This book measures 5 ¼" x 8 3/8" by ½" thick and is of a much better quality than the others, having a cover with a velvety feel about it, which was probably a deep red when new.
This is in fact the draft copy of the third edition to a book on the History of St. Oswald′s Church, Hooe that my grandfather had first written in 1898 and printed off, by hand, on some form of rotary hand press, as described to me by my Uncle Don.
In 1899, he produced a second edition, which, this time, the "Bexhill Printing and Publishing Company" printed and, to produce this new draft, he took cuttings from a copy of this edition and pasted them, according to topic, one to each page. He then, deleted words and sentences, and added notes, details and facts not in the previous editions.
This draft was apparently passed to various people for comment and approval but one of them failed to return it. Why my grandfather didn’t apparently try to get it back we’ll probably never know but eventually it came into the possession of my Uncle Don who then had it published and wrote the following at the front of the book, above the prefaces to the Second and Third Editions, as written by John James Newport.
Explanatory Notes
Eighty-seven years have passed since my father produced his second edition of this booklet. An up-dated, but incomplete draft of a third edition has recently come into my possession, which I now feel should be published just as he wrote it - with no apology for any inaccuracies or changes in style caused by the lapse of time. No attempt has been made to record any twentieth century developments at Hooe. I would like this to be published in memory of my sister Gwendoline, who was always associated with Hooe Church and, indeed, was Organist for nearly forty years. I wish to express my sincere thanks to my son-in-law David G. W. Dewar, M. A., my daughter Kathleen, and my wife Margaret for their great help, support and enthusiasm in bringing this booklet to the publishers. To the Sussex Archaeological Society for a copy of the 2nd ed. 1899. I hope this will generate further interest and investigation into Hooe Church and its history, and my father's efforts in creating a third edition will not be wasted. Donald H. Newport. Little Ingrams, Ninfield. November 1986.”
