Richmond House – previously York House – was originally two houses and the two front doors can be seen in this photo. It has been converted to apartments and now has a single front door.
Men of Royal Sussex Regiment, mounted, with wagon, passing through Westgate in 1900, taken from outside no. 11 looking towards no. 18 showing the double front door. (WSCC Photographs/PH/15813 – Purchase collection)
The pair of houses were new built in 1851. In 1920, the left one was recorded as 46, the right one 46A. In 1861 Mary Molesworth a retired draper was living in one. In the 1871 census, the left hand one was lived in by a piano tuner Henry Chandler (23), his wife and one servant. By 1881 Henry Drew (39) a brewer’s clerk and his wife had moved in and were still there forty year later in 1921. The other half then no. 46A, was first occupied by William White, a Tanner.
Mr Sharp Garland 1898
(from A Chain of Mayors by Anne Scicluna)
On 5th August 1875 it was bought by Mr Sharp Garland. The two houses were known as York House. Sharp Garland had been born in Petworth in 1833. In 1871 the family were at 1 Eastgate, his well-known grocer’s shop, but by 1881 when he was 49, they had moved to York House, 18 (then 46) Westgate. His wife Charlotte, aged 46, had been born in Box in Wiltshire. In the house were twin daughters Kate B. and Emily aged 19 as well as Sharp Archibald Garland aged 13. He later took over the family business and was the mayor, during the 1914 -18 war, when he was knighted. Archibald married and moved out of Westgate in 1900.
In the 1900 Kelly’s Directory, Sharp is described as a grocer and wine merchant. By 1901 he was a widower still living at 18 Westgate. He was Mayor in 1878 and 1898. He died on 9th August 1906.
On 12th April 1920, both houses, with a frontage of 32 feet, were bought from Sir Sharp Archibald Garland by the West Sussex County Council and converted into Offices for the Education Department.
In 1928, The council having bought “Fernleigh” in North Street, the Westgate property was sold. It failed to reach the reserve at auction, probably due to its poor condition and the expense require to convert it back to residential use and was eventually bought for £1000 by Mr Edward Wellman of Cawley Road. It is now 6 apartments and has a single front door.
Richard Brownfield 2025