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The Parish of
St Nicolas & St Andrew
Portslade |


















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Hannah Bra(c)kenbury
1795-1873 |
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Hannah Brakenbury was a local
philanthropist, who donated vast sums of money in the 19th century
to charities and institutions throughout the UK, equivalent to £11
million pounds in "today's money" (see her Will below)
*Please Note*, Although Hannah was baptised with
the surname Brackenbury, she appears to have dropped the
"c" from her
surname while living in Portslade, She sanctioned the new spelling of "Brakenbury"
which is displayed in
the Brakenbury Chapel and on the wall of the old St
Nicolas School (now Portslade County Infants School) which she opened in
1872. |
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The north window of the Brakenbury Chapel, depicting the Family's Coat
of Arms |
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The Brakenbury Chapel in the north west corner of
St Nicolas Church, Portslade |

The west window depicts :
left:- St James,
centre:- the raising of the daughter of Jairus,
right:- St Luke

The Brakenbury Family's
Coat of Arms
at Balliol College, University of Oxford |

Brakenbury Chapel as viewed from the inside of
St Nicolas Church

Sellaby House, the former Portslade home of Hannah Brakenbury |
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The following, is an abbreviation of
an article which appeared in both the Brighton Gazette and the Manchester Guardian, March 13, 1873:-
THE LATE MISS BRACKENBURY
Early in the 1800’s Mr James B. Brackenbury moved to Manchester to
practise as a solicitor, he was the legal advisor of the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Railway Company at its formation, and he made a large fortune
in the early days of the railways.
Miss Brackenbury resided with her brother in Manchester until October
1844, when, in consequence of his illness, they moved to Brighton, where
he died in the same month. His only daughter having also died, Miss
Brackenbury succeeded to his great wealth. She continued to reside in
Brighton (Portslade), devoting her life and fortune to the promotion of
charitable institutions, and generally in the most unostentatious
manner. Some of her benefactions were, however, of such a character,
that they could not remain unknown. The fabric of Balliol College,
Oxford, was falling into decay, she donated £20,000 for the full
rebuilding costs of the south side of the quadrangle, facing Broad
Street, over the entrance gate is a tower, which is called Brackenbury’s
Tower.
In Brighton Miss Brackenbury also distributed her gifts bountifully and
often anonymously. In the spring of last year she erected a large free
school at the picturesque village of Portslade, near Brighton, for the
accommodation of 250 children, and she took part in the celebration of
its opening. Altogether, during the last ten years Miss Brackenbury gave
to charities upwards of £100,000.
The remains of her two brothers and niece lie in a vault in Portslade
churchyard, over which Miss Brackenbury erected a mortuary chapel. There
her own remains will be interred on Friday morning.
The Funeral at Portslade Church.
The funeral procession, which consisted of five mourning coaches, each
drawn by four horses and the private carriage of the deceased, left
Adelaide Crescent,Hove at 11 o’clock, arriving at Portslade shortly
after 12. Among the mourners were the Very Rev. Dr Robert Scott, the
Dean of Rochester and the Rev. Professor Jowett, Master of Balliol
College, Oxford. The church was filled by the villagers and those from
adjacent parishes; and the burial service was impressively read by the
Rev. F.G. Holbrooke, Vicar of Portslade; the psalms included in the
service being chanted by the boys of the choir, Mr Machonochie presiding
at the organ
The chapel is situated to the north of the ivy clad tower, and by its
appearance showed that no expense was spared to make it as complete as
possible in every particular. It is separated from the church proper by
a small parapet, iron railings, and is lighted on two sides by stained
glass windows. Running round the chapel walls is the following
inscription: - “within these walls are deposited the remains of the last
in lineal descent of the ancient family of Brackenbury, of Denton and
Sellaby, in the county of Durham, and immediately under one of the
memorial windows is the text, “They also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him.”
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Transcription
of plaque in the Brakenbury
Chapel |
Hannah Brakenbury,
Born November 17th 1795, Died at Hove
February 28th
1873
possessed of great wealth, she devoted much during her life,
and
after by bequest to objects of beneficence. She thus prayed, "Lord remember me when thou comest to thy Kingdom",
St Luke 23.42. |
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Hannah Brakenbury donated the land and financed
the building of the Brakenbury School in Portslade, later to be renamed St Nicolas
School.
In 1967 a new St Nicolas C of E Junior School was built on land adjoining the old
school. The old Brakenbury-St Nicolas School was taken over by Portslade Infants
School as an annex to their main school building and is still in use today.
The inscription on the School's west wall reads: -
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These Schools were erected by
Hannah Brakenbury
for the benefit of the Poor of the united parishes of
Portslade and Hangleton
A.D. 1872 |
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The Will of Miss Brackenbury
Miss Brackenbury
having no relatives left the whole of her fortune of £100,000 (excepting
only a few small legacies to personal friends) to public institutions.
The £100,000 was divided between, Durham University, where she founded
and endowed 3 professorships in mathematics, medicine and science.
Scholarships to Oxford University, and the following in Lancashire,
Yorkshire, Surrey and London: - 12 hospitals,
7 Asylums, 4 schools, 3
orphanages, various benevolent societies, SPCK, Church Missionary
Society, London Missionary Society and British & Foreign Bible Society.
Locally in the Brighton area she left £1000 to Sussex County Hospital;
£500 to Brighton & Hove Dispensary; £500 to Lying-in Institution; £500
to Asylum for Female Orphans; £300 to Asylum for the Blind; £200 to Deaf
and Dumb Institution; £50 to St Mary’s Hospital, Queens Square; £50 to
the Mission House of Hope;
The value of the £200,000 (£100,000 in donations plus £100,000 in
bequests) that Miss Brackenbury donated to charities in today’s “money”
equals over £11 million (£1 in 1873 has the spending power of £58 today,
'1873 value of the pound' from a House of Commons Research Paper 99/20).
The number of lives she affected for “the good” must run into hundreds
of thousands in her lifetime and even today her legacy continues through
the present day Universities, Schools, and Hospitals she originally
funded.
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At Balliol College (Oxford University)
Hannah is remembered as a major benefactor of the College. Hannah
Brackenbury’s coats of arms appear in several places on the buildings
she paid for.
Balliol College was established in the first place by philanthropy, and
has been sustained by Benefactors ever since. “The Bidding Prayer”
recites, in the chronological order of their deaths, the names of the
major Benefactors since the earliest days, Hannah Brackenbury is listed
in this prayer. The Prayer is traditionally read out by the Master in
Chapel on special occasions, especially at the service before the annual
Gaudy, and on the feast of St Catherine of Alexandria, the College’s
Patron Saint.
In the College life at Balliol, Hannah is also remembered in the form of
the Brackenbury Society. This debating & dining society met regularly
from 1890 to 1955, when it combined with (Matthew) Arnold Society, and
today it is known as The Arnold and Brackenbury Society.
In September 2005, Durham University built two new residences for
post-graduate students, one of which was named Brackenbury House, in
memory of one of the University’s earliest philanthropists.
Hannah Brackenbury endowed a series of professorships at the University
in Mathematics, Medicine and Science. |

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