The History of 23 Lewes Crescent

Mashiter Helme, Gentleman, had been a prosperous clothier and textile mill owner in Stroud, in Gloucestershire, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars. In 1846 and 1847 street directories record him living at 10 Arundel Terrace; by the time of the 1851 census he had moved around the corner to 23 Lewes Crescent with his wife, two young daughters and four servants. The family continued to live at the house until 1881; by the time of the last available census return he was clearly a person of means employing a cook, butler, coachman, two ladies maids and a kitchen maid.

Frederick Woodin and his wife Emily were both just 27 years old when they were recorded as the house owners in 1881.

Frederick’s father Joseph had been a Soho-based art dealer with some links to the Rothschilds; the family had Brighton connections as Joseph owned properties in the town which had entitled him to vote in 1837. He died in 1870 leaving around £6m in modern currency, which no doubt funded his son’s move to Kemp Town at such an early age.