History of 19 Westgate

The first half of this article is written by Richard Brownfield, with certain sections copied from ‘The Building of Georgian Chichester’, by local historian Alan Green and with his kind permission. 

This Farmhouse was “damaged in the siege of Chichester 1642.

Abutting no. 17 to the west is No. 19, whose impossible disposition of windows declares this to be not a brick rebuild but a re-facing of a timber-framed house. At its west end the timber framing, which is filled with herringbone brickwork, is exposed, but its east end now abuts No. 17. When No. 17 was rebuilt, it used the existing end of No. 19 as the party wall. The herringbone and timber wall, which matches the other end, has now been exposed in the ground-floor front room of No 17.” 

Residents

In the 1841 census a Mary Roberts was living there. In ’51 and ’61 there was a Hopestill Roberts, a “Landed Proprietor”, but by ‘71 she was recorded as a gentlewoman. In 1773 a share of no 11 Westgate had been bequeathed to a Hopestill Roberts. Was this the same woman? In which case she lived to be at least 98. 

By 1881 a retired surgeon Richard Rugg had moved in with his wife, 3 children and 2 servants. He must have died, as his widow was there with two servants in 1891. She was still in residence, aged 83, in 1901 with a stepdaughter and now 3 servants.

By 1911 the house was owned by John Ogburn Holt (see entry no 7+9), and leased to Graham George and his sister who had come back from India.

In 1921, Sir Arthur Henry Limpus, a retired admiral, was renting the house, with his wife and one servant. He was still living there in 1932, despite the ownership having changed following the death of John Ogburn Holt in 1922. 

Schedule of Deeds for no.19 held by solicitors. 

G.H.G.(Hubert) Doggart

This history written by Penny Tomlinson

Famous cricketer Hubert Doggart spent his childhood in Selsey and was educated at Winchester College. His father Graham was an amateur footballing international who in 1923 captained the full England side. The country was still at war when Hubert finished his schooling in 1943. Awarded the Sword of Honour at Mons Officer Training School, he was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards and further study was put on hold. He remained in the army until 1947 when he finally went up to Cambridge to read history and also Latin in his third year. 

In his maiden first class cricket match for Cambridge, he scored 215 not out, still the highest score made by an Englishman on his first-class debut and mentioned in Wisden. In his last year at Cambridge in 1949-50, Hubert captained the university at cricket, soccer, squash and racquets. In addition, he gained another half-Blue for rugby fives. His contemporaries at the time included David Shepard and John Dewey, with whom in 1949, Hubert shared an unbroken partnership of 429 against Essex, then the highest scoring second wicket stand in English domestic cricket. In June that year he again attracted attention with a brilliant 166 against the MCC at Lords. 

He was selected in May 1950 to lead ‘The Rest’ against England in the Test Trial at Bradford. He played for England in the first two Tests against the West Indies. He contributed seventy-one to Cambridge’s 594 for 4 declared against a West Indies side that were to go on to win their first Test series in England in 1950. In 1958 and 1959 he went on tours with the MCC to East Africa and then to Argentina and Brazil as Captain. 

Hubert first captained Sussex in 1954, after being selected in 1948, and continued to play for the County until 1961. During this time, he played 210 first-class matches, 155 for Sussex and in 347 innings scored 10,054 first class runs, including 20 centuries, at an average of 31.51. In addition, he claimed 60 wickets at 34.28 apiece and took 197 catches. A Doggart innings was rarely restful and seldom silent! 

In 1954 he joined the teaching staff at Winchester where he was a housemaster and Classics teacher for 8 years. He changed Winchester as a sporting school, notably with his cricket side of 1959 which contained no fewer than 7 subsequent county players. 

In 1962 he became headmaster at Kings School, Bruton, where his dynamism completely transformed the school. His unquenchable energy spilled out onto every activity – academic, theatrical, musical, and military no less than sporting.

He passed his love of life on to generations of young people – be they sporty, academic, or seemingly not very good at anything – and to friends of all ages, grounded in his Christian faith. He really cared, and no more so was this evident than in 1976, when he travelled as manager of a very distinguished (as it turned out) England Under 19 side to the West Indies, which included, amongst others: Christopher Cowdray as captain, David Gower, Mike Gatting, Bill Ashley and Paul Downton.

After Hubert’s death, In a letter to his wife Sue, Mike Gatting describes endearingly how Hubert managed this team of talented, if occasionally wayward and high-spirited players, in a way that commanded both respect and affection in equal measure. Many of these youngsters, several who were to become future England players, had never come across anything quite like Hubert before. He was an outstanding all-rounder, a man of formidable intellect. His speeches were meticulously prepared for each occasion, booming voice, arms waving, wine glasses as well as nearby guests in jeopardy, microphones superfluous.

Amongst his many pursuits were writing and poetry. He also gave great inspiration to the ‘The Friends of Arundel Castle Cricket Club’ as its chairman. Hubert was immensely knowledgeable about Chichester Cathedral, just up the road from where he lived for 32 years, here at 19 Westgate. History and heritage fascinated him, and every stone of the Cathedral, every object, in some way illuminated an aspect of the Christian faith. He was a well-known and much-loved member of the congregation. His memorial service held there the month after he died was testament to this. The cathedral was packed with family, friends, locals, cricketers, and many pupils from his teaching years, and such a wonderful feeling of Bon Ami, a feeling of Hubert Doggart.

Achievements