Publications
Ornamental Sussex Ironwork, by Helena Hall, published 1927 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. I no. 12, article, pp.509-510) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2303][Lib 8326] & The Keep [LIB/500137]
Admiral Pakenham, by Helena Hall, published 1934 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. VIII no. 9, article, pp.574-575) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9329] & The Keep [LIB/500178]
The Borde Brass in Lindfield Church, by Helena Hall, published 1935 (offprint) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 4664]
Arms of Some Famous Sussex Families, by Helena Hall, published 1936 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. X no. 9, article, pp.622-626; no. 10, pp.686-689; no. 11, pp.762-675; no. 12, pp.802-805) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2315][Lib 9331] & The Keep [LIB/500181]
Cralle Place, Warbleton: An Historic House, by Helena Hall, published 1937 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. XI no. 6, article, pp.365-369) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2316][Lib 9332] & The Keep [LIB/500182]
Sparr, Wisborough Green: An Historic House, by Helena Hall, published 1937 in Sussex County Magazine (vol. XI no. 9, article, pp.552-527) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2316][Lib 9332] & The Keep [LIB/500182]
An Inventory of 1804 [at Lindfield], by Helena Hall, published May 1940 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. VIII no. 2, article, pp.40-42) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8865][Lib 2207] & The Keep [LIB/500210] & S.A.S. library
A Fifteenth-Century Rector of Lindfield, by Helena Hall, published February 1949 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XII no. 5, note, pp.113-114) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8230] & The Keep [LIB/500214] & S.A.S. library
Illustrated Guide to All Saints' Church and the Village of Lindfield, Sussex, by Helena Hall, published 1950 (pamphlet, Haywards Heath: Charles Clarke) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9227] & West Sussex Libraries
William Allen, 1770-1843, member of the Society of Friends, by Helena Hall, published 1953 (Haywards Heath: Charles Clarke) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2954] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Review by F. B. S. [F. B. Stevens] in Sussex Notes and Queries, May 1955:Many of us who are familiar with Lindfield and its surroundings were vaguely aware that a Quaker named Allen had been responsible for a colony of smallholders which came to be known as "America" - and incidentally gave its name to New England Road, Haywards Heath. But until the recent publication of this book by our member Miss Helena Hall few of us realised the wide scope of his work at Lindfield, and the prominent part he played in national and international affairs.
In her most interesting life of Allen Miss Hall naturally devotes much of her space to his eight continental journeys, his frequent meetings with the Emperor Alexander of Russia, his intimate concern with the financial embarrassments of the Duke of Kent (but for his timely aid Queen Victoria would probably have been born in Germany), his contacts with the Duke of Wellington, and his founding of the firm of Allen and Hanbury. The book, however, has a special interest for Sussex readers by reason of the account given of the founding of an industrial school and the "Colony" at Lindfield. Miss Hall tells how when William Allen first came to Lindfield in 1824 he found a village with no school, and much poverty and bad housing. With the assistance of the Earl of Chichester, the Lord of the Manor, he set up an "industrial" school, where the curriculum included much practical work, such as farm work and printing for boys, weaving, spinning and knitting for girls, and straw plaiting for infants.
In the formation of the colony Allen was helped by Lord Chichester and also by John Smith, M.P., of Dale Park, Madehurst, who purchased the Gravelye Estate of a hundred acres. Upon it were built 18 cottages for labourers, each with an acre and a quarter of garden, and seven cottages for smallholders, each with six acres of land attached. Allen also built a house for himself on the estate where he lived - apart from his frequent journeyings - until he died there in 1843.
The "colony" was still a feature of the district in the early years of the present century, but has now unfortunately been almost obliterated by building developments. Two of the smallholders cottages, however, are still standing. The School was maintained until 1881, when a School Board was established for the parish and a new school erected. The actual school no longer exists, but the dormitories and workshops have been more fortunate and the cottages into which they have been converted are still a pleasing feature on the north of the road at the western end of the Common.
Miss Hall is to be congratulated on her narrative of the life and work of one who may rightly be regarded as a "Sussex Worthy."
In her most interesting life of Allen Miss Hall naturally devotes much of her space to his eight continental journeys, his frequent meetings with the Emperor Alexander of Russia, his intimate concern with the financial embarrassments of the Duke of Kent (but for his timely aid Queen Victoria would probably have been born in Germany), his contacts with the Duke of Wellington, and his founding of the firm of Allen and Hanbury. The book, however, has a special interest for Sussex readers by reason of the account given of the founding of an industrial school and the "Colony" at Lindfield. Miss Hall tells how when William Allen first came to Lindfield in 1824 he found a village with no school, and much poverty and bad housing. With the assistance of the Earl of Chichester, the Lord of the Manor, he set up an "industrial" school, where the curriculum included much practical work, such as farm work and printing for boys, weaving, spinning and knitting for girls, and straw plaiting for infants.
