- | –1700
- | 1830s
- | 1840s
- | 1850s
- | 1860s
- | 1870s
- | 1880s
- | 1890s
- | 1900s
- | 1910s
- | 1920s
- | 1930s
- | 1940s
- | 1950s
January 5 A deformed man, named Coombs, who had previously been convicted of shooting a man at Portslade, is found dead in his bed in a wretched hovel in Henry Street.
January 12 LB&SCR declares a dividend of 10 per cent for the half year.
January 13 The first annual meeting of the Brighton Children’s Hospital takes place.
January 17 Professor Risley’s Japanese troupe gives an entertainment at the Pavilion.
January 18 Rev John Nelson Goulty dies, aged 81.
January An experimental five-mile long wire tramway is laid over the Downs from Black Rock gasworks. The cable, supported on pulleys, is driven by a drum, powered by a portable steam engine. Boxes of merchandise attached to the wire can be transported at a speed of between four and six miles an hour.
February 3 The annual meeting of the Brighton Ladies’ Sanitary Association takes place at the Pavilion.
February 11 A poor woman named Dench, residing in Richmond Buildings, dies from heart disease, accelerated by want and exposure.
February 21 At a meeting, held in the Pavilion, it is resolved actively to undertake the re-building of Lady Huntingdon’s (North Street) Chapel.
February 24 Brighton town council offers a contract to install a new wood ceiling in the council chamber and other works at the Town Hall.
March 2 An important meeting on the government’s Education Bill is held in the Town Hall.
March 23 Mrs Fawcett makes her debut as a public lecturer in Brighton.
March 28 A number of inhabitants meet at the Town Hall under the presidency of Mr Richard Edwards, and memorialise the Council against the adoption of the Intercepting Sewers Bill.
April 6 The Town Council resolves, by 19 to 13, to promote the Intercepting Sewers Bill as before Parliament.
April 11 The Brighton theatrical season is brought to a close.
April 16 A circus is opened at Brill’s Old Baths.
April 19 Brighton borough surveyor, P E Lockwood, advertises for about 70 tons of ironwork and fittings for the new sewerage work.
April 26 A young lady, travelling from Brighton to London, falls out of a carriage and is killed. The guard, who had neglected to lock the door, next day commits suicide.
May 4 The town council accepts Mr Blackmore’s tender to construct the public baths for £920, and Messrs Reed’s to supply the engineer’s work for £575.
May 23 The Brighton Sewers Bill passes the House of Commons.
June 1 The foundation stone of the Clifton Road Congregational Chapel is laid by J Wright and G F Tippett.
June 2 A town meeting takes place with a view of furthering the prospects of the forthcoming Regatta.
June 15 A meeting to promote an employment registry takes place at the Town Hall.
June 20 A meeting, adverse to the extension of the Contagious Diseases Act takes place in the Town Hall.
July 2 A Home for Invalid Gentlemen is opened in West Hill Road.
July 5 A contract offer from the Royal Engineers Office, Brighton closes to re-construct soldiers’ barrack rooms.
July 6 The council resolves on taking on itself the debt on the Pavilion Dome organ, £1,575 2s 9d.
July 20 The council chooses the Brighton members of the Sewers Board.
July 22 A fire, doing considerable damage, occurs at the chemical works at Black Rock.
July Brighton Corporation is negotiating a £1,500 loan towards the cost of new public baths currently under construction.
July A contract for new police cells at the town hall is awarded to Blackmore.
August 1 The summer season commences at the Brighton Theatre.
August 8 First meeting of the Brighton Sewers Board, established under the Brighton Intercepting and Outfall Sewers Act. Alderman Hallett is appointed chairman.
August 15 The foundation stone of the new building of Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel is laid by the Earl of Shaftesbury.
September 6 Brighton Sewers Board accepts an offer from an engineer called Hawkshaw to superintend the construction of the new sewerage works based on his drawings and specifications at a cost of c.£80,000 (equal to £8.25m in 2025), including Hawkshaw’s five per cent (£4,000) fee.
September 19 The regular dramatic season commences at the Brighton Theatre.
