Friends of Hastings Cemetery

T S Dymond in his ‘Memoirs of a Mayor of Hastings’ records that;-

“the late Alderman Tree had always been a welcome visitor in Rouen and no one had done more to foster the good feeling with the people of Normandy.”

In 1904 when he visited Rouen he took with him a wreath of forged iron which he publicly offered to the memory of Joan of Arc.

Le Souvenir Normand visitors to Hastings in 1927, celebrating the 900th anniversary of the birth of Duke William, visited the cemetery and laid a wreath on Tree’s Grave.

He was also Chairman of the Sussex Sea Fisheries District local fisheries committee.

Alderman Tree was John Logie Baird's landlord in Queens Arcade.  In the inventor's autobiography he is referred to as Mr. Twigg.

According to Baird 'Mr Twigg' asked him to vacate the Queens Arcade workshop following the explosion in July 1924.  There was an argument between the two men on the pavement outside, which attracted a small crowd, further entertained by the fact that Baird had split his trousers.  Baird eventually received a letter from Tree's solicitors which contributed to his decision to leave Hastings for London in November 1924.

Alderman Tree was Mayor of Hastings four times.  He died in 1927 and his will set up a trust fund for the purchase of exhibits for the Hastings Museum, based on income from the shops in Queens Arcade.  The fund has been used in recent years to acquire exhibits and archives relating to his erstwhile - and unsatisfactory tenant - John Logie Baird. - http://www.hmag.org.uk/collections/baird/workshop/

He left 23-24 Mann Street to the council for educational purposes in addition to half his residual estate to assist Hastings residents [prior to 1880] or their descendents to emigrate to British Empire dominions; this had a limit of £50 per person or £150 per family.

His residuary estate was £5809. The Went Tree Trust income is now is used for purchases and conservation at Hastings Museum.

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