words of the particular song referred to were
“All hail happy meeting, right weicome art thou!
All hail to the pleasure that beams on us now
All hail to the FRIENDSHIP, the TRUTH and the LOVE,
Those emblems of happiness drawn from above.
“'Tis here that we find, free from turmoil and strife,
The balm for our care and the comfort of life;
'Tis here that within us a feeling doth glow,
Which binds us in harmony; banishing woe.
“Tis well thus to spend a few bright, sunny hours
Where laurels of peace and goodwill deck the bowers;
'Tis well thus to dwell where such scenes do attend,
And quaff cups of joy with a good and true friend.
“Then let us he merry and let us be wise;
The poor and distressed may we never dispise(sic);
But really and truly rejoice with each other,
And then shall we merit the title of brother.
“All hail happy meeting, right welcome art thou !
All hail to the pleasure that beams on us now !
All hail to the FRIENDSHIP, the TRUTH and the LOVE,
Those emblems of happiness drawn from above! ”
General Roy and his Fairlight Observatory
On the occasion of the Jubilee of the Church Missionary Society in 1848, the Rey.C.D. Bell preached a sermon in the St. Leonards church, which realised an offertory of £40 4s,
Towards the close of the year an excellent townsman, in the person of Mr. G. A. Murton, took his departure from St. Leonards to some other locality. By such a removal a Council seat became vacant, he having represented the West Ward as a Town Councillor. He carried with him the good wishes of all who knew him, and which he had secured by his manly bearing, his courteous demeanour, and his honourable dealings as a tradesman. He had been 17 years established at 36 Marina as a chemist and druggist, and during a portion of the time he generously supplied the Infirmary with medicines at a great reduction in price. He was succeeded in the business by Mr, Maggs, an equally courteous and worthy member of society, who also at one time was a representative of the West Ward or. the Council Board. Long may Mr. Maggs live to enjoy the esteem of his fellow townsmen! He died suddenly of the stoppage of the heart, in 1902. On Sunday the 9th of July the Rey. C. H. Smith preached two farewell sermons in St. Leonards parish church, where he had held a curacy for a considerable time, and which he was then relinquishing for an appointment at All Saints, Hastings. Those who have read the memoirs of the Rev. W. W. Hume, (illegible text) will remember that Mr. Smith was one of the talented lecturers in 1851 on the occasion of the so-called Papal Aggression.
Also on the 8th of October, sermons were preached in the St. Leonards Church by the Revs. G. D. St. Quintin and A. F. Pettigrew. The offertory on that occasion was for the St. Leonards National Schools, and the amount collected was £51 8s. 7d.
Another townsman who came to the front in 1848 was M. Emile Groslobb, who, as my readers may suppose, was a naturalised German. He, with his wife, resided in a small house adjoining the Quadrangle Chapel on the West Hill at St. Leonards, the said house being then better known as “The Bird Cage,” but afterwards as ”Eden Villa,” Mr.Groslobb was a man of genial temperament, and one with whom a person might at any time have a pleasant gossip. Mrs. Groslobb was generally believed to be considerably her husband’s senior in age, but very much his junior in affability. I mention this latter disparity because it was one of my achievements in commercial dealings and visits to secure more courtesy than Mrs. Groslobb’s pecularity would permit her to bestow on other tradespeople. But to my narrative, howsoever brief! Noticing a peculiar taste in the water from which he obtained his supply, Mr. Groslobb made some excavations in the rear of his house where he suspected there was some sort of leakage, when he was surprised to find that he had tapped a mineral spring. He immediately conveyed some of the water to Mr. Murton, the respected chemist who, as before shown, was about to leave St. Leonards, after 17 years’ residence. The water was analysed by that gentleman, and a bottle of the same was taken to London by Dr. Burton for a similar purpose. The analysis proved to be in all respects satisfactory, and Mr. Groslobb was advised to erect a room in his garden for a Chalybeate spa. This was effected in the following year, as will be shown farther on.
One more personal reminiscence which I desire not to pass over is that of the late Mr. Robert Hempsted. This gentleman, I believe, first came to St. Leonards as an assistant to Mr. Murton, who has been mentioned as the worthy chemist who left the town in 1848. It was then that Mr. Hempsted hired the Saxon House — now 14 Grand parade — and commenced business on his own account as a chemist and druggist. This house was built for the architect, Mr. Walter Inskipp, and afterwards became successively the property of W. P, Beecham, Benj. Tree, Henry Went Tree, and Robert Hempsted. It was variously employed asa furniture warehouse by John Mitchell, a Berlin-wool shop by Mrs.Soane, and a chemist’s shop by Robert Hempsted. A letter from the last-named gentleman is lying before me dated “ Rose Cottage, Somersham, Hunts., 13th January, 1879,” and reads as follows :—
“ My dear Sir. — If you will kindly call on Mr. Mann, he will pay you the advanced subscription for the Gazette up to Dec. 1879. I am sure I deeply sympathise with you in your domestic affliction. I knew your deceased son Arthur as a boy long ago, I continue to read your Jubilee History of St. Leonards with great interest. You are probably aware that in 1848 I hired of Old Ben Tree, as he was familiarly called, Saxon House, where there had been a Berlin wool shop, to reach which a flight of six steps had to be ascended. I altered it and put in a plate glass window — the first one in St. Leonards — and insured the same in the office of which T. B, Brett is agent. I left the business in 1864, Again sympathising with you in your sorrow, and wishing you happiness and prosperity for the future, I remain . yours very truly, ROBERT HEMPSTED.”
