31 VALE ROAD
Brief history of 31 Vale Road
Known as Kingston Villa. Semi-detached, backing onto no. 29. Until about 1904 numbered as no. 16. Until then, the north side of the road was numbered consecutively from no. 1 from the Sedlescombe Road North end, while the south side was unnumbered, and only had house names. The change was that the north side was given odd numbers, and the south side was given even numbers.
I do not know when the house was built, but in the 1881 census there are the following two families in separate households at no. 16:
James Dumbril, head, married, 28, painter, b Sussex, Warbleton
Mary A. Dumbril, wife, 27, b Sussex, Eastbourne
John Bridgland, head, married, 22, carpenter, b Sussex, Hastings
Eliza Bridgland, wife, 23, b Middlesex
Anna Bridgland, sister, single, 24, schoolmistress, b Sussex, Hastings
Nellie Bridgland, daughter, 1, b Sussex, St Leonards
In the 1871 census James Dumbril had been in Lewes, Sussex, age 18, “son in law” [stepson] to Peter Grant, foreman to a harness maker, and his wife Rosa.
In the 1891 census the Dumbril couple had moved to 33 Paynton Road, a few streets away, which was shared with a separate household, a family of three. They were still there in the 1901 census with a lodger, Mabel Bridgland, 18, a schoolteacher like her aunt, who (although not present at no. 31 in the 1881 census) was another daughter of the Bridglands.
The Bridglands had themselves moved in the 1891 census to 28 Paynton Road, very close to the Dumbrils, with Mabel as one of their four children. Apparently they had moved away but Mabel stayed as a lodger with their friends.
Meanwhile, in the 1891 census at no. 16 there was:
Joseph Potter, head, married, 72, laundryman, b Sussex, Keymer
Maria Potter, wife, 73, laundress, b Sussex, Poyning
Mary A. Potter, dau, single, 42, laundress, b Sussex, St Leonards
Other than they were in St Leonards in the 1861 and 1871 censuses I have not found more on them.
In the 1894 electoral register, and also in Pike’s Directory for 1894, we have Edwin S. Toovey at Kingston Villa, the first mention of its house name. This was Edwin Saunders Toovey, an engine fitter.
He was not alone, as he had married Mary Ann Ellen Elizabeth Hamblen. Twice, in fact. From the marriage indexes, they married in either late 1891 or early 1892 in Hastings and then again in late 1892 or early 1893 in Brighton. This is distinctly odd but has a simple explanation.
She had married Charles John Percy Hamblen, a die sinker, in 1867, with her a minor (under 21 years). She filed for a divorce on the 6 January 1892, alleging adultery by her husband, and saying that she had been deserted for two years. The final decree, allowing the divorce, was on the 24 January 1893. Without buying the marriage certificates it is almost certain that she mistakenly “married” Toovey in early 1892, following the filing for divorce, assuming that she was free to marry, and then married again in early 1893, when she was indeed free to marry.
The trouble with that explanation is that the only possible candidate for his death is a Charles John P Hamblen registered in England’s death indexes in the April to June 1892 quarter in Poplar, Middlesex, age 47. There would have been no need for a final decree since the husband had already died and left her a widow.
Sadly, Toovey died on the 13 July 1897, but not at no. 31, but rather at The Beeches, which is no. 42, Vale Road. His estate of £1637 was dealt with by his widow, the executrix. She in turn died on the 16 February 1902, also at The Beeches. Her estate of £6496 was dealt with by executors Arthur Henry Hamblen, stationer (one of her six children), and Jasper Freeston Mason, commercial traveller (a son in law).
At the time of Toovey’s death no. 31 was already occupied by someone else. The Hastings Observer of the 29 August 1896 mentions briefly that the leasehold to no. 31 is to be sold and promises more details on the property in the next issue. One detail it did give, which was not repeated in the next issue, was that the tenant was W.G. Wire.
The 5 September 1896 issue does indeed give more details. In fact, probably a better description than I have found for any other property in the road.
