in Hundr. de Fyshergate dicunt quod sit in manu Prioris de Lewes et est dec.—Ing. capt. ap. Lewes, 6 Hen. 6.
[6] In April, 1822, a large molar tooth of the Asiatic elephant was discovered in Lower Rock gardens, in a well fifty feet deep; and four very fine and perfect ones were dug up by the workmen employed on the foundation of the walls for the esplanade, at the Chain Pier, in 1831.
[7a] I have (says Mantell) specimens of the teeth, found in a well fifty yards inland, at the depth of forty-six feet, in the Coombe Rock, and immediately above the bed of shingle.
[7b] “Some wells at Tetney (a village on the coast of Lincolnshire) that are sunk in the chalk, are also affected by the tide; the wells overflowing with a greater flux at the time of high water, and particularly at spring tides; showing that the water in the chalk communicates with the sea.”—Geolog. Trans. vol. iii. p. 394.
[9] Clark on Climate, p. 219.
[10] The “Climate of Brighton,” by William Kebbell, M.D., Physician to the Sussex County Hospital.
[11] The harbour’s new mouth was opened on the 25th of January, 1819.
[20] The Weald of Sussex is an extensive vale that occupies the centre of the south-eastern part of the county, and, running parallel with the Downs, forms their northern boundary. It was anciently an immense forest (called by the earlier colonists, Coid Andred, by the Romans Silva Anderida, and by the Saxons Andreadswald), which, even in the time of Bede, was a mere retreat for deer and swine: the greater part is now in an excellent state of cultivation. It consists of various beds of clay, sand, and limestone, and is comparatively of low elevation; its breadth is from five to ten miles, and its length from thirty to forty miles; it is estimated to contain 425,000 acres. The surface is intersected by numerous valleys, which generally occur at the outcrop or basseting edges of the harder strata, and form channels for the numerous streams that are tributary to the rivers in their vicinity. The whole tract rises with a gradual sweep from the foot of the Downs, and unites with the higher lands of the Forest Ridge.
[21] The Burrell Manuscripts were compiled by Sir William Burrell, a great antiquarian, who for many years spared neither attention nor expense in collecting and arranging the materials for preparing the antiquities of Sussex; and the county looked for their completion with the utmost solicitude. The death of the worthy Baronet, unfortunately, rendered it incomplete, and the ten folio volumes of his rare and scarce manuscripts were deposited in the British Museum. A tablet, by Flaxman, to the memory of Sir William, adorns the wall of Cuckfield church.
[23] To commemorate his appointment he had small copper tokens cast, with “John Brooker, 1660,” on them, and “Brighthelmston, J. B.,” on the obverse. A specimen, of this coin, in the possession of the compiler of this book, is in an excellent state of preservation.
[24] In the Town Book the same name appears written Wigram and Wiggram.
[25] Anno 13 and 14 Caroli II., cap. 12, sec. “XV. And whereas the Laws and Statutes for the apprehending of Rogues and Vagabonds have not been duly executed, sometimes for want of Officers, by reason of Lords of Manors do not keep Court-Leets every year for the making of them: Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That in case any Constable, Headborough, or Tythingmen shall dye or go out of the Parish, any two Justices of the Peace may make and swear a new Constable, Headborough, or Tythingman, until the said Lord shall hold a Court, or until next Quarter Sessions, who shall approve of the said Officers so made and sworn as aforesaid, or appoint others, as they shall think fit: And if any Officer shall continue above a year in his or their Office, that then in such case the Justices of Peace in their Quarter Sessions may discharge such Officers, and may put another fit person in his or their place, until the Lord of the said Manor shall hold a Court as aforesaid.”
[26] Veteres Rotuli Curiæ.
[28] The first Town Book, or Costumal of Brighthelmston. In transcribing this book, the spelling is modernized.
[30a] Heak is still used in Yorkshire for a certain net used in the river Ouse.
[30b] Moxes we may suppose to be a corruption from the Dutch word maeschen, mashes, and fare from fahre, in the same language. Indeed, most of the other technical words in the Town Books are derived from the Teutonic, and were apparently introduced by the Flemish emigrants who are supposed to have settled at Brighthelmston.
[30c] Cock, from the Teutonic cogge, a small boat.
[39] Second Town Book, or Costumal of Brighthelmston.
[40] This was a larger contribution than the landmen had been used to make.
[46] Furlong, or Fortylong, from the French quarante, forty, a measure of forty perches.
[47] Part of this furlong was lost by the sea.
[48a] Set off in February 1765: 22a. 1r. 27p.
[48b] Set off in February 1773: 24a. 3r. 16p.
[48c] Set off in February 1773: 24a. 3r. 26p.
[48d] In the book 262 is written to cover both “Third Furlong” and “Shepherd’s Acre”. It’s unclear whether this means they add up to 262, or that they are both 262.—DP.
