Many of the following publications can be purchased from Sussex Local History Books.
Photographs of Clovelly-Kepplestone 1917 - 1921
by
David Butters
Clovelly-Kepplestone, Staveley Road, Meads.
The front-page reads 'Clovelly Kepplestone 1917-1921 - Hilda Hedge', and many of the photographs bear dates with nicknames evocative of the period - Birdie, Bubbles, Bunty, Cockey, Fido, Scooter, Squib and so on. Some of the girls would become the 'Bright Young Things' of the roaring twenties; others would surely be presented at court as debutantes. Often the photographs are signed with greetings straight out of Brideshead Revisited: 'Cheerily yours', 'Chuckles' and 'Cheerio'. The mistresses are named more formally although one, Miss Beatrice Catherine Seth-Smith, a teacher of modern languages, is referred to as The Major. The Principal, Mrs Frances Browne, appears in several of the pictures.
A short while later, I acquired another album from the same source. This was of a family in the 1930s with pictures of a couple and their newly born son who could be seen growing up as the album progressed. Suddenly I realised that the child's mother was an adult version of Hilda in the older album. I contacted the seller for more information, but all he could tell me was that he'd found them at a car boot sale along with a bag of negatives, photos, family letters and documents. He sold me the other items and my interest grew as many things came to light.
Mrs Frances Brown
The 1911 census reveals those present at the school on the night of 2 April. Unfortunately it must have taken place over the Easter holidays (Easter Sunday was 16 April) and so only 38 names are listed. In addition to Mrs Browne and her brother-in-law, Frederick Mercer, a retired clergyman and the only male on the premises, there are eight teachers (one from Vannes in France and another from Westphalia in Germany), a secretary, a housekeeper, a matron and four hospital nurses. Of the 23 pupils who had to stay at the school during that Easter holiday, five were born abroad - one in Russia, two in Rome, and two in Poona, India. It can be assumed that most of the parents of these 23 girls were overseas at the time - many in outposts of the British Empire.
The trail led me to Nigeria in the 1930s, where Pip is still remembered because of his work in the field of education. Between 1933 and 1954, Pip and Hilda are mentioned on passenger lists as sailing between Nigeria and Southampton - First Class of course! They did not always travel together, and Pip was joined by his mother, Ethel Ruth, on one return journey in 1954. Pip's university studies at Caius College, Cambridge eventually saw him appointed Principal of the Colonial Education Service at Ughelli College. His address in 1931 was Government College Abadan (Ibadan) and one letter indicates that he was Education Officer and Olympic Team Manager for Nigeria. I think he might have returned to the UK in 1956 as his address then was The Gatehouse, Alderley, Wotton under Edge, Gloucester, but he may have still been associated with Nigeria. He died in Southampton in February 1989 and his death certificate states 'Deputy Director of Education Nigeria, retired.' Alas I have not yet been able to establish the place and date of death of Hilda or their son, Jo, who both predeceased Pip.
Form IIIA - 1920
Michael Ockenden wrote at length on Clovelly-Kepplestone in our Newsletter no 79 (also available on Wikipaedia). He has liaised with David Butters and we shall publish his article on the Butters photo collection in our next edition.
An Abbreviated Postal History of Eastbourne
By
Lionel D. Jones
There had been a Receiver at Eastbourne since c.1780 but apart from a record that this person was female and very aged by 1806, nothing additional is recorded. Therefore the first information surviving both of a Postmaster and of his Office is that a Mr Thomas How was appointed in this capacity in 1806 and his Office (for receiving letters) was one of a pair of 16th century cottages sited below the Parish Church adjacent to the Bourne Stream in Ocklynge Road. Mr. How died in office in 1821 and his wife was appointed to continue, which she did for a further ten years. During this period, the private delivery commenced by Thomas How outside of the 'town' delivery area was converted to an official Penny Post to Receiving Houses at the hamlets of Southbourne and SeaHouses. Upon the death of Mrs. How, George Cook the gardener at 'The Lawn', a large dwelling in grounds behind the post office, was nominated to take the post and he and his family moved into the post office. With the help of his wife and an unmarried daughter, Mary, Cook continued to operate the PO and deliveries until his death in 1857. At this date, the Surveyor recommended that the GPO be moved from what was to become the Old Town into the New Town, nearer the sea and consisting of the area being developed between the two hamlets named above. Mary Cook was appointed Postmaster and she took premises at the sea-end of Terminus Road. Within a few years she changed her occupation to one of boarding house keeper and her brother Thomas, who had been appointed as a lettercarrier in 1841, applied for the position and was offered it provided he could find suitable premises. This he achieved by moving in to sister Mary's old place at 12 Terminus Road. Thomas remained at No12 until 1875 when he found more suitable accommodation at No42 Terminus Road, where a Gentleman's Club had formerly existed.
With the move of the GPO to the New Town the residents of 'town' (henceforth called Old Town) were to be left with no postal facility so the original PO was created a Sub Office and appointed to be in charge was Mr. Cook's Mail Contractor - Mr. John Pain. When John Pain died c.1880, his wife was appointed to the subpostmastership and she immediately found new premises, which she rented from the Brewery in an adjacent road. There were to be three further moves of this Sub Office, which by 1884 was named Old Town, but throughout the first 104 years (until c.1962) the office was retained in the family of John Pain. Since then there have been a further three sub-postmasters.
