What an entertaining evening! We had an excellent response to our invitation to join us for our annual social with 60 tickets sold for a delicious and varied ‘finger food’ supper with a good glass of wine and plenty of catching-up chat! A great way to cheer up a cold January evening and congratulations to the Village Hall committee for the effective heating system that provided cosy conditions!
Once everyone was settled with a coffee or tea I introduced John Fuller, the noticeably corpulent Georgian Squire of Brightling, resplendent in top hat and tails with brolly – admittedly somewhat tatty – that he frequently waved to make his point! Standing on the Village Hall stage and with a booming voice he made a strong impression right to the back of the Hall. With a collection of illustrations which he would wave around to make his point, we were entertained to the story of a real entrepreneur who never married and lived a long and busy life.
There is a surprising amount on-line describing the life of John (Mad Jack) Fuller but it has to be said that Geoff Hutchinson really brought it to life and was able to answer at length the many questions that followed his presentation having spent a good 20 years living and learning the life of a fascinating man. What struck me as surprising was that here was a man with a big history that I had to admit I had never heard of prior to my involvement with the History Group and, one of our visitors said to me afterwards, that she had not realised he was a real man. This is particularly interesting as the one aim of John Fuller in his later life was to leave things for people to remember him by! Probably the most eccentric of these being his ‘follies’, especially the pyramid he had built in the churchyard at Brightling as his final resting place.
Just to list a number of his achievements will give those of you who missed this piece of ‘history brought to life’ some idea of what an extraordinary man John Fuller was. Indeed the “Mad Jack” name can only have been given to him by those who watched his huge energy applied to anything and everything he put his mind to!
Having lost his father at the tender age of 4 he was sent to Eton at the age of 10 and 10 years later he came into possession of his Sussex estate and Jamaican plantation left to him by his Uncle Rose Fuller. This somewhat unusual name for a man gave the name Rose Hill Estate to his property which is today Brightling Park.
He entered politics at the age of 22 as the Tory MP for Southampton and later for Sussex. His only foray to the fair sex was rebuffed and as far as we know he never tried again and never left any heirs.
He became High Sheriff of Sussex and a captain in the Volunteer Sussex Yeomanry Cavalry. His career in politics was cut short following an ‘incident’ with the Speaker and he was removed by the serjeant-at-arms to public disgrace so that he did not stand again for re-election. However, by now at the age of 55 and a very wealthy man Jack Fuller began to spend his fortune in earnest. He was a supporter and sponsor of the Royal Institution and mentored the young Michael Faraday, lending the Institution a large amount which he later wrote off as a gift. He established the Fuller medal of the Royal Institution and several other Foundations.
He built the Observatory at Brightling, endowed Eastbourne with their first lifeboat and financed the building of the lighthouse on the cliff at Beachy Head. In 1828 he bought Bodiam Castle at auction for 3000 guineas to save it from destruction.
When he eventually died at his home in Devonshire Place in London in 1834 he was buried under the floor of his pyramid which can still be seen dominating the Brightling churchyard, a fitting resting place and memorial to a remarkable man.
One of the many questions asked of Geoff by our audience was what happened to Jack Fuller’s collection of 13 Turner water colours and 2 oil paintings that he amassed partly as a result of his friendship with the painter and he was able to tell us – which is I am afraid more than I can tell you having had no notebook at hand!
An excellent and entertaining evening. Why not go on the Hartfield History Group Facebook page and add a comment about our Social evening to encourage others to join the Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/hartfieldhistory/
