Publications
Catalogue of Maps & Plans in the Exhibition of Local Maps & Map Making, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1936 (Hastings: Hastings Museum) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502740]
The Price of Freedom, by J. Manwairing Baines, B.Sc., F.R.S.A., F.Z.S., published November 1939 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. VII no. 8, article, pp.232-233) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12536][Lib 8864][Lib 2206] & The Keep [LIB/500209] & S.A.S. library
Sussex in the Bronze Age, by J. Manwaring Baines, published November 1945 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. X no. 8, note, pp.186-187) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8228][Lib 2209] & The Keep [LIB/500212] & S.A.S. library
Hastings & Its Harbours, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1946 (16 pp., Hastings: Kenneth Saville) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502764] & East Sussex Libraries
Hastings and the Romans, by J. Manwaring Baines, published May 1946 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XI no. 2, article, pp.35-38) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8229][Lib 2210] & The Keep [LIB/500213] & S.A.S. library
Ancient Coin from Hastings, by J. Manwaring Baines, published August 1946 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XI no. 3, note, pp.66-67) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8229][Lib 2210] & The Keep [LIB/500213] & S.A.S. library
Rushlights and Candles, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1947 (Hastings: Hastings Museum) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502736]
Events in Hastings History, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1948 (Science and Art School and Museum, Hastings) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502742]
Cryed in Old Hastings 1766-1794, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1949 (Hastings: Hastings Museum) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502737] & East Sussex Libraries
The Bailiff of the Bourne and his office, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1950 (16 pp., Hastings Museum and Art Gallery) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502745]
Hastings and the Royal Mail, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1951 (16 pp., Science and Art School and Museum, Hastings) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502738]
The Freeman of Hastings, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1952 (12 pp., Hastings: Hastings Museum) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502739]
The Ships of the Cinque Ports in 1586/7, by J. Manwaring Baines, curator of the Hastings Museum, published November 1952 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XIII nos. 11 & 12, article, pp.241-244) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8231] & The Keep [LIB/500215] & S.A.S. library
Historic Hastings, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1955 (xiii + 433 pp., Hastings: F. J. Parsons) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries
Review by E. A. W. [E. A. Wilson] in Sussex Notes and Queries, May 1956:"This is not a history of Hastings," says the preface. But it is an important book directing attention rather to the people of the town. Naturally a good deal must be revealed about the many rules which influenced their lives - the laws of the realm, the customs of the Cinque Ports, and what we now call bye-laws, regulating conduct, trade, fishery, health, care of the poor and sick and many other things. So first comes a description of the government of the town and its officials, from the bailiff, later the mayor, down to the gaoler, the diary of one of whom is the substance of chapter 14. The ancient hospital, priory and churches; inns, schools and windmills; the Georgian workhouse; together with place names, plaques and fire-fighting later appear: and trade and communications, and of course the sea, with smuggling and fighting, fishing and shipbuilding, lead on to a study of notable visitors, local societies and sport. There is something to interest, amuse and inform every taste.
The reviewer's fancy was particularly taken by Mr. Baines disposal of Hastings claim to be the premier port in the confederation. The Hundred (one of the town's four courts) seem to have overlapped with the ecclesiastical courts in its jurisdiction over some offences. Another privilege of the Ports is suggested by a licence to beg granted by the town some 25 years after these were forbidden by statute. A suit in Chancery is described, filed, apparently, with the sole object of maintaining the town's right as a beneficiary after expiry of a life interest, the corporation being uneasy that the lady concerned showed no signs of dying. Some of the smugglers stories are exciting; others curious, as that of the man who was caught in bed, the Customs officers finding in the room what they "thought was Odd dyet for a sick person." The many quotations are a delight if only for the old spelling. "The Prince of Whales" may be forgiven a seafaring community! Strange it seems now that the corporation should have refused a telephone line proposed in 1879 so as "not to cross the view of persons looking out of the first-floor windows."
Some minor criticisms. A description of the Armada is redundant, for Hastings' part in its defeat is unknown, and the list of vessels possessed or provided at the time could have been added to another chapter. The many excellent pictures, though bound near their subjects to the text are not as readily found as a reference would have made them. The author has excused omissions - "this is but one volume and not ten." We hope he will write another nine, including an account of the castle "which played little part in the life of the town"; telling us what was Sir Cloudesley Shovell's connection with the house (in the frontispiece) which bears his name; and dealing with sport other than cricket.
It is ludicrous that Mr. Baines should be one of a company called "cranks." The town, the county and our Society are fortunate in having there a member and a museum curator who is interested in its archives as well as its buildings and its inhabitants, and who has had the experience, time and energy to produce such a work.
The reviewer's fancy was particularly taken by Mr. Baines disposal of Hastings claim to be the premier port in the confederation. The Hundred (one of the town's four courts) seem to have overlapped with the ecclesiastical courts in its jurisdiction over some offences. Another privilege of the Ports is suggested by a licence to beg granted by the town some 25 years after these were forbidden by statute. A suit in Chancery is described, filed, apparently, with the sole object of maintaining the town's right as a beneficiary after expiry of a life interest, the corporation being uneasy that the lady concerned showed no signs of dying. Some of the smugglers stories are exciting; others curious, as that of the man who was caught in bed, the Customs officers finding in the room what they "thought was Odd dyet for a sick person." The many quotations are a delight if only for the old spelling. "The Prince of Whales" may be forgiven a seafaring community! Strange it seems now that the corporation should have refused a telephone line proposed in 1879 so as "not to cross the view of persons looking out of the first-floor windows."
