From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Timeline of the history of Worthing, West Sussex, England
The following is a
timeline of the
history of the borough of
Worthing ,
West Sussex , England.
13th century
1218 - By 1218 the manor of Ordinges had become known as Wurddingg.
[1]
c.1245 -
St Richard of Chichester , Sussex's patron saint, lives in
Tarring at the house of Simon, parish priest of Tarring
[2]
[3]
1291 - Worthing's medieval chapel is mentioned for the first time
[4]
14th century
1300 - Worthing harbour first recorded
[5]
1324 - Worthing harbour is recorded as being a member of
Shoreham Port
[5]
15th century
1410 - Worthing's medieval chapel is recorded as being used for mass
[4]
16th century
17th century
18th century
19th century
1801 - Population: 2,151
1802
1803
Worthing is given town status and
Timothy Shelley chairs the first meeting of the Worthing Town Commissioners at the Nelson Inn on South Street
[13]
Worthing's population approximately 2,500
1805 -
Jane Austen visits Worthing
1807
1810 - Charles and William Phillips publish
Percy Bysshe Shelley 's first published volume of poetry,
Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire
1811 - Charles and William Phillips publish
Percy Bysshe Shelley 's
The Necessity of Atheism
1812 -
St Paul's chapel of ease opens
1814
1815 - Two infants' schools open
1817 - Jane Austen begins work on
Sanditon , the unfinished novel based significantly on her time in Worthing
1820 -
Beach House is built
1823
The
Teville Gate tollgate is removed following protests
[11]
A large
oyster bed is discovered 3–4 miles south-south-west of Worthing and is fished by Worthing and Brighton fishermen
[10]
1829 -
Princess Augusta visits Worthing
1830 - Protesters in Broadwater demand a tithe reduction and a crowd of 200 people gather in Worthing town centre in
Swing protests
[14]
1832 - Excise officers open fire on Worthing's last smuggling gang, shooting William Cowerson dead
1833 -
Park Crescent is completed to designs by
Amon Henry Wilds
1834 -
Christ Church is opened
1835 - Worthing's first Town Hall opens
1838 - The Worthing Institution or Mechanics Institution is founded on Marine Parade to provide cheap information about literature, science and art
[12]
1845 - Railway is extended from
Shoreham to
Worthing
1849 - First recorded Worthing
Regatta
1850 - 11 local fishermen drown as they set out to save the crew of the
Lalla Rookh
1855 -
Worthing Cricket Club is formed
1856 - Worthing Intelligencer newspaper first published
[12]
1861
Queen Marie Amelie of France stays in Worthing when in exile from France
The Sussex Coast Mercury (later the Worthing Mercury ) newspaper is first published
[12]
1862
1863 - Worthing Express newspaper, a local version of the Sussex Express is first published
[12]
1864 -
St Mary of the Angels, Worthing opens as Worthing's first post-reformation Catholic church
1867 -
Augustus Lane-Fox excavates part of
Cissbury Ring
1881 -
Worthing Hospital is opened as Worthing Infirmary
1884 -
Skeleton Army riots
1886
1890
Worthing receives a
royal charter and becomes a
borough
Alfred Cortis is elected as Worthing's first mayor
The Worthing School of Art and Science is founded
1892 - A permanent
soup kitchen and distribution centre for coal, soup and bread is established in Grafton Road
[15]
[16]
1893 - An outbreak of
typhoid fever causes 200 fatalities
1894 -
Oscar Wilde stays at Worthing and writes
The Importance of Being Earnest
[17]
1896 - The first moving picture show in Worthing is shown at
Worthing Pier
1898 -
William Kennedy Dickson makes a film of a water polo game involving Worthing Swimming Club, one of the earliest films of a sports team
[18]
[19]
1899 - Worthing is described as "a town of
hot houses "
[10] with so many hot houses established for
market gardening
20th century
1902 - The borough of Worthing is extended to include parts of Broadwater and West Tarring
1908
1909 -
Sir Frederick Stern purchases a site on
Highdown Hill that becomes
Highdown Gardens
1910 -
Ellen Chapman is elected to Worthing Council, one of the first female councillors in the UK
1911 -
Carl Adolf Seebold opens the
Dome Cinema as the Kursaal
1914 - The
Connaught Theatre opens, initially as the Picturedrome cinema
1920 - Worthing Herald newspaper first published
[12]
1924 - The first
Worthing Tramocars service runs along the town's seafront
1926 - The
Worthing Symphony Orchestra is founded
1929
