Cottage of St Hugh aka Riverside Café

 

                    Front elevation of the plan dated 1907

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canvey Island Essex

St Hugh and Charles Seabrooke

I have recently found a copy of the plans for a building on the corner of Hellendorn Road and The Promenade (Eastern Esplanade) dated 1907. The plans are of St Hughs a building quite prominent on the seafront and later known by many on Canvey Island as the Riverside Café.

 

The building was commissioned by a member of the Seabrooke Family, Charles Herbert Seabrooke, who was a Director of the family's brewery in Grays which was founded in the early 1800s by Charles’ great grandfather, Thomas Seabrooke. Both the Lobster Smack and the Red Cow on Canvey Island were Seabrooke Houses.

 

From the pictures I had seen of the building it looked like a typical timber building so I was surprised when I looked at the plans. Although it has a timber frame the walls were in fact Galvanised Iron weather boarding sheeting. The upstairs over-hung the lower floor not only with the veranda but also the floor space upstairs was much bigger than below. It was built as two flats, the lower smaller one for the ‘caretaker’ with a kitchen and bedrooms. The upper floor, which had a separate entry from the stairs outside was for the ‘owner’ with a lounge and two bedrooms. Also on the ground floor but outside the ‘caretakers’ flat were four soft water tubs collecting rain water.

By 1918 Edgar Horatio White, a weighting machine proprietor, was registered as being the owner although his main residence was in Forest Gate, London. The family probably used the bungalow as a holiday home.

Edgar was still there with his wife, Annie, in the 1929 Electoral Register as were John Foden Herbert and his wife Ivy. Perhaps the later were the caretakers whilst the White family were in London. Edgar died in Forest Gate in 1938 which may be the time the place changed hands again.

At some point the building was taken over by the Lacy family who turned it into the Riverside Café. The downstairs was the cafe, the upper floor was turned into a separate flat with its entrance door downstairs opening onto Hellendorn Road. Dormer windows were added to the roof to make another level. The stairway leading to the veranda was also removed.

             Riverside Cafe. Dormer windows have been added to the roof and the outer stairs have been removed.

 

At some point the building was taken over by the Lacy family who turned it into the Riverside Café. The downstairs was the cafe, the upper floor was turned into a separate flat with its entrance door downstairs opening onto Hellendorn Road. Dormer windows were added to the roof to make another level. The stairway leading to the veranda was also removed.

Later still Fred McCave used a room in the cafe and ran his business from there. When the Lacy family retired Fred took on the building and it became his base for his bulletin magazines, printing business and his museum of Canvey artifacts. The building was pulled down in the late 1980’s/early 1990's.

 

 Groundfloor and 1st Floor taken from the plan

 

The Seabrooke Family

 

Generation One

 

1.  Thomas SEABROOKE, b. 1769, d. 1855, occupation 1851 Retired Brewer, occupation 1800 Started Seabrooke Brewery.  He married Jane WARD.

                             Children:

            2.      i.     James SEABROOKE b. 15 Jan 1809.

 

 

Generation Two

 

2.  James SEABROOKE, b. 15 Jan 1809 in Grays, Essex, d. 21 Mar 1888 in Brooksea House, Grays, Essex, resided 1851-1871 in the Brewery, Grays, Essex, occupation Brewer, occupation 1851 Brewer, occupation 1861 Brewer and Coal Merchant, occupation 1871 Brewer.  He married (1) Sarah FLETCHER, Mar qtr 1840 in Gravesend District, Kent (daughter of ? FLETCHER).  He married (2) Mary FLETCHER, 1850s, b. 1819 in Miltson, Kent (daughter of ? FLETCHER).

                             Children:

            3.      i.     Charles SEABROOKE b. Mar qtr 1842.

                      ii.    Jane A SEABROOKE.

                      iii.   Alice SEABROOKE.

                      iv.   James Herbert SEABROOKE.

                      v.    Thomas William SEABROOKE.

                      vi.   Jonathon SEABROOKE.

                      vii.  Mary Elizabeth SEABROOKE.

 

 

Generation Three

 

3.  Charles SEABROOKE, b. Mar qtr 1842 in Grays, Essex, d. Dec qtr 1913 in Orsett District, Essex, resided 1871 in Prospect House, Prospect Road, Grays, Essex, resided 1881 in The Echos, Grays, Essex, occupation Brewer, resided 1863 in St Marylebone, Middlesex.  He married (1) Eleanor LAW, 20 Feb 1868 in The Parish Church of St Marylebone, Middlesex, b. 1846 in Woodbridge, Surrey, d. Mar qtr 1875 in Orsett District, Essex.  He married (2) Anne KEENE, Sept qtr 1877 in Hungerford District, Berkshire, b. 1851 in Hungerford, Berkshire.

                             Children:

                      i.     Charles Herbert SEABROOKE, b. March qtr 1869 in Thurrock, Grays, Essex, d. 17 Nov 1940 in Henley District, Oxfordshire, resided 1871 in Prospect House, Prospect Road, Grays, Essex, resided 1881-1901 in The Echos, Grays, Essex, resided 1907 in The Echos, Grays, Essex, resided 1910-1911 in Cottage of St Hughs, Canvey Island, Essex, resided 1914 in The Echos, Grays, Essex, resided 1917 in 3 Waldgrave Gardens, Upminster, Essex, resided 1922 in Little Tomkyns, Bird Lane, Upminster, Essex, occupation 1911 Director of Seabrooke Brewery, Thurrock, occupation 1922 County Councillor for Grays.  He married Laura Nacy MACK, 6 Oct 1915 in Bacton, Norfolk.

                      ii.    William Roger SEABROOKE, b. 1871 in Grays, Essex.

                      iii.   Eleanor Maud SEABROOKE, b. 1873 in Grays, Essex.

                      iv.   Herbert Cecil SEABROOKE, b. 1874 in Grays, Essex, resided 1901 in Reading, occupation 1901 Chemical Analyist.  He married Edith Isobel NEILY, 25 Jun 1901 in St Lukes, Holloway, Middlesex.

                      v.    Edward SEABROOKE, b. 1875, d. 1875.

 

 

St Hughs from the seawall. As can be seen there
was little development along the Promonade at
the time the bungalow was built.

                         Early picture of the two story bungalow with its galvanised iron weatherboarding walls

 

Charles lived there until at least 1911 where he can be found with a visitor, Bernard Halls, a housekeeper, Eliza Hitchcock and the housekeeper’s husband, Frederick.

His father died in 1913 which is when he probably moved back to Grays as he can be found in Grays in the 1914 Kellys Directory. By 1914 Charles, like many others, had joined the 3rd (City of London) Volunteer Rifle Corps. A notice in the London Gazette dated 13 October 1914, Captain Charles Herbert Seabrooke of the Army Service Corps, was to be made Major. He married in 1915 to Laura moving to Upminster. As well as being a Director of Seabrooke Brewery and a Major during WWI he went on to be an Essex County Councillor for Grays. Charles died in 1940 in Whitechurch, Oxfordshire.