Greenwich Industrial History

THE WOODLANDS FARM PROJECT : LIE OF THE LAND PROJECT

article from 2006

"You could say this is what real education is about."
Richard Gray - Head Teacher Plumcroft Primary School

Andy Brockman came to talk to GIHS 2006 about the Lie of the Land Project taking place at Woodlands Farm. The following is a brief summary of some of the topics covered by him.

The Lie of the Land Project is an exciting new attempt to open up the History and Archaeology of the Shooters Hill area to the community of South East London. The objective is to bring the Heritage and Education communities together in a creative partnership with the wider community of this part of South East London as together we celebrate and explore the history of our landscape learning more about it and about ourselves. Something we regard as particularly important as we face the challenges of the 21st century, including economic regeneration and the effects of potential climate change.

We are currently working with Birkbeck College and the Bexley Education Business Partnership.

As part of the Lie of the Land Project, fieldwork has been carried out at Woodlands Farm to evaluate the archaeological potential of the site. Initial work in the form of a 2m x 2m Test Pit was carried out as part of the education display at the 2005 Woodlands Farm Show. The following is an interim report on the excavation and subsequent fieldwork relating to the Shooters Hill ZAA [Anti-Aircraft Rocket] Battery, POW Camp 1020 which subsequently occupied the Battery site.

Woodlands Farm is located on the eastern slope of Shooters Hill, bordered by the A207 and straddles the London Boroughs of Greenwich and Bexley. It covers 89 acres, most of which is currently under grass and used for grazing the farm's livestock, but also includes former coppice woodland, and the site of the former Royal Arsenal Cooperative Society abattoir. It is managed by The Woodlands Farm Trust as a community farm and it lies on the undivided London Clay of the Thames Group. The original Farm buildings probably date from between 1800 and 1820, and the Farm has undergone change throughout its life, with none of the original building stock surviving.

The excavation aimed to:

1. Assess the survival of buried archaeology in the area of the former farm yard with particular reference to the 19th century farm.

2. Assess the geology of this area of the Farm.

The excavation proved that there is surviving archaeology in the area of the farm yard dating from at least the 19th century. Below the modern top soil is a layer of apparent demolition rubble containing late 19th or early 20th century London Stock Bricks with frogs and cement mortar, then a layer containing mid to late 19th and early 20th century pottery including Transfer Printed Porcelain. This may represent the ground surface prior to the dumping of the demolition rubble. A substantial, roughly finished timber lying on a north west to south east axis was found lying on top of this. The timber has no clear function, lacking nails, mortice holes or any other sign of having been part of a structure. However, its size and location suggests it may have been part of the 19th century building known to have been in the area of the excavation and shown as a piggery in a mid 20th century photograph.

The Topographic Survey was carried out by students of Birkbeck College under the Direction of Jonathon Godfrey. This demonstrated the break of slope below the Shooters Hill Golf Course caused by the change in Geology between the Gravels and Sands capping Shooters Hill and the London Clay on which the Farm lies. It was also possible to confirm that the Farm is situated at the head of a shallow valley running north east towards Abbey Wood and Erith. This probably represents the former course of the River Woghebourne. A short disused trackway was also observed running South West from the farm track towards the A207 Shooters Hill Road.

The two paddocks were the subject of a geophysical survey carried out by Birkbeck Students. A number of linear curved and circular features were observed which might hint at human activity including the sites of six World War II Huts related to the Shooters Hill ZAA Battery/POW Camp 1020.

Processing a progression of vertical RAF Air Photographs from the UK National Monuments Record collection, the Shooters Hill ZAA Battery was observed on Air Photographs dating to mid 1944. The rarity of the site was noted - there were only 51 built in the whole of the UK and the fact that, for much of its life, the site was operated by the Home Guard volunteer part-time soldiers drawn from the local community, made it worthy of further research.

A public appeal for information led to contact being made with a number of former Gunners who served on the site as well as local people who remembered the site in operation, both as an AAA rocket site and subsequently as a POW Camp.

The discovery of contemporary drawings of the site in operation as observed by one of the POW Camp inmates, prompted a campaign to evaluate any surviving archaeology of certain of the camp installations and the location and damage caused by two recorded V1 strikes in Autumn 1944 affecting the eastern edge of the camp and its immediate area on Woodlands Farm.

this page first appeared in the May 2006 GIHS Newsletter

Reviews and snippets May2006

David Bathe
David was supposed to be coming to our May meeting to speak to us about the Woolwich Ferry. Unfortunately he suffered a very severe accident while in the course of school governor duties and is unable to be with us. Can we take this opportunity of sending our best wishes for his swift recovery?

OBITUARIES

Alan Pearsall - We regret to note the death of Alan Pearsall, one of our founder members. Alan had been the historian at the National Maritime Museum and had a wide knowledge of industrial and transport history. He had spoken to the Society on Thames Colliers and was supportive of many other subjects. He will be sadly missed. Members may not know that, along with Jack Vaughan, Alan was instrumental in saving the cast-iron plates of Maudslay’s tomb in Woolwich Churchyard.

Alan Turner - Alan was Chair of the Royal Arsenal Historical Society and a stalwart of the fight to preserve memories of the Arsenal. He had spoken at GIHS meetings and was a founder member

WORKING LIVES OF THE THAMES GATEWAY

Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and headed by Eastside Community Heritage and the Raphael Samuel History Centre, the Working Lives project seeks to contribute to the creation of sustainable communities in the Thames Gateway region by helping to construct the (self)-identity and worth of local cultures built upon a distinct 'sense of place'. Collaborative projects, focused for the most part on oral histories of work, will be undertaken with communities to uncover memories of shared experiences.

Working Lives is concerned with the boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Greenwich and Bexley. Its focus over a five year period is on the industrial and cultural heritage of the area, to address the following themes:

- Cultures and historical experiences of diverse communities. The whole area has a profound historical debt to the Thames and the experiences of development and decline.

- Patterns of migration and settlement. Development and decline has promoted massive migrations flows across the area including movements of diverse diasporic communities, many seeking refuge from persecution

- Links with the wider world, in particular the British empire.

- Contemporary legacy of industrial heritage. Starting with the collapse of the staple industries of inner East London and shipbuilding on the Thames from the mid-nineteenth century, continuing to the closure of the docks, major engineering firms, and partial closure of Fords in recent years. This decline has impacted massively on local communities, promoting the outward migration of indigenous populations and leaving a legacy of deprivation and neglect.

- Impact of the past on the potential for regeneration. Potential for success is predicated upon an awareness of the area's history, the creation of sustainable communities, and their full involvement in regeneration.

Earlier this year, we successfully applied for £50k. This is seed funding, and has enabled us to appoint a development worker to undertake educational and outreach work.

The Centre has assumed responsibility for developing educational programmes leading to postgraduate study, putting together teaching packs for use in local schools, and establishing a more academic agenda for study of the Thames Gateway. This preparatory work will form the substance of the major bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund which we hope to complete in May/June 2006. At this stage we anticipate that the bid will be for a little under £1m.

The Centre is also planning actively to bring Eastside onto the Dockland Campus of the University of East London, March 2006.

BYGONE KENT

Whatever is happening to Bygone Kent?? The February issue contained an excellent article by Barbara Ludlow on Keeping Clean about the many public baths in the Greenwich and Woolwich area. (How many can you list?). So far everything was as usual. Then came letters talking about the bankruptcy of Meresborough Books. Then in April an issue turned up – a bit garish, quite honestly – from someone in Whitstable, with no sign of long time editor (and GIHS member) Pat O’Driscoll. It was very bright and cheerful – where did all those pictures come from???

This April edition has an article by Sarah Newman about Eltham at War.

Then no more until a May/June Emergency Issue showed up. Still a bit garish. Asking for another lot of subscriptions or the magazine would fold. There was nothing at all in it about Metropolitan Kent – so we don’t know what is going on. What do other people think???

Woolwich Antiquarian Society

The Society has just published its 2005 Occasional Paper No.4. This is entirely about Shopping in Woolwich - taken from an idea by the late Tony Robin and contains articles by some 30 members plus many pictures and advertisements from the past.

