Rye Castle Museum

by Ann Harvey

Rye Borough Police Force came into being in 1838. The Police Station was in a small cottage adjacent to the Ypres tower. The force consisted of two men, a Superintendent and a Police Constable. The Ypres Tower had three cells and a mortuary.

 The Sussex bonfire tradition, as in Lewes, had been getting seriously out of hand by the early 1880’s.

‘One bonfire night two rival bonfire gangs attacked the Rye police, badly wounding Superintendent Butcher; Constable Bowine tripped in the fight and badly injured his ankle, lightened tar barrels were rolled down the narrow cobbled streets, boats were set on fire, and citizens attempting to save their property were flung into the harbour.’ 1

‘In 1884 a determined an attempt was made to stamp out the influence of the bonfire gangs. Twenty five special Constables were sworn in to assist the Force (which still consisted of one superintendent and one constable) and magistrates were prepared to impose heavy penalties. A cache of tar barrels had been discovered and removed by the police. This exasperated the gangs and they attempted to take a boat from the shipyard of Messrs. Smith. They were fought off by Superintendent Bowine and Police Constable Henley with a force of Specials. Bowine received several blows ( he was certified unfit permanently in 1891 aged 46), Constable Henley’s helmet was also battered in. Six of the gang were apprehended and bound over for the sum of £10 and a surety of £5 to keep the peace for twelve months. This seemed to have the desired effect, and bonfire violence decreased and gradually died out.” 1

The 1888 Local Government Act  passed by Parliament required the Borough Police to amalgamate with the County Constabulary. It was decided to build a new Police Station in Church Square, with a lock up. This was finished in 1891.

What is now 16 Church Square was a private house built in the 18th century and was sold by a Mrs Skinner, a doctor’s widow, to the Police in 1890. It became the Sergeant’s house with a connecting door to the Police Station.

 The new Police Station had a charge room at the front of the house. The front door opened into a lobby and the cell block was directly after that, with a locked door from the lobby; the charge room opened from the right of the lobby. Behind the charge room was a room for the Constable’s kitchen and a sitting room, access to the staircase and the three brick domed cells. The Constable’s family lived upstairs. Beyond the back of the Sergeant’s house was a small exercise yard and the access to the garden which ran to the edge of the cliff (South Undercliff is below.)

 Continuing to quote from Mrs Palmer’s memories:-

The Police Station end of Church Square in those days (1910/1911) was very rough, mostly with fisher folk in Hucksteps Row. At weekends they had terrible rows as the men were usually drunk and the police used to go down to settle a few fights……The cells had somebody in most weekends crashing and banging about (a bit frightening for us kids!)

 Next door to our house was The Jolly Sailor. It had been a 4d. doss house but was closed down by the police and afterwards became a private house. (6)

Mrs Palmer also wrote that ‘the Sergeant in 1910 was a Scot, Sgt. Sinclair. He and his wife had about 10 children, several with bright ginger hair.’ How so many people could fit into that house is a mystery.

 In Rye’s War 1939 – 1945 (2), edited by Josephine Kirkham and published by the Museum, includes the ‘Recollections of Mr Moppett, Police Constable’. He came to Rye in 1939 and he says he was the last person to live in the Police Station before it was bombed in 1940. I can find no record of bomb damage although there well may have been blast damage from the bombs that destroyed the buildings where the present Rectory and its adjacent two houses now stand, next to the Ypres Tower and which blew out the East Window of St. Mary’s Church. Mr Moppett’s account of his duties and experiences during World War II is very interesting.

 Over the years the size of the Police Force increased; the old Police Station was closed in 1966 and the present larger Police Station was built in Cinque Ports Street.

 A Mr Stanynough bought the old Police Station but did little to it except getting planning permission to build a bungalow in the garden. Mercifully this never happened, nor did he live in the now private house. In the early 1970’s he sold it to an architect, R.W. Gray (5), who wanted it for his retirement years. He redesigned the interior, got rid of the lock-up (which must have been very expensive) and turned the house into two pleasant flats, one downstairs and one upstairs. The house could easily be returned to a family house if necessary.

© Ann Harvey

REFERENCES

1. Sussex Police Forces: a pictorial history from 1836 to 1986,  Middleton Press. July 1987

2. Rye’s War 1939 to 1945:  The Second World War in Rye  (Editor: Josephine C. Kirkham)  Rye Museum Association. March 2002

3. Frank Palmer , ‘Rye Borough Police’,  Rye’s Own.  No 150. January 2007.

4. Pre-and Post-World War II Aerial Photographs by Aero Films Ltd.

5. Papers from R.W.Gray Esq, and Burnhams, Rye.

6. Mrs Frank Palmer Sr. Childhood Memories of Rye and Winchelsea 1910 – 1918. [Mrs Palmer Sr's father was Constable Muggridge who served in Rye 1910 -1914/15 and then in Winchelsea till 1918.]

