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 Entered at Stationkks' Hall, 
 all rights reserved. 
 
 THE 
 
 Brighton Cbain (Men 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 ITS HISTORY FROM 1823 TO 1896, 
 
 WITH A 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF SIR SAMUEL BROWN, 
 
 ITS DESIGNER AND CONSTRUCTOR. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN GEORGE BISHOP, 
 
 Author of " A Peep into the Past— Brighton in the Olden Time," " The 
 
 Brighton Pavilion and its Royal Associations," " The Evolution of Early 
 
 Brighton— 1744-61," &c., &c. 
 
 Price SIXPENCE (nett), 
 
 Jhiijljton : 
 Printed and Published by J. G. Bishop, Brighton Herald Office. 
 
 1S96.
 
 hN^ -
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 «XK< 
 
 Introduction — The " Passing" of the Chain Pier 
 
 The " Reason Why " the Chain Pier was built 
 
 Promotion of the Pier taking Practical Shape 
 
 The Construction of the Pier — Change of Site 
 
 Details of Construction 
 
 The Opening Ceremonial 
 
 How the Pier Progressed 
 
 Town Presentation to Captain Samuel Brown 
 
 The Birthday Storm ... 
 
 The Pier's Popularity and Progress ... 
 
 The First Royal Disembarkation at the Pier... 
 
 An Interesting Reminiscence . . 
 
 A Breakwater under Consideration 
 
 The Storm of 1833 — Severe Damage to the Pier 
 
 The Hurricane of 1836 — the Pier again Damaged 
 
 Queen Victoria's First Visit to the Pier 
 
 The Disembarkation of Queen Victoria 
 
 Boring for an Artesian Well at the Pier-head .. 
 
 An Unwelcome Visitor 
 
 The First Brighton and Hove Regatta 
 
 The Closing Years of the Pier — Its Doom ... 
 
 "From Bad to Worse" 
 
 " Last Scene of All in its Eventful Historie" 
 
 " Beneath the Lowest^Deep a Lower Deep " 
 
 Some Later Reminiscences of the Pier 
 
 Biographical Notice of Sir Samuel Brown ... 
 
 Page. 
 1 
 2 
 6 
 8 
 
 13 
 14 
 18 
 18 
 
 2 3 
 24 
 26 
 27 
 28 
 29 
 3i 
 33 
 34 
 83 
 39 
 39 
 40 
 42 
 42 
 
 47 
 48 
 
 5 1 
 
 ~t r^t
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 i. Frontispiece — " The Morning after the 
 Storm." 
 
 2. The Chain Pier in 1823 (showing Original 
 
 Entrance)... 
 
 3. The Commemoration Medal, 1824 
 
 4. The Great Birthday Storm in 1824 
 
 5. The Pier in 1824 ... 
 
 6. The Pier in the Storm of 1833... 
 
 7. Sections of Damaged Pier, after the 
 
 Storm of 1833 
 
 14 
 19 
 23 
 24 
 30 
 
 3° 
 
 9. The Pier after the Hurricane of 1836 31 
 
 10. The Pier in 1871 ... ... ... ... 40 
 
 11. The Pier "on its Last Legs" ... ... 42 
 
 12. The Toll-house at the Entrance — Closing 
 
 Notice ... ... ... ... ... 47
 
 f \)t ISrtgljtnn Cljain f ut : 
 
 IN IVIElVTOFriAIVr. 
 
 -**«- 
 
 tHAT unique and beautiful structure — the first of 
 its kind erected — more familiarly known as the 
 Brighton Chain Pier, which, for nearly three-quarters of 
 a century had been a favourite subject with artists and 
 a theme for well-deserved admiration both by residents 
 and visitors, in addition to its being a charming resort 
 either for health or pleasure, has passed away ! For 
 some years past, decay, insufficient reparation, and the 
 unceasing wear and tear of wind and wave, had sadly 
 told upon its stability and marred the symmetry of its 
 graceful proportions ; but more recently a storm, on 
 October 6th, 1896, accentuated the destructive effects 
 of other disintegrating agencies, rendering the Pier so 
 insecure and dangerous that its removal had become a 
 matter of necessity, in order to avert the possibility of a 
 still greater calamity. Put what was intended in the way of 
 removal by human agency has been done far more swiftly 
 and effectually by the violent and disastrous storm, which 
 took place on the night of Friday, December 4th. The 
 last throes of the Chain Pier were of the briefest. In 
 the deep darkness of the dreadful night, and scarcely 
 visible to the human eye, it reeled under the irresistible 
 shock of the waves and sank with appalling suddenness
 
 2 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 into the bosom of the ocean, to which for so many years 
 it had under happier circumstances lent an added beauty. 
 The graceful old fabric, 
 
 " Like an insubstantial pageant faded 
 Left scarce a rack behind " ! 
 
 It was cradled and baptised in storms, and in a storm it 
 perished ; its only requiem being the howling of the wind 
 and the roaring of the waves ! Better so, a thousand times, 
 than to have been demolished piecemeal, to the risk of life 
 and limb, and with the possibility of its worn and decayed 
 fragments being erected in some far-off spot, to be gazed 
 at by curious and unsympathetic eyes ! Now the old 
 Chain Pier is gone, the Eastern marine front of Brighton 
 has lost for ever one of its most esteemed, time-honoured, 
 and pleasant associations, one which, under all the varied 
 aspects of Nature, had given an ever-welcomed beauty to 
 the sea-scape. Its locale now presents but a blank expanse 
 of water, and Brightonians and visitors, to whom it was so 
 long familiar, will scarcely reconcile themselves to a loss 
 which involuntarily gives rise to a thousand pleasant 
 memories and associations, but mingled with unavailing 
 regrets. 
 
 The " Reason Why " the Chain Pier was Built. 
 
 In the earlier part of the century there had arisen an 
 almost irresistible desire in the town for the formation 
 of a pier or jetty of some description, more especially 
 with the view to afford accommodation for the ever- 
 increasing passenger traffic which had grown up between 
 England and France ; for Brighton, by reason of its 
 popularity as a fashionable marine resort, had become 
 more and more a favourite point for embarkation and
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IX MEMORIAM. 3 
 
 debarkation. About 1820-21 some immediate and really 
 
 practical provision of this kind was felt to be an 
 absolute necessity if the town was to retain its enviable 
 position in that respect. Nearly as many as 50 coaches 
 were then running daily between Brighton and London. 
 The population increased enormously. Between 181 1 
 and 182 1 it had more than doubled, — namely, from 12,012 
 to 24,429. And it continued to increase beyond all pre- 
 cedent ; in the next decade, 182 1 to 1831, the population 
 nearly doubled, namely, from 24,429 to 40,634. As a 
 matter of course, there was a corresponding increase in 
 the Continental traffic. Some dozen or more sailing 
 packets were on the station, and the only means available 
 for passengers to go to and from these vessels was by 
 comparatively small rowing boats, locally known as 
 " punts," which also did duty as " tugs," in dragging (by 
 means of ropes) horses, carriages, and luggage, on rafts 
 or otherwise. This means of conveyance, — primitive, 
 inconvenient, and hazardous, as it must have been, — was 
 a little gold mine to the 'long-shore aborigines of the 
 period, and the almost universal feeling among them was, 
 whenever a Pier was talked of, " They didn't want no Pier, 
 they didn't ! " The chief points of embarkation and 
 debarkation were immediately to the west of the old Ship- 
 street groyne — long since buried beneath the shingle — 
 and between Ship-street and Middle-street, and sometimes, 
 when the tide served, from the groyne itself. This was 
 notably the case in 18 18, when poor Lady Mountjoy, a 
 sad invalid, embarked thence for France. She was 
 brought from London in her own carriage, which was 
 driven down the gap on to the Beach, and then out into 
 the sea as far as possible, by the side of the groyne, off 
 which she was taken on a mattress on board of the boat. 
 The poor lady, it is sad to relate, was in the next few weeks
 
 4 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 brought back a corpse. The " situation," and the un- 
 desirability of continuing the then existing state of things, 
 became more and more intensified by reason of the scant 
 provision for vehicular traffic along the Front ; and one 
 cannot wonder that men of " light and leading " in the 
 town, — indeed, all interested in its welfare, — were seriously 
 exercised in their minds how best to provide the one thing 
 needful — a Pier. It was felt that, if much longer neglected, 
 a crisis must necessarily arise, and matters would come to 
 an absolute dead-lock. The Continental passenger traffic, 
 it should be known, was not alone in absorbing the 
 foreshore of the limited sea front. At times coal 
 brigs and merchant vessels — the then most facile and 
 important means of conveyance to a sea-side town— ran 
 ashore between the Old Ship and the Gun (Harrison's) 
 Hotels to discharge their cargoes, and when at such times 
 carts and waggons laden and unladen passed to and 
 from the Beach and up the gaps to the road, they 
 seriously increased and impeded the ordinary vehicular 
 traffic. What the " congestion " was at times would 
 be almost inconceivable to the modern Brightonian. 
 Some idea of it may be formed when it is stated 
 that the Brighton "Front" in 182 1 was for vehicular 
 traffic almost absolutely restricted to the short and 
 narrow strip of road lying between the bottom of Ship- 
 street and the spot where Markwell's Royal Hotel now 
 stands, — just two hundred vards ! Even this space 
 was curtailed by the capstan that stood in the road in 
 front of the Star and Garter Hotel, and by a piece of 
 partly-enclosed waste (originally, we suppose, the gun- 
 garden), in front of the Gun (now Harrison's) Hotel. 
 No road then ran southward of Markwell's, and there 
 was little more than a footpath available for persons 
 to pass along the Front from Ship-street to Middle-
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 5 
 
 street, and a footpath only from Middle-street to West- 
 street. No lower road from Brighton to Shoreham 
 existed. In 182 1 there was a Town Meeting, to 
 promote the making a lower road to Shoreham, — and 
 also a railway, so as to get rid of the unloading of coal in 
 front of the town. The railway project fell through alto- 
 gether ; but the road to Shoreham was opened in 1823 
 with some ceremonial and rejoicing. The chief central out- 
 lets in 182 1 for vehicles from the Front, all of them more 
 or less narrow, were by Ship-street, Black Lion-street, Little 
 East-street, and East-street, this last turning into North- 
 street only, as Castle-square had then no Eastern outlet 
 except for pedestrians. It was, therefore, absolutely im- 
 perative at the time — no Railway to Brighton being then 
 in existence — that the utmost convenience should be 
 secured to enable the colliers and merchantmen at what- 
 ever point they ran in — either along the front, or in the 
 Pool-valley, or off the Middle-street or West-street gaps, — 
 to discharge their cargoes with as little obstruction as possi- 
 ble, or the prices of coals and provisions would have been 
 materially affected. It is related in Erredge that, in the 
 week prior to Christmas, 181 2, such was the scarcity of 
 coal, by reason of adverse winds preventing the arrival of 
 shipping on to the Beach, that coal merchants were in- 
 different to part with their coal, even at ^5 per chaldron 
 (about equal to the present ton) ; one firm in North-street 
 would not sell even a half-bushel of coal without the pur- 
 chaser at the same time bought sixpennyworth of uncleft 
 wood ! The want of provisions and other necessaries at 
 such times was also felt, and those who could afford to do 
 so not unfrequently availed themselves of the coaches, to 
 the proprietors or guards of which this must have been 
 good business : is. 6d. was the ordinary charge for bring- 
 ing down from London 1 lb. of tea, the present retail
 
 6 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 price of the commodity itself ! Hence the construction 
 of a Pier to afford facilities for the Continental passenger 
 traffic and to divert it as much as possible from the 
 central foreshore of the town, forced itself into special 
 and paramount importance, though many internal town 
 improvements were almost equally pressing. The 
 latter were, however, subsequently dealt with by the 
 Town Act of 1825, — an ^ ct which cost nearly 
 ^3,000, but which, though much opposed by sundry 
 short-sighted economists, was in its far-reaching results of 
 the utmost advantage to the town, and entitled the pro- 
 moters to the everlasting gratitude of later generations of 
 Brightonians. 
 
