Celebrating Hampshire Historians

Hannen, Reginald Stephen John

1853 - 1930

He came from a family well rooted and in business in Fordingbridge. His father, John, is described as an ‘estate agent and auctioneer’, and he as a ‘land agent and auctioneer’. In 1880 his father was appointed coroner for the town and he followed in 1898. Later, he traded as Hannen & Sampson (HRO, 12M86). He is remembered by the Quadrant Almshouses in Fordingbridge, still occupied, that he donated in June 1919 to the town in memory of his father and ‘the Glorious Peace’. His father is described as ‘a bookworm’, with an interest in ‘old books’.

In 1883, Reginald published Notes on the Town and Neighbourhood of Fordingbridge, a 56-page booklet, with 3 pages of advertisements. His aim was ‘to gather reliable information…believing it would prove interesting to the inhabitants’. He ‘culled many interesting fragments’ from the works of ‘Mr Wise’ and ‘Mr White’, which probably means J.R. Wise, The New Forest, its History and Scenery, published in 1863, and one of the editions of William White’s History, Gazetteer and Directory of Hampshire. The printer was Titus Mitchell from the ‘Minerva’ Machine Printing Works, Ringwood. As well as a conventional history of the town by him, with useful contemporary topographical information, there were chapters by other authors on geology and the flora and fauna.

The publication was, by all accounts, a great success. In 1889, there was a second edition entitled A History of Fordingbridge ‘revised and enlarged’ with 82 pages and in 1909 a third, ‘with many items of interest added’. The print runs of the first two were 2,000 copies, and of the third, 1,000 copies – which, even allowing for some hyperbole, is very impressive for such a local publication.

In 1890, Mitchell also printed The Fordingbridge Comic Almanack…Tales of the Hundred of Ford by Reginald Hannen. This was in part a town directory, plus fictional tales loosely based on fact – a sort of crude historical fiction. They were based on one of his fathers ‘old books’, which was inscribed as belonging in 1790 to Jeremiah Cray of Ibbesley’. Amongst the tales is one about Alice Lisle and Moyles Court.

He is sometimes given the letters F.S.I, an acronym not yet identified.

Sources

HRO, TOP 130/1-3

HRO, 12M86.

https://fordingbridgehistorysociety.org.uk/

Portrait

None known, but there is a photo of the almshouses (see above, para 1)

Contribution to county’s history

Minor, but sufficient to be cited in the footnotes of the VCH.

Relevant published works

• Notes on the Town and Neighbourhood of Fordingbridge, Ringwood, 1883

• A History of Fordingbridge

• Ringwood, 1890 and Fordingbridge, 1909

Critical Comments

Little original research

Other Comments

Hannen’s work show that there was an appetite for local history in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. No doubt his booklets also served a useful purpose in his business

Contributor

Barry Shurlock, 20 November, 2023.

Key Words

Fordingbridge, Ringwood, Alice Lisle

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