Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2023)
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| copyright © A. Robins
In 1955 Captain Irvine Bately designed the
handsome badge of
office worn by Chairmen of Portslade UDC.
It seems he might
have derived inspiration from an earlier
Portslade crest created
by P. J. W. Barker who ran a business
at 110/112 Trafalgar Road
where he sold china souvenirs sporting the Portslade crest.
Barker’s crest included a Roman
galley, a cornucopia,
a bunch of grapes, six Sussex martlets and an oak branch.
Captain Bately chose the galley, which
alludes to
Portslade’s supposed antiquity as the Roman Portus
Adurni
although today this theory is not held to be correct
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On 4 December 1894 the first Portslade Parish
Meeting was held. But obviously the men did not think a lowly parish
meeting gave them enough clout to be worthwhile, and therefore they
sought to acquire more powers by becoming an urban district council.
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| copyright ©
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove Brighton Herald 17August 1895 |
The Inquiry was given the following interesting
statistics:
Portslade’s population in 1894 was 4,236 people
In 1894 there were 868 buildings
There were six miles of metalled roads
There was one mile of unmetalled road
Portslade’s rateable value was £24,267
Possibly the most important statistic was
Portslade’s enormous rateable value, and no wonder Steyning wanted
to hang on to the revenue. But there was also the thorny question of
fairness because although Portslade represented nearly half of the
rural district, Portslade felt swamped because they were only
allocated two members out of seven on Steyning East Rural District
Council.
Mr Boxall, on behalf of Portslade’s application,
was quick to point out to Mr Cash, that he had just given one of the
strongest reasons why Portslade should manage its own affairs. He
also remarked somewhat acidly that although gas was produced in
Portslade, its residents had to pay a higher price for it than people
living in Hove and Brighton. Other witnesses in support of
Portslade’s application were Mr William Dudney of Lindfield House,
and Mr Mews of Portslade Brewery.
The matter of the exact boundary between Portslade and Aldrington was decided upon, and deemed to run down the centre of Station Road, around where the tramway rails were situated.
The matter of the exact boundary between Portslade and Aldrington was decided upon, and deemed to run down the centre of Station Road, around where the tramway rails were situated.
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| copyright ©
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove This 1909 map shows the boundaries of Portslade UDC. The Old Village was just within the northern boundary. Portslade's - North Road, Southdown Road, North House Farm, Easthill Windmill, Foredown Forge, Foredown Hospital & Mile Oak were all within the Steyning Rural District Council's administration area. Portslade's Manor was in 'Portslade UDC' while its ornate gardens in Manor Road were in 'Steyning RDC' In Victorian street directories Southern Cross was classed as a hamlet in Portslade. |
Although this Inquiry did not find in Portslade’s favour, a subsequent Inquiry did. It is interesting to note that the new urban district did not encompass the whole of Portslade, but only stretched from the seashore to the north side of High Street – the rest of Portslade north of this boundary was still part of Steyning Rural District.
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| copyright ©
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove Brighton Herald 2 April 1898 |
The first
meeting of Portslade Urban District Council took place on 1 April
1898.
The Brighton Herald (2 April 1898) reported 3014 had voted for councillors of the new administration with just over a 60% turn out of electors. (it should be remembered that women had not yet been given the vote, neither was there universal male suffrage).
The Brighton Herald (2 April 1898) reported 3014 had voted for councillors of the new administration with just over a 60% turn out of electors. (it should be remembered that women had not yet been given the vote, neither was there universal male suffrage).
Some of the new councillors were familiar faces
who had served on the old Parish Council – such as Walter Hillman
(merchant and house builder) Walter Mews (Portslade Brewery) and
Sundius Smith (Britannia Mills). There were some new faces too like
W. H. Dudney, gentleman. Among those who failed to be elected was
Revd C. A. Marona, vicar of St Andrew’s Church, Portslade.
Where Councillors Held their Meetings
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| copyright © G. Osborne The St Andrew's Parish Rooms (Tin Hut) wall can be seen on the far right of this photograph. |
Although Portslade Urban District Council sounds
important, the councillors were unable to meet in a dedicated venue,
there being no proper Town Hall until 1959. Instead, they had to make
do with what was on offer. For example, one place used for meetings
was the Parish Room – in other words the structure popularly known
as the Tin Hut, or the Scout Hut, on the corner of St Andrew’s Road
and Church Road. Another place was a room on the first floor of
Portslade Fire Station, which was built in 1909.
