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This article was first published in the West Sussex Gazette on 29th October 1992.
Following on from last week's revelations of bygone policemen including 'Tiny' Dear, Worthing reader Walter Godfrey was also acquainted with him, for they knew each other when 'Tiny' was a boy at his home village of West Ashling, while Walter himself was a lad living at Lavant.
Their paths crossed again in the 1930s when Walter saw 'Tiny' in a carnival procession at Worthing where he was being pushed along in a pram dressed as a Glaxo Baby.
After reading last week that 'Tiny' entered a fancy dress ball done up as a Babe In The Crib during the late 1920s, one must be forgiven for thinking that he became type-cast in that role.
When interviewing Walter it transpired that his own family had been connected with the police force as well: his father, Albert, had joined the Sussex Constabulary in 1891 and had been stationed at Worthing initially.
He remained in the town until 1893, when a disastrous epidemic of typhoid struck Worthing, infecting nearly 1,500 people and killing almost 200, about which Walter recalls, 'Father told me about Fever Year as it was called and the terrible deaths.
During the typhoid epidemic which struck Worthing in 1893, fresh water from neighbouring towns was supplied in galvanised tanks which were positioned around the town. This one was near The Swan Inn at the north end of High Street.
Picture reproduced from the book 'A Town's Pride'
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'He used to talk about the Salvation Army riots as well -- the Salvationists were resented by members of the public, that is what it amounted to.'
That was one of those few occasions when public order deteriorated to such an extent the Riot Act was read from the Town Hall steps.
In the year 1919, Albert retired from the police when Walter, the next to last of seven children, was aged 15, and they moved in with Albert's mother at 49 Clifton Road -- a terraced cottage with an outside loo part way down the long back garden. (These houses were demolished circa 1960)
One of the things that has stuck in Walter's mind over the years is the long hours they worked for little pay, 'In 1919 I went to work on a nursery and was earning 15s(75 pence) to start with, progressing in 10 years to £2 5s.(£2.25)'
He continued to work hard and managed eventually to purchase his own nurseries in Lancing and Durrington, where he produced mainly tomatoes, indoor beans and chrysanths.
Walter married in 1933, co-incidentally the same year 'Tiny' wed, and bought a brand new house in Lavington Road, which was then being developed, for just £895.
Wow! Just look at property prices now and how they have shot up since then.
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