The Smoaker Stakes of 20gs. each, one mile; 8 yr. olds to carry 7st.  4 yr. olds 8st. 3lb.  5 yr. olds 8st. 9lb.  6 yr. olds 9st. 11lb., and aged 9st. 1lb.

At starting the odds were 3 to 2 in favour of the field.  Albion was the favourite; 2 to 1 against Hippomenes and Slipper; and 3 to 1 against Patagonian.  A good heat between the two horses first in.  Won by about a neck.

Old Smoaker was a bit of a wit in his way.  On one occasion, while he was standing near the Ship in Distress Inn, now the Sea House Hotel, two dandies of the day addressed him, stating that they had come down to Brighton for the benefit of their health, and had been recommended to drink asses’ milk, could he inform them how it was to be obtained.  Miles, more plain than polite, replied that he did not then exactly know, but he should advise them, for the sake of saving themselves trouble, to suck each other.

William Miles was succeeded, as Royal Bather, by his brother John, who, when too old to follow his occupation, was pensioned off by Royalty, as long as he lived.  A song of the time, then very popular, ran thus:—

There’s plenty of dippers and jokers,
   And salt-water rigs for your fun;
The king of them all is “Old Smoaker,”
   The queen of ’em, “Old Martha Gunn.”

The ladies walk out in the morn,
   To taste of the salt-water breeze;
They ask if the water is warm,
   Says Martha, “Yes, Ma’am, if you please.”

Then away to the machines they run,
   ’Tis surprising how soon they get stript;
I oft wish myself Martha Gunn,
   Just to see the young ladies get dipt.

Martha Gunn had a world-wide fame, and was the cotemporary of Mrs. Cobby, the original bather.  Old Smoaker’s daughter was known as Martha’s handmaiden, she being the chief dipper with the “Lady of the Bath.”

July 15th, 1805.—The venerable Priestess of the Bath, Martha Gunn, was busily employed this morning.

August 4th, 1806.—The bathing machines were in active use this morning, and Neptune’s pickling tub exhibited many beauties in brine.

August 16th.—Many of our lovely belles took ducks for their breakfast this morning, purchased of their cateress, Martha Gunn, who boasts that from the fair profits she gains by the sale of her ducks, she is often enabled to purchase a goose for dinner.

August 28th.—The Beach this morning was thronged with ladies, all anxious to make interest for a dip.  The machines, of course, were in very great request, though none could be run into the ocean in consequence of the heavy swell, but remained stationary at the water’s edge, from which Martha Gunn and her robust female assistants took their fair charges, closely enveloped in their partly coloured dresses, and gently held them to the breakers, which not quite so gently passed over them.  The greatest novelty, however, that this part of the coast exhibited this morning, was in a gentleman’s undressing himself on the Beach, for the purpose of a ducking, in front of the town, attended by his lady, who sans diffidence, supplied him with napkins, and even assisted him in wiping the humid effects of his exercise from his brawny limbs, as he returned from the water to dress.

In the following season the practice of bathing from the beach became so general that on Thursday, August 19th, a Vestry Meeting was held at the Old Ship, for the purpose of adopting measures to prevent the indecent practice of indiscriminate bathing in front of the town.  Earl Bathurst and Mr. Wilberforce were present, and subscribed five guineas each to defray any expenses of prosecutions that might be deemed requisite to rid the town of the evil.  The resolutions passed, that proceedings should be taken against offenders, for awhile had the desired effect; but in 1808 the nuisance was revived, resulting in a prosecution at the Horsham Assizes, on Monday, March 21st, 1809.  The case was:—

For awhile this example had a very salutary effect; but, more or less, until the present season, the nuisance has continued.  Now the New Bye Laws prohibit bathing from the beach in front of the town, except before the hour of six in the morning or after nine in the evening; and all persons bathing from the machines are compelled to wear gowns, drawers, or some such suitable covering.  Less than thirty years since the bathing from the Ladies’ Bathing Machines, between West Street and Middle Street, was not of the most pleasant character, as it was customary for coal brigs in fine weather, to discharge their cargoes at that spot, and frequently, so was the surface of the water covered with fine coal dust, that many a child who dreaded bathing, was compelled to be dipped an extra time or two by the bathing women, to rinse off the black particles.

The following will show the cost of coal per chaldron at that period to the coal merchants in the town:—

Newcastle on Tyne, the Sixteenth day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirteen.