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| copyright © D. Sharp The former Portslade Fire Station in 2019 |
In 1901 there was an intriguing possibility – a
Mr Farr wrote a letter to Portslade Council offering a block of
buildings known as the Salvation Barracks for conversion to a town
hall. But nothing seemed to have come of it. In 1909 a special
committee was set up to try and find a suitable place for a town
hall. There was a possible site in St Andrew’s Road adjoining the
Police Station, and another in Church Road near the Fire Station. But
soon St Aubyn’s Road became the favoured spot, and councillors made
enquiries with the trustees of the Congregational Church.
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| copyright © G. Osborne The Council Offices with the white flag pole to the right of the Vine & Lee Garage in Station Road |
Eventually, Portslade Council managed to purchase
property set back from Station Road to serve their purposes. Council
offices were situated at 15 Station Road, while 18 Station Road
provided a large space for meetings. The latter building was also
called Portslade Hall but nobody seems to know the original purpose
of the building, which, incidentally survives to this day. It was
definitely built by 1898, being marked on the map, but was not
present in the 1875 map.
One old-timer claimed that the spacious basement was used to grow crops of mushrooms, which certainly fits in with Portslade’s market garden past. The purchase of these buildings also included an area of land stretching from Station Road to Gordon Road that was full of mature trees, including chestnut, laburnum and may plus an orchard of apple and pear trees. In the 1930s this orchard was rented by Captain Bately and his wife, and every year they despatched boxes of fruit to local children’s homes.
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| copyright © D. Sharp Portslade Hall was used for Council Meeting in the 1920s-1930s now the premises of Specialist Herbal Supplies (on the north side of the present day Tesco's in Station Road) |
One old-timer claimed that the spacious basement was used to grow crops of mushrooms, which certainly fits in with Portslade’s market garden past. The purchase of these buildings also included an area of land stretching from Station Road to Gordon Road that was full of mature trees, including chestnut, laburnum and may plus an orchard of apple and pear trees. In the 1930s this orchard was rented by Captain Bately and his wife, and every year they despatched boxes of fruit to local children’s homes.
At first there was a modest staff in one small
house consisting of the town clerk, the surveyor, and the rate
collector. By 1946, council offices occupied two houses with a staff
of fourteen.
In 1946 a dinner was laid on at the Rothbury Hall
in honour of the retirement of Ernest H. Kempe who had been clerk to
Portslade Council for 36 years. He was presented with an illuminated
address. It was remarked that when he first took the post, his salary
was £150 a year.
The
next clerk to Portslade Council was William Tozer who held the post
from 1946 until the amalgamation with Hove in 1974. Tozer was born in
Wales, and played rugby for Wales. He always kept an interest in
sport by playing football, and he enjoyed a game of snooker at the
Sussex Motor Yacht Club. He was also a committee member of Hove &
Kingsway Bowling Club, and a regular at the Sussex
Hotel, Kingsway.
Before becoming clerk at Portslade, he had worked for a year with
Hove Council, having previously been articled to a solicitor at
Lewes.
Leslie Hamilton, senior, said that Tozer ‘was a
very efficient and knowledgeable clerk. There was little you could
ask him that he didn’t know.’ Tozer Court, a block of flats built
on the site of the old Portslade depot in Vale Road, was so named in
his honour.
William Tozer died at the age of 69 in February
1981 at his house in Langdale Road, Hove. He left a widow Eileen, and
two sons, William and Jim. The funeral was held at St Philip’s Church, Hove.
Meanwhile, the land, offices, and Portslade Hall
were sold at auction in 1959 for £31,500. This enabled Portslade
Council to purchase the grandiose Ronuk Hall in Victoria Road for
£36,500, which then became Portslade Town Hall, and was officially
opened on 2 September 1959 by Robert Shields, chairman of Portslade
Urban District Council.
