29 King Henry's Road, Lewes
"Glenavon" first occupied: 1910
Owners & Occupiers:
Electoral Roll: 1910 Frederick Butchers [a relative of George Butchers at no.27?]
[b.1886 in Uckfield; m.1907 Florence Louise Jenner]
Will: Frederick Butchers of 16 Eastgate Street, Lewes, d. 17.01.1952 at Victoria Hospital, Lewes [aged 66]. Probate to Florence Louise Butchers widow. Effects £746 12s 10d
1911 Census: James Osborn Palmer (47) Master Ironmonger & Ironfounder, his wife Janie Ycamon Palmer (43) and their five sons: Wilfrid Osborn Palmer (19), Sidney James Palmer (18), Hubert Leslie Palmer (14), John Raymond Palmer (8) and Frederic Donald Palmer (2); one servant: Mary Stenning (28) from Steyning.
The eldest son is working as a book-keeper / ironmonger, presumably in the family business; the second son is an apprentice ironmonger. The next two boys are at school, leaving baby Frederic at home. From the birthplaces listed in the schedule, it is obvious that this family have moved around quite a bit: Frederic is the only member of this family to be born in Lewes.
James O Palmer b.1864 d. 1942 in Lancashire aged 78. [No will found]
Jane Y Palmer b.1868 d.1952 in Manchester aged 83. [No will found]
Electoral Roll & Kelly's Directory:
1918: W G Carn
1921 Census: Elizabeth Beeley (69) widow, retired school teacher, and her son Arthur Beeley (48) medical practitioner, working at County Hall for East Sussex County Council.
Mrs Beeley died in 1931 aged 79.
Will: Elizabeth Beeley of 4 De Warrenne Road, Lewes, widow, died 14.06.1931. Administration to Arthur Beeley MD. Effects £2209 15s 2d
Kelly's Directory 1927: A Beeley
1939 Register: George Mann (34) Dyers & Cleaners, and his wife Dorothy Grace Mann (31); three records "officially closed".
1940: Information kindly supplied by Clive Phillips
Arthur and Magdalen A (née Haestier) Gray moved from Brighton to No. 29 in 1940 or possibly later in WW2.
They had both grown up in Brighton, marrying in 1927. Arthur, a school teacher, joined the Royal Artillery in 1939. Magdalen was also a school teacher. They had three daughters and two sons, born between 1928 and 1936. The family was Roman Catholic.
In the 1939 Register, Magdalen Gray was at Grasmere, Highview, Brighton, schoolmistress at 'Ele. Convent School' [Sacred Heart Elementary? (now Cardinal Newman School, The Upper Drive, Hove)], with a daughter age 11 and a son age 7, plus three other children redacted as 'This record is officially closed'. There is no mention of Arthur who had probably already joined the Royal Artillery.
After they moved to No. 29, Magdalen became headmistress of St Pancras RC Primary School (built in the 1930s) in De Montfort Road. She continued in this role until her retirement in the mid 1960s.
The eldest daughter Bernadette Gray married Leslie Phillips at St Pancras Church on 22nd May 1948 and they settled at Ripe. In the attached press report on the wedding, Major Arthur Gray and his wife Magdalen and their children are described as living at No. 29 at the time.
The London Gazette of August 1940 indicates that Arthur Gray was commissioned in that month as Lieutenant, Royal Artillery. The 1948 wedding article reports that Arthur was unable to attend his eldest child's wedding because he was "engaged in special intelligence work for the Government abroad". He was known as Major Gray after the war. Arthur separated from Magdalen when he left the Army, in the late 40s or early 50s, and they were later divorced. Magdalen died in 1986 and Arthur died in 1991.
Recollections kindly given by Catherine Urbalejo, who is now based in the USA.
Owners 1950-1983: Ernest Kemp Portman Dixon and Doris Violet Portman Dixon & family.
"My parents Ernest Kemp Portman Dixon and Doris Violet Portman Dixon bought 29 King Henry’s Rd in 1950 and lived there (33 years) until they sold it in 1983. I was 4 years old (Catherine Portman Dixon) when we moved into the house in 1950. I lived there for the fifties and most of the sixties. I went to Lewes High School [for girls] from 1952-1962 which was also on King Henry’s Rd. It is now the junior department of Lewes Old Grammar School.
My father made quite a few changes in the house including making one large living room from two rooms on the ground floor. There was an ugly coal fired boiler in the room adjacent to the kitchen which was removed in 1950. The old kitchen which was long and thin with a coal cellar and pantry was completely remodeled in the sixties. The outside toilet was remodeled to an inside toilet just near the new kitchen. A new passageway was made from the breakfast room into the main hall. My father also built a large patio (concrete structure) covering the front steps of the house where we often enjoyed breakfast overlooking the view. When he asked a local builder if it would hold us the chap said “it would hold the Queen Mary.” My grandmother and aunt also lived in the upstairs rooms in the fifties moving to Brighton in the sixties.