TUNBRIDGE WELLS FAMILY HISTORY

SOCIETY Member of the Federation of Family History Societies

and the Kent Group of Family History Societies

JOURNAL Number 44 Summer 2009

ISSN 1472-1457

H Novis & Son, 26 Crescent Road

Tunbridge Wells Family History Society Committee Members

Chairman: Mr Roy THOMPSON 5 College Drive, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, Kent, TN2 3PN (Phone: 01892 535954; email: roythompson@mailsnare.net)

Hon Secretary: Mrs Veronica SIDDALL Yew Tree Byre, Yew Tree Lane, ROTHERFIELD, East Sussex, TN6 3QP (Phone: 01892 852334; email: veronicasiddall@hotmail.co.uk) Hon Treasurer: Mr Ian LUNT Yew Tree House, Yew Tree Lane, ROTHERFIELD, East Sussex, TN6 3QP (Phone: 01892 852658; email: ianlunt@tiscali.co.uk)

Membership Secretary: Mr Reg BUTLER Glencairn, Whitehill Road, CROWBOROUGH, East Sussex, TN6 1JA (Phone: 01892 665501; email: regbutler@talktalk.net) Journal Editor: Mr Colin HUGGETT Littledene, Liptraps Lane, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, Kent, TN2 3AB (Phone: 01892 532928 email: colinhuggett5@hotmail.com)

Projects Organiser: Mrs Vera WHARTON 39 Millbrook Road, CROWBOROUGH, East Sussex, TN6 2SB (Phone: 01892 663351: email: verawharton@btinternet.com)

Member: Mr Paul MARSH 30 Pleasant View Road, CROWBOROUGH, East Sussex, TN6 2UU (Phone: 01892 655230: marshpaul1@sky.com)

Society website

www.tunwells-fhs.co.uk

Important notice

Membership records are held on computer. If you do not wish your name and address to be kept in this way, please notify the membership secretary.

We have a limited number of our old Journals for sale – please contact Bryan Cowling (details on Cover p3) if interested.

Other people you may wish to contact Bookstall Organiser: Mr Bryan COWLING, 18 Hydehurst Close, CROWBOROUGH, East Sussex, TN6 1EN (Phone: 01892 663038) Researcher and Microfiche Organiser: Mrs Shirley OXENBURY, The Old Cottage, Langton Road, Langton Green, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, Kent, TN3 0BA (emails.oxenbury@virgin.net) Librarian: Shirley UNDERWOOD, 12 Sandown Grove, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, Kent, TN2 4RW (Phone: 01892 822497; email: seugrove@btopenworld.com) Programme Organiser: Mrs Francesca BRAHAM, 9 Chestnut Avenue, Southborough, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, Kent, TN4 0BS (email: Fab13167@aol.com)

* * * * Subscription rates:

Individual £8.00; Family £10.00; Overseas £10.00 * * * *

Aims of the Society: To promote genealogical studies and family history research, particularly in the

Tunbridge Wells area; to make available the results of any research; and to promote the preservation of records.

Parishes covered:

2009 Programme 23 June “Funny Blood” Anne Simmonds

28 July Family History and the Internet Ian Waller 25 August Records of Death - Don’t Neglect Them! Celia Heritage 22 September TBA

27 October TBA

24 November Annual General Meeting

The Society meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month (except December)

at The Village Hall, Station Road, Groombridge. Meetings start at 8pm.

Refreshments, bookstall and help desk available from 7.30pm.

If this journal cannot be delivered, please return it to: Reg Butler, Glencairn, Whitehill Road, Crowborough, East Sussex, TN6 1JA

TWFHS 1 Journal 44

Contents Editorial … … … … … … … … 1 Bits and Pieces … … … … … … … 2 18 Counties Added to 1901 Census; From the National Archives; How to Reduce Ageing; The National Archives; Changes to the GRO Website; Scottish Death & Burial Records Online; A New Version of the Scotland 1881 Census; Some New and Reprinted Books The Early Life of Kathleen Freeland – Part 1 … … … 5 The Rewards of Patience … … … … … 10 A Marchant Family Record … … … … … 12 The Netherby Gazette– Part 1 … … … … … 16 Harvey Town … … … … … … … 25 Coroners’ Inquests… … … … … … … 27

Editorial Many thanks to those members who rallied to my pleas in recent issues and have put pen to paper. There is a wealth of interesting histories out there as the past weeks have proven and I have several articles in hand. Don’t be complacent, though, I would still like more! Regarding the content of the Journal, as I’ve not heard to the contrary I assume you are satisfied with the presentation currently practised. A team from the Society organised a stall at the Crawley fair this year which, by all accounts, was not so well attended no doubt due to the miserable weather at the time. However, it was still financially worthwhile. The next fair is at Maidstone on 7 June. The committee has agreed that the Society should buy a laptop to store copies of the Society’s most important data which will comprise CD data; membership data; Journal data; addresses and contacts for suppliers; and financial data.

Copy deadline for Journal Number 45, Winter, will be 12 October 2009

2 TWFHS

Eighteen new counties added to 1901 census Work by findmypast.com is continuing on the 1901 census with a further 8.6 million new 1901 census records covering 18 complete counties. The new counties are:

Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cornwall, Dorsetshire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Wiltshire, Warwickshire, Cheshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Later, in the same Newsletter, the Find my Past team state that the complete counties of Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland, which comprise 443,204 new records, are now live on 1911census.co.uk. In addition, the Gateshead data, which comprises 84,195 new records, has now been added to Durham. This means that the whole of England is now online and searchable. The Welsh counties will be added soon. The new records have been newly scanned and it’s quite possible that you’ll discover ancestors you haven’t found in other online versions of the 1901 census, and better quality images. From The National Archives They’ve put more than 110,000 Royal Marine service registers online for you to search and download. If your relative joined the Marines between 1842 and 1936 you may be able to find them here. You can search by surname, first name and date of enlistment. The registers can tell you the ships that your Marine served on, medals awarded, details of conduct, or misconduct, and more. There are some handy search tips, advice on understanding the registers and suggestions on where to look for more information. Searching the index is free, so start looking now. How to Reduce Ageing Member Paul Marsh had been looking for various people on the 1911 Census. One of these was Albert Matten born 1862 so he would be 49. Paul found an Albert Matten aged 42 living with his sister, Janila, aged 43. Now his Albert did have a maiden sister but her name was Julia and she had been born in

Bits and Pieces

Journal 44 3

1857 so should have been 54. His cousin checked the data and looked back to find that: 1881: Albert 18 (1863): Julia 21 (1860) 1891: Albert 26 (1865): Julia 29 (1862) 1901: Albert 33 (1868); Julia 36 (1865) so it could very well be his Albert and Julia, although they’re a lot younger than they should be!

The National Archives Their April Newsletter has some great news for family historians. Their partners BMDregisters.co.uk have added more than 100,000 records of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials of British subjects overseas and on board ships to their website. The records mostly date from the 19th and 20th centuries; if your ancestors travelled the world or married at sea during this period, you may find them here. Make sure you explore the rest of BMDregisters too. With records ranging from Methodists and Baptists to Presbyterians and Quakers, this website is invaluable for tracing non-conformist ancestors. Good news, 1911 census records for all of England are now complete. Changes to the General Register Office Website From 1 April 2009, General Register Office (GRO) information for the public will move from their current website (www.gro.gov.uk) to join the website Directgov, a cross-government supersite, the aim being to host information on all public services in one place. The new address will be www.direct.gov.uk/gro, taking users to an area entitled “Registering Life Events”. As well as providing easy links to the online certificate ordering service, it will contain information on all registration as well as guidance on family history and the use of the GRO bdm indexes. The current GRO web address will remain active and will host a “homepage” that will guide visitors to GRO information via links. The web address for the GRO online ordering service remains the same and can be found at http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates. This page can also be easily accessed via www.direct.gov.uk/gro. If you have any queries regarding this initiative, please contact the GRO communications team at gro.communications@ips.gsi.gov.uk.