If it be not censurably egotistic, I may say that Mr. Hempsted advertised some of his specialities successively in Brett's Penny Press and Brett's Gazette for ten years; and, like the late Mr. J.D. Kennard, admitted that for his success in business , he owed much to the means thus adopted. The following copy of one of Mr. Hempsted’s advertisements will show that our tradesmen of a quarter of a century back were not unequal to the occasion.
”A Cross Trick (Acrostic).”
Crowned with sweet garlands, clad in lightsome vest,
Lo! blushing summer cometh from the west!
Arise ye youths, your varied sports to chase;
Research the woods, or run the merry race.
Keep strokes as glide ye o’er the moonlit main,
Sweet youths and maidens, summer comes again,
Comes with her fragrance and her varied hues,
O’er the wide earth, so bounteous to diffuse;
Rolls her bright chariot on the zephyr’s air,
Nourishing, strengthening, making all things fair.
Some in the works of art perhaps delight;
Of these each man may have a pleasing sight.
Let them the Exhibition visit then,
Vast are its wonders—all the works of men;
Each could employ the ready writer’s pen.
Now, if you’d pluck such blossoms free from thorns,
Try first CLARK’s SOLVENT, which will cure your corns
Mr. Hempsted, I regret to say, died in_retirement some years ago, at his residence in Huntingdonshire.
Having alluded to Mr. Hempsted as the founder of the business at 14 Grand parade, and quoted a rhymed advertisement of his in Brett's Gazette which helped him on to fortune, it should not be out of place to say that a period of some years,dating from the year 1848, was one that may be regarded as quite a rhyming age among the Hastings and St. Leonards tradespeople, If also it be said that some of the metrical ditties of that period were the productions of the’ present writer it will be only to state an historical fact. Were it possible to call up as witnesses the late Mr Hempsted, Messrs, Robinson and Oliver, and some other departed spirits, they would be able to attest the authorship of the business announcements issued from their establishments in rhymical guise. It is my purpose to reproduce a few specimens of these later on, but ere that be done much space will be required for the further narratives of the eventful year still under treatment. The meteorological conditions of the said year were a good deal in keeping with the political and physical turbulence of that epoch, and have been briefly described in the Farncomb memoirs, but there were several atmospheric and other kindred occurrences which, as being observed at Hastings rather than at Icklesham, are more appropriately placed under the present heading, and may be classed as
THE YEARS ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA
It was on the 5th of May, 1848 that the first number of of the Hastings News — a journal still existing as the oldest in the borough — was sent forth to the world, and, as though to herald this new literary light, a magnificent meteor shot across the heavens on the early morning of the preceding day. it was observed by a party of musicians as they were homeward bound from an engagement, and its appearance was described in a letter to the Editor of the new journal and inserted in the second number of the News as follows: —
“Sir,
—For the information of your readers. I beg leave to say that at two o’clock this morning, a meteor of unusual brilliance was observed darting forth from the south west and taking an easterly direction, Sweeping across the heavens, it intersected, as it were, the milky way, and descended nearly to the horizon, Its first appearance was that of an ordinary meteor, leaving in its wake a faint streak of light; but, suddenly, there issued from its nucleus a fan-shaped comet-like tail, which increased in luminosity and dimensions. In fact, after nearly a minute’s duration, it presented the appearance of a blazing comet, except that its brilliancy was even more intense. Ultimately, the nucleus or fire-ball disapeared(sic) as by explosion, and the tail if I may so call it descended towards the earth similarly to what is described as golden rain after the discharge of a rocket. The night was clear, and many meteors were observed, but the one here described was certainly the most beautiful object I ever remember to have seen. I was scanning the starry vault at the time in company with a few friends, and remarking on the positions of certain planets, when, lo! the meteor burst upon my sight, and I had a full view of the phenomenon from first to last.”— “ St, Leonards, May 4th 1848.”
“T, B, BRETT.”
If the meteor above described ws as uncommon as it was beautiful, so was the mirage which was seen by a great number of persons on the 6th day of July. The phenomenon was visible at several parts of the south and south-east coasts, and as viewed from an upper window of my elevated dwelling in Norman road, its appearance was such as to occupy a durable place in a generally retentive memory. The weather was beautifully fine and calm, and the temperature of that day ranged from a minimum of 63 to a maximum of 83 degrees. At about 6 p.m. the outlines of the French coast were distinctly visible, and the atmospheric refraction from that time until dusk was of a rare and curious character. Above the natural horison(sic) was a secondary one, the combined effect of which was to exhibit all or nearly all the maritime objects in the Channel both in their natural and inverted positions, The spectacle was rendered the more singular by the appearance of vessels nearer the shore having their masts, sails and rigging carried upwards to an enormous length.
