Hastings has been my home for more than twenty years - a timespan very similar to that of my interest in the history of arctic exploration. Surprisingly, it is only recently that I have begun to investigate the links between my historical passion and my adoptive home.
Sir Robert McClure:
The first conqueror of the Northwest Passage.
Robert John Le Mesurier McClure was born in 1807 in Wexford, Ireland into a prominent military family of the British-Irish ruling elite. Orphaned in infancy, he entered the Royal Navy at the age of 17 in 1824 and gained his first Arctic experience during George Back's perilous 1836 HMS Terror expedition which saw the broken, nearly sinking, ship brought safely to Lough Swilly on the Irish coast. He served under James Clark Ross on HMS Enterprise during the 1848 search for Sir John Franklin's Erebus and Terror expedition, missing since 1845, and two years later he would continue the search in command of HMS Investigator as subordinate to Richard Collinson commanding Enterprise.
In summary, Investigator sailed round the southern tip of South America, across the Pacific, then entered the icy seas in the vicinity of Alaska, having become detached from Enterprise on the way. After near disaster McClure would be judged to have completed a north-west passage by abandoning his ice-bound ship and hiking over the frozen sea with his men to the safety of another expedition which had entered the passage from the east.
The complete story is masterfully told in Glenn M. Stein's "Discovering the North-West Passage : The Four-Year Arctic Odyssey of H.M.S. Investigator and the McClure Expedition".
On his return to England McClure immediately travelled to Hastings to visit his estranged wife who lived in a house on St. Mary's Terrace on the West Hill. Not much has made the history books about McClure's personal life but it's likely he married early in his naval service when attached to the Coast Guard between 1846 and 1848. Many of his contemporaries regarded the Coast Guard service as something of a career dead end for a naval officer but McClure proved them wrong. He was promoted, knighted, and awarded the £10,000 prize of which half was distributed among ship's company in accordance with the long established rules for prize money.On Monday, the 30st of October, 1854. McClure was feted at a banquet held at the Swan Hotel in Hastings. This report appeared in the London papers shortly after.
The Morning Herald, Thursday, November 2, 1854.
(Also in the Standard and the Sun.)BANQUET TO CAPTAIN M'CLURE, THE ARCTIC NAVIGATOR.
HASTINGS, TUESDAY.
Last night a banquet was given at the Swan Hotel, by the Mayor, magistrates, and gentry of Hastings and its vicinity, to Captain M'Clure, the discoverer of the North-west Passage, on his return to this borough, in which he had previously resided for many years.
The dinner was served in the large room of the hotel, which was beautifully decorated for the occasion, and hung with the flags of England, France, and Turkey, and the arms of the Cinque Ports. Covers were laid for upwards of 200 persons.
Amongst those present we observed—The Worshipful the Mayor, Mr. P. Robertson, the member for the borough of Hastings; the Rev. J. Hatchard, the Rev. J. Wallis, Mr. Scrivens (banker), Mr. W. Crake, Captain Drake, R.N., Captain O'Callaghan, Mr. J. G. Langham, Mr. C. P. Hutchings, Mr. F. Ticehurst, Mr. F. Smith, Mr. A. Barton, Mr. John Phillips, Mr. R. Ransom, Mr. J. Tucker, Mr. Breeds, Mr. Williams, Mr. G. Clement, Dr. M'Cabe, &c.
The Worshipful the Mayor presided.
The usual loyal toasts having been drunk with all the honours, The President proposed " The Health of the Bishop of Chichester and the Clergy of the Diocese," coupled with the healths of the Rev. Mr. Hatchard and the Rev. Mr. Wallis, who returned thanks in appropriate terms.
The President then proposed the toast of the evening, the health of the gallant captain who had that night honoured them with his presence, having just returned to the place of his adopted home - the town of Hastings.
They could not but feel proud of welcoming once more the Intrepid discoverer of the North-west Passage (applause)--
a discovery which nothing but the most persevering courage could. have enabled him to attain (applause). He would call on the company to drink "The Health of that great navigator, Captain M'Clure."
The toast having been most enthusiastically drunk, Captain M'Clure rose, amidst load applause, to return thanks. He thanked them for the honour they had done him ; but he felt unable, in consequence of a severe cold and extinction of voice, to express his feelings on this occasion. During his long residence in Hastings he had ever, under all circumstances, met with the greatest kindness and attention. The gallant captain was proceeding to describe his arrival in the Prince of Wales Straits, and his stay there during the years 1850 and 1851, when he was, in consequence of hoarseness, utterly unable to proceed, and was interrupted by Dr. M'Cabe, who said that, seeing that Captain M'Clure was suffering so severely, he was sure his friends would excuse him from proceeding further with his speech, as it might entail on him a serious and lasting injury. (Although not publicly stated, it was understood that Captain M'Clure's indisposition was the result of an attack induced by the rigorous climate of the Polar regions.)
The President then gave the toast of "The Army and Navy," apologising for having omitted it in the usual routine. and coupling with it the name of Captain Drake, one of the heroes of Trafalgar, to which that gallant gentleman returned thanks in appropriate terms.
Captain O'Callaghan returned thanks on behalf of the army.
Other toasts having been drunk and duly honoured, the company separated at a late hour.
Reports printed in local newspapers contained rather fewer details. The most important being the menu:
1st course: Turbot, Cod, Mock-turtle, Oxtail soup
2nd course: Turkey, Goose, Curried fowl, Roast and Stewed Beef, Lamb, Mutton, Ham, and Tongue
3rd course: Game, Pheasant, Partridge, Duck, Hare
Dessert: Plums, Jellies, Creams, and Custard
The Swan was the town's coaching inn - an extensive complex of buildings terraced into the valley side with over 300 feet of frontage, 42 bedrooms, and stabling for more than 50 horses. It was the paramount venue of the town, claiming “the highest standards of elegance and refinement,” with “superior suites and commodious apartments,”. A contemporary writer heralded it as ‘an island in a sea of squalor’ while condemning the rest of the town as ‘a festering slum’.
The function room seems to have been on the first floor of the south range, lit by a striking oriel window, the walls inside lavishly decorated with statues of the Muses. These statues are considerably exaggerated in the illustration which shows an earlier banquet for the Lord Mayor of London as an inventory gives their height as 5 feet (1.5 meters).
Local artist David Clegg has (literally) unearthed much of the fascinating history of the Swan Hotel. His house is built over the original range of coach houses forming a cavernous basement which he opens to the public from time to time.
The death knell for the Swan was sounded, as for many coaching establishments, by the coming of the railways. Encumbered with crippling debt, the coaching inn was demolished in 1889. Much of the site was given over to housing but a new pub was built in the high Victorian style on a corner of the site.
This pub was was tragically destroyed by enemy action on May 23rd 1943, with considerable loss of life. The site is now a memorial garden.
McClure had a long naval career after his service in the ice. He died in 1873 with the rank of Vice-Admiral. There is no memorial of him in Hastings.