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| copyright © Brighton & Hove City Libraries The Ronak Hall in the 1930s |
The 1930s
In
the Sussex Daily
News (19
October 1935) there was an interesting article stating that the
newspaper was glad the public were taking notice of its campaign
against ‘the growing habit of the Portslade Urban District Council
to transact its business behind closed doors’. The reporter stated
that out of six meetings held during the last weeks, four of them
were deemed ‘extraordinary’, which meant that only councillors
were present. The reporter continued ‘at a time when matters of an
essentially and peculiarly contentious character are liable to crop
up – there have been several recently – such as Windlesham House,
the Cemetery or Recreation Ground question and the Race Track –
there is an even greater demand that the representatives of the
people who foot the bill should permit their constituents to follow
their reasoning instead of forcing them to be content with a bald
statement.’
The 1940s
The 1970s - End of the Line
The 1940s
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| copyright © D. Sharp Portslade's 1942 H.M. Motor Topedo Boat 58 Plaque on show in Portslade Library in 2023 |
The 1970s - End of the Line
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| copyright © J. Middleton A 1970 Rate Demand for the payment of £33 10s per annum. The average weekly wage for a manual worker in 1970 was £28 0s 11d (Hansard) |
Portslade Urban District Council ceased to exist
in 1974 because on 1 April 1974 Portslade and Hove were amalgamated.
In the North Portslade Community News (December 2019) Councillor Les Hamilton, junior, wrote that he was probably one of the few people remaining who had actually served on Portslade UDC, and he describes it as ‘small, efficient and effective.’ Indeed, members of the various committees were given precisely 30 minutes to come to a decision, which was swiftly acted upon by the officers. Since he has many years of experience in the working of councils, he surely knows what he is talking about. His last comment on Portslade UDC is ‘in terms of performance it was the best council I have served on.’
Chairman of Portslade Urban District Council 1898-1974
In the North Portslade Community News (December 2019) Councillor Les Hamilton, junior, wrote that he was probably one of the few people remaining who had actually served on Portslade UDC, and he describes it as ‘small, efficient and effective.’ Indeed, members of the various committees were given precisely 30 minutes to come to a decision, which was swiftly acted upon by the officers. Since he has many years of experience in the working of councils, he surely knows what he is talking about. His last comment on Portslade UDC is ‘in terms of performance it was the best council I have served on.’
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| copyright © D. Sharp The former Portslade Town Hall in 2019, now under the control of the Brighton & Hove City Council and serves as a Council meeting venue, Housing Office, Sussex Police Community Hub and rooms for hire for local groups |
Chairman of Portslade Urban District Council 1898-1974
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| copyright © J. Middleton The 1909 Portslade by Sea Urban District Council badge on the former Portslade Fire Station in Church Road. |
1898-1909
– C. Rose
1909-1920
– W. Hillman
1920-1921
– E. J. Parker
1921-1922
– J. H. Bristow
1922-1931
– D. F. Sundius Smith
1931-1933
– A. G. York
1933-1935
– H. Durrant JP
1935-1946
– H. F. Parker JP
1946-1947
– G. H. Elphick
1947-1950
– W. E. Phillips
1950-1952
– I. Bately JP
1954-1956
– W. Hunt
1956-1957
– W. H. Bates
1957-1958
– Mrs E. F. Cave JP
1958-1959
– S. G. Baker
1959-1960
– R. Shields
1960-1961
– D. J. L. Taylor
1961-1962
– H. F. Parker JP
1962-1963
– F. E. W. Cannons
1963-1964
– P. E. P. Gladwin, DSC, JP
1964-1965
– L. E. Hamilton, OBE, JP
1965-1966
– R. D. F. Ireland
1966-1967
– R. B. Powell
1967-1968
– N. T. Morgan
1968-1971
– P. E. P. Gladwin, DSC, JP
1971-1972
– R. D. F. Ireland
1972-1973
– C. E. Knight
1973-1974
– A. Robinson
Some Notable Chairmen:-
Captain Irvine Bately (1881-1962)
Bob Irving Bately was born in
Gorleston, Norfolk in 1881, the son of Dr Robert Godfrey Bately.