…the leasehold semi-detached Villa Residence, known as “KINGSTON VILLA," VALE ROAD, SILVERHILL, which is well-built of good red kiln bricks, with bay window to front sitting-room, with small garden in front, enclosed with a dwarf brick wall, and gate to entrance; contains on ground floor: -- Entrance passage with lobby door, capital drawing-room, dining-room, kitchen and scullery combined, larder, coal cellar, back yard, w.c., and large garden, enclosed with a capital brick wall, small bedroom over kitchen, w.c. on landing, large front bedroom, and bedroom at the back.
This house is situated in a very healthy position, commands good views, is well fitted with cupboards etc., drawing-room with handsome cornice and centre flower, marble chimney-piece, and is in excellent repair; is let to a good tenant at the very moderate rental of £22 per annum.
The property was to be sold by auction by Mr Veness at the Castle Hotel, Hastings, on the 17 September but as is normal we are not told if it was indeed sold, let alone for what price, or to what person. A price of £700 would have been typical for the time for what was probably the remainder of a 99-year lease.
W.G. Wire was Walter George Wire, who is listed in the electoral roll for no. 31 from 1897 to 1899. In both the 1901 and 1911 censuses he was at 5 Bexhill Road, St Leonards, born Colchester, Essex, a men’s clothier. He was 32 in 1901, his wife Emma was 30. Their daughter Dorothy, aged 3, had probably been born at no. 31. The 1911 census adds that Emma was assisting him in the business. He had married, 1895, Guildford, Emma Edwards. He died in 1937 at Etchingham. His widow died in 1954 in Robertsbridge. Newspaper references make it clear that his business was at 15 Kings Road, St Leonards.
In Kelly’s Directory for 1901 we have a new name:
West John (Kingston vil)
In the April 1901 census we finally have the property given a house number, no. 16, with two occupants:
John West, head, married, 59, retired chief inspector of police, b Essex, Wanstead
Sarah A. West, wife, 64, b Essex, Leigh on Sea
He was probably the man who, as Chief Inspector of the H Division, gave evidence in the case of a woman who was brutally assaulted in Whitechapel, Middlesex, and later died of her injuries (The People, 15 April 1888 issue).
The April 1911 census gives, for no. 31, the new number given in about 1904 when the street was renumbered:
John West, head, 69, police pensioner, b Essex, Woodford
Sarah Ann West, wife, 74, b Essex, Leigh on Sea
Uniquely, the 1911 census tells us the number of rooms for each household [six for no. 31]. It also states that the couple had been married for 47 years and had had one child.
Sarah Ann West, of Kingston Villa, 31 Vale Road, died on the 4 September 1916. Her estate of £539 was dealt with by her husband.
John West died at no. 31 on the 18 October 1920. His estate of £693 was dealt with by his executrix Clara Cotgrove, spinster. Cotgrove is an unusual surname, while West is very common. This combination of surnames, plus the approximate date of marriage given in the 1911 census, almost certainly means that John was the coachman, son of a coachman, who married, 4 September 1864, St Leonard’s Shoreditch, Middlesex, Sarah Ann Cotgrove, daughter of a fisherman. He was only 23 and could have joined the police later on. The daughter, Hannah, is in the 1881 census at Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, as a 16-year old dressmaker, visiting William Terry, ironmonger, and his wife Martha, who was in fact her aunt Martha née Cotgrove (this is from a family tree on the Ancestry database).
Although the south side of Vale Road was not numbered (with even numbers) until about 1904 the Kelly’s directory for 1901 gives for the south side, among many house names, a no. 16, positioned between York Road and Strood Road. The fact that the 1901 census gives this as 16a (next to 17a) suggests that there was an early attempt to give a few houses a house number, with the letter a added to avoid confusion with the existing numbers 16 and 17 on the north side. Hence the Frank Hayward living there, a commission agent who went bankrupt about the same time, can safely be ignored.
In the 1921 electoral register there is a new name, Ellen Kearey. Women aged 30 or over now had the vote. I know nothing more over her.
