So we come now to Sidney James Hamblett Sidney was born on 26 November 1890 at 21 Church Road, Guildford to Sidney Mansfield Hamblett and Susan Alice MansfieldWhile my maternal roots reach into the rural landscapes of Hampshire and Kent, it is the paternal line that draws me back toward the urban energy of the coast and the capital. My history was being written in the commercial bustle of Brighton, but its ink was forged much earlier—in the workshops of London and the expanding streets of Leicester. It is here, through the Hamblet(t) name, that a story of craftsmanship and precision truly begins.
The Movement Timeline
By including the Leicester addresses, we get a very clear picture of Sidney Mansfield Hamblett's move across the country:
Guildford (1890): Sidney James is born at 21 Church Road.
Leicester (c. 1892–1901): The family moves north. They live at 53 Gaul Street and 39 Hinckley Road. This is where Archibald, William Wilfred, and Alice Edith are born.
Chilworth (1902–1909): They return south to 2 New Road, Chilworth, where Margery is born in 1904.
Brighton (1909–c. 1920): They move to Harrington Farmhouse (The House in the Trees).
Keymer (c. 1920s–End of Life): The final move to Highleigh, Lodge Lane.
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| Highleigh, Lodge Lane, Keymer |
Despite the house being gone, the 1901 Census provides a final "snapshot" of the family at 39 Hinckley Road just before they made the move back south to Chilworth:
Sidney M. Hamblett: Head of house, aged 39, listed as a Cabinet Maker (Marquetry).
Susan Alice. Hamblett: Aged 33.
Sidney James. Hamblett: Aged 10.
Archibald Henry Hamblett: Aged 8.
William Wilfred. Hamblett: Aged 6.
Alice Edith. Hamblett: Aged 5.
At this point, Margery Martha hadn't been born yet, as she arrived three years later in 2 New Road,
The 1911 census at Harrington Farm reveals a twenty-year-old Sidney James already making his own way. He wasn't at the marquetry bench; he was a Compositor. His days were spent in the meticulous world of the printing house, handling metal type and setting the pages of Brighton's daily life. It was a trade built on precision—a trait that seems to run through every generation of our family, no matter the industry.
Before he was measuring cloth, he was measuring 'ems' and 'ens.' As a compositor in 1911, he would have spent his days at the type case, his fingers dancing over the lead letters to build the stories of Brighton. It makes me wonder if, while setting the ads for the local tailors, he was already imagining a different kind of future for himself.
The loss of Archibald Henry
"It’s a poignant contrast at Harrington Farm. While Sidney James was setting type for the morning papers, young Archibald was likely commuting to a desk in Brighton, perhaps already struggling with the 'white plague' that would eventually take him. The move to the farm may well have been a desperate hope that the Sussex air could do what the city doctors couldn't."
He was only 19 years old when he died from Tuberculosis. The fact that he passed in 1913—the same year as his grandfather, James Mansfield—makes that a devastating year for the family. It also explains why he might have been a "hushed" or painful memory for my father; losing an uncle so young often leaves a shadow over a household.
The 1911 Census shows us that Sidney James' father, Sidney Mansfield, was an antiques dealer in the cabinet trade; he was 48 years old.
His wife, Susan Alice Mansfield Hamblett, was 48, but we see in their marriage certificate she was two years younger than Sidney!
- Sidney James M Hamblett was 20 and working as a Compositor in the printing trade. He was a 'worker'
- Archibald Henry M Hamblett was 18, working as a Clerk, A 'Carrier' born in Surrey, Croydon
- William Wilfred M Hamblett was aged 16, he was a Baker, his trade given as 'Confectioners' and a 'worker' born in Leicester
- Alice Edith M Hamblett was 15, and at School, born in Leicester.
- Marjorie Martha M Hamblett was 7 and at school, born in Leicester
- Emily Hamblett was also with them, she was 78, a widow, born in Norfolk.
I didn't know she was born in Norfolk until i saw this.
