52 VALE ROAD
This research is partly based on the six deeds that came with the house purchase.
The land on which the house sits was bequeathed to his wife in the will of Charles Gilbert Eversfield of Denne Park, Horsham, who died 9 Jan 1886.
On the 29 September 1897, Isabella Eversfield, of Denne Park, Charles’ widow, leased the plot of land on which the house stands for a period of 99 years from the 24 June 1897, at a yearly rent of £4 3 s, to David Padgham and Robert Percy Hutchinson, of St Leonards, builders. The plot was described in a simple plan as being 151 feet long and 26 feet wide. They had apparently built the house (and presumably the adjoining no. 54, which they called The Acacias) between those two dates, as the deed refers to “that newly erected dwellinghouse now standing on the same plot of land”. They called it The Laburnums. It had two reception rooms and four bedrooms.
On the 6 December 1898 Padgham and Hutchinson sold on the lease of The Laburnums to Mary Ann Ellen Elizabeth Toovey of The Beeches, Vale Road, widow, for £445. She died at The Beeches – now numbered no. 42, just a few doors down the road – in 1902. The 1901 census lists her as a 52 year-old widow, living on her own means, with two children and a servant.
Meanwhile, the first occupant of the house of whom I am aware is Frank Comport in the 1899 Hastings directory, followed by Robert Newton in the 1900 edition. I know nothing more of them. Then, the Hastings and St Leonards Observer on the 29 Sept 1900 had the following small advertisement:
W., Laburnums, Vale Road. Comfortably furnished apartments. Officer’s daughters asking for a paying guest, musical and refined house, permanency preferred, good sanitation, moderate terms.
The April 1901 census lists at the house three spinster sisters, all born in India, and living on their own means. They were Eliza, Alice and Annie White, aged 39 to 48. They were indeed the daughters of an officer (and had presumably failed to secure a tenant). The local directory calls them “Misses Dewe-White”, which is incorrect, as Dewe as their father’s middle name.
He was Colonel Samuel Dewe White, Bengal Army, who had served in the Indian Mutiny. This alone would be of interest to me, as I collect biographical data on officers who served in that conflict. However, it is the sad demise of the Colonel which is of interest in this account.
The 10 March 1900 issue of The Hastings and St Leonards Observer contains the headline “Colonel Dewe White shoots himself” in a detailed account of the inquest. It goes on to say
Considerable excitement was caused in the town early on Wednesday afternoon, when it became known that an elderly gentleman had committed suicide by shooting himself with a revolver on the beach opposite the Queen’s Hotel. The deceased appeared to be about seventy years of age, and was subsequently identified as Colonel Dewe White, a former resident of St Leonards, and who has lately lived at Kintore, 5, Magdalen-road, Bexhill.
The eldest sister, Eliza, had to give evidence at the inquest, which was held at the Market Hall. She said that there had been nothing unusual about his demeanour. On the morning of the 7th she noticed a note on the mantelpiece of the dining room saying “Gone to Hastings.” She thought he was going to consult his doctor, and telegraphed him, and he replied that he had not seen him. Alarmed, she sent a telegram to the Hastings Police, who replied “Has not been seen here. Will make every enquiry, and let you know result.” The Bexhill police were also alerted.
She said that he was very depressed at intervals, and “suffered from religious mania” -- he was staunchly low-church Protestant. He had suffered from sunstroke in India, and had consulted doctors about his head.
A pleasure-boat proprietor, William Breach, then gave evidence. He saw the deceased at 10.30 in the morning, sitting on the pebbles, writing. No one else was on the beach. The colonel went up to him and asked if he could give him a row, and the reply was that he couldn’t just then, but could later. Shortly after 1 o’clock, while cleaning his boats, Breach heard a loud report. He looked up, and saw the colonel pointing a revolver out to sea, who then turned the gun to his ear, and fired again. He collapsed before Breach could get to him. He was still breathing but soon expired. He had on him an envelope with his name and address, and a note inside stating “I am mad. Severe depression has made me do this. My hope of salvation is through Christ.”
The Colonel had been court-martialled three times as a junior officer, yet had secured promotion to Major (he was an honorary Colonel). Sunstroke and trauma from the appalling events in the Mutiny drove many officers to lunacy or suicide.
The colonel left only £140 at probate to his eldest daughter. The White sisters each received a pension of £40 per annum from the India Office as long as they did not marry. They died, as spinsters, between 1913 and 1944. There was in fact also another sister, the youngest, who had married in 1890.