Colonel Frederick Sedley, 5th Marquis of Taflia in Malta and his links with the Alessi Family

 Colonel Frederick Sedley, 5th Marquis of Taflia, in Malta is commemorated on a bronze plaque over the iron grill doorway between the Friary and the church of St. Anthony of Padua in Rye.

As can be seen below, the plaque states that ‘he was a benefactor of the Franciscan order in England and of this church’. Historically, it had been suspected that he may have been responsible in some way for influencing the decision of the Franciscan Friars to come to Rye, to build a new church in ltalianate style and to dedicate this new church to St Anthony of Padua, a Franciscan. One major influence perhaps, could have been that an uncle, one of his mother’s brothers, Saverio Alessi, who was born in 1815, had become 3rd Marquis of Taflia and later a Franciscan Friar. Committed though Frederick Sedley may have been to bringing the Franciscans to Rye, he was to die before his wish came to fruition, for he died on 13th March 1921 in Badgergate, Rye.

Why the Sedley family chose Rye as a place of residence is unknown. What is known is that when Frederick Sedley and his wife, the Marquis and Marchesa di Taflia, landed at Dover in 1906, they brought with them the Rev. Father Bonaventure M. Scebberas OFM Conv. as their chaplain;  he was a Franciscan. He was given the parish at Portishead near Bristol in 1907 and three years later he accepted the church of St. Walburga in Rye. The Catholic Times of 1st April 1910 records that ‘A fortnight ago the Very Rev. Fr. Bonaventure, Superior of the Friars Minor Conventual in England, arrived from Portishead to take charge of the new mission, and received a hearty welcome from the congregation, and also from many Protestants’.

The earlier church in Watchbell Street at this time was of course dedicated to St Walburga, but was, by 1926, proving to be too small for the growing congregation. By April 1927 definite plans had been drawn up and by July13th the demolition of the old church started. On August 9th. Fr Bonaventure laid the first brick. In October, Bishop Brown, the Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark, came on a visitation and blessed the new foundation stone.

The new church of St Anthony of Padua was officially opened on 30th June 1929. The architect of the church, as well as the magnificent high altar was Mr John B.Mendham ARIBA, and at the opening the Italian Ambassador was present. At the reception that followed, in the Mermaid Hotel, it is recorded that among others ‘the Marchesa della Taflia and her husband Captain Williamson-Waring were present’. No doubt the Marchesa would have wished that her father could have lived to see this day. She and her husband left Rye to live in St Leonards were she was to die without issue in 1953. Hence the title of the Marquises of Taflia died out and the title became extinct.

In 1982 the Committee of Privileges of the Maltese Nobility called the title out of abeyance, with Joseph Sammut Testaferrata Alessi becoming the 7th and present Marquis. His daughter, and only child, is his heir, his line of descent being from the first Marquis’s other son.

In July 2006 a decision was taken to attempt research in order to discover more about Frederick Sedley and how he came to have this title.

Initially it was thought that Colonel Sedley was British and his title was British, but this was soon found not to be the case. He had, in fact, been born in Valetta on Malta on 18th September 1836 to a Frederick Sedley senior, a Maltese Government employee who had been born in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Caterina Alessi, a minor, daughter of Dr. Francesco Alessi dei Marchesi di Tatlia LL.D. so his later title, as Marquis of Taflia, descended through his mother’s line.

With this information as background it was decided to extend the research to discover more of this family and how they came to have links to Rye and, specifically St. Anthony of Padua Church.

It is acknowledged that the Sedley family were not by any means the only major donors to St. Anthony of Padua Church in these early years. This paper was  produced simply in order to explore the background to the Sedley family and the Franciscan links to our church.

The results of this research follow herewith in an article  researched and produced in July 2006 by John Kilroy, 2,Saltcote Mews, Saltcote Lane, Rye, East Sussex. TN31 7NR. Tel. 01797 222971

Frederick Sedley and His Family

1805 Frederick Sedley born, Colombo , Ceylon now Sri Lanka

1825 A Mr Sed1ey, a clerk to the Chief Secretary, is recorded as living, rent free, at I, Strada Scozzese, Valetta , Malta, by authority of the local government.