[53] Anno 18, Elizabethæ, cap. 3. sec. 3.—And be it also enacted, That if the said Justices of Peace do perceive, that the Inhabitants of any Parish are not able to levy among themselves sufficient Sums of Money for the Purposes aforesaid; that then the said Two Justices shall and may tax, rate, and assess, as aforesaid, any other of other Parishes, or out of any Parish within the Hundred where the said Parish is, to pay such Sum and Sums of Money to the Churchwardens and Overseers of the said poor Parish for the said purposes, as the said Justices shall think fit, according to the Intention of this Law.
[65] See quarter share in “Ancient Customs,” page 34.
[67] This was the storm which destroyed the Eddyston lighthouse.
[69] Paul Dunvan, the author of “Lee’s History of Lewes and Brighthelmstone,” published in 1795, was for some time an usher in the Lewes Grammar School.
[73a] See foot-note, page [47].
[73b] Godwin’s Rental of Brighthelmston Manor, made in 1665, penes Carolum Gilbert de Lewes Armis.
[76] Henry Hilton, who was commonly called Baron Hilton, is evidently meant. He died in the year 1648; and in the Town Book is the following memorandum, in reference to the charity:—“Octr. 18th, 1704. Direction how to writ to Baron John Hylton, living at Hylton Castle, by way off Durham, to be left at the post office in Sunderland by Sea.”
[78a] Over the front door of this house was a well painted representation of a Ship in Distress, beneath which was the following couplet:—
“By danger we’re encompass’d round;
Pray, lend a hand, our ship’s aground.”
It may here be added that formerly, throughout the town, the public houses had illustrated signs and poetic effusions. Thus the “Bell,” in Russell Street, now the “Nelson,” had for its sign, an inverted bell, and the annexed inscription:—
“Good liquor here is to be found;
The Bell for luck’s turn’d upside down.”
[78b] Day, in the Brighton vernacular, is pronounced dee; hence the rhyme is preserved.
[85] “This manor belonged to the Priory of Lewes, and at the dissolution, 29 Hen. VIII., was granted to Sir Thomas Lord Cromwell, as also the rectory, with the advowson of the vicarage.”—Burrell MSS.
[89] Vide, Quarter-Share, page [34].
[90] Mr. Wagner, the father of the present Vicar, and son-in-law to the Rev. Henry Michell, (Vicar), died at his house in Pall-Mall, London, on Sunday the 17th of February, 1811.
[91a] This organ is now stowed away as lumber, in one of the rooms of the Royal Pavilion.
[91b] Although, to many persons, the thus associating of a public-house with the parish church may be considered somewhat out of character, the annexed copy of manuscripts in the possession of the writer of this book, will not only convince them that there is in some measure an affinity, but it will in a degree stagger modern advocates of temperance, not so much that men of the dates recorded indulged in their potations, but that the Vestry Meetings of the time permitted the expenditure out of the Church-rates. Copy:—
“White Hart, Russell Street, Brighton.
1824. The Honourable Churchwardens of Brighton.
To Phinehas Jupp.
| £ | s. | d. | |
| March 25th.—61 Pots of Beer | 1 | 10 | 6 |
| 1 Pint do. | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| June 25th.—74 Pots of Beer | 1 | 17 | 0 |
| Sept. 29th.—89 Pots of Beer | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Decr. 25th.—82 Pots of Beer | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| £7 | 13 | 3 |
Jany. 21, 1825.
Received of the Churchwardens, the sum of seven pounds 13s 3d, as per bill, for Beer for workmen at the Parish Church.
£7 13s 3d. Phinehas Jupp.”
Whether the recipients were permitted to indulge in their libations. ad libitum, is not on record.
[93] A Narrative of Transactions relative to a Sermon preached in the Parish Church of Brighton, August 18th, 1793, by Vicesimus Knox, D.D. London: Printed for C. Dilly, in the Poultry, 1794.
[95] In a note, the Doctor says:—“I have since been informed, that in some pews, where a few of the military and their acquaintance were seated, impatience was shewn by such whisperings as this: ‘Will the fellow never have done?’ A titter was also affected to conceal the choleric affections; and fans played with motions as rapid as the tail of an angry cat. But I was unconscious of these symptoms of stifled rage.”
[109] Ancient name of Newhaven.
[110a] The rock is still there, and is well known to mariners.
[110b] A tradition is still held by the old inhabitants that a galley is seen here in the offing before a storm.
[115] A criminal information was moved in the Court of King’s Bench, against the publisher of the Brighton Herald, Mr. William Fleet, for having, pending the investigation before the Coroner, published certain matters which, it was alleged, tended to create a prejudice against Messrs. Williams and White. Lord Ellenborough observed, that the Court felt itself bound in point of law to grant the rule, but thought it would be advisable for the parties to stay where they were, and not carry the proceedings farther. His lordship expressed a wish that peace and harmony might be restored to a town in which so much division appeared to exist. All parties concerned in the indiscreet affair were severely lampooned in a poem called the “Battle of the Tar Tub,” very few copies of which are extant.
