Elphinstone's Election Ball - A collier run down - The "Four Sisters" lost
I have made allusion to Mr. Howard Ephinstone as the unsuccessful candidate for Parliamentary honours in 1832, and to the dinner which he afterwards gave in the Pelham Arcade at Hastings to 200 of his supporters; and now I have to mention that on the 4th of January, 1833, the same gentleman gave in the same building what was termed an Election Ball, at which there were 400 persons present. Although at that time St. Leonardensis was not a "Free and Independent Elector," he was, nevertheless, a free and independent votary of Terpsichore and in one way or another, through family connections, he was invited or permitted to attend most of the election balls and bouts of that most exciting period. On this particular occasion he remembers that Mr. Elphinstone was presented, during the evening, with an elegant silver cup, the dancers being the donors; in other words, the electors who had supported the candidature of Mr. Elphinstone presented that gentleman with a testimonial of their high esteem. There was another incident of a less formal, but more amusing character, which even at this distance of time I cannot refrain from alluding to. Gentlemen had selected their partners and a quadrille had already commenced, when, at the supreme moment of a gentleman doing the graceful in the figure of la poule, a noise was heard as of the tearing of calico or broadcloth. Eyes were immediately turned to the centre of the human quadrangle whence the sound appeared to emanate, and there to the discomfiture of one and the amusement of many it was discovered that the gentleman alluded to had rent a pair of "new unwhisperables" almost from top to bottom. In utter confusion the said gentleman made his way through the crowd to No. 7 Beach cottages (at that time rented by the Misses Woolley and Carey) where he exchanged garments whilst he showered down his "best blessings" on the head of his tailor. Nothing daunted, he returned to the ball, but in the meantime his disconsolate partner had been taken in hand by another gentleman. This unfortunate episode was the source of titter and amusement during the remainder of the night, and every gentleman thereafter was closely watched every time he attempted the faire la reverance. It was regarded as so good a joke that an acquaintance of mine— "a fellow of infinite jest" — put the account of it in rhyme, and had the effrontery, some years later, to recite the same at family gatherings and convivial meetings. Strange as it may seem, there were rhymsters(sic) and punsters even in those days; but there were also scribblers who did not shrink from a little plagiarism now-and-then; and this particular rhymester—as I have discovered by an entry in his diary—moulded his comic effusion after the fashion of "The Fractured Knee" in Costume Castle, a collection of adyertising rhymes which came into his possession. It may be asked by the Hastings, as well as by the St. Leonards people of the present day, Why was the Pelham Arcade selected for dinners, dances, concerts and other assemblies? The reply is, because the lessee, Mr. J. B. Moor, besides being a warm politician, had a keen eye to business; and because when the interior of the Arcade was cleared of its usual bazaaric contents, and the shops and stores were all closed with shutters on the inside and covered over with decorations it formed the largest, and perhaps the smartest room in the borough.
The next largest room in those days was that at the Swan Hotel, and at the present time the only buildings to which the Pelham Arcade could be likened are the Swimming Baths and the Pier Pavilions.
There was much destruction of property by the January and February gales of this year, as well as by the turbulant weather of the following autumn and winter. On Tuesday the 12th of February, a fine, new brig, of 100 tons, called The Lamburn, was launched from the yard of Messrs. Thwaites and Winter (which occupied the site at Beach terrace where the Russian gun now is) but in consequence of another gale springing up, her ballast got shifted while off St. Leonards, and she was run ashore at Bulverhythe. She was afterwards got off, and made many voyages between Hastings and the north of England. Also on the same day or the day before, the collier-brig Cobourg, belonging to Thwaites and Bailey, and laden with 120 chaldrons of coal for St. Leonards, was run down, off Hastings, by a schooner, the crew being saved.
On the 31st of August a severe N.W. gale sprang up, and the Four Sisters, a vessel belonging to Messrs. Breeds and Co., having, as it was thought, left the shore with too little ballast, was never more heard of. Then in the month of October another severe gale occurred, followed by a long season of boisterous weather, during which the fishermen were unable to put to sea for several weeks in succession: This caused such widespread distress among the fishery, that in the following January much was done to relieve it, and among the efforts thus made, the Rev. J. G. Foyster and his curate collected £200. One other freak of the weather in that year was that on the 12th of May the shaded thermometer registered at Hastings the unusual heat of 85 degrees, thus contrasting strangely with the weather of the 13th of May in the previous year, when there was a heavy fall of snow.
Smuggling dying out - A week of bell-ringing - Royalty at Breeds Place
By this time the contraband traffic was sensibly declining at Hastings, yet some of the Hastings men continued to take part in ventures at other parts of the coast. On the 23rd of January, at about 2 in the morning, the coastguard on the beach at Saltdean, while holding a conference with chief watchman George Pett, heard close inshore the sound of a horn, which was answered from land with a shrill whistle.
This created a suspicion in the minds of the men on duty, and put them quickly more on the alert. On mounting the cliff, one of the coastguard discovered a number of persons together. He immediately cried out "The Company! The Company!" This was no sooner done than Pett fired his pistol in the air as a signal for assistance. An immense body of men then rushed to the spot where the alarm was thus given, and poor Pett was mortally shot. The boat came ashore and a general skirmish ensued, while a number of armed men advanced and formed two lines on each side, thereby securing the safe working off of the heavy cargo.
Three other coastguards were seriously wounded, but in the first conflict the smugglers appeared to get off unscathed. Afterwards a mounted coastguard fell in with the party and fired among them and then retired to re-load. This act he several times repeated, and it was discovered by means of tracks of blood that some of the smugglers had in that way been wounded.
It may be supposed that the riding-officer was apprehensive of being made short work of if he came to close quarters, and that knowing his inability to seize the goods, he thus sought to kill or wound as many of the smugglers as he could from motives of revenge. This appears to have been the last fatal conflict on this part of the coast between the offenders and defenders, the latter's force being augmented by a company of Rifles.
Says Sir. W. H. Cope in his History of the Rifle Brigade[a]:-
"Early in the year 1833, Capt. Horatio Stewart's Depot Company was ordered to proceed from Dover to Hastings by forced march -
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