George MacDonald – official unveiling of new plaque

Wellington Square
Saturday 2nd May, 2.30 PM

Edward Preston will be conducting a walk at the end of the ceremony.

George MacDonald came to Hastings in 1857 for health reasons and lived at 27 Tackleway in the Old Town. Whilst there he wrote his first prose book entitled "Phantastes". This work was later to inspire the likes of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

George MacDonald and family left Hastings for London in 1858. They were to return some ten years later with a somewhat larger family, now including 11 children. The family lived at Holloway House off Old London Road. Whilst at Holloway House MacDonald completed his book "At the Back of the North Wind"

He took an active interest in local activities and was founder of the Hastings & St Leonards Philosophical Society which was started in 1858 and gave lectures at the Public Hall in Hastings and the Assembly Rooms in St Leonards.

Fantasy

• Phantastes: A Fairie Romance for Men and Women (1858)
• "Cross Purposes" (1862)
• Adela Cathcart (1864), containing "The Light Princess", "The Shadows", and other short stories
• The Portent: A Story of the Inner Vision of the Highlanders, Commonly Called "The Second Sight" (1864)
• Dealings with the Fairies (1867), containing "The Golden Key", "The Light Princess", "The Shadows", and other short stories
• At the Back of the North Wind (1871)
• Works of Fancy and Imagination (1871), including Within and Without, "Cross Purposes", "The Light Princess", "The Golden Key", and other works
• The Princess and the Goblin (1872)
• The Wise Woman: A Parable (1875)
• The Gifts of the Child Christ and Other Tales (1882; republished as Stephen Archer and Other Tales)
• The Day Boy and the Night Girl (1882)
• The Princess and Curdie (1883), a sequel to The Princess and the Goblin
• The Flight of the Shadow (1891)
• Lilith: A Romance (1895)

Realistic fiction

David Elginbrod (1863; republished as The Tutor's First Love), originally published in three volumes

• Alec Forbes of Howglen (1865; republished as The Maiden's Bequest)
• Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood (1867)
• Guild Court: A London Story (1868)
• Robert Falconer (1868; republished as The Musician's Quest)
• The Seaboard Parish (1869), a sequel to Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood
• Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood (1871)
• Wilfrid Cumbermede (1871–72)
• The Vicar's Daughter (1871–72), a sequel to Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood and The Seaboard Parish
• The History of Gutta Percha Willie, the Working Genius (1873), usually called simply Gutta Percha Willie
• Malcolm (1875)
• St. George and St. Michael (1876)
• Thomas Wingfold, Curate (1876; republished as The Curate's Awakening)
• The Marquis of Lossie (1877; republished as The Marquis' Secret), the second book of Malcolm
• Paul Faber, Surgeon (1879; republished as The Lady's Confession), a sequel to Thomas Wingfold, Curate
• Sir Gibbie (1879; republished as The Baronet's Song)
• Mary Marston (1881; republished as A Daughter's Devotion)
• Warlock o' Glenwarlock (1881; republished as Castle Warlock and The Laird's Inheritance)
• Weighed and Wanting (1882; republished as A Gentlewoman's Choice)
• Donal Grant (1883; republished as The Shepherd's Castle), a sequel to Sir Gibbie
• What's Mine's Mine (1886; republished as The Highlander's Last Song)
• Home Again: A Tale (1887; republished as The Poet's Homecoming)
• The Elect Lady (1888; republished as The Landlady's Master)
• A Rough Shaking (1891)
• There and Back (1891; republished as The Baron's Apprenticeship), a sequel to Thomas Wingfold, Curate and Paul Faber, Surgeon
• Heather and Snow (1893; republished as The Peasant Girl's Dream)
• Salted with Fire (1896; republished as The Minister's Restoration)
• Far Above Rubies (1898)

Poetry

• Twelve of the Spiritual Songs of Novalis (1851), privately printed translation of the poetry of Novalis
• Within and Without: A Dramatic Poem (1855)
• Poems (1857)
• "A Hidden Life" and Other Poems (1864)
• "The Disciple" and Other Poems (1867)
• Exotics: A Translation of the Spiritual Songs of Novalis, the Hymn-book of Luther, and Other Poems from the German and Italian (1876)
• Dramatic and Miscellaneous Poems (1876)
• A Book of Strife, in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul (1880), privately printed
• The Threefold Cord: Poems by Three Friends (1883), privately printed, with Greville Matheson and John Hill MacDonald
• Poems (1887)
• The Poetical Works of George MacDonald, 2 Volumes (1893)
• Scotch Songs and Ballads (1893)
• Rampolli: Growths from a Long-planted Root (1897)

Nonfiction

• Unspoken Sermons (1867)
• England's Antiphon (1868, 1874)
• The Miracles of Our Lord (1870)
• Cheerful Words from the Writing of George MacDonald (1880), compiled by E. E. Brown
• Orts: Chiefly Papers on the Imagination, and on Shakespeare (1882)
• "Preface" (1884) to Letters from Hell (1866) by Valdemar Adolph Thisted
• The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: A Study With the Test of the Folio of 1623 (1885)
• Unspoken Sermons, Second Series (1885)
• Unspoken Sermons, Third Series (1889)
• A Cabinet of Gems, Cut and Polished by Sir Philip Sidney; Now, for the More Radiance, Presented Without Their Setting by George MacDonald (1891)
• The Hope of the Gospel (1892)
• A Dish of Orts (1893)
• Beautiful Thoughts from George MacDonald (1894), compiled by Elizabeth Dougall

Pier Opens 21st March 2016 – 950th Anniversary of Battle of Hastings

http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/local/hastings-pier-to-open-in-march-2016-1-6692437

Hastings Pier will not be opening this year as planned, it was announced this morning (Thursday).

