Chapter 8: Miss Hayhurst and Exmouth House School

Needlework executed by A. Ward (Mrs Fearnside) of Class 3B, 1921-2

We have already encountered the fact that, from 1914 onwards, the house was a school, Exmouth House School, of which the proprietress was Elizabeth G. Hayhurst. What can be said by way of background? I had wondered if Elizabeth Hayhurst might have come from elsewhere in the country, but in fact she turns out to be of local extraction. She appears in the 1901 census living with her father, John Hayhurst, a builder, and her mother, Ellen, at 80 Vicarage Road, Hastings. (This house still exists: it is one of the smaller, terraced houses in the street, a storey lower than the average.) Ellen Hayhurst was born at Sedlescombe, whereas John hailed from Preston in Lancashire: how John came to Sussex and met his wife is not known. Elizabeth’s place of birth was given as Hastings and she was 19 in 1901; her occupation is given as ‘Art Needleworker’. This is interesting in aligning her with the Arts and Crafts interest in needlework, as exemplified by William Morris’ wife, May Morris, and others. Where and how she acquired such skills, however, is unknown -- though the precise description of her in the census return as ‘Art Needleworker’ implies that she might have been linked with a professional body devoted to such work such as the Royal School of Needlework. She had a sister, Ellen, who was four years older than her, a younger sister, Elsie Louise, aged 13, and a brother, Alfred John, aged 9 (all are given as born in Hastings). By the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to 139 Priory Road, Hastings -- which is the address at which Miss Hayhurst actually lived throughout the time when her school occupied Exmouth House. This is a brick-built semi-detached house of c. 1900-10: it is quite possible, since John Hayhurst was a builder, that it was actually built by him. Elizabeth’s occupation is now given as ‘School Mistress’ (her older sister, Ellen, does not appear in this census, evidently because she was away at the time, though the younger children do). I have not found out where Elizabeth acquired her training as a teacher, and Mrs Fearnside did not think that she had a degree; but she was clearly well-set for the role of Headmistress of the School that she now adopted.

As already noted, Miss Hayhurst seems initially to have occupied Exmouth House in 1914; she then bought it in 1921. In the 1914 directories, ‘the Misses Hayhurst’ are given in the plural, the implication being that either her older sister, Ellen, or her younger one, Elsie, or both were involved in the enterprise from the start. However, from 1924 the proprietress is simply given as ‘Miss Hayhurst’, and this continues to be the case until 1940.