| William
Thacker and the 'Devil's Dyke' Tavern
William Thacker was born at Windsor,
Berkshire, in 1810 or 1811. By the time he was in his early twenties,
William Thacker was residing in Sussex. A trade directory published
in 1834 records William Thacker as a 'carpenter' at New Road,
Shoreham. In 1835, in the town of Shoreham, William Thacker married Mary
Puttick (born 1806, New Shoreham, Sussex), the daughter of Susannah and
John Puttick, a carpenter of New Shoreham.
In 1835, the year of his marriage, William Thacker,
tenant of a nearby farm,
became the
proprietor of The Dyke House tavern at Devil's Dyke, near
Poynings, Sussex. 'The Dyke House' had been built on the summit of the
South Downs, overlooking the tourist attraction 'Devil's Dyke', by
the Brighton builder George Cheesman (1791-1866) in 1831. When
George Cheesman got into financial difficulties, 'Dyke House' was
passed into the hands of William Thacker.
William Thacker was in charge of the
tavern at 'Devil's Dyke' for the next 50 years (1835-1885). Over a
period of half a century, Thatcher's business premises at 'Devil's Dyke'
provided visitors with alcoholic beverages, luncheons, dinners and teas.
Over this 50 year period, the building at 'Devil's Dyke' went under a
variety of names - The Dyke House (from 1835 until 1852), the
Devil's Dyke Tavern (1853-1870) and the Dyke Hotel (1871-1885).
It appears that the original building was rebuilt and re-modelled as a hotel
in 1871.
During his 43 year marriage to Mary
Puttick (1806-1878), William Thacker fathered at least eight
children, six of whom reached adulthood: William Dyke Thacker
(1835-1874); John Thacker (1838-1882); Mary Elizabeth Carr
Thacker [later Mrs William Buck] (1839-1888); Alice Henrietta
Thacker [later Mrs Elisha Hatton] (1843-1883); Emily Thacker
[later Mrs William Renner and Mrs Robert Pitt (1846-1897);
Ambrose Horton Thacker (1848-1896).
It appears that William Thacker ended
his association with The Dyke Hotel around 1885. On 21st May,
1885, William Thacker, described as a "wine merchant" of Devil's
Dyke, was summoned to the Courthouse in Brighton for a bankruptcy
examination hearing. When the census was taken in 1891, 80 year old
William Thacker was described on the census return as a "Retired
Hotel Keeper". At the time of the 1891 Census, William Thacker
was living at 2 Hanover Terrace, Brighton, with Lillian Thacker
(born c. 1856, Angmering, Sussex) who is described on the census return as
William's 35 year old wife.
William Thacker died in Brighton
in 1894 at the age of 83.
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Charles Gillett
- 'Photographer by Appointment'
at 'Devil's Dyke'
Charles Gillett was
probably born at Blue Town, near Sheerness, Kent around
1838. At the time of the 1851 Census, 12 year old Charles Gillett
was living on his own in Chelsea and working as an "errand boy".
In 1855, at
Cirencester in Gloucestershire, Charles Gillett married
Charlotte Weeks or Wicks (born c1839, Cirencester), a 16 year
old servant girl. By 1857, the couple were in Bath, Somerset,
where Charlotte Gillett gave birth to her first child Martha
[birth registered in Bath during the 2nd Quarter of 1857]. A
second child, Mathew Gillett, was born in Reading,
Berkshire, in 1859 and another son, Henry Gillett was born in
Portsmouth, Hampshire, in 1861. When the 1861 census was
taken, Charles and Charlotte Gillett and their three children were
living in Broad Street, Portsmouth. On the census return,
Charles Gillett is described as a twenty-three year old "Photographer".
It appears that Charles Gillett was working as a travelling
photographer. A son, named Charles after his father, was born
around 1863 when the family were travelling through London. A
fifth child, Joseph James Gillett, was born in Southampton,
Hampshire, in 1865.