[118a] The first spot ever set apart as a sacred burial-place,—namely, the field of Ephron, bought by the patriarch Abraham,—was planted round about with trees:—“The field and the cave that was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, and in the borders round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession.”—Genesis xxiii., 17.
[118b] By reference to the signatures of the principal inhabitants to the “Auncient Customs,” Page 37, it will be seen that this is the orthography of the name, as written by the son of the martyr. And it is fair to presume that at the time of his signature, 1580, he was a person of no mean importance, and had a vanity that his name should be correctly spelt, as he is the only person who inscribed to the document, that prefixed Mr. to his signature. Fox writes it Derrick. The breweries established next after Carver’s, were the Ship Street Brewery, by Wichelo, known in modern times as Wigney’s Brewery, now no longer in existence; and West Street Brewery, by Mighell, now the extensive establishment of Messrs. Vallance & Catt.
[122] This is erased by a mark of the pen being passed through it, in the original.
[126] Probably Steyning is here meant.
[130] Colonel Phillips went for Charles on Sunday, 12th October; they started on the 13th, and remained at Hambledon the night of the 13th. On the night of the 14th they slept at the George Inn (King’s Head) Brighton, from whence they departed at 2 a.m. on the 15th, arriving at Fechamp at 10 p.m. of that day.
[134] An abstract of the Sufferings of the People called Quakers, for the Testimony of a Good Conscience. London: The Bible, George Yard, Lombard Street, 1733.
[137] The Corporation and Test Act which prohibited a Non-Conformist taking any Civil or Military office, was repealed May 8th, 1828.
[138] Crosby’s History of the English Baptists.
[181] We have to record this week the death of, we believe, the oldest inhabitant of Brighton, Mrs. Ackerson, who had reached her 97th year. She was the widow of the late Mr. Robert Ackerson, who filled the offices of High Constable, Overseer, Churchwarden, and Parish Assessor of Brighton. When Royalty smiled on this little fishing village, the not least important of the Brighton fair was the wife of Bob Ackerson, whose merits were prominently blazoned by one who loved the comforts of the world,—no less a personage than Johnny Townshend, the celebrated Bow-street runner, who lived, during the residence of the Prince in Brighton, with the old Brightonian, at the corner of Duke Street, West Street, where Royalty itself was wont to take a luncheon. Cribbage was ever a favourite game with her, and till within a few months of her death her knowledge and play were as acute as ever. She read much: the Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Sermons of the Rev. J. S. M. Anderson being her universal favourites. It is worthy of record that she was a twin, the other infant, a boy, surviving but a few hours. She was childless; yet many an orphan will long revere her memory. Nearly up to the close of her long life Mrs. Ackerson was in possession of her faculties; her hearing was not greatly impaired; her eye-sight was what would be considered, for persons many years her junior, good; and her recollection was astonishing. She delighted to hold converse with persons who taxed her memory, and would relate the reminiscences of her youthful days with much glee. She loved to talk of her old associations in the early years of George IV.; and would do so with all the freshness of a person in the prime of life. She was a remarkably fine woman, and her carriage was almost as erect just before she died as it had ever been. Perhaps so noble and firm a pattern of old age has scarcely been witnessed. During the last few years of her life she had resided with her nephew, Mr. J. A. Erredge, on the London Road, to whose family she was much attached. We understand that she retained her recollection and composure to the last, and died most tranquilly.—Brighton Herald, Feb. 10th, 1855.
Her baptism is thus recorded in the parish register of Pyecombe, Sussex, the village in which she was horn:—December 26, 1758: Baptised Richard and Jane, children of Robert Marchant and Sarah his Wife.
[200] Mr. Bew, who afterwards lived in East Street, was dentist to George IV., and, in conjunction with Mr. Frederick Vining, lessee of the Theatre Royal Brighton.
[214] A copy of the bill of the performance on this occasion is in the possession of Alderman Martin.
[218] By Francis Grose, Esq., F. A. S. London: Printed for S. Hooper, No. 25, Ludgate Hill, 1775.—(Imp. 4to.)
[221] Castle Square and Little Castle Square.
[222] Vicar of Boldre near Lymington. The book published by his trustees for the benefit of his school at Boldre, and printed by T. Cadell and W. Davies, Strand, London, 1804. Imp, 8 vo. 136 pp.