October 4 Mr F J Tillstone is appointed clerk of the Sewers Board and Mr David Black solicitor.
October 8 Rev H M Wagner dies.
October 22 The Brighton coach runs for the last time this season.
October 24 The aurora borealis is very plain on this and the following evenings.
October 29 The public baths in North Road are opened by the mayor.
November 1 The Sewers Board accepts the tender of Mr Matthew Jenning to carry out the sewer for the sum of £86,962 (equal to £8.97m in 2025).
November 1 The annual election on the town councillors takes place.
November 7 An indignation meeting of the Park Wardites, protesting against the election of Councillor John Fabian, takes place.
November 29 Another indignation meeting in the matter of Mr Fabian’s election is held at the Town Hall.
December 13 The first election of a school board for Brighton takes place.
December 15 An explosion of gas, doing considerable damage, occurs in Preston Street at the premises of Mr Volk and Mr Chapman.
December 15 The new vicar of Brighton (Dr Hannah) is formally inducted to the vicarate.
December 18 The new vicar reads himself in and preaches his first sermon at the parish church.
December 21 The public meeting to arrange for the distribution of soup to the poor takes place.
January 5 The first meeting of the Brighton School Board is held.
January 6 Stanmer House narrowly escapes description by fire.
January 23 Mr Henry Willett issues an address repudiating further connection with his former protegee, Professor Fawcett.
January 26 The Court of Exchequer adjudges the Corporation of Brighton liable to the payment of income tax on its coal duties.
February 8 The intercepting sewer is commenced at Cliftonville.
February 23 The Privy Council gives judgment against Rev John Purchas as to ritualistic proceedings at St James’s Church.
March 9 The Guardians accept the tender of Messrs Cheesman, £2,680, for enlargement and alteration of the workhouse.
March 15 A heavy gale occurs and several fishing boats are driven ashore, considerable damage being done to them.
March 20 Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion Church re-opens in North Street.
April 9 Prince Arthur arrives in Brighton for the Review.
April 13 A series of prize matches commences at the tennis court in Middle Street.
April 26 The Privy Council dismisses (with costs) an application made by Rev H J Purchas for a re-hearing of his case.
April 28 A deputation of the Licensed Victuallers of Brighton has an interview with the borough and county members with reference to the government’s Beer Bill.
May 12 A dinner party of gentlemen interested in building on the Prince’s Dairy estate at Preston takes place at the Marlborough Hotel.
May 17 The town council agrees tot the conversion of the Pavilion eastern buildings for the purposes of a library and museum.
May 19 A fire occurs at Mr Wisden’s cricket bat manufactory in Duke Street.
May 23 A meeting in furtherance of the newly-formed Society for the Suppression of Mendicancy takes place at the National Schools.
June 13 An inquest is held at the Carpenters’ Arms In on the body of a child named Barker, poisoned by partaking of chocolate creams. Thus commences (publicly) the ‘Brighton poisoning cases’.
June 17 In the Court of Exchequer a decision is given against the Corporation on its application to be relieved pf income tax on the coal duties.
June 30 A labourer named Gosden is killed in the works of the intercepting sewer on Marine Parade.
July 8 The night porter at the Grand Hotel is killed in an accident to the lift.
July 31 The Brighton Theatre opens for the season.
August 14 John Lillywhite’s benefit cricket match at Hove results in a draw. Dr W G Grace scores 217 of the Gentlemen’s one innings of 496, the highest score in a Gentlemen v Players match, passing the 215 he score in the same fixture the previous year at the Oval. The record stands until 1901.
August 18 Miss Edmunds is brough before the magistrates charged with distributing poisoned sweets.
August 21 Brighton Regatta commences but only s few sailing matches take place owing to the rough weather.
September 8 At her fifth examination Miss Edmunds is committed for trial at the assizes.
October 2 The notorious Bradlaugh lectures in Brighton.
October 24 An extraordinary failure of the water supply occurs in Brighton.
October 26 The town council resolves on taking immediate steps to acquire the water supply.
October 26 A great public meeting at the Dome to promote the disestablishment of the English Church proves a great failure.
October 28 Thomas Geeran, a well-known character, dies in the workhouse, aged 105.