1930 - Charles Bentinck Budd is elected to the town council
1931 - Population: 45,905
1933
1934 - The
Battle of South Street takes place between Fascists and anti-fascists
1936
1939 - Population: 55,584
1942 - Canadian soldiers based in Worthing take part in the
Dieppe Raid
1944 - The
British Army 's
4th Armoured Brigade set up headquarters in the Eardley Hotel
1945 -
Sir Otho Prior-Palmer becomes Worthing's first Member of Parliament
1948 - Post-war housing planned by
Charles Cowles-Voysey is built using Prisoner of War labour
1951 - Population: 67,305
1960 - Beecham factory (now
GSK plc ) opens in Broadwater
[10]
1961 - Population: 77,155
1964
1966
1969
1970 -
Phun City music festival is held in fields outside of Worthing
1971 - Population: 88,467
1972 - Worthing hosts its first
World Bowls Championship
1974
1976 -
Worthing Borough Council is led by the
Conservative Party for the first time
1981
Population: 90,686
The West Worthing Tennis Club (relocated from West Worthing to Titnore Lane) hosts the
1981 ATP Challenger Series tennis tournament
1987 - Gary Bevans begins work creating a replica of the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome at
English Martyrs' Catholic Church, Goring-by-Sea
1988 -
Alan Martin and
Jamie Hewlett create the character
Tank Girl while at college in Worthing
1990 -
Sterns Nightclub opens
1991 - Population: 98,066
1992 - Turning Tides homeless charity formed (initially as Worthing Churches Homeless Projects)
[20]
1993 -
Worthing Bears win the
British Basketball League
1994
1997 - Two new constituencies are created -
East Worthing and Shoreham (won by
Tim Loughton ) and
Worthing West (won by
Sir Peter Bottomley )
1999
21st century
See also
Other towns in the historic county of Sussex:
References
^ Stenton. The Place-names of Sussex. p.194. - Ordinges, Mordinges 1086, Wurddingg 1218, Wording(e) 1240, Worthing(e) 1244.
^ Farmer, David (2011).
"Richard of Chichester (Richard de Wych)" . The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (5th ed.). Oxford University Press.
ISBN
9780191727764 .
^ Seward, Desmond (1996). In Praise of Sussex . Westmeston, Sussex: Pomegranate Press.
^
a
b
"Worthing: Churches" . British History Online. Retrieved 25 May 2021 .
^
a
b
"Worthing" . Victoria County Histories. Retrieved 4 June 2022 .
^ Harris, Roland B. (December 2009).
"Worthing Historic Character Assessment Report" (PDF) (PDF). Retrieved 25 May 2021 .
^ George McEntegart.
"The Goring Smugglers" . Sunny Worthing. Retrieved 1 July 2016 .
^
a
b Hayes, Martin (11 September 2019).
"William Penn in West Sussex" . West Sussex Record Office. Retrieved 2 June 2022 .
^ Sheppard, Walter Lee Jr. (1970). Passengers and Ships Prior to 1684 . Baltimore, Maryland, US: Genealogical Publishing. p. 25.
^
a
b
c
d
e
"Worthing: Economic history" . Victoria County Histories. Retrieved 4 June 2022 .
^
a
b
"Worthing: Communications" . British History Online. Retrieved 29 January 2020 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g Edmonds, Antony (8 January 2015).
"Thomas Trotter and the Royal Baths" . Shoreham Herald. Retrieved 8 February 2020 .
^
Hare 1991 , p. 1
^ Griffin, Carl James (November 2001).
"As lated tongues bespoke: popular protest in south-east England, 1790—1840" (PDF). University of Bristol. Retrieved 3 June 2022 .
^
"Worthing: Charities for the poor" . Victoria County Histories. Retrieved 4 June 2022 .
^
"Provident House formerly the Worthing Soup Kitchen 1892-1922" . Retrieved 4 June 2022 .
^ Edwards, Owen Dudley (2004).
"Wilde, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills (1854–1900), writer" .
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi :
10.1093/ref:odnb/29400 . Retrieved 13 January 2023 . (Subscription or
UK public library membership required.)
^ Feest, Freddie (2012).
"Early days of the Silver Screen" . Retrieved 10 December 2019 .
^
"Water Polo - Worthing Swimming Club" . British Film Institute. Retrieved 10 December 2019 .
^
"Turning Tides - About Us" . Turning Tides. Retrieved 4 June 2022 .
^
"Worthing Masjid - Our History" . Worthing Masjid. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2022 .
^
"Climate Emergency Declared By Adur & Worthing Councils" .
Adur and Worthing Councils . 10 July 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2020 .
Bibliography
Hare, Chris (1991). Historic Worthing: The Untold Story . Cassell Reference.
ISBN
9780900075919 .
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