Iris Bryce books
The following books, signed by author, Iris Bryce, are available from;
Iris
Canals Are My Home - Adventures in a Narrow Boat
Remember Greenwich
A Tree in the Quad - Life in Woolwich 1940s-70s.

New hope for Severndroog Castle from Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage

Plans for the restoration of Severndroog Castle have taken a step forward thanks to the award of a Project Planning grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The £19,200 grant plus £15,000 from English Heritage will enable the Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust to carry out detailed plans for development.

Severndroog Castle is one of London’s hidden treasures, and is a much-loved local building. It has been closed to the public for over twenty years and has fallen into disrepair. Local residents formed the Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust (SCBPT), and have successfully negotiated an alternative plan for the full restoration of the Castle to return it to public use.

The Webmeister reports (2017 edit) these efforts came to a successful conclusion with its formal re-opening on July 20th, 2014.

Gasworks to Dome

Gasworks to Dome is a combination of a local history (and particularly oral history) project and a new technology project, focusing on East Greenwich (including the Peninsula) within living memory. We have made – and continue to make – a number of oral history recordings of local residents, and have also collected many images of the area, both old and recent. In addition we have taken many brand new photos, for comparison, and we’ve been holding Adobe Photoshop workshops. Then we have created a website – gasworkstodome.org.uk (please note this link no longer works and has been re-directed to another, relevant, site about Peninsula history created by Mary Mills) and loaded up all the images and interviews (there is more to come). More interestingly, we have been using the latest technology to tag clips of the interviews onto topics – streets, a landmarks, industries, activities – and we have put the photos into those categories as well. The result is a web of photos and sound clips, organised not in a hierarchy but in a variety of different ways. Do take a look at the site if you like, though bear in mind that it is still under construction. Or, if you would like to join in, on the oral history side, the photographic side, the technological side, or a bit of all three, either turn up at Independent Photography,

The Webmeister further notes that as a consequence of the Web pages created for this project no longer being accessible, the invaluable oral history recordings are currently unavailable. As there are copies of the recorded material as well as some transcripts, the Society is looking at ways of making these recordings available once again.

Sponsor a tile at Crossness

One of the Crossness Engine Trust's objectives is to return the Beam Engine House to its original 1865 condition. To this end, they have been actively looking at the possibility of replacing an area of missing floor tiles in front of the north facing windows on the Beam floor. They feel that this colourful display of Victorian tiling would add to visitors’ enjoyment of the Engine House. It is laid with tiles of varying shape and colour (red, black and harvest blue) to form a geometric pattern. They have located a company at Burslam, Stoke on Trent, which still makes an exact match of the original tiles, in both size and colour.

The Trust is seeking help from those who would like to contribute to this restoration project. This will take the form of sponsorship and you can sponsor as few or as many tiles as you wish, up to a maximum of the 900 required, at a cost of £l per tile.

Shooters Hill Local History Group.

Congratulations on their 13th anniversary exhibition and yummy anniversary dinner.

________________________________________

Third Symposium on Shipbuilding and Ships on the Thames

This took place in February at Greenwich University. Clearly all the papers had a great deal of local interest.

One directly local paper was given by Richard Hartree on John Penn and Sons - members will remember that Richard spoke on this subject to our 2005 AGM.

A summary of Richard’s paper is as follows:

The business was started by the author's great, great, great grandfather, John Penn in 1799, as a millwright's and agricultural engineering firm. Within twenty years it was one of the major engineering businesses in London.

John Penn II the only son, was born in 1805. In 1818 he entered the firm as an apprentice In the 1825 the firm took on its first marine engineering contract for engines for Ipswich and the Suffolk. In 1837, under John Penn II's guidance, they introduced a very successful design of oscillating engine for paddle steamers; which was still being made in the 1890s. In the 1840s they introduced their patented trunk engine for naval steam screw auxiliaries; it was manufactured into the 1870s.

The Russian (Crimean) War showed the firm's ability as an organiser of subcontractors in the manufacture of 75 gunboat engines. Screw propulsion was plagued by a serious technical problem with the stern bearing of the propeller shaft. In 1855 John Penn II patented a wood bearing. This overcame the problems and allowed screw propulsion to become practical; a major development.

John Penn II died in 1878 and was succeeded by his son John Penn III and his brother William.

Most of the firm's orders came from the Admiralty and Thameside shipbuilders. In the 1870s and 80s business fell drastically. The site location and layout led to high costs. Technological developments favoured firms better placed to serve the growing cargo ship market. John Penn & Sons collapsed in 1899 and was bought by Thames Ironworks The Greenwich and Deptford works continued to operate until 1911.

There were also a number of queries raised:

British Shipbuilding Database – maintained by Dr. Ian Buxton, University of Newcastle. He is interested in lists of shipbuilding launches on the Thames.

Rif Winfield is looking for information on the design of Thames built naval sloops of the early 1740s (he notes Deptford built Swallow – John Buxton, 1743, Jamaica – Deptford Dockyard, 1732, Trial – Deptford Dockyard 1743, Speedwell – John Buxton 1744) tanparcau@btopenworld.com

Knut who wants to know about the copper bottoming of Naval Cutter, Alert, built Deptford Dockyard 1777.

Stuart Rankin would like information on Peter Kier. redriff2@yahoo.com

Alan Parfrey has sent us this picture of his great grandfather – a fireman. Any comments about the background are welcome. Is it a gasworks?

DICK TURPIN

by John Fox

In past Newsletters of our Industrial Historical Society I've seen little mention of an industry that many of our forbears dabbled in, thievery. Robin Hood is, perhaps, our best known thief, but running a very close second to him must be Dick Turpin, a robber who, I shall show, was arrested for shooting a chicken and hung for the lack of sixpence.

My interest in this robber was awakened when reading about him in the 'Newgate Calendar,' the 18th century equivalent of the 'Sun' newspaper, made me remember my childhood, in East Ham. I was about eight and a gang of us kids were walking towards the High Street. Getting near the Town Hall one of the lads pointed to a pub and told us, "Dick Turpin used to keep his horse there". Us children were all suitably impressed, 'Caw', to think, Dick Turpin kept his horse there. When reading the Newgate Calendar I saw that indeed it is quite likely that he had.

However, let's start at the beginning. Dick Turpin was born in Thackstead; Essex the son of a farmer and after getting a sketchy education from the village school his father apprenticed him to a butcher. Completing his apprenticeship Dick opened his own butchers in Stratford, just across the river and married a Miss Jenny Palmer of East Ham.

As a good businessman, young Dick was determined to simplify the bookkeeping system of his butcher shop, with this in mind he ended the palaver of paying for the animals he slaughtered and took to stealing them instead. This minor character blemish was eventually found out and a warrant issued for his arrest. Evading capture he fled to 'The Hundreds of Essex'. The smuggling wasn't a great success for, as the Newgate Calendar so nicely puts it, "Custom-house Officers, by one successful stroke, deprived him of all his ill-acquired gains". He next turned his hand to deer stealing in Epping Forest, but again with little success and so, he and a bunch of like-minds tried housebreaking.

Theirs was a simple plan, selecting a house, which they hoped, contained a lot of money, one of them would knock on the door and when it was opened they'd all rush in and grab whatever they could. Doing this act several times, getting, what was in the eighteenth century quite a lot of money, £400 in Loughton, £700 from a farmer at Barking, a miserly £120 from the keeper of Epping Forest.

They also carried out a house breaking escapade in this locality - may I give an account of it as printed in the Newgate Calendar. "On the 11th of January 1735, Turpin and five of his companions went to the house of Mr. Saunders, a rich farmer at Charlton at Kent, between seven and eight in the evening, and having knocked at the door, asked if Mr. Saunders was at home. Being answered in the affirmative, they rushed into the house, and found Mr. Saunders, with his wife and friends, playing at cards in the parlour. They told the company that they would remain uninjured, if they made no disturbance. Having made a prize of a silver snuff-box which lay on the table a part of the gang stood guard over the rest of the company, while the others attended Mr. Saunders going through the house, and breaking open his escritoires and closets, stole about £100, exclusive of plate. During these transactions the servant maid ran up stairs, barring the door of her room, and cried out, "Thieves!” with a view of alarming the neighbourhood; but the robbers broke open the door of her room, secured her.. Finding some minced-pies and some bottles of wine, they sat down to regale themselves; and meeting with a bottle of brandy, they compelled each of the company to drink a glass of it. Mrs. Saunders fainting through terror, they administered some drops in water to her, and recovered her to the use of her senses.