November 1 The municipal elections take place.
November 2 A dispute between the directors and the contractor for the Aquarium works is brought before the Court of Chancery.
November 8 A newly erected iron church in Stanford Road is entirely destroyed by fire.
November 8 The handsome drinking fountain near St Peter’s Church, presented by Mr F Chatfield, is inaugurated.
November 9 Mr Cordy Burrows is chosen for the third time as mayor of Brighton.
November 14 Mr Sidney Smith gives an entertainment at the Pavilion.
November 18 A serious accident occurs, caused by a horse with a coal cart running away down Waterloo Street. A hand-chair is upset and a lady named Levett, standing by, is knocked down, seriously injured, and conveyed to the hospital, where she dies.
November 23 Lewes Road Congregational Chapel is opened.
November 25 An application is made, with success, for the removal to London of the trial of Miss Edmunds.
December 4 Charles Hallé and Wilhelmine Neruda give a recital at the Pavilion.
December 15 The town council resolves on going to parliament for power to treat with the water company on agreed terms for the acquisition of their works.
December 21 A proposition for the adoption of the Local Government Act for Preston, submitted to a Vestry meeting, is rejected.
December 22 A Winter Assize is held at Lewes. The grand jury returns true bills against Miss Edmunds, who is thereon committed to take her trial at the Central Criminal Court.
January 1 A disastrous fire at the Sussex County Hospital.
January 15 The trial of Christiana ][sic] Edmunds takes place at the Central Criminal Court, London, for the wilful murder of a little boy named Barker. She is found guilt next day.
January 16 The body of Mrs Bootes, the much respected mistress of St Paul’s Infant School, is consigned to the last resting place in the parochial cemetery.
February 1 A meeting takes place at the Town Hall in connection with the movement for closing public houses on Sundays.
February 1 The foundation stone of a new church in Providence Place is laid by Rev A D Wagner.
February 4 The iron church on Stanford Road is re-opened for public worship.
February 5 The charge against Mr H Fry of throwing stones at Professor Fawcett is tried before the magistrates but the summons is withdrawn on payment of costs.
February 26 General Tom Thumb and wife, Commodore Nutt, and Miss Minnie Warren give their farewell performances at the Dome and on two days following.
February 27 The recovery of HRH the Prince of Wales is celebrated by a general holiday and great rejoicings.
March 13 Clara Schuman gives a piano recital at the Dome.
March 30 Brighton Aquarium is opened by HRH Prince Arthur. He also visits the theatre.
April 17 A long discussion at the town council on the question of making bye-laws for the prevention of nuisances on the beach.
May 20 The cricket season opens at the new county ground in Eaton Road.
May 30 A public meeting takes place at the Corn Exchange to protest against the proposed beach bye-laws.
July 18 A poll at Preston is in favour of the Local Government Act being adopted for that parish,
July The owners and managers of the Stanford Estate propose building 100 houses a year for the next 15 years.
August 5 Restoration of Preston Church.
August 10 Brighton Aquarium opens for the public.
August 15 H M Stanley lectures to the Geographical Section of the British Association meeting at the Grand Concert Hall.
August 16 Banquet for the British and Sussex Medico-Chirurgical Society at the Royal Pavilion. H M Stanley is a guest and responds to a toast.
August 20 A delegation from Japan, the Iwakura Mission, visits Brighton, where they visited a school, a museum, the seaside and the newly-built Aquarium. They attend the conference of the Royal Geographical Society and lunch at the mayor’s residence before returning to London by train.
August The Brighton Sewers Board accepts a tender of £58,472 from John Aird & Sons of London to complete the unfinished sewer works, the lowest of 11 bids .
September 5 The question of the liability of Brighton parish to maintain Christina Edmunds is again raised at the sitting of the borough magistrates.
October 8 Inauguration of the parish of St John’s.
October George Scott, a local among the 20 candidates, is appointed first curator of the Public Free Library and Museum.
November 11 The foundation stone of a new church in Lewes Road is laid.
November 11 Foundation stone is laid by the Bishop of Chichester for the new church of St Martin, Lewes Road, in memoriam of Rev H M Wagner.