4 TWFHS

Scottish Death & Burial Records now Online Scotlandspeople is by far the most comprehensive source of information for those with Scottish ancestry, and they have now made available for the first time death and burial records from the period before Civil Registration, including images of the original register entries. A New Version of the Scotland 1881 Census More good news for those with Scottish ancestry. If you’ve had difficulty finding your relatives in the Scotland 1881 census, you’ll be delighted to learn that Scotlandspeople now has a completely new transcription, and also images of the handwritten enumeration schedules – believed to be the first time they’ve been available online! The original LDS transcription is still available on the site. Some New and Reprinted Books I have been informed of a number of new books published under the Family History Partnership imprint, three of which are completely new, and four old favourites returning as reprints or new editions:

Gibson Guides for Genealogists, Family and Local Historians

Coroners Records in England and Wales (Third Edition), by Jeremy Gibson and Colin Rogers; ISBN 978 1 906280 13 0: Price £4.50. Victuallers’ Licences: Records for Family and Local Historians (Third Edition), by Jeremy Gibson; ISBN 978 1 906280 14 7); Price £4.95. New Titles

The Census 1801-1911: A Guide for the Internet Era, by Stuart Raymond; ISBN 978 1 906280 16 1; Price £5.95. Parish Registers: A History and Guide, by Stuart Raymond; ISBN 978 1 906280 17 8; Price £5.95. New Cousins: How to Trace Living Descendants of your Ancestors, by Karen Bali; ISBN 978 1 906280 19 2; Price £3.95. Newly available at ‘The FH Event’. New Edition

Researching Brewery and Publican Ancestors (Second Edition), by Simon Fowler; ISBN 978 1 906280 12 3; Price £5.95. Reprint

A Latin Glossary for Family and Local Historians (Reprinted 2009), by Janet Morris; ISBN 987 1 906280 18 5: Price £3.50.

Journal 44 5

For further information on these publications, please visit the website at www.thefamilyhistorypartnership.com, click on ‘Publications’ and highlight the title concerned.

The Early Life of Kathleen Mary Freeland, b1895 – Pt 1

Member 516, Mrs Rebecca Verkade-Cave, 81 Pattison Lane, Woolstone, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK15 0AY

The following are the memoirs of Mrs Verkade-Cave’s grandmother who put pen to paper in the 1970s and wrote the story of her early life until her marriage in 1925. This is her tale until she left school at the age of 13.

Tunbridge Wells So we had to leave the railway cottage in Slades Green and we returned to my mother’s (Ellen Killick b1857) home in Tunbridge Wells. In those days it was easy to rent a house and we had quite a nice little house in High Brooms. I believe the rent was 7s 6d a week no more. Of course no bathroom or hot water, but nice rooms and a garden front and back. The houses are built of red brick and always look bright and clean, and now I expect fetch quite a lot of money. Until recently my brother (Charles Freeland) lived in one and I often visited him. He had had a bathroom and improvements done with a government grant. St Barnabas’ school We went to a Church School, St. Barnabas’ in Quarry Road. It was a long way for us to go, but my mother had worshipped at the church and so we had to go. Of course there were no school buses, indeed no buses at all, no milk and no school dinners. Both my brothers (James Freeland b1898 and Charles Freeland b1900) were choir boys and servers and we attended Sunday school

6 TWFHS

twice on Sunday morning and afternoon and evening service at night. We never questioned it and I’m sure we enjoyed going. Our life was centred around the church and there was always something going on. Sunday school treats, Christmas parties and our teachers would give individual parties. Once a year we would have a day at the seaside. Looking back I think they must have engaged the whole train, as we paid so little. The eldest child paid one shilling, the second sixpence, any other child three pence each, and we had a free tea, but we took sandwiches for a midday snack. Childhood games The most pocket money I had was one shilling and out of that I bought a present for Mum, and ½oz of tobacco for Granddad (William Killick 1831–1914) which cost 1½d. Then there was the ‘Band of Hope’ which met once a week when we had singing, poetry reading and a story with a moral read to us. I remember one was ‘Jessica’s first prayer’ which would reduce me to tears. So life was centred on making us holy but we were happy enough. We had quite a lot of pleasure from street games, such as marbles and hoops. The girls had wooden hoops, the boys iron ones with a scoop to control them. We had skipping ropes, tops and tip-cat which was a piece of wood sharpened at each end, which was knocked then hit and thrown and I’m afraid often broke windows. Then there were the timber tugs. They were long flat lorries which carried whole tree trunks and pulled by a horse, usually two, one in front of the other. We would jump on the end and other kids would call out ‘whip behind mister’, but the whip wouldn’t go that far round. We also played ball games and ‘knock-a-tiles’ which was played with five stones. The roads were safer then. It would be quite impossible to play on the streets today. But the streets were dirty then. In wet weather the carts with brushes would clean the roads and in dry weather water carts spraying the roads, we often ran after the cart and got wet too. Father home Meantime my father (James Freeland b1872) had served his term of eight months (on the railway on The Gold Coast of Africa), and now had four months leave on full pay. We were all very excited and pleased to have him home. He brought us many things, also six grey parrots and a small monkey. One parrot we kept and it soon learned to talk, really a wonderful bird. My mother would tell us the parrot told her what we were doing when she was out and we believed her. The other parrots were given to relations but the

Journal 44 7

monkey died before we got attached to it. My father also brought home a huge bunch of bananas. They were green and lasted a long time as we had to wait until they ripened. We had a wonderful four months with my father taking us out and spending his money freely. Father dies He returned to Africa never to return as he was killed in a rail crash instantly and was buried the same day. My sister (Florence Freeland b1893) and I had spent the day at Hastings with the ‘Band of Hope’ and had not really enjoyed it. The weather was wet and I had lost my stockings. So to see my mother crying when we reached home was distressing. I’ve never forgotten it, and still dislike Hastings. Maybe I associate it with my father’s death. It is really silly and I know it is. This was trouble for my mother, no help was given to widows and fatherless children. No school dinners or free milk. It’s true food and coal were cheap, but nothing is cheap when you have no income. Uncle helps out Our Uncle (Herbert Freeland 1877–1958) who was in Africa had not heard of his brother’s death. News did not travel so quickly in those days. When he did come home he thought of us and was extremely kind and did allow my mother five pounds a month. It was properly done through the bank. It doesn’t sound much these days, but it was as much as some men earned and it was very kind of him. In other ways he thought of us such as birthdays and Christmas, he never forgot. Stale bread So in many ways we were fortunate and not too badly off. But we were poor and although I can truly say we were never hungry, my mother had to watch every penny. Before school she would send one of us, usually me, to buy stale bread and for sixpence you would get the large loaves. It was yesterday’s bread and very good, sometimes we got three penny worth of stale cakes for a treat. We always had to go to the best shops as they had the goods, the same at the butchers, we would get six penny worth of lean meat and a penny worth of suet, which was for a meat pudding. My sister always went to the butcher as she was served better. I expect it was as she was attractive and had lovely dark curly hair. No doubt men liked her and I guess that’s what my mother thought.