 Promotion of the Pier taking Practical Shape. 
 
 The first definite steps towards promoting the erection 
 of the Chain Pier were taken at the close of the year 
 182 1, when a Prospectus was issued, stating it was pro- 
 posed " that a Company should be constituted and 
 incorporated, under the denomination of the Brighton 
 Pier Company ; and that the sum of ^27,000, forming 
 the joint stock of the Company, be raised by subscriptions 
 of ^100 each." The situation originally fixed upon for 
 the erection of the proposed Pier was opposite what was 
 then known as the East Parade (the east side of the Old 
 Steine) ; in fact, the site now occupied by the instalment 
 of the projected Marine Palace and Pier. The ground 
 on which the Pier was to be erected was given by Mr. 
 Thomas Read Kemp and Mr. Charles Scrase Dickins, 
 who most liberally relinquished all their Manorial rights, 
 so that it might not be necessary to apply for an Act of 
 Parliament for authority to levy and collect a toll or 
 " pontage " in the Pier, because the Beach was " free for
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN' PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 7 
 
 landing and embarking in boats as heretofore, and it 
 becomes perfectly voluntary or optional to enter upon and 
 pay for the accommodation of the Pier." In the following 
 year (April, 1S22), after it had been decided to construct 
 the Pier, for some reason or other (one reason was, we 
 believe, that the entrance toll should not exceed 2d.), 
 Messrs. Attree and Cooper, solicitors, issued a notice 
 that application for an Act of Parliament would be made 
 during the present Session, for building, erecting, and 
 maintaining a Suspension Pier, and certain other works 
 connected therewith. The yearly revenue anticipated 
 from the Pier was ^8,000 ; of which ^2,500 was to be 
 derived from a payment of 2s. per head for 25,000 
 passengers to and from France (per steam vessels), and 
 ^3,650 as the produce from the Pier as a promenade at 
 £10 a day. (Estimates, alas '. never destined to be 
 realised.) The establishment charges were put at ^922 : 
 thus making the net produce yearly ^,7,078, or 25 per 
 cent, on amount of capital. By way of affording certifi- 
 cates of Captain Brown's ability to construct the new 
 Pier, and to inspire public confidence in the undertaking, 
 the Prospectus contained two reports from the Directors 
 of the Trinity Pier Company, at Leith (dated respectively 
 September and December, 1821), stating that their Pier, 
 which, we suppose, had been erected there by Captain 
 Brown, " had undergone a more severe trial or proof than 
 was specified in the agreement with Captain Brown : and 
 that the said Pier is in all respects perfect, and in good 
 order." 
 
 So far, so good. On February 26th, 1822, an ad- 
 journed town meeting was held at the Old Ship Hotel, 
 under the presidency of Mr. Thomas Read Kemp, and 
 the following resolutions were unanimously passed : — 
 
 That the Report now submitted by the Committee 
 originally nominated to confer with Captain Brown on the
 
 8 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 subject of the Chain Pier is highly satisfactory, and that it is 
 the opinion of this Meeting that the erection of a Chain Pier, 
 extending in a line from the East Parade of the Steine, will 
 greatly increase the attractions of Brighton as a place of 
 fashionable resort, and multiply its local advantages as a point 
 of transit to the coast of France. 
 
 That, in carrying this desirable measure into effect, 
 Captain Brown deserves the thanks, and is entitled to die 
 cordial support, of every friend to the prosperity of Brighton. 
 
 That the Town of Brighton here assembled pledges 
 itself to afford Captain Brown every facility in its power for 
 the accomplishment of this important object. 
 
 That Captain Brown be requested to convene the friends 
 and supporters of this object to devise what may appear to 
 him and them the most eligible means of effecting it. 
 
 That previous to the commencement of the erection of 
 the intended Chain Pier, Captain Brown and the projectors 
 of the undertaking do make a Gap of Roadway near the 
 bottom of Manchester street for public use, and remove the 
 capsterns to a suitable place for the use of vessels landing 
 their cargoes at the East part of the town, in order to obviate 
 as much as possible the obstructions to commerce which the 
 said intended Chain Pier is likely to produce. 
 
 That the moorings, steam engine, chains, and machines 
 proposed to be placed by Captain Brown and the projectors 
 of the intended Chain Pier for the purpose of getting off 
 clear of the said Pier all vessels landing their cargoes on 
 this Beach be carried into effect, sc that the protection shall 
 be afforded as soon as the danger is incurred. 
 
 That the thanks of this Meeting are most cordially given 
 to T. R. Kemp, Esq., for his impartial conduct in the Chair 
 and for his liberal support.'' 
 
 The Construction of the Pier — 
 Change of Site. 
 
 A month later it was announced that Captain Brown 
 had brought into the undertaking, at his individual risk, no 
 less than ^17,000; that the remaining shares were all 
 nearly taken up, and the works would shortly be com- 
 menced. A Breakwater — which would have formed a 
 most desirable adjunct to the Pier — was originally included 
 in the Prospectus ; but for some reason, probably the
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 9 
 
 cost, which was put down at ,£3,000, it was abandoned. 
 In July it was notified that the contract for the erection 
 of the Pier was taken by Mr. Macintosh, who agreed to 
 complete it by November, and that Mr. Clegram was 
 appointed the Superintending Engineer. On September 
 18th, Messrs. Ranger and Son, contractors, began the 
 building of the sea wall and road " leading " to the Chain 
 Pier. This was the first indication that we can trace that 
 the Pier was to be constructed in the position it subse- 
 quently occupied, instead of being, as originally proposed, 
 off the East side of the Steine. The reason for this 
 change of site was, it may be conjectured, to allay the mis- 
 givings, which naturally arose, as to how colliers and other 
 vessels coming from the Eastward and desiring to run 
 in to or to leave the foreshore of the town would be 
 able to do so if the Pier were erected in such close 
 proximity to them. The removal further East was, 
 undoubtedly, under the circumstances which then pre- 
 vailed, a wise one ; and, as it happened, a practical 
 exemplication of it was shortly afforded by the storm of 
 December 4th, 1822 (singular to relate, a storm destroyed 
 the Chain Pier on December 4th, i8go!) when a 
 coal brig, after discharging her cargo in Pool Valley, 
 at the back of the newly-built York Hotel, put off, 
 and only with the utmost difficulty, owing to the 
 boisterous weather, got out to sea. It was added, 
 " had the Chain Pier been erected, it would have 
 been impossible for her to have cleared it," or even if 
 it had been in its late position. Conferences with 
 Captain Brown appear to have taken place as to the best 
 way to prevent accidents of this kind, and it was 
 ultimately decided to anchor large buoys at certain 
 distances off the head of the Pier works. One of these 
 buoys went, shortly after being placed in situ, on an
 
 TO THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 enforced voyage to Shoreham ! Captain Brown, being an 
 engineer of most masterful resources, soon stopped all 
 further fears in this direction by constructing a monster 
 circular buoy at Shoreham, which was eventually moored 
 off the Pier-head by a massive iron chain of a ton and a 
 half weight. 
 
 The sea wall and groyne, to protect the new road 
 which was to be formed to lead to the Pier, were pushed 
 on with great rapidity : and also the initial instalment of 
 the formation of the Pier itself, the first cluster of the 
 standard piles being completed on December 20th. But 
 the elements were extremely unpropitious ; storms almost 
 continuously prevailed during the preceding two or 
 three months. It may be truly said that the Pier 
 and its adjuncts had an early baptism of " wind and 
 wave " under the sponsorship of old Boreas and Father 
 Neptune, whose turbulence afterwards was continuous 
 and most unwelcome. The effects were more than once 
 very serious, and must have entailed considerable loss 
 either upon the Company or the contractors. Thus, on 
 Sunday, October 13th, 1822, the coast was visited by a 
 severe gale, with a tremendous sea which swept the stages 
 and engines which were erected for driving the standard 
 piles for the Pier. The wreckage was driven across two 
 of the principal piles, which, though they for some time 
 resisted the shock of the floating mass, at last broke short 
 off at the surface. On another occasion, not long after 
 this, some forty feet of the enclosing wall leading to the 
 Pier was washed away ; and then again, early in December 
 the east end, or horse-shoe portion, of the same wall was 
 much damaged by the running in of a heavy sea. in fact, 
 not only in 1822, but during 1823, down to October of 
 the latter year, gales, with high tides and severe storms, 
 occurred at frequently-recurring intervals, interfering sadly
 
 THK BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. II 
 
 at times with the progress of the work, and at others doing 
 material and serious damage. But, in defiance of the 
 opposing elements, the work was assiduously and perse- 
 veringly pushed on ; and, as the building operations 
 throughout were of the most interesting character, there 
 were not unfrequently numerous spectators Early in 
 January, 1823, the first cluster of piles being completed, a 
 " cradle " was suspended from the cliff to it, so as to enable 
 the men to pass more expeditiously to and from their work. 
 This "cradle" was subsequently superseded by a tern 
 porary suspension bridge, and such bridges were continued 
 to each cluster of piles as soon as completed. By the 
 end of March the " shears " for driving the fourth and 
 last cluster of piles was planted ; in April the chains for 
 the support of the Pier were prepared and put together ; 
 and by May, so much had the work been pushed on, that 
 the Esplanade road leading to the Pier was completed. 
 The Pier itself was by this time so far finished that a 
 lamp was burnt nightly at the Pier-head as a caution to 
 ships and boats, and a hell was rung during foggy weather. 
 By the middle of July all the chains of the Pier (save 
 one) were suspended ; and in August, a writer says of it, 
 " The Pier, as you look at it from the opposite cliffs, 
 through the standards, chains, and suspension rods, has a 
 beautiful and vista-like appearance." By the end of 
 August the flooring was completed, and the necessary 
 and ornamental works were proceeding with rapidity ; 
 and by the middle of September the Pier was so far 
 completed that it was visited by numbers, and unqualified 
 approbation was expressed at the handsomeness of the 
 structure and at the stupendous and marvellous character 
 of the undertaking. How nearly the grand work was 
 then approaching completion may be inferred from the 
 fact that, on September 26th, it was announced that a
 
 12 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 " sale of the waste materials " would take place at the 
 Chain Pier. The grand opening was then said to be 
 fixed for the 15th October. In the interval, it so hap- 
 pened that the beautiful fabric was put to a very severe 
 test by heavy gales which took place in the last week of 
 September and on Wednesday, October 1st. In the 
 latter, the "dolphins " (buoys), which with their moorings 
 circled round the head of the Pier to prevent vessels 
 running against it, were considerably disturbed and 
 damaged ; but not a brace or a pile of the Pier was 
 shaken, nor could the force of the sea, which dashed 
 with the utmost violence against the Pier-head, be felt 
 upon the deck. Of the stability of the structure 
 itself not a doubt could thenceforth be enter- 
 tained. Such was the verdict ; and the pleasure and 
 satisfaction which the skilful engineer must have felt 
 that his grand work — completed in such a marvellously 
 brief time as less than a year — should have passed 
 through thus early such severe ordeals unshaken and 
 unscathed, must have been indescribable. Despite the 
 hazardous character of the undertaking, the accidents 
 were of the fewest — only four being recorded. One poor 
 fellow was fatally injured by falling from a temporary 
 suspension bridge ; another had a similar accident, 
 and though losing consciousness for some hours, he 
 eventually recovered ; a third was struck by the 
 " monkey," but the extent of his injury is unrecorded ; 
 and a fourth lost his arm by the falling of a chain. It 
 may be added, to Captain Brown's honour, that as soon 
 as he heard of this last accident he generously declared 
 his intention of making a provision for the unhappy 
 sufferer for life.
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 13 
 
 Details of Construction. 
 