November 23 The body of a supposed foreign seaman, tied up in a box, is washed on shore at Kemp Town.
November 26 Hove ratepayers hold a meeting for the purpose of opposing the movement for amalgamating the parish with [Hove—should be Brighton?]
December 3 A meeting at Preston for the purpose of adopting the Local Government Act.
December 16 A meeting of the town council is held at the Town Hall for the purpose of agreeing on a petition to the House of Commons for leave to introduce the Borough Extension Bill in the next session.
January 5 Pew rents are abolished at the Church Street Presbyterian Church.
January 6 Julius Elliott Schools in Mount Street are opened by the Bishop of Chichester.
January 8 Princess Christian visits Brighton privately as the guest of Lawrence Peel in Sussex Square. She leaves on the 11th.
• Brighton Borough Council makes an unsuccessful attempt to incorporate Hove.
January 8 A special meeting of the town council concerning the municipal extension question.
January 14 A vestry meeting in Hove opposes the Borough Extension Bill.
January 27 Hove ratepayers hold a meeting to oppose the Borough Extension Bill.
January 28 the new art gallery opens.
February 3 The West Hove Commissioners hold a meeting to oppose the Borough Extension Bill.
April 29 The Hove Improvement and Borough Extension Bills go into Committee in the House of Lords.
May 16 The king and queen of the Belgians visit Brighton Aquarium.
June 20 The Hove Improvement Bill is read a third time and passed in the House of Commons.
June 29 Rev Dr Hannah, vicar of Brighton, preaches his farewell sermon in St Nicholas’ Church as St Peter’s becomes the parish church of Brighton.
July 1 A Board of Guardians meeting decides to allow the aged and infirm inmates of the workhouse half a pint of beer a day.
July 25 A local government inquiry is held in the Town Hall about the undercliff road.
August 1 A local government inquiry is held in the Town Hall about the new ward at Preston.
August 25 A special meeting of the town council concerns the North Street improvements.
September 9 (or 30) Brighton Free Library and Museum opens.
September 16 A public meeting in the Town Hall considers the Inhabited House Duty question.
September 19 A vestry meeting in Preston considers the amalgamation question.
September 27 A meeting is held in the Pavilion in furtherance of the object of building a school of art and science in the town.
October 8 A violent thunderstorm passes over Brighton, Two workmen are killed by lightening on the undercliff road.
October 23 A new Bible Christian Association chapel in St George’s Terrace opens.
October 28 The new board schools in Richmond Street open.
October Brighton Town Council intends to plant 500 trees—elm, lime, plane, sycamore, poplar and maple—beside various roads.
November 6 The foundation stone of the Edmund Clay Memorial Schools is laid by the vicar, Rev Dr Hannah.
November 10 Mr J L Brigden is elected mayor of Brighton for the third time.
November 18 Hans von Bulow gives a piano recital at the Pavilion.
December 17 Brighton town council decides to appoint a medical officer of health.
January 7 David Black resigns as town clerk.
January 15 The Hove Commissioners hold their first meeting.
February 5 At the general lection James Ashbury and Major-General Shute are returned as members for Brighton.
February 11 Falmer Pond and the Sussex County Cricket Ground skating rink are used for the first time this winter for skating.
February The first modern-style skating rink in the country opens in the Corn Exchange. A craze for indoor ice skating begins.
April 14 The roof of the premises used as the meeting place of the Young Men’s Christian Association is much damaged by the fall of a stack of chimneys, caused by the strong wind prevailing at the time.
April 20 The White Lion and property adjoining in North Street is to be sold at public auction by order of the town council.
May 11 A master slater, visiting Brighton, commits suicide by shooting himself with a. revolver outside the Grafton [Street] Police Station.
May 13 A human skeleton is found by some excavators in Queen’s Park.
May 28 The White Lion property and land adjoining is sold by public auction and realises the sum of £6,390.
June 2 Mr Lockwood, the borough surveyor is appointed surveyor to the Intercepting and Outfall Sewers Board.
June 3 At the town council meeting a head gardener is appointed to superintend the Pavilion, Steines and other local grounds.