There were soon new occupants, as the 1922 and 1923 electoral registers list John Edward Webb and Elizabeth Mary Webb. The Hastings Observer for the 22 April 1922 has an advertisement for the Salvation Army which identifies John:
Commanding officers of St Leonards Corps, ADJ. AND MRS JOHN WEBB, 31, Vale Road, St Leonards.
The 1924 Electoral register has no entry. In 1925 and 1926 there is Bertie William Gladman and Mabel Gladman. With an unusual name like his, it is possible to deduce that he was born in 1893 in Norfolk and that he married Mabel Stackyard in 1918 in Poole, Dorset. He married again, to Ursula Humphreys, in 1948, Chelmsford, and died in 1966 in Norwich. He was a butcher’s assistant in Crowborough in the 1911 census, aged 17.
I suspect that the Salvation Army owned the house, and accommodated officers there, as Bertie William Gladman is probably the Bert Gladman, the Adjutant at Tamworth, who was to move to Manningtree, Essex, with his wife as reported in a detailed account in the Tamworth Herald, 12 May 1934.
There are new names in the 1927 Electoral Register: John Stoker and Lydia Louise Stoker.
In the 1928 Electoral Register are the names Helen Ferguson and Grace Hogarth.
Another link to the Salvation Army is an advertisement in the Hastings Observer for the 9 June 1928, for a jumble sale. It finishes by saying:
Any saleable articles will be called for on receipt of a postcard to: - Adjutant Berry, 31, Vale-road, St Leonards.
In the 1929 Electoral Register the voters were Sarah Ann Pratt and Laura Moon.
The 1930 Electoral Register only lists Sarah Ann Pratt. The electoral registers as listed on the Find My Past database do not go beyond 1930.
We do however know something about Sarah Ann Pratt. Her death is recorded in the Hastings Observer, 29 April 1933:
PRATT.—On April 26th. Mrs. Sarah Ann Pratt, "Kingston," Vale-road. Silverhill. St. Leonards-on-Sea, passed peacefully away, aged 80. Funeral Saturday, April 29th, 12 noon, from above address.
A more detailed account is in the 6 May 1933 issue:
THE LATE MRS. PRATT.—The death occurred, on Wednesday last week Mrs Sarah Ann Pratt, at her residence, Kingston Villa, Vale-road. Silverhill, at the age of 79 years. Mrs. Pratt was the widow of Mr. Pratt, one time licensee of the Wheatsheaf Hotel at Bohemia. She was once a keen follower of the East Sussex Foxhounds.
The Salvation Army were decidedly against alcohol, so they had presumably sold the house. I have identified Sarah Ann as Sarah Ann Mackellow who in 1894 married, in Islington, Middlesex, Peter Pratt, who died 21 March 1902 at the “Wheatsheaf”, Bohemia, St Leonards, licensed victualler, with his widow one of the executors of his £3085 estate. Three of the mourners were named Mackellow to back that up.
There follows some years when I know nothing of the occupants of the house, until the following brief advertisement in the Hastings Observer, 17 June 1939:
HOUSEKEEPER REQUIRES Post, business man; careful manager; references. Write F., 31 Vale-road, Silverhill.
In September 1939, for rationing purposes, a list of non-military persons in Britain, with marital status, date of birth and occupation, was put together. For no. 31 we have three members of the Tonge family and what was apparently a lodger, Emma Fullman, who is listed as a separate household. She was presumably the “F.” in the advertisement, who was a day cleaner rather than a live-in maid. The entry for no. 31 reads:
Ernest E. Tonge, married, b 21 May 1888, house painter journeyman
Edith M. Tonge, married, b 23 Nov 1888, unpaid domestic duties
Doris J.E. Tonge, single, b 26 Feb 1912, shop assistant draper
Emma Fullman, married, b 28 Apr 1888, domestic help
“Unpaid domestic duties” was the phrase used for what is usually called a housewife or, in some cases, a daughter or sister etc. acting as a housekeeper.
