Story Category: Legacy

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

As the 2018 FIFA World Cup enters its latter stages, we thought we’d take a look at our football related collections for guidance on how to cope with the highs and lows that might present themselves as the tournament progresses.

Writing in Brighton & Hove Albion FC’s Supporters’ Club handbook for the 1930-1931 season, ‘Impartial’ offers a few ‘Points still worth Remembering’ to spectators of the great game. Here are a couple of our favourites:

• ‘A football player is also a human being. Like the rest of us he is liable to his “off” day.’
• ‘Encouragement and support when things are going wrong are the finest tonics. Give it them.’
• ‘Linesmen are there to assist the Referee, if required. They don’t care two straws which side wins.’

How many of these points do you think remain relevant in today’s game? Whatever you think, we hope you enjoy the remainder of this year’s tournament.

Below are a few other images from the handbook.

Dan Robertson, Curator of Local History

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

As part of ongoing work to improve the documentation and storage of Royal Pavilion & Museums’ collections, we are taking a closer look at many items in our stores. One such item recently ‘unfurled’ is this flag. Called a ‘Success Flag’, you might know it as a ‘Jolly Roger’.

Jolly Roger of H.M.S. Unbeaten

The white skull and cross bones on a black background is sure to conjure up images of pirates. Yet the Jolly Roger is a particularly significant flag for British submariners. No submarine was entitled to fly the success flag until it had been given by the Commanding Officer of her flotilla. Furthermore, it could only be flown upon returning from a successful patrol where the flag would be raised when entering harbour and remaining aloft until sunset. It then could not be hoisted again until the next return from a successful mission.

The various symbols sewn on by her crew depict a particular type of successful action. In this instance, we have two U-boats and eight enemy merchant ships sunk, and three separate incidents of gun action.

This particular Jolly Roger belonged to His Majesty’s Submarine ‘Unbeaten’ which entered service on 10 November 1940. It was adopted by the Town of Hove during Warship Week in March 1942. Embracing the slogan ‘Hove Must Save – Unite Now By Effectively Adding To England’s Navy’ (the first letter of each word spelling ‘H.M.S. Unbeaten’) the town’s residents raised £521,000. This exceeded the target set by the War Office for Hove, which was £425,000.

This flag was presented to Arthur H Clarke, Mayor of Hove, by half of Unbeaten’s crew in late Summer 1942 when she returned to Britain for repairs and a refit. Following the ceremony, the Mayor spoke to the Brighton & Hove Herald saying ‘as long as our destiny and our fate rest upon the efforts of such men as I met we need have no fear of the ultimate outcome of the present grim struggle.’

Later in the year, on Wednesday 9 December, a further ceremony was held at Hove Town Hall at which commemorative plaques were to be exchanged, further cementing the special relationship between the town and the crew of Unbeaten. The plaque pictured, also in the museum’s collections, was to be placed on the submarine, but it had left Britain the month previous to return to action in the Mediterranean.

Sadly, at the time of the presentation dinner, Unbeaten had been reported lost. Although she was reported missing a few weeks previous, this was not made public until the middle of December when the Brighton & Hove Herald stated that she was ‘overdue and must be considered lost’. It’s evident that Unbeaten was attacked in error by an R.A.F. Wellington of No. 172 Squadron on 11 November. She was lost with all hands.

Unbeaten’s Jolly Roger is pictured here on display at Hove Town Hall in the Brighton & Hove Herald in February 1943. Interestingly, a number of commentators thought the flag was lost shortly afterwards in an air raid on Hove Town Hall. The flag and the plaque survived the war and both were donated to Hove Museum & Art Gallery by the Town Clerk, Mr W Jermyn Harris, in 1945.

In recent weeks, the flag has been repacked using conservation-grade materials and associated documentation has been reconciled. David J B Smith, the author of Being Silent They Speak (2012) which tells the story of Unbeaten, has also been notified about the flag via Twitter, resulting in a flurry of interest. This has included persons connected with the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth and the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport. A loan of the flag and the associated plaque to either of these institutions will be explored in the coming months.

Dan Robertson, Curator – Local History & Archaeology

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Remembrance of the end of the First World War was marked by many people and families as they remembered their own family stories alongside the national commemorations.

2nd Lieutenant Ernest Frederick Beal VC by Spink, Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

This is my story.

I remember my maiden aunt, May. She wore a beautiful, engagement ring but had no husband. As a child, I did not understand and asked my mother. She told me that May’s fiancé had been killed in the First World War and had been awarded the Victoria Cross. Ernest and May would have been married on his next leave which never came.

May never married, however she was left with the legacy of his bravery. She continued to visit his portrait that was on display at Brighton Museum for many years in memory of him.

May Bundy, Ernest’s fiancée, Private Collection

Ernest Beal died on 22 March 1918, the day after he rescued a wounded soldier abandoned under heavy enemy fire. He is one of three First World War servicemen born in Brighton to be awarded the Victoria Cross.

Ernest had worked with his father at the family business, Beal & Sons, Stationers, at 55 East Street, Brighton, and was praised for his youth work with the Boy’s Brigade. He joined the Sussex Yeomanry soon after the outbreak of war and was proud to be promoted to Second Lieutenant in the Yorkshire Regiment. He was widely mourned in Brighton and Hove with his actions celebrated by the local press.

With this story in mind, the 2018 centenary seemed a fitting time to display Ernest’s portrait at the museum where May had visited it so often and tell Ernest and May’s story. We were lucky enough to borrow the illuminated manuscript in honour of Ernest from East Sussex Record Office. This had been commissioned by Brighton Borough Council and is testament to the local appreciation of Ernest Beal.

However, I had been unsuccessful in finding a blood relative to offer a direct link to Ernest despite intense searches and media appeals. Just when it seemed that this would be missing I was contacted by the son of Ernest’s nephew.

Ernest’s great nephew had family pictures of the young Ernest, both at home and on campaign and poignant letters home in his own hand. The letters are written in pencil on flimsy paper from the frontline. The most moving of these was written exactly a month before his death, planning trips with his nephew when he was next home on leave.