June 13 Two further human skeletons are discovered by excavators in Queen’s Park.
July 1 At the town council meeting it is resolved to spend £80,500 for the extension of the waterworks.
July 7 The price of gas in Brighton is reduced from 4s to 3s 6d per 1,000ft.
July 16 The London and Brighton coach commences running.
September 5 Charlotte Hawkins is committed to prison for 14 days by the Brighton magistrates for fortune telling.
September 8 St Bartholomew’s Church is opened by the Bishop of Chichester.
September 10 A vestry meeting is held at Preston to consider Alderman Friend’s proposal to divert the Lovers’ Walk.
October 7 The town council resolves to grant a lease of 99 years of a portion of the beach east of the Chain Pier to a company for the purpose of building baths.
October 21 A town council meeting is held at which a long discussion takes place respecting the proposes Undercliff baths, and it is resolved that it is unexpedient to move further in the matter.
October 21 A new tablet bearing the names of past mayors of Brighton is hung in the council chamber.
November 2 Municipal elections are held.
November 2 Lady Burrows [Sir John Cordy Burrow’s wife] gives an ‘At home’ at the Royal Pavilion to a large and fashionable circle of visitors and residents.
November 5 The gunpowder plot is celebrated on The Level, with unusual magnificence.
November 19 The foundation of a new central Jewish Synagogue in Middle Street is laid by Mr Louis Cohen.
November 23 A Local Government Board enquiry by Lieut-Col Ponsonby Cox intot he application by the Hove Commissioners to borrow £5,000 for the ventilation of sewers and £11,600 for various purposes under the provisions of the Hove Commissioners Act 1873 is held at the Hove Town Hall.
November 29 A new organ is opened at St Anne’s Church, Burlington Street.
December 2 At a meeting of the town council, Dr Taaffe, the medical officer of health, presents his quarterly report, in which he states the death rate to have been 18.0 per 1,000.
December 3 A new chapel at the Home for Penitent, Albion Hill, is consecrated by the Bishop of Chichester.
December 4 The Brighton winter exhibition of modern pictures at the Free Picture Gallery is thrown open.
December 12 Two summonses against dressmakers of Brighton for an infringement of the Factory Act are heard at the borough police court. A fine of 10s and costs in each case is inflicted.
December 18 The funds of the poor box are distributed to 68 poor people, aged from 65 to 96 years.
December 30 A town meeting is held at the Town Hall under the presidency of the mayor at which steps are taken to secure the distribution of soup to the deserving poor.
January 15 Mr Arnold Taylor, Local Government Board inspector, holds an inquiry at the Town Hall into the circumstance in which an application has been made by the town council to borrow £10,000 to enable them to extend the main drainage.
January 23 A meeting of a general committee in the Royal Pavilion resolves to purchase a site in Grand Parade to establish a School of Art and Science.
February 2 At a meeting of the school board, the vicar delivers a protest against the provision of increased school accommodation on the ground of the deficiency in the attendance.
February 3 At a meeting of the town council a renewed application from the Aquarium Company to erect an additional awning at the entrance is refused.
February 16 The Brighton Board of Guardians unanimously resolves not to open any more letters addressed to them by Rev J Dodwell in consequence of the abusive character of his last letters.
February 24 A number of gentlemen meet at the Town Hall to consider the propriety of establishing a provident and self-supporting hospital in Brighton and it is resolved to refer the mater toa committee, which is appointed, for further consideration.
March 2 At a weekly meeting of the Board of Guardians an excited discussion about certain articles in the Brighton Gazette and Daily Mail about Rev Mr Dodwell takes place.
March 3 A Beach committee is appointed at the meeting of the town council.
March 11 A new skating rink opens at the Grand Concert Hall in West Street.
March 23 A deputation from Brighton, introduced by Mr J Ashbury MP, waits upon the home secretary to urge the desirability of the removal of the assizes from Lewes to Brighton.
March 31 A special town council meeting approves plans for the improvement of Queen’s Road by the LB&SCR on certain terms.
April 5 The Duke of Cambridge visits the Royal Aquarium.