 At this point it may not be uninteresting to give some 
 details of the construction of the Pier, as afforded by 
 Bruce's Brighton (1831), which appears to be the most 
 accurate of contemporary descriptions : — "The entrance 
 is by a beautiful esplanade, 1,250ft. in length, and 33ft. in 
 breadth. The Pier runs out into the sea upwards of 350 
 yards. The foundation consists of four clumps of piles, 
 driven 10ft. into the solid rock, and rising 14ft. above 
 high-water mark. The three first clumps consist of 70 
 piles each ; the fourth, which is in the form of a T> has 
 150 perpendicular and diagonal piles, strongly bound by 
 framings and wale pieces in various places. At the top 
 of this fourth clump is a platform Soft, long, paved with 
 200 tons of Purbeck stone ; and beneath are galleries and 
 flights of steps for the convenience of embarkation and 
 debarkation. The groups of piles are 250ft. apart, and 
 over each rises a pyramidical tower of cast iron, 25ft. 
 high, formed by two side towers united to an arch at the 
 top. Over the top of each tower pass the main suspen- 
 sion chains, which issue from the body of the cliff (the 
 Marine Parade), into which they are carried 54ft., and 
 are fastened to an iron plate weighing nearly three tons, 
 and, thus secured, the excavations are filled up with stone 
 and brick work. These chains, after passing over the 
 towers to the outer extremity of the Pier, diverge from the 
 last tower in an angle of about 87 degrees, and are at the 
 ends embedded in the solid rock ; where they are pro- 
 perly secured by bolts and keys, with the additional 
 security of the whole weight of the platform before 
 mentioned. Of these chains there are four on each side, 
 composed of 170 links, each link being 10ft. long, 6}(in. 
 in circumference, and weighing 1 cwt. The Pier is
 
 14 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 1,134ft. long, 13ft. wide, with a neat cast iron railing 
 on each side, supported by curlines or cross-timbers 
 resting on two bars of iron, which extend the whole 
 length of the Pier, and are upheld by suspension rods, 
 which are of different lengths, and are 362 in number." 
 
 It may be added that the wood used for the piles was 
 Norway fir, which was thickly pitched ; the piles were 
 pointed with metal for the better penetration of the rock 
 into which they were driven, and for some distance up- 
 ward to the water-mark they were studded with copper 
 nails, to prevent the adhesion of barnacles (concha 
 antifera), by their being poisoned by the verdigris. 
 The pile drivers, when the Pier was being constructed, 
 were not paid by the day, but received 25s. per pile. 
 
 The plate annexed shows the original entrance to the 
 Pier at the period of the opening, together with the water- 
 wheel (a tread-mill, by means of which a donkey raised 
 water for the streets), which was erected in the same year. 
 
 The Opening Ceremonial. 
 
 It had been originally arranged for the grand opening 
 of the Pier to take place on the 15th October, and it was 
 hoped that the ceremony would be performed, if not by 
 His Majesty George IV., either by the Duke of Clarence 
 or by the Duke of York. The delay of the opening until 
 the 25th November — the day on which the Company first 
 took over the Pier from Captain Brown — was doubtless 
 owing to negotiations being carried on to secure, if 
 possible, a Royal opening. The gallant Captain was 
 deputed by the Directors, on the 14th November, to 
 wait upon the Duke of Clarence ; but all that could be 
 ascertained was that, from previous engagements, neither 
 the Duke of Clarence nor the Duke of York was able to 
 be present. The Directors, therefore, did their best,
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 1 5 
 
 despite their disappointment at not having a Royal open- 
 ing, to make the ceremony as attractive as possible ; and 
 the assemblage of notable and distinguished personages 
 was in every way worthy of the occasion. From nine to 
 one o'clock on the Tuesday morning tickets of admission 
 to the Esplanade and Pier were issued from the Pier office 
 to all applicants. Soon after one o'clock a procession 
 started from the Old Ship Hotel in the following order : — 
 
 Town Beadles. 
 
 Military Band of Music. 
 
 The High Constable. 
 
 Headboroughs, two and two, with Staffs of Office. 
 
 Standard of England. 
 
 Town Commissioners, two and two, with badges and scarves. 
 
 Town Beadles. 
 
 About two o'clock the procession reached the outer 
 head of the Pier, where a temporary room had been con- 
 structed and a dejeuner provided. About 250 persons of 
 " rank and respectability," says a chronicler, sat down to 
 the entertainment, which was of the most superb descrip- 
 tion, the tables being tastefully decorated ; the caterers 
 were Mr. Phillips, of the Old Steine, and Mr. S. Hodd, 
 of "The White Horse Hotel." Captain S. Brown, R.N., 
 the scientific projector and builder of the Pier, presided, 
 and Mr. Thomas West, of the Brighton Union Bank, 
 officiated as vice-President. Among the guests were 
 Count de Suza, the Portuguese Ambassador, Count 
 Funchal, Earls Cowper and Besborough, Viscount Moles- 
 worth, Lords Duncannon, Holland, Radstock, Cremorne, 
 and Ellenborough, the Bishop of Dromore, the Dean of 
 Salisbury, the Hon. Mr. Trevor, Sir E. Stanhope, Sir J. 
 Paul, Sir R. Wilmot, Sir Samuel Falkiner, Sir Matthew 
 Tierney, Sir R. Borough, Sir W. Cunningham, Sir W.
 
 1 6 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Gomm, Mr. J. Smith, M.P., several of the Officers of the 
 7th Hussars, Royal Fusiliers, and the 58th Regiment, 
 Dr. Yates, Dr. Gibney, Dr. Blair, Mr. J. M. Cripps, Mr. 
 R. Parker, and many of the principal visitors to the town 
 and residents. The post-prandial proceedings were of 
 the most pleasant character : " The Health of our 
 beloved Sovereign " was first given, and received 
 with much enthusiasm. This was followed by "The 
 Duke of York and the Army," " The Duke of Clarence 
 and the Navy," '• The Royal Family," " Prosperity to the 
 Town of Brighton, " The Lord Lieutenant of the County," 
 " The County Members," " The Magistrates," " The 
 Town Commissioners," and other appropriate toasts, all of 
 which were warmly received. A song, composed for the 
 occasion by Mr. Heathcote, of the Theatre, was sung 
 by Mr. Colpoys, and greatly applauded. " The Health 
 of Captain Brown " was proposed in the most flattering 
 terms by Mr. Thos. Read Kemp, M.P. The gallant 
 Captain, in acknowledging the honour, said, " Gentle- 
 men, I am sensible that it is incumbent on me to say a 
 few words on this gratifying and interesting occasion, and 
 I shall therefore have to rely much on your liberality 
 while I am speaking on a subject in which I am so 
 particularly interested. I commenced my operations 
 about this time last year, and had to encounter many 
 difficulties during the winter ; but these obstacles afford 
 the best proof of the strength and stability of the Pier, 
 now that it is completed, and the crowds of spectators 
 assembled on this occasion must have put it to a much 
 more severe test than it can ever be subject to. After 
 thanking the company for the honour done him, Captain 
 Brown proposed "The Health of the Noblemen and 
 Gentlemen present," to which the Earl of Aberdeen 
 responded.
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 17 
 
 The opening ceremonial took place at half-past four. 
 The Directors of the Pier Company, with their Secretary, 
 Mr. Slade, assembled on the Pier-head, when the latter 
 made proclamation that " the Pier was Open, according 
 to Act of Parliament."* The Directors, with many of 
 the Company, then proceeded down the Pier and along 
 the Esplanade to the entrance gates, when the Proclama- 
 tion was again made by the Town Crier that " the Pier 
 was open." Mr. W. S. Forth, Master of the Ceremonies 
 of Brighton, paid the first toll for passing through the 
 gates. The ceremonial concluded about six o'clock. So 
 much interest was felt in the event that it was calculated 
 that at about two o'clock there were assembled on the 
 Marine-parade as many as 25,000 persons, and that there 
 were besides nearly 5,000 persons on the Pier and Espla- 
 nade. The town, in fact, from nine in the morning until 
 ten at night was "a scene of animation." There was a 
 grand display of fireworks on the Pier in the evening, 
 under the skilful direction of Mr. Jones. To give still 
 further eclat to the memorable day, and to afford a 
 brilliant close to the various festivities, Captain Brown 
 gave at his residence a grand Ball and supper to his 
 immediate friends, nearly 100 being present. The floor 
 ot the ball-room furnished a pleasurable surprise to the 
 guests, for on it was an accurate representation of the 
 Chain Pier, beautifully designed and executed in chalk 
 by Mr. Edward Fox, artist, of Ship-street (father of Mr. 
 E. Fox, photographer), which was greatly admired. The 
 
 * The last words were regarded as most important, as, 
 we believe, it was expressly stated in the Act that the toll for 
 entrance to the Pier was not to exceed 2d. For some two 
 or three weeks previous to the transference of the Pier to 
 the Company, some thousands had been allowed to go on 
 it, on payment of sixpence.
 
 l8 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 entertainment was in every way a success. The supper 
 room, when opened, says a graphic chronicler, "presented 
 a sight as magnificent to the eye as inviting to the palate. 
 * * The coup d'ceil when the company, the greater 
 part of whom were ladies, elegantly attired, and including 
 some of the loveliest women in creation, were seated, was 
 enchanting, and the tout ensemble, to the varied survey, 
 imposing and grand." Altogether the day was one to be 
 remembered. 
 
 How the Pier Progressed. 
 
 The Eastern front of the town had thenceforth added 
 to it a beautiful and unique structure, which afforded not 
 only a charming promenade for visitors and residents, but 
 one of special utility in other directions. It is gratifying 
 to record that, in February, 1824, a proposal was mooted 
 to present Captain Brown with a piece of plate on the part 
 of the Commissioners, the inhabitants, and visitors to the 
 town, in recognition of his wonderful work. A considerable 
 amount was subscribed, and later in the year a massive 
 and exceedingly handsome silver vase was presented to 
 him. The vase was surmounted by a figure of Britannia, 
 and the belt round the cover contained the following 
 inscription : — 
 
 Presented to Captain Samuel Brown, R.N., 
 
 By the Commissioners, Inhabitants, and Visitors of Brighton 
 
 in testimony of their esteem for his public spirit and talent 
 
 displayed in the Construction of the Chain Pier. 
 
 1824. 
 
 The vase was encircled by chain cables (resembling 
 those invented and introduced into the Naval service by 
 Captain Brown in 18 10). The handles of the vase
 
 
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 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 19 
 
 represented two improved anchors, adapted expressly 
 for the use of the chain cables. Round the body of 
 the vase was a perspective view of the Pier in the finest 
 workmanship : the vase itself being supported by three 
 dolphins (the Brighton arms). The "contents" of the 
 vase were three Imperial gallons ; its weight was 360 
 ounces ; and its value ^350. 
 
 A medal was also struck in February, <: To com- 
 memorate the Erection of the Brighton Royal Chain Pier." 
 On the obverse was a portrait of His Most Gracious 
 Majesty, George IV., and on the reverse a view of the 
 Royal Chain Pier. Tim vvas engraved by Benjamin 
 Wyon, and was sold, in bronze at ios., and in silver at 
 jQi us. 6d. (See plate an nexed). 
 
 There is one other matter that may be mentioned in 
 passing, which occasioned some regret, and that was the 
 absence of Royalty at the opening. The fact was the 
 King was unwell, and he had also given way to habits of 
 seclusion, — he only appeared thrice in public, when at 
 Windsor and London, in 1823 — and it is just possible 
 that the Duke of York and the Duke of Clarence 
 declined to officiate at the opening ceremonial from fear 
 of giving offence to His Majesty. The King came to 
 Brighton early in December, and stayed till the middle of 
 February. There is no record that His Majesty whilst 
 here went upon the Pier ; but, as showing his interest in 
 it, he was, previously to leaving Brighton for Windsor, 
 driven in his travelling carriage up the Marine Parade to 
 view the beautitul structure, and thence, without alight- 
 ing, set out on his journey. 
 
 It should be stated that, when the King came to 
 Brighton in December, 1823, just after the Chain Pier 
 was opened, the structure was happily and ingeniously 
 utilized to testify the joy of the inhabitants at His
 
 20 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Majesty's arrival, namely, by illuminating it. The pre- 
 parations occupied nearly three days, and some 16,000 
 variegated lamps were used. The plan was tastefully 
 conceived, and, despite the enormous difficulty of 
 simultaneously lighting such a number of lamps, the 
 spectacle was said to have been magnificent. The 
 words, " The House of Brunswick " on the East side, 
 and " God Save the King " on the West side, were 
 each formed by vari-coloured lamps ; a Crown with 
 the initials "G.R." were at the South entrance, and at 
 the Esplanade entrance there was a grand transparency 
 of His Majesty. In addition to the illuminations, there 
 were fireworks in profusion ; and altogether the inhabi- 
 tants had the felicity of experiencing a " new sensation." 
 As the evening was favourable, all the town was out, and 
 everything passed off delightfully. 
 
