Amon Wilds and ‘Mother H’

Amon Wilds, architect – marriage to Ann King – Mother H’s – Amon Wilds’ will.

Amon Wilds, widower and respected architect and builder of Brighton, re-married on 25^th July 1828. His new wife was Mrs Ann King, widow, of Fulham, or so the licence states. Mr Wilds was by then 71 years of age, and Ann was five years younger. Amon Wilds had lived at 9, Richmond Terrace, Brighton, probably since he and his son Amon Henry Wilds built it around 1822, and still owned most of the north section of Richmond Terrace, then numbered 7,8,9 and 10. Amon Wilds senior, although retired from the business, was, in his seventies, still working as a town surveyor on a salary of £200 a year. He was not a wealthy man, despite having built much of the Brighton we recognise, he had experienced difficulties letting his properties, and in 1824 had been sued by Ann Dulany, a client dissatisfied with his work.

His new wife, Ann King, was a woman of means. She leased a house in Brighton at 37,Old Steyne, and held the leases of 15,Charles Street, and 13 Brydges Street, both in Covent Garden. She was also the leaseholder of The Doncaster Betting Rooms, and probably a house at Askern, near Doncaster.

13 Brydges Street was a major source of income for Ann King. It was a notorious ‘night house’, popularly known as ‘Mother H’s’.

In fact, Ann King was ‘Mother H’.

Mother H’s, in 1812 advertised as ‘The Theatre Hotel and Tavern’ was opposite the west entrance to the Drury Lane Theatre, and provided a destination for post-theatre crowds hungry for oysters, alcohol, gambling, and prostitutes. Its all-night activities gave rise to rowdiness and violence, and was the bane of the authorities for nearly 30 years.

Mother H’s earned a place in Regency literature and popular satire. Robert Cruikshank called it ‘The Hall of Infamy’ and included a print in his illustrations of The English Spy, by Charles Molloy Westmacott.^[i]In ‘The English Spy’ Vol.2. Charles Molloy Westmacott. London: Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper. 1826

Ann King, as she was then, is the lady left of centre attempting to break up a fight.

Charles Renton Nicholson in his autobiography of 1860,^[ii]Renton Nicholson. The Lord Chief Baron Nicholson: an autobiography. London. George Vickers, Angel Court, Strand. 1860. recalls visiting Mother H’s as a young man.

“She was the ugliest woman I ever beheld; but she dearly loved paint, dress and decorations. Her attire was in the highest style of fashion, generally black velvet or satin, jewellery in profusion, silk stockings, and very neat kid shoes. She had a rather pretty foot and ankle. Apropos of her shoes, I may here remark that the old girl was artful, deceitful and dishonest. I remember a half-drunken, foolish fellow dropping a handful of sovereigns in the large supper-room. A number of the fair and frail were present; but Mrs H said “Now stand away girls; I’ll pick them up and see that the gentleman ain’t robbed”. She should have added, “By anyone but myself” for about every second sovereign she took from the floor she “welled” in her shoes. “Well,” said one of the girls, “I don’t blame you mother, but I should like to stand in your shoes”

Amon Wilds and Ann King were married at Fulham. The Wilds family, fully aware of Mrs. King’s background and identity, needless to say, did not approve.Thomas Freeman, the lawyer married to Amon Wilds’ daughter, Elizabeth, when pressed to comment on his father in law’s marrying Mrs King, ‘expressed in warm terms his opinion of his relative’s imprudence in so doing’. ^[iii]The Sun. 7 Aug 1828

Although it was thought that Ann Wilds was a reformed person, it is apparent that the transformation took place in a very gradual way. She brought a case against a former servant, Jane Messenger accusing her of stealing an agate snuffbox in a gold setting, value £6 from her house at 9, Richmond Terrace. Although the court was quite convinced of the guilt of Jane, the case was dismissed owing to the ruthlessness of Ann Wilds in trying to extract a confession herself from the girl, including the administration of an oath. During the trial, Ann Wilds admitted to having distributed ‘diamonds and other things’ all over the house in an attempt to foil burglars when she was away.^[iv]Brighton Guardian 29 Feb 1832

Whatever the nature of the change in her outlook and disposition, the income from Mother H’s and the Doncaster Betting Rooms continued to fund her wealthy lifestyle.Conspicuous consumption of luxury goods figured largely in Ann Wild’s life, as is shown in the contents of her detailed will.^[v]Ann Hunter PCC probate 13 Aug 1852. PROB 11/2157/216

Amon Wilds had 3 children by his first wife. The eldest, Sarah,married an impecunious clergyman, Rev William Pritchard Gee, who having spent years fighting for a share in his father’s estate, died broken and bankrupt in Guernsey. Wilds’ only son, Amon Henry Wilds jnr, continued the architecture business, and went on to develop much of the Brighton we recognise today. Elizabeth, the younger daughter, married a local lawyer, Thomas Freeman. Amon Wilds snr made his will on 25 May 1832, four years after his marriage to Ann King, to whom he left everything. He died in September 1833. His three children and numerous grandchildren received nothing. Amon Wilds was buried in the churchyard of St Nicholas of Myra, Brighton, and commemorated with an extravagant memorial, which also records the burial of Ann, his wife, then Ann Hunter, having remarried in the year following Amon Wild’s death.

I hope you have enjoyed my first post on Brighton Lives. There will be more on Ann Wilds in the coming months.