In the formation of the colony Allen was helped by Lord Chichester and also by John Smith, M.P., of Dale Park, Madehurst, who purchased the Gravelye Estate of a hundred acres. Upon it were built 18 cottages for labourers, each with an acre and a quarter of garden, and seven cottages for smallholders, each with six acres of land attached. Allen also built a house for himself on the estate where he lived - apart from his frequent journeyings - until he died there in 1843.
The "colony" was still a feature of the district in the early years of the present century, but has now unfortunately been almost obliterated by building developments. Two of the smallholders cottages, however, are still standing. The School was maintained until 1881, when a School Board was established for the parish and a new school erected. The actual school no longer exists, but the dormitories and workshops have been more fortunate and the cottages into which they have been converted are still a pleasing feature on the north of the road at the western end of the Common.
Miss Hall is to be congratulated on her narrative of the life and work of one who may rightly be regarded as a "Sussex Worthy."
A Dictionary of The Sussex Dialect and Collection of Provincialisms in use in the County of Sussex - together with some Sussex sayings and crafts, by Rev. W. D. Parish and expanded, augmented and illustrated by Helena Hall, published 1957 (xxii + 185 pp., Bexhill: Gardeners Books) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 2344] & The Keep [LIB/500165] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Review by G. D. J. [G. D. Johnston] in Sussex Notes and Queries, November 1958:It is very welcome to have Parish's work - long out of print - not only re-issued, but augmented with care and attention with material collected throughout the life of the present Editor - now over eighty - and her late brother, John Henry Sussex Hall (who died in 1949), in whose memory this edition is published. It is a book which every Sussex lover should have. It is possible to suggest additions in a future issue: "Mounter" (S.N.Q. xiii, 271 and 322) appears confined to Sussex; "Tarr" (S.N.Q. xii, 161, and xiii, 228) is a common Sussex word; "Bad Books" was a list of irrecoverable rates frequently used by overseers. "Waywarden" (pp. 80 and 149) far from being confined to private roads, was another name for the surveyors of highways and is so used in the Wisborough Green Parish Records in 1675-6 and 1833 and was officially substituted for surveyors in the Highway Act, 1862. "Toat" (pp. 142-3) can mean a look-out or observation post, and "Pad" (p. 173) a small horse, such as smugglers used.
It is a pity that more attention was not given to the legal side - the list of authorities (p. xv) contains no reference to any law dictionary, such as Jacob's as reference to one would have obviated several inaccuracies. "Borough English" (p. 163) is a species of socage tenure, is freehold without either military or servile services and never applied to copyholds, though the same type of descent obtained as the custom of some Manors for the descent of copyholds. "Bench" (p. 8) was the copyhold counterpart of Dower (which only applied to freeholds) and was a right given by law to a widow, but a "jointure" was a provision made for a wife by contract or marriage settlement. A Court of Pie Powder existed at most fairs (a notable one was at Bristol) and that at Chichester (p. 94) is merely an instance. "Geldable" (pp. 171) is applicable to any system of taxation and is not confined to Pevensey; coroners (p. 27) though officers of the Crown were not Crown appointments, but were elected by county freeholders - in towns the mayor was frequently the coroner ex-officio.
It is a pity that more attention was not given to the legal side - the list of authorities (p. xv) contains no reference to any law dictionary, such as Jacob's as reference to one would have obviated several inaccuracies. "Borough English" (p. 163) is a species of socage tenure, is freehold without either military or servile services and never applied to copyholds, though the same type of descent obtained as the custom of some Manors for the descent of copyholds. "Bench" (p. 8) was the copyhold counterpart of Dower (which only applied to freeholds) and was a right given by law to a widow, but a "jointure" was a provision made for a wife by contract or marriage settlement. A Court of Pie Powder existed at most fairs (a notable one was at Bristol) and that at Chichester (p. 94) is merely an instance. "Geldable" (pp. 171) is applicable to any system of taxation and is not confined to Pevensey; coroners (p. 27) though officers of the Crown were not Crown appointments, but were elected by county freeholders - in towns the mayor was frequently the coroner ex-officio.
Lindfield, Past and Present, by Helena Hall, published 1960 (Haywards Heath: Charles Clarke) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 6168] & The Keep [LIB/503462] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
A Woman Living in the Shadow of the Second World War: Helena Hall's Journal from the Home Front, by Helena Hall and edited by Linda Grace and Margaret Nicolle, published 10 November 2014 (256 pp., Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books, ISBN-10: 1473823250 & ISBN-13: 9781473823259) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 18610] & The Keep [LIB/508058] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries