The Round Hill Society
The home site of the Round Hill Society, a community group of the residents of Round Hill in Brighton, England. The site contains information about the area, latest news and reflections on life in Round Hill.
Access to FreeCen
to research Round Hill homes and villas
Practise using the Census data site e.g. study of D'Aubigny Road by entering known names taken from the list (by street) below.
- At http://www.freecen.org.uk complete these fields ONLY:
- Surname: Towner
- First name: James
- Census County: Sussex
- Census Place: Brighton
- Census Year: 1891
- Click the SEARCH button
- Select for all the information
- Continue viewing data for more households in the same street (or one nearby) by clicking the or buttons. These useful buttons will be available if you enter the data (as above), but they may go missing if you click directly on the known names below.
You will gather data on everybody living in D'Aubigny Road in 1891, including servants.
The lets you fill in the street name. Take care to shorten "Ashdown Road" to "Ashdown Rd". The birth county is optional.
A known resident in 1891 is S MUSSABINI of 5 Ashdown Rd (born in Kent)
Another in 1891 is William STRAUGHAN of 4 Ashdown Rd (born in London)
Another in 1891 is Henry Edwin DAPP of 3 Ashdown Rd (born in Sussex)
A known resident in 1891 is Frederick HYLAND of 10 Belton Rd (born in Monks Horton)
A known resident in 1891 is Alfred HOOK of 1 Crescent Rd (born in Waldron)
A known resident in 1891 is James STAPLETON of 2 Crescent Rd (born in Brighton)
A known resident in 1891 is James TOWNER of 1 D'aubigny Rd (born in Lewes)
A known in 1891 resident is James DOVEL of 3 D'aubigny Rd (born in Parracombe)
A known resident in 1891 is Thomas BARBER of 11 D'aubigny Rd (born in Newhaven)
A known resident in 1891 is William WINYARD of 22 Princes Crescent (born in Brighton)
A known resident in 1891 is Fanny PYMAN of 1 Princes Rd (born in Suffolk)
Another in 1891 is Charles SNELLING of 58 Princes Rd (born in Sussex).
Another in 1891 is Emma ALLNUTT of 33 Princes Rd (born in Bermondsey)
A known resident in 1891 is William Thomas TIDEY of 10 Richmond Rd (born in Sussex)
Another in 1891 is Alfred AYLWIN of 14 Richmond Rd (born in Sussex).
Another in 1891 is James Elpinston COCHRAN of 21 Richmond Rd (born in Sussex)
A known resident in 1891 is Louisa PRITCHETT of 1 Roundhill Cres (born in Gloucestershire)
Another in 1891 is Charles John CROSSLEY of 21 Roundhill Cres (born in Sussex).
Another in 1891 is Joseph ALLFREY of 22 Roundhill Cres (born in Sussex)
A known in 1891 resident is John FELLINGHAM of 2 Round Hill Rd (born in Brighton)
A known resident in 1891 is Richard BERRY of 2 Round Hill Street (born in Ringmer)
Upper Lewes Rd
A known resident in 1891 is George LUXFORD of 41 Upper Lewes Rd (born in Uckfield)
Another known resident in 1891 is Elizabeth SPENCER of 51 Upper Lewes Rd (born in London)
A known resident in 1891 is Edgar PELLING of 19 Wakefield Rd (born in Sussex)
Another in 1891 is Charles COX-DAVIS of 15 Wakefield Rd (born in Somerset)
Another in 1891 is James VIGAR of 4 Wakefield Rd (born in Sussex).
FreeCen also allows you to search the 1871 census, but most of the Victorian houses in Round Hill were built slightly later.
Occupants of Round Hill homes 1871:
A known residen in 1871 is Henry HOLLAMBY of 1 Round Hill Park (a livery stable keeper born in Kent)
Another in 1871 is Edward TAINSH of 3 Round Hill Park (born in London). He is an author. I wonder what he wrote?
Alfred NIGHTINGALE is the Miller & Corn Chandler at Tower Mill.
George CARRWARDINE lives at 10 Ranelagh Terrace near Shakti Stores. He is a shoemaker.
James NEWMAN lives in Round Hill House (the first house logged as No. 23 Ditchling Rd). Aged 66, he is retired.
George CORNEY (the timber merchant) occupies Warleigh Lodge (No. 23 Ditchling Rd) - the site is now The Downs Infants School.
Thomas and Sarah BURTENSHAW run The Jolly Brewer Public House at 29 Ditchling Rd (now the junction of Florence Place).
A known resident in 1871 is John IZARD of 31 Round Hill Cres (born in Sussex)
Another in 1871 is Georgiana F GURMARVENS of 6 Round Hill Cres (born in Kent).
The 1871 occupants of the earlier numbers 1,2 & 3 (on the west side before the renumbering of the street in 1880) include:
- No 1 Katherine A TOURNOT - Annuitant (aged 59) and two daughters (governesses in mid 30s)
- No 2 Richard KENNARD - County Court Clerk (aged 49), wife (aged 52), mother (aged 76), also visiting Milliner (aged 29)
- No 3 George CONSTABLE - Gardener (aged 58); two daughers: laundress & dressmaker
Further up the hill on the west side is:
- Richard EDWARDS of Wakefield Villa
Rose Hill Park and Round Hill Park villas
Rose Hill Park Villas (1871) [A] [B] [D] link to photos
For locations, see The side by side OS 25 inch 1892-1914 map
These villas were compulsorily purchased by Brighton Corporation between 1936 and 1968 and the current Sylvan Hall was developed. See The weblog of today's Sylvan Hall Residents' Association to learn how the Sylvan Hall Estate came into being in 1850.
