| Share page |
|
48 Old Memories of East-Bourne. [Chap. IV.
of the labouring class were likely to be admitted into heaven !
Sea Beach House is still standing near the W. end of the Royal Parade but behind it. When I first knew it, it was occupied by Mrs. Ogle, the widow of a Commander Ogle, R.N. On a grass plat between the house and the beach there stood the hull of a small cutter yacht, the Cygnet. I do not know the history of this craft, but I have heard it said that it was built for smuggling and was captured by the Revenue Authorities. Mr. Ogle had the misfortune to lose a leg at East-Bourne whilst out shooting, and during his enforced repose he received much kindness from a lady staying in the house, and it ended in his mariying her. Her Mother, Mrs. Bracebridge (nee Streatfeild,), was a member of the Kent family of that name, and when I took up my permanent residence at East-Bourne in 1874 the property had passed to Mr. J Streatfeild, whose son Mr. F. H. V. Streatfeild now holds it. The Cygnet had become so dilapidated that it had to be cleared away, and the face of the land all round was completely transformed by the building of the Sea-wall, under the powers of a Local Act, passed in 1879, of which further mention will be made in a later chapter.
Hard by was the Coastguard Station with a house for the District Officer in charge; one that I remember was Lieut. Kitching. The men were chiefly provided for in a comparatively modern row of Coastguard Cottages (so named) on the opposite side of the main Seaside Road, somewhere about where now stand the houses numbered 150-160 Seaside. Lieut. Kitching's house was wrecked by a high tide in 1857, and was never inhabited afterwards.
In the main road nearly opposite the Anchor was the chief fishmonger's shop of the place, kept by a man named Heathfield. No. 6 Seaside, occupies the site. Then came the Anchor (now the Burlington) stables, and beyond that, Eastwards, was the Ball-room House. That was its actual name in 1851, when it was owned by a Mr. Edward Boys. I have an idea that it had been built |
||