April 6 A tender of £4,550 to build the Lewes Road schools is accepted by the School Board.
April 7 The Town Council approves the first annual report of the Medical Officer of Health (Dr Taaffe).
April 9 Election of the Hove Commissioners.
April 14 Election of the Brighton Board of Guardians.
April 16 First meeting of the new Board of Guardians.
April 21 Town Council approves plans for extension of the Aquarium eastward.
April 22 A vestry meeting at Portslade decides against the desirability of having a school board for that parish.
May 1 St Martin’s Church in Lewes Road is consecrated.
May 5 The town council conforms bye-laws presented by the Beach Committee for the governance of the beach.
May 14 Mr William Shelley is appointed parish sexton in the place of his late father.
May 20 The Hove Commissioners resolve not to oppose the provisional order obtained by the Brighton and Hove Gas Company to enlarge their storage works.
May 27 A deputation from Brighton and elsewhere, introduced by Mr Jas Ashbury MP, waits upon the home secretary (Mr Cross) about the late compulsory closing of the Brighton Aquarium on Sundays and urging upon him the necessity of repealing the Act of Parliament under which the judgment was obtained.
May 28 A meeting at the Town Hall opposes the proposed beach bye-laws.
May 29 The Brighton Convention begins at the Royal Pavilion, Dome, Corn Exchange and Town Hall.
May 29 Two gentlemen walk from London to the Old Ship Hotel in 10 hours.
June 3 A public meeting at the Oddfellows’ Hall in Queen’s Road opposes the proposes beach bye-laws.
June 4 Brighton magistrates fine Mr Gunn, landlord of the Tierney Arms, Edward Street, £5 and costs for bribing PC Gurr(?).
June 11 St Luke’s Prestonville is opened by the Bishop of Chichester (see also 3 April 1877).
June 16 The Sultan of Zanzibar visits Brighton.
August 2 Nearly 12,000 people visit Brighton Aquarium on bank holiday Monday.
October 11 Henry Nye Chart inaugurates his 22nd season at the Theatre Royal.
• The Public Health Act (38 & 39 Vict c55) establishes basic legislation that affects housing and general sanitation. This requires local authorities to regulate minimum standards of construction, ventilations, sanitation and density for housing by means of byelaws and results in the construction of hundreds of thousands of ‘byelaw terraced houses’ between 1875 and 1918. It was superseded by the Housing, Town Planning &c Act 1919.
[Unfortunately the issue of the Brighton Gazette containing the second half of the chronology, from July to December is not available.]
spring Brighton now has six ice-skating rinks. (London has 50).
March 25 Sir John Cordy Burrows dies.
May 31 St Luke’s Church opens in Queen’s Park Road.
July 1 First edition of Brighton and Sussex Daily Post.
October 31 Ginnett’s Royal Circus opens in Park Crescent Place.
• Brighton Corporation Waterworks acquires the site of a market garden and jam factory in Denmark Villas, Hove for £27,000.
[Unfortunately the issue of the Brighton Gazette containing the chronology for 1876 is not available.]
January 4 First meeting of the Hove School Board.
January 11 Hove Ratepayers Association is formed.
January 18 Hove Commissioners confirm the propriety of further promoting in Parliament the Bill for the annexation of Aldrington.
February 2 Princess Louise and the Marquis of Lorne open the Brighton School of Art and Science. During the celebrations a woman and child named Brown are killed.
February 3 Brighton School of Cookery opens.
February 6 Chapel Royal is re-opened by Bishop of Chichester after repairs.
February 23 Hove School Board resolves not to support the London School Board’s application for a royal commission on reforming and simplifying English spelling.
March 9 the House of Lords rejects the Brighton Aquarium Bill.
March 15 Hove Commissioners resolve that the surveyor begin work immediately on construction of new sewers, for which a loan of £5,700 will be raised.
March 23 The Japanese ambassador and his wife visit Mr J Ashbury MP at Brighton.
March 28 The jury in a sheriff’s court at Brighton Town Hall awards payment of £5,250 by Brighton Corporation to Mr D Barnard for his property in North Street.
March 29 Brighton magistrates set the new poor rate at 1s in the £ and the watch rate at 3d in the £.