In 1911 he was working as an Art Teacher in a LCC school in Wandsworth. Bately lodged with the Taylor family where he met his future wife Lilian Taylor, they married in 1913 while still living in London. Lilian worked as a show room assistant and was the daughter of Robert Palmer Taylor a Senior Assistant at the GPO’s Returned Letter Office. Coincidently also in 1911 Robert Thurston Hopkins who was a Bank Cashier at that time before becoming a full time author, was lodging with the Bately family in Gorleston, where he met Bob Irvine Bately’s sister Sybil Beatrice, they were married a year later in 1912 in Lewisham, London. In later years Captain Bately would illustrate some of R. Thurston Hopkins’ books.
In 1911 he was working as an Art Teacher in a LCC school in Wandsworth. Bately lodged with the Taylor family where he met his future wife Lilian Taylor, they married in 1913 while still living in London. Lilian worked as a show room assistant and was the daughter of Robert Palmer Taylor a Senior Assistant at the GPO’s Returned Letter Office. Coincidently also in 1911 Robert Thurston Hopkins who was a Bank Cashier at that time before becoming a full time author, was lodging with the Bately family in Gorleston, where he met Bob Irvine Bately’s sister Sybil Beatrice, they were married a year later in 1912 in Lewisham, London. In later years Captain Bately would illustrate some of R. Thurston Hopkins’ books.
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| copyright © D. Docwra Captain (Bob) Irvine Bately and Mrs Lillian Bately |
He was a veteran of the Boer War as well as of the
First World War, and was wounded in France in 1917. In 1921 he moved
to Portslade for health reasons. He lived at 12 Vale Road, while his
brother-in-law, the author R. Thurston Hopkins, lived nearby at
number 6. In 1923 the two men, plus Captain Bately’s wife
Lillian, founded the Society of Sussex Downsmen, and for over 30
years Captain and Mrs Bately acted as chairman and secretary
respectively. One cause close to their heart was the Society’s
opposition to the building of a motor racing track on the Downs at
Portslade. When Bately retired from his post as chairman, it was
stated ‘the large tracts of Downland that have been preserved and
footpaths kept open to the public for all time are a monument to his
love of the Sussex countryside.’
When R. Thurston
Hopkins published The
Lure of Sussex in
1928 he had this to say, ‘I have also to thank Captain Irvine
Bately for permission to use his drawing of a sheep-bell and also for
photographs of Downland sheep.
Captain Bately is among the most distinguished artists who made a speciality of painting everything which appertains to Downland sheep, shepherds and the rolling Downs and his work is frequently to be seen at the exhibitions.’
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| copyright © A. Robins Above is the Chairman's Consort badge which Captain Irvine Bately designed in 1955 along with Portslade UDC's Chairman's badge. |
Captain Bately is among the most distinguished artists who made a speciality of painting everything which appertains to Downland sheep, shepherds and the rolling Downs and his work is frequently to be seen at the exhibitions.’
Another
of his interests was to gather local history information concerning
Portslade, in fact he was a pioneer in the field. He produced a
handwritten manuscript called simply Captain
Bately’s Notes, which
later appeared in printed form.
Captain Bately was also a chartered architect, and
in 1946 he re-started his architectural practice. He was responsible
for the design of many houses built at Portslade, Hove and elsewhere
in Sussex. For example at Portslade, he designed some of the houses
in Mill Lane as well as the British Legion Hall in Trafalgar Road. It
is interesting to note that he designed the Portslade seal of office
that the chairman of Portslade Council wore on official occasions.
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| copyright © G. Osborne
The Earl Haig Memorial Hall (Royal British Legion Club) in 1930. This
building was designed by Captain Irvine Bately and being a Great War
veteran, Captain Bately could well be standing amongst this parade of veterans.
