niece’s husband sold her effects. It was also shown that Anne Lofton was in no way related to Anne Midlan. A new trial was, however, granted, and when the case came on again, Justice Brett reversed the judgment of Justice Bramwell, and found for the plaintiffs a right to the forty guineas — or to so much of them as had not been melted by a neat little bill of costs.
Fortunately for John Taylor and his daughter, in the St. Leonards case, there was no rival claimants to dispute the ownership; and thus in one particular only the coincidence is wanting in completeness. Yet there is another coincidence brought about by the reading of the newspaper paragraph from which I have quoted. It is there stated that the second memorandum found with the 40 guineas related to the repair of a watch belonging to a certain John Bennett, and it was proved that Anne Lofton had relations of the name of Bennett. "Oh! how curious,” exclaims a person sitting at my elbow, and who has also relations of the name of Bennett. “I knew two old men in Winchelsea, some forty or fifty years ago, of the name of Bennett, one of whom lived in a cellar, and towards whose maintenance the inhabitants occasionally and voluntarily contributed, on the supposition that the man was in indigent circumstances. After his death, however, it was discovered that old Bennett was possessed of a considerable sum of money.” Whether the Winchelsea Bennett hoarded his money in an oak chest, or whether he was related to the Bennetts who in turn was related to the hoarder of the forty "spade" guineas, my deponent sayeth not.
It was in the year 1834 that the first building in connection with All Soul's Convent was first erected, but the establishment did not attain to any considerable magnitude until some six years later. It was built mainly at the expense of the Rev. John Jones, whose liberality to the poor and considerate practice of giving unemployed workmen something to do, endeared him to many of the inhabitants of both towns. The building in its original dimensions was rated to the parish at about £40 per year, and was enclosed in about 15 acres of land, upon which there was an additional assessment of £30. It was erected either in the "White-rock field" or the adjoining "Eighteen-acres," and for several years it stood in an isolated position. St. Leonards-without was beginning to grow, but the nearest erections to the Convent building were Mr. Troup’s cottage in the centre of Warrior-square, and the two houses known as 1 & 2 Cliff cottages, which now constitute Nos. 5 & 6 Eversfield place. No. 1 Cliff cottages was owned and occupied by Mr. Walter Inskipp and Mr. John Jeffery. The older habitations in proximity to the new convent building were the Chapel-Barn farm, the Bohemia mansion and lands, and the houses occupied by Messrs. Whyborn and Weller on the Bohemia road, near Mr. Brisco’s Lodge.
In tracing back the history of these three or four habitations—all that existed in the district now under notice before the Convent house was built—I find that what is now recognized as the Bohemia mansion and grounds was known in 1762 as "Mrs. Collier's Land," and was farmed by Samuel Cramp, at a rental of £53 10s. This occupier continued on the farm until 1769, at which time it came into the possession of General-Murray, the hero of Minorca, and the son-in-law of Mr. Collier. The tenancy then changed hands from Samuel Cramp to Benjamin Foster.
Ten years prior to this transfer, General Murray was Governor of Quebec, but from 1770 until 1796 the gallant General appears to have principally resided in the neighbourhood of Hastings. Anyhow, the property at Bohemia was described as "General Murray’s land" during that 26 years, although it is known that the mansion at Beauport was rebuilt for him and that he resided there, and not at Bohemia, during great part of the period here named. Benjamin Foster continued the tenancy of "General Murray’s Land" from 1770 till 1782, when William Foster — probably his son — carried it on till 1804, when he was succeeded by Mrs. Ann Foster, who, I presume, was his widow, and who kept on the farm for two years longer. During the 35 years’ tenancy of the Fosters and the previous occupancy by Cramp, the house and lands in question appear to have let at the same sum of £53 10s., although they had passed through three ownerships and four tenancies.
The third owner was Mr. Green; and from 1797 to 1805 the property was described as “Squire Green’s Land.” In 1806 Mr. Webster Whistler became the tenant, and the rent was raised another eleven guineas, thus making it £65 per annum. After being held by Mr. Whistler for four years, Mr. Henry Farncomb succeeded to the occupancy, when the name of "Bohemia" appears to have been first associated with the farm. Mr. Farncombe held it from 1809 till 1813, when it was passed over to Mr. John Vincett, who occupied it for eight years. In 1821 a new tenant was found for Bohemia in the person of Anthony Crisp (a son-in-law of Mr. Vincett’s), who built a malt house on the land, but instead of using it for its intended purpose, made a dwelling of it for himself and let the farm-house to visitors. Hastings was then becoming a place of fashionable resort, and it was no uncommon occurrence for visitors to take up their abode for a season even in the neighbouring farm-houses. Among that class of persons was a Mrs. Newnham, who first hired Bohemia farm-house, and subsequently purchased it. Her son, Mr. G. L. Newnham, — who after the death of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood, married one of the two daughters of that distinguished officer, and took the name of Collingwood — became its possessor in 1824[a], whilst from that date until 1827 the land was in the tenancy of Messrs. Thos. Breeds and Co.
Mr. G. Newnham-Collingwood, however, decided on having the pleasant farm-house converted into a mansion, and employed Mr. John Smith as his builder. But the progress of the work was so slow that the owner took himself off to Hawkhurst, where he became a permanent resident. In a short time Mr. Newnham-Collingwood returned to Hastings, and whilst temporarily locating himself in Wellington square, gave instructions for the house to be sold in its unfinished state. Mr. Boykett Breeds, it is said, became its purchaser, but it soon got into the hands of his assignees and afterwards into those of Henry Bonham, Esq.
