NEWSLETTER NO. 6 - Mar 2005

The Society’s first Annual General Meeting, attended by 73 members, was held on 12 Dec 2004; the full report can be found on the Society website. Membership at year end totalled 150, of which 62 were family members. As a result, and because functions in 2004 had produced a useful profit, the Society had a year end surplus of £1757. The outlook for 2005 was promising, if membership renewals continued at a high rate, but expenses were likely to be higher for speakers and for the quarterly newsletter.

The meeting endorsed the Constitution and elected the Committee to run the Society for the next twelve months. The programme of talks for 2005 had also been settled and the Chairman hoped that the mix of topics would continue to provide something of interest to every member.

Mulled wine and mince pies were served and then representatives of the five task groups reported on the year’s progress .

Development of Wadhurst (Rachel Ring): The group had decided to place emphasis on the Victorian period. They had done very interesting work with the Courthope Map (c 1840) and a 36’ x 12’ Tithe Map: six back-breaking hours had been spent tracing this. A fascinating picture had been created and was on display.

Estates and Buildings (Michael Harte): A visit had been made to Wadhurst Park with a tour of the house, contents and estate buildings. This had led to the three-part article in the Newsletters. A visit to Snape Barn had been interesting—especially a painted board with the iron-master’s poem. An e-mail from Canada about Three Oaks Farm (aka Browns and Gatehouse Farms) and its forced sale in 1803 had ended with the Society receiving a gift of four pieces of vellum about the sale. This document will be an invaluable resource as it includes many names still in Wadhurst.

Family History (Emma Richardson and Rosemarie Peeling): Between Summer 2002 andl September 2004, all churchyard inscriptions have been deciphered and recorded. The group is now researching the Victorians and will be tracking families. Some of their results feature on p.4.

Industry and Agriculture (Martin Turner): Research was under way on bricks; iron production; wood; brewing; railways; the Government Farming Survey for the war effort; the use of marl and marlpits; weaving; the growing of flax. John Hardcastle of Whiligh had been interviewed and the Courthope Ledger had provided a fascinating insight into life there, commenting on the weather, pay on Good Fridays, Coursley (sic) Wood and Bueman’s (Beauman’s). John Millett talked about farriers and blacksmiths in Wadhurst and the information gleaned from the 1851 census.

Oral History (Heather Woodward): The group had enjoyed an active if sometimes frustrating year. Interviews were being recorded but the technicalities of then dealing with the tracking, archiving and transcribing of these recordings had caused considerable delays. It had been decided to interview people who could provide valuable information about Wadhurst so that we can build as complete a picture as possible of the town in the 20th Century and earlier. The current interview list was 91; of that list 18 had been interviewed but 8 had already died.

This group is the least specific of all the task groups but it is the one which can devote itself to the most important resource of all – people. Thanks are therefore given, to all who have been or will be interviewed, for the valuable contribution they are making to our understanding and knowledge of Wadhurst

On 5 January 2005, when the stage curtains parted I could easily have been convinced that Jack Fuller, rather than Geoff Hutchinson, was standing before us. Once again, the History Society was treated to another entertaining and informative evening. Jack Fuller, the English eccentric, lived during the reigns of George II, George III who was on the throne for 60 years and George IV, famous for building Brighton Pavilion.

Jack’s life was lived in two parts, his early years given to the excesses of a rich young man driven by ambition and the love of leisure and pleasure but eventually mellowing, anxious to redress his headstrong youth, share his wealth and give something back to society. Born in 1757 Jack inherited his fortune at 20 years of age. His family had settled in Heathfield in the 16th century and had made their money from the iron industry and from sugar plantations in Jamaica. As well as the Brightling estate he inherited property in Wimpole Street, Devonshire Place and Jamaica.

He was interested in politics and in those days money bought seats. Life was exciting: he was a friend of William Pitt, England was fighting the American War of Independence and then Napoleon Bonaparte declared war. Soldiering became his interest and he formed the Sussex Yeomanry providing colourful uniforms and organising skirmishers to keep his men ready for action, although these usually ended in a draw followed by port to drink. He became the High Sheriff of Sussex and the Keeper of the King’s Peace.

In 1807 he almost lost his parliamentary seat to Col Sergison who attacked Jack for voting against the abolition of the slave trade. Jack countered this by labelling Sergison a Papist and, because anti-popery feeling was strong in Sussex, he secured the vote. Jack was a colourful MP but after a few fairly turbulent years his enthusiasm for politics waned and his approach to life became more benevolent.