It is this day mutually agreed between Mr. William Spence, owner of the good ship or vessel, called the “Eliza,” Wm. Hunter, master, of the burthen of 96 tons, or thereabouts, now on her passage to Sunderland; and Messrs. Savage and Bonham, of Brighton, merchants, freighters of the said ship, for one voyage, at and from Sunderland to Brighton Beach.  That the said ship being tight, staunch, and strong, and every way fitted for the voyage, the said master, with said ship, shall, with the first opportunity, after arriving at Sunderland, take on board a full and competent cargo of Nesham Main Coals.  And being so loaden, the said master, with said ship, shall therewith proceed to Brighton Beach, or so near thereunto as he may safely get, and deliver the same to the order of the said freighters, on being paid freight, at the rate of Thirty-eight Shillings per chaldron, Winchester measure; the freighters paying King’s duty, Town dues at Brighton, Ramsgate and Dover Harbour dues, and the owner lights, metage, delivery, and pilotage, during said voyage.  (Restraints of princes and rulers, the dangers of the seas, of whatever nature, fire, and enemies, always excepted.)  Freight to be paid on delivery by what cash wanted for ship’s use, and for the remainder a good Bill on London, at two months’ date.  Two days allowed said freighters (if the ship is not sooner despatched), for unloading the said ship at Brighton.  Demurrage, Three Guineas per day, for every day’s detention, over and above the days allowed as aforesaid.  Witness our hands the day and year above written.

Witness, Matt. Fairless.

William Spence.

The incidental expenses attendant upon freighting a vessel brought the actual cost to £3 16s. 3d. per chaldron, as thus:—

Added to this, Mr. Savage, upon this occasion, to obtain the cargo with the least possible delay, made a journey to Newcastle, the expenses of which amounted to £20.

In 1805, persons interested in shipping, the coal merchants especially, entertained the idea of a basin or harbour for the safety and accommodation of vessels trading hither.  The project did not meet with approval amongst the inhabitants generally, as they were desirous of retaining the town as a place of fashionable resort, rather than make it a trading port; and in April, the following year, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales having caused it to be signified through Mr. Thomas Saunders, High Constable, that he had not bestowed his sanction or patronage in favour of the project, and that he did not intend to possess any such intention, the idea was abandoned.  Some of those, however, interested in the scheme, bore their disappointment with but an ill grace, and for some years after the payment of the coal duties was the source of much disaffection.  The principal of those who combatted against the payment was Mr. William Izard, whose reasons of objection were embodied in a handbill which he issued, as follows:—

The power of the authorities prevailed, and the Dues continued to be exacted.

The female attendants of the machines are, as respects dress especially, of the primitive order of their race, except that they do not in the afternoon appear in their best prim attire, as of yore they were wont to do, to “tout” in Castle Square, on the arrival of the coaches.  Their last grand show day in their aquatic costume was on the occasion of their visit to the Exhibition, in Hyde Park, 1851, when, to defray their expenses, subscriptions were raised amongst the inhabitants.  At the Exhibition they were the observed of all observers; and had but the original idea been carried out of their travelling from the London Bridge Terminus to the building, in their machines, the arrangements of the day would have been complete, and the unsightliness and primitive construction of the vehicles would have excited the sympathy of some inventor and induced him to bring out something that would have had a creditable appearance.

Almost coeval with sea-bathing in establishing the reputation of Brighton, were the baths, first established by Dr. Awsiter, on the spot now occupied by Brill’s Ladies’ Swimming Bath, and for so many years known as Wood’s Original Hot and Cold Sea-water Baths.  The first stone of these baths, which were after a plan of Mr. Golden, architect, was laid in the year 1759.  Mr. George Lynn erected the present building.

The Artillery Baths, the next established, obtained their original fame from the proprietor, Mr. Smith, having discovered a method of curing the gout, by means of an air pump, from whence many persons of rank and consequence received great benefit.  They are known now as Hobden’s Artillery Baths.

Williams’s Hot and Cold Baths, which occupied the site of the present Lion Mansion, at one period received extensive patronage, and the Morning Herald of August 17, 1807, says, “Williams’s Baths are in very fashionable request.  Numberless elegantes were in hot water there this morning.”  On Mr. Williams’s decease they were carried on by Mr. Bannister, who was succeeded by his son-in-law, Mr. William Knight.  The halcyon days, however, of these baths had fled, and the premises, after remaining in a very dilapidated state for some time, were cleared off for the erection of the present noble mansion.

The personage who acquired the greatest fame for his baths, and obtained the highest and most extensive patronage, was Sake Deen Mahomed, who, although not born in Brighton, yet, this highly favoured town was the theatre where his name became patent for the alleviation of suffering mankind, and hence he is entitled to special notice.

