Tag: PMO

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Homicide at the Buckingham House?

In 1853 the home of the local Squire Bridger was the scene of a night-time burglary. This was not unexpected after a series of break-ins in previous days. Servants had been put on watch in the darkened manor house and were armed with guns. They had not to wait long before a man entered the property through a window. When confronted and ordered to surrender he bolted for the exit. In the ensuing fracas he was shot in the back and clambered out of the window before dying in the garden outside. The reulting court case is outlined below.

1853 news report (click 5th column) “Burglar Shot” was justifiable homicide verdict at the Buckingham House burglaryI

The Buckingham Book

The Buckingham Book

In 2025 a Shoreham resident acquired at auction a significant historical find. It was a rather battered leather bound family scrapbook dating from 1889. It contained photographs, sketches, and cuttings collected by the Head family of Great Buckingham, Old Shoreham. The story behind the “Buckingham Book” book is tantalising. It had been kept in the Head family’s possession for 80 years but had been torn in two, and separated, with the front part donated to a museum. We now have possession of the second half along with its accompanying covering letter from an author unknown. The images in the book are in this gallery.

Covering letter:

This Family Scrapbook compiled by the Head Family to record their time at Buckingham (Buckingham House, Old Shoreham) from 1889 to 1905 was in the possession of Lady (Hester) Marsden-Smedley (née Pinney), the daughter of Lady Hester Pinney (née Head). Before she died, Lady Pinney stated that she wanted me to have it because of its relevance to Shoreham. In due course I made contact with her daughter in Chelsea and arranged to go up to collect it.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Lady Marsden-Smedley would have liked to have kept it, since it contained so much of Family interest. In the event, she simply tore the book in half and gave me the front part, and this I placed in Marlipins. It may since have been dismembered, which is a great pity.

The other half I was very surprised to be offered many years later through a friend. and bought it, at a price, and did not enquire as to its provenance. I still have it, in its somewhat battered slate.

It is (was) three-quarter leather bound, about 100 mm thick in all, the boards approx, 370 x 298mm, with interleaved pages designed as a commercial scrap-book.

It is clear that the Head boys were responsible for most of the snaps, but there are other more professional photos taken probably by William Page, Photographer, of Shoreham, whom Hester (Pinney) said she encouraged. There are also watercolours by Hester of a competent, but amateur quality, together with sundry printed items of interest, and photos of local views and personalities.

The whole gave a unique and fascinating view of the very happy life at Buckingham until Henry Head’s death in 1905, when the family quit Old Shoreham. The house lay empty and in 1911 was gutted, with the grounds occupied by a new house erected to the North.

During their stay at Buckingham, the Heads effectively filled the role of ‘Lords of the Manor’ in the Town, and were most popular. Henry Head was an outgoing and generous personality, and he was clearly led by his very positive daughter Hester (Pinney), abetted by her brothers. The Park was regularly opened to the townsfolk, and Henry seems to have been the leader in the 1897 Diamond Jubilee celebrations. When, apart from a Grand March through the Town to a Fair and general festivities in the Park, there seems to have been a very early filrnshow in the field by the old Swiss Gardens. Fifty years later, Hester Pinney was stilt fondly rernembered in the Town.

The Book records Hunting, Cricket, Yachting (Steam and Sail) Golf, Shooting, Riding, and alfresco entertainments.. The girls from the London Store, D. H. Evans, which the Heads owned, were also entertained in the Summer and are seen obviously enjoying themselves. The Book is a wonderful, unique, record of a lost age, which was soon to come to a tragic stop. One son was lost on the Titanic (sic Christopher Head), and one at Gallipoli (sic. Bernard Head); it is fitting that their memorials are in Old Shoreham Church, in the place that they so enjoyed.

Author unknown, date post-1983

Buckingham House 1904. Built 1820 and abandoned by 1911. The little girls in this photograph maybe the same grand daughters of Henry Head seen in the image below. Hester Harriott Pinney on the right.

The background to the Head family

We can surmise that the book was split in 1983 after Hester’s death. Whilst it is reasonable to assume the Marlipins Museum holds the other half of the book they are currently unable to confirm this.

In the same year as the 1891 census this family group photograph is on the East steps to Buckingham. It appears to show Henry Head (age 56) next to his daughter Hester Head (16) (standing) and seated an unknown woman. Henry’s wife Hester Head Snr (56) is seated in black (probably in mourning for her son Hugh who died in Nov 1890). Henry’s sons are seated, believed to be John Alban Head (17)and Bernard Head (15) later killed in Gallipoli in 1915. The other ladies are not identified.
The same view 130 years later

Hester’s father was Henry Head b.1834 m.1860 Died 1st July 1905
Hester’s mother was Hester Head (née Beck) b.1835 m.1860 d.1907
Hester became Hester Pinney (née Head Jnr.) by marriage in 1900 b.1875 d.1958
Hester’s daughter Hester Harriott Marsden-Smedley (née Pinney) b. Pune India 21st June 1901. Married Basil Futvoye Marsden-Smedley 1927. Hester died in 1982 in Chelsea.
Hester’s daughter was Henrietta Hester Marsden-Smedley b.1935 d.1998

0215 –  – Henry Head with his daughter Hester Pinney and grand-daughters at Buckingham House. It is probably Hester Harriott in her mother’s arms. c.1903 a couple of years before his death. Location at the front door to Buckingham ©SAS

Sons and daughters of Henry and Hester Head:

Link to Head Family Tree (from page 32)
Census returns for Buckingham 1841-1901

The contents of the Buckingham Book (II)

The mystery of what happened to the first half of The Buckingham Book is perhaps explained by a number of photos in the SAS / Marlipins Collection of images. Whilst there seems to be just 11 images they are of a similar nature to those in the second half of the book. The suggestion is these 11 were cherry picked by SAS and the rest of the book is in their archive awaiting full scrutiny and publication.