Sidney James Mansfield Hamblett: The Craftsman in the Making
This portrait, taken around 1911, captures Sidney James at approximately 20 years old. At the time, he was living with his family at Harrington Farm in Brighton. While his father, Sidney Mansfield Hamblett, was carving out a reputation as an Antique Dealer in the cabinet trade, Sidney James was making his own way in the "aristocracy of trades" as a Printing Compositor.
Looking at him here, you can see the meticulous nature required for his craft. A compositor’s life was one of extreme precision—handling tiny lead characters and setting type by hand to create the printed word. This eye for detail clearly ran in the family; while his father worked with the intricate grains of wood and the restoration of fine antiques, Sidney James worked with the architecture of the page.
The Women of Harrington Farm
While the men were out at their respective trades, the household was anchored by the women of the family, whose own histories add fascinating layers to the Hamblett story:
Susan Alice Mansfield Hamblett: The heart of the home, Susan was 48 at the time of the census. Interestingly, while the census lists her and Sidney Snr as the same age, their marriage certificate reveals she was actually two years younger than her husband.
Emily Hamblett: At 78 years old, Sidney James’s grandmother was also living at the farm. A widow, her birthplace is recorded as Norfolk, providing a vital clue to the family’s earlier migrations before they settled in the Brighton area.
The Sisters: The household also included Alice Edith (15) and Marjorie Martha (7), both of whom were still at school and had been born in Leicester, showing the family's path from the Midlands down to the South Coast.
A Legacy of Character
There is a certain resolve in Sidney James’s expression that makes the family legend of his father refusing Queen Mary’s request for a "gift" feel all the more believable. These were people who knew the value of their labour and the worth of their craft.
We may regret not asking more questions when he was with us, but in this photograph, he remains forever the precise, sharp-suited compositor of Brighton, standing on the threshold of a long and industrious life.
The Path to Ownership: Sidney James Hamblett
Sidney James’s career was defined by a pragmatic search for a sustainable living, moving away from the "dust and shavings" of his father Sidney Mansfield’s marquetry bench.
Early Ventures: He didn't settle on a trade immediately, exploring both Insurance sales and a brief stint in Printing as a Compositor. These roles likely developed the professional "polish" and salesmanship that the manual trades lacked.
The Partnership with Mr. Nye: This is a crucial "loose thread." The transition from being a salesman to a shop owner was facilitated by his partnership with Mr. Nye. This collaboration provided the capital or shared expertise needed to establish a firm foot in the clothier and drapery business.
The Business Niche: Unlike the high-end, "Piccadilly" style of the earlier Hamblett shops, Sidney James's shop was positioned as a reliable, "good quality" establishment. It sat slightly off the main thoroughfares—close enough to the action to be viable, but catering to a more consistent, local clientele.
The Brighton Landscape
Burghopes located on the busy North Road, this was where my father learned the "big outfitter" trade before joining the smaller family firm post-war.
The Family Firm: Sidney James’s own shop, where the focus shifted to drapery and quality clothing, representing the final evolution of the family's commercial identity in Brighton.
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| Sidney James & his wife Annie S Hamblett circa 1950s |
A Lifetime of Style and Skill
When we compare the young man at Harrington Farm to the distinguished gentleman in the second photograph, we see the evolution of a man dedicated to precision. While the 1911 Census captures him at the start of his working life as a Printing Compositor, Sidney James eventually established himself as a self-employed Clothier and Draper.
The sharp suit and perfect bow tie he wears in later life reflect the standards of his trade. As a Clothier, he was the master of the "bespoke" experience. Though the actual construction of the garments went to professional tailors, Sidney James was the expert eye—measuring customers with the same exactness he once used to set lead type, and selecting the finest cloths to ensure a perfect fit.
Just as his father, Sidney Mansfield, understood the soul of antique furniture restoration, Sidney James understood the language of quality garments. Whether he was handling tiny characters in a Brighton printing office or gauging the drape of a fine wool, the common thread was always his uncompromising eye for detail. He remains, as he always was, a man of quiet dignity and immense skill.