Justified by proof, he repaired to Brighton, where he promulgated his discovery, but at first with little success, as the public were ill-prepared to receive a system which should supercede Warm Sea-water Bathing.  Fortunately, however, he effected several gratuitous cures,—cures which quickly gained circulation amongst those who had prejudged and condemned his bath; and adduced the most positive and convincing proof of the great superiority of Shampooing over every other description of treatment, in particular cases.  All prejudices were quickly removed, and his wide-spread fame soon gained him the appointment of Shampooing Surgeon to their Majesties George IV. and William IV.  Presents, conveying the expressions of the deepest feelings of gratitude and thankfulness, crowded upon him.  The Muses poured forth their eulogiums; the several organs of the press—national and local—their panegyrics.

He exemplified the curative and invigorating influence of his Art in his person and his longevity.  He died the 24th of February, 1851, at the advanced age of 102 years, and was buried in the church-yard of St. Nicholas, Brighton, where an unassuming tomb records his age and death.  He was father of Mr. Frederick Mahomed, of the Gymnasium, Palace Place.

Great as was the success of Mahomed’s process, he was in no inconsiderable degree indebted for the many cures he effected to the perseverance of Mr. Henry Harrap, to whose memory the author of this book has a grateful respect, for enabling him to retain and ably use a leg, the amputation of which had been recommended by the faculty.  Little is known of his early career, more than that he was born at Helston, in Cornwall, October 21st, 1794.  He left home at an early age, and during the short peace previous to the battle of Waterloo, he was a private in the 51st Foot, the Duke of York’s Own.  In 1817, he was with his regiment stationed at the Infantry Barracks, Brighton, being then an officer’s servant.  His brother Richard was also in the same regiment, as Sergeant-Bugler, and, during his location here, he married, at Preston, a young woman, the widow of Corporal Fudge, late of the Gloucester Militia.  But shortly after his marriage he deserted.  His wife however, provided two substitutes, and paid £40 for his discharge; she also bought Henry off, and the two brothers, till the year 1828, followed the trade of boot and shoe making, in Ivory Place.  The maiden name of his wife was Short, a native of the village of Hangleton, and she was married to Fudge before she was 14 years of age, in consequence of her mother, who was a widow, being about to be married to another corporal in the same regiment, the man refusing to wed her with an incumbrance.  Richard died in 1828, and in the following year Henry was married to his brother’s widow, at St. George’s in the Borough, London.  By neither brother had she any family; but by her first husband she had four daughters.  She died in July, 1843.  In 1838, Mr. Harrap discontinued the business of shoemaking, and converted the shop-front of his premises on the Grand Parade, at the corner of Sussex Street, to one of a more private character, devoting the whole of his attention to professional rubbing.

Mr. Harrap was totally uneducated, and, at the commencement of his professional career, entirely unacquainted with medical science and nomenclature; yet, progressively, by natural instinct as it were, and studied practice, he acquired a knowledge of anatomy which astonished those who were conversant with that science; and gentlemen of high position in the medical profession—including the late Sir Matthew Tierney, Sir Astley Cooper, Sir Benjamin Brodie, &c.,—acknowledged his worth by awarding him that credit which they considered due to an energetic and gifted man.  His perseverance enabled him to amass a large fortune; and after having been a great sufferer for more than two years, from a cancer of the bowels, he was removed by death from the scene of a most useful life, on Saturday, the 12th of October of last year, leaving a wife, the widow of the late Sidney Walsingham Bennett, Esq., solicitor, to lament her irreparable bereavement, and a large circle of grateful patients and sincere friends the remembrance of an honourable, and honoured man.

For some time previous to his decease he had been unable to attend actively to his professional duties; yet, he was present daily, at his house of business on the Grand parade, watching, and instructing his step-son, now his successor, Mr. Sidney Bennett, who qualified as a surgeon on the 29th of May, 1861, and there is little doubt his perseverance in the course pursued by the deceased will add a lustre to his father-in-law’s name, and confirm a credit due to the memory of a man who was never ambitious of praise, but perseveringly sought a remedy to alleviate the sufferings of the afflicted.  Deceased was buried at the Parochial Cemetery, Lewes Road.

This water, when first taken from the spring in a glass, in appearance greatly resembles a solution of emetic tartar in common water.  The taste is not unpleasant, something like that upon a knife after it has been used in cutting lemons.  It does not seem to contain the smallest portion of sulphur; it neither changes vegetable blues, red, nor does it effervesce with alkaline salts, calcareous earths, magnesia, nor fossil alkali; neither does it change vegetable blues, green, nor does it effervesce with acids; yet it curdles soap, and renders a solution of it in various spirits milky.