8 TWFHS

Soup kitchen In those day soup kitchens were opened in the winter and there was one in our playground. Ladies from the church would come on Mondays and prepare the vegetables etc and early on Tuesdays a Mrs Carey would light the copper and get the soup cooked. The ladies would serve it out. The school children could have a large mug for a halfpenny with a hunk of bread. The bread was new and a treat to me, and the soup was good too. This was repeated on Thursdays and Fridays. Many Churches did this for the poor. Looking back it seems awful as England was a rich country and it shouldn’t have been. Still people accepted it and we were taught; ‘to do our duty in that state of life in which God had called us’. We gradually got poorer and poorer and later I learned that my Uncle had stopped helping. He had married Florence Field in 1907 and had a family so naturally they had to come first and we dropped out of the picture. Never-theless it was kind of him to have done it for so long. It must have been three or four years I guess. I don’t think many brothers-in-law would do it. Mother goes to work My mother would go to work. She had been a good cook in service. She would do a dinner party at one of the large houses taking over from the cook and we would be awake at night waiting for her to come home, as she always brought some nice titbits for us. By doing this work we got to know quite a few servants and often I would go and help wash up after school in the evenings. I remember one cook was getting married and was very busy sewing and getting her bottom drawer filled with under clothes, so I was very welcome. I always had a good meal and something to take home, maybe a ham bone with quite a bit of meat on it, dripping etc. I am sure the lady of the house never knew. Kitty and Flossie work My sister and I had early morning jobs. I worked at a house in St. James Road starting at 4.45 am. My job was to clean the steps. They were leathstone and would look very white and clean, but they were soon dirty especially in wet weather. The front steps were quite a flight and one step at the gate and a flight of steps at the back. I also had to clean the boots and shoes and knives. The knives were cleaned in a machine made by ‘Kent’, but some had to be cleaned on an emery board with brick dust. I hated this as it would grate my

Journal 44 9

teeth. Saturdays I would work until midday scrubbing the kitchens and larders. For this I had breakfast and eighteen pence a week. After school I ran errands for a dressmaker taking home her work, and for this I had another eighteen pence a week and a tea. I was between 12 and 13 years old. These days it would be called cruelty to children, but it was the common lot of many and it did help to feed the family. I never spent any of the money myself and never expected to. But as I left my job on Saturday evenings I passed a greengrocers in Camden Road kept by a Mr Summers. He used to sell his fruit and vegetables cheap. I suppose it was fruit that would not keep, so for my eighteen pence I bought quite a lot which meant we had plenty of fruit and vegetables for the weekend. Once I remember buying a 1lb jar of jam very cheap and I dropped it, telling my mother I just put it down somewhere. I had to go back and look for it?! The teacher Our school was a church school and every morning the curate gave us scripture lessons from 9 o’clock to 9.45, so we were well versed in scripture. But we enjoyed the lessons. They were interesting and we all loved the curate. The whole school attended church on Saints days. Our teachers were all appointed by the clergy and I am sure they were not certified, but they were certainly dedicated and all learnt to read and write.

I think we were taught very well. Some of the boys did very well, one is a Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral, and several had good and important jobs. All left school at 14, it must have been their teachers, at least in some degree.

At thirteen we could sit for what was called the ‘Labour Exam’, and if you were good enough you could leave school at thirteen. I passed so now I could leave school and start work. So now I was grown up, and up went my hair and down went my skirts. I was short and fat and must have looked pretty awful. Employment agency I went to an employment agency, it was run by Mr Cummings in Grove Hill Road. He was a corn chandler, there was no special room for interviews and sacks of corn with just one chair for the interviewer. Mr Cummings was a huge man with a flourishing beard. I paid 1 shilling just to be put on his books. He gave me an address for a job as between maid at ‘Fishers Gate’, Withyham, the home of Lady Wharton. My mother went to see one of the maids of Colonel Newham Smith who

10 TWFHS

lived at 19 Ferndale. She mentioned that I was to interview with Lady Wharton and was told that they visited the house. This was good news for us, as we knew the Newham Smiths, one of the young ladies being our Sunday School teacher. The interview My mother used this information when we met Lady Wharton. We had to meet her in the ‘Ladies Waiting room’ at the ‘Brighton Station’ in Tunbridge Wells. My mother had impressed on me that I must say ‘My Lady’ whenever I spoke, which I did, but noticed that my mother didn’t. I liked her ladyship very much and she gave me a shilling, great wealth to me then. But she told my mother she thought I was too young.

To be continued

The Rewards of Patience

R ECENTLY A LETTER from Rosemary Stanley recounted

how, several years ago, we published a photograph she had in her possession. This appeared in the Help Wanted section (see Journal 27 page 10) under the heading “What was his name?”. Accompanying the photograph was a brief history of her aunt, Violet Gwen Hogbin, and that the photo was of Gwen’s fiancé who had been killed in WW1. However, nothing materialised from this request, but as her aunt had taught at a school near Lymington from 1912–1914, she placed the same plea in the Hampshire Genealogical Society’s magazine. This drew a response from a Gwen Hogbin

Journal 44 11

member of the First World War Aviation Historical Society suggesting she approached the editor of their magazine Cross and Cockade International asking him to publish the photo. This she did and received a phone call and an email, the relevant section which now follows. Success at last.

From various records I can tell you that the young man in your photograph was named Alan Victor Hobbs, eldest son of A E Hobbs of Tunbridge Wells. He was educated at Skinners’ School and St John’s College, Cambridge. He joined the Royal West Kent Regt in October 1914, and was Gazetted Second Lieutenant 10th Royal West Sussex Regt. He soon joined the RFC and after flying training gained his Royal Aero Club Certificate No 1155 on 2 April 1915, then following further training was posted to France by July that year. In October when 3 Squadron, to which he had been assigned, was being equipped with a new aircraft type, a French Morane Type LA, we know that 2Lt Hobbs ferried a few of these aircraft from Paris to 1 Aircraft Depot at St-Omer, and on to the squadron. Through October/November he was flying patrols against the enemy in this type, a high wing (parasol) two seater, with his observer 2Lt Charles Edward Tudor-Jones, but then during a morning patrol on 15 December 1915 they came up against one of the first German aces, Oberleutnant Max Immelmann, whose accurate firing shot their gun apart and succeeded in killing them both instantly for his seventh victory. Their Morane crashed into the wall of a house at Raismes, near Valenciennes and the two crew were buried there immediately by German soldiers. So sadly your aunt’s young fiancée, 2Lt Alan Victor Hobbs, died just days after his 21st birthday, his observer from Swindon was only 20.

The letter carries on that according to the Roll of Honour of Skinners’ School (see Journal 39 page 16) Alan Hobbs was a pupil at Skinners’ from 1905–1909.

Alan Hobbs

12 TWFHS

(Rosemary’s father was a pupil there from 1907–1912.) Alan’s younger brother, Bernard Francis, who attended the school from 1905–1912 is also on the Roll of Honour having joined the London Scottish Regiment. Checking the 1911 census, Rosemary found that the family were living at 33 Mount Pleasant Road and the father was a pharmaceutical chemist and I can remember a chemist shop by that name in the area. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Alan’s grave is still at Raismes Communal Cemetery, near Valenciennes. Max Immelmann was himself shot down not that much later. If any of our members have relatives who flew in the First World War and have a portrait they would allow The First World War Aviation Historical Society (Registered Charity No 1117741) to scan for their files they would be most grateful, as identified faces are always in demand in ongoing research. Please contact Colin Huston:

www.crossandcockade.com

A Marchant Family Record by William Marchant

Member 442, Brad Card, 12505 Occidental Avenue, Yakima, Washington 98903, USA

William Marchant was Brad’s father’s first cousin. He had the privilege of meeting Will many years ago and he was a most interesting and charming fellow. He was 94 at the time and travelling by himself all over visiting his relatives in the USA. This record tells about life in Speldhurst during the latter 19th century.

A Family Record for William Marchant, Elizabeth Hetty Marchant and Family

The paternal great-grandfather’s name was Hollamby The maternal great-grandfather’s name was Roberts

The paternal grandfather’s name was Marchant The maternal grandfather’s name was Chapman

Grandmother Chapman (néé Roberts), affectionately referred to as Gran, was born in Southborough some time in 1814, died aged 87 on 11 July 1901, and

buried in St Peter’s 15 July 1901.

T HE ABOVE ALL LIVED in the county of Kent, in or near the villages of Langton, Fordcombe and Speldhurst, within an area of about 3 miles

Journal 44 13

of Tunbridge Wells and 33 miles south of London. Father’s name was William Marchant and mother’s maiden name was Elizabeth Chapman. Father was born on 20 February 1838 at Fordcombe, mother on 26 April 1838 at Southborough. Father’s Parish Church was St Mary’s, Speldhurst and mother’s was St Peter’s Southborough.

