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Who was 'Ma' Barney?

Who was Ma Barney?

This photo of ‘Ma Barney’ came from my grandfather. Apparently Ma Barney was a friend of his when he had either The Clarence Garage opposite St Mark’s Church, Eastern Road, Kemp Town c1918 to 1921. On the other hand it might have been when he later had The Colonnade pub in New Road between 1926 & 1928.

Unfortunately I don’t know anything about Ma Barney. What would ‘Ma’ have stood for?

The New Central Hotel in the photo is long demolished.

 

Comments about this page

  • Is it possible ‘Ma Barney’ was the horse’s name? You know – ‘come on ma barney’.

    By Pam (12/10/2009)
  • Thanks for that suggestion Pam but it’s a non-runner (to use horsey parlance), as my grandmother used to refer to old Barney – but I can’t remember in what context this was. TCS.

    By Tim Sargeant (21/10/2009)
  • Police Constable Percival Barnden (1877-1940), served in Brighton for twenty-five years directing the traffic along the Front. He was a veteran of the Boer War in South Africa, serving with the Scots Guards and volunteered again in October 1914 as a Sergeant with the Military Police. “Barney,” and his horse were well-liked and familiar to thousands.

    By Mr R.J. Howard (17/02/2020)
  • Mr Howard, many, many thanks for your response to my posting of over ten years ago! Obviously you can’t have known Barney so how did you come by this information after all this time, as my enquiries elsewhere have revealed nothing. The only query now is why was he called ‘Ma’ Barney? As that is what he signed the photo as. I can now put the correct information on the back of the photo for the future and another bit of Brighton history and a mystery solved for the archive. Once again thanks, and my best regards to you. Tim Sargeant. (Tim (at) Permanden Co UK)

    By Tim Sargeant (19/02/2020)

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