People Of Note

ALFRED CORTIS
Worthing’s first Mayor (1890). He was a generous man who bankrolled the Museum and Art Gallery to the tune of £5,000. He also funded the search and the drilling of a water well in Broadwater to give the town its first clean drinking water following the typhoid outbreak of 1893 when nearly 200 Worthing people died.

A splendid shot he represented England 21 times and won some 611 prizes totalling nearly £3,000. In 1866 he won the “World Open” competition in Brussels and was presented with his prize by the King of Belgium.

There is a superb oil painting of him winning the Queens Medal for shooting at Wimbledon in 1887.

Just before he died in 1912 he donated £10 to the Titanic fund; the largest single donation by an individual.

Alfred Cortis was a fine gentleman and Worthing should remember him fondly.

He died in the Old Town Hall, South Street after delivering an eloquent speech.

ELLEN CHAPMAN
Mrs Chapman became the first women Mayor of Worthing in 1920 having been rejected in 1914 after the Council decided “it would be inadvisable, while the country was at war, for a women to hold such high office.” She was such a fine and talented Mayor that the Council took the unprecedented step of appointing her for a second year.
She earned the distinction of being the first women in Sussex to serve on a Town Council, the town’s first women magistrate, the town’s first women Alderman and the first women President of Worthing Boy Scouts Association.
She lived in what is now Ardsheal Road in a house (The Shrubbery) located where the fire station now stands. She used her pretty gardens for fund raising, even hosting a tennis tournament for worthy causes.
When she died in 1925 of a heart attack the following tribute was made;
“She was detached from everything petty, small or unworthy and, having formed her opinions at an early age on what she believed was best for her country and its constitution, she had the courage of those opinions, and fought for them through thick and thin. There is scarcely a spot in Worthing that will not seem poorer for her passing.

HOSIER BROTHERS
Earnest Hosier was killed in action during the Battle of Jutland when a German shell penetrated a gun turret of HMS Invincible causing it to explode with catastrophic loss of life on 31 May 1916.

His brother Harry was to be killed less than a year later on 21 April 1917 while serving on HMS Broke. During the battle some German sailors attempted to board “Broke” but were killed to a man by seamen and stokers in fierce hand to hand fighting. Unusually his body was returned and his funeral was described as being one of the largest ever witnessed with hundreds lining the route from Chapel Road to the cemetery. He was buried with full military honours with three volleys fired over his grave and the Last Post sounded on a bugle.

Harry and his wife lived at 2 Bartlett’s Cottages, Broadwater and had 5 children. His grave is tended by 2nd Durrington Sea Scouts twice a year.

MARY HUGHES
Mary is the heroine of the classic nursery rhyme “Mary had a little lamb”. She died in 1931 aged 91 at her daughter Esmeralda’s home, 11 Ethelred Road.

The rhyme was penned around 1848 at Mary’s home farm in Llangollen, Wales after the author witnessed a lamb following Mary everywhere she went. The identity of the author is uncertain but it is attributed to either Sarah Hale or a Miss Buel.

Notice the lamb that is cut in relief on her gravestone. Her obituary stated; “So Mary is dead, and yet she will never die, her memory will go on forever, immortal.”

Her grave is cared for by an officer working for Worthing Borough Council; what a pity that no infant school will take the task on!

THE RALLI TOMB
The Rallis’ were a wealthy family of Greek origin, which could trace its roots back to the Island of Chios. Emily died on 5th May 1902 in her 58th year and Alexander Antonio on 17th September 1916 aged 77.

During the second world war , when a German invasion seemed imminent after Dunkirk, the Borough Council hid the Town’s records in the substantial tomb to prevent them falling into enemy hands in the event of the invasion occurring.

RICHARD JEFFRIES
Jeffries was born at Coate, near Swindon in 1848 but suffered ill health and moved to Sussex for the fresh air. He died in Goring in 1887 aged just 38.

Today, the house where he died, called Sea view at the time, is in Jeffries Lane, and has a plaque on the façade recording the connection.

Note the inscription on his grave; “To the honoured memory of the prose poet of England’s fields and woodlands”

A naturalist, he wrote a plethora of books about the England’s countryside and he is forever linked with William Henry Hudson who is also buried in this cemetery.

ZADNE MASS GRAVE
Wednesday 14th November 1894 witnessed a terrible storm that resulted in the total loss of 490 ton steamer named The Zadne.
It is uncertain what happened to the ship but 11 bodies were washed up on Worthing’s beach.

A lifeboat was witnessed by Worthing residents, with a single person board, trying to reach the shore. A mighty wave flipped the boat and the solitary man was lost to the sea.

One body was repatriated to South Wales but the remainder were buried here and the memorial was paid fore from public subscription. The fine anchor that adorned it has been vandalised recently.

The funeral was attended by several thousand people who lined the route of the procession, led by the Salvation Army Band.

It was described as “an impressive and pathetic sight”.