The name being evidently of French origin, it is thought that earlier generations of the family came from Normandy in the year 1066 with William of Normandy who subjugated the Saxons under Harold at the Battle of Hastings (or Senlac Hill), 30 miles South of the villages above-mentioned. Battle Abbey, near the site was built to commemorate the event. The conqueror became William 1st, King of England.

For several generations the occupation of my Father’s folks was the owning and operation of brickyards, with farming of part of the land as a secondary activity. Thus, as the clay deposits became exhausted, other locations were procured, to which these activities were transferred as the need arose. These locations were always a comparatively short distance from each other, within the Tunbridge Wells area.

My uncle, Henry Marchant, being the eldest son, succeeded in accordance with established custom, to the brick-making business and in my boyhood days operated Sherlocks brickyard and a smaller area devoted to agriculture, chiefly hop-growing, a rather important division of farming activity in that part of the country. It therefore became necessary for the younger brother, William, to pursue some other career, so at an early age, probably about 14, he was apprenticed to John Constable, a builder at the village of Penshurst, some three miles distant, to learn the trade of carpenter and joiner. Mr Constable was favourably known throughout the region as a dependable craftsman, largely as a builder of churches, and a lad allowed to become his apprentice was considered fortunate.

As the day’s work then commenced at 6am with a half-hour stop for breakfast at 8am and 1 hour at noon for dinner, the 10 hour working day was finished at 5.30pm and all the young apprentice had to do in addition, was to trudge the weary miles homeward to gain his well-earned rest and, on waking at an early hour next morning, to cover the same ground in the reverse direction in another 10 hour day, carrying breakfast and dinner from home. Thus, it will be seen, the females of the family, whose task it was to prepare these portable meals, lived no life of vain inglorious ease either.

The specified period of the indentures ended, the young man became a journeyman, free to journey forth and find employment at his trade and, as

14 TWFHS

the prestige of John Constable was considerable, he had no difficulty in landing a job with Aaron Brown, a builder of Langton, a small town a few miles distant. The old saying “you can’t keep a good man down” was soon exemplified, and Brown made him his foreman; so, as a comely young woman of Southborough, Elizabeth Chapman, had become Mrs Wm Marchant, and the resultant young family was promptly increasing the need for larger income, the young father took the bold step of starting his own building business with no capital save experience, energy and, above all, character and a reputation for upright living. ’Twas uphill work and as paying for clerical help out of the small income could not be thought of he had to keep his own accounts every evening until 10 or 11 o’c. – and perhaps even later when bills had to be rendered at the month’s or quarter’s end. Perseverance, skill and hard work brought moderate success but took heavy toll, so that as 40 years of age approached his health began to break, just as he was beginning to see victory over the hill-top of difficulties he died at the age of 43, leaving a widow with 6 children, 5 boys, the oldest being 20 and the youngest 8 years old. The writer of this record (Wm Jnr), the third member of this brood, had, 2 years earlier, by the kind influence of Captain Sweeney (retired) of the Royal Engineers, who had employed his father in some building work, become a telegraph clerk (operator) for the South Eastern Railway at the ancient town of Tonbridge 2½ miles away. He was paid the first year, as a “learner”, five shillings weekly (25p), walking to and from work each day while living with the family in order to contribute his entire pay toward the slender family income. What small amounts he could earn from extra work outside of his job supplied him with pocket money. Perhaps this explains why he never learned to smoke or drink, he simply could not afford it, and didn’t wish to anyway. At the end of a year the Railway Co transferred him to Tunbridge Wells, also 2½ miles from home, but in the opposite direction. After 2 years there he was transferred to Woolwich Arsenal station 40 miles from home, 9 miles East of London Bridge on the South bank of the river Thames, where his pay was advanced to the princely figure of 18 shillings per week, the equivalent of 90p. During his last year at Woolwich he formed the intention of leaving England the following Spring as the prospects of advancement didn’t look too favourable. Australia or New Zealand were first considered, but the distances thereto were decided to be too great, and Canada was then selected as his future home. So, on 3 April 1884 he embarked at Liverpool on the Allan Line Steamship Carpathian and, after a terribly seasick voyage, landed at Halifax N.S. on 14 April without a single acquaintance or friend West of the Atlantic Ocean, with a big chest full of personal belongings and rail-passage-paid to Montreal.

Journal 44 15

A week at the latter city produced no employment so he went to Ottawa and found work there with Edward Bell, a market gardener. The hours were long, the work hard and the pay small, but he stuck to it for two full seasons acquiring a lot of valuable experience and building up a vigorous state of health which has stood him in good stead through the years. While there, he formed an acquaintance with Mr John Lowe, Deputy-Minister of Agriculture for the Dominion of Canada, formerly part owner and Editor of the “Montreal Gazette”, leading Conservative paper of Eastern Canada, and through his influence obtained, in November 1885, work as bill-clerk in the freight office of the Grand Trunk Railway at Hamilton, Ontario. While in Ottawa, he had become engaged to Elizabeth H Bell, the daughter of Edward Bell, and they were married at Bartonville near Hamilton, on 26 May 1891, and started housekeeping at Detroit, Michigan, where the bridegroom was then employed. She was a true and faithful wife who bore children and, by ability, hard work and frugality with his cooperation, helped build up a modest provision for their old age. She died 26 July 1946 and was buried from St Matthias Church in the family lot at Grand Lawn cemetery. He retired from the position of Chief Clerk, Coal and Coke Traffic Dept, NYCRR, Detroit on 30 June 1935, and at this writing (by his own hand) on 1 January 1953 is in perfect health, active in mind and body at the age of 88. Thanks be to God, I am still able to do the work of my seven room bungalow, including purchasing of supplies, cooking etc. My unmarried son, Herbert Wilfred still lives with me.

Some additional data Elizabeth Hetty Marchant (née Bell) was the eldest of 12 children of Edward and Rose Marie Bell. From early childhood she assumed a large share of the household tasks necessary in a large family where food was plentiful but money scarce. Skilled with needle and possessed of rare taste in creating things of beauty and utility for those around her, she bore 6 children and brought them up in a cultured atmosphere, largely made possible by her self-denial, untiring industry and economy. The Older Generation William Marchant, b20 February 1838, Speldhurst; d2 July 1881, Southborough. Elizabeth Marchant (née Chapman), b26 April 1838, Southborough; d30 March 1914, Detroit, Michigan, USA.

16 TWFHS

The Netherby Gazette – Part 1 Member 529, Paul Marsh, 30 Pleasant View Road, Crowborough

East Sussex TN6 2UU

M Y WIFE’S GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER, Charlotte Denning, married Josiah Gullick in 1854 when she was 17 and they

were living in the coal mining area of South Wales where she was born. Eventually they moved to Lancashire and then to South Yorkshire where my wife was born and grew up – but this story isn’t about Charlotte. It is about the rest of the family. Her brother, Isaac, emigrated to Australia in 1864 on the Black Ball Line ship, Golden City, and, presumably, was happy with the move as his parents, Charles and Maria Denning, with his brother, James aged 11, followed suit in 1866 in another Black Ball Line ship, the Netherby, and it is their story that we shall be following. Why did they emigrate in the first place? Reports from Isaac must have been good and life in Queensland sounded better than working in the pits in south Wales. The Queensland colonial government had a policy to provide free and assisted passage during the 1860s and this brought about a substantial increase in emigrants from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well as streams from the various German principalities and many Scandinavian nations. The Black Ball Line was one of two shipping lines of the same name. Our one was started by James Baines who bought his first ship in 1851 just in time for the Australian gold rush and by 1860 “his Black Ball Line employed 800 officers and 8000 seamen becoming the most celebrated line of passenger ships the world had ever seen.” The Netherby was built in 1857 and launched in January 1858. It was sold to James Baines in 1860 and made earlier voyages to Australia in 1861, 1862 and 1863. On its return to England it briefly went ashore off the coast of China and was attacked by pirates. The captain was Captain Owen Owens who was born in Llangranog in Wales in 1821 and was on his first voyage in the Netherby. He died in 1893. The second officer was John Parry, born in Liverpool about 1843 and dying in Melbourne in 1885. The Netherby set sail for Brisbane in Queensland in March 1866. The passengers were mostly poor emigrants but there were some who had better class accommodation. Among these were Messrs. H Dunsterville Vincent and William Townsend, both Saloon Passengers, who decided that they would publish a newspaper, to be called the “Netherby Gazette”, to provide

Journal 44 17

information of the ship’s progress, amusement and so on during their long voyage. This article comprises extracts from that newspaper and, while other such voyages may have had similar newspapers, this one did have a sting in the tail which we shall come to in due course.

