The old-style of Inns have disappeared, where one was made welcome by the cheery greetings of the old-fashioned landlord or landlady, and one's personal comfort studied, to make way for the modern ' k House of Call." One of the old time waiters was till recently amongst us in the person of the late Mr. James Foster, the
custodian of the Public Hall, who was a keen collector of Hastings views, some of which have been lent by him for reproduction in this work, and he told many interesting stories of the Swan, where he was as a waiter in 1845. The last tenant was Mr. Joseph Collins.
General View of High Street.
In the left-hand corner of this view, where the electric-light standard is shown, was the site of Humphrey Wickham's house. The projecting clock is on the old Town Hall. The date 1823 will be found upon it, and its predecessor was the first Town Hall erected in High Street in 1700, at the expense of John Pulteney and Peter Gott, Esquires, who at the time represented Hastings in Parliament.
Their munificence is recorded by an inscription engraved on a stone tablet in Latin. The five arched windows represented openings where formerly was a market, and in later years a Police Station. The Courthall, or Council Chamber, and the Police Court above, was approached by steps at the North entrance. The building, as a Town Hall, was vacated when the new Municipal Buildings were opened in the Queen's Road, on September 7th, 1881. This old Town Hall is now used as an Antique Furniture Shop, a purpose somewhat in keeping with its traditions. High Street once contained all the principal public buildings the Custom House, County Court, and Banks. In the next view another old house is shewn, and once the residence of Edmund Pelham.
Pelham House, 1610.
The date, with the Pelham Buckle (the Arms of the Pelhams) is seen under the upper window, and, unfortunately, is the only remaining trace of its former significance. Edward Pelham was M.P. for Hastings in 1597, and Edmund Pelham resided here. It is No. 82, High Street. The Pelham Buckle, the badge of the family, is believed to be an allusion to the seizure of King John by his belt, by John Pelham, at the Battle of Poitiers. He was knighted after the battle. The Pelhams have for centuries been connected with Hastings. John Pelham and Sir Roger la Warr led the East Sussex contingent of the Army at Poitiers, and were probably concerned largely in the principal issue of the battle the capture of King John (Dawson). Pelham House is more than once mentioned in the " Collier Letters." In 1744 the Editor says " I should gather from the correspondence that Colonel James Pelham was then staying at Hastings, where he had a house, and the correspondence had reference to the formation of a club which -