In 1932 an
extension was built to the hall. The
Portslade War Memorial was
affixed to the exterior wall of the hall but the volume of traffic in
Trafalgar Road made it impossible to hold a solemn act on
Remembrance
Sunday and
in 1954 the memorial was removed to the more tranquil surroundings of Easthill Park.
|
As regards his involvement in local government and
local activities, the following list is impressive:
Elected a councillor to Portslade UDC in 1928, and
with one small break, continued until 1956
Magistrate, and deputy chairman of Hove County
Magistrates
Co-opted member of East Sussex County Planning
Committee
Deputy Chief Warden in Portslade Civil Defence
during the Second World War
Chairman of Portslade Allotments Association
Chairman of Portslade Social Club
President of Hove Deep Sea Anglers
Governor of Knoll School for Boys
Governor of Portslade County School for Boys
Vice-president of the Portslade branch of the
British Legion
Vice-president of Portslade Cricket Club
Vice-president of the local Football Club
Vice-president of Portslade Rifle Club
All that work and the Portslade air must have been
good for him because he reached the age of 80 before he died. His
funeral was held at St Leonard’s Church, Aldrington.
Peter Gladwin
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| copyright ©
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Peter Edward Powis Gladwin DSC JP,
Mayor of Hove 1981-1982.
|
He was born in
St Andrew’s Road, Portslade. His father was a sugar planter, and
Peter spent some time in Mozambique as a child. During the Second
World War Peter Gladwin served with the Royal Marines; he was awarded
the DSC, and he finished with two years in the Admiralty. After the
war he had the interesting task of being Naval adviser for the film
School for Secrets,
directed
by Peter Ustinov.
Gladwin became a Portslade councillor in 1951, a
County Councillor in 1961, and after Hove and Portslade were
amalgamated in 1974, he became a councillor on Hove Council. His many
public duties can be gauged from the following list:
Chairman of the County Education Committee
Member of 9 educational committees in London
Governor of 6 schools
Vice-chairman of Brighton Polytechnic
Member of Sussex University Council
In 1981 he celebrated 30 years in local
government, and for a few days in May of that year he was both
chairman of East Sussex County Council and Mayor of Hove. His
daughter Bonnie undertook the duties of Mayoress because Mrs Gladwin
was not in good health. Peter Gladwin had the rare honour of having a
school in Portslade named after him. Gladwin was a controversial
supporter of the Brighton Bypass scheme at a time when many residents
were fiercely opposed to it. As a result he was obliged to leave the
Mile Oak Association after being its chairman for 28 years.
The Gladwins lived in a split-level house built
into the hillside on the west side of Mile Oak – Peter Gladwin
designed it himself in the 1960s. It was called Number One Delfryn,
and had four bedrooms plus a large balcony offering panoramic views.
In 1980 he put the house on the market for £77,500, but it was quite
a while before a buyer came forward. Afterwards, they moved to
Somerset.
Leslie E. Hamilton (1918-2000)
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| copyright ©
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Leslie Edward Hamilton OBE, JP,
Mayor of
Hove 1978-1979 & 1996-1997
|
He was born in St Aubyn’s Road, Portslade, the
middle son of three brothers. The family had moved down fom London to
avoid the Zeppelin raids. After service in the Army, his father
worked for bus company Thomas Tilling while his mother earned eight
pence an hour as a ‘daily’ in a large house along New Church
Road.
Les Hamilton was educated in St Andrew’s School,
Portslade, but after re-organisation he found himself, along with the
rest of Portslade senior boys, at St Nicolas School in the building
(now demolished) on the west side of Locks Hill. Some of the masters
also made the move, including the headmaster, Mr J. W. Burns, which
is why the establishment earned the nickname of Burns’ Academy.
Hamilton left school in 1933 at the age of fourteen and went to work
in the Co-op Bakery in Portland Road, Hove, where he earned 10/- a
week. He became a dab hand at cake making, but when he found he was
required to work the night shift, he decided to switch to the Co-op
butchery instead. In 1938 he met a young lady by the name of Olive
King in romantic circumstances – dancing on Hove seafront to the
music provided by musicians in Hove Bandstand.
In
1939 Les Hamilton joined Hore Belisha’s Militia – they were all
20-year old lads. In October 1939 he received his call-up papers and
was attached to the 44th
Home County Territorials. But he was determined to marry Olive before
he was posted abroad. The wedding took place at St Barnabas Church on
3 February 1940. On the wedding day Hamilton received two telegrams,
one offering congratulations, and the other ordering his immediate
return to barracks. He decided to ignore the latter. When he rejoined
his unit on Monday, he found everything packed up and ready to go to
Norway. Then Norway collapsed, and so they were despatched to France
instead. Hamilton was part of the RASC (509 Company) but the
expedition was of short duration and he soon found himself being
evacuated from the Dunkirk beaches. Another part of his war service
was spent in Tripoli, where he served under General Sir Brian
Robertson at HQA1. It was while he was there that he decided he
wanted to enter local politics once the war was over.