Detail of Ernest’s final letter to his nephew, Robbie, 22 February 1918, Private Collection

On 16 March 2018, a Blue Plaque at Ernest Beal’s home in Lewes Road, Brighton, and a remembrance stone at the War Memorial, Old Steine, were unveiled. Organisations taking part included Brighton & Hove City Council, the Boy’s Brigade and the British Legion. The ceremony was one of spectacle and community spirit which united people across the City. It gave us pause to reflect how we can remember and move forward to honour Ernest’s sacrifice.

Valerie Bundy, Visitor Services Officer

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Last month we held a Sustainability Day for Royal Pavilion & Museums staff in Brighton Museum. The drop-in event was open to all staff to come along to find out about our commitment to make the organisation more sustainable.

During the event we had a recycling table to allow staff to discuss what can and can’t be recycled and ways to reduce single-use plastic. There was a display from our museum shops of items which could be used to be greener such as reusable water bottles, lunch holders and keep-cups for hot drinks.

The Brighton Dolphin Project had a stall sharing information about their work and their citizen science beach-clean projects – see Brighton Dolphin Project facebook for more information. https://www.facebook.com/brightondolphinproject/

During the event, staff heard talks from Mita Patel, Brighton & Hove City Council’s Sustainability Programme officer and Henry Christie, the council’s Energy & Water Project Officer. They told us about the work the council are doing around making the city more sustainable by reducing waste and saving energy.

Staff were interested in the recycling policy of the council and how the council are encouraging the use of more solar panels across the city.

Royal Pavilion & Museum staff have already made great changes to ensure the organisation is becoming more sustainable. A list of twenty-five changes we have achieved so far were displayed in the meeting ranging from reducing the use of bubble wrap, saving on heating and lighting when buildings are closed to setting up a costume hire store for events.  The retail team explained how they are attempting to create sustainable stores by ensuring the items stocked are environmentally sound and sourced from ethical and sustainable companies.

Staff were also asked to take on a challenge in their own behaviours to attempt to reduce waste or re-use whenever possible.

This was a great opportunity for staff to get involved in helping RPM become a more sustainable organisation. As an Arts Council England funded organisation, we are expected to report on our green measures and as part of BHCC we are committed to improve our carbon footprint as much as possible.  The newly-formed RPM EcoTeam has been set up to encourage more improvements to the service in the following year by working with museum teams across the five venues.

Caroline Sutton, Press Officer

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Wednesday 18^th September 2019 marks the day 90 years ago that Hove Borough Fire Brigade in Hove Street received its new PN 4119 reg fire engine from Dennis Brothers of Guildford.

Members of Hove Fire Brigade with the vehicle PN 4119, c1930. Credit: Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Display of Hove Fire Brigade’s vehicles at their Hove Street base, c1930, including the newly purchased PN 4119 furthest right. Credit: James Gray Collection | The Regency Society

Following its ‘call up’ into the National Fire Service in World War Two, the vehicle was used as a reserve appliance at Hove before transferring to Newhaven Fire Brigade. In 1952, it was sold to Baker Perkins Ltd., a manufacturer of food processing and printing equipment based in Peterborough, as their factory works vehicle. Here it was often used for drill practice on Sunday mornings at the local sports ground and apparently never gave any trouble.

In 1972, it was purchased by a Mr Hawkins who entered it into various competitions including the 1974 London to Brighton Historic Commercial Run and the Concours d’Elegance at Beaulieu at which it was a winner in 1976.

Facsimile copy of the order note detailing the vehicle supplied by Dennis Brothers to Hove on 18 September 1929. Credit: Alexander Dennis Ltd.

It later became part of the historic vehicle collection at Flambards Theme Park in Cornwall before returning to Hove, being repurchased by Hove Borough Council in 1995 with assistance from the Preservation of Industrial and Scientific Material (PRISM) Fund.

During its time in Hove, it was garaged at Hove Fire Station in English Close off of Old Shoreham Road. It has been lent by Royal Pavilion & Museums to Amberley Museum in West Sussex since 2009 during which time it has made appearances at other historic vehicle events including the Goodwood Revival.

Volunteers Tony Brooks and Ken Towner with Cllr David Smith aboard the fire engine in the Royal Pavilion Gardens marking its 80th birthday in July 2009. Credit: Hannah Brackenbury / Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Much is owed to the commitment of Tony Brooks and Ken Towner who between them have volunteered over 40 years to maintain the appliance in good working order, enter it into historic vehicle events and share their historical knowledge of the appliance and the fire service.

The vehicle on display at Amberley Museum in West Sussex, July 2019. Credit: Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

The vehicle is currently on display in Amberley Museum’s 1950s inspired fire station where it can be viewed alongside other historic fire engines and appliances by enjoyed visitors.

Dan Robertson, Curator of Local History & Archaeology

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

Britain’s relationship with the rest of Europe has dominated political debate for the last three years. But whatever your views on the UK’s membership of the European Union, look back far enough and we can see that it has always been a changing relationship.

500,000 years ago the landmass that we now identify as Britain was linked by land to Continental Europe. Since then different geological stages have affected the formation of Britain as an island. It was only 8,000 years ago that Britain became an island again. 

The video below was commissioned for the Elaine Evans Archaeology Gallery in Brighton Museum. It shows how the landscape has changed over thousands of years.

Aside from demonstrating these major geological changes, the video features animations depicting prehistoric Brighton. It shows mammoths, woolly rhinos, hyenas and other prehistoric creatures in what is now the central valley leading down to where the Old Steine is situtated today.

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

St Peter’s Church in Preston Park is a 13th century flint church with medieval wall paintings which have miraculously survived the Reformation and a fire.

Exterior of St Peter’s Church

The south end of Preston Park holds many of Brighton’s historical treasures including Preston Manor, an Edwardian-style manor house; the Preston Twins, two of the oldest surviving English elm trees in Europe; and St Peter’s Church.

Not to be confused with the city’s three other churches with the same name, this St Peter’s Church hides a rich history within its fresco-covered walls. Frescoes – a type of wall painting – became a common feature in churches during the Middle Ages and St Peter’s has some of the best preserved in Brighton.