Ernest E[lias] Tonge had married, 1910, Hastings, Edith M[arian] Coleman. In the 1911 census they were living in two rooms at 2 Angel Cottages, Plynlimmon Road [on West Hill, Hastings]. He was a “passenger lift attendant”, presumably of the lift on West Hill that takes passengers down to the seafront.
In the 1930 Electoral Register they were occupying the basement of 8 Blomfield Road, St Leonards. The Hastings Observer, 13 December 1958, records her death, aged 70; she was of 154 Harrow Lane and was of an old Hastings family. Her widower died in 1965 in Hastings. Daughter Doris had married Stanley G. Climpson in 1947 in Hastings.
As for Emma Fullman, in the 1930 Electoral Register she was living with Peggy Emmie Fullman at 48 Paynton Road, a few streets away. She died in 1973 at 26 Holmesdale Gardens, Hastings.
There is then another blank until the Kelly’s Directory for 1948 which lists for no. 31:
Parsons Jn Hy
The Hastings Observer of the 24 July 1948 announced that Mr and Mrs J.H. Parsons of 31 Vale Road had won a waltz trophy. The issue for the 28 August 1948 said that they had won the heat for the quick step waltz at the White Rock Pavilion.
I can last trace an occupant to the Kelly’s Directory for 1973 which gives, again, Parsons Jn Hy. There are however two mentions of no. 31 in the Hastings Observer for the 2 April 1949. One is a death notice while the second mentions a funeral:
Mrs Elizabeth Neeves, a beloved mother, age 74, of 31 Vale Road, St Leonards, died suddenly on 27th March. Buried with her husband in the borough cemetery, who had died five years ago.
Numerous names of mourners are given, plus “all at 73, Vale Road” and “all at 29, Vale Road”.
Her husband was probably Albert P. Neeves, who died in 1941 at Hastings, age 66. It might be thought that she was Mr Parsons’ mother in law, but no Parsons to Neeves marriage can be traced.
31 VALE ROAD
Brief history of 31 Vale Road
Known as Kingston Villa. Semi-detached, backing onto no. 29. Until about 1904 numbered as no. 16. Until then, the north side of the road was numbered consecutively from no. 1 from the Sedlescombe Road North end, while the south side was unnumbered, and only had house names. The change was that the north side was given odd numbers, and the south side was given even numbers.
I do not know when the house was built, but in the 1881 census there are the following two families in separate households at no. 16:
James Dumbril, head, married, 28, painter, b Sussex, Warbleton
Mary A. Dumbril, wife, 27, b Sussex, Eastbourne
John Bridgland, head, married, 22, carpenter, b Sussex, Hastings
Eliza Bridgland, wife, 23, b Middlesex
Anna Bridgland, sister, single, 24, schoolmistress, b Sussex, Hastings
Nellie Bridgland, daughter, 1, b Sussex, St Leonards
In the 1871 census James Dumbril had been in Lewes, Sussex, age 18, “son in law” [stepson] to Peter Grant, foreman to a harness maker, and his wife Rosa.
In the 1891 census the Dumbril couple had moved to 33 Paynton Road, a few streets away, which was shared with a separate household, a family of three. They were still there in the 1901 census with a lodger, Mabel Bridgland, 18, a schoolteacher like her aunt, who (although not present at no. 31 in the 1881 census) was another daughter of the Bridglands.
The Bridglands had themselves moved in the 1891 census to 28 Paynton Road, very close to the Dumbrils, with Mabel as one of their four children. Apparently they had moved away but Mabel stayed as a lodger with their friends.
Meanwhile, in the 1891 census at no. 16 there was:
Joseph Potter, head, married, 72, laundryman, b Sussex, Keymer
Maria Potter, wife, 73, laundress, b Sussex, Poyning
Mary A. Potter, dau, single, 42, laundress, b Sussex, St Leonards
Other than they were in St Leonards in the 1861 and 1871 censuses I have not found more on them.