In 1958 Hamilton was elected as a Labour
councillor to Portslade UDC. He went on to chair most of the
committees. By this time he was working for Co-op Insurance, and he
and Olive had two sons and a daughter. When Portslade and Hove
amalgamated, Hamilton was elected to the new council where he was
leader of the Labour opposition, consisting of himself and his son
Leslie A Hamilton. But the Hamiltons were well regarded for their
hard work, even amongst their political opponents. In 1978 Hamilton,
senior, was elected as Hove’s very first Labour Mayor. This was a
remarkable outcome because there were two Tory candidates, as well as
an overwhelming Tory majority. In 1996 Hamilton did it again when the
council selection committee made the unanimous decision to chose him
as the last Mayor of Hove before amalgamation with Brighton, despite
the Tory nominee being the popular Jenny Langston.
Two landmarks occurred in 1994: on 17 February
Leslie Hamilton, senior, was created a Freeman of the Borough of
Hove, and in May he was chosen to be Chairman of East Sussex County
Council – the first Labour chairman in its history. In the 1998 New
Year Honours List he was awarded the OBE for his services to the
community. The following list is composed of some of his commitments:
Chairman of Portslade UDC 1964-1965
Portslade Councillor for many years, retiring in
1997 at the age of 78
President of Brighton Dunkirk Veterans’
Association
Governor of two schools
Member of many local societies
He
died on 23 December 2000 and was given a magnificent funeral in All Saints Church, Hove in January 2001. Adam Trimingham wrote in the
Evening Argus (18
January 2001) ‘Hundreds of people attended a highly traditional
funeral last week for former Hove Mayor Leslie Hamilton at the parish
church of All Saints. They ranged from the great and the good to
ordinary people he had helped during the years who wanted to pay
their last respects to him. The funeral was a moving occasion because
Mr Hamilton was unusually well-liked right across the political
spectrum and because he was a regular church-goer, all the clerics
who took part in the service, from the Bishop of Chichester to the
Vicar of Hove, knew him personally.’
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| copyright © D. Sharp The 'Hillman' stained glass windows in St Andrews Church, (These stained-glass windows were removed in 2003 when the church building was converted into a duel chapel/community centre. The windows are now stored in the London Stained Glass Repository) |
His widow Olive received hundreds of letters of
condolence.
Walter Hillman
It is fascinating to note that Walter Hillman’s
father had once filled the post of Way Warden at Aldrington in the
days when there was a toll-gate there.
Walter Hillman became the second chairman of
Portslade UDC, and he was already heavily involved in many business
ventures at Portslade. In the 1890s he rented Cowhayes Farm for £78
a year. This enabled him to advertise the supply of milk, butter,
eggs and vegetables ‘fresh form our own farm daily’ from his
premises at 9 North Street, Portslade, - the dairyman, greengrocer
and fruiterer side of his business. In the 1898 Directory there was a
full-page advertisement that established Walter Hillman as a ‘corn
merchant, hay and straw dealer, seeds-man and general carting
contractor’. He also had a depot at Aldrington Basin from where he
could supply Coomb rock flint, sand and shingle. His other business
addresses were at 13 and 29 North Street, Portslade, and at the
Portslade steam corn-crushing mills and chaff-cutting mills. There
were stores at Camden Place, Chapel Place, and Ellen Street, all in
Portslade.
As for his residence – in 1905 it was recorded
as being Alexandra House, 41 Wellington Road, which in earlier times
was once an up-market Portslade address. By 1908 he was located in St Andrew’s Road, while in 1917 he was living in Killarney, 62
Boundary Road, Hove.