 As showing the popularity of the Pier at this period 
 among the leading townsmen, it may be mentioned 
 that on the notes issued on the 1st September, 1823, 
 by Messrs. Tamplin, Creasy, Gregory, and Co., of 
 the Sussex County Bank, who carried on business at 
 the south-eastern corner of Castle Square, there was 
 a view of the Chain Pier engraved under the name of 
 the Bank at the head of the note. 
 
 There is little record as to what extent the Pier in its 
 early days was used as a fashionable promenade. It was 
 opened in an uncongenial season, and the following 
 winter was most severe. Even late in April and at the 
 beginning of May there was a chilling atmosphere with 
 frosty nights ; rain, hail, snow, sleet, and sunshine alter- 
 nated. Yet we are told that the Chain Pier had its gay 
 " intervals," though the " fashionable musters on the 
 public rides and walks were thinned." The prospects of 
 the Pier as regards promenaders do not seem to have
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 21 
 
 been discouraging, nor as regards passenger traffic to 
 France. In addition to one of the old sailing packets, 
 the steam packet, " Rapid," began to run from the Pier 
 in May, sailing three times a week ; and business so 
 improved that the " Union " steam packet was also put 
 on the station in July. The steam-packets at this period 
 occupied nine or ten hours in going to Dieppe or 
 returning thence. The time occupied by the sailing- 
 packets was an unknown quantity, this being solely 
 dependent on the weather. Eventually the latter were 
 entirely superseded on the station by the steam-packets ; 
 among the last to retire being the " Nautilus," com- 
 manded by Captain Wingfield. The Captain was a fine 
 old fellow : but, never ceasing to lament his altered 
 fortunes, he was familiarly known " on the bank 
 where the fishermen congregated as " Hard Times." He 
 ended his days as a stall-keeper in the Market. Steam- 
 packets to long-shore men were an abomination ; their 
 novel construction obtained for them the opprobrious 
 epithet of " Bass's soap-boxes " ; and when the " Quentin 
 Durward" was on the station, she was known in 'long- 
 shore vernacular as " Squint to the hoard " (leeward). 
 
 But this by the way. With the new steam-packets 
 the Continental passenger traffic grew apace, — on one 
 occasion in June 60 passengers, with five carriages, 
 debarked from the " Rapid." It was customary with 
 this vessel to fire a cannon to announce her arrival, and 
 a never-failing " interesting crowd " assembled to witness 
 the debarkation. In the summer, too, the fashionable 
 promenaders were numerous. On two Sundays in July 
 as many as 3,000 went on the Pier. Poor old Ratty ! — 
 the somewhat deaf toll-taker, who commenced his duties 
 with the opening of the Pier and continued them almost 
 to his death in 1858, — what a rehearsal for him of his
 
 22 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 everlasting utterance, in reply to any question put to 
 him, " Tuppence, please ! " There was another " record " 
 on the 3rd Sunday in August, 1824, when, in spite of the 
 rain during the day, the tolls amounted to £8 14s., the 
 visitors, therefore, being nearly 1,500. On the following 
 day there was a meeting at the Brighton Union Bank on 
 the subject of the Pier, and among those present was 
 Mr. Joseph Hume, M.P. (the creator of the now 
 discarded fourpenny-bit — "Joey"?) It was arranged 
 that the shareholders were to receive seven and a half 
 per cent, dividends for the year. Surely, the Promoters of 
 the undertaking must have thought they had " struck 
 ile ! " but it is questionable if ever so high a dividend 
 was afterwards paid. Certainly the Company seemed to 
 do their utmost to attract visitors. There was a floating 
 bath provided at the Pier-head for those desiring to use 
 it. Some of the shops in the Towers were let for sale 
 of refreshments, knick-knacks, Tunbridge ware, &c. But 
 a special feature was the opening of the " reading-room," 
 or Saloon, at the base of the Cliff; where Mr. Snelling's 
 Bazaar now is. It was fitted up in a very attractive 
 style and managed by Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer. There was 
 provided an excellent Library ; an abundance of reading 
 was on the tables ; numerous telescopes, meteorological 
 results, and prognostications were daily posted ; and, 
 affording a pleasant lounge and meeting-place, it became 
 exceedingly popular and tonish ; even in the off season, 
 when promenading was less indulged in, it was always 
 more or less well-attended by distinguished visitors. And 
 it deserved to be ! Were there not, for the delectation of 
 those present, two Tyroleans on one occasion engaged to 
 perform on instruments called "German guitars"?
 
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 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 23 
 
 The Birthday Storm. 
 
 Before the close of the year, on November 24th, just 
 twelve months from the date of the opening of the Pier, 
 there'arose at day-break one of the most violent storms 
 that ever occurred on this coast, and it was all the worse 
 owing to its being at the period of the highest spring 
 tides. At high water the storm was at its worst. Dr. 
 Mantell, the eminent geologist, who was then in 
 Brighton, says that at one time the water rolled over 
 the Towers of the Chain Pier, and dashed with violence 
 on the Steine, and many large masses of cliff were 
 thrown down. Torrents of water poured across the 
 carriage road of the Pier esplanade, casting their spray 
 upon the lvgh road above and even over the roofs of the 
 whole row of houses on the Marine-parade. The wind 
 blew directly ashore on the flood, the rain at the same 
 time descended in torrents, and the scene that the Beach 
 presented seemed to verify all that the most romantic 
 could form of sea-side horrors. (The plate annexed 
 gives a vivid portraiture of this awful storm.) One 
 apprehension pervaded every breast — all felt anxiety for 
 the safety of the Chain Pier. But amid the war of 
 elements, the Pier — thanks to its skilful construction — 
 stood like a rock amidst the waters. One of the 
 " dolphins " (buoys) on the west side of the Pier soon 
 became a prey to the waves. Meanwhile the waves beat 
 with resistless force over the Pier, but not one well-knit 
 member of its iron-bound framing was shifted. Some of 
 the wooden flooring cracked and gave way in several 
 directions, and some ornamental parts fell, but the 
 beautiful fabric itself was happily uninjured. The 
 ornaments at the entrance to the Chain Pier esplanade 
 were carried away ; and the water-wheel by the groyne
 
 24 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 south of the tollhouse was completely removed by the 
 wind and waves. The sea-wall, at the rear of where 
 Russell House once stood, was entirely torn down, and 
 the Albion Hotel, then being erected on its site, was in 
 great jeopardy. It was at one time surrounded by water, 
 the sea beating every now and then over the tall building, 
 and deluging the road with its spray. 
 
 After the storm a new toll-house would appear to have 
 been erected and the access to the entrance improved. 
 (See plate annexed). 
 
 The Pier's Popularity and Progress. 
 
 With regard to the popularity of the Pier as a place 
 of fashionable resort, the records are of the scantiest, and 
 little information is obtainable as to its financial success 
 or otherwise : but it is probable that the next few years — 
 down to 1832-33 — were among the most flourishing of 
 its earlier history. On the last Sunday in July, 1825, as 
 many as 4,300 persons went on the Pier. The town, it 
 may be stated, continued to increase rapidly both in 
 population and in building ; and the stream of fashion- 
 able visitors knew no retiring ebb. The Pier became, 
 despite the rivalry of the Libraries, more and more a 
 fashionable lounge; and at one time a favourite pastime 
 with many visitors and townsfolk, was to resort to the 
 Pier to watch the sea at special high tides. The fine 
 steam vessels put on the Station in 1825, and sub- 
 sequently those of the General Steam Navigation 
 Company, tended much, in the season, to induce people 
 to resort to the Pier during the times of embarkation and 
 debarkation. But another help to the Pier came later 
 on, verifying the axiom that " there is nothing new under 
 the sun," and this was the running of one of the steamers 
 ior sea trips, as now, to various places along the coast 
 and to the Isle of Wight. The Company did their best
 
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 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 25 
 
 to make the Pier attractive; aided by Mr. Matthews, 
 the first Pier Master. The Saloon reading-room was 
 apparently all that could be desired in such a resort ; 
 and there were occasional accessories, as foreign 
 musicians, &c. The Pier esplanade was greatly im- 
 proved in 1 83 1 (in digging out for the foundation of its 
 new enclosing wall, Dr. Mantell tells us, " four very fine 
 and perfect molar teeth of the Asiatic elephant were 
 discovered "). The Towers were all let, and served as 
 useful resorts for gossip and purchases. A dozen new 
 and commodious baths — douche and shower — for ladies 
 and gentlemen, were constructed at the Pier-head, and 
 fitted up with every convenience. The " Camera 
 Obscura," which for several years had done duty on 
 the Steine beach, immediately east of Russell House, 
 was also placed at the Pier-head. The Regimental 
 Band played once a week. There were also occasional 
 exhibitions — such as of life-preservers ; and Jones had, in 
 the autumn and winter season, exhibitions of fireworks, 
 his sole remuneration being the voluntary contributions 
 from spectators. Town improvements, too, trended 
 Eastward at this period, and helped, for a time, to make 
 it more fashionable than the Westward. The Steine had 
 been newly enclosed and improved in 1824 (the year it 
 was first lit with gas) ; and the Pier and the Marine- 
 parade being within easy access from it visitors resorted 
 to them. Castle-square was soon after opened for 
 vehicular traffic ; and the new road in front of the York 
 and Albion "followed suit," making an easier and much- 
 needed route Eastward. Kemp Town had been com- 
 menced ; and to still further help matters in the same 
 direction, the first instalment of that splendid effort of 
 
 Brighton's pioneers in improvement — the new sea wall 
 
 was completed from the Pier entrance to beyond the
 
 26 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 New Steine, and the Marine-parade itself was widened. 
 Then the formation of another sea wall along the central 
 front of the town in 1827, which led the way to the 
 Junction-road being opened two years later, was another 
 special benefit to the East, by affording a continuous 
 route to it from the West. These public works must 
 have been advantageous in many ways to the Pier. But 
 things Westwardly were not standing still ; and signs 
 were not wanting that the West was fast pushing forward 
 its claims as a charming residential locality — with its fine 
 houses and squares, and by the growth of Brunswick 
 Town (as Brunswick-square and terrace were at one time 
 called), and more especially by the formation of the 
 Royal (Western) Esplanade from the old King's-road 
 Battery to Brunswick-terrace. 
 
 The First Royal Disembarkation at the Pier. 
 
 This notable event, respecting which considerable 
 excitement prevailed in the town, took place on Saturday, 
 October 15th, 1829, when the Duke and Duchess of 
 Clarence (afterwards King William IV. and Queen 
 Adelaide) returned from Dieppe. Their Royal High- 
 nesses landed on the Chain Pier from the Admiralty 
 yacht, a Royal salute on its approach being fired by the 
 Hyperion frigate, which was in attendance. There was 
 an immense crowd on the Pier ; and, such was the desire 
 to see the Royal pair, that numbers climbed upon the iron 
 suspension chains and other available places. The Pier 
 was partially illuminated, and sky-rockets were sent up and 
 blue lights were shown by the Hyperion's tender. At 
 6.50 p.m. the Duke and Duchess were received on 
 the ladder at the eastern side of the Pier by Lieut. 
 Williams, R.N., with sidemen and lanterns. When upon
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 27 
 
 the deck of the Pier, Their Royal Highnesses were 
 saluted by a guard of honour of the Marines ; the 
 band of the frigate, stationed on the Pier, playing " God 
 save the King " and " Rule Britannia." The Royal party 
 then proceeded on foot to the York Hotel escorted by 
 Marines, where they were received by the Dowagei 
 Marchioness of Downshire, Lady Mary Hill, and Mrs 
 Fitzherbert, the Band of the 15th Hussars playing the 
 above National airs. 
 
