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Cuckfield Connections
A personal journey of discovery





Aug 17, 20222 min read
1870: Shocking death of a harvester
A sad and fatal accident occurred on Monday evening last to a man named Hayes. from Maidstone, at Ansty, a little village situated about...
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Jul 2, 20222 min read
1866: Brighton runaway caught in Cuckfield
Sussex Advertiser - Wednesday 25 July 1866 CUCKFIELD. A Little Bit of Romance. On Friday evening, about nine o'clock, a fly arrived at...
194 views


May 29, 20221 min read
Humour to the last
This splendid epitaph is attributed to Cuckfield: Long was my pain, great was my grief, Surgeons I'd many, but no relief. I trust in...
150 views


May 25, 20223 min read
1847: Hocus pocus evades the law
We (Keen's Bath Journal) lately published a short account of a person who has been pretending to work miraculous cures in the...
116 views


May 23, 20223 min read
1938: Prime Minister's wife opens ward
Shares Husband’s Secrets Thousands of letters of appreciations were received at 10 Downing-street (says a News Chronicle's special ...
43 views


Mar 20, 20222 min read
1943: Baby delivery diverted to Chownes Mead
I was browsing through the web pages of Barry Ray’s excellent Slaugham Archive website and I came across the page on Chownes Mead which...
341 views


Mar 14, 20227 min read
Canadian view of the hospital takeover
Here is the inside account of Cuckfield Hospital after it was taken over by the Canadian army in 1942. Gordon Muggeridge memories were...
194 views


Feb 4, 20221 min read
1948: Operation midwife - thanks to the 'flicks'
Blonde 25-years-old, Mrs Marion Cook, said: ‘The baby’s coming' as a neighbour, at midnight, started to drive her and her husband 16...
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Feb 2, 20221 min read
1938: Friend of the tramps
The 'king of letter-writers' and friend of tramps. Rev. JP Bacon-Phillips, formerly rector of Crowhurst. Sussex, died at Burgess Hill...
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Jan 29, 20221 min read
1937: Pitiable plight of children says Cuckfield doctor
Families in rural Sussex with only 2s a week each for food are mentioned by Dr WB.Stott. Medical Officer of Health to the Cuckfield Rural...
83 views


Jan 22, 20223 min read
1929: Tragic suicide as colonel was 'distressed with the idea of becoming an invalid'
West Sussex Gazette - Thursday 24 January 1929 SUICIDE OF COLONEL A.T. MIDDLETON AT CUCKFIELD THE INQUEST EVIDENCE. News of the death on...
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Jan 14, 20221 min read
1840: Whiteman's Green - fatal fall caused by raised path and darkness
Sussex Advertiser - Monday 30 November 1840 CUCKFIELD. An inquest was taken here on Saturday last, Nov. 28, before F. H. Gell, Esq.,...
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Jan 7, 20221 min read
1907: Significant blow for the handkerchief industry
Dr Hugh Scott, Medical officer of health for the combined districts of East Sussex speaking at a public meeting at Cuckfield, said that...
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Dec 30, 20212 min read
1864: Smallpox death - workhouse accused
Alleged suspicious death of a boy A correspondent wishes to contradict a rumour which has been circulated respecting the poor boy John...
150 views

Dec 9, 20212 min read
1907: 83 weds 32 - Pastor and Nurse
Evening Express 2nd January 1907 Old fashioned Cuckfield was agog with excitement yesterday, when the Reverend Robert Martin, the Baptist...
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Nov 27, 20211 min read
1882: Midnight Cuckfield funeral for infected deceased
Mid Sussex Times - Tuesday 21 March 1882 Midnight Funeral. —Poor little Clara Ede having succumbed to an infectious disease, was, in...
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Nov 23, 20211 min read
1909: Brewery employee injured in Ockenden Lane
Mid Sussex Times - Tuesday 30 November 1909 ACCIDENT AT CUCKFIELD. A LEWES MAN INJURED Yesterday (Monday) morning a somewhat serious...
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Nov 19, 20212 min read
1883: Anstye woman's suicide attempt
THE MID-SUSSEX TIMES—TUESDAY. NOVEMBER 27, 1883 CUCKFIELD. —On Tuesday morning, Mrs. Ware, wife of a labourer, living near the Green...
156 views

Oct 24, 20212 min read
1864: Painter dies tragically after desperate rooftop escape
Sussex Advertiser - Wednesday 30 March 1864 CUCKFIELD. Sudden-Death. —An awful instance of sudden death, accompanied by a narrow escape...
359 views


Oct 12, 20211 min read
1878: 2 year old girl knocked down by a horse outside Bedlam Cottage.
Sussex Advertiser - Tuesday 17 September 1878 Accident.—A little girl, Jane Wood, aged two years, residing at Bedlam cottage, had a very...
145 views
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