1832 Caterina Alessi, a minor, married with the consent of her Guardian. She was the daughter of Dr. Francesco Alessi dei Marchesi di Taflia and was married to Frederick Sed1ey aged over twenty one years of age, bachelor, from Colombo ,Ceylon employed in the office of the Chief Secretary to the Government. The marriage was on 1st January 1832 and was celebrated by Anglican and Roman Catholic clergy.

10th October 1832 birth of Thomasina Antonia Sed1ey Alessi, later Marchesi di Taflia, to Caterina Sedley nee Alessi and Frederick Sedley.

1st August 1833 death of Fanny Sedley, daughter of Frederick Sedley, Inspector of Police. She had just returned from school in England

18th September 1836 birth of Frederick Sed1ey Alessi, later 5th Marquis of Taflia, to Caterina Alessi and Frederick Sed1ey 1st

28th June 1852 Thomasina Antonia Alessi dei Marchesi di Taflia, daughter of Frederick Sedley, Superintendent of Police in Malta , married Hon. Richard Cornwall – Leigh, Assistant to the Government of Malta, in the British Embassy. Later celebrated at the Church of The Madeline in Paris .

1856 Frederick Sedley II, a clerk in the Customs Department is living at 153, Strada Stretta. He is on the 1852 Electoral Roll

1860 during the China War of that year it is recorded that there is a “Cornet Sedley in B Troop as assistant Surgeon to Edward Mc Sheehy.”

NB It has not been possible to trace the date of the death of Frederick Sedley I

22 November 1866 Mrs Caterina Sed1ey nee Marchesi Alessi died, she was the wife of Frederick Sedley I.

c1870 Frederick Sedley II married Edith Fanny Langdon

1872 Ethel Maud Sedley Alessi born ( later 6th Marchioness di Taflia). Parents, Frederick Sedley and Edith Fanny Langdon.

1880 Frederick Sedley II retired with rank of Lieut Colonel.

1901 In the 1901 UK Census, Frederick Sedley II is listed as being aged 63, born in Malta , a retired Colonel in the Army. He is living in Kensington.

August 1910 at a Parish Bazaar held at St Walburga’s Church in Watchbell Street , Rye, it is recorded that ‘Colonel the Marquis Sedley (sic) ran the pottery and ceramics stall while the Marchesina Sedley superintended the event and had special commodities ergo Maltese lace, pottery etc. sent by Mr Buggiba of Malta’.

1914 saw the beginning of the first world war and the arrival of refugees in Rye . It seems that the Marchesina Sedley formed a committee arranging for Henry James to make his studio in Watchbell Street available as a recreation room for them. When they arrived at Rye railway station they were greeted by Colonel Sedley, the Marchioness Sedley and the Rev. Father Bonaventure. Special services were arranged and they were accommodated in a hostel in Cinque Ports Street .

1918 & 1922 Kelly’s Directories of Rye for these years show Captain James Williamson – Waring JP. listed as living at Badger’s Gate, Ferry Road , Rye .

At some point and place, as yet undiscovered, Ethel Maud Sedley, Marchioness of Tatlia married Captain James Williamson Waring. JP

18th March 1921 Frederick Sedley Alessi, 5th Marquis of Tatlia, died in Rye , East Sussex .

Upon the death of her father Ethel Maud Sedley Alessi became 6th Marchioness of Taflia.

Not long after the death of the Marquis, the Marchioness moved from Rye and settled in St. Leonards were she was to die thirty years later on in 1953

In 1953 the title went into abeyance. As the direct line was now extinct the next of kin was from the first Marquis’s other son, with the de jure Marquis, Dr. Giuseppe Borg-Falzon-Alessi MD, dying in 1978. Dr Giuseppe was succeeded by his first cousin Joseph Sammut Testaferrata Alessi. In 1982 The Committee of Privileges of the Maltese Nobility called the title from abeyance with Joseph becoming 7th and present marquis. His daughter and only child is his heir.

This article by Stuart Osmer commemorates the 60th Anniversary of the presentation of the Ensign of HMS Rye to the town and its dedication in St Mary’s Church, Rye, in 1946.

HMS Rye Minesweeper

HMS RYE

Bangor Class Minesweeper 1941 – 1948

HMS Rye was a Turbine Type, Bangor Class Fleet Minesweeper, built by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company Ltd., Troon , Scotland. She was launched on the 19th August 1940, completed in November 1941 and commissioned early 1942. After distinguished war service she was decommissioned in February 1946, sold 24th August 1948 and subsequently broken up at Purfleet.