 Less than twelve months after, on August 30th, 1830, 
 the Royal couple made their first entry into Brighton as 
 King and Queen ; and the Chain Pier had a share in the 
 exuberant festivities which took place on the occasion. 
 A signal gun was fired from the Chain Pier, as well as 
 from the Battery, to indicate the welcome intelligence that 
 their Majesties had arrived. But it was during the even- 
 ing — a most beautiful one — that the Chain Pier appeared 
 to the best advantage. It was crowded to its utmost 
 capacity ; the Cliffs also were densely thronged ; and the 
 appearance of the Front from the Pier-head, every house 
 being illuminated, was enchanting. The night was lovely, 
 the sea was almost without a ripple and reflected a reful- 
 gent moon ; and as the two steam-packets, together with 
 the Hyperion's tender, each gaily illuminated, glided along 
 the Front, one discharging fireworks and Bengal lights 
 at intervals, the spectacle was said to have been unsur- 
 passed and seemed as one influenced by magic. 
 
 An Interesting Reminiscence. 
 
 It was, we believe, in the earlier part of the " thirties" 
 that the witty Canon of St. Paul's, the Rev. Sydney Smith, 
 was among the distinguished visitors to Brighton. He by 
 chance met with that notable personage, Colonel Eld,
 
 28 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 then M.C. of Brighton, who was a frequent habitue of the 
 Pier, and as that Institution is associated with one of the 
 rev. gentleman's most graphic portraitures, we will quote 
 it : — " Who he is, I know not ; but I am certain ivhat he 
 is. It is that distinguished functionary, the Master of the 
 Ceremonies. It could be no one else. It was a gentle- 
 man attired point device, walking down the Parade, like 
 Agag, ' delicately.' He pointed out his toes like a dancing- 
 master ; but carried his head like a potentate. As he 
 passed the stand of flys, he nodded approval, as if he 
 owned them all. As he approached the little goat car- 
 riages, he looked askance over the edge of his starched 
 neckcloth and blandly smiled encouragement. Sure that 
 in following him I was treading in the steps of greatness, 
 I went on to the Pier, and there I was confirmed in my 
 conviction of his eminence; for I observed him look first 
 over the right side and then over the left with an expres- 
 sion of serene satisfaction spreading over his countenance, 
 which said, as plainly as if he had spoken to the sea aloud,. 
 ' That is right. You are low-tide at present ; but never 
 mind, in a couple of hours I shall make you high-tide 
 again.' " 
 
 A Breakwater under consideration. 
 
 In November, 1830, Captain Brown came to Brighton 
 for the purpose of inspecting the Chain Pier, to which ex- 
 tensive alterations and repairs were about to be made, and 
 also to consider a proposal for the formation of a Break- 
 water. Later on, Mr. Joseph Hume, M.P., who held 
 shares in the Chain Pier, came over from Worthing, and, 
 in company with Captain Brown, visited the Pier, when 
 the Hon. gentleman expressed his entire concurrence in 
 the proposed arrangements. A plan had been submitted 
 to Captain Brown, with the view of converting the Pier
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 29 
 
 into an effectual Breakwater, by filling up the piles at the 
 end with chalk and stone, and lengthening the outer head 
 — 20ft. to the south and 30ft. westward. Of the details 
 of the proposed Breakwater itself or its proportions and 
 mode of construction no details are recorded ; but it was 
 regarded with much favour in the town, as it would in- 
 crease the benefits which the Pier had already conferred 
 upon it, by affording, in stormy weather, a safe point of 
 embarkation for the steam packets (the necessity for which 
 had been proved on several occasions), but would also 
 enable Royal yachts, and even frigates, to come along- 
 side, the depth of water being amply sufficient for the 
 purpose. The cost — that bane of local Breakwaters 
 before and since — was deemed to be considerable and the 
 project, we suppose, was abandoned, as we learn no more 
 of it. 
 
 But sad times were coming for the Pier. There oc- 
 curred in 1833 and 1836 very violent storms, each of which 
 was a " heavy blow and great discouragement " to the 
 Pier Company, as serious damage was on each occasion 
 done to the beautiful structure. The details of these 
 events will be read with melancholy interest. 
 
 The Storm of 1833— Severe Injury to the Pier. 
 
 A disastrous and appalling accident befel the Pier on 
 the evening of Tuesday, October 15th, 1833, which 
 excited much controversy as to the actual cause of the 
 destruction of the third platform and derangement of 
 several parts of the fabric — whether it was due to wind, 
 water, or electricity. The water theory was quickly dis- 
 posed of, it being low water at the time of the catastrophe; 
 and it was, therefore, concluded to have been due either 
 to wind or electricity. Whatever the cause, it is a re- 
 markable fact that the destruction of the bridge imme-
 
 30 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 diately followed a terrible flash of lightning, which was 
 seen to descend upon the Pier, run along the platform, 
 and at the centre develop into an awful blaze. The result 
 was beyond dispute. The destroying power left the second 
 bridge a ruin, hanging down within a few feet of the 
 water. At the third there was a gaping chasm, with no 
 communication between the separate portions except the 
 main chains. For the space of 30ft. or 40ft. the whole of 
 the woodwork, the platform, the iron railings, suspension 
 rods, &c, had totally disappeared. The third pair of 
 Towers were forced out of their perpendicular, and the 
 fourth bridge bellied down some iS inches to the sea; 
 but the Pier-head, with its stone platform, stood firm. The 
 spectacle presented by the erst beautiful fabric was of 
 the saddest. Twisted rods, broken and splintered wood- 
 work, and shattered Towers were but details in a disaster 
 which was far-reaching, and which had come suddenly, 
 acted swiftly, and left behind it enormous damage. The 
 disaster evoked widespread regret and sympathy among 
 all classes in the town, and on the following day a meeting 
 was held and a subscription opened to repair the damage. 
 ^200 was obtained at the meeting ; the Earl of Egremont, 
 with prompt and commendable liberality, promised to 
 surrender his proprietorial interests in the Pier to the 
 Town authorities in the event of the structure being re- 
 stored. As a result of the organisation, there was a house 
 to house collection, and in the end some ,£1,200 or 
 ^1,300 was raised, and the Chain Pier, by sundry judi- 
 cious alterations, was made stronger than ever. 
 
 The annexed plate affords a graphic picture of this 
 severe storm ; its disastrous effects being still more clearly 
 seen by the reproduction of drawings showing the injured 
 sections of the Pier.
 
 THE STORM OF OCTOBER 15th, 1833. 

 
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 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 3 1 
 
 The Hurricane of 1836 — the Pier again 
 Damaged. 
 
 Little more than three years had elapsed, when the 
 Pier was again destined to undergo a very serious catas- 
 trophe from a terrific hurricane, which was admitted to 
 have been without parallel in the recollection of the then 
 oldest inhabitant, and wholly eclipsing in violence the 
 great November gale of 1824. This occurred on Tues- 
 day, November 29th, 1836 ; and, besides doing appalling 
 damage to the town in all directions, destroyed, singular 
 to say, as in 1833, the third bridge of the Chain Pier. 
 About half-past twelve in the day the centre bridge seemed 
 to have acquired, through the force of the wind, a vibra- 
 tory motion, which soon after more or less affected the 
 whole structure. At times the platform was raised to the 
 level of the protecting iron rails at the sides of the Pier. 
 Eventually one of the Towers began to rock, and the piles 
 also to twist ; and finally the platform of the third bridge 
 was lifted up from its bed several feet, and, falling again, 
 — the suspension rods being unable to bear the stupen- 
 dous strain, — plunged into the stormy waters below. (See 
 plate annexed.) Almost from that moment, strange to 
 relate, the storm abated. The exciting nature of the 
 catastrophe was increased by the narrow escape of two 
 persons, who, for some reason unknown, had gone to the 
 extreme end of the Pier some time previously at the risk 
 of what would have been deemed certain death. Amid 
 the raging storm these two persons were seen struggling 
 to return. By occasionally clinging to the rails, and some- 
 times crawling on their hands and knees, they reached the 
 second bridge, after being blown down several times. A
 
 32 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 moment later, and the upheaval and fall of the third bridge, 
 which they had just crossed, took place ! The feelings 
 of the two foolish adventurers may be better imagined 
 than described. The damage occasioned by the hurri- 
 cane was estimated at about a thousand pounds. It was 
 in this storm that Mr. Leggatt, builder (great-uncle of 
 our townsman, Mr. T. G. Leg^itt), lost his life while 
 crossing the New-steine, by being struck on the head 
 with a piece of lead blown from a house. 
 
 As with the storm of 1833, there was an attempt in 
 1836 to raise a public subscription to repair the Pier; 
 but it fell through, as subscriptions were urgently needed 
 in other directions. As a matter of fact, times were then 
 bad in Brighton. The town had passed the meridian of 
 its earlier and more especially its pre-Railway prosperity. 
 It was retrogressing and was over-built; and lack of 
 national inter-communication — remedied a few years 
 later by the introduction of the Railway — was fast telling 
 upon it. Kemp Town was isolated, and many of its 
 houses were untenanted. At the extreme West of the 
 town things were little better. The iron girders of the 
 ill-starred Antheum lay rusting where the top of Palmeira- 
 square now is. Between the lower part of Lansdowne- 
 place and the eight or ten houses called Adelaide- 
 crescent, skeletons of numerous unfinished houses pre- 
 sented a melancholy spectacle, and boys of the period 
 utilised them to " wake the echoes.'' Between the rusty- 
 railed enclosure west of the Adelaide-crescent houses and 
 Hove there were but disused brick-fields and — vacancy ! 
 But let us pass to a merrier key.
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 33 
 
 Queen Victoria's First Visit to the Pier. 
 
 This interesting event took place on Friday, October 
 20th, 1837, and every arrangement was nude by the 
 Town Authorities to enable Her Majesty to obtain an 
 uninterrupted view of the graceful structure. A few 
 minutes after twelve o'clock, the Queen and the Duchess 
 of Kent, attended by the Counters of Mulgrave and 
 Lady Mary Stopford, left the Pavilion in an open 
 carriage drawn by four grey ponies, preceded by out- 
 riders in scarlet liveries, mounted on greys. The Hon. 
 Colonel Cavendish rode on horseback by the side of the 
 carriage, and Lady Gardiner followed in a second 
 carriage. On Her Majesty's arrival at the entrance of 
 the Pier a Royal salute of 21 guns was fired at the outer 
 Pier-head by a detachment of the Royal Artillery. Her 
 Majesty was received by Captain Brown (in naval 
 uniform), who accompanied her along the Pier, explaining 
 the nature of the structure ; and Her Majesty evinced a 
 perfect knowledge both of the principle and its important 
 advantages. The Royal party were joined at the 
 entrance to the Pier by Lord Melbourne, Lord John 
 Russell, Lord Lilford (Lord-in-Waiting, who presented 
 Captain Brown to the Queen), the Hon. Colonel Caven- 
 dish, Colonel Armstrong, Sir Adolphus and Lady 
 Dalrymple, Captain and the Hon. Mrs. Pechell, Colonel 
 Eld, M.C , the High Constable, &c. Among those 
 present were also Mr. Joseph Hume, M.P., and Mrs. 
 Hume, Miss Hume, and Mrs. Brown. On Her Majesty's 
 arrival at the Pier-head, the Band of the Carabineers 
 played "God Save the Queen." Her Majesty remained 
 on the Pier upwards of half-an-hour, and expressed 
 herself highly pleased with the structure and with her
 
 34 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 reception. She also acknowledged, in the most gracious 
 and condescending manner, the respectful salutations of 
 those assembled on the Pier, and conversed with Mr. 
 Hume (who was one of the Trustees under the will of 
 the Duke of Kent) as well as with Sir A. Dalrymple and 
 Captain Pechell. Lady Dalrymple was also, by special 
 command, presented to Her Majesty. 
 