In the 1894 electoral register, and also in Pike’s Directory for 1894, we have Edwin S. Toovey at Kingston Villa, the first mention of its house name. This was Edwin Saunders Toovey, an engine fitter.
He was not alone, as he had married Mary Ann Ellen Elizabeth Hamblen. Twice, in fact. From the marriage indexes, they married in either late 1891 or early 1892 in Hastings and then again in late 1892 or early 1893 in Brighton. This is distinctly odd but has a simple explanation.
She had married Charles John Percy Hamblen, a die sinker, in 1867, with her a minor (under 21 years). She filed for a divorce on the 6 January 1892, alleging adultery by her husband, and saying that she had been deserted for two years. The final decree, allowing the divorce, was on the 24 January 1893. Without buying the marriage certificates it is almost certain that she mistakenly “married” Toovey in early 1892, following the filing for divorce, assuming that she was free to marry, and then married again in early 1893, when she was indeed free to marry.
The trouble with that explanation is that the only possible candidate for his death is a Charles John P Hamblen registered in England’s death indexes in the April to June 1892 quarter in Poplar, Middlesex, age 47. There would have been no need for a final decree since the husband had already died and left her a widow.
Sadly, Toovey died on the 13 July 1897, but not at no. 31, but rather at The Beeches, which is no. 42, Vale Road. His estate of £1637 was dealt with by his widow, the executrix. She in turn died on the 16 February 1902, also at The Beeches. Her estate of £6496 was dealt with by executors Arthur Henry Hamblen, stationer (one of her six children), and Jasper Freeston Mason, commercial traveller (a son in law).
At the time of Toovey’s death no. 31 was already occupied by someone else. The Hastings Observer of the 29 August 1896 mentions briefly that the leasehold to no. 31 is to be sold and promises more details on the property in the next issue. One detail it did give, which was not repeated in the next issue, was that the tenant was W.G. Wire.
The 5 September 1896 issue does indeed give more details. In fact, probably a better description than I have found for any other property in the road.
…the leasehold semi-detached Villa Residence, known as “KINGSTON VILLA," VALE ROAD, SILVERHILL, which is well-built of good red kiln bricks, with bay window to front sitting-room, with small garden in front, enclosed with a dwarf brick wall, and gate to entrance; contains on ground floor: -- Entrance passage with lobby door, capital drawing-room, dining-room, kitchen and scullery combined, larder, coal cellar, back yard, w.c., and large garden, enclosed with a capital brick wall, small bedroom over kitchen, w.c. on landing, large front bedroom, and bedroom at the back.
This house is situated in a very healthy position, commands good views, is well fitted with cupboards etc., drawing-room with handsome cornice and centre flower, marble chimney-piece, and is in excellent repair; is let to a good tenant at the very moderate rental of £22 per annum.
The property was to be sold by auction by Mr Veness at the Castle Hotel, Hastings, on the 17 September but as is normal we are not told if it was indeed sold, let alone for what price, or to what person. A price of £700 would have been typical for the time for what was probably the remainder of a 99-year lease.
W.G. Wire was Walter George Wire, who is listed in the electoral roll for no. 31 from 1897 to 1899. In both the 1901 and 1911 censuses he was at 5 Bexhill Road, St Leonards, born Colchester, Essex, a men’s clothier. He was 32 in 1901, his wife Emma was 30. Their daughter Dorothy, aged 3, had probably been born at no. 31. The 1911 census adds that Emma was assisting him in the business. He had married, 1895, Guildford, Emma Edwards. He died in 1937 at Etchingham. His widow died in 1954 in Robertsbridge. Newspaper references make it clear that his business was at 15 Kings Road, St Leonards.
In Kelly’s Directory for 1901 we have a new name:
West John (Kingston vil)
In the April 1901 census we finally have the property given a house number, no. 16, with two occupants:
John West, head, married, 59, retired chief inspector of police, b Essex, Wanstead
Sarah A. West, wife, 64, b Essex, Leigh on Sea
He was probably the man who, as Chief Inspector of the H Division, gave evidence in the case of a woman who was brutally assaulted in Whitechapel, Middlesex, and later died of her injuries (The People, 15 April 1888 issue).