The Domesday Book of 1086 mentions a church in Preston, or Prestetone as it was called at the time, but it was rebuilt in the 13th century and this is the structure which survives to the present day. Some more modern additions were added later including the bell tower and the north and south porches.

St Peter’s Church interior, three frescoes visible

Not long after the church was built, medieval frescoes lined the walls of the nave and originally they would have covered a large proportion of the building. This was until the 16th century Reformation. When England under Henry VIII was divided between Catholicism and Protestantism, many churches across the country faced the threat of growing religious conflict. The frescoes in St Peter’s were covered with a layer of plaster during this time and were not rediscovered until 1830.

On 23rd June 1906, the church was left with catastrophic damage after a fire. Perhaps the most significant damage was that of the frescoes. Where the nave was previously lined with murals, now only three survive.

The photographs below were taken shortly after the fire.

On the east wall of the nave, on each side of the chancel arch, are frescoes depicting St Michael weighing souls and the murder and martyrdom of St Thomas Becket.

Below is a picture showing the current state of the mural alongside a print illustrating its original design. The print portrays the hand of God reaching through the clouds, which is no longer visible in the painting.

In 1162, in an attempt to control the power of the church, King Henry II appointed his loyal chancellor Thomas Becket the Archbishopric of Canterbury. His plan backfired when it became apparent that Becket’s loyalties had changed to support the church, thus creating a long-lasting political dispute which led to the Archbishop’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral by four of Henry II’s knights in 1170. It is disputed whether or not this was done under the orders of the king, but it resulted in the canonisation and martyrdom of Becket, thus making him known as St Thomas Becket. The other people depicted in the fresco include Edward Grim, a monk who was injured trying to protect Becket, and the four knights with swords in hand.

St Michael Weighing Souls

On the other side of the chancel arch is a fresco depicting St Michael weighing souls. It shows the biblical story of St Michael the Archangel weighing souls on Judgement Day, measuring the weight of one’s sins against their good deeds, for which he is often represented carrying scales as is the case in this fresco. The fire damage has caused significant fading to this painting but the scales are still clearly visible.

Nativity

Similarly to the others, the fresco on the wall of the north aisle depicting the Nativity is not in as good condition as it once was. Unfortunately, most of the mural has faded beyond recognition but the manger – although easily mistaken for a fruit bowl – is still relatively clear.

St Peter’s was listed as a Grade II* building in 1952 and went into the care of the Churches Conservation Trust in 1990, two years after its last service was held. Although services are no longer run, the church is still open to the public and visitors are welcome.

Tasha Brown, Museum Futures Trainee

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This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

Lady Ellen Thomas-Stanford died on Friday 11 November 1932 at Preston Manor, her family home. With Ellen’s passing a door closed on the Edwardian age. But bodily death leaves a legal paper trail from which much can be discovered.

Copy of Ellen Thomas-Stanford’s death certificate

Ellen’s place of death

18th century mahogany four poster bed at Preston Manor

Ellen-Thomas-Stanford died in her bed, but not the grand four-poster you can see today in her immaculately preserved bedroom at Preston Manor. This bed is a Stanford family heirloom, and possibly the bed in which she was born in 1848. By the 1920s, however, Victorian wooden framed beds had gone out of favour for reasons of hygiene.

All 19th and early 20th century households, rich and poor alike, lived in fear of the common bedbug. Once present in a house these unpleasant creatures lived in every crevice of wooden bedsteads and the never washed hangings of the attractive but potentially verminous four poster. An infested bed could harbour hundreds of insects.

Cimex lectularius the common bedbug

Iron bed for servants

Servants were often suspected of bringing bedbugs into the house and many employers insisted that a new servant’s belongings should be fumigated on arrival. An infected bed would be taken apart and soaked for days in strong and noxious poisons containing camphor, spirits of naphtha, and oil of turpentine. The smell of these substances would have been unbearable. Better to invest in brass bedsteads for ‘upstairs’ and iron beds for servants ‘downstairs’.

The Book of the Home, 1902

The Book of the Home

The Edwardian household management manual, The Book of the Home, recommends wiping iron beds with a cloth damped with paraffin. Oxalic acid was advised for cleaning brass with the proviso that one must wear gloves as the substance is poisonous. Rubber household gloves were not commercially available until the 1950s so much damage was caused to skin and health in earlier times.

A less harmful method of bug eradication was achieved by dousing mattresses and bedding with Keating’s Powder. This product was advertised as killing ‘bugs, fleas, moths & black-beetles,’ and although the tin looks ominous, the powder was made from the pyrethrum daisy which is non-poisonous to humans and still used today.

Tin of Keating’s Powder

When Preston Manor became a museum in 1933 curator, Henry Roberts decided Ellen’s brass bed was too modern and so had the frame dismantled and deposited in the cellar where it remains.

Brass bed in the cellar at Preston Manor

Certification of death

Ellen’s death was certified by David W Livingstone MRCS (Member of the Royal College of Surgeons). Dr Livingstone is not to be confused with his celebrated namesake, the missionary and explorer famously addressed by Henry Morton Stanley in central Africa in 1871.

A woman of Ellen’s wealth may have employed a trained sick room nurse to be in attendance during her final illness. Dr Livingstone was certainly paid, as prior to the creation of the National Health Service in 1947 Britain had a private health care system (although the very poor could attend charity clinics).

The Book of the Home informs its reader of cost calculations.

‘In the matter of doctor’s fees there is no fixed standard. Each individual practitioner has his own charges. Generally speaking, however, they are calculated on the rental of the patient’s house.’

Regarding medical fees the book advises:

‘…it is best to ask the doctor what they are when first he is called in. There is no discourtesy in doing so, and it prevents the possibility of any subsequent unpleasantness.’

Present at death

Photograph of Lily by society photographer Alfred D Kissack, 130 High Street Eton, Windsor

Ellen’s husband Charles pre-deceased his wife, dying at Preston Manor on 7 March 1932. From that date onward Ellen had been ill and largely bedridden so her death was expected. Present at death, as certified, was CBA Macdonald, Ellen’s half-sister Christiana Blanche Ashworth Macdonald, known as Lily. Lily and her widowed twin, Diana Magniac. were 66 years of age and residing in London in 1932.