By 1868, Charles
Gillett was working as a photographer in the Brighton area. Charles
and Charlotte's second daughter, Ann Gillett, was born in
Brighton in 1867 or 1868. It was around this time that Charles
Gillett was offering his services as a portrait photographer to
visitors at William Thacker's 'Devil's Dyke Tavern'
situated near the village of Poynings. Two carte-de-visite
photographs taken by Charles Gillett at 'Devil's Dyke' in
1868 or 1869 are shown on this webpage. The first photograph shows seven
sightseers (4 women and 3 men) posing in front of the 'Devil's
Dyke Tavern'. The second photograph features a young girl seated
on a wall. Both photographs carry an advertisement for William Thacker's
tavern at 'Devil's Dyke' and the printed credit "CHARLES
GILLETT, PHOTOGRAPHER, BY APPOINTMENT".
By 1871, Charles
Gillett and his family had moved on. Charles Gillett's wife and
surviving children had returned to Reading, Berkshire,
where the couple's first son had been born in 1859. For some reason,
Charlotte and her four children were recorded in the 1871 census under
the surname of 'Smith". Perhaps, Charles Gillett was avoiding his
creditors by assuming a different surname. The boys Mathew Gillett
and Henry Gillett had presumably died in infancy during their
father's travels. Residing with Charlotte (Charles Gillett's
wife) at 8 Starling Court, Reading, Berkshire, were Martha
(aged 15), Charles junior (aged 8), Joseph (aged 6) and
Ann (aged 3). Charles Gillett, the children's father was not
at home and was presumably on his travels as an itinerant photographer.
The 1881 Census finds
Charles Gillett and his family in Croydon, Surrey. On
the census return, Charles Gillett gives his occupation as "Photographer".
Twenty-three year old Martha Gillett, Charles Gillett's eldest
daughter, is described as an "Artist", but his two sons, 17 year old
Charles Gillett junior and 15 year old Joseph Gillett are
both recorded as being employed as photographers, probably as assistants
to their father.
By 1891, Charles
Gillett, his wife Charlotte and their youngest son,
twenty-six year old Joseph Gillett were residing in Kingston,
Surrey. On the census return, Charles Gillett is described
as an "Artist (employed)" and his son, Joseph Gillett,
gives his occupation as "Photographer (employed)".
When the 1901 census was
taken, Charles Gillett was once again living in Croydon,
Surrey and working as a photographer. On the census return,
Charles Gillett is recorded as a "Photographer (own account)"
which indicates that he was now a self-employed photographer.
Charles Gillett
died in Croydon, Surrey, in 1915. When his death was
registered his age at death was given as 75, which would suggest a birth
year of 1840, but in earlier documents he indicated that he had been
born in Sheerness, Kent, either in 1837 or 1838. |
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| [ABOVE] The
Dyke House at Devil's Dyke, as depicted by the
Brighton-based artist Frederick Earp (1827-1897) and published
as a coloured lithographic print in 1846. The Dyke House
was built as a small hotel in 1831 by George Cheesman
(1791-1866), a well-known builder from Brighton.
In 1835, Dyke House was occupied by William Thacker
(c1811-1894) who eventually transformed the small hotel into the
Devil's Dyke Tavern, an establishment which served "First-class
drinks of all kinds" and "wines & liqueurs in great variety".
The name "THACKER" can be seen inscribed above the porch
entrance in this 1846 picture of The Dyke House (later known as
the Devil's Dyke Tavern). |
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| [ABOVE]
An advertisement
for William Thacker's Devil's Dyke Tavern, a printed
notice which appeared on the reverse of photographs of the tavern's
customers taken by Charles Gillett around 1869. William Thacker
proclaimed in this advertisement, that he had been the proprietor of
the Devil's Dyke Tavern (formerly 'The Dyke House')
since 1835. Fifty years later, William Thacker was still the
hotel landlord at Devil's Dyke. The Devil's Dyke Tavern
had been re-modelled as The Dyke Hotel in 1871. |
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| [ABOVE]
A group of
sightseers photographed outside the Devil's Dyke Tavern by
Charles Gillett around the year 1869. A few years later, in
1871, the Devil's Dyke Tavern was rebuilt and became
known as The
Dyke Hotel. |
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