Think you’re tough?

The 'muddies' certainly were - they had to be!

Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s, gangs of men from local villages competed for the much sought after, though incredibly exhausting, job of digging clay or ‘mud’ from the marshes and saltings of the River Medway. The men were known as the 'muddies'.

The muddies had to load up to one hundred tonnes of clay, from sites including Hoo Flats and Stoke Saltings, onto barges for transportation up the river to one of the many cement works.

It was clearly a very tough job, and many of those men suffered unimaginable health problems as a result. Reports describe men suffering from chronic rheumatism, arthritis, sprained wrists and strained backs. Many also suffered from ’scaffleman’ - torn skin on parts of the back, as a result of continual lifting, turning and throwing. Calluses on hands, sometimes causing fingers to join together, were a common result of the constant use, and rubbing, of a spade.

Despite this, the men would only ever take a few days off work to repair serious damage to their bodies - no health and safety or 48 hour working week regulations around then!

The only consolation was that it was one of the best paid jobs around, paying much more than farm labourers earned. Muddies kept the work within a tight knit circle - with the work normally becoming a father and son tradition in many families.

At the height of this local industry, in the early 1900s, a barge load (100 tonnes) of clay would earn the men 35 shillings - shared out amongst a gang of about 10 muddies. They could often load two barges every low tide and, it is said, there would always be about 50 barges waiting to be loaded on the Stoke Marshes at any one time.

The income they earned was sufficient for many of the muddies to buy pubs once they had finally laid down their shovels. This is quite possibly the case with my great great grandfather, Henry Spencer. Described as a ‘Cement Labourer’ in several census documents, I can’t imagine how else he managed to land so firmly on his feet!

I have mentioned the muddies a couple of times before. Back in May 2010 Peter Cook from the Medway Messenger ran a special feature in the local paper - click here to take a look. And in August 2010, I mentioned a book by F. G. Willmott called ’Cement, Mud and Muddies’. Most of what I know about the 'muddie tradition’ comes from this excellent book, apart from the many chats I’ve had with ‘village elders‘ in Stoke and those from much further afield. Their tales certainly bring home to you what a tough existence it was - but one that came with much camaraderie and life long friendships. Click here to visit that item.

Stoke Saltings in more recent times.

The photos of the muddies appear courtesy of Dr. MacDonald of Stoke, whose long association with the Stoke Saltings is well known to many.

I will be mentioning the muddies again later this week, as former local resident Jill Warby (nee Mortley) has written a wonderful article about her great grandfather Sidney George Mortley, a well known local muddie, for the March edition of The Countryman magazine - available in all good newsagents!!!
 

Cement, Mud and Muddies, Frank G. Willmott

I had a stroll around Rochester yesterday and spent considerable time rummaging around the plethora of books and other interesting items at City Books (41 High Street, Rochster, ME1 1LN). I found a copy of the book 'Cement, Mud and Muddies' by Frank Willmott, which was first published by Meresborough Books in 1977. Although more than thirty years old, this book accurately explains the history of Medway's cement industry and includes many fascinating photographs and illustrations. Due to my own clay-digging family heritage in Stoke, I am particularly drawn to the section about the Muddies from Stoke and Hoo.

On the subject of Medway's cement history, there is an excellent section about this on the website of Berengrave Local Nature Reserve (the Friends of Berengrave), which can be viewed by clicking here.

The Spencer Family, St. Mary Hoo

I was contacted by Barbara Luder last week, who told me that we are distant cousins, connected to each other through the Spencer family.

It was great to add a few more pieces to the jig-saw, as I didn’t know very much about the Spencer’s beyond my Great-Great-Grandfather (Henry Spencer). Although Henry was born in Stoke in 1851, I have now traced the family back to the early-1700s. Many of the Spencer family seem to have lived in St. Mary Hoo, where they stayed until at least the mid-1800s.

Henry Spencer moved from Stoke to Gillingham (Grange Road), working as a Cement Labourer. The family then returned to live in Stoke sometime before 1889, as this is when Henry became the licensee of The Ship Inn in Lower Stoke.

During the time they were living in Gillingham, Henry and his wife Emma had three children. These were May Gertrude (b1879), Maud Lilian (b1881) and Harry (b1888). After returning to Stoke, they had a fourth child , Hubert (b1892). Hubert went on to attend a Teacher Training College and become a School Master. Photographed below (in order of birth): Maud Lilian (my Great-Grandmother), Harry and Hubert.

I look forward to staying in touch with Barbara, my new cousin, and having the chance of doing some more Spencer family research in the coming weeks!
 

Clematis Cottage, Upper Stoke

Family Photographs (top down): Henry Spencer, my Great-Great-Grandfather, preparing to do some gardening and larking about with one of his grand-children. The other photographs show family members in the grounds of Clematis Cottage. Henry died in 1934, so these photographs are quite old. Apparently, Henry instigated the building of Clematis Cottage, between 1901 and 1911, but I don't know the exact date. I believe the date might be on the front of the building! It was built by a local team of builders, including Henry's son-in-law, Herbert Watson (a master bricklayer), who was my Great-Grandfather! For most of Henry's life, he worked as a Cement Labourer, but he also ran The Ship Inn (in Lower Stoke) between 1889 and 1901. Henry's wife, Emma Ann Smith (originally from Cliffe), died in 1922 and they are both buried at the Church of St. Peter & St. Paul in Upper Stoke.

Below: Clematis Cottage, as it is today, and Henry & Emma Spencer's grave.