According to a local newspaper report Ellen died at 10pm. One can only pity Lily that long November night but she was not alone in the house. Preston Manor still kept a retinue of servants. Devoted butler Maurice Elphick was without doubt awake and probably waiting anxiously nearby as Ellen faded away. Various female servants were under the roof including Drusilla Wooller (née Wood) who was interviewed in 1985 about her time as fourth housemaid.

1930s housemaids at Preston Manor

Aged 16 in 1932 Drusilla lists the names of fellow servants:

‘There was Edith the head housemaid, Florence the second housemaid; her sister, which I’m not sure of her name was third housemaid…and there was Mrs Storey the cook, Mr Elphick the butler and there was a Mademoiselle who was the lady’s maid, Beatrice was one of the parlour maids.’

Drusilla left Preston Manor six months after Ellen’s death stating, ‘we were allowed to stay on until we found another occupation.’

Cause of death

Ellen’s death certificate gives her cause of death as ‘1a, cerebral haemorrhage 1b, Atheroma. 2. Myocarditis’.

A cerebral haemorrhage or bleeding in the brain is a type of stroke; an atheroma a narrowing of the arteries; and myocarditis an inflammation of the heart. The certificate note ‘no p.m’ means no post-mortem was carried out.

Ellen’s narrowed arteries and inflamed heart would have caused her to suffer chest pain and palpitations, shortness of breath and fatigue.

The Book of the Home gives the symptoms of apoplexy (an outdated term for a stroke) as: ‘unconsciousness, heavy breathing, blowing out and in of the cheek, and usually paralysis of one side of the body.’

When asked what food the Stanfords ate Drusilla Wooller said of Ellen, ‘she ate very little. She was in bed most of the time I was there.’

Dr Livingstone would have attended Ellen in the months she spent as an invalid, as he was no doubt the trusted family doctor.

The Book of the Home recommends choosing one’s medical man carefully.

‘It has been said that next to the choice of a profession and a wife comes the choice of the family physician…this choice is too often put off until someone has been taken ill. Such a course is unwise.’

There was little Dr Livingstone could do for Ellen in her decline apart from prescribe bed rest and good food.

The Book of the Home devotes a whole chapter to invalid cookery. Edwardian delicacies to temp the appetite include raw beef balls, game cream, calf’s feet jelly, steamed pigeon, tapioca pudding, and sweetbreads. Sweetbreads are often erroneously believed to be the testicles of an animal, but they are more commonly the thymus gland from the throat or the pancreas gland from the heart or stomach of a calf or lamb.

Drusilla remembered Ellen calling for a more palatable-sounding snack.

‘There used to be chaos in the kitchen because Lady Thomas-Stanford wanted one anchovy sandwich. So the butler used to rush down and have the silver salver polished up and everyone out the kitchen while one sharpened the knife, and one cut the bread and butter, one opened the tin of anchovies.’

An Edwardian recipe: toast water for invalids

Registering Ellen’s death

Brighton Town Hall, 1896

Ellen’s death was registered on 14 November 1932 within the legally required five days. It is very likely that Lily registered her sister’s death,  which would have meant a trip to Brighton Town Hall and the office of FGS Bramwell, registrar. Lily would have been asked the following particulars: date of death, name of deceased in full, sex and age, rank or occupation, and cause of death as certified by a qualified doctor.

Ellen’s occupation is given as ‘widow of Charles Thomas-Stanford, Baronet’.

Women of Ellen’s era and social position lived their entire lives without experiencing employment except for the duties involved in running their homes and raising children. Being a wife was deemed a full time occupation.

The Book of the Home usefully informs the reader of all points of law in the marriage contract.

‘The wife is presumed to be proeposita negitiis domesticis, that is, authorised to act in domestic affairs, and the husband is bound by contracts she may make in this capacity.’

In the chapter entitled, ‘Husband’s Legal Position’, his obligation to support his wife is set out thus:

‘The husband is bound to supply his wife with necessary food and clothing, and the failure to discharge this natural obligation would constitute cruelty justifying an action of separation.’

FGS Bramwell: Brighton Registrar

Ellen’s death was officially recorded by FGS Bramwell.

Pike’s Directory of 1910 lists him as living at 1 Dyke Road Drive and describes him as:

‘F G S Bramwell, registrar of births, marriages and deaths for Preston and Patcham and vaccination officer and collector to Steyning Union Guardians.’

The Steyning Union Guardians were the elected persons who managed the workhouse at Shoreham. Opened in 1901 the institution provided Poor Law relief to 23 parishes including Preston and Patcham. Such was the demand that men’s accommodation alone numbered 240 inmates, saying much about poverty in Edwardian Sussex.

A workhouse vaccination officer was not a medical man. His job was to oversee the administration of the smallpox vaccine to poor persons (especially babies born to paupers in the workhouse) as required by the 1853 Compulsory Vaccination Act.

Bramwell’s job as collector meant he was involved with collecting rates in the 23 parishes to pay for the upkeep the workhouse.

It is easy to stereotype Bramwell as a conscientious public servant, but his life had other passions. By the breadth of his interests it seems he was even something of a Renaissance Man. He was a keen amateur archaeologist, astronomer, and windmill enthusiast, as well as being the 1910 secretary of the Brighton Cruising Club (later the Brighton Sailing Club).

FGS Bramwell’s Astronomical diaries (1882-1905) held at The Keep, Falmer include colour impressions of sunrises over the Race Hill, sunsets over Dyke Road, and planetary alignments. He pasted into his diary local newspaper reports relating to sun spots and the weather, along with a colour impression of the moon rising over the workhouse on Elm Grove on Good Friday 1894.

Between 6 and 13 July 1938 the Brighton Herald newspaper published a series of articles by Bramwell entitled ‘The Windmills of Brighton.’ He will have remembered the last working mill in central Brighton, Tower Mill on Roundhill Road, for it was demolished in 1913.

Roundhill Road windmill, c1900

Becoming Lady Ellen

Ellen Thomas-Stanford died a titled Lady but she was not a Lady born. Ellen was independently wealthy, being heiress to the vast Stanford fortune. The Stanfords were landed gentry, which put them socially below the peerage or aristocracy. The term ‘landed gentry’ refers to persons who lived on income derived from land they owned, usually via rents, but sometimes by sale of land.