Having staid in the house a considerable time, they packed up their booty and departed, having first declared, that if any of the family gave the least alarm within two hours, or advertised the marks of the stolen plate, they would return and murder them at some future date."

When I read this account I imagined a lonely farmhouse well off the beaten tracks of Charlton, perhaps in the marshes. How untrue! Checking up at the Local History Library I found that Mr. Saunders farm was on the main Blackheath to Charlton road, separated by the village green from Charlton House - the actual spot is now covered by Games House, in the Council estate there.

The gang carried out these house break-ins for three months, but the reward for members of the gang went up to £100 and two of them were caught and hanged. With these problems, Turpin decided to move out of London and on the road to Cambridge he caught up with a well-dressed man riding on a valuable horse. Now our Richard, pushed his pistol in the man's face and demanded his money. I think we can all imagine his surprise when the chap burst out laughing at this threat "What, dog eat dog is it? Come, come brother Turpin; if you don't know me, I know you and shall be glad of your company".

This fellow he was attempting to rob was King, a well-known highwayman and uniting with him Dick Turpin became one himself. The two became such scourge on the roads of Essex that, as the Newgate Calendar puts it, "no public house would receive them as guests", and they made themselves a cave, in Epping Forest as their hideout.

In 1737, Turpin and King went to the Red Lion PH in Whitechapel intending to sell a horse they had stolen. The Landlord of the pub knew they were coming and saw a way of making some easy money. Hiding outside in the stables, seeing King approaching he drew his pistol and presented it to the robbers head. King, called out to Turpin behind him. "Shoot him, Dick, or we are taken." Turpin fired, missed and shot his friend, King. Now a search was underway in earnest, at one stage the 'Epping Fox Hunt' went looking for him with their bloodhounds, forcing Dick to hide in a tree. Too well known on the roads of Essex, he and his wife went to Yorkshire. Here, going by the name of John Palmer, his wife's maiden name, he lived the life of a gentleman of means.

One day he shot a chicken belonging to his landlord and followed it with - "If you just stay there while I reload my gun, I’ll shoot you as well." the neighbour told the landlord who applied for a warrant for the apprehension of Mr. Palmer. Dick wrote to his bother telling he was in prison pleading "For Heaven's sake dear brother, do not neglect me; you will know what I mean, when I say, I am Yours, John Palmer." It was sheer bad luck that a Mr. Smith, the schoolteacher that had taught Dick to write recognized the handwriting and notified the authorities who this mysterious Mr. Palmer was.

Dick Turpin was hanged at York. The crowd were so impressed by his 'going' that they took his body to 'lay in state' at the Blue Boar, Castle-Gate, York and be buried, next morning in St George's churchyard. This done, a rumour flew around town that grave robbers had ransacked Turpin's grave. A hue and cry was raised and the good people found his body with a surgeon. Regaining possession of it, the corpse was laid on a board and carried through the streets of York in a triumphant procession. Taken back to St George's Church, this time the 'mourners' filled the coffin with unslaked lime before burial. Thus ensuring the remains of the very much ex-highway man, ex-cattle rustler, ex-smuggler, ex-house breaker and all round bad egg, Dick Turpin, would not be worth digging up a second time.

Letters May 2006

From: Robin Hoare

Greetings from New Zealand! I wondered if any of your members can answer a question that has been puzzling me. My great-great grandparents lived in Deptford from before 1730 to around 1800, when they moved to Bethnal Green. They are shown in the 1841 censuses as silk weavers, which is entirely consistent with the surname, Mace and with Bethnal Green but not with Deptford. Is there any history of silk weaving in the Deptford district I wonder?

From: Rob Cumming

I have for some time been collating information for possible publication on windmills in N.W. Kent before the 1888 boundary changes. I am currently researching sites in:

Blackheath (4 - Morden Hill, Holly Hedge House, Mill House, Talbot Place)

Deptford (4 - Tanners Hill, Black Horse Fields, Victualling Yard, Clayton)

Lee Green/Kidbrooke (1 - Meadowcourt Road)

Mottingham (1 - Fairy Hill)

Plumstead Common (1- ‘The Windmill')

Woolwich (2 - Mill Lane and Nightingale Lane)

Can any of your members offer any assistance?

From: Beryl Reynolds

My father's family's history is associated with the gateway to Woolwich Arsenal. The Bower family owned stone quarries near Swanage and were contracted to supply stone for the gateway to the Arsenal in Beresford Square. Two brothers, William and Edwin? came to live in Woolwich, presumably to work on the gateway, while a third brother Ambrose stayed at home in Dorset to look after the business at that end. Unfortunately some of the stone was sub-standard and the family business suffered. William returned to Dorset but the other brother, who was my grandfather remained in Woolwich. He deserted my grandmother and his children; I am hoping to trace him but so far I have not had any luck. Can anyone suggest where I might be able to get some help? Does anyone know of any records to do with the building of the Arsenal gateway and exactly when it was being constructed?

From: Pieter van der Merwe

Glad to see Friends of East Greenwich Pleasaunce has been formed. I've just been going through the Greenwich Hospital minutes of the 1850s and have run across all the detail of how they bought the ground, then being used as a fruit orchard by a Mr. William Miles as tenant of the estate of the late Sir Gregory Page Turner, purchased it at £550 an acre, bought out Miles's interest through arbitration: then had Philip Hardwick, the Greenwich Hospital Surveyor, draw up plans for the lodge, gates, boundary wall (all built by Lucas, of Lambeth) and plan the graveyard, bought a six-coffin patent hearse from Shillibeer's (with seats for mourners) and changed their burial contractor from Mrs. Shepperd of London Road, Greenwich to Richardsons, ditto, to do the burials: it all involved a delay of over a year from when they were supposed to close the old burial ground (in 1856). A Captain Drake in Deptford previously refused to sell them ground at £400, which he planned to make much more for and did not want to see used a cemetery. No doubt this is backed up with plans, correspondence etc. in supporting papers.

From: Dr. Danea Cowell

While Birkenhead is a long way from Woolwich we ask if anyone there knows where we might find information on an engineer and crane maker, James Taylor, of Birkenhead c.1840-1890. He was an important figure in the design and building of large steam cranes widely used at many major UK ports. Howe ever - some time in the late 1890's the firm and he simply disappeared. Enquiries at Birkenhead revealed little. He was connected to Hulse of Whitworths in the 1850s and design and built a seminal blocksetter for Colombo about 1870 to the specs of Sir Thomas Coode and Matthews of London. Any help about this you can give will be most appreciated.

Research Sec. The Historical Steam Crane Society. Pacific Chapter.

From: Professor Timothy Peters

I am researching the use of asphalt in the repair of the Wendover Arm of the Grand Junction Canal in 1856-60. My researches suggest that 4 miles of the Arm were lined with Coal Tar Asphalt and this confirmed by IR Spectroscopy. Initially the asphalting was successful, considerably reducing the leakage from the canal. The pitch was obtained from John Bethell of Greenwich. I have details of the price and how the pitch was transported to Wendover. I also have information on the asphalt composition, which was supervised by Sir William Cubitt. I am writing to ask if you have any information about Bethell's Works, e.g. equipment, source of coal tar, manufacture of the pitch and any details of its composition and properties. The asphalting lasted until 1870 when the Arm was again leaking badly. I am interested in the reasons for its failure. The analyses reveal that the asphalt had high free carbon content and this may have contributed to it. The free carbon is a reflection of the methods used in preparing the pitch and asphalt. From information unearthed at the Institution of Civil Engineers this appears to be a novel use of asphalt. I know of John Bethell's work with creosote but any information or possible sources about his preparation and use of coal tar would be of considerable help.

From: Denis Poole

I hope you don't think me cheeky, but I wonder if any of your members can help me. I live in Edinburgh and am currently looking for a link to a master builder in Greenwich or maybe Deptford. His name is Shorter. The dates I am looking for 1910 to 1920.

