3 minute read
Seaford Museum
SEAFORD’S WHISTLING CLERGYMAN
Whistling as he spoke and absent-mindedly removing small articles of his clothing during the sermon, John Fitzgerald must have been an entertaining preacher. Although John Purcell Fitzgerald’s father had died in poverty through bankruptcy, John Junior – his son –inherited a fortune and many properties from his mother.
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As a young man, John Fitzgerald had intended to become a Church of England clergyman but a ‘brain fever’ in his youth left his eyesight so weak that this was not possible. Instead, he wrote and published many moral and religious pamphlets from 1828 to 1876, including ‘Familiar Commentary on the Book of Revelations’ and ‘The Sovereign’s position towards a Protestant Established Church’, but also took a very real and practical interest in the well-being of the poor and indigent.
As well as endowing the almshouses in Seaford, John Fitzgerald conducted non-conformist prayer meetings and practical charitable work in Suffolk, where he stayed at Boulge Hall, the ancestral home.
Despite this deep sympathy with the unfortunate, John Fitzgerald was very proud of his ancestry; visiting preachers at Boulge Hall were not allowed to sit at table with him if they had not been to university. And on bidding goodbye, Fitzgerald would only extend two fingers to be shaken. John Fitzgerald was never happier than when preaching and would become completely lost in his subject, removing small articles of his clothing as he spoke. Unfortunately, he suffered from a speech defect that created a whistling and clicking as he did so, but his audience ignored these peculiarities.
At the time it was common for the elderly poor to be compelled to live in the Union or Poor House, where husbands and wives were generally separated for the rest of their lives. John Fitzgerald considered this treatment to be ‘contrary to the letter of Christ’s Gospel’ and he became determined to establish a charity for the relief of the aged poor.
In 1858, he endowed the building and financing of the almshouses in Croft Lane off Broad Street. Here, according to the ‘Rules’ all persons were eligible if they were ‘of the class or denomination of labouring poor’, ‘not less than sixty years of age’ and of ‘good character’. In addition, every inmate ‘will be expected, unless prevented by illness or necessary duties, to attend some place of Christian Worship at least once every Lord’s Day’.
Photos & Stories Required
Does anyone have any old photos or stories to tell regarding 51 Sutton Road, Seaford? Previously it was Mrs Martley’s School in the 1930s, it may also have been called Gateway School and it was also Sunnydale Care Home. If you have any information or photos to share, please contact Jackie on 07952 245395 Thank you, Jackie John Fitzgerald was already planning and building Seaford’s first National School school, which opened in 1859. He also founded a ‘Lending Library for the Poor’ and contributed £100 towards the cost of renovating and enlarging St Leonard’s Church in 1861-2. In the aftermath of the great floods of 1875 that so damaged the town, John Fitzgerald ordered the doors of Corsica Hall (which he owned) to be opened for the displaced townspeople and refused reimbursement from the Relief Committee.
Whistling and absent-minded he may have been, but Seaford has good reason to be grateful to John Fitzgerald Jr. Photo: Fitzgerald Almshouse Rules.
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