The first issue of the “Netherby Gazette” is dated Thursday, 3 May 1866. It opens with an introduction asking for contributions from the community covering “daily gossip, mishaps and other events, which would afford amusement and instruction to all.”

“The ship Netherby, bound for Morton Bay, Queensland, Australia, left the East India Docks, London, on the 31st March, 1866, commanded by Captain O. Owens, and having on board 303 passengers under the Surgeon-Superintendent, M H Webster, Esq. In the evening of the same day she anchored off Gravesend to undergo a final Government inspection. On the 3rd April we left Gravesend at 6 p.m. in tow of the steamer City of London, making the best of our way to Plymouth, at which port we were to call, to make up the full complement of our passengers. On the 4th April, at 4 p.m., being off Dungeness, the steamer left us, and, after a pleasant run down channel, we dropped anchor in Plymouth Sound, at 9 a.m. on the 6th April. We remained at Plymouth Sound until the 13th April, when we sailed for our destination, with 413 passengers and 38 sailors as ship’s crew, having on board, all told, 451 souls. At the commencement of our passage we encountered adverse winds and heavy cross seas. Passes the Lizard on the 15th April, and the Scilly Islands the same evening, passing to the north of them. During that night experienced strong gales form the W.S.W. and a heavy sea, which made the ship labour considerably, and many of the passengers to wish they had wings to fly back to Old England again.”

There followed some brief weather notes. “29 April: Divine service was performed in the morning on the poop, and in the evening in the second cabin, the weather being showery. A part of the service was chanted, and hymns were sung, accompanied by the harmonium, which tended much to give it a good effect. A Sunday school was opened this day at 3 p.m.”

“3rd May: … passed one of the Canary Islands at a distance of about 8 miles. It was a beautiful bright morning; the houses in the different towns and hamlets, situated on eminences were distinguished with the naked eye … . The passengers amused themselves, some by playing at quoits, others by pinning

Isaac Denning c1900

18 TWFHS

pieces of paper on each others backs with the words:– “For sale, cheap, only 6d,” which latter caused a great deal of laughter. The brass band enlivened us with many sweet airs in the evening…”.

Under Domestic Occurrences there appears: – “Death. On the 22nd April, Lucy, daughter of Mr William and Mrs Caroline Skerman, aged 4 years”

Then we have the correspondence. The first letter complains that “by order, somebody’s pigs have been placed on deck; the stench arising from these animals is most pestiferous, and needs no description … . I feel convinced that steps will be taken to remove this, if you will insert my letter in your paper. I regret the first number should contain a complaint. I remain, Sir, Yours AN INTERMEDIATE PASSENGER”.

The next letter is another complaint: “It has come under my notice that it would be a great boon to the safety of the passengers, if the persons who sit on the ladders leading to the poop would confine themselves to one side, and leave the other side free for those who wish to go up and down, without the risk of hurting themselves or those who are seated. I remain, Yours truly, A SECOND-CLASS PASSENGER.”

The third letter is from the Surgeon-Superintendent offering to assist the paper in passing on news as well as sending “a weekly report of the sanitary condition of the ship.” He goes on to say

“Many on board and most of our dear friends at home, have most erroneous ideas regarding the life on board; they generally believe it is nothing but a scene of privation, misery and monotony; in fact, little better than prison life. It has always been my endeavour to prove that even a voyage across the dreadful ocean can be pleasant and agreeable.”

He then sets out three principles which he hopes will accomplish this: discipline; cleanliness; and “to try to make ourselves contented, cheerful, kind and obliging to each other … .” He finishes by saying “and I can assure every one that at the end of our passage, when we part, possibly to meet no more, all will look back with pleasure on the days spent on the good ship Netherby.” The captain says

“I am animated with zeal for its success and prosperity, as it cannot fail of being a source of instruction and amusement to the passengers generally; besides cementing them together in mutual friendship, kindness and good will, as one happy family, whilst sojourning together towards that distant land of their adoption.…”

There follow two more letters of complaint! These are followed by some poetry and some puzzles and finishes with advertisements. The first is for the

Journal 44 19

school, two hours in the morning for boys, two in the afternoon for the girls and one hour in the evening for adults. The next asks for information regarding the stealth of some corned beef and a linen towel form the galley and two loaves of bread from the bakehouse. A reward of 1s 6d is offered. Then also a request for information regarding taking eggs from the hencoop.

“The person or persons guilty of the same, are requested to return the shells to the Saloon Steward as soon as the contents are consumed, in order that the fowls may be supplied with them for the purpose of forming other shells for other eggs. The materials for forming the eggshells having become scarce, the winged tribe have been complaining lately.”

Thursday 10th May 1866. This starts with the editors saying “… our efforts … have met with the appreciation anticipated; under such auspices we resume our work with renewed zeal , and trust that if, under God’s blessing, we are permitted to reach our destination … we shall look back with pleasure … .”

The Summary of the Week is quite optimistic – “If it goes on we shall have to add another adjective when we allude to our ship, and call her, instead of only ‘the good ship’ ‘the good clipper-ship Netherby’.”

Throughout the week there is reference to Moderate breezes, Brisk breezes and Fresh breezes. 7th May:

“…some of our steerage passengers amused themselves on the main deck with boxing, and the seconds rubbed their principals down and fanned them with their hats. The second class passengers amused themselves in the evening by imitating the crowing of cocks, the braying of asses and the mewing of cats. Some jolly songs were sung by the steerage passengers on the main deck.”

The captain’s letter reports that they were at 10.43N and 25.26W and had covered 1250 miles in the week. Other letters included a reply to the complainant

“… with regard to the mansion of Messrs. Piggy and Co. the pig-stye had been taken down to allow caulking and the stye is washed out every morning quite clean: so that the unpleasant smell complained of proceeds not from the pig-stye but from the intermediate passenger’s own room; let him look well to the corners, behind the chests &c.”

Another letter from A VOICE FROM THE STEERAGE responds to the complaint about people occupying the poop steps. This gentleman points out that the main decks are wet with rain, sea water and what not and there is nowhere else for the wives to go. He also mentions that the complainant

20 TWFHS

“finds fault with our beloved little children, who, with the permission of the captain and doctor are allowed to collect on the poop to receive education gratis. Our hearts overflow with joy and gratitude when we see such care taken of our little children, when we are too poor to pay for their education. All we are able to give is a scanty crust to eat, and something to cover their nakedness.”

