Belmont Local History

John Gibbons:  local hero or Jack the lad?

Local man John Gibbons (bn. 1818, d. 1867) was responsible for building the California Arms public house in Brighton Road in approximately 1859.  There are different stories as to how he made his fortune and managed to buy 8 acres of land between Downs Road/Brighton Road/Cotswold Road.  According to family legend, he became a sailor but jumped ship at San Francisco and made his fortune at the California Gold Rush and there were rumours he was a highwayman there.  He became known as 'California Jack'. 

John Gibbons comes across as a bit of dodgy character with some criminal tendencies.  Family legend has it that he vandalised a toll gate in Brighton Road, deliberately smashing it with a heavy wagon.  John Gibbons got involved in the lengthy dispute between a railway company and contractors regarding the construction of the railway branch line from Sutton to Epsom Downs: a newspaper from 1864 reports that Gibbons appeared in court charged with for the night-time removal of part of the new railway - the missing sleepers and rails had been found in his oat-field!  It is unclear what Gibbons' motives could have been for either of these acts. 

California Dreaming

Belmont Railway Station opened in 1865 although it was originally called California after the pub opposite.  Ten years later however, the station was renamed Belmont, from which the village that subsequently emerged took its name.  Thus, had it not been for the changing of the station’s name, it is reasonable to think that the village of Belmont would instead be known as California!   

COPYRIGHT: ROLAND SPARKES 2009