Sue Berry will be leading this short course consisting of five weekly two-hour sessions (10.30-12.30) on Tuesdays from 24 September to 19 November 2024 at Kings Church, Lewes.

Attendance (maximum 20 participants) costs £20. Open to non-members as well as members of the Lewes History Group.

Dr. Sue Berry (Fellow of the Royal Historical Society) is a published expert on this period.

The course  

Session 1: Tuesday 24 September
Session 2: Tuesday 8 October
Session 3: Tuesday 22 October
Session 4: Tuesday 5 November
Session 5: Tuesday 19 November

 All sessions 10.30-12.30

We are keen to expand the range of LHG members’ research into a wider spectrum of projects, and have identified Victorian and Edwardian Lewes as a new theme.

Lewes lacks a book or a series of booklets about life in Lewes during the Victorian and Edwardian periods (1830-1914). Themes such as urban development, how people made a living, entertainment, and the development of health and social care are just some of the topics which we know little about and can explore. We are planning a short introductory course, with five weekday morning sessions in the coming autumn, in which we will look at what we know about the town, identify where there are gaps on our knowledge and consider how they might be addressed. The course is intended for people who may be interested in undertaking their own research into some aspect of the history of Lewes. We think that it helps research to have some background in what we know and the broader context into which the themes we can explore fit. For example, was the slow growth of the population typical of market towns or not? What key trends in education influenced what happened in Lewes, and what do we know about education here? It is hoped that some attendees will be interested in following through topics that interest them. A small informal research team led by Sue Berry will be set up if there is interest and it will be kept connected by email and occasional meetings to discuss research issues in detail. Each session below will include discussion of key sources such as the census, newspapers, archives, maps, plans, and images. The contents of the sessions are outlined.

Session 1: Lewes 1830-1914, an outline of what we know. We will start this session with a chat about what ideas you have which you might be interested in exploring. This will help define the later sessions. We will spend the rest of the session exploring what we know about the town during this period. We will look at the slow growth of the population of Lewes in this period and consider possible reasons why that might be; the towns’ physical expansion and what may have influenced what was built where; and spend a little time on the town’s social-economic structure and other key themes in brief. To provide a context for what occurred in Lewes, we will also explore briefly, what changed the structure of employment here, such as the growth of engineering at Newhaven, and competition from coastal resorts (especially Brighton and Eastbourne) and from the new towns to the north such as Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill.

Session 2: Population and employment. We will investigate sources such as street directories, and the censuses. Having had the brief introduction to the town in Session 1, we will look at the population of Lewes in greater depth, and ask how we identify the movers and shakers, the influencers who were the most significant, and distinguish them from those who excelled at self- publicity. Who identified the extraneous influences on the town and recognised that new directions and skills were needed, and that some trades would end up elsewhere, such as engineering becoming the core of Newhaven’s development from 1840? We will also review why we aggregate populations in small towns, rather than study by parish, for some aspects but not others, and consider what the censuses and directories help us with, but also their limitations. We will explore how other researchers have dealt with employment and socioeconomic structure, to ensure that what is done in Lewes can be compared with research elsewhere. We will ask why tables and graphs can be both useful and limiting when trying to interpret data, and consider the value of sampling – e.g. look at how two or three small town centre areas change over the period, and sampling suburbs, having reviewed them in 1901 to see which might be worth looking at earlier dates. The census and the street directories, allied with other resources, will help us to grasp the changing patterns of manufacturing, retailing and the professions as key employers here. The impact of industries on the town can be explored and we will look at sectors such as brewing and the railway as case studies. How many employees did these seemingly substantial sectors require?

Session 3: Worship. Church life, Anglican and non-conformist, was central in this period. We will begin with the 1851 religious census. This survey of congregations proved to be controversial in some towns because it challenged the perceptions of some members of the public who believed that most residents attended a place of worship, and if they did not then the only reason was that they were not enough in the town. This fallacy resulted in a surplus of churches in some towns such as Brighton. In Lewes, this rush to build more places of worship was less evident. We will discuss why this might have been. We will also follow the changes in the Anglican (parish) churches – most were altered during this period, as their archives show clearly. Some non-conformist groups either rebuilt or refurbished places of worship. The archives include plans and other resources and the local press can help us to understand how the different religious groups operated – many had extensive social activities.

Session 4: Education and leisure. This will begin with a brief survey of the state of education nationally in 1840 and the subsequent changes in the attitude of government towards it. Topics will include the battle over policy making and the push towards secular schooling, paid for increasingly through taxation. The row in Brighton about the School Board (established in the 1870s) going too far in provision in the eyes of government and its ramifications will serve as a brief case study of the very limited intentions of state policy. Topics will include – Trends in education for all social groups in Lewes, religious rivalry and the rise of state intervention locally. There is at least one good case study already published about the involvement of local people. What was taught and why will be part of this session. Sources that we will look at include school log books as a source of information about issues in schools with pupils and parents. The census and some limited information in the newspapers helps to compensate for a quite limited archive, we also have good images of lost buildings and some survivors.

Leisure activities were also important in the town. Horse racing both employed people here and provided an important part of the Lewes calendar – race days. Buit what else was there? As time went on and living standards rose for many, more novel leisure activities grew, such as amateur opera and theatre groups, athletics, football and films. Advertisements, the press and some archive will all help us to explore this.

Session 5: Local government and social and medical care. The basics of the evolution of local government in Lewes have been well covered and are easily written up. Voting patterns and how to study them using Colin Brent’s excellent case study in Southern History is a great example of what can be achieved. We will look at why there was change and the ever-broader range of functions that councils covered. There are minute books, press coverage and other sources.

Care for the poor and for the ill underwent quite radical change at the start of our project’s period. There seem slim resources for this important topic. Thanks to Ann Holmes, there is helpful introductory information on the LHG website, and the published study of the Lewes Victoria Hospital is also helpful. We will look at what provision there was, how it improved, especially from the 1870s, and consider how typical it was of small town. There are clusters of medics shown in the census, and advertisements in the press plus some more information in The Keep.

Reading – a list of accessible articles and books will be provided for participants.

When – Tuesdays from 24 September 2024 to Tuesday 19th November 2024

Time – Prompt start at 10.30am and end at 12.30pm. Room accessible from 10.15.

Where – Room 1 (ground floor) Kings Church, Brooks Road, Lewes BN7 2BY

Fee – £20 which covers the room and projector hire. Dr Berry is not receiving a fee. Please bring your own refreshments

How to pay – Book on https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/lhg