ALPHONSE / ALPHONSO JOSEPH DELONNETTE was born circa 1836 in France (source:
1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses and death record).He appears to have been named after his mother, Alphonsine.
He was probably born in Lille, France, like his brother Auguste
(who probably inspired Alphonso's son Augustus's name). The family spread out, with Alphonso
moving to England and brother Auguste moving to Brussels, Belgium.
Alphonso seemed to travel around the country
rather a lot, marrying in Westminster in 1871, working in Lewisham, Kent in 1881/1882
then Hove, Sussex, in 1890/1891, before finally ending up in Hastings, Sussex, some time before 1891,
where he lived out his final years.
He married PHOEBE HORSFOAL in March quarter 1871
(Free BMD – district Westminster, vol 1a page 602).
She was born circa 1820 (source : death record on Free BMD), circa 1826 in Falmouth, Cornwall (source : 1891 census)
or circa 1835 in Falmouth, Cornwall (source : 1881 census). Alphonso was aged about 35 at this time.
On the 1881 census, Alphonse (listed as Alphonse De Lomette) and his wife Phoebe were at 12 Church Grove
in Lewisham, Kent with one
servant, 55-year-old CHARLOTTE TAYLOR. The occupation for both Alphonse and Phoebe is given as
"independent funded property" so they were presumably quite well off.
The 1882 Kelly's directory for Kent lists Alphonse Joseph Delonnette
at Grove Villa, Church Grove, Ladywell, Lewisham, Kent.
As can be seen on this modern map, Church Grove was (and still is) situated just off Ladywell Road,
very close to the railway station.
A picture of Ladywell Road in 1885 is available here www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lewisham/ladywell/ladywell-road-1885.htm
and gives a good idea of the type of house they lived in. According to an extract from the book
"Fagin's Children : Criminal Children in Victorian England" available online at
http://books.google.com/books?id=HdowA2IrEpgC&pg=PA208&lpg=PA208&dq=%22church+grove%22+ladywell&source=web&ots=IJeHldoGLZ&sig=xJegTD_0twj9E3j6jBkYRHn0l1I#PPA208,M1,
there was a
"home for fallen girls" just a few doors along at number 9 Church Grove, but no date is available
to see if this was while Phoebe and Alphonse lived there !!
By 1890, Alphonse and Phoebe had moved out of Lewisham and into Hove. One possible explanation is that
their old house was one of those demolished as the town expanded. The Lewisham website explains :
"The next stage in development came with the opening of Ladywell Station in 1857. Church Grove and
the terraces to either side of it in Ladywell Road were built in the following year,
which also saw the opening of Ladywell Cemetery. Railway Terrace, Prospect Place,
and Mercy Terrace, close to the station, followed c.1870.
The major expansation of Ladywell began in the 1880s, with the beginning
of work on Vicars Hill, which opened up a wide new area for the builders.
The old wooden wasteland cottages were cleared in the 1890s and replaced by
Gillian Street and the shops known as The Parade. " (source :
http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/lewisham/main/ladywell.htm ).
Kelly's 1890 Directory for Sussex lists Alphonse Joseph Delonnette at 28 Norton Road, Hove, which is just along the road from the old town hall.
He is still listed
at this address in Kelly's Directory of Kent, Surrey & Sussex, 1891.
On the 1891 census, Alphonse (listed as Alphonse Delanette) and his wife Phebe were in Hove (St Andrews),
Sussex with one
servant, 23-year-old general domestic servant EMILY BROWN.
Phoebe died, aged 77, on 17th August 1897 in Brighton (source : The Times) and her death was registered
in Steyning registration district in September quarter 1897(source : Free BMD, district Steyning,
volume 2b, page 176). Her death was announced in The Times newspaper on Saturday August 21st 1897 :
DELONNETTE - On the 17th last, at Brighton, Mrs Phoebe DELONNETTE, aged 77 (source : The Times, pg. 1;
Issue 35288; col A). She left a will, with Lock, Reed and Lock, Dorset, solicitors, which was granted on
17th September 1897 and which described her as Phoebe DELONNETTE of Sidcup, Kent, wife of Alphonse Joseph Delonnette,
gentleman (source : A2A website ref D/LRL/1/111 ). A few years later, former "gentleman" Alphonso
was working as a butler, so where did all the money go ?!!
Perhaps Phoebe left him nothing after his shenanigans with their maid Emily !!!
Alphonso later married EMILY BROWN , his former maid (before 1901).
She was born circa 1868 in Steyning (source : 1891 census) or in Chichester (source : 1901 census),
so was some thirty years younger than him. Judging by the ages on the 1901 census, by the time of Phoebe's
death in 1897,
Emily had already had three children (by Alphonso?).
There are several EMILY BROWNs born in the Brighton area in 1868, but
I have only found one in Portslade (which was her birthplace, according to family knowledge) :
EMILY JANE BROWN, daughter of GEORGE GRANGER BROWN and MARY ANNE, was baptised on 14th May 1869
in Portslade, Sussex (source : BVRI 2nd edition). This is presumably correct,
because there is a JOSEPH BROWN, grandson, of approximately the right age, listed with George and Mary Brown
on the 1901 census : George Brown (head, 57, cowman on farm (of cattle), born Bosham Sussex),
wife Mary A (55, born Selsey
Sussex), and their children, sons Mark (21, carter on farm (of horse), born Upper Beeding, Sussex),
Albert (19, labourer on farm - ag lab, born Upper Beeding, Sussex), Henry (15, carter on farm (of horse),
born Upper Beeding, Sussex), daughter Edith (13, at school, born Upper Beeding, Sussex), son Charles (11, at school, born
Upper Beeding, Sussex), and grandson Joseph (10, at school, born Upper Beeding, Sussex),
in Pound House, Upper Beeding (rural district of Steyning), West Sussex. There was a tragic accident at this farm in
1914, but I am unsure if Emily's parents still owned and lived at the farm :
"Records of the coroner of the Borough of Brighton,
INQUESTS - ref. COR/3/2 - FILE - FORD - ref. COR/3/2/1914/96 - date: 25 Jul 1914
[from Scope and Content] of 'Pound House', Upper Beeding, Sussex, stable boy;
at the Royal Sussex County Hospital; shock following rupture of the spleen caused by being kicked
by a horse at Upper Beeding on 20 Jul; accidental death" (source : A2A website,
http://www.a2a.org.uk/search/documentxsl.asp?com=1&i=0&nbKey=1&stylesheet=xsl\A2A_com.xsl&keyword=pound%20house%20upper%20beeding&properties=0601).
