A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
1890-1948
Mayor of Brighton for three terms 1938-1941, he was secretary of Brighton & Hove Albion Supporters' Club and a member of the Playgoers Masonic Lodge. He died at Methuen House Nursing Home,
• Nanson Road
• Talbot Crescent
PERSONAL
• Flat 5, Bedford Court, Bedford Place [residence 1925-1948] Mrs Nanson lived in Flat 4 1913-1935; John took over that flat too
• Methuen House Nursing Home, 216 Preston Road [deathplace 1948]
1782-1856
Born in Lambeth, who studied architecture before enrolling at the Royal Academy. He specialised in landscapes and architectural subjects, described by J M W Turner as the greatest architectural artist of his time. He moved to Brighton in 1834 and remained for the rest of his life. In 1837 a 'violent hurricane' dislodged a chimney that fell through his studio roof and narrowly missed Nash. He is buried in Brighton cemetery. His remaining works were auctioned at his house on 21 March 1857. His will is in the National Archives1.
• 44 Montpelier Road [residence 1834-1856, deathplace]
1PROB 11/2246/336
1904-1986
Actress.Born Florence Marjorie Robertson, she made her stage debut as a dancer in revues in 1917. In 1931 she had her first major stage success in Stand Up and Sing, starring Jack Buchanan. The two starred together the following year in the film musical Goodnight, Vienna, produced by Herbert Wilcox, whom she married in 1943 after a working partnership that had already produced a number of very successful films. In 1949 she was voted Britain's most popular star. When Wilcox lost substantial amounts of money on film flops, being made bankrupt in 1964, Neagle returned to the stage in Charlie Girl, which ran for six years and revived the couple's fortunes. She continued to work to within a year of her death.
• 18 Lewes Crescent* [residence 1954-1969]
• Nevill Avenue
• Nevill Road
PERSONAL
• Patcham Court
1826-1915
Member of the land-owning family.He succeeded his father as 5th Earl of Abergavenny in 1868; created Earl of Lewes and Marquess of Abergavenny in January 1876 for his work in managing the Tory party. He was one of the founders of the Junior Carlton Club in 1864 and the Yorkshire Post in 1866. Lord Lieutenant of Sussex 1892-1905. The family seat was at Eridge Castle, Frant, Sussex.
Image: Portrait by Joseph Sydney Willis Hodges (1887) [The Amelia, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council]
• 9 Chichester Terrace
1816-1893
Sometimes incorrectly described a life-long Brightonian, he was actually born in Westminster and spent his early years in Lambeth, London. The family moved to Brighton in the 1840s. His father was a violin teacher; Nibbs himself trained as a musician and played cello in the pit at the Theatre Royal. However, he was self-taught as an artist, a calling he pursued full time from 1840 after receiving a substantial inheritance. He specialised in marine scenes, many along the Sussex coast: 20 of them are in Brighton & Hove Museums collection. He left £3,545 9s 5d. His last home was marked by a blue plaque in 2023.
• 11 Mount Zion Place [residence 1851]
• 8 Howard Place [residence 1854-1873]
• 7 Buckingham Place [residence 1874-1893]
1920-1940
Pilot.Born at East Retford, Lincolnshire, he joined the Royal Air Force as a Volunteer Reserve in 1938 and after the outbreak of war and operation training, he was assigned to 43 Squadron at RAF Tangmere, West Sussex on 3 August 1940. On 30 August 12 Hurricanes, including Noble's P3179, were scrambled to intercept German fighters, which they met over Hove Lagoon. P3179 was hit and crashed into Woodhouse Road, creating a crater and burying the plane. It was assumed that the pilot's body was removed—a coffin was sent to his home town—but when the crash site was excavated in 1996, Noble's remains were found in the fusilage and returned to the family. The pub at 324 Portland Road nearby was renamed Noble House between 2012 and 2016.
• Noble House, 324 Portland Road [2012-2016]
PERSONAL
• Woodhouse Road [deathplace]
1903-1978
Bandleader and composer.Born the son of a doctor, he attended the Royal Academy of Music. He won a competition in 1927 for the best British dance band orchestrator and two years later became leader of the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, formed to record for HMV with many of the best musicians of the time, including from 1930 the vocalist Al Bowlly. His song compositions include 'Goodnight, Sweetheart', 'Love is the Sweetest Thing' and 'The Very Thought of You'. He went to live in New York in 1934 and formed a new band with musicians recruited by Glenn Miller, who played trombone in the band. As well as recording and making many broadcasts, he also acted (upper-class Brit) in several films. He retired to California but returned to live in Jersey in the late 1960s and died of cancer in a London hospital.
• 1 Montpelier Terrace [birthplace, childhood home 1903-1905]
1882-1957
Barrister.The second woman to be called to the Bar in England and Wales and, in November 1922, the first practising female barrister in the UK. She was one of the first two women barristers to take silk as King's Counsel (KC). She campaigned for female suffrage and women's rights. After the death of her father, her mother moved to Brighton to run a grocery store and then a boarding house. Helena won a scholarship at York Place Science School, later Varndean School for Girls). Her ashes are buried near those of her husband, Gavin Bowman Watson Clark, in the churchyard of St Wulfrans, Ovingdean. Her bequest was the first donation to the fund to found a university in Sussex.
• St Wulfrans, Ovingdean [burial place]
1880-1958
Poet and author.His first volume of poetry was published while he was still a student at Oxford. His 'The Highwayman' is one of the best known and best-loved English poems. After two lecture tours of the United States dealing with disarmament and world peace, he was invited to become a visiting professor in modern English literature at Princeton, where his students included Edmund Wilson and F Scott Fitzgerald. He held the post from 1914 to 1923, during most of which time his English home was in Rottingdean, and continued to tour America for the rest of his life.
• Ewhurst, Steyning Road, Rottingdean [residence 1910-1921]