Sensitive to nuances of rank, plain Mrs Ellen Thomas-Stanford longed for a title, though none came through marriage; both her first husband, Vere Fane-Bennet, and second husband, Charles Thomas, were not titled men.

Ellen’s son John writes of his mother in a letter to Henry Roberts dated 26 September 1933, that she was ‘the biggest snob in the world, and loved anybody with a title’.

Plaque at Preston Manor (no longer on view)

Satisfaction for Ellen came following the 1929 New Year Honours when Charles was made a baronet for his public services to Brighton and district. As the wife of a baronet, Ellen was entitled to call herself Lady Ellen Thomas-Stanford and this she did with pride in those last three years of her life.

Life expectancy

Ellen was born in 1848 making her 84 years of age at death. To live to 84 in 1932 was to live nearly twenty years beyond average life expectancy, the equivalent today of living to 100. Ellen’s long life was without doubt attributable to her being born into a wealthy family, and able to enjoy a better quality diet and housing. However, genes probably also played a part. Her mother, Eleanor, was born in 1824 lived to 79 (and safely gave birth to healthy twin girls in 1866 at age 42).

Life expectancy in Britain rose sharply in Ellen’s lifetime with improvements in living standards, public health and nourishment. In 1900 average life expectancy was about 47 for a man and 50 for a woman. By 1932 the average life expectancy for a woman had risen to 67.

Ellen lived through a period of huge social change. Queen Victoria was a mere 29 years old in the year of her birth. She was a middle-aged woman of 40 when reports of the ‘Jack the Ripper’ murders in Whitechapel appeared in the newspaper columns, and she was 66 when the First World War broke out. Within two months of Ellen’s death, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, and BBC TV was being broadcast in London.

By 1932 the world had transformed to one we would recognise today; there were cars, flight, cinema, telephones and electricity. We don’t know how Ellen felt about the fast moving modern world of her later years but we can guess how she felt about ageing by the entry she made on the 1911 census.

In the column marked  ‘age last birthday’ Ellen’s age is clearly entered as 55 when in fact she was 63. Was this a small vanity, or a genuine mistake by whoever completed the form? Pertinent to the matter could be the age of her husband, Charles. Born in 1858 he was 53 in 1911 (and this is correctly entered on the census return). Possibly Ellen felt this ten year disparity in age with her younger husband, was somehow immodest and so allowed the error to slip through. Another intriguing possibility is that Charles Thomas-Stanford did not know his wife’s age. The census form is signed by him under the affirmation, ‘I declare this schedule is correctly filled up to the best of my knowledge and belief.’

Charles was a Justice of the Peace and Mayor of Brighton in 1911. I find it hard to believe such an upright citizen would knowingly lie on an official document. He was also a keen historian, so a man accustomed to scrutinising dates. Either the mistake slipped through unknowingly or Charles made the chivalrous decision to permit the error in his wife’s favour.

In 2022 when the 1921 census records are made public it will be interesting to compare the two returns.

Paula Wrightson, Venue Officer, Preston Manor

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

Paula Wrightson follows the owners of Preston Manor on a tour through Egypt at the start of the twentieth century. Through a photograph album held at the manor, she traces their route across the country at a time when the height of British imperial power met the death of the Victorian era.

In November 1922 British archaeologist and Egyptologist, Howard Carter wrote a now famous telegram from the Valley of the Kings in Egypt to his patron back home, the 5^th Earl of Carnarvon, “…at last have made a wonderful discovery…” revealed as the fabulous treasures of the Tomb of Tutankhamun.

Photograph album Egypt 1900-1901

96 years on I received an email from a member of the Sussex Egyptological Society who had made a wonderful discovery of her own whilst on a visit to Preston Manor.

“…Being of a curious nature” she explained in the Society’s newsletter, “I was peering through the glass doors of the bookcases in their library to see what sort of books the family had collected, when a certain title caught my eye – “Egypt”. On closer inspection, it looked much like a photo album…how excited was I?”

Members of the Sussex Egyptological Society requested a viewing of the albums, of which there are three dating to 1901. Following the Society’s visit to Preston Manor I learned a great deal from their expertise.

Visiting Egypt in 1901

Charles and Ellen Thomas-Stanford went to Egypt as sightseers. although Charles’s passion for archaeology meant he would have taken a more academic interest in the places they visited than most tourists.

Egypt was a popular destination for cultured Europeans. The British travel agency, Thomas Cook Ltd, opened its first head office in Cairo in 1872. By 1900 it is estimated that as many as 50,000 tourists a year were visiting Egypt with a cruise along the Nile River an essential experience. The Thomas-Stanfords enjoyed every luxury. Travellers were provided with the comforts of home on board well-appointed steamships and in opulent hotels.

Ellen Thomas-Stanford dressed for her trip through Egypt

In 1901 you needed wealth and leisure to visit Egypt along with the ability to withstand a hot climate in your many-layered clothing; in Ellen’s case, this would have also included a tightly-laced corset. Photographs show Charles and Ellen in conventional European dress. Charles’s suit would be summer-weight linen and Ellen carries a parasol. In all other sartorial respects the couple appear dressed for the January they left behind in England.

It took between five and ten days to travel from Britain to Cairo. The couple almost certainly stayed for a while in Cairo acclimatising to temperatures equivalent to a hot summer’s day in Britain. They probably spent Christmas and New Year enjoying the home-from-home delights provided for the large British community: a Savoy Hotel, an All Saints Church, the Turf Club Jockey Club and lawn tennis clubs where friends might be met.

Health and wealth

Today visitors are required to be vaccinated against a range of diseases before travelling to Egypt. Charles and Ellen had no such protection although, as they were born in 1858 and 1848 respectively, they would have been vaccinated against smallpox in childhood due to the Vaccination Act of 1853 that made vaccination compulsory.

In anticipation of ill-health wealthy European travellers to Egypt might take a medical doctor as a member of their party but Thomas Cook’s network of tourist stations along the Nile provided doctor’s surgeries as well as post offices and other conveniences.