From: Foster Lovesay

I have found some information on your website regarding the South Met Gas Co. and I wonder whether you could help me. I was led to believe from a young boy that my Great Grandfather Thomas Lovesay saved some people from a gas works explosion and was presented with a gold watch in gratitude. However seeing the watch it only mentions his retirement in 1919 after 34 years employment as a foreman with them. Can you tell me if there was any explosion at this gas station and if so have you any records of anyone helping survivors?

From: Alison Dawe

I am hoping that you may be able to assist me in locating any information about my ancestor John Lewthwaite, 1816-1892. He was a brilliant inventor and I believe that he had some of his inventions exhibited at the London Industrial Exhibition of 1857. He is noted in particular for a Railway Ticket Printing Machine and a Fire Detection System.

From: Allan Green

I have very much enjoyed coming along for the past 2 years to tell you something of my researches. In 2004 it was the Cables & Cableships with my friend Glyn Wrench and last year PLUTO. I hope that I might be allowed back later on to tell you something about work I have been do on W T Henley?

Mr. Henley was not a son of Greenwich, however he did have strong connections. He started his submarine cable-making business at Morden Wharf before moving downstream to North Woolwich and then (after his death) the Company moved to Gravesend. I am hoping that perhaps some GIHS members and / or visitors to the web-pages might be able to help me with a few bits of missing information?

• Samuel Edmund Phillips (jnr) worked for some time as "electrician" for Mr. Henley but left him in 1875 (when times were financially bad for Henley) to join Claude Johnson (who left Telcon at Greenwich) and they founded the firm of Johnson & Phillips at Charlton. Does anyone have any information about S.E. Phillips's activities when he was working for Henley? Also, can anyone enlighten me as to the activities of J.E. Phillips senior who was reputed to have been involved in the telegraphy business?

• A fine portrait of Henley painted by Basil Holmes is preserved in the archives of the IEE. It was painted in 1870 when Henley was 56. I am interested to know what might have been the relationship between artist and sitter? Could they have been neighbours? It seems so unlike Henley to have commissioned a portrait of himself. Little is known of Holmes except that he painted no other known portraits and he specialised in landscapes.

• In the 19th century there was a pub called "The Henley Arms" close to the factory in North Woolwich. There is a "Henley Arms" there today but certainly not the original! Does anyone have information, or photographs perhaps of the original pub?

• Any information at all about Old Bill Henley would be gratefully received.

From: Andrew Freeman, Pepys Estate Visual History Project

I am writing on behalf of Pepys Community Forum based on the Pepys Estate in Deptford. We are planning a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the building of the Pepys Estate on the site of the Victoria victualling yards controlled by the Navy Board up till 1964 (the estate opened July 31st 1966). One of the projects we hope to do later this year is a creative history project based on some photo's taken in 1967 by the Royal Institute of British Architects when the estate was the recipient of a RIBA award. As part of the HLF funding aspiration is to provide direct education on heritage-related topics we are trying to arrange short talks for the participants from people with knowledge of the history and practices of this area. Having seen the material on your website I am hoping that you can recommend some of your members who may be able to come along and give short talks of topics of interest, this may include how recent developments are affecting the area as well as historical material about the industries that operated in the area. One of the goals of the project is to stimulate general interest in active participation in heritage issues in the area and hopefully some of the participants will want to develop their interests further. Another larger project that is still on the drawing board here and that we are looking for partners to work with, is connected with the impending development of Convoys Wharf (Kings Yard). As you may know there are three sites on the development that will be excavated under the supervision of GLAS. We would like to offer residents of the area an opportunity to be involved in some capacity and for a focus on our mostly hidden heritage to coincide with these excavations. If this is something you might be interested in then perhaps we can arrange some meeting of interested parties at a later date.

In addition as we are having a heritage-themed festival day on the last Saturday in July (29th) this year in Pepys Park you may be interested in having a stall to promote your activities?

From: Tim Sargeant

Can I refer to a letter from Jonathan Clarke in Vol 6, Issue 2, March 2003 about Sherwood, Tunbridge Wells. In case no-one else has answered this query: ‘Sherwood' at Tunbridge Wells was on the Pembury Road out of Tunbridge Wells. It was at one time a nurses' home but has recently all been re-developed. I do not know if the original house is still there. This would account for Siemens being a friend of Sir David Salomons who lived nearby, another electrical pioneer. Now I know that Siemens lived in the house I will take a closer look at it. In connection with Mr. Clarke's researches - would you have any knowledge of a three-wheeled electrically powered vehicle that was constructed by Sir David Salomons c.1878? Obviously Siemens would have had an interest or possibly even a hand in this. I am sure that somewhere there must be a picture of it. I have heard about a drawing but unfortunately this is now lost.

I am also trying to trace a chap by the name of Alex Cleghorn and noted that there was a reference to someone of this name on your site in connection with the restoration of the Massey Shaw. The Alex Cleghorn I want to trace was a motor rallyist in the 1960s and was co-driver to Don Grimshaw on the 1961 Monte Carlo Rally.

From: G Broughton

Re: GIHS Newsletter January 2006 – Recording of Chemical Department Building.

In November 1931 I joined the Research Department, Woolwich Arsenal Metallurgical Section as a Laboratory Attendant. A relative with a similar rank already worked in the Cordite Section of the RD. My recollection is that the all research work was undertaken in the RD situated in Griffin Manor Way accessed by a gate near Plumstead Station.

The RD, responsible then to The War Department, was headed by a Chief Superintendent from the Armed Services – in the 1930s a Naval Captain. It has an imposing administrative HQ Building more recently occupied by The Chemical Inspectorate following the RD move to Fort Halstead. The RD has moved through the years as A.R.E., A.R.D.E., R.A.R.D.E and now QUINETIQ!

From: Sue Bullevant

Re. the enquiry about the Woolwich Infant and Bill Shipp.

The Woolwich Infant was the popular name for the ‘Armstrong Gun’ of 35 tons. There is still a public house called ‘The Woolwich Infant’ in Plumstead Road opposite the Royal Arsenal. The Armstrong Gun was not a mortar. There is a ‘Mallett’s Mortar’ on display at Woolwich Common.

Bare Knuckle Fighter - Tom Cribb was in the 19th century the famous ‘bare knuckle champion’ of England. He retired to Woolwich and there is a lion memorial to him in Woolwich Churchyard.

Bill Shipp – unfortunately I know nothing about him or a fighter called ‘The Woolwich Infant’. Perhaps there is a web site on bare knuckle fighters?

ENGLISH HERITAGE REPORTS ON ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK ON THE ARSENAL SITE

From: English Heritage

Article from GIHS Newsletter 2006

Royal Arsenal, Woolwich (Building 49) undertaken by Oxford Archaeology

Building 49 forms the east range of the main central quadrangle of the Grand Store complex, a vast Grade II* listed range of store houses which were constructed between 1806 and 1813 as part of a major expansion at the Arsenal due to the high military demands of the Napoleonic Wars.

The east range of the Grand Store, building 49, appears to have escaped the worst of the subsidence that the rest of the complex suffered. However, whilst the other main ranges of the Grand Store buildings appear to have remained partly in use until at least the closure of the Royal Ordnance Factory in the late 1960's, Building 49 was largely abandoned in the mid-20th century. Consequently its structural condition is now the worst of all the Grand Store ranges even though it has retained a large proportion of its historic fabric.

Among the interesting surviving features which provide an indication of the use of the building are a number of elements of a former hoist at the east end of the central block. The clearest external feature is an external hoist arm adjacent to a pair of first-floor loading doors at the centre of the east wall but there are also a number of surviving internal features. Adjacent to the ground floor doorway is a largely surviving hydraulic hoist (or jigger) fixed to the wall which would have powered the external hoist as well as internal lifts to move items between floors.

At roof level above the first-floor doors is a secondary timber frame between the easternmost primary tie beam and the external wall which would probably have supported an internal hoist. The jigger was inserted as part of a refit and expansion at the Arsenal during the Crimean War.

Another interesting feature which is in the central area is an iron frame, sunken within the ground floor slab, with rail tracks running over the top of it. Directly above it there was a large hatch in a mezzanine and there would have possibly been a hoist to raise items up from a wagon, which would have been pushed onto the tracks on the frame, to the mezzanine.