Leaving politics in 1810 he turned to the world of Art, Culture, Architecture and Science. He became friends with Joseph Turner and the architect Sir Robert Smirke. Jack approached the vicar of Brightling for consent to build the Pyramid in the churchyard and it is assumed that Smirke had a say in its design and construction. Jack Fuller was a founder member of the Royal Institution and he set up two professorships in science. These interests also led him to build the Observatory, the Garden Temple on the Hill, the Obelisk, the Hermit's Tower and the Sugar Loaf. Times were hard and these projects all provided employment for the villagers. He also had a four mile wall built to enclose Rose Hill, the Brightling estate, at a cost of £10,000.

In 1828 he purchased Bodiam Castle from the Webster family for 3000 guineas. He purchased the first lifeboat in Eastbourne and built the lighthouse on the cliffs. Jack was a regular church attender and maintained the village church. In 1815 he had five bells in the tower recast to commemorate an old soldier friend. A great character, Jack knew all the famous people of his time. He was very fond of the ladies and at the age of 33 he proposed to Susanna Thrale but, when she turned him down, he remained a bachelor all his life.

His nephews inherited his estate on his death in 1834 aged 77 years. While Jack Fuller’s “follies” are a very visible reminder of the man, it was Jack’s wish to put things back into society, that he hoped would make him remembered for the right reasons.     Anna Monaghan

On 9 February 2005 Dr Frank Gray, Director of the South East Film and Video Archive [SEFVA], gave a talk entitled ‘Moving Images of Sussex’. He explained that there are eight similar archives across England, each encompassing a separate region, but inter-linked. The aim of the SEFVA is to preserve the moving image, starting with early film material, moving on to video and then to digital. SEFVA's search for early film was begun in 1992, when much film had already been lost. However film turns up in many unsuspected places—hospitals, police stations, offices and in people's homes.

Dr Gray pointed out that even amateur film showing everyday life can provide valuable historical information on bygone days, especially if this material is used in conjunction with other contemporary evidence. A collection of film is being built up for loan to schools, museums, record offices and exhibitions, and ways are being explored to make this material interesting and accessible. Dr Gray hoped that in the future it would be possible for the public to access the material via their computer network. Much of the material shown included life and work in Kent.

The first film, entitled Our Daily Bread, was shot in Ashford by a local farmer called Ernest Hotting and covered a period around 1934/35. It provided a vivid picture of life on a farm in a pre-mechanised period when horses were still used for ploughing and bringing in the harvest (although there were shots of a tractor in use). Although this was produced by an amateur film-maker, the quality of the film suggests that Mr. Botting had put much thought into its production.

A second film showed everyday life in Tunbridge Wells in the 1960s, revealing a time capsule of a particular town at a particular time. One of the shots showed a blacksmith at his work, and this was identified as being of Mr. Bassett, who worked in Wadhurst. We are not quite sure how this came to be included in a film about Tunbridge Wells. Dr Gray explained that one of the excitements of working on a collection like this is to gradually accrue more and more evidence, from different sources, about what is actually being portrayed, and learning the identity of Mr. Bassett was just one more piece in the jigsaw about this particular archive material.

We were then shown several shorter clips, one of which showed the opening of a swimming pool in Brighton in 1934. This pool was the largest sea-water covered swimming pool in the world at the time. It had an advanced filter system to purify the water. For some reason the public appeared to prefer sea bathing and the pool was closed in less than eighteen months. Another film on leisure showed the history of surfboarding from 1930 until the present day.

This was followed by a film entitled On The Land depicting hop picking in Kent in 1930s and one of a family birthday party of a young girl in the 1930s. The last film to be shown was of street life in Canterbury with cars, horse-drawn carts, bicycles and pedestrians all co-existing, apparently amicably, in the congested highway. Some streets shown are still recognisable whilst other parts have now been demolished.

The evening ended with a plea from Dr. Gray to search our cupboards and attics to discover any old films which might be lurking there. His department would be delighted to look at them to see if they contained material of interest, and reminded us that film decomposes quickly if not properly stored. If we find any ‘buried treasure’ we should contact him on 01273 643 213 or write to him at SEFVA, University of Brighton, Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Grand Parade, Brighton BN2 2JY.      Gwyn Skae

The Society’s English Wine Tasting evening on 12 Feb 2005 was another successful event. 88 members and friends enjoyed 8 very different English wines from the English Wine Centre at Alfriston, in a tutored tasting led by Michael Goolden. An English cheese ploughman’s and a raffle rounded the evening off. The event raised over £500 for the Society’s funds; as a result, we now have a 10ft square projection screen for use at our meetings.