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The 1875 directory for East Brighton listed 35 bootmakers, 3 breweries, 19 dress-makers, 15 tailors, 2 watchmakers, 2 tinners, 2 brushmakers and 2 basketmakers. By 1974 they had virtually all disappeared, apart from one jeweller and one costumer. This 1978 book is about shopkeepers and street traders, based on interviews with people whose families had [...]

Sheila Winter’s 1998 memoir recalls the growth of the community of Moulsecoomb. Sheila was born, raised and married in the area, and narrates the story of her life during the years between 1929 and 1950. Sheila’s father was badly injured in the First World War, and although the estate was built as “homes fit for [...]

Born in 1916, Margaret Ward describes her life as a ‘winding lane’ because of the many twists and turns it has taken. Her autobiography describes her childhood in Rottingdean, growing up amongst a loving family in the picturesque Sussex seaside village. Her 1988 autobiography brings alive a rural childhood in the aftermath of World War [...]

Margaret Ward was born and brought up in Rottingdean and lived there all her life. This autobiographical book is a sequel to One Camp Chair in the Living Room, published by QueenSpark in 1988. In this booklet Margaret recalls her childhood in Rottingdean in the 1920s, local places and people in the 1930s and life [...]

Joan Parsons writes with enthusiasm about her working life in Brighton, where she was employed for many years as a toilet attendant. She worked in many different areas of Brighton, including The Steine, Clock Tower and the Aquarium, and during the course of her working day she would meet many characters, including homeless people who [...]

This is the sequel to Poverty, Hardship but Happiness. Brightonian Albert Paul left school at the age of 14 and began work as a carpenter, rising from the position of apprentice to that of master craftsman. Albert remained in his job throughout his life, in an era when people usually continued to work for one [...]

Working on the West Pier from 1956 to 1970, Daphne Mitchell’s 1996 memoir evokes the atmosphere of the seaside in bygone times. Daphne recalls seaside shows that featured acts such as local stunt man the Great Omani, floating by on a bed of nails. She describes day-to-day life working on the pier, twelve hours a [...]

In his 1998 memoir Ron Cunningham, alias 'The Great Omani', presents tales and adventures from the life of a professional stuntman. Ron’s inspiration was the renowned escapologist, Houdini and in describing the exploits that he undertook as part of his unusual career, echoes of Houdini’s famous tricks can be spotted. Ron once travelled from Hastings [...]

This work records the reminiscences of three craftsmen who were employed in the Preston Park Works of the Pullman Car Company during the fifties and sixties. As well as giving the reader a flavour of life in the railway engineering industry in those times, it also provides fascinating details of Brighton’s post-war history and some [...]

In 1935, fifteen year old Bert Hollick signed on at Brighton Station for his first shift on a Pullman Train. Working on the midnight shift from Victoria to Brighton including the famous Brighton Belle, he learned to ladle soup from a tureen at seventy-five miles per hour and serve a three-course lunch in a speedy fifty-eight [...]

We’re Not All Rothschilds! Is based around a series of interviews conducted by Leila Abrahams in Brighton and Hove in 1994. The book explores the lives of ordinary working people linked by their Jewish faith. There are fascinating accounts of running Beall’s Cork Shop in Gardner Street, memories of long-gone Brighton shops and discussions around [...]

Born in 1908 at the Marquess of Exeter public house (now the Chimney House), which was run by her parents, Marjory Batchelor spent her working life as a barmaid and pub landlady in and around the Brighton area. Marjory recalls her experiences of growing up and working through two World Wars and beyond in Brighton, [...]

Arthur Thickett’s 1993 memoir is the story of a young man who came to Brighton in the summer of 1970, full of hope and optimism – his goal was to find adventure and ultimately love. On his first day he found digs in Ovingdean, on his second day he walked into a job as a [...]

Marjorie Gardiner’s 1985 autobiography looks at the working life of milliner from 1925 to 1945, including an account of her working life during the Second World War. Marjorie’s story is told in a lively and evocative manner, and describes her experiences as a shop assistant working in a Brighton hat shop, where she met all [...]