April 3 St Luke’s Prestonville is consecrated by the Bishop of Chichester.
April 4 The first stone is laid for new Congregational church at Preston.
May 1 Brighton Corporation opposes the application for the renewal of the Brighton, Shoreham and Lancing Turnpike Trust before the Select Committee of the House of Commons. Continuance is allowed until 1878 and no longer.
May 6 Representatives of the Paris Municipal Council visit Brighton, inspect the Aquarium and Pavilion and partake of luncheon at the Grand Hotel.
May 6 Serious affray with poachers at Stanmer Park.
May 8 Rev J H North receives £600 and a piece of plate on retiring as incumbent of St George’s Kemp Town.
May 21 Fire destroys Ashby’s malthouse.
May 22 The Kashgar Envoy pays a brief visit to Brighton.
May 25 A public meeting is held to move towards holding an annual regatta in Brighton.
May 31 The foundation stone is laid for the new St Mary’s Church, preceded by a service at St James’s with a sermon by the Bishop of Chichester.
June 9 Hove Board of Commissioners approves agreement to buy a piece of land in Church Road as the site for the new town hall.
June 15 Hove Commissioners appoint Mr Peckwood town clerk in place of Mr Woolley, who resigned.
June 20 Brighton town council approves the Improvement Committee’s report to purchase East Lodge at a cost of £12,000.
July 13 LB&SCR half-year dividend is eight per cent.
July 24 Emperor and Empress of Brazil visit Brighton.
September 8 A new rate of 7s in the £ is made for Hove parish.
September 17 A new poor rate of 1s in the £ is made by Brighton magistrates.
October 6 Miss Mille Christine, the two-headed nightingale, appears at the Brighton Aquarium.
October 19 General Ulysses S Grant, US president until March, visits Brighton.
October 20 General Grant is entertained at a banquet at the Pavilion.
October 26 A soirée takes place at the Pavilion to inaugurate the opening of an additional suite of rooms as a supplementary museum.
November 9 At the Brighton town council meeting an application for sanction for the construction of tramways in Brighton is refused.
December 3 A public meeting is held in the Town Hall in support of the movement for the prevention of railway accidents.
December 3 A trial of the telephone is held at the Aquarium.
December 4 At a meeting of the Brighton Indian Famine Relief Committee it is announced that about £4,000 has been collected in Brighton.
• The site of a Roman farmhouse at the junction of Preston Road and Springfield Road is excavated.
• Brighton and Dyke Railway Company is incorporated.
January 3 Local Government Board inquiry is held at Hove Town Hall about borrowing £14,00 for the purchase of land for a new town hall.
February 4 Annual town meeting resolves to re-open the Brighton soup kitchen immediately.
February 14 Sir John Cordy Borrows’ statue is unveiled in the Pavilion grounds; the mayor holds a soirée in the Pavilion that evening.
March 1 Local Government Board inspector holds an inquiry at the Town Hall into Brighton improvements.
March 4 Moore and Burgess Minstrels give the first of three performances at The Dome.
March 15 Rev H J Dodwell is tried at the Central Criminal Court for shooting at the Master of the Rolls. He is acquitted on the charge of attempted assassination, on the grounds of insanity, and found guilt of common assault.
March 23 Dr Forbes Winslow and Dr Gibson, after examining Rev Dodwell report that they are unable to detect any symptoms of insanity.
March 23 At a meeting convened by W Miller of Sussex Square and presided over the mayor a resolution is passed in favour of converting the Eastern Road schools into an education institution for the benefit of the poor and labouring classes of Brighton.
March 26 At the close there are 42 nominations (all men) as candidates for the Brighton Board of Guardians. The results are announced on 12 April.
March 28 Brighton magistrates set the new poor rate at 1s in the £ and the watch rate at 4d in the £.
May 4 A meeting about the Eastern Road Schools is held at the Town Hall with the mayor in the chair.
June 10 On the Bank holiday 13,000 visitors come to Brighton.
[Unfortunately the Brighton Gazette never published the second half of the chronology, which had been promised for Saturday 4 January 1879.]
