Printed and Published at the Dover Express Works. 1916.

TO BE FORMATTED

ANNALS OF DOVER.
SECTION SIX.
THE MAYORS AND THEIR TIMES.
XI. FROM THE PUBLIC HEALTH ACT. 1850 TO 1894.

From the adoption of the Public Health Act in 1850
to the completion of the Municipal buildings in 1894 was a
transition period, during which Dover, having passed through
a stage of chastened economy owing to the previous
expenditure on the sewerage and water supply, rapidly
developed a condition of light-hearted liberality, and, amongst
other large outlays, resolved to spend ^19,000 on a new
public hall, and J£^i 2,000 on a technical school. The notes
on the " Mayors and their Times " during that period will
illustrate the various stages of that transition, which resulted
in creating a Municipal debt compared with which the cost
of the sewerage and water supply was a very small amount.
1851 Thomas Birch (247) 1852 Charles Lamb (248)

(247)4 Thomas Birch was a grocer and auctioneer, having a place
(fi business at the Crosswall. He was 68 years old when first chosen
Mayor in 1851, and he died in June, 1858, during his third Mayoralty.

(24S) Charles Lamb, chosen Mayor in 1852, had been a member
of the old Common Council, and was in his 73rd year when elected
Mayor. He had been for fifty years the Chairman of the Dover Catch
Club, and it was in his Mayoralty that the Mayor's Banquet wae first
held.
1853 James Poulter (249) 1854 W. H. Payn (250)

(249) James Poulter, elected to the Civic chair in 1853, was
the first Nonconformist Mayor of Dover since the passing of the
Corporations Regulations Act of 1662. For that re'Oson his portrait is
hung on the wall of the Maison Dieu.

(250) William Henry Payn, a son of Anthony Payn, of the
"York " Hotel, was Mayor in 1854 — the year in which the Waterworks
¦were coanpkted — and he celebrated the event by giving a banquet in
the upper reservoir. There is a picture of the reservoir as it appeared
on that occasion in the Ccunc'l Chamber. Mr. P>ayn will be mentioned
amongst the OiScers of tlo Corporation as a Coroner.

1855 James Worsfold (251)

(251) James Worsfold, elected Mayor in 1S55, had been a
member of the old Common Coimcil. lie had been in the Navy,
but retired after the Peace of 1S15.

1856 Thomas Birch 1857 Thomas Birch

1857 E. F. Astley (25:?) 1858 E. F. Astley

(252) Edward Feivn':' Astley, M.D., was Mayor in 1857-8,
filling the vacancy caufcd by the death of Mr. Thomas Birch, but
his great beneficent work was done sixteen years later, when the



THE MAYORS AND THEIR TIMES 325

small-pox epidemic occurred. He then opened an isolation hospital
at Tower Hamlets at his own expense. It was afterwards trans-
ferred to the Corporation and used as a fever hospital by the
Corporation.

1859 J. C. Ottaway (253) i860 John Birmingham (254)

(253) James Cuthbert Ottaway, elected Mayor in 1859, "^^^ *
surgeon. During his Mayoralty he introduced in the Police Court a
Poor Box for the relief of distressed prisoners.

(254) John Birmingham was the well known proprietor of the
" Lord Warden " Hotel at Dover, and had previously been the host
of the "Ship" Hotel.

1861 John Birmingham 1862 James Worsfold

1863 Jeffery Noble (255)

(255) Captain Jeffery Wheelock Noble, R.N., was the Super-
intendent of the Pilots at Dover. He died during his second Mayoralty,
and had a public funeral.

1864 Jeffery Noble W. R. Mummery (256)

(256) William Eigden Mummery, chosen Mayor in March, 1865,
was a son of Mr. W. K. Mummery, of Deal, and he succeeded Mr.
Humphrey Humphrey as proprietor of the Stembrook Tannery, Dover.
In his last Mayoralty, in August, 1867, a new Town clock was purchased
by public subscriptions for St. Mary's Tower, in place of the old one
given by Peter Monins in 1736.

1865 W. R. Mummery 1866 W. R. Mummery

1867 J. G. Churchward (257)

(257) Joseph George Churchward was the contractor for carrying
the mails between Dover, Calais and Ostend. He exercised much
political influence in Dover, and for some years resided at Kearsney
Abbey.

1868 John Birmingham 1869 John Birmingham

1870 Edward Knocker (258)

(258) Edward Knocker, before being Mayor in 1870, had been
Town Clerk and Clerk of the Paving Board. He was a Fellow of the
Society of Antiquarians. Some years after his Mayoralty he was
appointed the first Honorary Librarian of the Corporation.