ALPHONSE JOSEPH DELONNETTE was listed as an English subject, living on his own means, on
the 1891 and on the 1901 census,
where he shows up with wife Emily and children in Hastings, Sussex.
His occupation was given as butler in 1920, by which time he was dead (source : his son Victor's marriage certificate).
Alphonso died in 1908 (death registered in January quarter 1908 – district Hastings volume 2b page 8)
and was buried in Ore cemetery (Winchelsea Road) on February 7th 1908 (Ore burials parish 435/1/5/5).
His age was recorded as 72 and his abode 45 Victoria Avenue, Ore.
Emily had a dog named Teddy (source : family knowledge).
She worked as a cook in the TB hospital in the Red Lake area of Ore, Hastings, Sussex (source : family knowledge).
This is possibly the sanatorium in Frederick Road (formerly known as Cackle Street, because of the chicken
farms around there) which was built in 1903 (source
: http://www.hastingshandbook.co.uk/Archive/HHJan08/FJan08_HastingsMemory.shtml). Or it could be the building
"on the corner at the bottom of Rye Rd (or Red Lake Road, as Rye Rd was once called), just below where B&Q now stands.
It is now a retirement home called Barrington House.
They used to have chalets in the garden where B & Q is now, and where the Flats in the village are ,
they used to have gardens to work in.
The T B home must have closed soon after the war." (source : Doris Flynn).
The Children of ALPHONSE JOSEPH DELONNETTE and EMILY BROWN:
JOSEPH BROWN was Emily's illegitimate son,
older than Augustus and presumably the eldest child. He is presumably the Joseph Brown born circa
1891 in Upper Beeding, Sussex (source : 1901 census). On the 1901 census, aged 10, he was listed as a grandson
at Pound House, Upper Beeding, with his maternal grandparents and their children,
the youngest of whom was only a year older than him
(source : 1901 census).
JOSEPHINE DELONNETTE (or PHENIE) was born circa 1894 in Brighton
(source 1901 census). On 1901 census, age 7, she is living with her parents at 13 Queens Road, Hastings.
She married JAMES ELMS and they had
two sons JAMES ELMS and
TONY ELMS.. There is a marriage recorded for JOSEPHINE DELONNETTE and JAMES ELME
in December quarter 1918 in Hastings (source : Free BMD, district Hastings volume 2b page 92 ) and the transcriber
mysteriously noted
"The entry has Scott or Bowes-Lyon in the spouse column".
GEORGINA DELONNETTE was born circa 1897 in Brighton. (1901 census).
On 1901 census, age 4, living with parents at 13 Queens Road, Hastings.
AUGUSTUS DELONNETTE was born in September quarter 1898 in Hastings
(Free BMD – district Hastings volume 2b page *). On 1901 census, age 2, he is living with his parents at 13 Queens Road, Hastings.
He is listed in the 1948 Hastings directory at 122 St George’s Road.
WILHELMINA DELONNETTE (or MINNIE) was born in March quarter 1901 in Hastings.
(Free BMD – district Hastings volume 2b page 14).
On 1901 census, age 2 months, she is living with her parents at 13 Queens Road, Hastings.
She married CHARLES MANSER and they had two sons DEREK MANSER and TONY MANSER.
DOREENA DELONNETTE born after 1901 in Hastings. She married JACK KNOWLES and they had two sons,
JACK KNOWLES and SANDY KNOWLES , and a daughter BETTY KNOWLES .
Census returns for ALPHONSE JOSEPH DELONNETTE and PHOEBE HORSFOAL:
1881 census :
address : 12 Church Gr, Lewisham, Kent
Alphonse DE LOMETTE Head M Male 46 France Independant Funded Property
Phoebe DE LOMETTE Wife M Female 46 Falmouth, Cornwall, England Independant Funded Property
Charlotte TAYLOR Serv U Female 55 Northampton, England General Servant
Alphonse DELANETTE / Head / Mar / 55 / Living On Own means / b.FRA naturalised BS (= British subject)
Phebe DELANETTE/ wife / mar / 65 / / b.Falmouth, Cornwall
Emily BROWN / serv / s / 23 / general servant Dom. / b. Sterming , sussex (presumably Steyning?)
Census returns for ALPHONSE JOSEPH DELONNETTE and EMILY BROWN: 1901 census:
address : 13 Queens Road, Hastings (later known as Victoria Avenue)
Alphonso DELONNETTE age 65 born France
Emily DELONNETTE wife age 33 born Chichester
Alphonso DELONNETTE son age 9 born Brighton
Josephine DELONNETTE dau age 7 born Brighton
Geogina DELONNETTE dau age 4 born Brighton
Augustus DELONNETTE son age 2 born Hastings
Wichelmina DELONNETTE dau age 2 months born Hastings