In 1891 Cooks Tours Ltd were running 24 steamers on the Nile running to an enormous £82,000 annual net profit by 1900. For the tourist a three-week trip cost £50 a head, an amount equal to a year’s wages for a skilled working man.

Watercolour painting, the Great Colonnade in a Temple at Philae by CharlesBarry

At home with Egypt

For the devout Victorian-born person Pharaonic Egypt linked comfortably with Biblical texts, making a visit something of a pilgrimage. Egypt was familiar from church readings on Sunday and consequently a place one felt acquainted with.

The Edwardian-born poet John Betjeman evoked a cosy domestic glimpse of an English-at-home bond with Egypt in his 1941 poem ‘The Subaltern’s Love Song’ in which a lovelorn Englishman awaits his sweetheart, Joan Hunter-Dunn at the foot of the stairs in a suburban house in leafy Surrey, his Hillman car purring in the driveway.

The Hillman is waiting, the light’s in the hall,
The pictures of Egypt are bright on the wall,
My sweet, I am standing beside the oak stair
And there on the landing’s the light on your hair.

If you stand on the landing at Preston Manor you will step into this stanza for there are four such pictures of Egypt to be seen. Three watercolour paintings show scenes on the Nile and one a ruined temple. These exotic images sit incompatible yet at ease alongside solid mahogany bookcases, Sussex longcase clocks and a rustic copper warming pan.

A further glimpse of Ancient Egypt can be seen on the mantelpiece in the library: a pair of spelter candlesticks in the form of Egyptian figures. These are British-made c.1880.

Egyptian inspired clock c.1807

The early years of the nineteenth century saw a growing interest in the art and architecture of Ancient Egypt fed by the Napoleonic Campaigns in Egypt 1798-1801. Ancient Egypt flourished as a theme in European tombs and mausoleums, garden follies, statues, clocks furniture and jewellery. If you visit the Kings Apartments anteroom in the Royal Pavilion you will see some fine examples of Egypt-inspired decorative objects from that period.

The Thomas-Stanford’s Dragoman

Crucial to travel in Egypt in 1901 was the Dragoman. He was a local guide, translator and interpreter, and a general tour organiser fixing accommodation, food, travel and everything else. Dragoman is an interesting word; derived from the Arabic tarjumān. The Dragoman to the Thomas-Stanford party is named as Ahmed abd-el Sadek in the album.

“Our Dragoman” Ahmed abd-el Sadek

He is photographed in Luxor standing against a white-painted wall on which the shadow of a palm falls in the bright sunshine. He wears a close-fitting white cap and long layered robes. The cuff of his outer robe has a silken appearance and is ornately flared. Just visible his hand holds a fine polished cane, a stout stick he no doubt found many uses for. Ornate too the low collar of his inner robe. His middle layer appears to be a European man’s linen jacket. Hanging from a button the chain of a pocket watch can clearly be seen. Ahmed abd-el Sadek has a well-planned itinerary to keep and timing is important.

He looks about 30 years of age and knowing the Thomas-Stanford’s wealth he was the best Dragoman available, a man of wisdom and experience. He would have spoken English and French as well as local languages. I asked members of the Sussex Egyptological Society about life expectancy in Ancient Egypt and they told me people lived to no more than about 40. Further investigation shows average life expectancy in Egypt in 1960 reached only 46. Our 1901 Dragoman is in his mature years.

Photographing Egypt

The Thomas-Stanford’s Kodak brand photograph album

The party travelled from Cairo to Aswan and into Nubia, taking photographs along the way. I don’t know what camera they used. In 1900 the first Eastman Kodak Box Brownie camera came on the market and this was ideal for lightweight travel. Two of the photograph albums are Kodak branded so it is likely the camera was too.

Roll film in 120 format was introduced in 1901 allowing up to 15 shots per roll. This new affordable camera marketed under the slogan ‘you press the button – we do the rest’ made informal ‘snapshots’ possible, and looking through the Thomas-Stanford’s albums this is what the pictures are.

Ellen Thomas-Stanford was a keen photographer in her own right. The 1925 inventory of Preston Manor shows a bathroom containing an egg-timer and magnifying glass indicating its use as a photographic darkroom. However, in Egypt Ellen clearly isn’t engaged in artistic picture-making. She is snapping the sights and grabbing shots of the modern day Egyptian people going about their daily lives.

The Sussex Egyptological Society reports “the first album was mainly street scenes of the local people, donkeys and camels laden with their burdens; also lots of feluccas on the Nile….the second album was a sheer delight. At Cairo were the Giza pyramids with the Sphinx emerging from the sand. At Luxor there were recognisable photos of Medinet Habu, the Ramesseum, Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple, the Colossi of Memnon, Luxor and Karnak Temples….”

A street scene in Cairo; men and boys working a weaving loom

The British in Egypt

Looking online at a Cook’s Nile Itinerary of 1897 I am tempted to believe the Thomas-Stanfords booked a Cook’s tour in 1901 for the sites they visited and thier photograph correspond exactly. Beginning in Cairo the trip along the Nile included 29 destinations including Thebes, Luxor and Karnak finishing in Wady-Halfa in northern Sudan.

For Ellen Thomas-Stanford entering Sudan must have been especially thought-provoking because her son, John Benett-Stanford, had been in the country in 1898. John’s objective was military not leisure, for he was there as a war reporter, He famously taking moving film footage of the Battle of Omdurman, although the footage is now lost..

Today travellers are advised to research the political situation in their holiday destination. What could the Thomas-Stanford’s expect in the region considering the grim toll at Omdurman happened only three years before?

In 1901 the couple would have spent their holiday secure in the knowledge that nearly a quarter of the globe was British-ruled, for this was the age of Empire linking far-flung places with home under one uniting flag.

Trading scene at Esna on the Nile south of Luxor

However, in this age of colonisation the French were most active inNorth Africa, and if you look at photographs of Cairo in 1900 the streets could be fashionable Parisian boulevards. Egypt changed colonial hands following the recall of the French fleet prior to the Bombardment of Alexandria during the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882. From this time the British governed Egypt in a period called the ‘veiled protectorate’. Officially the country operated as an autonomous province nominally under Ottoman rule but British officials held power controlling Egypt’s government, armed forces and finances.

