His Grace the Duke of Northumberland, has been three weeks or a month at Brighton under the care of Mr Smith, for the cure of the gout, by means of an apparatus, invented by that gentleman, upon the principle of the air pump.  His Grace, we hear, has experienced some benefit, and we hope it will prove a lasting one.  Mr Smith’s invention, however, is not altogether new as similar experiments were a few years since, tried on gouty patients, by a gentleman in London, with a machine constructed nearly on the same principle; but we know not with what success they were attended.

From The Sussex Weekly Advertiser, 25 January 1799

Snowdrops in the Pavilion Gardens

The Latin name comes from the Greek ‘gala [milk] and ‘anthos’ [flower].

Although it is often thought of as a British native wild flower, or to have been brought to the British Isles by the Romans, it was probably introduced around the early sixteenth century and is currently not  a protected species in the UK.

Celebrated as a sign of spring, snowdrops can form impressive carpets of white in areas where they are native or have been naturalised.

The snowdrop has particular relevance to the Regency planting of the Royal Pavilion Gardens as it is a woodland edge plant that suits the informality of its surroundings.

Galanthus is propagated by splitting the newly developed bulbs after flowering. The bulbs should be planted in late summer or early autumn in well-drained soil. Its flowering season is from January to March.

Barbara Garden
Volunteer

In case you struggled with the questions, here are the answers:

Q1/ An animated film from 1982 in which a boy and his frosty friend fly above the Pavilion on their way to the North Pole. What was the film called?

The Snowman. Author Raymond Briggs lives in Sussex and has close links with Brighton. He formerly taught at the Brighton School of Art.

Q2/ A former US President and general during the American Civil War, he visited the Pavilion on 22 October 1877. Who was he?

Ulysses S Grant. According to John George Bishop, the first historian of the Royal Pavilion, Grant visited the building on Monday 20 October 1877. The purpose of his visit is not clear, but he appears to have followed the Lord and Lady Mayor of London who visited just two days before.

Q3/ 1999 movie based on a Graham Greene novel, and starring Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore. Some of its later scenes were filmed in the Pavilion. What was the movie?

The End of the Affair. The original novel is one of several works by Greene that deal with personal morality and faith. As local historian Geoffrey Mead points out, Greene seems to have been attracted to the ‘vice’ of Brighton, most notably in Brighton Rock.

Q4/ An explorer and journalist who presumed to find David Livingstone in Africa. He visited the Royal Pavilion on 14 August 1872. Who was he?

Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley visited the Pavilion in order to attend a meeting of the British Association (now known as the British Science Association) held here. Numerous scientific societies held conferences in the Pavilion during the nineteenth century, and were often successful in attracting well-known figures.

Q5/ Actor, famous for both Shakespeare and Gandalf, who starred as Richard III in a 1995 film partly shot in the Pavilion. Who is he?

Sir Ian McKellen. McKellen’s adaptation of Richard III was set in an alternate 1930s’ fascist England. Thankfully, the Royal Pavilion has never been the home of a fascist leader, but it was threatened…

Q6/ During World War Two, Lord Haw Haw is supposed to have claimed that this leading Nazi would use the Pavilion as his personal palace following the invasion of Britain. Who was he?

Adolf Hitler. We have never been able to verify this claim, but it is mentioned in a history of the Pavilion by Clifford Musgrave, a former director. If true, this claim may still have been pure invention on the part of William Joyce, nicknamed Lord Haw Haw. However, we do know that Brighton was considered a potential landing area for a German invasion force.