Pennant No J76
14th & 17th Minesweeping Flotillas
Basic features: Displacement – 656 tons; Dimensions – 174 x 28.5 x 9.5 feet; Complement – 60; Armament – 1 x 3inch AA., 1 x 2 pdr., 2 x 20mm.AA., 4 x MG; Machinery – Geared Turbines, two shafts, SHP 2,400 = 16 knots. Two Admiralty small tube type boilers.

HMS Rye, under the command of Lt. J. A. Pearson was initially assigned for minesweeping training and sweeping duties off the east and then west coasts of Scotland. She was then ordered to Dover for sweeping duties in the Channel followed by attachment to an Atlantic convoy down to Gibraltar. At Gibraltar, Rye joined up with Speedy and Hebe, both Halcyon Class, and Hythe, Bangor Class, to be designated the 17th Minesweeing Flotilla under the command of Commander Jerome in Speedy. During 1942/3 she took part in many convoys between Alexandria, Port Said, Gibraltar and Malta. The two most significant were:-

1. June 1942 OPERATION HARPOON. This convoy consisted of six merchant ships with escorts and a large covering force of Capital ships. The convoy was repeatedly attacked by aircraft and Italian surface ships. Four merchant ships and a destroyer were sunk and two support warships badly damaged. During these actions the Rye shot down enemy aircraft. She also picked up survivors from the torpedoed SS Tanimbar and SS Chant. Rye and Hebe were ordered to sink the SS Kentucky, a tanker whose engines were out of action due to a near miss from bombs. Rye took off the crew, after which Rye and Hebe set the Kentucky on fire with gunfire. In the approaches to Malta, Hythe cut a mine, which surafced ahead of the Rye. Rye hit her on her bow. The mine bumped right down the side of the hull, but did not explode. She became known as “Lucky Rye”.

2. August 1942 OPERATION PEDESTAL. The 17th MS Flotilla came out from Malta to meet the transports SS Melbourne Star, Port Clamers & Rochester Castle, damaged but able to steam, to escort them into Malta. At daybreak on 14th August the Rye and Ledbury, with motor launches, went out to join the destroyer Penn to bring in the seriously damaged SS Ohio, and they reached harbour the following day. Rye took part in towing the Ohio. The Brisbane Star made her own way in. The tanker Ohio was laden with fuel oil desperately needed by the defending aircraft in Malta. Only five merchant ships of the original 14 dispatched arrived in Malta, but the seige was lifted.

HMS Rye swept ahead of the Sicily landings in July 1943 and later off Italy. She left Malta in early October 1943 with a small convoy to Gibraltar. Whilst acting as escort on the north side of the convoy and laying a smoke screen, she ran out of smoke canisters and was ordered to swap places with her “chummy ship” HMS Hythe, which was on the south side of the convoy. That night Hythe was torpedoed and sunk. Rye picked up twelve survivors, two of whom subsequently died. HMS Hythe, under Lt.Cdr. L. B. Miller, sank on 11th October 1943 off Bougie, Algeria. She had been torpedoed by U-371.

Rye left Gibraltar on Christmas Eve 1943 on passage to the UK. In the Straits of Gibraltar she was in collision with one of three American Liberty Ships comning in and Rye’s bow was severely damaged. She sailed, damaged, to the Azores, where her bows were filled with concrete, and like that she steamed back to the UK, to Troon, where a new bow was fitted.

NORMANDY 1944.  HMS Rye, under the command of Lt. F. Williams, joined the 14th MS Flotilla assigned to clear the cross channel seaways for the invading forces. She swept the “Omamha” beachhead ahead of the American landing craft and then took part in keeping open the approach seaways that the enemy was frequently re-mining. The sweeping was interspersed with escort duty between the UK and “Omamha”. On one occasion she came under particularly heavy bombardment from shore batteries and had to beat a hasty retreat, cutting her sweeps. The flotilla worked its way down to Brest, where Rye was anchored for six weeks and was virtually “Brest Radio Station” for that area of the Allied Armies. The Telegraphists worked a tiring “four hours on, four off” watch for six weeks. After taking part in clearing the coastal waters towards Belgium and Holland, she spent four weeks under going a refit at Flushing.

In May 1945 she was at Stavanger clearing anti-submarine mines, when two German U-boats came into harbour and surrendered to her. She then came home to Edinburgh, and then down to Swansea to sweep the Bristol Channel area. HMS Rye was paid of in Swansea in 1946.