Balls, Plays and other Amusements - "Queen of All Saints" crowned
Notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather and the prevailing distress among the poor as described in Chap.XIX, Hastings seemed to vie with St. Leonards in the customary season's festivities. Hence, the several annual balls at the Royal Oak, the Swan, and the King's Head, were all numerously attended; and among the terpsichoreans, on more than one occasion, were to be seen Mr. Hollond, our popular Liberal representative, and his friend Mr. Richards. Then there was the first annual ball of the Victoria Lodge of Oddfellows which was held at the Crown Inn on the 19th of January, and which proved to be a very unique affair. Among other amusements were the weekly harmonic meetings at the Swan Hotel, where the genial author of "Hart's Lancers" and other quadrilles was the pianist, and a popular local tenor in the person of Arthur Bollinbroke was a highly-complimented vocalist. Even these do not exhaust the list of amusements which while they served to break the gloom of that long and trying winter, also in some cases lightened the burdens of the poor. Amateur theatricals strutted their hour upon the stage at the Anchor and at the Crown for charitable objects; and there are yet persons amongst us who probably can recall to memory the several parts taken in those meritorious performances by Tom Woollett the local personifier of T. P. Cook; Mr. Henry Phillips, the late proprietor of Kite's-nest Hotel; and "Little Cooper," a fellow of infinite jest, who could write a play, mount a play, and paint his own scenery. I remember one of these entertainments taking place in the Anchor Assembly-room on the 28th of March, which so delighted a crowded audience as to evoke an urgent solicitation for a second rehearsal.
Among the epicurean specialities of 1838 were the following: On the 5th of February the Annual Game Dinner at the Royal Oak took place under the presidency of F. Smith, Esq., the pheasants partaken of on that occasion having beeen (sic) selected from sixty of such birds exhibited by poulterer Osborne. Two days later, a sumptuous dinner was given to a party of friends by Mr. Thomas Breeds, a Hastings merchant; and on the 7th of March about fifty members of the Harmonic Society dined together at the Swan hotel, as a concluding meeting of the winter session. On this occasion Mr. Hart was assisted in the musical accessories by the Hastings Old Band, with the addition of Mr. Kidd, of Rye, Mr. Boorman, of Cranbrook, and a few other celebrities. The next public feast was on the thirtieth of April, when Mr. Robinson, as the new lessee of the Swan, was supported by a numerous company at his Opening Dinner. It was about the same time that Mr. Hutchings succeeded Mr. Deudney at the marine (sic) hotel, but his inaugurating feast did not take place until the following spring, in consequence of the alterations and renovations which were effected in the mean time. The only notes which I have of other public feastings that year are those which refer to the Coronation festival on the 17th of August, the Race dinner on the 27th of September, Mr. Brisco's wedding anniversary on the 9th of October, and Dr. MacCabe's civic banquet on the 9th of November. The hospitable entertainment given by Mr. and Mrs. Brisco at Coghurst Hall, was to about 400 of their tenants, labourers, and parishioners, the occasion being the tenth anniversary of their wedding-day. The treat consisted of a sumptuous repast of Old English fare, supplemented by music and dancing. The enjoyment was so thoroughly appreciated, that the liberal donors of the feast promised to repeat it annually - a promise that for many years was duly observed. The Coronation festival was of course, upon a more comprehensive scale than even Mr. Brisco's marriage feast. Its commencement on Thursday the 28th of June was accompanied by meteorological conditions as much the reverse of "Queen's weather" as could be imagined. The morning with its unpropitous (sic) loomings, was ushered in at St. Leonards with the hoisting of flags and the firing of cannon, whilst at Hastings, to a similar introduction was added the ringing of church-bells. It had been arranged to give a dinner to the children of both towns, but the unhappy jealousy which still existed between St. Leonards and Hastings prevented their amalgamating for such purpose. The views taken by the Rev. S. Widdrington and his St. Leonards friends, in reference to the Infirmary and other matters, to the opposite views of Dr. Cooke and his Hastings colleagues, continued to have effect, and thus it was that the celebration was divided in its management.
At ten o'clock the school children of Hastings, to the number of 1600, assembled in Wellington square where they were formed into processional order, headed by the Hastings Band, and attended also by the Fairlight band and a drum-and-fife band. Two or three societies, with their regalia, joined the juvenile throng, whilst Dr. Cooke, Lieut.-Col. Williams, and the rest of the Committee, carrying wands and rosettes, dispersed themselves throughout the procession. Most of the houses were decorated with flowers, garlands or evergreens, and at the Crown Inn a triumphal arch was erected, which but for the miserable weather, would have been radient (sic) with flowers and ribbons. Rain fell incessantly the whole of the route, and when the procession returned to the Square and gave three cheers for the Queen, it was a debatable point whether the good cheer for the children could be partaken of in such cheerless weather. The tables and table-cloths were saturated with rain, and the garments of sixteen hundred children and some ten-thousand adults were almost in a like condition. But the day had been appropriated for a holiday, the bands had been engaged, the roast-beef and plum-puddings had been provided by Messrs. Carswell and Wheeler as per contract, and a resumption of business was out of the question. Then there was no certainty that the next day would bring better weather. With all the discomfort, therefore, the sixteen-hundred children regaled themselves as best they could with the substantial fare placed before them, and with the understanding that they were to meet next day to receive their commemorative medals. Many gentlemen and tradesmen then adjourned to the Swan and the Crown, where public dinners were provided.
The first thing in the public proceedings of the second day was the distribution of medals to the children, a task which was undertaken by Mr. James Troup, of St. Leonards. That gentleman had subscribed to the Hastings fund, apparently to identify himself with the old town, the better to succeed in his avowed intention of fixing the name of Hastings upon a certain district, whose first inhabitants had already named it St. Leonards. The next proceeding was to crown the "Queen of All Saints," a work, by the bye which at the first blush might be interpreted as an act of disloyalty or as a burlesque upon the solemn event which it was intended to commemorate. That in a certain sense it was a burlesque there is no denying; but the object of those who took part in it was simply to gratify a whim of the people living in All Saints' parish, and at the same time to do honour rather than to offer an insult to a beloved monarch. But who was Nan Page? some of my younger readers may ask. Well, she was a sprightly old dame of seventy-two, whose husband had died some years before, and who was to be found at nearly all the dances and merry-makings in and about the town. She was also a vocalist in her own peculiar way, and would undertake to foretell young women's destiny by means of cards. Such divinations could be orally explained, thus obviating any demonstration of her inability to read or write. Whether "Nanny" Page as a fortune-teller acquired the name of Queen as did the Queen of the Gipsies I am unable to say; I only know that she was dubbed the Queen of All Saints, and that it suited the whim of certain maids and matrons of the parish to have her crowned as such on the day of Queen Victoria's coronation festival. For that purpose a platform with dais, was erected across the street from about number 39, on the High pavement, to 117 on the opposite side. The latter house was one that was built that year by Mr. C. Jeudwine, on the site of the reputed birthplace of Sir Cloudesley Shovell[a]. The following pseudo officials took part in the ceremony:- W. Lucas-Shadwell, Esq., as Treasurer of the Household; F. North, Esq., as Groom-in-waiting; Mr. Jeudwine, as Archbishop of Canterbury; Mr. Anthony Harvey, as Arch-
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