 In the evening the Pier was illuminated, and there 
 was a grand display of fireworks by Jones, which 
 attracted immense numbers ; indeed, during the day no 
 less than 5,000 persons visited the Pier, exclusively of 
 subscribers. The effect of the illuminations was very 
 striking, especially of the lanterns placed upon the 
 rigging of the Pier-head. Upon the Saloon, at the 
 entrance of the Pier, appeared, in brilliant lamps, the 
 word "Welcome," surmounted by a Crown and " V. R." 
 The day was a proud one for the Pier and for all con- 
 nected with it, and especially for Captain Brown, to 
 whose skill and perseverance Brighton was indebted for 
 its then greatest ornament. 
 
 The Disembarkation of Queen Victoria. 
 
 The Royal association with the Chain Pier, however, 
 which excited the greatest interest in the town occurred on 
 Thursday, September 7th, 1843, when the youthful Queen, 
 accompanied by the Prince Consort and Prince de Join- 
 ville, representing the French Government, and attended 
 by her suite, disembarked on her return from France, 
 after paying a visit to King Louis Philippe at the 
 Chateau d'Ku. For several days prior to Her Majesty's 
 arrival our "shipless sea" became alive with despatch 
 boats, men-of-war, yachts belonging to members of the 
 Yacht Squadron, and less important craft. The town
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 35 
 
 authorities, led by Mr. E. Burn, High Constable, together 
 with the Pier Company, took " all possible measures for 
 the most convenient, dutiful, and loyal reception " of Her 
 Majesty and her distinguished Consort. What we under- 
 stand to-day as " Queen's weather " prevailed, — a brilliant 
 sun and a soft rippling sea. The advent of the Royal yacht, 
 attended by French war vessels and joined by English 
 men-of-war, was first observed off Portobello just before 
 three o'clock, and was signalised by the booming of a 
 Royal salute from the Royal Squadron. The yacht, 
 instead of continuing along the coast, at this point put 
 out to sea, and then, taking a straight line from the 
 South, approached the Pier, and came within a quarter of 
 a mile of the head of the structure. Then Her Majesty 
 descended to a lowered barge, and the Royal barge 
 approached the Pier amidst the firing of guns and the 
 shouts of the assembled multitudes. Her Majesty was 
 seated in the stern of the Royal barge, having the Prince 
 de Joinville, in the uniform of a French Admiral, on her 
 right hand, and Prince Albert on her left. Facing Her 
 Majesty were the Earl of Aberdeen, Viscountess Canning, 
 the Hon. Miss Liddell, Colonel Wylde, Lord Charles 
 Wellesley, Mr. G. E. Anson, and Sir James Clark ; and 
 behind Her Majesty was Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, 
 steering. It is computed that between 20,000 and 
 30,000 people witnessed the landing, which was success- 
 fully effected on the east side. The Grenadier Guards 
 (with their splendid band) and the Coast Guard 
 assembled at the Pier-head as a guard of honour, and 
 were drawn up in lines on each side of the entrance to 
 the platform. Among those assembled to receive and 
 welcome Her Majesty again to Brighton were the veteran 
 Sir Samuel Brown, Mr T. West, and Mr. L. D. Smith 
 (Directors), Mr. Charles Cooper (Clerk), Major Allen,
 
 36 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Captain Heaviside, and Mr. J. Borrer (Magistrates), the 
 High Constable, Captain Pechell, M.P., Rev. H. M. 
 Wagner (Vicar), the Revs. T. Cooke, K. M. Goulburne, 
 R. S. Smith, W. L. Isaac, T. Trocke, C. D. Maitland, 
 S. R. Drummond, and W. Kelly (Clergymen of the 
 Established Church), the Revs. J. Sortain and J. N. 
 Goulty (Dissenting Ministers), Colonel Eld, and the 
 Clerk to the Commissioners. Her Majesty was first 
 received by the Pier authorities, and then the Town 
 authorities and the Naval Officers. Her Majesty, look- 
 ing the picture of health and happiness, passed down the 
 Pier through a line of Coastguardmen to a carriage and 
 four, at which point the Naval arrangements ceased and 
 the Military took up the honours, the Guards' Band 
 playing the National Anthem. There was a military and 
 local escort, and the Queen proceeded to the Pavilion, 
 where she had the happiness of rejoining her children, 
 the Prince of Wales and the Royal Princesses. Although 
 there was no official organisation with regard to decora- 
 tions, the individual exertions of the inhabitants gave the 
 town a gay appearance, and, it being a charming 
 summer's evening, the vast number of vessels of all sizes 
 lying in front of the town were illuminated with coloured 
 lights, and presented a rare and imposing scene of 
 splendour. A very clever picture of the disembarkation 
 of Her Majesty was painted by the late Mr. R. H. 
 Nibbs, which is now in the possession of the town, and 
 is exhibited in the Picture Gallery. 
 
 During her brief sojourn at the Pavilion Her Majesty 
 went from the Pier on board the Royal yacht for a short 
 excursion as far as Worthing and back, accompanied by 
 the Prince Consort, the Duchess of Kent, Lady Canning, 
 Lady Charlotte Dundas, the Hon. Miss Hamilton, Lord 
 C. Wellesley, and Sir E. Bowater. Sir Samuel Brown
 
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 37 
 
 assisted Her Majesty on her departure, and also received 
 her on returning from the cruise, which was much 
 enjoyed. On entering the Royal carriage again at the 
 Pier entrance to proceed to the Pavilion, Her Majesty 
 was enthusiastically cheered by ihe thousands assembled 
 on the Clifls and on the Steine. On the following 
 Tuesday, after a short interval of repose, the Queen 
 re-embarked on board the Royal yacht for Ostend, on a 
 visit to the King and Queen of the Belgians. Again 
 there was a remarkable demonstration of loyalty, both 
 ashore and afloat; but since that time Her Majesty has 
 not visited Brighton. 
 
 The advent of a Railway to Brighton opened up a 
 thousand avenues of inter-communication with important 
 districts whose resources hitherto had been almost un- 
 available to the town, and brought to it streams of visitors, 
 to many of whom it had only been known previously by 
 repute. This soon restored to Brighton its old prestige as 
 a marine resort, and the Chain Pier, by its novelty and 
 attractiveness, consequently reaped much advantage from 
 the revival. Whether or no it retrieved its adversities, we 
 know not. No efforts were spared by the Company, by 
 music, conjuring, fireworks, and other entertainments at 
 the Pier-head, to induce visitors to resort to it. High- 
 class regimental bands (in addition to the Pier band) were 
 frequently engaged ; but it is somewhat, doubtful if the 
 number of listeners sufficed at all times to " pay the 
 pipers." The steam packets' Continental traffic, by reason 
 of the new and increasing influx of company to the town, 
 must have done much to help the revenues of the Pier. 
 But so far as the history of the Pier itself is concerned in 
 the " forties,'' there is not much of interest to relate. 
 There was a "record" day in July, 1844, in point of 
 attendance — every available spot being crowded — when
 
 3S THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 the John o'Gaunt was blown up by Captain Warner's 
 shell. But generally it may be said that the Pier went on 
 in "the even tenor of its way"; barring every now and 
 then being subject to the buffeting of the elements, which 
 at times entailed heavy expense. 
 
 Boring for an Artesian Well at the Pier-head. 
 
 In January, 1843, some boring was carried on at the 
 Pier-head with the view to obtain fresh water from an 
 Artesian well, whence to supply a fountain which was to 
 have been erected there. The novelty of the project 
 excited attention, it being, it was stated, the first attempt 
 to make an artificial jet of that description. A depth of 
 86ft. was reached in February, when it was temporarily 
 abandoned, in consequence of a stratum of rock being 
 met with which resisted the action of the hardest 
 steel. It was resumed shortly after, and, a lower depth 
 being reached, a copious supply of fresh water was 
 obtained, which was said, after four men had been 
 employed in pumping for eight hours, to have " appeared 
 to increase in quantity," and had a temperature consider- 
 ably above that of water obtained from the wells in the 
 town. Later on the depth of the Artesian well was said to 
 be 98ft., and fresh water, or water only slightly brackish, 
 was found, and it was supposed, by experience in sinking 
 some wells on the Marine-parade, that the chance of 
 procuring a supply of water in the well at the Pier-head 
 was much increased. The boring was continued for some 
 time longer, and it was hoped that the Directors, even if 
 the undertaking was not immediately successful, would 
 continue to prosecute the work. Whether or no they 
 did so, " deponent sayeth not.''
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 39 
 
 An Unwelcome Visitor. 
 
 The Chain Pier had a most unwelcome visitor on the 
 5th August, 1848, — a water-spout or whirlwind, which, 
 however, happily left no disastrous traces. It was seen, 
 about 11 a.m., to approach the Pier from the south-west, 
 in the line of the wind; its appearance being described 
 as a " very black cloud, of a conical shape, and like a 
 large cistern suspended in the air, with the water pouring 
 from it." It came in contact with the Pier-head on the 
 Western side, which had the effect of dividing it for the 
 moment. But it joined again on the East side of the 
 Pier, spinning round like a white sheet, or to employ 
 another of the many similes of eye-witnesses, "Twisting 
 about like a snake " ; and, after scattering a number of 
 bathing machines which stood on the beach, it passed 
 over 43, Marine-parade, and thence onward to the Race 
 Hill, where it seemed to exhaust its fury. It being one 
 of the race-days, damage to the extent of hundreds of 
 pounds was done, in the destruction of booths and other 
 property. 
 
 The storms of 1850, notably on July 17th (the day of 
 the Pool-valley flood), and on November 19th, do not 
 appear to have materially affected the structure. In 
 1853 matters would seem to be brightening up a little 
 for the Pier, arrangements having been made for the 
 promotion of 
 
 The First Brighton and Hove Regatta. 
 
 This interesting event took place on Thursday and 
 Saturday, July 21st and 23rd, 1853. It originated (says 
 Erredge) in this way : Captain Moore, a gentleman 
 associated with several yachting clubs, was staying that
 
 40 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 year in Brighton. He saw the admirable facilities it 
 afforded for yachting matches, which he considered 
 would, if brought about, undoubtedly prove a great 
 attraction to the town. The Royal Yacht Clubs having 
 favourably entertained the idea, a Committee, with the 
 High Constable, Mr. H. P. Tamplin, as Chairman, was 
 formed; Mr. J. A. Erredge acting as Hon. Secretary. 
 Subscriptions came in bountifully, the whole town being 
 strongly in favour of the project; and prizes of ^120, 
 £ 10 5> £$ 2 IOS « were competed for by yachts, and other 
 prizes, varying from ,£20 downwards, by sailing and 
 rowing boats. The Chain Pier was the central point of 
 action in connection with the Regatta, which was a great 
 success in all things save one— the weather, which 
 rendered one day an "entire blank." The programme 
 having been of necessity curtailed, ^148 remained in 
 the hands of the Treasurer. This was utilized the 
 following year, and augmented, when a second Regatta 
 took place > in August off the Chain Pier, prizes to the 
 amount of ^207 being awarded. A grand display of 
 fireworks took place at the close of each Regatta. The 
 boon to the Pier on these occasions was unquestionable ; 
 but unfortunately yearly Regattas afterwards seemed to 
 have dropped through for a time. 
 
 The Closing Years of the Pier — Its Removal 
 decided upon. 
 
 Passing on, there is not much of historic interest to 
 tell. It is the " old, old, story," — the Pier suffered more 
 or less, but not very seriously, from the storms and high 
 tides of 1856, 1857 (the wreck of the "Pilgrim"), and 
 i860 (the wreck of the " Atlantique "). Its fortunes were 
 not probably in the ascendant, and the outlook was not 
 encouraging. The opening of the West Pier, in 1866,
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 4T 
 
 must have affected the old Pier Company financially— the 
 West of the town coming more and more into favour with 
 visitors. Then the Aquarium was opened in 1871, and 
 this not only deprived the Chain Pier of its once fashion- 
 able exclusiveness, by the formation of the Madeira-road 
 (see plate annexed), but it must have been a serious 
 competitor with it for public favour. So time went on, and 
 succeeding years possibly brought but little prosperity ; for 
 in 1889 (though matters were not finally settled till 1891) 
 the Company parted with its property to the Marine 
 Palace and Pier Company. By this arrangement 
 
 THE PIER WAS DOOMED! 
 
