“But I am John Harmer!” – Brighton’s Forgotten Maverick

John Harmer is not famous – but in Victorian Brighton, the seaside town where I was born and bred, he was once a household name. Indeed, by August 1860 ‘Mad Jack Harmer’ was so infamous in Sussex that the thronging crowds at Lewes Races split their attentions equally between John and the world-famous pugilist Tom Sayers. His notoriety stemmed from the increasingly eccentric exploits with which he kept packed courtrooms, the local press and his friends and neighbours alike amused and astonished. John’s life gives a fantastic insight into the era, and I hope it is of interest to local historians, geneaologists, and those who simply enjoy a good yarn from times gone by.