On the 22nd of August an accident happened to two children who were playing in front of Grand parade, and were run over by a butcher’s cart. They were taken into Mr. Hempsted’s chemist shop and attended to by Dr. Marks, who found them without broken bones, but with severe bruises. The Hastings accidents are described in the next chapter.
Election of a West-Ward Councillor
Mr. Charles Neve was elected on the 22nd of January, to fill the vacancy in the Town Council by the retirement of Mr. Chamberlin. There were two candidates, but as an hour passed without a vote being recorded, the poll was closed, when there appeared (at half-past 12) 46 for Mr. Neve and 1 for Mr. How. Such result would indicate a foregone conclusion and a useless expense.
The Magdalen Charity Again
In consequence of a petition presented to the Court of Chancery by the Rev. G. D. St. Quintin, of St. Mary Magdalen, and Mr. Decimus Burton, of St. Leonards, a special vestry meeting of St. Clement’s was held on the 29th of January, when it came out during the discussion that in the reign of Edward I. a widow left certain lands to the brethren and sisters of a charitable or religious institution near Hastings; that in the reign of James I. the same passed into the hands of the Corporation of Hastings, by whom the funds were devoted to the relief of the town and port of Hastings; that the estate had been controlled by certain trustees, and the rental of the property and interest thereon distributed to the poor of All Saints and St. Clements — two fifths to the former and three fifths to the latter; that the revenue was £200 a year, and might be considerably increased by applying the Maudlin or Magdalen land to building purposes. The opinion of Mr. Langham and Mr. H. Bishop (both lawyers) as well as that of the Vestry Clerk (also a lawyer) was that the petition was informal, as no notice by Messrs. Fearon and Clabon had been served on the Churchwardens. It appeared that the petitioners considered that the town and port of Hastings included the whole borough, and desired that the revenue should be distributed to the poor of such. But the legal opinion collected at the meeting was that the phrase “town and port of Hastings” in its original significance included only the two parishes above-named. The Rev. W. W. Hume (in the chair), Earl Waldegrave, the Rev. J. Parkin, and about twenty other parishioners, were present, and it was resolved that the conduct of the churchwardens with reference to the petition be approved; that Messrs. Shorter and Phillips take the necessary steps to oppose the petition; that the £99 then in hand be not distributed until the proceedings in Chancery be known. Also that Messrs. Langham, Staines, Dunk, Pickerden, and Smith be a committee to watch the proceedings. A vestry meeting was held the same day -
