This impressive stone memorial commemorates 15 members of an important Horsham family. The Hursts were the main landowners for Horsham in the 19th century as Robert Hurst (1750-1843 and not buried in this plot) had purchased lands in 1812 when Horsham Common was enclosed (public right of access removed and the land sold for private ownership). The Hurst family lived in Park House from 1799, a building which remains on North Street at the edge of Horsham Park. Beneath the Hursts’ triple headstone there is a large vault where those commemorated are buried. It is marked by a paved area in front of the stone featuring a prone cross. Family members of particular interest are:
Robert Henry Hurst Senior
(1788 – 1857)
- Hurst was one of the first people to be buried in the new Denne Road cemetery which opened on 4 July 1852.
- He served as a Guards Officer in the Peninsular War (1808-1814). The Peninsular War took place on the Iberian Peninsular which had been invaded by Napoleon’s forces.
- In 1832 he was elected MP for Horsham. This was the year that the Parliamentary Reform Act transformed the voting system in the UK and made him the first MP to serve Horsham following these reforms. He would serve a further 3 times.
Robert Henry Hurst Junior
(1817 – 1905)
- Son of Robert Henry Hurst Senior.
- Like his father and grandfather, he served as an MP for Horsham. He was a reformer.
- He was known as Horsham’s ‘Grand Old Man’ due to his role as a benefactor to the town. He served as a magistrate, founded the Horsham School of Art on Hurst Road and was on the board of guardians for the Union Workhouse (which opened in 1839 and was located on Crawley Road).
- His son Cecil Hurst (buried in St Mary Magdalene Church, Rusper) was a lawyer of international importance. He played a key role in writing the Covenant of the League of Nations (which forms part of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles) and was the first President of the Second World War’s United Nations War Crimes Commission.
Dorothea Hurst
(1819-1900)
- Daughter of Robert Henry Hurst Senior.
- Dorothea wrote the first historical account of Horsham, ‘History and Antiquities of Horsham’, which was published in 2 parts in 1868 and 1886.
- Like her brother Robert she was philanthropic, setting up a school for poor children in nearby Roffey. Despite being more than 2 miles away, Dorothea walked to the school every day from her home in the Causeway.
- Dorothea died on 1 January 1900 – the first day of the new century.
Dorothea Hurst (1819-1900)