My Ancestors Lived And Worked Here!

A Memory of Billingshurst.

In the 1881 Census, Elizabeth Mitchell is listed as the head of the household and a widow aged 54 as her husband John Mitchell had died in February of that year and so running the Six Bells Beer House along with the help of her nephew Harry Dean aged 26 a painter born 1855 and her daughter Ellen aged 17, as an assistant. Elizabeth (nee Mercer) is listed as being born in Warnham in 1827. Around 1871 John had run a building & carpentry business from the Six Bells along with brewing beer until his death. One of their sons, Richard was born in the Six Bells in 1860 and carried on the business to include funeral directors until the 1920's. It has gone from an `Ale House` where they brewed their own Ales to selling 'Horsham Fine Ales'. Richard then went on to extend his business to Brighton where he opened a paint and wallpaper shop in London Road, then in Preston Circus and became a substantial builder between the war years developing Portslade in Brighton.