The Ship no more!

I’ve mentioned my family connections to the old Ship pub in Lower Stoke a number of times before. Click here and here to take a look at those items.

Although the pub has long been demolished, it’s nice to see that the new housing development has some resemblance to the old pub that was previously on this site.
  

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!!!
 

Book Research

I’ve been contacted this week by a lady living in Australia, called Margaret Somers. Margaret, who lives near Brisbane, is researching her Hoo Peninsula family history - for a new book that she is hoping to publish.

Margaret’s keen to hear from anyone with connections to the following family names in Cliffe: Smith, Spencer, Goodyer, Harrington, Mills, Parvin and Richards. Her Smith family ancestors settled in Cliffe before 1842.

Margaret is also researching family links in south London, particularly Greenwich and Deptford, where she has a connection to people with the following family names: Allen, Eadle, Gould, Rowe and Warner.

I’m distantly linked to Margaret, through my Great-Great-Grandmother Emma Spencer (nee Smith), who was born in Cliffe, but lived most of her life in Upper Stoke. Margaret is connected to Emma through her father John. The photograph below is thought to be of Emma.

Contact Margaret Somers by clicking here.
  

St. Margaret's Church, High Halstow

I was in High Halstow earlier this week visiting friends and had another look around the grounds of St. Margaret's Church, located on Cooling Road. Built on the highest point of the Hoo Peninsula, the Church dates back to the 10th century and is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086).

The churchyard is in a good state, but I noticed that the grave of Alfred and Minnie Spencer (from the Spencer side of my family) is now very much overgrown. I took the following photographs several years ago - showing the Spencer grave (at the rear of the churchyard), albeit in a damaged condition.

The Ayers Family of Stoke, Ernest John Ayers (Cart and Carriage Proprietor)

Whilst researching my family history, on the Hoo Peninsula, I have identified many interesting characters. One such individual was Ernest John Ayers. He was born in Stoke in 1875. His parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Ayers. Ernest's father was a farmer and the family lived at Vine House in Middle Stoke. They also owned neighbouring Vine Cottage. In 1899, Ernest married May Gertrude Spencer, my Great-Grandmother’s sister.

In May 1897, an advertisement appeared in Stoke Parish Magazine, which described Ernest as a ‘Cart and Carriage Proprietor’. His address was Vine House in Middle Stoke. In December 1899, another advertisement appeared in Stoke Parish Magazine, which described Ernest as a ‘Coal and Coke Merchant and Furniture Remover’. His address continued to be Vine House.

Below: A re-construction of the advertisement from Stoke Parish Magazine (May 1897).

Below: A re-construction of the advertisement from Stoke Parish Magazine (December 1899).

In 1907, Ernest (then aged 32) emigrated to the United States of America with his wife and young children - Ruby (born in 1902) and Edith (born in 1903). They settled in the township of Enfield, Grafton, New Hampshire. Ernest worked as a salesman in a local department store. Later in life, he became a janitor. However, in 1918 Ernest had enlisted in the US Army.

Referring back to December 1899 and Stoke Parish Magazine, other advertisements were placed by members of the Ayers family. These included Herbert L. Ayers and George E. Ayers - siblings of Ernest John Ayers. These advertisements have been re-created (below).