Another feature of interest in the general area is the base from a former rail turntable which was aligned with and directly south from the tracks on the frame. This was also in line with the double doors to the centre of the east elevation and there would have been a set of tracks which entered through the doors. Another set of tracks are also visible at the southern end of the building immediately inside from the external doorway.

Another interesting feature is a large sump beneath the very centre of the building and a surviving section of the stone-block flooring at the north west corner of the central block.

The most impressive general feature is the internal timber frame which survives but is in poor condition. The frame is arranged with pairs of Samson posts which rise through the building with load spreading 'pillow block' heads and bases sandwiched and bolted together immediately below each floor.

There is also evidence that there would have originally been a series of small stoves in the building which would probably just have been to provide some warmth. The evidence includes small recesses at ground floor in the main internal piers with smoke-darkened flues within the piers that link to the main chimney. At first floor there are some stone hearths which would probably have supported free-standing stoves and circular holes directly above into which circular iron flues would have fed.

There are also known to have been a number of mezzanines inserted throughout the Grand Store ranges during the Crimean War and these partly survive in building 49.

Although the surviving primary structure of building 49 and the other Grand Store ranges has a monumental grandeur and is still impressive in scale today it was structurally relatively conservative when compared to other contemporary buildings and can now be seen to represent the end of a building tradition. It was constructed a decade after the first iron-framed, fire-proof textile mills were constructed and although this type of construction was yet to be widely adopted it did spread and develop in the early decades of the 19th century, particularly for large structures such as the Grand Store. In a historical context there is no doubt that the construction of the complex has much more in common with storehouses of the second half of the 18th century rather than the commercial warehouses of the first half of the 19th century which comprised cast iron columns, iron beams and brick jack arches. The contrast is even greater with the light-weight iron roof trusses and open floor spaces of various buildings at the Arsenal dating to the second half of the 19th century.

Royal Arsenal, Woolwich (Building 45) undertaken by Oxford Archaeology

Building 45 at the Royal Arsenal forms part of the Grand Store complex, a nationally important set of warehouses constructed between 1806-1813 due to the military demands of the Napoleonic Wars. The ranges of the main, central quadrangle of the Grand Store are listed grade II and are among the architectural highlights of the Arsenal. Building 45, however, is a much simpler structure and is unlisted. Building 45 forms part of the Western Quadrangle which would originally have comprised three main ranges, with the fourth side formed by Building 46. Now only the North and South ranges survive and are considerably different to their original structure. The two ranges would have originally been single storied brick structures (Flemish bond) with hipped roofs and sash windows to either side with fan lights and arcading. Despite being single-storied, documentary evidence suggests that the North and South ranges were large storehouse buildings with external walls. They would have been typical Napoleonic-period structures similar to many such buildings constructed in the Royal dockyards and military complexes in the early 19th century.

The three originally detached ranges were linked by a vast shed which filled the quadrangle and which was constructed in 1855-6 during the Crimean War. These infill ranges were pulled down in a major reconstruction undertaken in the 1890's which saw the construction of a new three storey structure which filled the footprint of the previous building and which incorporated the original single storey North and South ranges. In the current development, the central 1890's infill block is being demolished and a new west range added to return the footprint of the quadrangle closer to its original form. The North and South ranges are being retained with primary brickwork at ground floor, 1890's extension at first floor and a new structure at 2nd floor.

Building 45 is of interest because it provides a fuller understanding of the original form of the Grand Store and is the only surviving element of the two original side quadrangles. Secondly, it is of interest as a piece of building's archaeology due to its complex development which reflects a number of phases of the Arsenal's history. Thirdly, it contributes to the overall group value of the buildings at the Arsenal, which is one of the principal interests of the site.

Evidence had indicated that the eastern wall of the building had many doorways at ground floor and that this was the principal access route into and out of the building for vehicular traffic. Much of the eastern third of the interior is likely to have been for loading and unloading and the main storage would have been in the western half. The investigation has confirmed that the second floor of each of the two primary ranges was a secondary addition, shown by the subtle difference in bonding between the brickwork on the two floors, and the demolition of the 1890's block has revealed that a number of bull nose bricks used in this block were stamped to their upper face with‘Diamond Jubilee', most likely referring to Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee of 1897 and as these bricks are believed to be primary to the central range this provides a good indication of the date for this building. It was previously dated to c1890.

The work has also confirmed that the water tower was a later addition, (probably Edwardian) and that it was almost certainly never a hydraulic accumulator as has previously been considered possible.

Among specific features of interest identified in the investigation have been a series of military storage bays painted on the first and second floor and a single surviving fanlight which may be original (Napoleonic).

The roof of building 45 has similarities with various roofs constructed at the Arsenal in the very late 19th and early 20th century and lacks the elegance or structural sophistication of the slightly earlier metal roofs in Arsenal Buildings of the 1870's and 1880's. Another historical pattern which the work has contributed to has been the difference in brick bonding between the buildings of the very early 19th century, which tend to be of Flemish bond and those of the later 19th century which tend to be of English bond.

Understanding of the building has been enhanced by a plan which was found within the building during its clearance which details works undertaken in c1970-1 after the closure of the Arsenal when Building 45 was converted to a British Library bookstore. This identifies which windows were replaced in the works, what the layout of shelving racks for the books was, where the former staircases and lifts were located, and where former doorways had been replaced.

CROYDON AIRPORT

John King was booked to speak to the Society in March 2006 on the subject of Croydon Airport. Sadly he was unable to do this following surgery which left him with severe mobility problems. We wish him well, and hope to listen to him on this subject at some time in the future. In the meantime, Richard Buchanan has sent us the following report of a talk which John gave to the Southwark and Lambeth Archaeological Society.

Croydon was first used as an aerodrome for defence by the Royal Flying Corps in 1917, but at the end of the war they vacated the site. However, Hounslow Heath, another wartime aerodrome, reverted to cavalry use – and in 1920 Croydon came back into use for commercial aviation. It took over the RFC buildings surrounding an old farmhouse on one side of Plough Lane, a road that divided it from an Aircraft Assembly Works next door, with a railway style level crossing gate between them.

In 1920 it briefly had an airship tower – London was hosting a Dominion Leaders conference, and a demonstration flight of a new Airship was laid on – however, the tower was soon removed, as it had been built on private land. During the 1920s the Aircraft Assembly Works were used as an Engine Shop.

Pilots, from France, navigated to Croydon by following railway lines: from Ashford along the long E-W line through Kent, then north along the Brighton line. The government got the railway companies to paint the names of salient railway stations along the route on their roofs – such as Tonbridge and Banstead. After a couple of collisions it had to be decided whether planes should keep left or right of the tracks – right was agreed.

Emergency landing places along the route were established – one was at Penshurst.

Many small companies were set up, one of the first being Air Transport & Travel, though few were successful. In 1924 several aviation companies were amalgamated to form Imperial Airways, with a government subsidy (this was meant to be tapered down – but grew…). The French and Dutch gave higher subsidies to their aviation industries. Imperial Airways were known for good comfort (for the times) and safety. Air travel was for first class passengers up to the time of the depression, after which a wider market was sought.

The aeroplanes were piston-engined biplanes, with the pilot in an open cockpit - many of the British models were by Vickers, De Haviland and Handley Page.

Other airfields came into being at this time, with Grove Park and Eltham in SE London.

In 1928 Croydon airport was enlarged. The centre of Plough Lane was removed, uniting the whole site. The wartime buildings, with their later additions were swept away – to be replaced by the splendid terminal building, with its main hall accommodating the offices of the airlines. The Aerodrome Hotel was built next door, by the new Purley Way - one could go on its roof for 1d to see the aeroplanes. There were plans for a railway connection, with powers granted in 1929, but the depression intervened; plans were revived in 1934 but came to nothing.

There were several historic occasions at Croydon. Lindbergh flew in with his “Spirit of St Louis” after his flight from New York to Paris, and was greeted by enormous crowds – he appeared on the old wooden control tower, and spoke, ending with “all I want is a cup of tea”. In August 1931 Amy Johnson was there after her solo flight to Australia. Her aeroplane, Jason, is now in the Science Museum.