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| Annie (Johnson) and Sidney James Hamblett, circa 1950's |
The Hub of the Business
While Sidney James is pictured here in his later years as a man of leisure, his working life was centred on the management of his own small-scale business. Far from a large department store, his shop was the nerve centre for a more personal trade. From this base, he managed a small team of workers who were "on the road," visiting customers at their homes to collect orders and provide the occasional bespoke measurement for suits.
Sidney’s role was the vital financial engine of the shop. While he may not have been the one with the tape measure in hand, he was the one overseeing the accounts and ensuring the smooth running of the operation. It was a business built on local trust and meticulous record-keeping—skills that perhaps found their roots in the same disciplined mindset he needed as a young compositor in Brighton.
The 1940s imagery of Holmes Avenue captures a family poised between two worlds: the long-established traditions of the Hamblett craftsmen and the suburban reality of a country at war.
The Watchman: West Blatchington Mill
The view of the windmill from that era is a remarkable document of the neighborhood’s history. Standing a "stone’s throw" from the front door of St Moritz, the mill was the visual anchor for Sidney James and Annie’s final years as a household of grown children. In the 1940s, with the blackout in full effect, the mill would have been a silent, dark sentinel overlooking the avenue.
Blackout and Bright Spirits
The detail of the white stripes on the lamp post is a quintessential piece of wartime social history. Those stripes were painted to prevent pedestrians and drivers from colliding with them in the total darkness of the blackout. Seeing them in the background of your family photos underscores that even during moments of domestic quiet in the garden, the war was an ever-present reality.
The Garden at St Moritz: This was the staging ground for the family's last collective memories. It is where your father enjoyed his respite with the house dog, and where Marguerite was photographed before her life took her into other parts of Hove
The End of an Era: For Sidney James, the former compositor, this was a far cry from the "hot metal" print shops of his youth. The transition to the quiet of Holmes Avenue marked the shift from the industrious artisan to the family patriarch.
The Marguerite Legacy: A Full Circle
The newspaper cutting about Marguerite brings the story of these Hove gardens full circle. The same industriousness that kept the Holmes Avenue garden tidy in the 1940s was later redirected into her monumental charity work.
The Seven-Year Mission: Beginning in 1994, Marguerite turned her garden in Richardson Road into a landmark.
The Final Figure: By the time she retired at 74, she had raised over £29,000—an achievement that saw her recognised as a "Champion in the Community" by Esther Rantzen.
A Labour of Love: The physical effort of spending three hours setting out those tables mirrors the meticulous nature of her father's trade.
The Master of the Clue: Retirement and Leisure
As the years of managing the accounts and overseeing his team of "on the road" workers drew to a close, Sidney James settled into a well-earned retirement. While the shop in Brighton was behind him, he remained a fixture in the lives of his extended family, frequently visiting for Sunday lunch—a tradition that kept him connected to the various branches of the Hamblett clan.
These visits were defined by a different kind of precision. He would arrive with his copy of the Sunday Times, and the afternoon would inevitably turn into a battle of wits over the crossword. It was a formidable sight: two competent solvers—Sidney James and his son—locked in a friendly but determined race to see who could finish first.
A Full Circle
There is something poetic about Sidney James returning to the world of letters in his later years. The young man who once stood at a printing frame, meticulously setting type by hand, was now an elder statesman of the family, decoding cryptic clues over a Sunday roast.
Whether it was through the "bespoke" service of his drapery business or the solving of a complex crossword, he remained a man of detail until the very end. He didn't just live through history; he navigated it with a steady hand, a sharp suit, and a mind that never truly retired.
The man in retirement took a serious interest in motoring. A car I recall him owning was one Humber Sceptre identical to this one.
Later , it must have been in the mid 1970s he owned a Vauxhall Firenza. A sporty looking vehicle. It was orange colour.
It would have been interesting to know what he drove in the 1950s
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