Local History Questions

The Local History Questions board is a very important resource here at My Brighton and Hove. Over the ten years we have been online, our local historians and other knowledgeable individuals, have helped countless thousands of enquirers with their searches and problems relating to local and family history.

To post an enquiry you will need to register with the site. You will find a link to do that on the Message Board page. And in order that everyone’s experience of using the board is enjoyable and informative, we do have rules and protocols you must observe.

Here are just a few pointers to help you decide whether the board might be useful for you:-

  • The board is not intended for chat. Your enquiry must be specifically related to local history. If you want to chat to others you can use the comment facility which is on the bottom of every website page.
  • Family history enquiries are accepted for individuals pre 1911; requests for information on living persons are not.
  • When making an enquiry, be as specific as possible with names/dates/locations.
  • Please acknowledge replies to your enquiries – a thank you is just good manners!

If you have any general questions about the board and how it operates email: Jennifer@mybrightonandhove.org.uk

Click here for Local History Questions

Please check the guidelines above before posting as inappropriate posts will be deleted.

Comments about this page

  • Was Tamplins the only Brighton Brewery in 1962 or was there another? Thanks.

    By Christina Sheppard (23/04/2013)
  • My grandfather Robert Kingsley aka Bob Kingsley owned the Oasis Club in Tyne basement (just down from Brighton Ice rink) in the 60’s. 

    Any info you can find on this for me I would greatly appreciate, many thanks for your help.

    Editor’s note: You need to put your question on the Local History Message Board itself – you will find it here. You will need to register with the site to do this. Look on the left hand side of each page at the bottom.

    By Shelley Ancell (03/01/2014)
  • In 1939/40, at the age of eight, I had scarlet fever and was placed in an isolation hospital in Brighton. Would my parents have paid for my stay as it was long before the NHS? 

    By Sid Griffiths (12/05/2015)
  • I have just moved to a old Victorian House, 92, Seabank Road. I need to know who lived there in the 1900s. Some friends said they are not sure if it used to be a doctor’s house. Can you help?

    By Ms C Boddy (27/07/2015)
  • Hi Ms C Body, where on earth is Seabank Road?  I take it that you are aware that this site is about Brighton. Regards

    By Andy Grant (28/07/2015)
  • Hello, thank you for your e-mail. Sorry I did not give you the full information, I only just found out a few days ago. Denton House of  92 Seabank Road, Wallasey, ch45 7qp. Mr James W Holt was the first owner of this property in 1903. Was he a doctor? How can I find out for more information?

    By Miss C Boddy (02/08/2015)
  • I lived in the Albion Hill are in the 50s and have been trying to remember the street, which was above Liverpool Street?

    By John Deacon (03/08/2015)
  • Hi Ms C Boddy. Regrettably, this site does not deal with Wallasey. I believe you are confusing Brighton in Sussex (which this site is all about) with New Brighton, Merseyside. Regards, Andy

    By Andy Grant (03/08/2015)
  • As Andy Grant said, this a Brighton & Hove enquiry ‘service’. However an enquiry about Wallasey would need to be addressed to Cheshire Archives [recordoffice@cheshiresharedservices.gov.uk] or as this is so near Liverpool [http://archive.liverpool.gov.uk/]. There MAY be [but I doubt it…] a Liverpool and Wirral equivalent to My B&H. 

    By Geoffrey Mead (03/08/2015)
  • Hi John, your query has a degree of ambiguity, as the word ‘above’ can be construed in different ways. It would appear that you are referring to either Jersey Street (the ‘Albion’ was on the corner) or Grove Street, both of which were north of Liverpool Street as you would see it on a map. However, if you mean going higher up Richmond Street or Albion Hill, there was Chate’s Farm and then Windmill Terrace. Regards, Andy

    By Andy Grant (04/08/2015)
  • Re: “Was Tamplins the only brewery in 1962?” question (Christina Shepherd. 23/4/13). Wasn’t Kemp Town Brewery still operating then?

    By Ron Spicer (09/08/2015)
  • This is probably not the place to ask this question but I’ll try anyway. My father died recently but he lived in Brighton as a child and then a young man. In about 1935ish, he worked in a hotel in Brighton.  Apparently he was involved in a serious accident when he fell down the lift shaft, the injuries he suffered were to affect him for the rest of his life. How can I find out more about this, which hotel it was and was it reported in the local papers. By Sandra Waite. (Sandra, I would imagine that Brighton library would be able to signpost you to local resources? Editing team)

    By Sandra Waite (12/11/2015)
  • Dear Taryn
    Sorry but we have had to delete your post. We are no longer allowing the posting of requests to find third parties, as sharing information like this breaches their privacy. We recommend you try social media websites if you want to track old friends or neighbours.
    Comments Editor

    By Taryn Jones (12/09/2016)
  • Very informative, but l would like to know if fact or fiction. Is it true that in Hodshrove Lane, the place known as the  karate club was once used a mortary during the Second World War?

    By J O barnes (02/08/2017)
  • Hi, I am researching my family tree and it says my great grandfather Geoffrey Thompson was a cinema graph artist in 1908. He lived at Down Terrace with his wife Katherine Thompson ( nee Smith). Does anybody know of this couple or what cinema he might have worked at. Thank you 

    By Sonia Williams (24/08/2017)
  • just another update on my family tree re: Geoffrey Thompson, born 1881 New Southgate. I found a David George Nathaniel Thompson, with the same birth year and place who moved to Brighton in 1901 to Queen’s Park Road which is just around the corner from Down Terrace. I got the same father’s name, David Thompson. What are the chances of this being the same person but who changed his name? Anybody any ideas? Clutching at straws a bit. 

    By Sonia Williams (25/08/2017)
  • Are there any drawings or sketches in existence of the large glazed structure, the Athenium, built in Palmeira Square? It collapsed very soon after completion.

    By Geoffrey Stoner (08/12/2017)
  • Hi. We originate from Horsham and have just moved back here from Lancashire. We are currently living in Gloucester street. I have been trying to find out the general history of this area and noticed there was a female orphan asylum in this street in 1851. Please could anyone give me any information about this or point me in the direction l can research any history for this Street. In anticipation. Thank you.

    By Maxine Quigley (24/03/2018)
  • Try the North Laine Community Association website which has a great deal of history including a street by street history. Also The Keep archive at Falmer has all the local studies info that you need.

    By Geoffrey Mead (24/03/2018)

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