Croydon airport was not ideal. It never had a concrete runway, and the grass landing strip had a considerable dip in the middle with steeper gradients on either side than recommended. Croydon, however, as an established airport, continued to be busy. Railway Air Services Ltd used it to provide a mail service round Britain. In the Second World War the RAF moved in with a squadron of Hurricanes. After the war it continued as an airport for flying club and charter work, until 1959 when Morton Air Services flew out for the last time (to Rotterdam). The site was sold in 1963, to Guardian Royal Exchange.

In 1978 the Croydon Airport Society was founded. It has had several events particularly that of 1980, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Amy Johnson’s flight to Australia.

However the main aim of the Society was to set up a Croydon Airport Museum in Airport House, the main terminal building, which is Grade 2 listed. The local Council was supportive, but a succession of new owners have had opinions ranging from supportive to dismissive. Airport House is now developed for office use, with a De Haviland Heron displayed outside (the last type of plane to fly thence), and a Tiger Moth (recalling flying club days) hung from the ceiling of the main hall. The Society now has a Visitor Centre there, and hope for the Museum is not dead.

Unfortunate commercial development at the rear is less pleasing than a view of the airfield. However, the site is still flyable. The Aerodrome Hotel is still there, but renamed – “Aerodrome” was thought to suggest aircraft noise to potential guests!

The Society has much material to display, and is still getting more: about the aerodrome itself, its staff, the aircraft which used it, and the passengers it served. A French pilot from the early years met and married a Croydon girl – recently, as his widow, she gave them over 200 photographs he had taken. More photographs were found in a Lufthansa archive at Cologne. It also has material on other airports and airfields serving London.

.Reviews and Snippets August 2006

Obituary
An Appreciation of Beverley Burford

Beverley Burford died on 20th May 2006 after an eighteen month battle with cancer in her spine. She had a full time job running the Borough Museum which she did effectively but without fuss, so she was always able to welcome people and spend time dealing with their wants.

When the Museum was formed it was bequeathed an extensive range of pertinent books, particularly on botany and zoology, which forms the core of a reference library for Museum use (still held separately from the Borough Archives), for which Beverley was the librarian. Then came the Heritage Centre project, to amalgamate the Museum with the Borough Archives from Mycenae Road, Blackheath. Beverley worked late, regularly. She might throw one out at five o'clock, but she stayed on - but still the piles on her desk rose. The move loomed. Items were packed. Unpacking at the Arsenal was hasty, so at first things could not easily be found. Beverley was not a retiring museum curator - she was a front-of-house manager, making sure that all who came were properly welcomed, looked after, and suitably impressed by the Heritage Centre.

She leaves a substantial legacy and some other ideas for the future of the Heritage Centre deserve to come to fruition.

R J Buchanan
(this is a condensed version of an appreciation of Beverley written for Woolwich Antiquarians’ Newsletter)

MERRYWEATHER MEMORABILIA

Mysteriously and unsolicited through the post came a parcel – it turns out to be a scrapbook about a Merryweather employee ‘Mr. L.C.Miller leaves Greenwich’. Obviously we would be interested to know more about Mr. Miller – but, for now, here are some highlights from the scrapbook. And thank you to Paula Clatworthy of Mousehole who bought a job lot of books, found the scrapbook and sent it to us.

So, who was Mr. Miller? The scrapbook says: “On January 31st, 1956, Mr. L.C. Miller, DSO, BSc (Eng), Director and Works Manager of Merryweather & Sons Ltd.,Greenwich, retired. After 47 years with the Company Mr. Miller was born in 1889, the son of Mr. L. Miller who was also a Director of Merryweathers. After gaining his degree he joined Merryweathers in 1908. In 1911 he was appointed Assistant Works Manager. He served, throughout the first World War with the Royal Garrison Artillery, gaining the DSO in 1917 for 'conspicuous gallantry and devotion'. In 1938 he was appointed Works Manager and was elected to the Board in 1942.”

The scrapbook contains two menus for two farewell meals for Mr. Miller. The first ‘Luncheon’ was at the Constitutional Club in London on 30th January – the menu “Crème soup …. Delice de Sole Meuniere …. Carre d’Agneau, Roti, sauce Menthe, Choux de Bruxelles, Pommes Chateau … Coupe Nebraska … Café”.
The second ‘Dinner’ was at the Prince of Orange in Greenwich High Road, on 31st January. The menu: ‘Cream of Tomato Soup, Roast Chicken and Savoury stuffing, Baked and creamed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, Garden Peas …. Fresh Fruit salad and ice cream … cheese and biscuits … Coffee’ (you could write a whole social history from those menus!).

Many of the pictures are of these farewell events – and since I assume readers don’t want lots of pictures of people eating – some of the other pictures of other subjects are included below.

---- During his last day at Greenwich Mr. Miller visited several of the shops throughout the works. Foreman, J.Collins, with twenty years service, has a word with Mr. Miller in the Fitting Shop
-----Bomb damage at Merryweathers
-----On the evening of January 31st Merryweather people from works and offices gathered to drink Mr. Miller’s health. Here they listen intently while the Chairman speaks.
-----Miss Meekings, Mr. Miller’s secretary for eleven years, make final adjustments to Mr. Miller’s wall charts.
-----This modern picture apparently shows a stripped down Merryweather boiler from one of their Greenwich-made fire engines.
-----Mr. Miller calls in at the Blacksmith’s Shop for a last glance. At the steam hammer (left to right) are Foreman, S.Sheen (52 years service), L.Mitchell (18 years service), and T.Stevenson (5 years service).

Naval Dockyards Society – are advertising the following publications:
Naval Dockyards. A Bibliography £1.50 (also on their website navaldockyards.org/publications)
Index to the list of workmen and apprentices in His Majesty’s Dockyards in 1748. £10.00
Portsmouth Dockyard in the Age of Nelson by Ray Riley

THE KIRKALDY TESTING MUSEUM
99 SOUTHWARK STREET LONDON SE1 OJF
Volunteers Required!
The centre-piece of the museum is David Kirkaldy's large testing machine built in the 1860s. The materials testing machine was made to David Kirkaldy's design and built by Greenwood & Batley of Leeds and is still in working condition. In addition the museum has probably the largest collection of old testing machines in this country. The museum needs more 'Friends' to keep all this equipment in good order and to bring stored items into use. There are opportunities for office work (inventories etc.), display, design and mechanical work on the various machines and many other skills. We are a small friendly team, who normally meet twice a month, including being open to the public on the first Sunday of the month. We have planned a special 'Open-day' for possible new volunteers on Saturday

THE HILL FOLK

Iris Bryce has a new book published (her seventh). It's title The Hill Folk, was the term used by the villagers of Wrotham, in Kent for the people who lived high up on top of the North Downs. In the 1950's Iris and her husband Owen bought a derelict farm on the highest point, approx. 800 ft. and purely by accident, these two Londoners born and bred found themselves starting an Organic Market Garden in 1953. The Hill Folk tells the story of their next twenty years or more, years that changed their way of life - one that no money could ever buy.

