View of Queens Arcade

A contemporary view down Queens Arcade, Hastings from below Baird's workshop. Paine's florist shop still operates from this site as it did in 1924.

John Logie Baird with William Le Queux

Photograph of John Logie Baird with William Le Queux, President of the Hastings Radio Society and Claude Frowd in the Queens Arcade Laboratory, Hastings, 1924.

This photograph was selected by Baird as an illustration to the typed autobiography now in the Hastings Museum.

Museum Accession No. HASMG 2002.1.16
Copyright Malcolm Baird

Neon Lamp Used by John Logie Baird during his early experiments with television in Hastings in 1923.

The lamp was acquired from Baird's workshop in Queens Arcade in 1924 by Victor Mills. When the inventor came to talk at the White Rock Pavilion in 1927, Baird signed the bulb over a wax resist coating so that the signature could be etched on to the surface of the glass.

Museum Accession No: HASMG 989.55

Notice from the Hastings & St Leonards Observer, 12 April 1924

Notice from the Hastings & St Leonards Observer, 12 April 1924 announcing the formation of the Hastings, St Leonards and District Radio Society and their inaugural lecture on April 28th, to be given by Mr. Baird on the subject of television.

Copyright Hastings and St. Leonards Observer

Photograph of Dr George Locke

Dr George Locke was John Logie Baird's doctor during his stay in Hastings and was based in Wellington Square, a short distance from the Queens Arcade workshop. In 1924 he lent Baird his St Johns Ambulance Maltese Cross Medal to replace the cardboard cross used in his first experiments with image transmission.

Museum Accession No: HASMG 2002.11.1

Maltese Cross

A St Johns Ambulance Medal lent by Dr George Lock to John Logie Baird in 1924 to help with his experiments in image transmission. Baird initially used a cardboard cross to create shadowgraphs. However, he needed an object that would reflect light and the shiny enamel surface of the medal was more suited to this purpose.

Museum Accession No: HASMG 2002.11.4

Paragraph from the Hastings & St Leonards Observer

Paragraph from the Hastings & St Leonards Observer, 26 July 1924 describing the electric shock sustained by John Logie Baird at his Queens Arcade workshop in Hastings during experiments with television.

Copyright Hastings and St. Leonards Observer

Photograph of Alderman Ben Went Tree

Alderman Tree was John Logie Baird's landlord in Queens Arcade. In the inventor's autobiography he is referred to as Mr. Twigg.

According to Baird 'Mr Twigg' asked him to vacate the Queens Arcade workshop following the explosion in July 1924. There was an argument between the two men on the pavement outside which attracted a small crowd, further entertained by the fact that Baird had split his trousers. Baird eventually received a letter from Tree's solicitors which contributed to his decision to leave Hastings for London in November 1924.

Alderman Tree was Mayor of Hastings four times. He died in 1927 and his will set up a trust fund for the purchase of exhibits for the Hastings Museum, based on income from the shops in Queens Arcade. The fund has been used in recent years to acquire exhibits and archives relating to his erstwhile - and unsatisfactory tenant - John Logie Baird.

Museum Accession No: HASMG 983.19.179