A History of Newmarket Farm

By David and Peggy Cuthbertson

27th December 2012

v. 0.4

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Early History

Location and prehistory

Romans

Saxons

Normans

Medieval

Smuggling

Shepherd scholar

Chapter 3. Origins of Newmarket Farm

1825 — Thomas Rogers loses his family lands

1830 — James Hodson and the Kingston Enclosures

Chapter 4. New Owner, New Farmers, Old Managers

1833 — Gorings of Wiston

1837 — Hodsons move to Falmer

1841 — Davies family in Newmarket Farm

1842 — Hodsons move to Kingston

1843 — Hodsons in Kingston—Tithe Map

1851 — Rich family in Newmarket Farm

1861 — Rich family — Poverty in Kingston

1864 — Hodsons’ second son dies

Chapter 5. Hunting and Mock Battles

Chapter 6-1. 1868 — David Baldy of Newmarket Farm

Chapter 6–2. 1846–1868 — Martin Brown

1830 — Buxted, the Browns, and Captain Swing

1841 — Marriage in Buxted

1843 — Back in Buxted, and Joseph Brown

1846, April — Martin Brown, and sister Eliza

1851 — Rotherfield

1851 or ’52 — Brighton — Life, death and poverty

About 1856 — Rural outings — Buxted & Tuppen

1861 Census — Elder Street

1863, Oct. 11th — New Step-Mother

1863, Nov. 28th — Stealing sweets — 3 months

1864, April 27th — Out of gaol

1864, July 5th — Brotherly love? — 6 months

1865, March 17th — Stealing from lodgings & beach

1866, March — Freedom, but death of sister

1866, Oct. 4th — Reuben Vinall signs up

1867, Dec. 10th — Desertion

1868 — Sailor — America & France

1868, Spring — Carter in Brighton

1868, July — Henry Brown on the run

Chapter 6–3. July 1868 — Brighton to Newmarket Hill

1868, Sat 18th or Sun 19th July? — Newmarket Hill

1868, Sat 18th or Sun 19th July?— Newmarket Cottage

1868, Sat 18th or Sun 19th July? — Baldy’s family and lodgers

Chapter 6–4. End August 1868, Newmarket to Kingston

Between Mid-August and early Sept 1868 — From Baldy’s to Wickham’s

Sometime mid- to late September 1868 — Intent

Beginning October 1868 — New coat

Friday 2nd October 1868 — Bullets for a gun

Thursday 8th October 1868 — People on Hill

Breakfast, Friday 9th October 1868 — Scared

5:30am, Friday 9th October 1868 — Morning work

12–1pm, Friday 9th October 1868 — Dinnertime

3:15pm, Friday 9th October 1868 — Bullocks

Shortly before sunset, 5pm, Friday 9th October 1868 — Leaving for wages

Dusk, 5:45pm, Friday 9th October 1868 — Wages

Dark, shortly before 7pm, Friday 9th October 1868 — Waiting

Chapter 6–5. October 9, 1868, Murder

Total darkness, about 7pm, Friday 9th October 1868 — Murder

9:20pm, Friday 9th October 1868 — Lodgings

About 10 pm, Friday 9th October 1868 — Bed

Twilight, about 5:45am, Saturday 10th October 1868 — Discovery

Sunrise, 6:30am, Saturday 10th October 1868 — Help

8:50am Saturday 10th October 1868 — Examination

Evening, Saturday 10th October 1868 — Whispers

About 6:45pm, Saturday 10th October 1868 — Escape

8:00am Sunday 11th October 1868 — Belongings

Chapter 6–6. October 12, 1868 — Coroner’s Inquest

2pm Monday 12th October 1868 — Inquest

6pm Monday 12th October 1868 — Enquiry

Chapter 6-7. October 13–19, 1868 — Cave and Capture

Tuesday Afternoon, 13th October 1868 — Newmarket Plantation

Wednesday 14th October 1868 — Arrest warrant

Saturday Afternoon, 17th October 1868 — Maidstone

Saturday Evening, 17th October 1868 — Royal Horse Artillery

9pm Saturday 17th October 1868 — Arrest of Brown

Sunday 18th October 1868 — Train to Lewes

Monday afternoon, 19th October 1868 — Magisterial Inquiry

Chapter 6–8. October 19, 1868 — Adjourned Inquest

Chapter 6-9. December 29, 1868 — The Trial — Day one

11:20 Tuesday 30th December 1868 — Witnesses

Chapter 6-10. January 1869 — Confession and Execution

Saturday 16th January 1869 — Gun Barrel

Monday 18th January 1869 — Execution

Wednesday 20th January 1869 — Newspaper report

MARTIN BROWN’S OWN CONFESSION, JANUARY THE 11TH, 1869

NOTE.

Chapter 6-11. January 18, 1869 — Inquest and Postscript

THE INQUEST

Postscript for the Baldys

Chapter 7. Life After Death — 1871–1908

1871 — Timms family in Newmarket Farm

November 1871 — J. Hodson dies—R.J. Woodman new manager

1880 — James Stacey—New manager

1881 — Davey family in Newmarket Farm

1891 — Barrow family in Newmarket Farm

1895 — John Hodson new manager—Baldy’s Stone

1901 — Davey family in Newmarket Farm

1908 — John Hodson replaced by Howell

Chapter 8. New Developments — 1911–1925

1911 — Goring sells Kingston to Howell—Moon in Newmarket Farm

1913 — Woodendean Farm sells land for housing

1914 — WWI—Scantlebury, Percy buys Balsdean

1918 — End of War—Land for veterans—Emma Daisy Sayers Smith

1919 — Selbach buys Balsdean—Edwards his farm manager

1920 — Howell starts selling Kingston property

1921 — Selbach buys Newmarket Farm

1922 — Oscar Selbach marries Emma Daisy Smith

1924 — Edwards in Newmarket Farm

Chapter 9. Brighton Corporation — 1925– Present

1925 — Brighton buys farms—Selbach’s land healthiest in Britain

1925, Nov. 25th — Woodman — Balsdean, Norton, Newmarket Farms

1931 — Gliding, cars, motorbikes & hunting

1934 — Phipps in Newmarket Farm—Country life

1937 — Government farm policies

1938 — Latham family in Newmarket Farm—Work for Dalgety

1939 — WWII—Reginald Latham signs up

1940 — Woodman and Dalgety in Home Guard

1941 — Pigs, cattle, & soldiers

1942 — Birth & military requisitions

1944 — Allied artillery destroys Newmarket Farm

1959 — BBC TV aerial on Newmarket Hill

1966 — Castle Hill National Nature Reserve—Conserving the past

Appendix. Newmarket Farm

Next: Chapter 1. Introduction

This is a wonderfullly rich story of place – a social geography brought to life through a vivid and extremely well researched text.

The challenges of those forced to make their livings against the backdrop of an exposed and often hostile landscape survive even into the memories of living witnesses. Before them, others have faced tyrannical landlords, have raised themselves out of poverty to earn an education and a career, or faced financial ruin. There’s even a murder-gone-wrong (one of the best described that I’ve read) and its poignant postscript included alongside the stories of 1,000’s of cavalry parading for as far as the eye can see, smugglers taking flight with their booty and of allied artillery leaving its deadly mark during the dark days of war.

The book is especially successful in bringing its characters and their various stories to life, and creating a narrative pace that is rare in local histories. It should delight anyone with an interest in geneology, social history or with a love of Sussex and its rich past and still at times wild present.