Charles and Ellen Thomas-Stanford would have viewed the British in Egypt as fairly and squarely in charge. Possibly they knew Evelyn Baring, the 1^st Earl of Cromer who held the positon of Consul-General of Egypt from 1887-1907. Cromer (of the Barings Bank family) was adept at putting British interests first, the chief of which was control of the Suez Canal (constructed 1869). Likewise, Cromer exerted power in Egypt quite literally by harnessing the waters of the mighty Nile, the people’s most vital resource, by instigating construction of the Aswan Low Dam.

The Aswan Low dam under construction

Visiting the Aswan Low Dam

Built between 1898 and 1902 the works were on the tourist route and so the Thomas-Stanfords made a visit. There are three photographs taken on the construction site – and it is remarkable how close visitors could get to the workmen. Three westerners, seen from the back, are clearly visible in one of the photographs; the woman with a parasol (possibly Ellen Thomas-Stanford) is walking a long boardwalk laid aside the works.

A John Aird and Co truck on the Aswan Low dam construction site

Record-breaking for scale at the time, the dam was designed by Sir William Wilcox, a British civil engineer. The work contracted to John Aird employing local labour. An Aird and Co railway truck can be seen along with steam-powered cranes. In 1901 no one wears a hard-hat or protective work wear. Men work clad in their ordinary everyday clothes, the long shirt or gallibaya and cover-all kaftan hitched up for ease of movement. Every man’s head is covered by hat, cap or turban. The photographs are very small (7 x 9cm) but on close inspection the men wear soft shoes on bare feet whilst working with huge blocks of stone in a quarry-like building site.

A steam train down the Nile

For the most southerly leg of the journey the Thomas-Stanford party travelled by train as a photograph labelled, ‘the railway station at Shellal’ attests. In 1901 a state-run railway system operated along the Nile valley from Cairo in the north to Aswan in the south (opened 1874). The section of line from Aswan to Shellal was narrow gage and built in 1884 for military purposes.

In the photograph a woman in western clothing stands with her back to the camera on a humble platform piled high with trunks, suitcases and bags. A tourist sign gives fare prices and a shop front advertises tobacco. For some of the journey the party certainly took a Nile steamer but their weighty luggage likely went by train, hence the need for their Dragoman’s pocket watch.

The railway station at Shellal

Philae and Abu Simbel temples

The Thomas-Stanfords took twelve photographs of the Temple of Isis complex at Philae which in 1901 was situated on an island in the Aswan Low dam’s reservoir.

They were among the last visitors to see the complex in its original site and condition. In 1902 the temples were submerged under water when the dam’s sluices were open from November to June encrusting the structures with silt and causing damage.

Abu Simbel & Philae

The twelve photographs of the Abu Simbel temples from 1901 are of historical significance for these monuments would be relocated in the 1960s. This was done to prevent submersion following the construction of the Aswan High Dam which opened in 1970. The monuments enjoyed by Charles and Ellen are today recognised as World Heritage Sites known as the Nubian Monuments. The Sussex Egyptological Society expressed much interest in seeing photographs of these monuments in their original locations.

“The second photo album was a sheer delight” the society newsletters runs, “at Cairo were the Giza pyramids with the Sphinx emerging from the sand. At Luxor there were recognisable photos of Medinet Habu, the Ramesseum, Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple, the Colossi of Memnon, Luxor and Karnak temples. It was thrilling to see how these sacred sites looked well over a hundred years ago, just as those adventurous Edwardians saw them…”

A momentous happening

Charles and Ellen Thomas-Stanford’s trip to Egypt coincided with an event of historic significance: the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901. Most people alive in Britain knew no other monarch. You would have to be well over 70 to remember a time before the Queen came to the throne. As life expectancy in Britain was around 50 in 1900 that meant a small percentage of the population (in 1901 only 8.1% of people in Britain were aged over 60). Aged 52 on her Egyptian holiday, Ellen Thomas-Stanford was born eleven years into Victoria’s reign.

The news must have come as a shock, not least because Ellen was close friends with the Queen’s youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice. Victoria was elderly but her final illness had been very short, catching even her household by surprise. Perhaps unsurprisingly the Queen’s subjects were equally startled. Momentous world events stick in the mind as does one’s location on hearing the news. Is it possible, I wondered to work out the Thomas-Stanford’s location at the death of their monarch?

The first photographs in the albums put the Thomas-Stanfords in Cairo on 5 January.

Frustratingly few of the photographs are dated but those that are show the couple were in Thebes and Luxor on 15 and 16 January, Abu Simbel on 31 January and at the Temple of Derr in Lower Nubia on 2 February, the day Queen Victoria’s funeral took place at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. I calculate the Thomas-Stanford party were on the Aswan Dam stage of their Nile journey on the date of the Queen’s death.

The Victorian internet

Queen Victoria was the first British monarch whose death was reported at speed around the world by means of telegraph, a communication system so significant it has been called the Victorian internet. Messages were sent along telegraph wires and cables which by 1900 had been laid under sea and above land connecting the globe. A letter from London took two weeks to reach Egypt. A telegraph message could be sent in minutes.

Cairo was connected by the Eastern Telegraph Company (founded in 1872) and looking at the Thomas-Stanford’s photographs there are telegraph poles and wires to be seen in some of the shots, even though the photographer studiously avoids the modern.

Telegraph pole and wires at the Kasr El Nil Bridge Cairo January 1901

Also connected 400 miles to the south was Luxor, in 1901 a bustling city marketed as a health resort to wealthy visitors. Luxor in winter contained an eclectic mix of archaeologists and aristocrats, all of whom would have been talking of the Queen’s death. Aswan is 112 miles down river from Luxor where the news must have quickly spread even if by word of mouth, January being the busiest month of the tourist season.

Home to a changed country

The Thomas-Stanfords returned to their London home at 3 Ennismore Gardens Knightsbridge. This was their main residence prior to their 1905 move to Preston Manor. We know they were back in Britain by 31 March 1901 because they appear on the census taken on that date.