The April 1911 census gives, for no. 31, the new number given in about 1904 when the street was renumbered:
John West, head, 69, police pensioner, b Essex, Woodford
Sarah Ann West, wife, 74, b Essex, Leigh on Sea
Uniquely, the 1911 census tells us the number of rooms for each household [six for no. 31]. It also states that the couple had been married for 47 years and had had one child.
Sarah Ann West, of Kingston Villa, 31 Vale Road, died on the 4 September 1916. Her estate of £539 was dealt with by her husband.
John West died at no. 31 on the 18 October 1920. His estate of £693 was dealt with by his executrix Clara Cotgrove, spinster. Cotgrove is an unusual surname, while West is very common. This combination of surnames, plus the approximate date of marriage given in the 1911 census, almost certainly means that John was the coachman, son of a coachman, who married, 4 September 1864, St Leonard’s Shoreditch, Middlesex, Sarah Ann Cotgrove, daughter of a fisherman. He was only 23 and could have joined the police later on. The daughter, Hannah, is in the 1881 census at Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, as a 16-year old dressmaker, visiting William Terry, ironmonger, and his wife Martha, who was in fact her aunt Martha née Cotgrove (this is from a family tree on the Ancestry database).
Although the south side of Vale Road was not numbered (with even numbers) until about 1904 the Kelly’s directory for 1901 gives for the south side, among many house names, a no. 16, positioned between York Road and Strood Road. The fact that the 1901 census gives this as 16a (next to 17a) suggests that there was an early attempt to give a few houses a house number, with the letter a added to avoid confusion with the existing numbers 16 and 17 on the north side. Hence the Frank Hayward living there, a commission agent who went bankrupt about the same time, can safely be ignored.
In the 1921 electoral register there is a new name, Ellen Kearey. Women aged 30 or over now had the vote. I know nothing more over her.
There were soon new occupants, as the 1922 and 1923 electoral registers list John Edward Webb and Elizabeth Mary Webb. The Hastings Observer for the 22 April 1922 has an advertisement for the Salvation Army which identifies John:
Commanding officers of St Leonards Corps, ADJ. AND MRS JOHN WEBB, 31, Vale Road, St Leonards.
The 1924 Electoral register has no entry. In 1925 and 1926 there is Bertie William Gladman and Mabel Gladman. With an unusual name like his, it is possible to deduce that he was born in 1893 in Norfolk and that he married Mabel Stackyard in 1918 in Poole, Dorset. He married again, to Ursula Humphreys, in 1948, Chelmsford, and died in 1966 in Norwich. He was a butcher’s assistant in Crowborough in the 1911 census, aged 17.
I suspect that the Salvation Army owned the house, and accommodated officers there, as Bertie William Gladman is probably the Bert Gladman, the Adjutant at Tamworth, who was to move to Manningtree, Essex, with his wife as reported in a detailed account in the Tamworth Herald, 12 May 1934.
There are new names in the 1927 Electoral Register: John Stoker and Lydia Louise Stoker.
In the 1928 Electoral Register are the names Helen Ferguson and Grace Hogarth.
Another link to the Salvation Army is an advertisement in the Hastings Observer for the 9 June 1928, for a jumble sale. It finishes by saying:
Any saleable articles will be called for on receipt of a postcard to: - Adjutant Berry, 31, Vale-road, St Leonards.
In the 1929 Electoral Register the voters were Sarah Ann Pratt and Laura Moon.
The 1930 Electoral Register only lists Sarah Ann Pratt. The electoral registers as listed on the Find My Past database do not go beyond 1930.
We do however know something about Sarah Ann Pratt. Her death is recorded in the Hastings Observer, 29 April 1933:
PRATT.—On April 26th. Mrs. Sarah Ann Pratt, "Kingston," Vale-road. Silverhill. St. Leonards-on-Sea, passed peacefully away, aged 80. Funeral Saturday, April 29th, 12 noon, from above address.