A letter from A FRIEND OF THE SAILORS says “I was very much disappointed and grieved last Sunday when I saw that none of you were present during Divine Service. We always find you at your post of duty, setting and taking in sails with your cheerful Ho-hi-ho …”

In the previous issue there was the report of the death of a young girl and the Surgeon-Superintendent, Mr Webster had the following poem published:

A FUNERAL AT SEA How sad the scene, how mournful to the sight! Gloom fills each heart as darkness fills the night. A few short days ago the child had breath, Now captive in the icy grasp of death; Her coffin lies upon the deck, and meets the gaze of all, The Union Jack is o’er her spread, and forms her only pall. Amid the solemn silence, in fervent earnest prayer, A sad and tearful voice is heard by all assembled there, And then committed to the deep in words so stern and grave The little dear one’s corpse is plung’d beneath the tossing wave. How sad to think the mother’s darling little one Can ne’er be seen again: no little stone Or grassy mound to mark her resting place, But down in ocean’s depths, where not a trace Is ever seen again by those who loved her well, Nor evidence the least her whereabouts to tell Amidst the tangled seaweed and shells of lovely hue, Deep in the dark blue sea she rests hidden from every view, A sadness all the ship pervades – no laugh is heard; All know death’s call can never be deferr’d, We must again return into our native dust; The young may die, the old ‘tis certain must. May God protect that one who gave the dear child birth, And in her breast so sod, with love supply the dearth; And let us remember on the ocean or in port, The fact that death is certain, also that life is short.

Then come the puzzles and the advertisements.

Journal 44 21

Thursday 17th May 1866. The Weekly Summary includes reference to sultry weather but, on 14th May, the port life boat was lowered to exercise the crew and then some of the passengers used it for swimming and rowing. A northward bound ship was seen and the captain decided to lower the starboard lifeboat to send letters homeward. This was fine for those still on board who could scribble a few lines but, for those in the port lifeboat, any letters already written were left behind so they decided to row after the other boat. Not a good idea! They did not realise the effort that would be involved and they also had no water. However one of the passengers bought a monkey from a sailor on the other ship. The sultry weather was caused by being in the tropics and the Captain asked “those who complain of the suffocating heat” to exercise their patience a little longer as he hoped to be 1000 miles south of the equator in the following week. The Surgeon’s report informed everybody that a baby son had been born and mother and son were doing well. Thursday 24th May 1866. During this week the ship crossed the equator and there is a description of the arrival of King Neptune and all the activities following on from that. The Captain’s report is a bit high flown this week.

“…another week of our short pilgrimage is gone; its days and hours reckoned with the days and hours before the flood; gone with its actions, words and thoughts, beyond recall. Gone, but not lost – no! the very movements of our hearts are, at this moment, indelibly engraven upon the rocks of eternity.”

The poetry this week varies from “Thoughts At Sea” to “On seeing a woman hanging out clothes with a short pipe in her mouth”! Among the lost items are: A PILLOW (feather) and a left foot WELLINGTON BOOT. And in the Wanted column there is:

“A NURSE that thoroughly understands waiting on a feeble person. She must be competent in all her duties; she must not be younger than 25 years of age, good looking, and must be very clean. Wages £2 a year. Address No 9 After Saloon Cabin between 7 and 8 a.m.”

Thursday 31st May 1866. The only occurrence of note was of a very heinous nature and a contravention of the Eighth Commandment. The infamous practice reported was the theft of some coffee from the cook. The 24th May was the Queen’s birthday and this was celebrated, especially by the second-class passengers.

“The Captain and Doctor allowed those gentlemen fresh meat and dessert for this day …”

The Surgeon’s report mentions that parents especially should start preparing for the weather to get colder as they travel more southerly while the captain

22 TWFHS

says that another week will bring them to winds “which will waft us along speedily towards our destination.” Among the letters there is a response to a Wanted advert in the previous issue where a young lady, as she wished for something to do, decided to obtain information from the feeble old lady’s servants.

“I did so, and knocked at no 9 and, to my astonishment, instead of seeing a feeble old lady, I found a bearded gentleman lived there. Now, Mr Editor, only fancy what a painful position a modest young woman has been placed in through the stupidity or carelessness of your compositors. I wish you could just box their ears for them and let me know the true number.”

A note from the editor says “We beg leave to state that the error made in the address of the old lady was made by the advertiser herself.”!

Thursday 7th June 1866. The week’s summary includes sightings of mollyhawks, cape hens, pigeons, albatrosses and whale-birds. At this point in their trip they are still to the west of the prime meridian. In the latter part of the week the weather deteriorated and there is mention of “deluge of rain, thunder and lightning” and “shipping heavy seas” and on the 6th June

“Heavy sea struck the vessel tearing adrift the starboard water-closet on maindeck, filling the cabin”

Also in this edition there is the start of a series of articles on the compass “that mystic finger that for ever and ever points him out his way”. This first article is by the surgeon.

Thursday 14th June 1866. During this week they at last cross the prime meridian. The captain expresses his thanks to two of the passengers who, with the engineer, repaired the condensing apparatus so they were obviously not dependent for water on supplies brought with them. The captain wrote the article on the compass this week and deals with variation and deviation as well as some of the history of the compass. Another somewhat surprising article contributed by the surgeon is “A Few Words To Smokers Of Tobacco”. While cancer is not mentioned, it is clear that the ill effects of smoking were well known. Thursday 21st June 1866. The surgeon reported another death, this time an infant who “was suffering from disease of the stomach and has been in a very delicate state of health for some time.” The captain excuses the shortness of his report by saying

“This day being very stormy, the ship labouring and straining very much, and our new sails split into fragments by the furious winds, my anxiety of mind and

Journal 44 23

the additional duties devolved upon me in such times, will, I trust, excuse this very brief letter.”

Despite this a correspondent writes to say that in two months they have travelled 9000 miles and that they should be thankful but

“Surely no one can have left home under the impression that the voyage was to be obtained without some degree of trouble, anxiety or care; instead of complaining of any hardships, let us rather be thankful that they are no worse.”

The surgeon contributes another article on the subject of the problems caused by smoking. Another letter is signed “TEN YEARS BEFORE THE MAST” which points out that, in rounding the Cape of Good Hope,

“…there has often been a call ‘for all hands’. We have no grog allowed us, which liquor is a great boon to sailors generally – but I do not ask for that. But I certainly do think that we ought to have a fresh mess, as from the appearance of the stock on board, I don’t think it will be missed; and it will be a great satisfaction and a change for us, after eating so much salt junk. By inserting this you will confer a favour upon my messmates and myself.”

So all was not completely happy with the ship. There is no further comment on this subject, unfortunately. Then come the conundrums, not as PC as nowadays, for instance, “Why is a short nigger like a white man? – Because he is not a tall (at all) black.

Thursday 28th June 1866. The week’s summary starts off with a gale and at 7.30 a.m. a heavy sea struck the ship on the port quarter; a great body of water washed over the poop, smashed the after saloon skylight; a great quantity of water passed through the skylight, flooded the saloon and fore cabin. Later

“very heavy cross sea running making the ship roll violently so as to endanger her masts.”

This weather continued for most of the week with further damage. “… saloon and second cabin kept continually flooded, beds and births were wet, and every passenger shifting for himself the best way he could.”

Despite what the captain described as “storms of indescribable fury”, the surgeon reported that

“One great matter of thankfulness is that there was no accident to passengers or crew.”

The captain is still confident, however, as he says that “The ship, notwithstanding the severe rolling, is still comparatively tight and staunch, and I trust that from gale to gale we will finally arrive safely in our

24 TWFHS

destined haven, when all our trials and hardships will be past and soon forgotten.”

There follows another of Captain Owens’ lectures on the compass, puzzles, poetry and conundrums. Thursday 5th July 1866. The summary of the week includes moderate breezes, strong gale with violent and dangerous squalls, continuing to blow with undiminished force, frequent showers of rain and hail attended with violent squalls, frequent showers of hail and snow so it cannot have been an enjoyable period for the passengers or the crew. The surgeon’s report says that there is less call on his services as the passengers will be “looking forward with pleasure to catch the first view of the land of their adoption.” The Captain praises the passengers’ courage throughout the past week and

“I fully expect to sight land in the vicinity of Bass’s Straights, when we shall enjoy smoother seas and a fine climate.”

