History and Known Residents of Manor Lodge, Portslade

 

 History and Known Residents of Manor Lodge, Portslade

Manor Lodge (originally known as Portslade Lodge) is a Grade II listed Georgian-style house built around 1785 in Portslade-by-Sea, near Brighton, England. It was constructed unusually close to the road (now Locks Hill) for a property of its size, reflecting the era's light traffic. The stuccoed brick building features bay windows, a veranda on wooden columns, and extensive grounds that once included stables, a coach house, tennis lawns, a vinery, and orchards. By the early 20th century, it was a substantial residence with eight bedrooms, multiple reception rooms, and outbuildings. It was renamed "Manor Lodge" in the mid-20th century to evoke its ties to the historic Portslade Manor (a separate Norman-era property built c. 1140–1150, now ruins owned by Emmaus). Ownership of the manor itself passed through noble families like the de Warennes, de Burghs, and de la Warrs from medieval times, but Manor Lodge was a distinct gentleman's residence acquired by local gentry in the 19th century. It was auctioned in 1919 for £2,250, subdivided into flats by 1970, and today comprises four apartments.

Piecing together residents relies on legal documents, censuses, wills, and local histories preserved at The Keep (East Sussex Record Office). Below is a chronological summary of known owners and residents, focusing on primary occupants (tenants where noted). Gaps exist due to incomplete records, but this draws from 19th–20th-century sources.

 Late 18th–Early 19th Century: Early Ownership and Settlement

- **1789–1817: James Newnum (the younger) and Mary Bull**. The property formed part of a marriage settlement for wine merchant James Newnum of Portslade and New Shoreham (his second wife, following the death of his first wife Elizabeth, a Portslade heiress). Mary brought £1,500 in investments. Newnum declared bankruptcy in October 1817, leading to the property's sale.

Mid-19th Century: Wallis, Cordy, and Borrer Ownership

- **c. 1817–1837: John Wallis (owner)**. The wine merchant purchased the property post-Newnum's bankruptcy. In his 1837 will, Wallis bequeathed it to trustees Richard Fuller and John Hamlin Borrer, with rents directed to his granddaughter Catherine Cordy for life (protected from any future husband's debts). Wallis died on 21 June 1837.

- **1837–1841: James Cordy (tenant/lessee)**. Leased the house following Wallis's will.

- **1841–1866: John Borrer (1785–1866, owner)**. A prominent local landowner and lord of the manor of Portslade (succeeding his father William in 1833), Borrer bought the property outright for £740 from the Wallis trustees and Cordy (who sold his leasehold interest for £600). Born in Hurstpierpoint, he amassed 764 acres in Portslade, including farms, downland fields, and coastal plots. A churchwarden at St Nicolas Church, he funded expansions there and endured personal tragedies (three wives and six children predeceased him). The 1841 census shows him (aged 56) with wife Sarah (47), daughters Kate and Sarah Anne, son Henry (18, mariner), and five servants. By 1851, the household included a footman, lady's maid, cook, and housekeeper; in 1861, a butler was added. Borrer died on 12 August 1866 and was buried near the old manor ruins.

 Mid-to-Late 19th Century: Tenants and Borrer Heirs

- **1851: Terrick Haultain (c. 1777–1858, tenant)**. A retired Justice of the Peace and former Assistant Paymaster General of H.M. Horse Guards, aged 74, resided with his wife, an unmarried daughter, and three servants. He died in 1858 and was buried in his family vault at Banstead, Surrey.

- **1861: Matthew Wood (c. 1817–, tenant)**. A retired Major in the Indian Army, aged 44, lived alone with three servants on census night.

- **1866–1890: Kate Borrer (c. 1811–1890)**. John Borrer's unmarried daughter inherited and moved in after his death, aged 60 in 1871, with four servants (footman, cook, lady's maid). Her spinster sister Sarah Anne Borrer (c. 1824–1908) joined by 1874. In June 1899, Sarah hosted a vicarage induction reception at the house for Revd Vicars Armstrong Boyle, attended by local clergy and nobility. Kate died in 1890 (aged 79); Sarah in 1908 (aged 84).

Early 20th Century: Blaker Inheritance and Sale

- **1909–1914: Arthur Beckett Blaker (1842–1914)**. Kate and Sarah's nephew (son of their sister Mary Borrer) inherited the property. A Sussex Archaeological Society member, he lived there with wife Elizabeth Jane Blaker (née Blaker, 1855–1924, his second cousin from Easthill House, Portslade) and five children: Dorothy Kathleen (1888–1966), Arthur Wilfrid (1889–1915), Brenda Mary (1891–1962), Geoffrey Beckett (1893–1963), and Barbara Joan (1894–1948). Blaker donated artifacts to the Society, including items from St Pancras Priory. He died on 25 August 1914; his will led to the property's auction on 2 July 1919. Son Lt. Arthur Wilfrid Blaker was killed in action aboard HMS *Invincible* at the Dardanelles on 18 March 1915 (buried at sea); his mother donated an oak reredos to St Nicolas Church in his memory. Elizabeth died on 15 March 1924 (aged 69).

- **1919–1929: Arthur Lloyd Jones (tenant/owner)**. The brewer bought the house and 5 acres at the 1919 auction for £2,250, as described in a detailed brochure highlighting its "old-fashioned" Regency features. He evicted tenant Mr. D. Green from two fields and resided until 1929.

 Mid-20th Century: Later Occupants

• 1930s: Unoccupied initially; c. 1938: Ford Ford-Dunn. The house stood empty for some years before Ford-Dunn took residence.

• 1950s: William Hawkins.

• 1960s:

• 1962: Michael Deasy.

• 1966: John Deek.

• 1969: William H. Stannard.

This timeline captures the house's evolution from a gentry residence tied to the Borrer family's manor estate to a subdivided modern property. For deeper genealogy (e.g., full census transcripts), resources like Ancestry.com or The Keep archives could reveal more servants or short-term tenants. The Borrer era dominates due to their local prominence and land records.