Portslade - Notable Portslade Residents of The 19th Century

Notable Portslade Residents of The 19th Century

Revd Richard William Enraght (1837–1898) was the Priest in Charge of St Andrew Church, Portslade, from 1871-74. Fr. Enraght’s belief in the Church of England's Catholic tradition, his promotion of ritualism in worship, and his writings on Catholic worship and church-state relationships, led him into conflict with the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874. While serving as Vicar of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, Birmingham in 1880, he paid the maximum price under the Act of prosecution and imprisonment in Warwick Prison. Fr. Enraght became nationally and internationally known as a “prisoner for conscience sake”.

In February 2006 the local newspaper, The Argus, reported that Brighton & Hove City Council had accepted the name of Fr. Enraght, whom they described as a “fighter for religious freedom”, as a candidate for a Blue Plaque to be erected in his memory on his former home in Station Road, Portslade. The date of its installation is yet to be announced.

In September 2006, Brighton & Hove honoured Fr. Enraght’s memory by naming one of their new fleet buses after him. His name appears in the list of Brighton & Hove bus names.

Edward Vaughan Hyde Kenealy QC (1819–1880)., was an Irish born barrister,writer and poet who lived in Wellington Road, Portslade with his wife and eleven children from the 1850s until the mid 1870s. Kenealy commuted to London and Oxford for his law practice but returned at weekends and other times to be with his family.

He chose Portslade because of his love of the sea, of which he wrote:- "Oh, how I am delighted with this sea-scenery and with my little marine hut ! The musical waves, the ethereal atmosphere, all make me feel as in the olden golden days when I was a boy and dreamed of Heaven". While living in Portslade he wrote the greater portion of his theological works.

Kenealy came to national prominence in 1874 when he acted as leading counsel for the Tichborne Claimant, which became one of the most notorious trials in 19th century British legal history, leading to Kenealy being disbarred from his profession. In 1875 Kenealy became Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent, which held until he lost his seat in the General Election of March 1880. Edward Kenealy died on the 16 April 1880 and was buried in St Helen’s churchyard Hangleton, at the time of his death St Nicolas’ Portslade and St Helen’s Hangleton were united as one Parish under the care of the Vicar of Portslade.