They were not long at The Laburnums (and were in Southsea in the 1911 census), for in the 1902 directory a Mrs Turner is listed as the occupant. The 1911 census tells us that she was “Henena” (actually Helene), a 60-year old widow, born North Germany. She was living in the house with a 37 year-old companion, Anne Dewhirst. I was unable to identify her presumably English husband. Uniquely, this census gives the number of rooms – seven, which can be accounted for by four bedrooms, two reception rooms and the kitchen.
The 12 April 1913 issue of The Observer announced the death, 2 April, of Helene Turner, late of The Laburnums, 52 Vale Road, who had died after a long illness at West Worthing.
An indenture dated 13 September 1918 by the representatives of Mary Ann Ellen Elizabeth Toovey, deceased, assigned the remaining lease to Emma Louisa Giles and Ellen Janet Matilda Giles, both of The Laburnums, spinsters, for £400. The 1915 directory lists Mrs Giles as the occupant of no. 52. Emma and Ellen were sisters, and no strangers to Vale Road.
The 1901 census has them at no. 7, both elementary school teachers (for the council), living with their widowed Scottish mother, Helen. Emma was 27, born Clapham, Surrey, while Ellen was 21, born Scotland. In the 1911 census they were again in Vale Road, but this time at no. 13. Their mother was not living with them in the 1920 voters’ list so was either dead or living elsewhere.
An intriguing connection with no. 50 comes out from newspapers and a will. In 1931 Dorothy Winifred Telling, the daughter of the elderly couple next door, died, and Miss Giles, “friend”, is listed as attending the funeral. In 1932 Dorothy’s mother, Eliza Margaret, died, and Miss Giles is again listed as attending the funeral. In addition, Emma, together with the widower Charles Sylvanus Telling, was an executor to her will.
The Tellings had moved from London, where they were both born. Although Charles is described as a gentleman he was a cooper in the 1881 census for Lambeth.
Charles in turn died in 1935, but Emma this time was not an executor.
It was presumably in her role as executor to the wife, or trustee to the husband, that Emma was involved in the sale, in 1936, of no. 50 to Miss Florence Mary Virgo, spinster. This is mentioned when it was sold on £1250 in 1945 (ACC 5276/22, East Sussex Record Office). She had “conveyed” the property in 1936, which I suspect means that she did not actually own it. It too had been originally sold in 1897, says the deed, by the Eversfields, and was probably built at the same time. I suspect that the builders were different, as it is clearly not identical to no. 52.
On the 28 August 1939 Sophia Beatrice Bethune-Eversfield of Denne Park, Horsham, heiress to the above Isabella (who died at Denne Park in 1928 as Isabella Catherine Mary Bethune-Eversfield), sold the freehold to the property outright (hence cancelling the 99 year lease) for £170 to the Giles sisters.
The 1939 Register of the non-military population gives the exact dates of birth of the Giles sisters and says that they are retired.
Emma died on the 11 March 1943 on Sedlescombe Road North, the nearby shopping street. She was one of the 38 victims of the attack by 20 German fighters, who strafed and bombed streets, especially those with shoppers, in the Silverhill area. She is listed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website as a civilian casualty, and was the only death from Vale Road. Her executrix, and presumed heiress, was her sister. Her estate was valued at £1397. In the May 1945 voters’ list the electors at no. 52 are listed as Elsie P. Mercer and Ellen Giles, so it appears that there was a lodger.
The Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 9 March 1946, has this rather enigmatic notice for the renamed house:
Barrowdale, 52 Vale Road. Woman and child seeking small furnished flat.
In the 1948 electoral register Stanley Smith is the occupant, but the 1950 register does not list an occupant. However, the 1950 Kelly’s directory lists a Mrs Matthews.
The Observer, 2 June 1951, has an announcement, which gives an idea of the layout:
Offer by the owner for sale by auction of no. 52, semi-detached freehold. 2 floors, 2 reception rooms, 4 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, breakfast room, 2 WCs., garden.
The breakfast room probably reflects the current layout at the back: the back of the house originally lacked an extension, but an extension (later replaced by a newer one on the same floor plan) meant that the old kitchen became a breakfast area, while a new kitchen formed the extension into the garden. The 14 July 1951 issue says it was sold following the auction, but does not give a price, or buyer. Ellen Giles was presumably the seller. She died in 1968 in Aberdeen.
In more modern times there was a builder, decorator and painting contractor named Raymond Griffiths, who was in the house in the 1970s. He left behind an advertising board for his business which is in the “Wendy House” in the back garden.