A Plaque for Helen Normanton

This plaque, unveiled yesterday, owes its existence to the efforts of twin sisters attending Brighton College. They chanced upon Helen's grave in Ovingdean churchyard and, their interest sparked, went on to meticulously research her background. This led into a successful campaign for a plaque on 4 Clifton Place where Helen spent her formative years and first formed the ambiton to enter the legal profession, undaunted by the fact that it was closed to women at that time.

The proceedings were opened by songs from a small choir of fellow pupils and a welcoming address was given by the sisters.  This was followed by speeches from:-

• Dr Angela Owen-Smith, a relative of Helen (delivered by her daughter).
• Professor Judith Bourne, Head of Law at St. Mary's University, associate member of Normanton Chambers and author of 'Helen Normanton and the Opening of the Bar to Women'.
• Professor Nicky Padfield QC, Master of the Bench at Middle Temple and Professor of Law at Cambridge University
• Dr. Helen Dancer, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex and beneficiary of the Helen Normanton Ph.D Foundation.
• The City Mayor Lizzie Deane.
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The sisters haven't stopped with this success but have now become Child Ambassadors involved in promoting and fund-raising for the Mary Clarke Statue Appeal.

A Plaque for Sir Harry Kroto

A plaque to Sir Harry Kroto was unveiled yesterday at the Chichester building at the University of Sussex where he discovered a new form of carbon molecule C60. He named this molecule "Buckminsterfullerene" after the the US architect Buckminster Fuller who designed the geodesic dome. The existence of fullerenes had been previously predicted from spectroscopic observations in outer space. 

The plaque was sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemists as part of their 'Chemical Landmark' scheme. There are a further 70 plaques under this scheme throughout the country.

A "Bucky Ball"

The Provost

The President of the Royal Society of Chemists

Lady Kroto 

Sir Harry's resting place  at Clayton Woods Natural Burial Ground

A Plaque for the Hilton Twins

The City Mayor, Cllr Alan Robins, today unveiled a plaque at 18 Riley Road to the Hilton Twins.  

The twins, although exploited during their early life, gained freedom from their "guardians' at the age of 23. They went on to rise above their physical challenges and for many years became widely celebrated for their musical talents alone. However the mid 20th.C saw their popularity fade. Lacking work and money they ended up in Charlotte, North Carolina employed in a local shop. 

They died during the Hong Kong flu epidmic, Daisy preceding Violet by a few days and were buried together at the local graveyard.

   

This was the 6th and last plaque unveiling performed by Cllr Robin during his mayoral tenure.
 

A Plaque for Lewes Road Hospital

In the early 20thC poor food, bad housing conditions and overwork inevitably led to poor health which in turn produced mental stress and, untreated, what was then termed nervous breakdown. No help was available to the poor until their condition worsened to the extent that they could be certified as mentally insane and committed to an asylum for treatment at the state's expense.

Dr Boyle had the insight to understand that early intercession, including treatment for physical problems, by sympathetic female doctors could do much to relieve suffering.

The unveiling at 101 Roundhill Crescent by the City Mayor was preceded by addresses from:-

Roger Amerena, Chairman, Brighton & Hove Commemorative Plaque Panel.

Worshipful the Mayor, Cllr. Alan Robins.

Caroline Lucas MP, (read by Vivien Elliades)

Cast members of "Clean"*.

Rachael Kenny, Dir. Mental Health Services, BHT Sussex.

Anna McDevitt, MIND.

Angelika Wydra, Healthwatch Brighton & Hove.

Hon. Alderman Brian Fitch, Vice Chariman , Brighton & Hove Heritage Commission.

* Clean! The Musical, Brighton Fringe

See also: A Plaque to Dr. Helen Boyle

 

A Plaque to Rabindranath Tagore

A plaque was unveiled by the City Mayor today at 7 Ship Street to commemorate Rabindranath's connection with the city. Brighton & Hove was the first place he lived in outside of India. Rabindranath was born into a wealthy Bengali Brahmin family and built on and transcended these roots, embracing universalism and humanism. He became a poet, philospher, novelist, visual artist, composer and activist. In 1913 he became the first non-westerner to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and in 1915 he was knighted by King George V for his services to literature.

Addresses were given by:-

Roger Amerena, Chairman of the Brighton & Hove Commemorative Plaque Panel.

Her Excellency the High Commissioner for Bangladesh.

Dr Kalyan Kundu, Tagore Centre UK.

Professor Shahaduz Zaman University of Sussex.

Dr Jeanne Openshaw, University of Edinburgh.

The Salvation Army Band provided welcoming music and the National Anthems.

