A saintly benefactor who was less than charitable to his sons

John married Augusta Jane Lisle Phillips in 1832. She was a frail woman but bore three children; Olivia, who died in infancy and two boys, Gerald and Maurice. Augusta was described by her brother-in-law, the poet, Edward Fitzgerald, as 'sweet cheerful and christianly'. She died only five years after they were married and John was devastated. So much so that even after he remarried he kept a full length painting of her beside his bed so it was the first thing he saw each morning. And if that wasn't enough, he even retained his first wife's clothes so that he could be reminded of her. What his second wife, Hester Hadden, thought about this was not recorded.

John was elected a Bailiff of Seaford for the year 1853. He was also a Jurat (the Cinque port equivalent of an alderman) for many years despite spending most of his time in Suffolk. John's charity could not be faulted. At Boulge, the family home in Suffolk, he kept a room constantly stocked with items to give away to the poor and sometimes he would ride out into the countryside in a carriage piled high with tea, sugar and clothing which he used to distribute, along with personally signed religious books which he had written. He was accompanied on these trips by Miss Thornton, a blind organist. These charitable forays must have been a most unusual sight but were surely appreciated by the local poor.

His sons were treated as 'lost souls who could only be saved from being roasted in hell by a full share of unpleasantness and mortification (in this life)'

In 1855, John was back in Seaford. He gave 100 toward the restoration of St Leonard's church and he also donated 400 for the building of a school in Steyne Road, on land donated by Lord Chichester. A stone, still visible on the building, reads: 'This School was built by John Purcell Fitzgerald AD 1858.'

John was in Seaford again in 1864 when he laid the foundation stone for his almshouses and three years later he donated money towards the establishment of a lending library in Church Street. In 1875 John allowed his home to be used by Seaford residents who found themselves homeless after the 'great flood' of 14th November. One resident who witnessed the floods was author George Meredith. He was good friends with John Fitzgerald's son Maurice and they often stayed together at Meredith's home at 3 Marine Terrace. At this time Maurice had obtained a reputation for betting (and losing) at horse-racing and his father frequently had to pay his debts. Maurice died in 1877 and is buried in St Leonard's churchyard.

John fell seriously ill a few months later. His brother, who always seemed critical of his more devout sibling, could not even find kind words for him at this time, saying that 'he keeps waiting and hoping for death which will not come; perhaps providence would let it come sooner were he not rich enough to keep a doctor in the house'. He died in May 1879 and is buried in the family vaults at Boulge.

In the last couple of items I have mentioned the Fitzgerald family who lived at Corsica Hall and a brief history of this imposing building may be of interest especially as it has had some remarkable owners.

Corsica Hall is built on a small hill close to the point where the River Ouse used to drain into the channel. There was once a windmill on this spot, which was why the hill was known as Millburgh. The house was originally built in the 1740s, further up the Ouse at Wellingham near Ringmer, by a man called John Whitfield. Whitfield had made his money through smuggling Corsican wines and that is how the house got its name. One of his workers was once caught by excise-men and spilled the beans about his master's activities but Whitfield audaciously made a generous offer of wines to George II and was reprieved from any punishment.

When Whitfield died the house was purchased by Francis Scott, the fifth Lord Napier. The family spent time in Sussex presumably to get respite from their chilly Scottish estates. In May 1772 Lord Napier's son was in the house with his tutor. A loaded pistol had been carelessly left in the classroom and the young lad picked it up and pointed it at his teacher. 'Shall I shoot you' he joked, to which the tutor laughed and said 'Shoot on'. The trigger was pulled and the poor teacher was shot dead.

The Napier family moved away and the empty house was said to have been haunted.

We now go back a few years to 1747 when the Spanish ship Nympha Americana was wrecked on the cliffs at Crowlink near Friston. The cargo included a large amount of valuable metals and currency and much was washed up on the shore. Horse Guards who were billeted nearby were tasked to protect the cargo and the story is told of one soldier who tried to steal gold coins by slipping them into his boots. He was caught when he was ordered to mount his horse but couldn't as the weight of the gold doubloons prevented him from lifting his foot to the stirrup. Another man from East Dean was more wily as he carefully buried his loot under the sand until he could retrieve it later. He had found some blocks of heavy metal but was not sure what they were. He took them to Lewes where he sold them to a watchmaker called Thomas Harben. He acquired the blocks at a small cost but this one transaction made his fortune as his purchase was a set of virgin gold ingots. With this money Harben purchased the vacant Corsica Hall but, although he liked the house, he wanted a more picturesque setting and was so rich that he could afford to move the building brick by brick to Seaford.

Harben was to become a major force in Seaford politics. In 1823 Corsica Hall was purchased by John Fitzgerald (1775-1852), but within a year he had pulled most of the old building down and built a new house which he named The Lodge. Fitzgerald lived in the house when he was MP for Seaford between 1826 and 1832. My previous items have mentioned how the house was later occupied by Fitzgerald's son, John Purcell Fitzgerald. Seaford College remained at Corsica Hall for many years and one of its noted pupils was author Anthony Buckeridge, who based his Jennings books on his experiences at the school.

During the war Seaford College was evacuated to Midhurst but the building remained an educational establishment and was at one time the East Sussex Catering College.

In recent years the fine building has recently been subject to extensive renovations and is currently for sale as a number of self-contained flats.