 For one of the conditions enforced by the Board of Trade 
 was that, as soon as the new Marine Palace and Pier 
 were completed, the old Chain Pier was to be removed. 
 Circumstances having arisen to prevent the carrying out 
 the project of the new Company, the works in connection 
 with their Pier have been for some time in abeyance, and 
 the Chain Pier still stood. But other matters intervened, 
 
 in the way of gales and storms, each and all telling 
 
 seriously on the fabric,— which necessitated the new 
 Company's deferred action with respect to the removal of 
 the old Pier being carried out without further delay. 
 Early in October the condition of the Pier was brought 
 under the notice of the Borough Engineer (Mr. F. J. C. 
 May), who, having ascertained that the structure was at 
 the head no less than 6ft. 9m. out of the perpendicular, 
 declared it to be unsafe, and steps were consequently 
 taken to close it. It was closed on Sunday, October 9th,
 
 42 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMOR1AM. 
 
 — just seventy-three years after its first completion ! (See 
 plate annexed.) How absolutely necessary the closing 
 was, the subsequent appalling termination of its career, 
 particulars of which we shall presently relate, unmistake- 
 ably confirms. 
 
 It may be here stated that the final meeting of the 
 Proprietors of the Brighton Chain Pier took place on 
 April nth, 1893, Colonel T. F. Wisden presiding, when, 
 after resolutions were passed, authorising a final distribu- 
 tion of assets, the Company was dissolved. Subsequently, 
 Mr. Hugh Snelling, Secretary to the Company, intimated 
 the fact of the dissolution to the Town authorities, 
 stating that the Directors would be pleased to hand over 
 to the Corporation any thing in the custody of the 
 Secretary which the Council might like to possess, and 
 the Town Clerk was authorised to select such documents 
 as might be deemed of use or interest to the Town. 
 
 From Bad to Worse. 
 
 At the end of October the following advertisement 
 appeared in the local newspapers : — 
 
 10R SALE.— BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER. 
 
 F 
 
 PARTICULARS and FORMS of TENDER can be 
 obtained of the Secretary, Brighton Marine Palace and Pier 
 Co., 17, Victoria-street, Westminster. 
 
 " Last Scene of all in its Eventful Historie" — 
 THE "PASSING" OF THE PIER. 
 
 We give the following description of this melancholy 
 event as it appeared in the Brighton Herald of December 
 5th, 1896, the morning after it took place : — 
 
 The Brighton Chain Pier was destroyed in a storm 
 last night. A very few words will suffice to tell of the
 
 wJ
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 43 
 
 last moments of a beautiful structure. It met its fate as 
 everyone could have wished that it should meet it, at the 
 hands of the winds and waves that it had for three quar- 
 ters of a century so nobly defied. The end came about 
 half-past ten o'clock, or perhaps a few minutes later. A 
 terrific storm of wind, with some rain, was then prevailing, 
 as, indeed, it had prevailed earlier in the day, especially 
 during the afternoon. These earlier attacks had evidently 
 weakened the expiring strength of the structure, which 
 at the head had already listed six feet out of the perpen- 
 dicular, and when the storm recurred at night the hope 
 that the Pier would last to daylight was virtually gone. 
 Suddenly, amid the roaring of the waves and the howling 
 of the wind, the Pier shivered convulsively from end to 
 end ; and in a few moments the entire structure had 
 collapsed. Nothing remained standing but the vestiges 
 of the first pile of timbers ; and upon these the waves 
 were thundering as though to make short work of the 
 ruins. The sea was strewn with the great mass of 
 wreckage, the huge weather-worn baulks of timber being 
 seen, in the drifting rain and salt spray, riding like 
 phantom boats upon the white crests of the waves. The 
 actual work of destruction was a matter of but a few 
 seconds ; but, so far as there was any difference of time, 
 the light at the Pier-head was the last to disappear. 
 
 Though the fate of the Pier was expected, there were 
 very few eye-witnesses of the final scene. One of them 
 was Miss Body, who lives in one of the houses under the 
 cliff, through which the suspension chains pass. About 
 half-past ten o'clock Miss Body was startled at a tremulous 
 movement of the chains, which shook the house in a 
 manner that they had never done before, and, in some 
 alarm, she called out, " What is the matter with the Pier ? " 
 and, going to the window, was just in time to see the Pier
 
 44 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 collapse and the giant chains sink to the ground. To use 
 Miss Body's words, " All at once the light at the Pier- 
 head disappeared, and in a moment the whole thing was 
 demolished." Peering out of the window, a representative 
 of the Brighton Herald saw all that was left of the Pier, 
 — the shattered timbers of the first group of piles. Against 
 the wall in front of the Aquarium the sea was bursting in 
 great clouds of spray and foam, deluging the roadway, 
 and bringing with it heaps of shingle and seaweed, whilst 
 baulks of timber swept up from the Beach by the force of 
 the stormy sea encumbered the road. A little knot of 
 spectators had gathered at the entrance to the Pier, risking 
 the chance of the suspension chains falling still further 
 and crushing them where they stood. 
 
 From another eye-witness of the final scene, Mr. F. W. 
 Wilson, son of Mr. Councillor Wilson, we have an 
 account of what happened, as seen from another point of 
 view, namely, from the Marine-parade immediately above 
 the land end of the Pier. Mr. Wilson and his father had 
 gone down to the Front to see the storm, and were 
 standing at the bottom of New Steine. At that time 
 only about a couple of dozen persons were in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the Pier. Suddenly a voice was heard in 
 the darkness calling out, " The old Pier is going." Mr. 
 Wilson says, " I looked in that direction, and saw the 
 middle pile go; it fell in a heap. As it went, the 
 chains sank and disappeared from our view. A 
 moment or two afterwards there was a crackling as 
 of breaking timber, and the Tower of the first pile 
 fell, as if dragged over by the weight of the chains 
 and the span of chains connecting it with the 
 land sank right down. The light at the Pier-head 
 remained until the last. After the Tower on the first pile 
 had fallen, the light went out almost directly, — the fall of
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 41; 
 
 the Tower and the disappearance of the light were almost 
 simultaneous." Asked if it were possible for him to tell 
 in the darkness and rain how the Pier-head actually fell, 
 Mr. Wilson said it was impossible to distinguish exactly 
 what happened, as the Pier-head was " a mere blurr," but 
 his belief was that it broke up gradually. There was, he 
 added, very little to tell, everything happened so quickly ; 
 it was the work of a few moments. 
 
 Down on the seashore at midnight last night great 
 masses of broken weather-worn timbers strewed the 
 Beach. The fury of waves, as has been said, washed 
 some of these heavy baulks on to the Aquarium-road. 
 Others were carried to the westward, and were dashed 
 with terrific force against the new Central Pier now in 
 course of construction opposite the Aquarium, smashing, 
 so we are told, several of the iron screw piles, but the 
 darkness of the night and the fury of the storm prevented 
 any attempts from being made to verify the actual extent 
 of the damage. It was, perhaps, a little working of the 
 hand of fate that the Chain Pier in its last moments should 
 strike a blow of some sort at the newer rival which in- 
 directly in some measure had been the cause of its 
 abandonment. Under the Central Pier a great heap of 
 wreckage had been accumulated against the concrete 
 groyne, forming a breakwater of logs nearly as high as the 
 promenade, and so big that it broke the force of the waves. 
 To the West Pier fragments of the now-vanished Pier 
 were also carried by the waves, but the darkness prevented 
 it from being seen whether any damage was done. 
 
 The Chain Pier had thus lasted a little more than 
 seventy-three years. To one who had known it in the 
 fulness of its symmetry and grace, beautiful in times of 
 calm, and strong in times of storm, it was, indeed, a sorry 
 experience to stand at midnight in the stress of the gale,
 
 46 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 with the salt spray dashing like the flick of a whip across 
 one's face, and to see the white waves rolling unchecked 
 (save for a few shattered timbers) across the space where 
 the Pier had so long stood a thing of beauty, but now, 
 in Coleridge's words, destroyed at last by 
 
 " The storms and overwhelming waves 
 That tumble on the surface of the Deep." 
 
 What remained of the demolished Pier next morning 
 was a spectacle of the saddest character. Out at sea little 
 else could be seen of the erst beautiful structure but 
 solitary fragments of timbers standing out from the 
 foundations of the second pile, to the West of which was 
 lying one of the fallen iron Towers, heavily rocked by the 
 varying motion of the but little modified turbulent waves 
 which had overthrown it on the previous night. Farther 
 to the South, one solitary piece of timber with shattered 
 top alone indicated the situation of the third pile ; while 
 beyond that, where the more massive but still graceful 
 portion of the structure which constituted the Pier-head 
 had stood, there were but a dozen or so broken and naked 
 piles standing out from the water to indicate its position ; 
 all else being either ruthlessly swept away by the waves 
 or lying enshrouded beneath. The absolute desolation 
 of the scene made regret the more intense ; and one 
 scarcely realised that, in a few brief moments, such a 
 huge and appalling destruction had taken place. But 
 one pile (the first) stood in position — in mute companion- 
 ship with the wrecked section of the Electric Railway 
 contiguous to it — and a more melancholy picture could 
 scarcely be imagined. The graceful pyramidical iron 
 Towers which had stood upon it for so many years had 
 been torn from their foundations and toppled over 
 athwart each other, the suspension chains attached to 
 them trailing listlessly down, speaking, more eloquently
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 47 
 
 than in words of their utter impotency— massive as they 
 were — to resist the terrific forces which had overthrown 
 them. The Toll-houses flanking the entrance gates were 
 almost intact. Whilst they were being " taken " by a 
 photographer, the veteran shipwright, Edward Fogden, 
 stood by, with sorrowful aspect. He, poor old fellow, 
 had a double assurance that " his occupation was gone," in 
 the absence of almost the whole of the Pier with which 
 he had been so long associated, and by the announce- 
 ment placed on the windows of the Toll-house to 
 the right of him :— Royal Chain Pier. Closed. 
 
 " Beneath the Lowest Deep a Lower Deep.'' 
 
 The following advertisement appeared in a local 
 journal of Friday, December nth : — 
 
 WRECKAGE FROM CHAIN PIER, BRIGHTON. 
 ON THE BEACH, opposite Albion Hotel. 
 TO TIMBER & FIREWOOD DEALERS & OTHERS. 
 Mr. THOMAS CHAPMAN will Sell by Auction, on 
 MONDAY, December 14th, 1896, at Twelve, 150 LOTS of 
 USEFUL TIMBER, relics of the kite-lamented Pier.
 
 48 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 Some Later Reminiscences of the Pier. 
 
 By the courtesy of Miss Terry (who has occupied the 
 Towers of the fourth pile of the Pier for about 44 years) 
 and of Mrs. Stephen Gates (who has occupied those of 
 the first pile for over 40 years), we have been enabled to 
 furnish some interesting particulars respecting the Pier 
 and some of those who have been in times gone by con- 
 nected with it : — 
 
 The Ratty family were associated with the Western 
 toll-house from the time of the opening of the Pier. Mr. 
 Ratty (well remembered by many an old Brightonian) 
 acted as toll-keeper from 1824 till his death in 1858. He 
 was succeeded in that office by his daughter (at one time 
 remarkable for the profusion of rings which she wore). 
 On the removal of the toll-house, Miss Ratty officiated at 
 the Aquarium for a while, but eventually ended her days 
 in a local alms-house. (We ought to add that Mr. Ratty's 
 son made a model of the Chain Pier in wood, which was 
 shown in the Exhibition of 185 1.) 
 
 Mr. George Matthews, the first Pier Master, occupied 
 the cottage West of the Bazaar. He was the owner of 
 two famous parrots, "John" and "Mary," one of which 
 (a splendid talker) he sold to Captain Thelluson for ,£25. 
 This bird would also sing " Begone, dull care," and other 
 favourite ditties. 
 