It seems to contain a considerable portion of calcareous earth, mixed with vitriolic acid in the form of its selenites, and also a considerable portion of iron, as will appear from the following experiment: Sixty-four ounces of this water by measure being evaporated to dryness, there was a residuum of a brownish colour, full of spiculæ, weighing eight grains, four ounces of which, with an equal quantity of charcoal, was made into a paste with oil, and calcined.  On trying the calcined matter with the magnet, two pieces nearly in the metallic form adhered to it; and when put upon paper, at the distance of half an inch, moved in every direction with the magnet.  These two pieces weighed one-eighth of a grain.

The gross residuum neither effervesces with alkali nor acids, and is sufficiently soluble in water.

This water becomes instantly transparent, like distilled water, on the addition of any of the mineral acids, especially the vitriolic.

A solution of galls in common water, added to an equal portion of this water, becomes black like ink, in a few minutes.

The Chalybeate has been found serviceable in several cases of general debility, crapulas, indigestion, atony of the stomach, and fluor albus; and in all those diseases where chalybeate and tonic remedies are required, it promises, under due regulation, to be useful.

Dr. Henderson was a physician of eminence in the town; and a minute of Vestry, at the Unicorn Inn, February 10th, 1794, shews the esteem in which he was held by the inhabitants.  It runs thus:—“Dr. Henderson presented with a pint silver cup, for his care and attention to the parish.”

The wise physician skilled our wounds to heal.

Dr. Cobby, as he was familiarly known, had talent, but he was more a disciple of Bacchus, than of Galen, and the natural reply to him, as he tendered his services in his tattered clothes, which his poverty bespake, and as a foul specimen of the unwashed, would be “Physician, heal—cleanse—thyself.”  Not that Brighton at that period had waned in the least from the character it had obtained for healthfulness, as a memorandum, made August, 1806, states:—“Such is the healthy condition of the town, that the doctors and apothecaries complain dolefully of their declining businesses, and undertakers are literally starved out, the latter declaring, ‘All trades must live,’ but the residents are determined not to serve them.”  In 1580, there was but one medical man in Brighton, Dr. Mathews, who lived in Middle street.  His terms for attending in confinements were: At Portslade and Rottingdean, 5s; at Blatchington, 3s 6d; and anywhere in the town of Brighthelmston, 2s 6d.

In the early part of 1886, a sad scourge, the small pox, pervaded the town, and on the 25th of January, that year, when the population amounted to 3620, the following return of its virulence was made:—

One of the crowning features of Brighton, as a health-providing town, is the German Spa, Queen’s Park, an establishment for manufacturing the Artificial Mineral Waters, which, by the faculty, are pronounced to be so perfect an imitation of the original springs in Germany, that the most celebrated chemists can detect no difference between them.  They are the production of Dr. Struve, of Dresden, who some years ago turned his attention to the analysis and imitation of the original, and patients who have drank both can discover no difference in their flavour or effect.  The artificial waters supplied are:—

Four years previous to the date of this “Tag,” namely, in 1773, an Act of Parliament was passed, giving power to sixty-four Commissioners, elected by the inhabitants, to light and cleanse the streets, lanes, and other places within the town of Brighton, and for the general regulation and improvement of the town.  In 1809, meetings of the inhabitants took place at the Old Ship, for and in opposition to obtaining a new Act of Parliament; and on the 21st of February, 1810, a very large majority of the Vestry, at a meeting held at the Old Ship, resolved that the Bill as framed by the Town Committee, which had been appointed by the inhabitants, should be forthwith presented to Parliament, to be passed into a law.  The Act passed that year, augmenting the number of Commissioners to one hundred, and raising the duty on coal from sixpence to three shillings per chaldron.  On the 22nd of June, 1825, (6 Geo. IV.) this Act was repealed and another passed, extending the number of Commissioners to one hundred and twelve, and giving them increased powers, in consequence of the extensive enlargement and requirements of the town.

If it shall be judged necessary to build a Sea-Wall under the Cliff, for Use or Ornament, the Purchasers and Plot Holders of each Ground Plot to contribute their Proportion for Building the same.

The building of the Crescent commenced forthwith; but, in consequence of one of the most prominent of the speculators absconding, the whole of the houses were not completed until the end of December, 1807, at which period the area in front of the Crescent measured four acres.  No wall was then considered necessary at the foot of the Cliff, but a dwarf wall was built on the south side of the carriage road, in lieu of posts and rails, which guarded in a most irregular manner the other portion of the road-way from the Steine to Black-Rock.  On widening the road as now existing in consequence of the construction of the present massive sea-wall, not only was the dwarf wall removed but the crown of the rise of the road, which there ranged with the present paving of the Crescent, was taken off, and the incline made on the turfed area, which was considerably contracted by setting back the iron railings in a line with the front of the other property immediately east and west.