Ellen and Charles would have looked forward to seeing their photographs developed and then spent happy hours fixing them into the three albums now kept at Preston Manor. Did they reminisce, opening the albums over the years on leaving Britain as Victorians and returning Edwardians?

Paula Wrightson, Venue Officer Preston Manor

This is a legacy story from an earlier version of our website. It may contain some formatting issues and broken links.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the county of Sussex was divided into five areas of land known as rapes. These were Hastings, Lewes, Arundel, Bramber and Pevensey. The newly crowned king William the Conqueror appointed a loyal baron to these rapes and ordered a castle to be built in each to defend the South East coast.

Each castle has fared differently over the last 950 years; some have stood the test of time and others have crumbled to ruins, but they all hold fascinating stories of Sussex’s medieval history.

Along with a brief history of each castle are related items from our collections.

Pevensey Castle

When William the Conqueror (then known as William, Duke of Normandy) landed in Pevensey on 28 September 1066, a temporary fortification was built to house his troops for the night before travelling to Hastings for the final battle of the Norman Conquest. After the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror’s half-brother Robert, Count of Mortain was given the Rape of Pevensey. The castle’s defences were strengthened over the following years but during the Rebellion of 1088, the castle was besieged by William II’s troops. It was held against the king in support for Robert Curthose for six weeks. In 1381, during the Peasants’ Revolt, the castle was broken into and court rolls were destroyed after its owner John of Gaunt refused to garrison it because he proclaimed that he was wealthy enough to rebuild the the castle if it was destroyed. In 1399, the castle was besieged again, defended by Sir John Pelham. After the siege failed, Henry IV rewarded the castle to Pelham for his loyalty. It fell into disrepair during the 16th century and was not used again until the Second World War when further fortifications were added to prevent invasion after the Fall of France. It is now managed by English Heritage and is open to the public.

Hastings Castle

During the Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror had a prefabricated wooden fort built in Hastings to provide protection for his troops. The construction of this fortification was depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry and soon after the Norman victory, the Rape of Hastings was allocated to Robert, Count of Eu. The castle was rebuilt in c1070 and a church was built close by at the end of the 11th century. It fell to ruins over the following centuries, largely due to erosion of the cliffs that the castle was built on. Little is left of the castle today but the ruins of its curtain walls and the foundation of the nearby church still remain.

In our collections are coloured aquitints each featuring Hastings Castle ruins.

Lewes Castle

William de Warenne was gifted the Rape of Lewes by William the Conqueror and Lewes Castle was built in c1069. During the Second Barons’ War, Lewes Castle overlooked the field on which the Battle of Lewes took place on 14 May 1264, where Henry III was forced to sign the Mise of Lewes after being defeated by rebel baron Simon de Monfort’s forces. The castle was owned by descendants of de Warenne until 1347 when John de Warenne died without an heir. It then went into the possession of the Earls of Arundel and, like many of Sussex’s castles, Lewes was broken into in 1381 during the Peasants’ Revolt. The castle is now managed by Sussex Archaeological Society and is open to the public.

Bramber Castle

William de Braose was appointed Lord of Bramber by William the Conqueror and the castle was built in c1070 along with nearby St Nicholas Church. The estate was owned by the de Braose family until the early 13th century when the lands were confiscated from William’s great-grandson (also called William de Braose) by King John as punishment for rebellion. It was later returned to the de Braose family and it stayed in their possession until it passed to the Mowbray family in the 14th century. The castle suffered greatly during the 16th century when it was left to fall to the ruins we see today and was occupied by Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War. The site is now managed by English Heritage, though little remains except for one large wall of the gatehouse and parts of the curtain walls.

Arundel Castle

William the Conqueror rewarded Roger de Montgomery for his governance of Normandy during the 1066 Invasion with the earldom of Arundel and the castle was founded soon after on Christmas day 1067. On his death, the estate went into the ownership of the crown and on Henry I’s death, it was passed to his wife Adeliza of Louvain, and then her second husband William d’Aubigny. In 1139, Empress Matilda stayed at Arundel Castle during the Anarchy (a civil war between Matilda and King Stephen), in 1380 the future Henry IV and his first wife Mary Bohun were married at the castle and it was besieged for 18 days during the Civil War. In 1846, Arundel Castle hosted a royal visit from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It is now the residence of the Duke of Norfolk and is open to the public during the summer.

More castles were built across the county in the following centuries.

Bodiam Castle

Originally a manor house, Bodiam Castle was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge to defend the coast against French invasion during the Hundred Years War. It remained in the Dalyngrigge family’s possession until it passed to the Lewknor family possessions through marriage. The castle’s owner during the Civil War, John Tufton, was a Royalist supporter. He was defeated in 1643 and sold Bodiam Castle the following year for £6000 to Nathaniel Powell, a Parliamentarian. After this, the castle was left to become ruins and it was not until 1829 when bought by John Fuller that any attempts were made to revert the disrepair caused over the previous 200 years. Lord Curzon, owner of Bodiam Castle from 1917 to 1925, carried out further restoration. When he died, he donated the estate to the National Trust and it has since been open to the public.

Camber Castle

Fortifications in Camber originally consisted of an artillery tower as ordered by Henry VIII in 1512 to prepare for rapidly growing Anglo-French tensions. In 1539, these fortifications were greatly expanded at a cost of £5,660 to create the current Camber Castle although, not too long after, it was no longer suitable for military use. It is now managed by English Heritage and accessible to the public by guided tours.

Herstmonceux Castle

Herstmonceux Castle was built in 1441 on the site of an older manor house. Sir Roger Fiennes transformed the manor into a grand castle and it was passed through the generations until 1541 when it was confiscated by the crown after Sir Thomas Fiennes was tried for poaching Henry VIII’s deer, but it was later restored to the Fiennes family. Considerable restoration work was carried out during the early 20th century to transform the castle to the grand estates visible today. Although the grounds are open to the public, the castle itself is owned by Queens University, Canada and now houses a university study centre.

• View and download more images in our collections on our Digital Media Bank

Tasha Brown, Museum Futures Trainee