The Bass Straight is the stretch of water between mainland Australia and Tasmania. The Netherby is sailing along to the south of Australia but out of sight of land. There is a letter from PHILANTHROPIST in the Steerage who complains about the level of swearing amongst other things,

“I found the greater part of my fellow-passengers low and degraded in their morals, using filthy and abominable language, unfit to be heard by human ears.” He also says that “Great differences have arisen amongst all our parties on board our ship, sometimes through paltry actions, causing angry words, which soon brought forth heavy blows.”

It is a pity that the writers of the letters used pseudonyms and that we don’t have more detail of the altercations! Thursday 14 July 1866. The surgeon’s report refers to

“landing all safe and sound at Brisbane next week; and though some may be weakened by the voyage, a few days on fresh meat and vegetables in the delightful climate of Queensland will set them right again.”

The Captain’s report says “we may expect to see land on Saturday morning,” although there have been some calms. In addition the sky has been overcast and for three days they are unable to take sightings. There is the latest in Captain Owens’ lessons on the compass followed by a poem by the surgeon “On The Death Of An Infant At Sea” and the puzzles.

To be Continued

Journal 44 25

Harvey Town Member 655, Mrs Catherine James, Oak Tree Cottage, 35 Intake Lane, Dunnington,

York YO19 5NX I responded several months ago to a query raised on the guestbook in Tunbridge Wells Family History Society’s website regarding Harvey Town, and recently noticed that a general answer from Tunbridge Wells Council was posted to the original query. On my message, I mentioned that I had a photograph of my step-grandmother which was used in the Tunbridge Wells newspaper article about twenty-five years ago, although she was not named, just entitled “A resident of Harvey Town”, which was factually incorrect – but that is the press! My late aunt told us about the article, which unfortunately I do not have, but perhaps could be traced, so I have written the attached short piece, which could be included at some point in the magazine, or just left here for the family book.

H ERBERT NOVIS was one of many coal merchants in 1930s

to 1950s Tunbridge Wells. He had bought his business in 1935 from Mr F E Holmes, consisting of a coal yard in Stanley Street and a shop/house at 26 Crescent Road, Tunbridge Wells. Grandpop also purchased two lorries and hired two coal trucks with H Novis and Son in white lettering on red background. The shop had a candlestick type telephone, number Tunbridge Wells 2697, which sat on the long mahogany counter that ran the full width of the shop. Herbert’s second wife, my step-grandmother, Florence Ellen Wyborn ran the office as well as bringing up their daughter Margaret Novis, who was born in 1930 when they still lived at 23 Calverley Street, Tunbridge Wells. Next door, at 27 Crescent Road, was Mr Watkins, the Grocer (who kindly gave me chocolate without my ration book when I was 3), and further down Crescent Road was the wool shop, where the lady owner did smocking for our party frocks, including patriotic red, white and blue for the special coronation dresses, and Mrs Churchill who sold sweet cigarettes and sherbet dips.

Florence Novis (née Wyborn)

26 TWFHS

Grandpop was a keen gardener and, although no 26 had a yard, he also had a large garden at the rear, in Harvey Town. He bought the land, from which he created his garden, from Tunbridge Wells Council, when they were demolishing the houses in Harvey Town in the 1930s, and his “garden” most likely would have been from a central square of houses, as it was quite open, yet the remaining houses of Harvey Town still surrounded the garden.

During the war, Grandpop, who had volunteered to join the RASC in the Great War, and served for five years in France, joined Tunbridge Wells Home Guard, and I have two photographs of him in uniform; the one enclosed is taken standing in his garden, which still shows some of the rubble of demolished

buildings. Herbert built a chicken run, grew vegetables and fruit, and prize flowers after the war.

Another photograph shows my step-grandmother, Florence Ellen Novis standing in her husband’s garden, showing the surrounding houses of Harvey Town. She was immensely proud of their work, justly so.

I was born in Tunbridge Wells (like my father, grandfather and grandmother) and lived for a short time as a baby both with my grandparents and at 3 Catherine Place. No 3 was later taken over by my father’s brother, Herbert Novis – the “son” of the coal business, with his wife Gladys née Hope and daughter Sandra; elderly Mrs Weeks lived at No 4, my mother’s sister Yvonne Chamberlain lived at No 5 with her husband James (who was in the Merchant Navy), daughter Maryvonne and our maternal grand-

Herbert in the Home Guard

Herbert, the son, and his wife, Gladys

Journal 44 27

mother, my aunt, Margaret Novis, lived latterly at 6 Catherine Place and, for a year in the early 1950s we lived at 7 Catherine Place. My father was in the RAF, hence our moving around the country every two years, but we returned regularly to visit Grandpop, so I can recall Harvey Town and the garden very clearly. The houses had stable-type doors and were accessed via narrow pathways. The rooms were quite small but, to a child’s eye, pretty. The doors and window frames were painted green: perhaps the standard colour of the owner – was it Tunbridge Wells Corporation by then? I never knew who the landlord was. There was a narrow passageway by the side of the Victoria Pub, which I think was just a couple of doors down from No 26, and this led into the garden and Harvey Town. The people who lived there were very kind, and extremely friendly to a child’s eye – but in those years most people knew each other and lived in a close community. Grandpop’s garden was compulsorily purchased, along with the houses that surrounded it, in the 1950s, as they were deemed to be unfit for habitation. They did not have inside lavatories or bathrooms, but then none of the houses in Catherine Place did either – and thinking back, perhaps the same would have applied to a great deal of other houses in central Tunbridge Wells as well. Even as a child, it seemed quite unfair to take people out of their houses when they were happy there; I didn't mind having a weekly bath in front of the fire! My mother is no longer alive, so I can’t ask her what she thought about going to the baths in Monson Road, and paying 6d for her soak. We just accepted it, thought nothing of it, and loved living in the centre of town.

Addenda Apparently, a Mr HERVEY was a wealthy land owner in the Tunbridge Wells area in the 19th century, and sold some land for development to Tunbridge Wells town council.. When the houses were built, the area was called "Hervey, or more commonly Harvey Town". There were two sources of this information:

1. On the reverse on the 1909 re-issued Godfrey Edition OS maps 2. The prime source: in the library there is a folder listed “Look up your

house history”, which details all areas/streets in Tunbridge Wells, describing how they were built, or knocked down.

*

28 TWFHS

Coroners’ Inquests Précis of a talk by Kathy Chater on 24 March 2009

Kathy started by saying that she was more interested in births and marriages when she started on her family history, she was less interested in the deaths –she knew that! Then she heard about coroners’ inquests. The inquest reports tell you so much about the lives of the dead, including how they got on with their neighbours. Before radio and television, inquests were often the most exciting thing that happened in people’s lives in a village. Even if your family was not directly involved, they would have known what was going on. The period concentrated on, 1750 to 1837, was the most difficult period to find inquest records. Before 1750, coroners’ papers were supposed to be passed to the Quarter Sessions and then to the Assizes. There has been a fairly high survival rate and these have ended up at the National Archives. While it is a complicated process, there are guides on line to help you to find them. After 1837 the death certificate tells you if there has been an inquest: sometimes, in the cause of death, it will say that an inquest has been held but, on some occasions the certificate is signed, not by the Registrar, but by the Coroner. Almost all papers after 1750 are held in county record offices. However, to reduce the volume of paper, records can be destroyed after 15 years so the papers are usually kept at the coroner’s office when they are either destroyed or passed to the local county record office. Inquests on murders or those such as medical, sociological or legal must be kept permanently.

The records are closed for 75 years so a lot will have been destroyed before they are open to public access although relatives with a bona fide interest may access the records earlier depending on the will of the local coroner but you can consult the local paper which will probably have reported the inquest in detail. Kathy quoted the case of her grandfather who was elderly, diabetic and had fallen downstairs which had upset his insulin balance and he had died in hospital a week later. There had to be an inquest because no doctor had seen him in the preceding two weeks. So it was a simple case but the newspaper had set out a lot of information about him as well as the details of the inquest.