Another phenomenon was observed on the 24th of August, while a heavy thunderstorm was in progress. At between one and two o’clock in the afternoon, a ball of blue fire descended near Halloway place,and when just over the houses, it appeared to burst into atoms with a sharp detonation. The surrounding neighbourhood was immediately involved in the glare of a livid flame, accompanied by a strong sulphuric odour. It greatly startled all who saw and heard it, but no living thing was harmed except a poor Starling, which fell lifeless to the ground.
A less phenomenal, yet not a common occurrence was that of a fall of snow on the 18th of October, by which in the vicinity of High street, Hastings, a pear tree in bloom and a laburnum tree in full flower were covered by the fleecy deposit. The temperature of the air was very low for the time of year, the maximum in two days having fallen from 58 to 40, and the minimum being 20 degrees below that of the corresponding day in the preceding year. Two days later (Oct. 20th), during a sharp squall, a conical heap of water passed down the Channel from east to west at about half a mile from the shore, and rapidly increasing in height, apparently from 12 to 20 feet. A fishing-boat, which had just got under weigh, narrowly escaped contact therewith. In the electrical, nautical, and atmospheric phenomena of 1848, recently described, I stated that during one of these rare occurrences, the coast of France was visible to the unassisted vision from St. Leonards. This, however, was not quite so exceptional an occurrence as might be imagined.
There have been more than one other occasion during the writer’s career, when from the high land at Fairlight, the refraction of the atmosphere or visibility of the air has been such as to enable persons to see the French coast, even when there has been no so called mirage. The knowledge of this fact, together with other considerations, probably induced General Roy, in 1787, there to establish an observatory for his trignometrical survey. Although that was sixty years prior to the date now under notice there appears to me no incongruity in presenting my readers with some of the results of the General’s observations. The observatory was near the wind-mill then belonging to the elder Mr. E. Milward, but which having been burnt down many years after the death of himself and his son, was not permitted to be rebuilt by the son’s widow, but who complied with the request of her nephew to erect a large public seat on the site, and which remains to this day, with the words "Frederick North, his seat" written thereon nephew's daugher, Miss. Marianne North to erect a large public seat to the memory of her father, and which remains to this day, with the words "Frederick North, his seat" written thereon[a] Many of our readers will regret there is no probability of its being rebuilt.”
From this elevated spot — 599 feet above sea level — General Roy was enabled to obtain a view of 67 churches, 6 castles, 1 abbey, 3 harbours, 2 promontories, 3 bays, 2 towers, 13 market towns, 1 lighthouse, 16 barracks or camps, 6 signal stations, and 3 military beacons, together with a long sweep of the English Channel, 30 miles of the French coast, the Kentish hills, the South Downs, and the wealds of Kent and Sussex.
The 67 churches were All Saints and St. Clement’s (Hastings), Ashford, Brede, Battle, Brookland, Bexhill, Burwash, Benzett, Benenden, Burmarsh, Catstield, Chiddingly, Dymchurck, Ewhurst, Fanfield, Folkington, Folkestone, Frant, Fairlight, Guildford, Goudhurst, Guestling, Hawkhurst, Hurstpierpoint, Hythe, Hailsham, Hooe, Heathfield, Iden, Icklesham, Ivychurch, Lydd, Mountfield, Mersham, Mayfield, Ninfield, Newcharch, Northiam Ore, Pevensey, Peasmarsh, Pett, Playden, Pluckley, Rye, Romney (New), Romney (Old), Rucking, Shave, Sandhurst, Snargate, Sediescomb, Tenterden, Ticehurst, Udimore, Winchelsea, Wittersham, Woodchurch, Westfield, Wadhurst, Wareham, Willingdon, Watlington, Warting, Westham and Wye.
The castles were Winchelsea (Camber), Lynn, Sandgate, Pevensey and Hastings.
The visible harbours were Rye, Boulogne and Dover.
The abbey was that of Battle.
The promontories were Beachy Head on the west, and Dover cliff on the east.
The bays were Pevensey, Rye and Hythe.
The market-towns were Ashford, Battle, Eastbourne,
Goudhurst, Hastings, Hailsham, Hythe, Lydd, Pevensey Rye, Romney, Tenterden and Winchelsea.
The towers were Heathfield in Sussex, and Napoleon's at Boulogne.
Other towers, to be seen 19 years later (1805-6), were those along the coast known as the Martello Towers. These were 70 in number, 35 of which were in Pevensey Bay, 9 in Rye Bay and 30 in Hythe Bay. Some of these at the time of writing have been put out of existence.
The Military Canal, which can also be seen from that elevated spot, but which did not exist in General Roy’s time, was opened on the 10th of August[b].
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