Two incidents of a most melancholy character, in connexion with the Royal Crescent, claim a record.  The first was the death of a workman, named Leggatt.  He was engaged in forming the words “Royal Crescent” on the tablet which surmounts the centre house, and had finished the S, when, on stepping back to observe its agreement with the other letters, he over-balanced himself, and, falling upon the iron railings below, he was unfortunately killed.  The other event was the death of a soldier, named Charles Millegan, of the Second Battalion of the Coldstream Guards, which occurred on Christmas night, 1835, he having accidentally fallen down the Cliff from the Crescent wall.  A stone to his memory, erected by the privates of his battalion, in the north burial ground of St. Nicholas Church, has the following inscription as a tribute of respect by his comrades:—

Oft may the tear his green sod steep,
And sacred be the Soldier’s sleep
      Till time shall cease to run.
And ne’er beside his lonely grave
May Briton’s pass and fail to crave
A blessing on the fallen brave,
      For such was Millegan.

A concrete wall of amazing substance, was then substituted with the greatest success, at a cost of £100,000, under contracts, by Mr. William Lambert, an extensive builder of the town.  In many parts, the wall—which is in some places sixty feet high,—is twenty-three feet thick at its base, and batters—inclines—on an average, four inches to the foot on the face.  More recently, other portions of the sea-front of the town have been extended in width, by the same process, to admit of the increased road traffic, so that Brighton may now boast of an uninterrupted sea-drive and promenade of more than three miles’ extent.

The other public structures erected by the Commissioners are the Market and the Town Hall.  The former is a lofty and commodious building, standing principally on the site of the Old Workhouse and Town Hall.  It is T shaped, with the transverse head towards the east, opposite the Town Hall, a building which occupies the space whereon, till the erection of the new structure, the Market formerly stood.  The corner stone of the Town Hall was laid in April, 1830, by Thomas Read Kemp, Esq., the contractor for the building being Mr. Doubleday, whose tender was £12,491 1s. 7d.  The cost, however, of the building, from the various hewings, hackings, and cuttings, which it has undergone, has exceeded, at a moderate calculation, £60,000.  It is after the plan of Mr. Thomas Cooper, but it is minus a most important wing.  This defect arose from the Commissioners omitting to purchase land for the south portion, the owner of the property refusing to sell after the building had pretty far advanced.  The consequence is that the approaches to the upper rooms of the southern portion are wanting, and hence much inconvenience is experienced.

Prior to the establishment of the Police-force the care of the town was entrusted to a few Watchmen of the antique school, by night, and a Beadle in cocked-hat and general suit of his order, by day, assisted by the Town Crier of similar mien and garb.  The Watchmen had succeeded the Patrol, a species of self-guardianship which the inhabitants imposed upon themselves in rotation, under the supervision of the High Constable and his Headboroughs.  During the Winter months it was also customary for a bell-man to perambulate nightly most of the old streets of the town, and hourly proclaim the time and weather.  The stocks in the Market place, and the parish pound at the back of the Old Church were then in vogue.

As early as 1806 the Incorporation of the town was mooted, and on the 2nd of July, that year, a meeting of the inhabitants, at which the Vicar, the Rev. R. Carr, presided, took place at the Old Ship, respecting a communication which had been made from the Prince of Wales to Sir Henry Rycroft, on the subject.  The meeting was numerously and respectably attended, and the subject was ably and dispassionately discussed.  After a debate of several hours, the Incorporation by Charter was unanimously negatived, and an address of thanks was voted to His Royal Highness for his condescension, and the kind interest which he took in the welfare of the inhabitants of the town.  During the meeting it was announced that the Prince had no particular desire that the Incorporation by Charter should be adopted, unless the inhabitants should conceive that such a measure would promote their interests; and that any other mode which they might better approve of, for the impartial administration of justice in the place, should be honoured with his Royal sanction.

1854.—Lieut.-Col. Fawcett.

1855.—W. Hallett, Esq.

1856.—I. G. Bass, Esq.

1857.—J. C. Barrows, Esq.

1858.—J. C. Burrows, Esq.

1859.—W. Alger, Esq.

1860.—W. Alger, Esq.

1861.—H. Smithers, Esq.

The great increase of the population during the course of the last hundred years, is the surest criterion, whereby to judge of the rapid progress of the town:—

The following have been the polling results of the elections to the present date:—