At the two hamlets, viz. Southbourne where there were some 30 dwellings and a business community, and Sea Houses where visitors came to benefit from seawater and also where a fishing community lived and worked, there were some 60 dwellings.
From perhaps as early as 1780 some form of private letter carrying service had existed outside of the 'town' area and was initially set-up during the Summer months of that year to convey letters from the children of King George III back to the Royal Court. It was not until 1821 that an experimental Penny Post was created and, at the end of 12 months, there had been a net gain to the Revenue of £54 18s 0d. So the Eastbourne Penny Post (with two Receiving Houses) became permanent and continued apace until subsumed. (just as every other Penny Post was) into Uniform Penny Postage on 10 January 1840.
There had been one letter carrier on pay of 10/6d per week and Receivers at Southbourne and SeaHouses were already operational well before 1821. The 'Ride' to collect and transfer lettermail at Cross-in-Hand continued into the 20th century despite the arrival of the railway at Eastbourne in 1849 but from 1847 the 'Ride' was relieved by contracting an omnibus proprietor to convey mails daily from Polegate Station to Eastbourne for 7s. per week.
The RH at SeaHouses became surplus to requirements in 1858 because the new HPO was now so close at 12 Terminus Road and Eastbourne's first street letter posting box was installed to replace this former SeaHouses office. By 1864 the Southbourne RH, which had already suffered downgrading, was shut and a street letter posting pillar was erected near to the New Inn (a coaching inn since the 18th century). This left the whole area with just the Sub office in Old town, a Receiver at Meads and the Main office in Terminus Road until Cavendish Place RO opened in 1876 followed within two years by a new office at the sea end of South Street (the high street of the former Southbourne hamlet). From the commencement of the 1880s many sub offices were opened and closed, renamed or re-sited. The main office, which had moved in 1875 to 42 Terminus Road , was bursting at the seams by the introduction date for the parcels post (1883) not only due to the addition of parcel arrivals and despatches but because of the need for so many additional delivery officers to cope with this new stream of traffic. There was a huge increase in both letter mails and telegraphic messages brought about by development of quality housing and the seasonal holiday trade.
A temporary solution was found by moving the outdoor uniformed staff into rented accommodation adjacent to the railway station circa 1888 and, with three modifications, this Postmen's Delivery Office met the requirements until 1912. From 1900, there was continual pressure from traders and from the Town Council for a more prestigious and more suitably situated Main Post Office for Eastbourne. Numerous sites were considered and most were found to be too expensive or not located near enough to the railway. A site was purchased which afforded entrance onto Upperton Road and onto Water Lane (Southfields Road). Drainage and other constructional problems delayed work and it was December 1912 before the Postmen's Delivery Office and the Main GPO at 42 Terminus Road were vacated and work transferred to 3 Upperton Road. With the move of the Main PO to a point so near to the railway, the Town Sub Office that had opened in 1884 opposite to the railway became surplus to requirements and was closed. However, a new sub office for Terminus Road was opened in 1912 almost opposite to the old Main PO. This site plus an extension and a total rebuild following WW2 bombing contains the only 'Directly Managed' PO Branch in the town, (former Crown Office status) at the date of writing, 2009.
The Eastbourne exchange of the recently taken over National Telephone Company remained in Grove Road until the 1920s when an addition to house the exchange was made at the 3 Upperton Road building. A new and much expanded history of the Posts in and around Eastbourne is in course of compilation
(The quarterly publication of the Eastbourne Local History Society available free to members)
8 Chiltern Court, Albert Road, Polegate, BN26 6BS, tel 01323 487170
Email: pltyrrell@btinternet.com
Cheques should be made payable to the Eastbourne Local History Society.
An 1842 schedule of every property in the Parish, its size, condition, owner and occupier, showing how much money (the tithe) goes to the Parish Church and how much to Chichester.
Currently out of print.
A meticulous transcription of the names, ages, and employment of those living in the Parish of Eastbourne on the night of 6/7 June 1841.
An invaluable reference for genealogical researchers.
£3.00 plus £1.00 p&p
by
Richard Callaghan and Rosemary Milton.
An impressive illustrated record of the origins and use of these defences against the Napoleonic threat, together with details of the soldiers and military units which manned them. 88 pp. £6.00 + £1.00 p&p.
An illustrated record of the origins of the names of every one of Eastbourne's streets including their historical context or derivation, together with their dates of origin.
Currently out of print.
A completely new edition shortly.
1911 - 1924
By Lou McMahon and Michael Partridge.
A detailed, fully illustrated story of the men who learned to fly and of the machines in which they flew; also a record of the RNAS occupation and the 250 aircraft that were built here. 174pp.
Hardback £5.00 + £2.00 p&p.
The story of the Canadian Army in Eastbourne during the Second World War.
Fully illustrated. 193 pp. Extended second edition £9.99 + £1.00 p&p.
by Peter Tyrrell.
A guide to the old coach road from Lewes to Eastbourne.
Fully illustrated in colour.
Extended second edition £4.00 + 50p p&p.