The position of coroner was first mentioned in 1194 where he is a “crowner” whose purpose was to represent the Crown’s interest in recovering any money due to the Crown from the deceased. Before 1888, coroners were either elected or appointed. After 1888, they were appointed by the local authorities. In 1829 a handbook for coroners listed the coroners’ ten functions as:

Conservators of the peace; they were magistrates by virtue of their office;

Journal 44 29

To conduct inquests into deaths; To inquire about felonies such as manslaughter; To inquire regarding treasure trove; To inquire of royal fishes ie sturgeon or whales that become stranded are

claimed as the property of the Crown; To investigate shipwrecks; To take felony appeals and the confession and abjuration of felons; To declare people to be outlaws (this was possible up until the 1830s); Execute processes that the Sheriff was not able to do; To take inquisitions on a murderer. Lord Lucan was the last person able to

be named in this country by a coroner’s court as the murderer. They may say that somebody was unlawfully killed “and look very sharply at the person thought to be responsible” but they may not name them.

A number of these duties were removed in 1888 and before that date county coroners were elected for life. There are ‘privileged boroughs’ that have the right to appoint their own coroners. In the case of Dover, for instance, it was normally the mayor. Details exist of which areas were privileged boroughs.

The Duchy of Lancaster has possessions scattered round the country and the Duchy has the right to appoint its own coroner. These records are not in the county record offices but they are in the National Archives at Kew. The High Court of Admiralty has the rights of coroner into “deaths and mayhem on the high seas”. The Coroner of the King’s Household and Verge investigated the deaths of any royal servants where the King happened to be. This comes from the time when the Court was not based in one place but moved around the country and the Verge was the area within 12 miles of where the King happened to be at that time. So, while inquests in Windsor were normally held by the local coroner, if the King was in residence and a death occurred within 12 miles, the Coroner of the King’s Household and Verge would preside.

Your family might have been involved as the coroner or his clerk, or the local publican as the inn was often the best place to accommodate everybody – and you could get refreshments. If your ancestor ran the local pub, the chances are that that was where the inquest was held.

Another official quite heavily involved in the inquest was the beadle. It was his job to summon the jury and to make sure that the witnesses attended. Dickens suggested that the beadle took bribes not to call people for jury service. This is quite reasonable as the jurors were called from lower middle

30 TWFHS

class tradesmen whose businesses would suffer if they were called for jury service. Sometimes they paid substitutes to attend in their place. There had to be at least twelve jurors in agreement to have a majority verdict. If the verdict was expected to be straightforward, twelve would be sufficient but, for a contentious case, there could be up to 24 jurors. The coroner made a list of those likely to be called and it was up to the beadle to make sure they attended.

Once called, it wasn’t simply a case of hearing the evidence. Together with the coroner, the jurors had to view the body. Prior to the advent of forensic evidence, they had to physically examine the body to determine whether there were any signs perhaps of murder. They were expected to act as detectives. It was seen as an advantage if the jurors knew the deceased and the witnesses so that they could decide how likely they were to be lying. They could also question the witnesses and argue with the coroner or tell the coroner who else they wanted to call to give evidence. The witnesses could be anybody, family, friends or even passers by. The first person to be called was always a doctor who had to certify that the person was actually dead and to offer an opinion on how the person may have died. Then came the witnesses. These may include prison officers as an inquest has to be held on any person who dies while in prison even if it is obvious that they died naturally. Even ordinary upright people ended up in prison perhaps for debt so don’t be surprised if you find an inquest on your ancestor in prison.

Newspapers are often a better source of information about inquests than the original papers especially where these have been destroyed. Even where they have not been destroyed, comments by witnesses may be reported in the local newspaper when they were not thought relevant to appear in the official record. Reporters did use shorthand and probably took down the proceedings quite accurately. Sometimes the reporters got additional information by interviewing people outside the court.

The court and the papers had different purposes. The court’s was to identify the deceased, find the cause of death and record a verdict whereas the news-papers were more interested in the human angle, the story behind the facts.

You might find the verdict given as “Visitation of God”. This is short for “Visitation of God by natural causes.” This was probably used for a sudden death which we would nowadays attribute to a heart attack or a stroke whereas “Death by Natural Causes” is a disease of longer standing such as TB. Accidental death had to be differentiated from murder, manslaughter or justifiable homicide.

Journal 44 31

Where suicide is concerned, the jurors have a very important role. They have to decide on the person’s state of mind at the time. Were they insane or did they know what they were doing? If they knew what they were doing they were considered to have committed felo de se and their possessions were forfeit to the Crown and so the jurors had to consider also the implications for the family. In early years there was often pressure on the jurors to bring in a verdict of felo de se so that the Crown could claim the deceased’s property. Another implication of bringing in a felo de se verdict was that the body could not be buried in the churchyard. They were mainly buried at crossroads with a stake through their body. The purpose of the stake was to pin the person’s unquiet spirit so that it could not return to haunt the living and the point of burial at the crossroads was that, if the unquiet spirit did escape, it would not know which road to take! “The want of the necessities of life” indicated that the person had died of starvation. “Inclemency of the weather” meant that the person had died, probably, of cold. Jurors could, and still do, bring in a neutral verdict as they are called. “Found drowned” gives no indication whether the jury thought the person was pushed, slipped or jumped. Another possibility is a narrative verdict such as “By administration of poison, how or by whom does not appear to the jury.” Evidently it was either the wife or the son who did it but, whoever it was, got away with it! The first thing to remember in looking for records is to know where the person died, not where they lived, as the inquest will be in the area where they died. After you think you know where this person died, you must, if you are very unlucky, find out where the King or Queen was at the time. Hospitals and workhouses won’t have any coroners’ records; they may have something in the accounts or the minutes. Notes of the expenses might be in the Quarter Sessions records or even in the church wardens’ accounts. As well as the goods of suicides being forfeit to the Crown, the possessions of murderers were also similarly forfeit. The petitions of the families asking for the goods to be returned to them will be held in the National Archives, not in the local record offices. Forfeiture of goods was abolished in 1870. If you come across a comment such as “Accidentally killed” in a death record, that is not just the comment of the clerk who made the entry; it is the verdict of a coroner’s court. The words “by coroner’s warrant” should have been added but seldom were. Another source of information are Day Books. These don’t survive in any great numbers but they are a kind of running account for the parish of various

TWFHS 32 Journal 44

ceremonies, so there are baptism day books which may give addresses and will tell you how much was paid for the ceremony etc. There are also marriage day books and most importantly there were death day books. These tell you how much the funeral cost which would give you an idea of how rich the family was. They may tell you where the grave was in the churchyard and they usually give a cause of death. You have to remember that registers are records of ceremonies and not of events so, in the day book, you may find records of the burials of suicides for which there would have been no ceremony (and which would have been late at night). So, as there was no ceremony, it may not appear in the burial register. Kathy gave as an example a case where two elderly ladies appeared to have committed suicide but the court found that one had committed felo de se while the other had “drunk poison, not knowing what it was”. A ceremony was conducted for the second lady but not the first and so only one death was recorded in the register but both appeared in the day book.

To sum up, Kathy recommended that you should make a list of burials of every member of your family and then check the local newspapers for a couple of weeks after to see if there were any obituaries or reports of inquests. Inquests will give you a huge amount of information not available elsewhere and Kathy quoted from a newspaper report in 1840 where a 76 year old man had died. At the inquest, one of his nephews gave evidence that “My uncle drank hard but his wife drank harder. He drank because she did and because she made his home very uncomfortable, lying abed in the morning and not getting him his breakfast. She spent every farthing she could lay hands on in drink and there was a drawer full of pawnbrokers’ duplicates for things pawned in order to procure gin.” A bit later his brother said: “If he had followed my example and become a total abstinence man, this would not have happened, sobriety would not have depressed his mind. He would have been able to support the most intolerable of all miseries, matrimonial ones. Drink has been his ruin as it has been and will be the ruin of thousands.” The verdict was Temporary Insanity. But you get an insight into what life with that wife was like!