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| copyright © D. Sharp Walter & Emma Hillman Portslade Cemetery |
Walter Hillman’s public duties were as follows:
Chairman of Portslade UDC for eleven years
Justice of the Peace for 22 years
Member of Hove War Pensions Committee
Walter Hillman’s wife was called Emma Graham,
and the Hillman’s were wealthy enough to allow for their son,
Albert William Hillman, to be privately educated at the Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School. In 1907 Emma Hillman died at the age
of 54 on 3 July. Walter Hillman also died in July, but not until 7
July 1926 aged 74. They are both buried in Portslade Cemetery where
there is a magnificent memorial. There was also a stained-glass
window in St Andrew’s Church, Portslade. From the Masonic symbols
incorporated into the window, it was evident that Walter Hillman was
a Freemason.
Many
eminent men in Hove and Portslade were Freemasons in the 19th
century and later – including some clergy – and nothing was
thought of it. Indeed, the foundation stone of the extension to St Leonard’s Church, Aldrington, was laid with full Masonic honours.
Later on, Freemasonry became a more delicate matter.
Walter Hillman’s son, Albert William Hillman who was Mayor of Hove and Captain of Portslade Fire Brigade,
received Grand Lodge honours in 1935. Other prominent Portslade men
who were Freemasons were Walter Mews of Portslade Brewery, F. Sundius
Smith of Britannia Flour Mills, E. A. Smithers and H. Smithers of
Smithers Brewery, and Revd Vicars Armstrong Boyle, vicar of St Nicolas, Portslade, 1899-1919.
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| copyright ©
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Richard Derek Farrer Ireland,
Mayor of Hove 1976-1977 |
He served for fourteen years on Portslade UDC, and
when the two towns merged in 1974 he became a councillor for
Portslade on Hove Council. He also held the following posts:
Traffic commissioner
School governor
Chair of the Highways Committee
Councillor on East Sussex County Councillor
Mayor of Hove 1976-1977
He lived in Mile Oak, and he died at the age of 82
in June 1995.
Harry Frederick Parker
He was Portslade born and bred. He lived at 76 St Andrew’s Road and was employed at Portslade Gas Works. He was popularly
known as ‘Judge’ Parker – a nickname given to him by the clerk
of the court at Hove. According to Les Hamilton, senior, he was
something of a visionary, planning for the years ahead. It was he who
instigated the compulsory purchase of some of John Broomfield’s
farmland in order that Portslade could expand in Mile Oak.
Parker served as Chairman of Portslade UDC from
1935 to 1946, but he lost his seat in 1947 after a shock swing
against Labour – he had been a councillor for 21 years. However, he
was soon back on board and again became Chairman in 1962. In 1952 he
had a shot at national politics by standing as the Labour Party
Candidate in the General Election but he lost out to the Conservative
Anthony Marlowe.
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| copyright ©
Royal Pavilion & Museums |
The following is a list of his appointments:
A member of East Sussex County Council for 33
years, retiring in 1967
Chairman of Portslade UDC 1935-1946
Chairman of Portslade Spitfire Fund in Second
World War – Portslade had 100 collecting boxes
Portslade Councillor for 40 years
Hove County Magistrate
In 1963 a block of 56 council flats in Foredown
Road was named Parker Court in his honour, and in August of that
year, he went along to name them officially. It was a nostalgic day
for him because he remembered how 49 years previously he had been
present at the ceremony when the foundation stone was laid for
Portslade’s very first council flat.
Parker retired from Portslade Council in 1963, and
was presented with an illuminated address. He died in December 1970.
Sundius Smith
Details of this extensive family with the
memorable name can be found under Britannia Mills.
Sources
Argus
Brighton Herald (2
April 1898)
Councillor Alan Robins (Portslade)
Councillor Alan Robins (Portslade)
Hove Gazette
Middleton J, Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
Mr D. Docwra
Mr G. Osborne
Middleton J, Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
Mr D. Docwra
Mr G. Osborne
Personal interview
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Sussex Daily
News (19
October 1935)
The Keep
DO/A35/1-40 – Portslade Urban District Council
Minutes 1898-1939
DO/A49/1 – Portslade Parish Meeting April 1923
to February 1928
DO/A51/1 – Portslade Parish Council 1894-1904
Thanks are due to Mr G. Osborne for allowing me to reproduce three of his wonderful photographs
Thanks are due to Mr G. Osborne for allowing me to reproduce three of his wonderful photographs
Copyright © J.Middleton 2019
page layout and additional research by D.Sharp