1 87 1 Richard Dickeson (259) 1872 Edward R. Mowll (260)

(259) Sir Richard Dickeson was a provision merchant, and
founded the firm of Richard Dickeson and Company. He was chosen
Mayor in 1871, and three times afterwards. He entertained, on the
29th June, 1880, 5,184 Sunday School children and 1,000 teachers in
celebration of the Sunday School Centenary. The Connaught Hall
and Connaught Park were opened when he was Mayor, and for his
liberality on that occasion he was knighted.

(260) Ediward Rutley Mowll, elected Mayor in 1872, was a wine
merchant, and a member of a Dover family that had taken a largo
share in local affairs,



326 ANNALS OF DOVER

1873 Frederick S. Peirce (261)

(261) Frederick Samuel Peirce was elected Mayor in 1873 and
the following year. Ue was the originator of the scheme for the
division of the members of the Dover Police Force into classes, so
that the men might be raised froan stage to stage by merit, each step
carrying with it an increase of pay. The system has worked well for
over forty years.

1874 Frederick S. Peirce 1875 P. Simpson Court (262)

(262) Percy Simpson Court filled the office of Mayor in the
years 1875-6 and 1877-8. In his first Mayoralty he attended as Mayor
at the laying of the foundation stone of the Master's new residence
at Dover College ; and in his second Mayoralty, on the 29th June,
1878, he attended at the cutting of the first sod of the Dover and
Deal Railway. In his lasf Mayoralty, too, he saw the initiation of
the movement which resulted in the clearance of Barwick's Alley from
The side of Priory Hill.

1.376 George Fielding (263)

(263) George Fielding was a solicitor. In his Mayoralty in
1877 was obtained an Act of Parliament for carrying out the East
Cliff Sea Defences; and the first Municipal step in the matter of
Elementary Education was taken by the appointment of a School
Warden.

1877 P. Simpson Court 1878 Alexander Bottle (264)

(264) Alexander Bottle, chosen Mayor in 1878, was President
of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Having been
established as a chemist in Dover since the year 1840, he soon after
tliat date took an active part in the agitation for the improvement
of Dover's sanitary condition, which resulted in the adoption of the
Public Health Act.

1879 Richard Dickeson 1880 Richard Dickeson

1881 John Lade Bradley (265)

(265) John Lade Bradley was Mayor in 1881-2, during the time
of the building of the Gonnaught Hall and the laying out of the
Park. In this Mayoralty occurred the opening of the Dover and Deal
Railway.

1882 Richard Dickeson 1883 Rowland Rees (266)

{266) Rowland Rees, Mayor in 1883-4, was then Engineer of the
Dover Harbour.. He had been Borough Surveyor to the Corporation.
1884 Thos. Viney Brown (267) 1885 William J. Adcock (268)

(267) Thomas Viney Biown, Mayor in 1884-5, was a native of
Deal, where his father was several times Mayor; he was a half-brother
of Mr. W. R. Mummery, a former Mayor.

(268) William John Adcock, Mayor in 1885 and iSgo, was a
native of Nottingham, and a builder. During his first Mayoralty,
there being a great many men out of work, this Mayor raised a large
public subscription for their iclief, and, having obtained the permission
of the War Department, hv transformed the old Castle Hill Road
(which had been superseded h ¦ a, new road in 1799) ^"^ ^ charming
zig-zag walk, ornamented witli trees and shrubs, which have since
matiired, forming a pleasing approach to the South Gate of the Park.



THE MAYORS AND THEIR TIMES 327

1886 W. H. Crundall (269)

(269) Sir William Henry Crundall was Mayor thirteen times.
He took up the pressing matter of street widening, and in the course
of successive Mayoralties he saw the widening of the main thoroughfare
from the Market Square almost up to the Maison Dieu, as well as the
widening of Worthington Street, Priory Place, the High Street, in
front of the Town Hall, Ladywell, and the communications from
Maison Dieu Road to the Sea Front, and of the Marine Drive round
the Bay. Also during one of his Mayoralties the School of Art and
Technology, in Ladywell, was built, adjoining the Maison Dieu, Lady
Crundall laying the foundation stone. Sir William Crundall was also
associated with the introduction of electric tramways, which his
street widening schemes had made possible. His record of thirteen
Mayoralties has not been broken during Dover's history.

1887 W. H. Crundall 1888 W. H. Crundall

1889 Edward Lukey (270)

(270) Edward Lukey, Mayor in 1899, was a son of Mr. John
Lukey, wine merchant, Dover.

1890 W. J. Adcock 1891 W. H. Crundall
1892 W. H. Crundall 1893 W. H. Crundall
1894 W. H. Crundall



328 ANNALS OF DOVER