to do so, and may the prayer of the people still remain the same, “Long live the Queen!”
Sell himself Sold - The Pariarchal Pauper - A Ruse defeated
Falling back again upon the year 1835, it comes in my way to describe the political situation of the period; and to do this I might appropriately associate new St. Leonards more closely with old Hastings than would be needful in other matters, the political interest of the two towns being obviously identical. Yet, as being even more in its proper place, the description will be found in the next (alternating) chapter on Hastings.
But, as also affecting both towns, I turn to the 21st of January, when another severe gale and destructively high tide occurred, as though Neptune, so unruly just before the arrival of Royalty at St. Leonards, had determined to exhibit his mischievous powers once more just before Royalty took its departure. I have already referred to this event as one among the several similar difficulties with which the St. Leonards Commissioners had to contend in 1835, but I have not described its destructive effects at Hastings. The gale of the previous October had committed great havoc among the houses, workshops, and other property in the Rope-walk, Stratford Place, and the Priory generally. Some of which the inhabitants did not care to thoroughly restore, as the lease of the ground was just expiring, and Government held to them no hope of their getting it renewed. The gods, however, were no respectors of Persons: and thus, as though AEolus, Notus and Nepture had entered into a conspiracy for clearing away some objectionable property with a view to future improvements, nine more houses were washed away, and many other obstructions were removed. All this was effected in one or two tidal flowings; and had not the fierce storm abated as it did, the consequences must have been even more terrible. The damage to the St. Leonards sea-walls was less serious on this occasion than on some others, and the greater wreckage at Hastings was mostly attributed to the erection upon the beach of the Eversfield parade and the lowering the White-rock hill, which caused the sea to be thrown with greater force into the Priory. But the new wall at White Rock was also considerably damaged; and, as this was not the first time that the sea had defied the efforts of the contractors to continue the wall in a straight line to Stratford Place, the project was abandoned, and the wall was curved inwards, that subjecting the parade at White Rock place and Stratford Place to a width of only a few feet - this inconvenience had to be endured for over forty years, and it is only since then that a great improvement in that locality has been effected by the mutual operations of the Town Council and the Baths Company.
St. Leonards Officials in 1835
Having been asked if I can give the names of the St. Leonards officials during the years 1828-1838, and can state whether a list of residents and visitors of that period was published, and by whom, I reply to the latter part of the question first by saying, that, so far as I am aware, no local list of residents or visitors was prepared until about the year 1853. I purpose, however, if time and opportunity are afforded me, to arrange as perfect a list for the first decade as the difficulties of such an undertaking will permit; after which period the files of BRETT’S GAZETTE will be available for further reference. As regards the officials, some of them have been already incidentally named in the preceding portions of this History, and it would not just now be convenient to repeat them or to give them in a collective form. But as I am describing the local events of 1835, I will here insert a list of the officials for that particular year, and may afterwards repeat the formality for subsequent years as I proceed.
The Commissioners of the St. Leonards Improvement Act consisted of Messrs. Jas. Burton, Decimus Burton, Alfred Burton, Thos. Wood, Joseph (afterwards Major) Jeffries, Chas. and Robt. Deudney, Jas. Rock, Jno Gill, Wm. Norsworthy, Wm. Waghorne, C. H. Southall, G. B. Greenough, Thos. Brown, Saml. Chester, Musgrave and Wastel Brisco, Howard Elphinstone, M.P., Fredk. North, M.P., J. A. Warre, ex-M.P., and the Rev. J. H. Randolph. The Clerk to the Commissioners was George Fraser. The Surveyor was Thos. Leave. The Treasurer was Francis Smith (banker). The Collector was Jno. Peerless. The Coal Meter was Jno. French. The Overseers were Chas. Deudney and C. H. Southall. The Beadle for the town was Henry Harman. The Beadle for the outbounds, together with Hollington, was Wm. Shoesmith (the oldest inhabitant then living). The Vestry Clerk was John Phillips. The Auditor (also for the Union) was Thomas B. Baker. The Mayor (of the Borough) was Robt. Montague Wilmot.
Visits of the "Dover Boder"
A cause was tried at the Lewes Assizes, in which Mr. Philpot, of St. Leonards, was plaintiff, and Mr. Sell, the Keeper of the Dover Castle, was defendant. Mr. Philpot recovered three penalties of £40 from the custodian for his having exacted six guineas each for three bail-bonds executed by a gentleman calling himself Capt. Hartley, then staying at St. Leonards, against whom Mr. Sell had three writs. The Act 23rd Henry VI provided that only 4d should be taken by the bailiff for such a bond. Mr. Platt obtained a Rule Nisi for a new trial, arguing that the Act in question had fallen into disuetude (sic), and also that only one penalty could be recovered, there having been but one payment of six guineas, and but one arrest. The Lord Chief Justice made the rule absolute, and recommended the defendant to consent to a verdict being given for one penalty.
