King of the Slot Machines

Daltons, a grassroots performance and event venue on the beach close to the pier, has just been granted more liberal alcohol licensing conditions, despite initial objections from the police. Though little remembered today, the venue carries the name of Oliver Dalton, once known as the King of the Slot Machines.

The venue, with a maximum capacity of 170, has secured an extended off-sales licence, allowing customers to leave the venue with alcoholic drinks (though this is only until 10.00 am in summer); and it is now allowed to stay open until 3:30 am at weekends. Among the conditions agreed to by Madeira Leisure (owned by Jeffrey and Jayne Iris Sanders) are: hosting at least seven arts-led live entertainment events a week, and a commitment to keep the sale of alcohol ancillary to operating as a grass roots music venue. Madeira Leisure also owns Brighton Zip, situated directly above Daltons.

Prior to agreement of the new licensing conditions, police feared there might be a potential for increased crime and disorder, and that the venue could evolve into a night club, and/or more of a bar than a restaurant with a carnival or DJ vibe. A rival business operator also expressed concern that allowing drinking at the bar after meals could be a ‘Trojan horse’ for converting the premises into an alcohol-led or ‘wet’ venue! Brighton and Hove News

The specific beach area there is known as Dalton’s Bastion, named after Oliver Dalton, born 1879. He was the eldest son of War Office clerk Oliver D’Alton and Eliza Powell. The family moved from South London to Brighton around 1888, but his father died the following year. His mother opened a boarding house, and he himself delivered newspapers. Aged only 13, he applied unsuccessfully for a position as a timekeeper on the Chain Pier. Instead, he became a naval cadet on a training ship moored on the Thames, but then took a clerical position in Woolwich. He enlisted as a trooper in the Imperial Yeomanry and served in South Africa during the closing stages of the second Boer War. 

Back in Brighton, Dalton obtained a licence to operate a number of beach huts and bathing machines on the foreshore to the east of what was then Palace Pier (now Brighton Pier), an area which had been re-designated to allow mixed bathing (having hitherto been only for ladies). Ever entrepreneurial, he travelled to the US to buy slot machines and pleasure rides which, once installed, not only made him rich but earned him recognition in the entertainment industry. He acquired an interest in the Palace Pier, the greyhound stadium and other seafront shops. Famous at home and abroad, Dalton was described by one foreign newspaper as The King of Slot Machines.

Unfortunately, with the start of the war, the pier and beaches were closed and Dalton was heading for financial ruin. Aged only 60, he took his own life in 1939.

My Brighton and Hove has more on the man, as well as additional notes by local history buffs.