January 1 Brighton town council resolves to oppose the LB&SCR Bill seeking powers to block up the top of Trafalgar Street.
January 13 A crowded and unanimous town meeting is held at the Town Hall for the purpose of giving the necessary legal sanction under the Borough Funds Act to the town council in opposing the railway and gas companies’ Bills.
January 15 Benjamin Lomax of Brighton is appointed curator of the museum, free library and picture gallery.
January 17 ~A Local Government Inquiry board approves Hove Town Commissioners application to borrow money for sewerage and sea defences, including new or improved sewers in Hove Drive (£1,500) and George Street (£520), and a new groyne to protect the beach from the effects of private groynes to the west (£450), the works to be carried out by the Commissioners’ own staff rather than outside contractors at a saving of £1,500-£2,000. Funds to provide an infection disease hospital were opposed as plans were not yet prepared.
January 27 A town meeting is held at Hove to sanction the Commissioners in opposing the Brighton & Hove Gas Company’s Bill for additional works and various powers.
March 5 The liberal offer of Mr D P Meek to expend £500 0n the Brighton Free Library is thankfully accepted by the town council.
March 24 The Brighton & Hove Gas Bill goes before the select committee of the House of Commons.
March 27 The benefices of Hove and Preston are disunited.
April 2 Rev T Peasey is inducted as vicar of Hove by the Bishop of Chichester.
April 5 American author Bret Harte lectures at the Aquarium.
April 17 Somers Clarke is appointed vestry clerk for the 50th time.
April 19 Rev A D Freeman is installed as vicar of Preston.
May 19 A crowded meeting of railway employees is held at Brighton to protest against the increased rents.
June 6 At a public meeting it is resolved to form a Brighton branch of the St John’s Ambulance Association.
June 18 Brighton town council appoints Mr Richard Allison as curator of the Royal Pavilion.
June Brighton Town Council accepts a tender for stoneware drain pipes from H Doulton & Co of Lambeth: 6,000ft of 6ins diameter at 3¾d a linear foot and 3,000ft of 9ins diameter at 6¼d a foot.
July 1 The railway loop line from Cliftonville—£mdash;henceforth to be called West Brighton—to Preston Park opens.
July 8 Mr A J Carter lectures on the phonograph (invented by Edison in 1877) at Brighton.
July 17 The Atlingworth masonic lodge is formed at Brighton.
July 23 An application is made to Brighton magistrates for a dramatic licence for the Aquarium; the town council and Mrs Nye Chart of the Theatre Royal oppose.
July 25 At Brighton police court, LB&SCR is fined £8 5s for neglecting to keep a book of rules at Kemp Town Station.
August 22 Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh visit the Aquarium.
September 11 A commercial traveller named S[e]ymour is killed by an infuriated bullock on Madeira Road [Drive].
September 17 Brighton Town Council adopts a report recommending application to parliament for powers to establish a public abattoir to replace the existing slaughter-house and obviate cattle-driving through the streets. A man from London was recently gored to death in the street.
September 30 Opening of the Lewes Road Congregational Church.
October 1 Brighton town council resolves to erect a sanatorium and to apply for parliamentary powers if a suitable site cannot be obtained by private negotiation.
October 9 At a crowded public meeting in Brighton Town Hall, the goods rates of the LB&SCR are protested against and a committee is appointed to watch the intended proceedings against companies before the Railway Commissioners.
October 10 Opening of the new board schools in Ellen Street, Hove.
December 3 Brighton Corporation agrees to the borough surveyor’s proposal to install a wrought-iron fence on the seafront from Kemp Town to near the West Pier at a cost of £15,700, rejecting the Works Committee’s recommendation to carry out only part of the work at a cost of £8,000.
December 4 Brighton magistrates refuse a dramatic licence to Mr F Ginnett, proprietor of the Brighton Hippodrome.
December 9 Opening of the Hove library and reading room.
December 12 Re-opening of St Johns Church, Carlton Hill.
December 16 At a public meeting in Portslade it is decided not to have a school board.
December 19 Opening of the Connaught Institute for Soldiers and Mechanics in Lewes Road.
Page created 28 July 2025