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Freedoms of Bexhill

This page honours the people who have been awarded the Freedom of Bexhill.


Stuart Earl

It was a huge oversight that Stuart Earl wasn't awarded the Freedom of Bexhill before he sadly passed away in October 2018. Stuart was a true gentleman and a wonderful human being. His passion and hard work were an example to us all, through his family bakery business, in his role as a Rother councillor and through his work with Bexhill Hospital League of Friends, Bexhill Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of Senlac and Bexhill Caring Community (as well as many others).

Stuart Earl was Town Mayor in 2004. He was incredibly passionate about Bexhill and its residents and had a wonderful sense of humour, which I very much enjoyed.

In October 2019, the Freedom of Bexhill was posthumously awarded to Stuart Earl.

Honorary Freedoms of Bexhill

Date Name
09/11/1907 Baron [later 1st Earl] Brassey
Mayor of Bexhill 1907 - 1908
29/03/1920 John Alexander Paton
Mayor of Bexhill 1909 - 1911
25/01/1943 William Nicholson Cuthbert
Mayor of Bexhill 1936 - 1942
05/03/1952 Christine Isabella Meads
First woman Mayor of Bexhill 1930 - 1932 as well as more than 50 years of local public service
05/03/1952 Ernest William Bowrey
Mayor of Bexhill 1923 - 1924 and 1944 - 1946. He also took a prominent role in establishing Bexhill's adoption of the devastated French village of Bayencourt after World War One. Bexhill provided for a water tower and a piped water supply within the village.
05/03/1952 Richard Cecil Sewell
Mayor of Bexhill 1924 - 1925 as well as more than 50 years of local public service.
29/01/1958 Frances Burrows
Headmistress and later Warden of Ancaster School for many years. For a long times she was also prominent in local public service, especially the Girl Guides.
27/09/1962 Claude Pycroft
Surgeon who was chairman of the former Borough Development Committee of the Town Council for many years. As a consequence he greatly influenced the expansion of Bexhill as a resort after World War Two. Mayor of Bexhill 1949 - 1951.
02/10/1968 Joyce Alexander
Mayor of Bexhill 1962 - 1963 as well as many years of varied public and social work.
02/10/1968 Harry Riley
Many years of varied public and social work including secretary of the Bexhill Council of Social Service for over 30 years and secretary of the town's Citizens Advice Bureau for 25 years.
29/07/2009 Ian Allen
Row4Charity Indian Ocean Rowing Race Winner.
29/07/2009 Matthew Hellier
Row4Charity Indian Ocean Rowing Race Winner.
29/07/2009 Nick McCorry
Row4Charity Indian Ocean Rowing Race Winner.
29/07/2009 Phil McCorry
Row4Charity Indian Ocean Rowing Race Winner.
13/10/2019 Stuart Earl
Mayor of Bexhill, as well as an upstanding member of the community and a champion of local causes.
11/05/2022 Alexis Markwick
Creator of the Open Street Map (OSM) of Bexhill, and contributor to Bexhill's tourism, culture, well-being and education.