Names on the buses

876 Arthur Wagner

Connections with Brighton and Hove : The son of the Rev Henry Wagner, imperious Vicar of Brighton, Arthur was perpetual curate of St Paul’s Church in West Street. Greatly influenced by the High Church ideals of Dr Edward Pusey, Wagner started a row, which persisted for the last half of the nineteenth century over Anglo-Catholicism. Arthur Wagner started a community of nuns at Queen Square, which was connected with a home for female penitents. One resident, Constance Kent, stood trial for murder in 1864. Called as a witness, Wagner refused to tell the court details for her confession and this led to his being attacked and even shot in the streets of Brighton. Wagner remained in his post until he died in 1902, having served for 52 years. His chief legacy to the town was the building of five churches all in poor areas. They were St Bartholomew’s in Ann Street, one of the finest churches in England, St Martin’s, St Mary and St Mary Magdalene, the Church of the Annunciation and the Church of the Resurrection. Wagner also had more than 400 houses built for poor people in the town, mainly in the Roundhill and Islingword Road areas. A shy man of great piety, Wagner attracted an unusual amount of resentment despite all his good works.

 

876 Dennis Trident - carried name since delivery in April 2002, repainted in new livery April 2006. Bus sold in April 2015.

Photograph of Arthur Wagner reproduced with the kind permission of the Royal Pavilion, Libraries and Museums (Brighton and Hove).