A Plaque to Elizabeth Robins and Octavia Wilberforce

This plaque has now been installed at 24 Montpelier Crescent. Due to infection control measures it was deemed unadvisable to hold an unveiling ceremony. 

Elizabeth Robbins was born in America and moved to London in September 1888. She had a very active and eventful life, great success as an actor and wrote as C.E. Raimond. She met Octavia Wilberforce in 1909. 

Partly supported by Elizabeth and against strong parental oppositions Octavia entered the London School of Medicine for Women in 1913, qualifying in 1920. She entered general practice in Brighton  and ran a women's shelter near Henfield. Octavia was friendly with members of the Bloomsbury Group and treated Virginia Woolf's mental illness towards the end of Woolf's life. She retired in 1954.

The Brangwyn Estate

There is some mystery about how the Brangwyn Estate between Withdean and Patcham Village was so named. It was built in the 1930s by developer W.H.Lee who, according to Carder, upset Sir Frank Brangwyn of Ditchling by using his name. However the London Road entrance to the estate was ultimately adorned by two massive lamp columns designed by Brangwyn which suggests a placatory gesture from Lee. It still leaves open the question as to why Lee chose the name in the first place. Was he a friend of Brangwyn or just an admirer of his impressive artistic oeuvre?

Although the estate is built in the ever popular Tudorbethan style Brangwyn, who had no architectural training, has looked to the fading Art Deco for inspiration and these rather grotesque creations are the result. The lamps themselves are graceful, but whereas they could have been adequately supported on cast-iron lamp standards, they are instead perched like "peas on a drum" on redundantly massive brickwork. Nevertheless the intricate decorative features are clever and must have posed a good test of the bricklayer's skill.

The lamps are never lit. In the 1930s the electrical supply will have used rubber-insulated cables which have limited life and no doubt were never renewed.

The columns are grade II listed by Historic England.

Amon Henry Wilds' offices

84 Western Road

Brighton Street Directory for 1845

Brighton's famous Regency architect built the Western Pavilion for his own residence in 1828 and occupied offices conveniently close at 84 Western Road.  He was still there in 1846 but gone by 1850 when he retired to Shoreham.

A Plaque to Edward Bransfield RN

At 11 Clifton Road.

The plaque was unveiled by Deputy Mayor Cllr Alan Robins with
Rear Admiral Richard John Lippiett CB, CBE, DL, in attendance. 

Music by Salvation Army musicians

Guard of Honour

200 years to the day that Edward Bransfield became the first known person to glimpse and chart part of the Antarctic continent a plaque has been unveiled at his one-time residence, 11 Clifton Terrace. This follows the unveiling, on 25 January, of a memorial at Bransfield's birthplace, Ballinacurra, near Midleton, Cork. See below.

At Ballinacurra

His 2 year expedition in command of the 216 ton merchant vessel Williams is remarkable for being accomplished without loss of life even though Bransfield, then in Valpariso, had been ordered by the Admiralty to sail at short notice, and none of his crew were equipped for icy weather. His remarkable achievements was recognised by later explorers by the naming of Bransfield Strait and Bransfield Basin in his honour.

Bransfield's achievements had for many years been overshadowed by controversy over whether he or the Russian explorer Bellingshausen were the first to discover the Antarctic mainland but this has recently been resolved by author Rip Bulkeley, who following an exhaustive study of the Russian expedition concluded: “Bellingshausen was not the first commander to see the Antarctic mainland.” 

With the unveiling of these two memorials Edward Bransfield's important place in the annals of Antarctic Exploration is finally recognised.

Edward is buried in the Brighton Extra-Mural Cemetery.

Read more.

Mary Clarke statue - Sculptor Chosen

Denise Dutton MRSS

Denise Dutton MRSS has been chosen to create the maquette for the statue of the suffragette Mary Clarke. The cost will be met from the grant of £10,000 donated by BHCC to kick-start this project. It is hoped to place the statue in or near the Royal Pavilion estate which was the scene 100 years ago of much suffragette campaigning.

The Mary Clarke Statue Appeal

Denise's extensive oeuvre includes a statue to the working-class suffragette Annie Kenny in Oldham. Annie became a leading figure in the Women's Social and Political Union and co-founded its first branch in London with Minnie Baldock.

See also: The Mary Clarke Statue Appeal &

The Mary Clarke Statue Appeal at Local Giving

A Plaque to Sake Dean Mahomed

A plaque to Sake Dean Mahomed, the famous Brighton entrepreneur, now graces the portico of the Queens Hotel in Kings Road where, in the 19thC, he established his highly fashionable and successful Baths.