 Mr. Gurr, the once well-known old shipwright of the 
 Pier and also Toll-keeper at the Eastern end for over 50 
 years, occupied the cottage East of the Bazaar, which 
 is still occupied by his two daughters, one of whom, Miss 
 Sarah Gurr, is noted for her skilful modelling of paper 
 flowers and the mounting of sea-weed. The late Mr. 
 William Price also acted as shipwright to the Pier for 
 25 years. One other shipwright still remains, in the, 
 person of Mr. Edward Fogden, who has been employed 
 on the Pier for nearly 40 years. [Mr. Fogden was, we 
 believe, the last person on the Pier previous to its 
 destruction, having to attend to the Pier-head light, which 
 that evening he had nearly a dozen times unsuccessfully 
 attempted to kindle. He was a witness of the sad catas- 
 trophe, as far as it could be seen ; as was also Miss 
 Sarah Gurr.]
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 49 
 
 Of the old Tower-keepers, as Mdme. Jacobs (a boot- 
 maker, who had also a shop in East-street), Mr. and Mrs. 
 Hardham (who sold refreshments), two old ladies named 
 Hyams (who sold fancy goods), and Mr. Haynes (a skilful 
 sillhouette cutter), there is " little story to tell." The last- 
 named was very deaf, and his invariable reply to any 
 question was : — " is. 6d. head and shoulders ; 2s. 6d full 
 length." 
 
 Members of the Gates family have been associated 
 with the Pier as Tower-keepers for more than half-a-cen- 
 tury, Mrs. Gates (lapidary, the mother of Mr. Oliver and 
 Mr. Stephen Gates), succeeding Mdme. Jacobs. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Oliver Gates (the once well-known lapidaries in 
 Pool Valley, whose shop was absorbed by Brill's Baths 
 Company), long kept the Towers of the first pile, and 
 were succeeded by Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Gates, the 
 former being at one time in the employ of the late Sir 
 James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak. It may be of interest 
 to state that Mrs. Gates once had the honour of weigh- 
 ing the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. The venerable 
 Statesman "turned the scale" at 12 stone 9 lb. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. John Terry (parents of Miss Ellen 
 Terry, so long associated with the Towers of the fourth 
 pile), who succeeded the Hardhams, were noted for their 
 excellent cherry brandy. They had dispensed liquors on 
 the Pier for many years without being required to take out 
 a license, as the site was upon the "high seas"; but in 
 1872, the Pier became within the Licensing Magistrates' 
 jurisdiction, and a license had to be taken out, which was 
 granted to Mrs. John Terry, and subsequently to Miss 
 Terry, who held it up to the closing of the Pier. This 
 pleasant and much-esteemed lady introduced to the Pier, 
 some seven years ago, a pair of pigeons, who nested under 
 the floors of the second and third piles, and were the 
 parents of a numerous progeny; but, after the recent 
 burglary at Miss Terry's Towers, the birds were mis- 
 sing. (Since the above was written, Mr. T. G. Leggatt 
 has kindly furnished us with the following interesting 
 information : — On the Monday morning after the fall of 
 the Pier, at about nine o'clock, a pair of pigeons was 
 seen circling several times round the remaining ruined 
 pile and Towers, and seemed at times desirous of alight- 
 ing ; but, as if scared by the unwonted aspect of the spot, 
 at last flew disconsolately landward, and disappeared over 
 the houses of the Marine Parade. The birds were " old
 
 50 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 birds," full grown, and were, no doubt, some of those 
 whose absence was noted after the recent burglary at the 
 Towers occupied by Miss Terry. Mr. Leggatt has since 
 informed us that the birds have been seen since Monday 
 to alight upon the ruins of the pile.) 
 
 The large room now occupied as a Bazaar was at one 
 time intended for use as a Waiting Room ; but after a 
 while this idea was abandoned, and it was let as a Bazaar 
 to a Mons. Langlois, whose successor was Mr. Alfred 
 Penny. The present proprietor is Mr. Hugh Snelling, 
 whose age, 83, makes him an easy senior over all those 
 who have till lately been in any way connected with the 
 Pier. Mr. Snelling has officiated as Secretary to the Pier 
 for about 28 years. 
 
 It may be added that the whole of the cement used 
 in connection with the erection of the Pier was supplied 
 by Messrs. Goble and Son (of the Amberley Works, 
 Houghton Bridge), the respected grandfather and father 
 of Mrs. Markwell, of the Royal Hotel, Brighton. 
 
 About thirty years ago it was found that the Towers, 
 &c, of the fourth pile were, to a certain extent, sinking, 
 and means were successfully taken by Sir William Lawrence 
 (at one time Lord Mayor of London) to raise them. The 
 anchorage of the great chains of the Pier-head had been 
 for many years in a somewhat doubtful state, and they 
 were patched, near the surface of the rock, with cables 
 of various sizes. 
 
 We are also indebted to the above-mentioned ladies 
 for the names of some of those whom they knew as the 
 more Notable Visitors to the Pier : — 
 
 The Pier had, in the course of its long duration, been 
 visited by many distinguished and notable people. British 
 and Foreign Royalty had trod its deck on several occasions. 
 Among other Royal visitors may be mentioned Queen 
 Emma, of the Sandwich Islands ; the late Shah of Persia ; 
 and the late ex-Queen Isabella of Spain ; and Princess 
 Mary (now the Duchess of Teck). Others who have 
 been upon its now deserted ways were the late Bishop 
 (Wilberforce) of Oxford, Archbishop Tate, Baron Chan- 
 nell, the late Duchess of Sutherland, the late Duchesses 
 of Norfolk and Westminster, and the present Duke and
 
 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER: IN MEMORIAM. 51 
 
 late Duchess of Argyll, the "old" Duke of Devonshire, 
 Mr. Gladstone, on more than one occasion, and Prince 
 Louis Napoleon, afterwards Emperor of the French. 
 Lord Palmerston, Rev. Sydney Smith, Colonel Eld, 
 Master of the Ceremonies, Mr. and Mrs. Sims Reeves, 
 Mr. Harrap, Horace Mayhew, Harrison Ainsworth, 
 William Black, Major Lowe, Captain Livesay, the late 
 Sir Robert Peel, Sir George Leith, Miss Mary Anderson 
 (now Madame Navarro), the late G. A. Sala, &c. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE 
 
 OF 
 
 Sir Samuel Brown, Ikt, 1k.1b- # 
 
 In association with the history of the Brighton Chain 
 Pier, it is only fitting that some notice of the career of its 
 skilful designer and constructor should be given. He 
 was the eldest son of Mr. William Brown, of Borland, 
 county Galloway, by a daughter of the Rev. Robert Hogg, 
 of Roxburgh, and was born in London, in 1776. He 
 entered the Navy in June, 1795, as A.B. on board the 
 Assistance, 50 guns, Captain Henry Mowatt, in which 
 ship he continued to serve as midshipman, master's mate, 
 and acting lieutenant on the Newfoundland and North 
 Sea Stations, until 1801, serving with some distinction 
 during the French war. Under Captain Mowatt he 
 witnessed the surrender, 28th August, 1796, of the French 
 36-gun Frigate Elizabeth to the Topaze, 36 guns, one of 
 a squadron commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir George 
 Murray ; and in the summer of 1S00, under Captain Hall, 
 he brought the Duke of Kent from Halifax to England. 
 He was confirmed into the Irresistible 74, attached to 
 
 * Compiled from '0'Byrne's Naval Biography'' 1^49. 
 " Dictionary of National Biography," &c, &c.
 
 52 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER '. IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 the Fleet in the Channel, 6th November, 1801 ; was 
 next appointed, 5th July, 1803, to the Royal 
 Sovereign 100, Captains Richard Curry and Pulteney 
 Malcolm, one of whom he accompanied to the 
 Mediterranean ; there removed, 15th March, 1804, to the 
 Kent 74, Captain John Chambers White ; and on 30th 
 January, 1805, joined as First-Lieutenant the Phoenix, of 
 42 guns and 145 men, Captain Thomas Baker. On the 
 10th August following, Mr. Brown was present in the 
 brilliant action which rendered the French frigate Le 
 Didon, of 46 guns and 330 men, a prize to the Phoenix, 
 after a furious action of three hours and a half, which cost 
 the former a loss of 27 killed and 44 wounded, and the 
 latter of 12 killed and 28 wounded; yet were six years 
 suffered to roll away before he was awarded that promotion 
 to which, as second in command on an occasion of such 
 heroic gallantry, he was so pre-eminently entitled. After 
 sharing, on November 4th, in the same year, in Sir 
 Richard Strachan's action off Ferrol, and capturing four 
 of the French line of battle-ships that had escaped from 
 Trafalgar, and receiving for that service the war-medal, 
 he was transferred, with Captain Baker, to the Didon, 
 which ship had been added to the British Navy. He was 
 subsequently appointed, 23rd August, 1806, to the 
 Imperieuse 38, Captains Lord Cochrane and Alexander 
 Skene, employed in the Channel ; and, for short periods, 
 28th December, 1807, and 14th November, 1809, to the 
 Flore 36 and Ulysses 44, the latter commanded by the 
 Hon. Warwick Lake. He was ultimately advanced to the 
 rank of Commander 1st August, 181 1 ; and on the 18th 
 May, 1 81 2, unable to procure further promotion, he 
 accepted the rank of Retired Captain. In January, 1 835, 
 King William IV. made him a Knight (3rd Class) of the 
 Hanoverian Guelph Order. He attained the rank of
 
 I' I IK BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER I IN MEMORIAM. 53 
 
 Knight Bachelor in 1838, and in that year Queen 
 Victoria also conferred upon him the honour of Knight- 
 hood. He married 14th August, 1822, Mary, daughter 
 of Mr. John Hume, of Edinburgh, Writer to the Signet. 
 Sir Samuel Brown's chief reputation was gained as an 
 engineer. He invented an improved method of manufac- 
 turing links for chain cables, which he patented in 1816, 
 conjointly with Philip Thomas ; and the experiments 
 which he carried out led to the introduction of chain 
 cables into the Navy. He also patented in 1817 im- 
 provements in suspension bridges, the patent including 
 a special sort of link which enabled such bridges to be 
 constructed on a larger scale than had ever before been 
 possible. The first large suspension bridge which was 
 erected under his auspices was the Union Bridge across 
 the Tweed, near Berwick (which was commenced in 18 19, 
 and finished in 1820), a picture of which, painted by 
 Alexander Nasmyth, before the erection of the bridge, in 
 order to see what it would be like when completed, was, 
 and probably is now, in the possession of the Society of 
 Arts. Captain Brown's principle was also used by 
 Telford in the suspension bridge across the Menai Straits. 
 It may also be mentioned that the Captain erected a Pier at 
 Newhaven, a Bridge at Heckham, and supplied the iron- 
 work for Hammersmith Suspension Bridge. But, un- 
 questionably, the greatest effort of his genius was the 
 construction of the Brighton Chain Pier, which was 
 erected in 1823, in the face of exceptional difficulties, in 
 less than twelve months, and which, after standing for 
 nearly three-quarters of a century, was destroyed, amidst 
 general regret, by the fearful storm of December 4th, 
 1896. In addition to his inventions connected with 
 chains and cables, Captain Brown took out numerous 
 other patents (ten in all) most of them for matters con-
 
 54 THE BRIGHTON CHAIN PIER : IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 nected with naval architecture or marine engineering. 
 Sir Samuel Brown died on the 13th March, 1852, at his 
 residence, Vanbrugh Lodge, Black heath, leaving a widow 
 but no issue. 
 
 No engraving of a portrait of Sir Samuel Brown is, so 
 far, known to be in existence, although it has been said 
 that a full-length picture in oil has been seen, and may 
 still exist, in the possession of one of his nieces who is 
 now living in one of the Colonies. The following des- 
 cription of Sir Samuel Brown has, however, been given 
 us by Miss Sarah Gurr: — He was of medium height; 
 not stoutly built ; had a ruddy complexion, and his hair 
 was iron grey. Owing to some injury or defect, he 
 walked somewhat limping with the assistance of a stick. 
 
 During the construction of the Chain Pier Captain 
 Brown resided at 48, Marine-parade. 
 
 J. G. Bishop, Printer, " Herald" Office, Brighton.
 
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