The Funeral of Henry HEMSLEY: “from his friends in the trade”

One of the floral tributes at the funeral of Henry HEMSLEY was described in the newspaper report as “A token of respect to the oldest license holder, from his friends in the Trade at Uckfield, George Bean, J. H. Elliott, A. E. Hill, M. Tourle, J. Webber, A. Waight, and F. White.”

Having an interest in pub history I thought it might be fun to find out who these people were. Using Kelly’s Directory of Sussex for 1915 on the Historical Directories website I was able to identify all seven of the gentlemen (yes, they were all men) mentioned, all of whom had businesses in the town of Uckfield, Sussex.

George BEAN	King’s Head Hotel	186 High Street
Joseph Henry ELLIOTT	Bridge Hotel	New Town
Arthur Ernest HILL	beer retailer	70 High Street
Mark TOURLE	Ringles Cross Hotel	Ringles Cross
John WEBBER	Maiden’s Head Hotel	91 High Street
Albert WAIGHT	Bell Hotel	96 High Street
Frank WHITE	Alma Arms Public House	Framfield Road

Uckfield High Street was obviously the place to go for a drink. As well as the four businesses listed above there was also a wine and spirit merchant at No. 122 High Street.

The Maiden’s Head Hotel is where Henry’s property, the Gun Inn, was sold at auction six months after his death.

Picture Postcard Parade: Church and Lich Gate, Framfield, Sussex

This is another gem from the WSFHS Open Day and Family History Fair last weekend. The subject will need no introduction to readers of my blog. I have featured Framfield church several times because of its connection to my HEMSLEY ancestors.

This card was published by J. Frisby of Uckfield, it was posted in Uckfield on the 14th November 1912. It was sent to Mr J. Bolton of 11 Commercial Street, Scarborough. The message is a little cryptic: Dont think we have forgotten you altogether. We heard about you having one of our set in the Church. What do you think of the Lytch Gate.

A couple of different postcards of the church can be found in my posts Framfield Church postcard – another new addition to my collection and Framfield Photos: Part Three – Framfield church then and now

Blogging to you live from High Hurstwood, Sussex (well nearly)

This is the first time my new netbook has been out in the field with me, and although it is extra weight to carry, this is only a gentle walk today so it is not too bad.

I have made my way to Holy Trinity Church, High Hurstwood, Sussex first by bus (or rather buses) and then about an hours walk. I am sitting on a bench in the churchyard and this is the wonderful view I can see.

View from a bench at High Hurstwood, Sussex

Holy Trinity is to my mind quite an unusual church because of it’s shape, all sorts of odd bits are sticking out here and there. I think quirky would be a good word to describe it. The photo from the front (below) will show you what I mean.

Holy Trinity Church, High Hurstwood, Sussex

My route here took me past Stone House Cottage, just outside High Hurstwood itself, where my grandmother Annie HEMSLEY was born and where her father Henry Herbert HEMSLEY died. It is his gravestone that I am hoping to find here at Holy Trinity Church, although I have no idea whether he was buried or cremated here or not.

The other reason for visiting Holy Trinity is because my widowed great grandmother Minnie DRIVER (HEMSLEY as she was then) married Moses FARLOW here in February 1925.

From here I will head back along the Vanguard Way to Buxted and visit the church there and then probably along to Buxted Park and visit the church there, before making my way back to Uckfield to catch a bus back to Brighton and home.

[Just as I tried to send this post I discovered I had no mobile broadband signal, so it had to wait until I was back in Uckfield on the bus to send it]

Framfield Church postcard – another new addition to my collection

Just when you thought you had heard the last about my visit to Framfield, Sussex in May 2009, I have found another excuse to post about the subject. Below is a recently acquired postcard of the interior of Framfield Church.

Framfield Church (postmarked 20th March 1913)

It was published by John Frisby of Uckfield and the postmark is from nearby Uckfield and dated the 20th March 1913. It was sent to Mr F [Fred] WREN of Cliveden Gardens, Taplow, Bucks by his mother, and also mentions Mary and Bertie (possibly Fred’s sister and brother?) in the message.

Interestingly my 3x great grandmother was Charlotte WREN from Framfield (1832-1909) so I am going to have to do a bit of digging and see if I am related to these people.

Naturally the interior of the church hasn’t changed a great deal, here is a similar view taken during my visit in May 2009.

Framfield Church (9th May 2009)

Framfield or bust!

At the very last minute this morning (literally as the bus was coming down the road), I changed my plans for getting to Framfield and Blackboys. Instead of getting the train and replacement bus I realised that I could actually catch a normal bus from Brighton to Uckfield, which would not only be a bit quicker, but also cheaper and there would be more frequent buses.

On top of all that I got a much better view of the Sussex countryside from the top of a double decker bus, plus a trip around Lewes (another ancestral home) and a ride through parts of Brighton I don’t normally get to see. What more could you ask for?

From Uckfield I took another bus to Blackboys, and after getting a few photos and exploring the area I walked from Blackboys to Framfield (only about two miles). I took rather too long in the churchyard at Framfield, so instead of walking back into Uckfield as I had originally planned I took the bus back instead.

Framfield has a lovely church, surprisingly large, and a large churchyard packed with gravestones. I found the gravestones of a few known ancestors, but I also found lots of possible relations as well. They are going to take some sorting out, but I am not in a rush to do that. Now I really need to have a look at the burial register and see who else I missed.

It was great to be able to get a feel for both Framfield and Blackboys, I had never visited before, but now I know where they are and how easy it is to get to them I am sure to be visiting again. Although most of my exploring today was never far from the main roads, there is some lovely countryside surrounding the villages so I would be nice to explore that further. At the moment I know very little about exactly where my ancestors were living, but I am sure in time I will have some houses to go and photograph.

Over the next couple of days I will put up some of the photos so you can see where I went, and what a lovely church Framfield has.