Davinder Dhillon; Cllr.Alexandra Phillips the Mayor of Brighton & Hove,
and Commander Nick May.

The project was led by the Davinder Dhillon, Deputy Lieutenant Sussex - Chairman of Chattri  Group, and funded by a public appeal and a generous contribution from Sussex Police.

Also with support from:

Dr Bert Williams MBE, Chairman of Black History Group.
Researcher - Duncan Cameron, Local historian.
Queens Hotel Manager - Michelle Doyle

A fascinating display about his life is currently on view in the Brighton Museum.

Sake Dean Mahomed

Jack Selby's drive to Brighton (& back)

Passing Lowfield Heath at 20mph.

When James Selby was born, in 1844, the railways had begun to drive coaches off the road, but James was nevertheless destined to become one of the most famous professional coachmen of all time. His father was the proprietor of an hotel at Colney Hatch to which a large livery stable was attached, and this gave James an opportunity of indulging his favourite pastime of driving. 

While he was still in his twenties there was a coaching revival, and in 1870 he began his career as a coachman, driving the Tunbridge Wells coach. In 1888 Selby put his own coach, the Old Times, on the London - Brighton run. At the Ascot meeting of that year he was offered, and took, a bet of £1000 to £500 that the coach could not be driven to Brighton and back under eight hours—a bet that was to make his name famous in coaching history. 

On July 13, Selby started on his journey from the White Horse cellar in Piccadilly, giving the order to " let go " at ten o'clock precisely. He drove along Piccadilly, Grosvenor Place and Buckingham Palace Road and over the Chelsea suspension bridge, making the first change of horses at the Horse and Groom at Streatham at 10.28. This change took 47 seconds. 

At 10.45 he was passing West Croydon and maintained a speed of 13 miles an hour to the Windsor Castle, Purley Bottom, where another change took just over a minute. He reached Horley at 11.51, having driven at 20 miles an hour on part of this stage, and was at Crawley at 12.11, two minutes being lost when he was held up at a level-crossing. 

A fresh team was taken on at Peas Pottage, where he arrived at 12.23, the time for this change being 1 minute 2 seconds. Passing through Handcross, he reached Cuckfield at 12.53, changed in 68 seconds, reached Friars Oak at 1.17, changed horses in 1 minute, arrived at Patcham at 1.40, changed in 47 seconds, and was at the Ship at Brighton at 1.56. 

At the Old Ship the horses were merely turned round and he was on the return journey in a matter of minutes. With changes of horses varying from 50 seconds to 1 minute, Selby was back in Piccadilly at 5.50 p.m., where he was received with tremendous enthusiasm, for he had done the double journey with 10 minutes to spare. 

Jack died later the same year and the Old Times coach passed into the property of Mr. Bernard Mills, of circus fame.

A model of the coach can be seen at Petworth House.

A Plaque to Margaret Bondfield MP

Britain's first female cabinet minister was commemorated today with a plaque at 14 Church Road, Hove. This follows a successful campaign by the Hove MP Peter Kyle aided by the Women's History Group and the Commemorative Plaque Panel. Unveiling was performed by Rachel Reeves MP, the author of "Women of Westminster". 

Peter was eloquent on Margaret's personal qualities which drove her from the humblest of beginnings to achieve a seat of power to alter society for the better.

Peter Kyle and Rachel Reeves

The unveiling

Margaret experienced the appalling conditions for 'living-in' shop staff at various stores in Brighton and was driven to become a member of the shop-workers' union.

She was elected to the TUC Council in 1918 and became its Chairman and an MP in 1923 and a parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Labour from 1929 to 1931.

The ceremony was closed by the Deputy Mayor Cllr. Alan Robins

A Plaque to Clementina Black

This plaque to Clementina was unveiled today at 51 Ship Street by Ms Frances O'Grady and Mrs Juliet Smith JP. Frances is the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress and Juliet is the Deputy Lieutenant of East Sussex.

The unveiling

Addresses were given by Dr. Gerry Holloway of the Brighton and Hove Women's History group, which proposed and progressed the plaque; Dr. Caroline Lucas; Cllr. Nancy Platts, Leader of BHCC;  and Ms Frances O'Grady.

The unveiling was proceeded and concluded by the choir 'Women of Note' singing suffrage songs.

Clementina was, in fact, born a few doors away at 45 Ship Street which was replaced in the 1930s by the listed Post office building. For aesthetic reasons the planning department was unwilling to allow a plaque on the Post Office building. However the site finally chosen does have the advantage of high visibility.