CROSSNESS ENGINES TRUST - RESTORATION OF VICTORIA
Yes, we're stripping Victoria and she doesn't mind! Work has started on the restoration of the second James Watt beam engine but this time, instead of tearing in and getting our hands dirty taking the engine apart, a reasoned and logical approach has been adopted in the hope that this aspect of our restoration work will qualify for official recognition by the National Museums Organisation.
From: Crossness Record

New Street Lighting on Shooters Hill
Shooters Hill has recently been graced by new lamp posts, the third set since the 1930s when the Laing and Wimpey estates added their suburban sprawl. The original set had a cast iron base about eight feet tall (of a type suitable for gas lamps), a mild steel extension doubling the height with a swan neck at the top from which an electric lamp hung: lighting was by filament bulb. The lamp posts were painted a shade of leaf green, fitting in well with the various colours the houses were then painted and their garden plants. In the 1960s these were replaced by slightly lower, reinforced concrete posts (those used to rusty reinforcement breaking out of concrete fence posts doubted its use for lamp posts, but most were as good the day they came out as when they went in). These had a tapering triangular design with the comers chamfered, becoming hexagonal at the top; here a 45° angled-back top supported a lantern which shone across the roadway. Lighting was by twin 18 inch fluorescent tubes, quite bright when new, though they gently dimmed with age. Eventually the fluorescent lanterns were replaced by sodium lamps in smaller lanterns. The third, 2006, set are a response to health and safety fears - crashing into a concrete post might cause it to shatter and land on the crashing vehicle, while a steel one would merely bend. The new set are a simple tubular design, a three foot high base with a plain post rising to a height of 20 feet, directly into a lantern that overhangs the roadway: lighting is again sodium. Big Brother also has space in the lantern to fit a camera. When installed the posts and lantern were both grey, not very attractive; then the Council said they would paint the posts black - which sounded worse - and did, leaving the lanterns grey. The new lamp posts now blend nicely in the neighbourhood, most houses having similarly proportioned black drainpipes, other paintwork now mainly being (conservation area) white.
From: Woolwich Antiquarians Newsletter

GREENWICH DISTRICT CHIMNEY
The stylish period chimney, oval in cross section, at the Greenwich District Hospital site was felled at 10.30 am on Sunday morning 18 June 2006. Controlled explosives were used. Roads in the vicinity were closed and there was a good crowd of onlookers. Little is now left at this location.
From: GLIAS Newsletter

The advent of the Docklands Light Railway to Woolwich has caused the demolition of some well-loved (and locally listed) buildings. However, two early houses facing Rope Yard Rails from across Beresford Square have now been revealed, whose front gardens had long ago been lost to commerce and been built over.
From: Woolwich Antiquarians Newsletter

GREENWICH FOOT TUNNEL

This message was sent out to cyclists in Tower Hamlets, Greenwich and Southwark by Barry Mason, co-ordinator of Southwark Cyclists. Mr. Mason instigated the celebrations for the centenary of the Greenwich foot tunnel in 2002. If anybody is interested in his suggestions, please contact him at the number below.

“Local authorities can do things brilliantly but look at the state of the tunnel and despair. The no-spitting etc. signs at the start say it all. I keep coming, back to my fantasy that a local group takes over the Foot Tunnel from Greenwich Council and its the quaint dead hand of municipalisation. We turn it into an integral part of the Greenwich World Heritage Site experience. Tourists are encouraged to walk the tunnel for an entrance fee that works from 10-5 every day. Commuters get free passes and only need use them during charging times. The tunnel gets smartened up...... and users get told much more about it. Why is there that extra reinforcing steel-work at the northern end? 1944 bomb damage.

With maybe 200,000 tourists a year using the tunnel at £3 each it might be possible to run the operation at a modest profit... with maybe capital works underwritten by Tower Hamlets and Greenwich Councils. Phase 2 is a new visitor centre at Island Gardens with much better cafe, loos, cycle hire and the gateway to the Isle of Dogs. Tower Hamlets says it wants more tourists but currently does nothing to lure them north, or south from Canary Wharf City. With a bit more sense, lift maintenance etc. would be done overnight. Not during the day - for the whole of June. At present the foot tunnel might be just about the UK's most subsidised cycling route. It doesn't have to be like passing through the Greenwich cloaca... it could be restored to white-tiled glowing brass pristine shineyness with a bit of thought and love. The tunnel should be listed by English Heritage. It's a wonderful thing whose neglect is a sin. Those domes over need to be opened to visitors too. I'm copying this to Sustrans Flagship pre-2012 project.

If anybody's serious about this take-over possibility then let's talk direct... but I'm not interested in endless wittering... simply effective dialogue to get the tunnel into safer hands. A couple of years ago a few of us got the original engineers, Binnie and Partners, to help celebrate its 100th birthday. Neither Council were a bit interested until the event was organised. Then Mayors limo'd up in droves for the champagne. 20 of us sang Happy Birthday to you while stradding the TH/Greenwich white line border under the waves. And think about a quick ferry across while we're at it and if that horrible bridge downstream in Thamesmead goes in, the Woolwich Ferry will soon close. And that's very sad....but. Think about the Woolwich Tunnel too. And if you're one of those idiots who cycle through it at speed brushing pedestrians on the way, shame on you, stupid."
Taken from an item in the GLIAS Newsletter.

Sponsor a tile at Crossness
One of the Crossness Engine Trust's objectives is to return the Beam Engine House to its original 1865 condition. To this end, they have been actively looking at the possibility of replacing an area of missing floor tiles in front of the north facing windows on the Beam floor. They feel that this colourful display of Victorian tiling would add to visitors’ enjoyment of the Engine House. It is laid with tiles of varying shape and colour (red, black and harvest blue) to form a geometric pattern. They have located a company at Burslam, Stoke on Trent, which still makes an exact match of the original
tiles, in both size and colour.
The Trust is seeking help from those who would like to contribute to this restoration project. This will take the form of sponsorship and you can sponsor as few or as many tiles as you wish, up to a maximum of the 900 required, at a cost of £l per tile.

Letters August 2006

From: Malcolm Tucker

The illustration in GIHS 9 (2) of ‘a fireman’ was not photographed in the retort house of a gasworks. The features behind are a bank of classic Babcock and Wilcox-type water tube boilers, for raising ‘high’ pressure steam. The configuration was patented in the USA in 1867 and continued to be installed well into the 20th century with the addition of mechanical stoking. The stoking arrangements at the front of the firebox are hidden by the man. The cupboard-like doors above gave access for cleaning the ash from around the inclined bank of water tubes and for withdrawing the tubes themselves for renewal. Above, again, are drains in which the steam, separated from the water, provided a reservoir of steam.

From: Tim Serisier

I am researching Thomas Humphreys who described himself as a blacksmith. He died in 1844, leaving his wife and many children quite wealthy. Most of his daughters moved to Australia, but his son Thomas remained in Greenwich along with his sister Mary Ann who married David Fraser, a cooper. Has Thomas been researched previously?

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From: Keith Dawson from Toowoomba, Queensland Australia.

I am a descendant of the Whaling Enderbys, being a descendent of a mysterious William Enderby, mysterious because I do not know his Mother or Father - he just appears in the records in 1805.

I have written a book on the Enderbys - who I maintain were responsible for the Endeavour, The Tea Party & the First Fleets all in the name of trade/oil industry of the day and to spread religion of the Evangelical brands of Protestantism, being assisted by the descendents of the founders of the Massachusetts Bay Company, the book will be titled The Founding of Sydney.

To the Wharfe - the Enderbys originally operated the oil & Muscovy trade from St. Paul's Wharfe at Lower Thames Street. After 1783 a Henry Vansittart built the wharf on the site of a disused ammunition wharf. Vansittarts & Enderbys had been friendly for years, before Vansittart Snr., an officer for the East India trade went missing together with the ship he was travelling on around 1770. Henry’s brother Nicholas was the Chancellor of the Exchequer for 12 years. The Vansittarts were investors in the Enderby whalers, hence the first whaler known to have sailed around Cape Horn into the Pacific being called Emelia, after the widowed mother of Henry, the ship collected the British government bonus of 800 pounds for so doing which it did sailing from the Thames in 1788 an auspicious year for Australia. My information is that Morden College is quite likely to have had a hand in the ownership of the wharf. It would appear that the Enderby's leased all property, domestic & industrial through the College. With luck, I may be in Greenwich next year. Family correspondence from a Col. Moffit, descendent of the Gordon family of Khartoum fame, says that Uncle George lived in the house on Greenwich Marsh & that he was deaf & argumentive so that when his dwarfed sister was on her weekly visit there was a scene that looked bad to an outsider not in the know. Col Moffit states that he was often called Uncle George because he was argumentive as a child. Hope I have told you something new.

I have numbered the Samuels, it was Samuel Enderby II (1719-1797) that had the wharf built, his son Samuel III (1755-1829) carried on the business, it was his son George II who died in 1891 who lived in the house, and I think he must have purchased it when Charles II (1798-1876) lost the family fortune in the Auckland isles. Lord Auckland was Mr. Eden who is thought to have been Britain’s master spy during the American War of Independence. The aforementioned Nicholas married Lord Auckland’s daughter Isabella. Samuel Enderby II was friendly with Benjamin Franklin, the American, at the time.