Simon Opie, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Hastings Pier Charity, said the attraction will open for business on March 21, 2016.

“Almost all the work will be finished this year but not completed in time to open the pier during any of the traditional seaside trading months.”

The charity has ruled out opening the pier in the winter.

Completion is expected around October this year.

Hastings Borough Cemetery Exhibition

History House
21 Courthouse Street

Come and be inspired by some of the people buried in our cemetery – you may have some surprises!

A small sample:

AH B23 Sir John Kincaid 1787-1862 Fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo with the Rifle Brigade; author, and the likely model for Bernard Cornwell’s character Richard Sharpe.

AH L02 George Elphinstone Dalrymple 1826-76 Explorer, settler of N. Queensland, where many places are named after him. Read his story & many others at www.friendsofhastingscemetery.org.uk

AI E26 Tilden Tolhurst sentenced to ten years transportation for stealing a sheep in 1839, he spent the time on a prison hulk Leviathan, at Portsea Town. He also ran a beer shop the ‘Prince of Wales’ in Waterloo Passage.

AJ K22 Mortimer Achill Graf von Schlippenbach was wounded in the Prussian wars 1870-71. He lived in West Hill Road. A most unusual memorial with a life extinguished represented by a downward pointing torch.

AK A24 Rev Charles Lutwidge & family An uncle, aunt & cousin of Lewis Carroll are buried here. Carroll frequently stayed in Hastings with his aunts

BE L02 George Devey 1820 - 1886 He took drawing classes under John Sell Cotman. An introduction to Lord de L'Isle started his career as a country house architect, he worked for the Rothschilds at Mentmore. He designed Fairlight Church. By 1881 he was living at 12 Pelham Crescent where he died.

BF A22 John Harper Narbeth, 1863-1944 Naval Architect Designer of the Dreadnought class battle ship among others. Buried at Cheltenham commemorated on his wife’s memorial here. They lived at 65 Sedlescombe Road South.

CC B1-5 Corry Family Edward and his wife Sarah came from Ireland. He was a ‘Russia’ merchant dealing in iron and copper. Their daughter Mayflower died at the Convent of Our Lady of the Missions in Old London Road Hastings in 1863. Sons - Alfred James was an engineer & Edward junior a barrister. Edward sen. died at 67 Marina, his daughter Sarah died at Fairfield, Boscobel Road. The Alfred Corry Museum, Southwold houses the lifeboat that Alfred endowed.

DB W34-5 Anna M. Whistler 1804-81 Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, married Major George Washington Whistler. In 1842 Tsar Nicholas I appointed him chief engineer for the St Petersburg to Moscow railway, the family moved to Russia where George died. Son James entered West Point while William studied medicine. James, dismissed from West Point in 1854, became an artist. 1862 Anna came to England as housekeeper and agent for him. William followed and sett up practice in London. Anna retired to St Mary’s Terrace, Hastings. William and his wife Helen Ionides are also buried in Hastings cemetery.

DE T39 William Montague Glenister 1828-1894 Chief Constable of Hastings for 37 years, with Tutt he founded the Volunteer Fire Brigade. He invented a first aid tricycle for firemen to use in rescues. A much respected man, his memorial, with Masonic symbolism, was paid for by fellow townsfolk.

DF A52 Charles Sheldon Pearce Woodruffe 1839-1906 Capt RN. Served in the Crimea and against pirates in the South China Sea. He was decorated for his work as a coastguard at Kessingland. He lived at Old Roar House and commanded the local coastguards.

EB G16 & 17 Fishermen’s Plot 1886 Purchased by the Fishermen's Widows and Orphans Fund following the loss of life when the RX 3 “James and Elizabeth” went down in a storm off Dungeness in 1886. Several other fishermen who died tragically are also remembered here.

See more at http://friendsofhastingscemetery.org.uk/

Book-Sale – this weekend – History House, 21 Courthouse Street

Muriel Matters at St Mary in the Castle

Thursday 16th April
6:00pm

Film Screening: 'Muriel Matters!'
Pay what you can!
Donations to help towards the upkeep of the St. Mary in the Castle are welcome.

Driven Dedication – new book for sale in the History House

by Mrs Gillian Mary Webb (Author), Mr Tom Newton Webb (Editor) - £5.00

Dorothy came from a long line of Blackmans, strong minded, indomitable Sussex men and women who once they set their mind to anything went on until they achieved it. Family always came first. She was a Vicar's wife, mother of three and grandmother of seven. Dorothy was a natural writer with a sharp, enquiring mind. With stubbornness and determination in equal quantities she could move mountains. She led an archaeological dig for over twenty years. She founded the Village Museum and the Framework Knitters Museum in Ruddington, Nottinghamshire. She was a truly inspirational person to all who met her.

Free Old Town Walks 2015

Historic Hastings – Mainwaring Baines

Second edition - Copy available for sale in the History House - £25

Move fast, won’t last long!

A Date for your diary?

‘Muriel Matters!’ at St Mary in the Castle on Thursday 16 April from 6.00pm

More information to follow………