The Argus
Adam Trimingham
4 July 2009
George Duddell
Up at the Villa
George Duddell was a dominant figure in the mid-19th century as a politician and land owner, yet he is almost unknown today.
He made and lost fortunes in many parts of the world, including Canada, Australia and Burma, but particularly in Hong Kong where he was a pioneer of the colony and an important landowner whose property would now be worth many millions of pounds.
Duddell settled in Brighton and borrowed money from a wealthy widow he had met in the Far East. He bought land at Queen’s Park for £28,000, equal to about £1.5 million today.
This was well below the £40,000 estimated valuation of the land, which included the park itself, several buildings and the handsome Attree Villa where Duddell installed himself and his family.
This consisted of his elderly mother, an illegitimate son from Hong Kong, and his orphaned niece, Sophy, with her four children. Although they took the surname Vernon, rumours persisted they were Duddell’s.
New book The Story Of Queen’s Park 2009 Edition (Brighton Town Press, £9.99), says his great niece Kate Dubois, who came to live with them when her parents died, had a child by him at the same time as Sophy’s final addition to the family. Sophy decided she had had enough of the arrangement and left for London where she soon married.
Kate, 32 years younger than Duddell, had three more children by him and eventually married him.
Despite his highly unusual love life, Duddell did not appear to offend Victorian morality. He played an active role in Brighton society, hosting dinner parties and employing 13 servants.
A generous man, Duddell was regarded as a friend of the working classes and was on the boards of benevolent societies but he incurred the enmity of conservative people.
He was elected as a Liberal to Brighton Town Council and once created such a furore he had to climb on a table to make himself heard.
Duddell also published his own newspaper for the town, the Brighton Mail, from the Pepperpot which still stands near the park today.
The park remained, despite gloomy prophecies it would not, but Duddell sold much of the neighbouring land during his 20 years of ownership and converted the archery grounds into a large skating rink.
He also let the park run to seed and when he died in 1887, the estate failed to sell at auction.
Somers Clark Junior commented at the time: “Attree Villa fell into the hands of one quite unable to appreciate its beauties and of those surrounding gardens, which suffered grievously.”
Eventually Queen’s Park fell into public ownership and the villa became a school for a time, but it was finally demolished in the 1960s.
A self-published book written 20 years ago by one of his many descendants, Ken Vernon, says: “In Brighton he became a well-known and active well-to-do gentleman with wide interests in politics, local affairs and business, who always had a fund of stories to tell about Hong Kong and other places.”
It describes him as kind and helpful to his relations and as a person who encouraged young people to make their way in the world. He provided for his 11 children without always admitting all of them were his.
Ken Vernon says he could be entertaining, amusing and very sociable. But he adds: “As a businessman he was tough, enterprising and, at times, quite unscrupulous.”
