The history portal for Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England
Filmed in 2013 this video by Steve Edwards was inspired by a similar amateur film made by Paul Plumb 50 years earlier in 1962 – titled A River Runs Through Our Town.
That whole original 1962 film is not available as unfortunately an error in the Screen Archive South East seems to have clipped the original 90 minutes short by 18 minutes. However there is a recent copy of the clip ( at 9m18s) pasted below (ignore the non-original captions and music):
This 20 minute video explores some of the content on the website and demonstrates some of the features.
In 1853 the home of the local Squire Bridger was the scene of a night-time burglary. This was not unexpected after a series of break-ins in previous days. Servants had been put on watch in the darkened manor house and were armed with guns. They had not to wait long before a man entered the property through a window. When confronted and ordered to surrender he bolted for the exit. In the ensuing fracas he was shot in the back and clambered out of the window before dying in the garden outside. The reulting court case is outlined below.
| First name | Surname | Gender | Age | Born | Place of birth |
| Harry | Bridger | Male | 41 | 1800 | Sussex, England |
| Sarah Louisa | Bridger | Female | 41 | 1800 | Sussex, England |
| Harry | Bridger | Male | 12 | 1829 | Sussex, England |
| Mary | Bridger | Female | 11 | 1830 | Sussex, England |
| Isabella | Bridger | Female | 9 | 1832 | Sussex, England |
| Emma | Bridger | Female | 8 | 1833 | Sussex, England |
| William | Bridger | Male | 6 | 1835 | Sussex, England |
| Frederick | Bridger | Male | 4 | 1837 | Sussex, England |
| Harriett | Bridger | Female | 70 | 1771 | Sussex, England |
| Catherine | Bridger | Female | 69 | 1772 | Sussex, England |
| Mary | Best | Female | 21 | 1820 | Sussex, England |
| John | Smart | Male | 24 | 1817 | Sussex, England |
| Robert | Harman | Male | 33 | 1808 | Sussex, England |
| William | Bonny | Male | 40 | 1801 | Sussex, England |
| George | Smart | Male | 16 | 1825 | Sussex, England |
| Diana | Marsh | Female | 57 | 1784 | – |
| Jane | Ratcliff | Female | 25 | 1816 | Sussex, England |
| Hannah | Osborne | Female | 17 | 1824 | Sussex, England |
| Elizabeth | Mitchell | Female | 24 | 1817 | Sussex, England |
| Ann | Fiest | Female | 21 | 1820 | Sussex, England |
Many of you will know of the monumental project to rebuild “Tally Ho”, who’s origins were at the old Stow’s shipbuilding yard at the bottom of East Street. She was built in Shoreham in 1910 as the “Betty” and had a varied career including completing the Fastnet race in 1927, traversing the globe, being wrecked in the Americas and eventually laying as a hulk for decades in the US. In 2018 she was rescued by Leo Goolden who set about rebuilding her to sail again. That project became a 6 year YouTube sensation that culminated this month with the re-launch of Tally Ho.
https://www.youtube.com/@SampsonBoatCo/videos
The history of Tally Ho (Betty)
Shoreham Airport – Shoreham Peeps (1962)
Railway station and traffic on the streets – A River Runs Through Our Town (1962)
The beach and boats on the water – Shoreham Peeps (1962)
The harbour, followed by shops in the town including a butcher, postman, dustman and policeman – A River Runs Through Our Town (1962)
Winter scenes in the town centre – Shoreham Peeps (1962)
Anders passed through Shoreham on many occasions from the 60’s As a keen amateur photographer he decided to record the ordinary. 50 years later that ordinary provides an evocative window into a once familiar world.
