Town Council Meetings
The Boundary Question At the meeting on Dec. 24th, Ald. Ross said he had put a motion on the agenda because he thought the way in which the borough was partitioned by the Postmaster had acted very injuriously towards the town of Hastings. He found that in the local paper, week after week, the families that arrived in one part of Hastings were invariably put down to the credit of St. Leonards. In that day's paper twenty-four families were put down as having arrived at St. Leonards, and out of that number, fourteen had arrived between the Arhway and Verulam Buildings, which belonged to Hastings. It was the same with the departures. He liked that every tub should stand on its own bottom. He did not approve of the Postmaster coming down to Hastings and calling Hastings, St. Leonards. He might as reasonably call Bexhill Battle. It might be replied that any alteration might act injuriously with regard to the post-office; but he did not see that it would, nor why they should not have a bag for West Hastings. He saw no necessity for calling that portion of the borough St. Leonards, and he moved "That the calling of any part of Hastings by other than its proper name was injurious to the town as a watering place, and that henceforth the part of Hastings between White-rock place and the Archway be called West Hastings, and that the name be put up on the houses accordingly." Visitors coming to that part of the town wrote home and told their friends that they were residing in the best part of the town, and would call it St. Leonards. One of the consequences was that their friends when they came took tickets to St. Leonards station, and were therefore taken to the Victoria Hotel or to lodging-houses in that immediate neighbourhood. If the visitors could write home and call their place of residence Hastings, their friends would take tickets to Hastings station and go to Hastings hotels and lodging houses. He had no feeling whatever, against St. Leonards, but he thought that Hastings ought to be called by its proper name. He would not say any more, because he thought the subject spoke for itself. Last year there were here the ambassadors of Russia, Turkey and France, and her Majesty's Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston. These were staying in Hastings, but the papers gave it out to the world that they were residing in St. Leonards, and thus told an untruth. He thought that a modern town like St. Leonards, taking away the fair name of Hastings which had been in existence a thousand years was too bad. [The mover of the resolution might have also said that in addition to the foreign ambassadors he mentioned, there were at the time he was speaking at Eversfield place Rear Admiral Sir Stephen Lushington, the Dowager Lad Clomell and the Ladies Scott, the Ladies Greville, Viscountess Frankfort de Montmorency, the Hon. Mr. and Mrs. Fenman, Gen and Mrs. Hancock, -