[A] WAKEFIELD VILLA Richard EDWARDS (born Hastings). Also known as WOODFIELD LODGE and THE ROOKERY. The 1878 Street Directory identifies 4 Wakefield Road (old street numbering: Sylvan Estate side of the street) as "Wakefield Villa". Demolished in 1951, the current blocks of 2 & 3 storey flats followed.
[B] ROSEHILL VILLA Rev. Thomas MOSELY (born London) - listed under Ditchling Road (south of Bromley Rd). Also known as HILL LODGE. See article by Chris Tullett. Demolished in 1953.
[C] ROSE HILL COTTAGE John COLBATCH ONIONS (born Shrewsbury) listed under Ditchling Road (also called "THE COTTAGE"), a great deal larger than the name suggests, on the corner of Ditchling Road and Upper Lewes Road.
[D] SYLVAN LODGE George L. CLOWSER (born Middlesex) listed under 1 Upper Lewes Road. Demolished in the mid 1970s. Also known as SYLVAN HALL (from 1923) set back from the junction of Upper Lewes Road and Wakefield Road and located at the end of Canterbury Drive on a site now occupied by flats called The Pines.
Round Hill Park Villas (1871) - click on red links for more info
Situated between Bromley Road and Princes Crescent
1 Round Hill Park Henry HOLLAMBY (Livery Stable Keeper)
2 Round Hill Park Edward WATERMAN (Attorney)
3 Round Hill Park Edward TAINSH (Author)
4 Round Hill Park James L.W.DIXON (Retired Surgeon)
5 Round Hill Park Thomas RUSCOE (No occupation)
6 Round Hill Park William WALKER (Railway Store Keeper)
7 Round Hill Park Amelia E. NEWMAN (Scholar)
8 Round Hill Park Sarah PATEY (No occupation: aged 60)
[These semi-detached villas on the east side of Ditchling Road are now numbered 68 to 80. See Side by side OS 25 inch 1892-1914 map]
Tower Mill Cottage George LUCK (Machinist)
Tower Mill Alfred NIGHTINGALE (Miller: aged 31)
1 Ranelagh Road Henry MULLET (coachman)
The Semi-detached Villas on the north side of Richmond Road
1856 Land purchased by The Honourable Robert Bourke and Newnham Winstanley for the construction of these villas.
1859 Ten unfinished villas. It is said that they were intended for the officers at Preston Barracks.
1867 street directory has occupants at Nos. |4 & 5| & 6 and houses unfinished.
1869 street directory has occupants at Nos. 5, |6 & 7|, |8 & 9|, |10 & 11|
The 1871 Census, shows Frederick H SCHRODER (General Agent) living with his wife Mary and their 5 sons, 4 daughters and 2 servants at the most easterly of the villas: no. 17. Though built, the other semi-detached villas were uninhabited at this time.
The most westerly villa (nearest to Princes Crescent) was numbered 4 & 5. There was an empty plot (Nos 1,2 & 3) where an extra villa (2 & 3) could have been built, but wasn't.
The most easterly villa, nearest to Mayo Road where the SCHRODER family lived, was numbered |16 & 17|. This was renumbered 29 & 31 on 20th April 1881.
The dwelling at No 31 was demolished after World War II to accommodate extensions to the boiler room at Mayo Road Laundry. The laundry was closed in the mid 1980s to make way for residential flats Mayo Court, one wing of which now occupies the whole footprint of the semi-detached villa formerly at 29 & 31.
By 1878, most of the Richmond Road villas were occupied:
empty plot (2 & 3 never built)
4 Mr W.J. BAKEWELL & 5 Mrs FRANCIS
6 Miss TROWBRIDGE & 7 C THOMSON (quarter-master 20th Hussars)
8 Rev E. H. RAINES & 9 Mrs BARNES
10 Mr Dolphin SMITH & 11 W.G. GLANVILLE
12 Rev W. H. CAVE-BROWNE & 13 Mr P.O. RICHARDS
empty plot (14 & 15 never built)
16 & 17 Frederick H SCHRODER (General Agent)
Note that the above villas were re-numbered on 20th April 1881:
4 & 5 become 5 & 7; 6 & 7 become 9 & 11; 8 & 9 become 13 & 15; 10 & 11 become 17 & 19; 12 & 13 become 21 & 23; 14 & 15 empty plot become 25 & 27 empty plot; 16 & 17 become 29 & 31.
FIVE out of the SIX semi detached villas survive since 29 & 31 now replaced by a wing of Mayo Court. Mayo Laundry closed down, giving way to a 32 flat development, in the mid 1980s.
The empty plots, where villas were never built, have long been filled by smaller houses.
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This page was last updated by Ted on 06-Sep-2023