[223] Mrs. Hill’s “Apology,” for having been induced, by particular desire, and the most specious allurements that could tempt female weakness, to appear in the character of Scrub, Beau Strategem, for one night only, at Brighthelmston, last year, 1786, when the Theatre was applied for by the Honourable George Hanger, and engaged for that purpose; with an address to Mrs. Fitzherbert. Also, some of Mrs. Hill’s letters to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Mrs. Fitzherbert, and others. The denouement with events and remarks that may not be deemed uninteresting to this nation at large. By Mrs. Hill.
[241] A Rural Ramble to Brighthelmstone, &c. Printed for R. Thomas, Brighthelmstone.
[249] The year when the first Census was taken.
[257] Master of the Household to His Royal Highness. His appointment to that office arose from the singular circumstance of the Prince enquiring of Colonel Slade if he knew of any gentleman who played the violoncello? The Colonel replied, that he knew only of Captain Bloomfield of the Artillery. “Bring him here to dinner,” said His Highness, “and tell him to bring his violoncello, and we’ll play something.” The Captain attended, and pleased the Prince, who desired him to call upon him the next day. He attended at the Pavilion accordingly and soon gained such favour as to obtain the confidence of the Prince. He was first made Sir Benjamin, and afterwards Lord Bloomfield.
[260] Appointed to the Regency, February 5th, 1811.
[261a] Lade was in receipt of an annual pension of £100, as driving tutor to His Royal Highness. His wife, Lady Lade, who was born in Luckner’s Lane, St. Giles’s, London, was one of the most abandoned women of the Court. She was for some time the mistress of the notorious malefactor John Rann, known as “Sixteen Stringed Jack,” who expiated his crime upon the scaffold, at Tyburn. The Duke of York then took her under his protection, and he transferred her by marriage, to Sir John Lade. Such was the style of language of this infamous woman, that when the Prince of Wales wanted an object of comparison in the vulgar practice of swearing, he was universally accustomed to say, “He swears like Letitia Lade.” Some of the descendants of Sir John are still living, and reside at Ovingdean.
[261b] The Life, Adventures, and Opinions of Col. George Hanger, written by himself. Two volumes, 8vo. London: Printed for J. Debrett, Piccadilly, 1801.
[264] The Observant Pedestrian Mounted, or a Donkey Tour to Brighton, a Comic Sentimental Novel, in three volumes. London: W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 1816.
[266] Born Mary Anne Smythe (daughter of Walter Smythe, Esq., of Bambridge, in the county of Hants), she was first married to Edward Weld, Esq., of Lulworth Castle, Dorsetshire; secondly to Thomas Fitzherbert, Esq., of Swinnerton, Staffordshire. She was a second time a widow, living on a handsome jointure, and greatly admired in society on account of her beauty and accomplishments.
[271] War at Brighton, or the Battle of The Tar Tub, a short November Tale. By Thomas Herbert. London: John Rowe, Cornhill.
[272a] The dinner took place at the Dolphin, now the Queen’s Hotel.
[272b] Williams, of the Royal Baths, High Constable.
[272c] White, Castle Square.
[273] Serjeant Runnington, chairman of the Brighton Bench of Magistrates.
[313] Contiguous was a headstone, whereon was the epitaph:—
She in affliction bore a son,
The milk forsook her breast,
Her legs they mortified and run,
But hope she’s now at rest.
[315] If the ships should discontinue to run on the beach, and go into Shoreham Harbour or Newhaven, the Breakwater may be dispensed with, which will save £3,000.
[325a] The sale is by “Dutch Auction,”—doubtless introduced by the Flemings,—the salesman offering his several lots at whatever price he chooses, reducing it till a buyer says “have ’em,” when the name of the purchaser, and the price, are entered in the salesman’s book, and the fish are immediately transferred, but the payment is made after the business of selling is over. No sales are allowed to take place before six o’clock in the morning, when the market is opened by the ringing of a bell.
[325b] In “Yarrell’s History of British Fishes,” mention is made that in May, 1807, the first Brighton boat-load of mackarel sold at Billingsgate for forty guineas per hundred—7s. each, reckoning six score to the hundred; the highest price ever known in that market.
[325c] The Lord of the Manor of Brighthelmston, by his reeve, is entitled to the claim of the six finest mackarel from each boat, on its landing. A few years since some of the fishermen disputed this right, but the Magistrates, on the appeal of the reeve, Mr James Henry Mills, acknowledged and enforced the right.
[337] London: Printed for Fielding and Walker, Paternoster Row; E, Widgett, Brighthelmston; and W. Lee, Printer, Lewes, 1779.
[353] Two volumes, folio, London, 1747.
[364] Lady Selina Shirley, born 1717, married to Theophilus Earl of Huntingdon, 3rd June, 1738, and died in 1799, aged 82.
[365] An interesting circumstance was recorded in the census of 1851; it was said there, concerning North Street Chapel, that it was a building capable of holding a thousand people, but there were present on the morning of the census eleven hundred.