User talk:Molly Mockford

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[edit] Lewes

The county town of Sussex is not quite so straightfoward. Assizes were held in both Chichester and Lewes, and the county town swapped between them several times. I don't have the details on this though. Jooler 10:37, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

I have no documentary evidence to hand, but based my amendment on:
  • I have lived in Lewes since 1978, been married to a Town and District Councillor (same person!) and served as Mayoress for a year, during which time I have frequently heard Lewes referred to as the County Town of Sussex and never heard anyone take issue with the assertion;
  • The entry for the Traditional County of Sussex already shows the County Town as Lewes.
--Molly Mockford 11:01, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
I collect old Pears Cyclopaedias. I'm just pulling a few editions of the shelf as we speak. The 1898 edition shows the county town of Sussex as Chichester, as does the 1927 edition. .... okay the county town is shown as Chichester up until 1935/1936; the next edition I have is 1939 and the county town is shown as Lewes. I don't have any further details. Jooler 14:06, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
BTW the article on County_towns says "Chichester (also Lewes)" for the traditional county of Sussex. Jooler 14:38, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
Certainly looks as though we have an imbalance between County_Towns, Sussex and Lewes (Chichester doesn't mention the subject). I'm new to this - how do we go about rationalising the entries? --Molly Mockford 21:18, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
Well let's establish the facts first. I am quite confused. The 1911 Britannica ([1]) gives Lewes as the county town, but the [Pears Cyclopaedia]] gives Chichester from 1898 (the first publication) through to 1935/6. I find it hard to believe that this book was published with such an error for over 40 editions, but I have no other evidence to suggest that Chichester was the county town at any time, other than a vaguely remembered discussion a few years ago with someone who was talking about the assizes being shared between Lewes and Chichester. I would guess you are probably in a better position to get a definitive answer. User:Rbrwr made the change to the county town page and first created the list on the talk page with this edit (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3ACounty_town&diff=1231995&oldid=1231846). So I'll ask him if he remembers where he obtained the list from, although it was in 2003 when this edit was made. Jooler 22:09, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
I have to confess I don't remember. I'm sure I compiled the list offline from various sources, including County Council websites, a 1980s Whittaker's Alamanac (mainly for the 1974 counties), and the results of a lot of Googling, but I couldn't tell you the origin of any particular item on the list. I did describe it as "provisional"... Sorry. --rbrwr± 23:07, 18 February 2006 (UTC)
OK, I've had a thought. Since Lewes was indeed the County Town, and it seems that Chichester was too, and Googling has led me to discover that Horsham also was for a time: how about amending the wording from "It is the County Town of the Traditional County of Sussex" to "It served its turn as the County Town of the Traditional County of Sussex"? It doesn't solve the problem of what to put on the Sussex page, but I think the entry would not be inaccurate for Lewes.--Molly Mockford 16:53, 20 February 2006 (UTC)


[edit] President

You didn't get elected President of Cliffe then. BTW I didn't get a mug or whatever for doing the ale trail. They shut up shop before I made it back to the portcullis. Jooler 16:29, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

LOL! No, I came a worthy second. The hustings were huge fun, and a friend videoed it and presented me with a DVD of all the speeches, from which it is patently clear that I ought to have won. I am considering a challenge in the courts. :-)
Glad you had a good day - sorry about the mug!

--Molly Mockford 22:58, 28 May 2007 (UTC)