A more detailed account is in the 6 May 1933 issue:
THE LATE MRS. PRATT.—The death occurred, on Wednesday last week Mrs Sarah Ann Pratt, at her residence, Kingston Villa, Vale-road. Silverhill, at the age of 79 years. Mrs. Pratt was the widow of Mr. Pratt, one time licensee of the Wheatsheaf Hotel at Bohemia. She was once a keen follower of the East Sussex Foxhounds.
The Salvation Army were decidedly against alcohol, so they had presumably sold the house. I have identified Sarah Ann as Sarah Ann Mackellow who in 1894 married, in Islington, Middlesex, Peter Pratt, who died 21 March 1902 at the “Wheatsheaf”, Bohemia, St Leonards, licensed victualler, with his widow one of the executors of his £3085 estate. Three of the mourners were named Mackellow to back that up.
There follows some years when I know nothing of the occupants of the house, until the following brief advertisement in the Hastings Observer, 17 June 1939:
HOUSEKEEPER REQUIRES Post, business man; careful manager; references. Write F., 31 Vale-road, Silverhill.
In September 1939, for rationing purposes, a list of non-military persons in Britain, with marital status, date of birth and occupation, was put together. For no. 31 we have three members of the Tonge family and what was apparently a lodger, Emma Fullman, who is listed as a separate household. She was presumably the “F.” in the advertisement, who was a day cleaner rather than a live-in maid. The entry for no. 31 reads:
Ernest E. Tonge, married, b 21 May 1888, house painter journeyman
Edith M. Tonge, married, b 23 Nov 1888, unpaid domestic duties
Doris J.E. Tonge, single, b 26 Feb 1912, shop assistant draper
Emma Fullman, married, b 28 Apr 1888, domestic help
“Unpaid domestic duties” was the phrase used for what is usually called a housewife or, in some cases, a daughter or sister etc. acting as a housekeeper.
Ernest E[lias] Tonge had married, 1910, Hastings, Edith M[arian] Coleman. In the 1911 census they were living in two rooms at 2 Angel Cottages, Plynlimmon Road [on West Hill, Hastings]. He was a “passenger lift attendant”, presumably of the lift on West Hill that takes passengers down to the seafront.
In the 1930 Electoral Register they were occupying the basement of 8 Blomfield Road, St Leonards. The Hastings Observer, 13 December 1958, records her death, aged 70; she was of 154 Harrow Lane and was of an old Hastings family. Her widower died in 1965 in Hastings. Daughter Doris had married Stanley G. Climpson in 1947 in Hastings.
As for Emma Fullman, in the 1930 Electoral Register she was living with Peggy Emmie Fullman at 48 Paynton Road, a few streets away. She died in 1973 at 26 Holmesdale Gardens, Hastings.
There is then another blank until the Kelly’s Directory for 1948 which lists for no. 31:
Parsons Jn Hy
The Hastings Observer of the 24 July 1948 announced that Mr and Mrs J.H. Parsons of 31 Vale Road had won a waltz trophy. The issue for the 28 August 1948 said that they had won the heat for the quick step waltz at the White Rock Pavilion.
I can last trace an occupant to the Kelly’s Directory for 1973 which gives, again, Parsons Jn Hy. There are however two mentions of no. 31 in the Hastings Observer for the 2 April 1949. One is a death notice while the second mentions a funeral:
Mrs Elizabeth Neeves, a beloved mother, age 74, of 31 Vale Road, St Leonards, died suddenly on 27th March. Buried with her husband in the borough cemetery, who had died five years ago.
Numerous names of mourners are given, plus “all at 73, Vale Road” and “all at 29, Vale Road”.
Her husband was probably Albert P. Neeves, who died in 1941 at Hastings, age 66. It might be thought that she was Mr Parsons’ mother in law, but no Parsons to Neeves marriage can be traced.