The selected contents of the Buckingham Book (I)

Further reading:

The timeline of Buckingham House(s)
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Victoria Road School

Junior School (built as The Victoria Upper Council School in 1915)

Victoria Road school has a curious history. Following the Education Act 1870, a school board for New Shoreham was established in 1872, taking over the National Schools and replacing them with a new school in Ham Road in 1875.

In 1913 £4500 was allocated to build a new school on Victoria Road. This was the preferred site to the alternative proposal between Rosslyn Road and Gordon Road. Clearance of many mature trees was required and demolition of on the site of the derelict and overgrown Swiss Gardens including removal of the walls to the “Dungeon” passageway between Victoria Road and Old Shoreham. By 1915 older children from Ham Road School went to the newly built Victoria Upper Council School.

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Truleigh Hill Then and Now

Truleigh Hill Then and Now

The RAF Truleigh Hill Radar base has seen an immense amount of change in the short time it has been hidden from public view. The World War 2 radar base was a sprawling overground site with scattered buildings and technical structures. Within a few years of the end of the war the threat and technology had moved on and Truleigh Hill was one of a number of sites chosen for the top secret expansion and upgrade of radar early warning capability. A huge civil engineering project of unparalled size was undertaken and in less than a year an underground, blast proof facility was dug, built and covered. The detail of the scale of similar cold war construction projects is told here. The detail of RAF Truleigh Hill’s history is recounted here.

Post war RAF site layout with facilities at that time, pre-ROTOR bunker construction. Image RCHME
The location of the 1952 underground facility and access tunnel overlayed the 2023 aerial view.
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100 years ago – the White Horse Cup Final

Programme from Bartlett Collection

Hidden amongst the Bartlett Collection in the Photo Galleries is a copy of the FA Cup Final Programme cover from 1923. This FA Cup Final, 100 years ago today, was famous for the crowd invasion where 300,000 fans got into Wembley stadium. The crowds swarmed onto the pitch and the game was delayed significantly. Police attempted to control the crowds and the iconic image of a white police horse surrounded by the crowd became the iconic image of the event.

The iconic image. Public Domain
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White & Co.

In 1952, I started an Apprenticeship at White and Co. The trade I was to learn was that of Wood machining, It meant, travel to Brighton Technical College twice weekly for two evening classes, and one all day class, which combined with one of the evening classes. It was a long day leaving Shoreham at 8am and returning at 10:30, all for £1 10/- weekly, no assistance with train fares. The Hourly week was 44 hours. Of course the evening classes from 7 until 9 pm were extra. 

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Shoreham Power Stations

Brighton A Power Station

Brighton B and Brighton A: Photo from Syd Bunker Facebook.

The construction on the first Shoreham power station located in Southwick commenced in in 1902 and the new station named Southwick opened in 1906. There were three M.V. turbo-alternators, each 1.8 MW running at 1500 r.p.m., 8 kV, 50 Hz with a 1 hour overload capacity cf 33% . The new station was connected by five 8 kV cables to the old North Road site where there were two 1500 kW rotary converters (the largest to that time) and four 500 kW motor generators. These replaced some of the earlier generators – the last of which was removed in 1908. Its site chosen because of its position on the harbour, meaning plentiful supply of water for cooling, and access to coal via the shipping route from NE England. The generating capacity of 5,470 kW. Pulverised coal boilers were installed in 1929 with similar steam conditions to the older one. The burners were located at the corners of the furnace. They were dogged with problems until an explosion in the P.F. bunker sealed the fate of the “Bin and Feeder” arrangement used.

The station was given numerous modifications and extensions, and by 1946 it had a increased capacity. Rapidly changing loads and wide range of fuels used made it impossible for the boilers to keep to steam temperature variations, leading to certain failures. The design was abandoned by the British power supply industry in the 1950s as it could not be used for the larger sizes required. By 1961 the station had an installed capacity of 190 MW.    Seawater was used for condensing and cooling.

Southwick Power Station in 1924. Photo Britain from Above
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A W Wardell Photographer and Postcard Publisher

Bill Wardell

AW Wardell was an accomplished photographer and publisher of postcards from 1907 to around 1960. He was based in Brighton and latterly Worthing. You can find out much more on this excellent website. https://www.sussexpostcards.info/publishers.php?PubID=296
Bill Wardell was one of the first to publish a range of aerial scenes on postcards, pioneering an effective technique of excellent shot framing and high quality imagery from the glass plate camera he carried in the 2nd seat a biplane.

CAF Squadron based at Shoreham from March 1919

His aerial photographs of Shoreham are from 1919. It is noted he was in an Avro 504 based at the airport. Note in the first aerial photo of Shoreham (No.33) there are numerous bell tents in the SE corner of the airport – for the Canadian Air Force No. 81 Squadron stationed there in 1919, and possibly the source of Bill Wardell’s aircraft taxi to get his photographs. You may also note the two hangars of the Royal Navy seaplane base at the southern end of Ferry Road.

Summer 1919 Shoreham looking SE no.33
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