Some minor criticisms. A description of the Armada is redundant, for Hastings' part in its defeat is unknown, and the list of vessels possessed or provided at the time could have been added to another chapter. The many excellent pictures, though bound near their subjects to the text are not as readily found as a reference would have made them. The author has excused omissions - "this is but one volume and not ten." We hope he will write another nine, including an account of the castle "which played little part in the life of the town"; telling us what was Sir Cloudesley Shovell's connection with the house (in the frontispiece) which bears his name; and dealing with sport other than cricket.
It is ludicrous that Mr. Baines should be one of a company called "cranks." The town, the county and our Society are fortunate in having there a member and a museum curator who is interested in its archives as well as its buildings and its inhabitants, and who has had the experience, time and energy to produce such a work.
The History of Hastings Grammar School, 1619-1956, by J. Manwaring Baines and L. R. Conisbee, published 1956 (248 pp., Hastings Grammar School Foundation) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/503829] & East Sussex Libraries
Burton's St Leonards, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1956 (68 pp., Hastings: Hastings Museum)
Review by E. A. W. in Sussex Notes and Queries, May 1957:This little book outlines the career of James Burton and the history of the town which he founded on a part of Gensing farm near Hastings in 1828.
James was descended from the Haliburtons of Roxburghshire, but assumed the shortened name before the birth of Decimus his more famous son, whose works include the great arch at Hyde Park Corner, the Atheneum and Charing Cross Hospital.
Enough remains of James' St. Leonards for his designs to be appreciated, though some of it has been pulled down, such as the baths opposite the Central Hotel (now called the Royal Victoria) and some, such as the church, destroyed by air raids. The excellent illustrations from drawings made about 1830 incite the reader to go, book in hand, for a stroll round the district.
The improvements of the town, its government by Commissioners, the problem of road-building and of keeping in check the sea, the rules about bathing, the coming of the railway, and the final amalgamation with Hastings are all described. There is a chapter on royal visitors, one of whom was the little princess Victoria. It is satisfactory to know that the house in which she stayed (originally Burton's own) has been saved from destruction by the efforts of such as Mr. Baines.
The book has three appendices and an index.
James was descended from the Haliburtons of Roxburghshire, but assumed the shortened name before the birth of Decimus his more famous son, whose works include the great arch at Hyde Park Corner, the Atheneum and Charing Cross Hospital.
Enough remains of James' St. Leonards for his designs to be appreciated, though some of it has been pulled down, such as the baths opposite the Central Hotel (now called the Royal Victoria) and some, such as the church, destroyed by air raids. The excellent illustrations from drawings made about 1830 incite the reader to go, book in hand, for a stroll round the district.
The improvements of the town, its government by Commissioners, the problem of road-building and of keeping in check the sea, the rules about bathing, the coming of the railway, and the final amalgamation with Hastings are all described. There is a chapter on royal visitors, one of whom was the little princess Victoria. It is satisfactory to know that the house in which she stayed (originally Burton's own) has been saved from destruction by the efforts of such as Mr. Baines.
The book has three appendices and an index.
Wealden Firebacks, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1958 (Hastings: Hastings Museum) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502351]
Hastings Guide Books, by J. Manwaring Baines, published November 1961 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XV no. 8, note, pp.272-273) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8233] & The Keep [LIB/500217] & S.A.S. library
Hastings Elizabethan Charter, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1962 (Hastings: Hastings Museum) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502759]
Historic Hastings, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1963 (revised edition, xvii + 437 pp., Hastings: F. J. Parsons) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/503828] & East Sussex Libraries
An Outline of Hastings History, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1967 (31 pp., Hastings: Hastings Museum) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502744]
The Cinque Ports and Coronation Services, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1968 (15 pp., Hastings: Hastings Museum) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502751] & East Sussex Libraries
Hastings in 1605, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1971 (Hastings: Hastings Museum) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/502753]
Excavations 1970: Medieval Cemetery, Hastings, by J. Manwaring Baines, published March 1971 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 2, article, p.3) accessible at: S.A.S. library Download PDF
Carving trawled off Hastings, by J. Manwaring Baines, published March 1971 in Sussex Archæological Society Newsletter (no. 2, article, p.5) accessible at: S.A.S. library Download PDF
A Late Bronze Age Spearhead from Pett, by John Manwaring Baines, published 1973 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 111, shorter notice, p.110) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2196] & The Keep [LIB/500318] & S.A.S. library
The Archaeology of Sussex Pottery. Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Sussex Ware, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1980 in Sussex Archæological Collections (vol. 118, article, pp.125-128) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7805] & The Keep [LIB/500305] & S.A.S. library
Darwell Furnace, Mountfield, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1980 in Wealden Iron Research Group (First Series No. 17, article, pp.9-12) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16400] & The Keep [LIB/506558] Download PDF
Sussex Pottery, by John Manwaring Baines and edited by Judith Fisher, published 1 July 1980 (192 pp., photographs & maps, Brighton: Fisher Publications, ISBN-10: 0950701300 & ISBN-13: 9780950701301) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7925] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Historic Hastings, by J. Manwaring Baines, published 1986 (revised edition, Cinque Port, ISBN-10: 0948869003 & ISBN-13: 9780948869006) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries