The Chain Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, 1865

Photograph, 1865. From an album compiled by Colonel Montagu Hall.

The Royal Suspension Pier, or the Chain Pier, was designed by Captain Samuel Brown, and built in 1823 in the famous seaside resort of Brighton, in Sussex. The pier was destroyed in a storm in 1896.

Montagu Hall (1831-1904) was born 27 August 1831, in Bristol. He served in the 2nd Burma War (1852-1853) and the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859). Fighting with the 1st Bengal European Fusiliers, he participated in the relief and capture of Lucknow. He is recorded as gaining the rank of captain, serving with the 101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers), on 30 July 1862. He retired as an Honorary Colonel 13 June 1883 and died at Ryde on the Isle of Wight on 12 March 1904, aged 72.