The inhabitants of St. Leonards being then but a comparatively small community, and a very struggling community too, it was but natural that the most trifling event which affected the interests of one individual member should be regarded as of more or less consequence to all. And, as the visits of the “Dover Boder” were of unpleasant frequency, it may be well imagined that there was no small amount of chatter and chuckle over the “sell” which Mr. Sell had himself been let in for by one of his own sellers. The event reminds me that Mr. Philpot had a neighbour, the first portion of whose nomen was also Phi, and whose calling it was to crown the intellectualities of gentlemen with guinea gossamers. It happened that on one particular day - a day when tradesmen were not expected to be at church - the shutters and doors of Mr. Phil--’s establishment were closed, and that a gentle tap-tap-tap at the door was heard. “Who’s there?” was asked from within. “I want a hat for Mr. Burton” was the response. The voice was recognized as that of an agent of the Dover Boder and the quick rejoinder was “I have a hat to fit Mr. Burton, but not his pretended messenger.” The door remained locked all the time, and there was no such thing as fitting either the hat or the ruse.
Death of the Patriarchal Pauper
Of the old or early inhabitants of St. Leonards a goodly number have died since this History was commenced, and I have been fain to make it a habit, if not a duty, to pay a passing tribute to their memory. Death, as we all know, is the common leveller, and in the few words I have had occasion to write on behalf of the departed, I have endeavoured to treat the poor with the same consideration as the rich, believing that the social status of influence and affluence had been sufficiently acknowledged during life. The person whose demise I have now to record is one who was described by a contemporary as “The Patriarchal Pauper.” The Christian name of the said pauper was Margaret, and her matrimonial name was Fitzgerald, the latter being that of her second-husband. While in the Union house she was commonly known as “Old Margaret,” not merely, perhaps, because of her seniority in years, but also because her name appeared upon the first register of the inmates. Not being of high degree, the aged dame never attracted to herself any special popularity during her lifetime, yet she became suddenly famous after death. She was reported to be 95 years of age, to have been an inmate of the Union- house more than forty years, and to have cost the ratepayers £400. Unfortunately for Mrs. Fitzgerald’s posthumous fame and for the credit of the story which press-writers sought to encircle with a halo of interest, the story only bears the impress of a moiety of truth. It happened that my acquaintance with the family extended over a period of fifty years, and I felt that I was in a position to render the tale of her pauper-life amenable to some correction. Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald, with their children, resided for several years at Hastings, in the parish of Holy Trinity, and it was there that the head of the family died. I was living at the time almost next door, and it was my privilege to witness for the first and only time in my life, an Irish Wake. In 1835 the lease granted to the “squatters” in the said parish expired, and the widow Fitzgerald, with her children removed to All Saints Street and thence to the parish workhouse (All Saints’ I should suppose). At that time the Union Workhouse was in the course of erection, and as soon as it was completed Mrs. Fitzgerald became one of its occupants. She remained there, I believe, a somewhat longer period than was her wish in consequence of two of her children being ill with smallpox. The time was, however, comparatively brief, she having put herself in the way of obtaining a livelihood out of the House. For a short time she resided again in the parish of All Saints, but afterwards removed to the neighbourhood of the “Old Market,” St. Leonards, where she was employed in Mrs. Tapp’s laundry for nearly twenty years. Mrs. Tapp died at the age of 70, on the 30t of August, 1834, and her business being taken by Mrs. Beak, the subject of this notice was employed for a few weeks by her new mistress. Her age and infirmities were, however, against her (she being one year older than her former employer), and her engagement with Mrs. Beak soon terminated. The old lady had then no other alternative than to become again an indoor recipient of relief. At the close of 1854 or the beginning of 1855, therefore, widow Fitzgerald re-entered the asylum of the Poor-house, where she at length ended her pilgrimage in the 97th year of her age. It is apparent, from this account, that instead of her having been an inmate of the Union-house over forty years, as stated, the residence therein of the “Patriarchal Pauper” had not exceeded 24 years, or it may be, 25 years if both periods are reckoned together; and instead of her having cost the ratepayers £400, the expense of her maintenance may hot have been greater than half the sum thus estimated. Mrs. Fitzgerald had had eleven children, seven of whom survived their infancy and three of the seven being still alive when this was first written. The deceased was described as having “her peculiarities,” and one of these, I suppose, was her practice of going once a month to the Catholic Church at St. Leonards to receive the Sacrament. This she regularly did until within about eighteen months of her death, when, being too feeble, she was visited by the Rev. Father Foy, who also administered the last Christian rites over her grave.
The death of Mrs. Fitzgerald in the Union Workhouse, and her having been one of the first occupants of that house in 1835, the year to which my History has reached, are coincidences which recall the fact that the said Workhouse was one of the first hundred or more of such houses that were erected within twelve months of the passing of the “Act for the better administration of the Laws relating to the Poor in England and Wales.” The number of unions provided by that Act was 585, but it required several years to get the houses erected and the unions into good working order. More than three hundred of these, however, were in operation, and about 150 more in preparation without four years. The workhouse for the Hastings Union was erected at Cackle Street, in the parish of Ore, where with subsequent alterations and additions it had served its purpose for forty-four years, but from which site it was threatened with removal by an imperious Government, as against the judgment of the guardians whose local associations entitled them to a claim of knowing something of the Union’s requirements.
The building of the Union-house was not viewed with absolute pleasure by the present writer, and for the following reasons :- On the land which was taken in for the big [Continued below - Editor]