In the same year (1830), the mansion was let to the Princess Sophia of Gloucester, who entered it on the 6th of May for a fortnight's sojourn, and liked it so well that she stayed for three months. It afterwards passed into the possession of Wastel Brisco, Esq., who by consent of magisterial and other authority, enlarged the ornamental grounds, and by diverting the original footpath through the step-meadow (now Cornwallis Gardens) did away with one of the prettiest walks out of Hastings. It was supposed, however, to have enhanced the value of the estate; for, in 1837, the mansion and its appurtenances, together with the lands, were assessed at £578; the previous assessments being upon rentals of £53 from 1762 to 1805, and on £65 from 1806 to 1829. The prestige derived from a royal occupancy—as in the case of Gloucester Lodge and Victoria House—might have had some influence on the estimated value of the mansion, but even that assessment has been subsequently augmented in consequence of the general increase in the value of property. Mr. Brisco continued in possession of Bohemia House until 1878, when he quitted it for another world at the great age of 85 years. His father died at the age of fourscore, in 1834, the year to which my History of St. Leonards is supposed to have reached.
The Whyborn family - Another enquiry into the Magdalen Charity
The next contiguous property to the Convent building in 1834 consisted of the Charity Land, the two houses looking down southward over the Convent land towards the sea (separated from Mr. Wastel Brisco’s mansion by Bohemia road), and the two tenements just opposite and below the pond at the junction of what are now the Bohemia and Magdalen roads. The latter dwellings were owned by Mr, Brisco, and tenanted, I believe, by two of his work-people, Messrs. Chapman and W. Whyborn. The higher and more pleasant situated cottages were at that time occupied by Henry Weller (who, as having married Mr. Jeremiah Whyborn’s widow in 1824, became his own landlord), and Mr. John Whyborn, who was a tenant of Mr. Brisco’s. These houses, which are still in existence, are worthy of notice; firstly, as being situate but a short distance from the spot where the late Alderman Deudney’s grandfather resided when he came with his family from the western part of the county in 1750, to be the agent of Sir Charles Eversfield; and, secondly, as the habitations of Jeremiah and John Whyborn, the former of whom rented the Charity Land from the year 1814 (just as the news reached England of Napoleon’s defeat and the entry of the Allies into Paris) until 1821 before the town of St. Leonards was commenced). This small farm was familiarly known as the "Poor Land" — a name that was suggestive of poverty as well as of charity; the more so, as Mr. Whyborn’s many years toil thereon were not rewarded with ultimate success. Ere he entered upon the land in 1814 the rent was £37 per year, but at the declaration of peace in the following year, it was raised to £67, upon the supposition, it may be assumed, that peace must necessarily bring with it its sentimental concomitant of plenty. Such was not the case however, for the total failure of the harvest in 1816, the destructive gales and floods of 1818, and the cold summer of 1821, contrasted unprofitably with the year 1815, which is recorded as having been one of the loveliest and luxuriant periods ever remembered. It is probable, however, that in the augmentation of the Charity-land rent to almost double its previous fixture, Mr. Whyborn was his own tax-master, it having been previously decided by the Corporation to carry out the instructions of the Court of Chancery, to let that and other charity lands by tender to the highest bidder.
I have already stated that visitors to Hastings were in the habit of taking up their abode in the neighbouring farm-houses, and it will therefore not surprise my readers to be told that the Messrs. Whyborn eked out their precarious incomes by letting furnished apartments in their small but pleasantly situated houses. It was no uncommon thing in those days, even when house property was of much less value than it now is, for the persons named to let a parlour and bed-room in each house for 30s. per week. Jeremiah’s domestic affairs were managed by his wife, but his brother John, being unmarried, had his sister to keep house for him. It should be here explained that when Jeremiah entered upon the Charity-land there was no dwelling-house attached to it, and so in consideration of a quit-rent being paid to the Earl of Chichester, as Lord of the Manor, or by some other arrangement, permission was given to the Whyborns to build the houses in question on a piece of waste-land contiguous to the farm.
Hitherto I have only mentioned the Whyborns who resided in the houses thus built, but there were five members of the family altogether, and it was with money contributed by all the five, when they migrated from Westfield, that the builder obtained payment for the erection of the new houses. The two brothers not hitherto mentioned were Thomas and William, the latter of whom resided in a separate cottage lower down, where, as previously shewn he continued to live even after the commencement of the Convent in 1834. The site was ultimately enclosed by Mr. Brisco’s wall, and is now marked by an arched door-way in the said wall immediately opposite to the pond at the junction of the roads.
The Whyborns were all long-living people, Jeremiah dying at the age of 79, through a fall over a bank, one dark night; John, dying at the age of 84; Thomas and William, living until they were between 80 and 90; and "Betty," dying, on the 17th of Feb. 1874, at the extraordinary age of 100 years and five months. She retained her faculties almost unimpaired until the last, and had been heard to say that she did not remember ever being afflicted with even a day’s serious illness. About three years after Jeremiah’s death, his widow was married as before intimated to Mr. Henry Weller, who thus became the possessor of one of the houses, and continued to occupy it until after his wife’s death, some eighteen years later; and he, too, has gone over to the majority away from the conflicts of terrestrial life. The other house was purchased by Mr. Brisco, and for many years his gardener, Mr. Morris, — a man who used to take an active interest in the local flower-shows — was the tenant. The centenarian sister of the Whyborns was transferred to Mr. Brisco’s estate along with the house, she taking up her abode at the Lodge of Bohemia mansion, where she added another -
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