Skegness Magazine

Formation of the First Local Board in Skegness 1884

The first Council in Skegness was formed in 1884. It was called the Local Board.
The following images are from the Skegness Herald 1884. They follow the proposal of a self-governing local body, a Local Board, its opposition and its formation.

This photo taken in 1885 of the members of the Skegness Local Board which was formed in 1884.

Reading from left to right, back row, then left to right front row, below is the names of the men who formed the first Skegness Local Board, their approximate birth years and their places of birth:

Charles Houghton, b 1832 Skegness Lincolnshire
George James Crofts, b c1855 Beaminster Dorset
W E Swift, b  c1855 Coventry Warwickshire
G J Dashper (town clerk),
Rev F Baldwin (treasurer), b  c1851 Harrietsham, Kent, England
Col Henry Edward Iremonger (chairman),  b c1826
Dr Charles John Bernard (medical officer),  b c1854 Ireland
E R Capon (surveyor),
Charles Hildred, b c1824 Skegness Lincolnshire
Alfred William Rowley,
F Cartright,
Charles Fred Grantham, b 1860 Burgh le Marsh Lincolnshire
Edward A Jackson, b c1860 Lincoln
George Burley,
S Clarke, b c1840  Annesley Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire
Henry V Tippet,  b c1834 Bristol Gloucestershire
Francis L Wardle. b c1853 Burton on Trent
More about Charles Houghton
Charles Houghton, one of the founder members of the Local Board as pictured above, is the 4X Great Uncle of my sons Roan Antony Curtis and Steven Robert Curtis.

Charles, who was born in 1832 in Skegness had a sister named Jane Jenkinson Houghton.

Jane married Charles Smith Fowler from Bratoft and settled in Skegness. The pair had a daughter named Eve who married John Curtis of Alford. Their son who was actually born in Nottingham was named John Charles Fowler Curtis. John returned to Skegness as a young boy, later to marry Lily Toyne from Croft. John worked as a plasterer in Skegness, owning some of the land on which the present day Langton Court is built, but finally residing at 42 Cavendish Road Skegness. John and Lily had a son named Frank Fowler Curtis, who followed in his father’s footsteps working as a plasterer. Frank was my sons’ grandfather.
Charles and Jane Houghton’s parents were Thomas Houghton and Jane Jenkinson, Thomas from Hogsthorpe and Jane from Stickney.
Thomas and Jane are buried in St Clement’s Church Skegness, along with their daughter Jane’s family.
Charles married Eliza and had six children. The family is also buried in St Clement’s Church, though the grave stones have since been removed from the original plot.