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From: John Poole

I lived in Aldeburgh Street from 1948 until 1969, then, having married, moved toliterally around the corner in Fearon Street, from 1969 until 1978. As a child and even as a young teenager, the Greenwich Marshes, particularly down at the bottom of Horne Lane and along the riverfront was my playground. My family, at least back to my Great Grandparents, also lived in the area. Great Grandfather McDuff, his wifeand his family, including my paternal Grandmother (Margaret) lived in Aldeburgh Street from when the houses were newly-built for workers on the railway.My Grandmother's brother, (my Great Uncle) Edward McDuff was a Manager in the chemical laboratories at the Gasworks until retirement in around 1968. My paternal Grandfather, Percy Poole, an Old Contemptible and railway worker,also lived in Aldeburgh Street, but on the other side of the road. My wife lived all her single life in Annandale Road and her father worked at Redpath Brown Dorman Long until his retirement.Now living at Greatstone-on-Sea, Kent, so I suppose you could say that I've swapped the Greenwich Marshes for the Romney Marshes - a true 'marshman' of one sort or another, anyway.

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From: Lorraine Smith

My grandmother was born at Rectory Buildings in Deptford. I can find no record of where in Deptford this actually was. I see from a previous posting on your site that someone had mentioned the building was owned by the Industrial Buildings Company in the 1890's. My grandmother was born in 1914. Was it still owned by them at that stage? What sort of accommodation was it? Do you have any pictures?

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From: Brenden Adams

I am trying to locate a small book written by my father in the late 70s. He wrote it whilst on a sabbatical from teaching in Bermondsey. The subject was the locomotive builder George England who had a works in Hatcham. He did lecture on the subject locally and I assisted him sometimes. He is now 87 and does not enjoy good health. When I asked him the other day if he had a copy, he said he did not keep a copy for himself.

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From: Jacqui Simkins

I have just received from my distant relative some pages from your website on John Lloyd, the millwright (who built the East Greenwich tide mill). He died in 1835. His will leaves considerable sums to many - including the family of his sister Mary who married Henry Payne Jeffries. I have a copy of John Lloyd’s Will, and a transcription of it. You are welcome to either if they would be of interest. Have you any information about John Lloyd or Lloyd & Ostler?

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From: D.A.Parkinson

Would you know if there is any ships models, paintings or prints of Breda, 70 guns, 3rd-rate warship, built Woolwich 1692? Or Defiance, 64 Guns, 3rd-rate warship, built in Chatham 1675, rebuilt Woolwich 1695?

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From: Geoffrey Forrest

Back in 1970 I worked for a while at the Albion Sugar Company, located in the old Woolwich Dockyard. At the time my father was working for the RACS Funeral Services, which were also located there, in Commonwealth Buildings. I know the Co-op funeral services are still there, but I have not been able to find any mention of Albion Sugar, either past or present. All I know is that much of the Dockyard site is now housing. I wondered if you or anyone else in your Society knows what happened to the Albion Sugar Company? My recollection was that it occupied quite a large site, right on the river, and had many employees. Thanks for any information you can provide.

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From: Victor G. Beaumont (Rev.)

I must agree with Phillip Binns, a committee member of the Greenwich Conservation Group. When speaking of the Woolwich Congregational Church, he said: "We very much regret the loss of such a wonderful Victorian Building."

Although I now live in New Zealand, much of my formative years were bound up with the Rectory Place Church. Consequently I well remember the efforts made, in the 1950s, by the Rev. Harold Eburne, with the support of the congregation, to restore the church which had been damaged in an air raid. Having heard about the proposed demolition of the church, I wrote in April of last year to Pastor Aaron Flanagan expressing my sadness that the present congregation should find it necessary to destroy such a building. In his reply he wrote; "It is true that we are planning to demolish it, (only because of the terrible condition it is in) but we are planning to build a brand new one in its place. This is a big project for us, but I believe that God has led us and brought us to this place." The thing which puzzles me is firstly, why is the building in such a poor state of repair and secondly, if there is money available to build a "brand new church" then surely it would be better to renovate the old structure, which when I saw the outside a few years ago, seemed to be in a reasonable state of repair? There was no mention in the Pastor's letter about building 13 flats. But then architecturally-pleasing historic churches (and often other buildings) seem to be relatively unimportant today. Another question I would like answered, and which the good Pastor in reply to my letter, ignored, is: What will happen to the two-manual organ built by Foster and Andrews of Hull, in 1881 which I used to play for some of the services?

When I last came to Woolwich I also noticed that The Paley Press, a small commercial printers on the corner of John Wilson Street, where I worked for seven years has been demolished, together with Fishers, the military tailors.

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From: Jim Jones

I'm looking for a Greenwich street - AIRY? which is on a relative’s birth certificate dated 1914. I've tried every avenue I can think of with no luck. Wondered if you could possibly help?

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From: Colin Sawie

Hello. I was an apprentice carpenter in the Central Works (Green & Silley Weir Ltd) in the Royal Albert Dock in the mid-1950s. Around that time, a crest was carved in teak by one of the great craftsmen, Arthur Silversword. As far as I can remember it was for the P&O line. I think it was meant be on a building at the entrance area of the Royal Docks. Does anyone recall such a crest?

I am asking through sheer curiosity as I was telling my Grandson about the crest carving. We now live in British Columbia, Canada.

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From: Ray Hoggart

Hello there! In 1960 I was a N/S Royal Artillery soldier and briefly stationed at Woolwich in some old Barracks there. I have memories of the place and as I get older they seem to matter more. I stood guard on a gate there one Saturday night in May but I have never known the name or where they were, the whole area was a warren of old buildings (what history!) and one could get lost easily.

I returned to Woolwich in about 1978 for a visit to see if I could find these old Barracks. The gate was there but the buildings had gone and the Regimental Square was a lorry park. I realize now that I was a few years too late! I have searched all over the place and never found the name. Google always found the Front Parade.

Today I tried a different type of search and the GIHS turned up with articles on the Barracks which I now know were Red and Cambridge. Are there any photographs anywhere of the barracks that I could download, particularly the gate, and any written articles on the history of them? I've seen a map of the area from about 1917 at Godfrey Maps which I will send for and that should give me a layout of the place.

Borough of Woolwich Electricity Junction Box

Richard Buchanan and Susan Bullivant

Some years ago Woolwich Antiquarians Newsletter mentioned that: "on Shooters Hill one of the roadside electricity distribution boxes (green, about 3 '6" high and 1'6" by 1' in plan) still has its cast iron doors with the Arms of the Borough of Woolwich, from pro-grid days when the Borough generated its own electricity".

On the evening of Monday 25th September 2006, Dr Barry Gray who lives in Eaglesfield Road (its location), phoned GIHS Chair Susan Bullivant to say that it had been knocked by a car, and was leaning across the pavement at a dangerous angle. As there are very few of these junction boxes left, they were both concerned that the box should not be consigned to a skip.

The next morning Susan phoned the Greenwich Highways Department, as they are responsible for 'street furniture' and are the owners. They showed no interest in the matter; but did give her the phone number of EdF, the electricity supply company, whose office is in Ipswich. The staff there were sympathetic and concerned - that the box should be saved - that the electricity supply was safe - and to determine its owner. Susan then rang Chris Foord at Greenwich Heritage Centre who confirmed that they would like to acquire the box, and gave him the Ipswich phone number. On the evening of Tuesday 26th, Dr Barry Gray again rang to say that men were removing the junction box, and had told him they had to be careful with it as "a lady has phoned up about it". Susan went along, and was assured they were taking it in their big EdF van to their depot in Bexleyheath Broadway. They gave her the phone number of their boss. This she passed on to the Heritage Centre the next morning, who then made arrangements for the junction box to be transferred to them from the Bexleyheath depot on the following Tuesday, 3rd October. EdF duly delivered it (less a small part of the bottom of one of the doors which had been broken off).

So thanks are due to the EdF staff in Ipswich for their concern over a historic junction box with the Woolwich coat-of-arms on it.

The Heritage Centre staff (and Richard Buchanan, a volunteer who was there that day) were pleased to see it and immediately started to talk of refurbishing it, and putting it on a plinth so that it could be stood upright. Below ground the casting continues for another foot with a leg at each comer, presumably to fit over a conduit, leaving a clear cable entry from below. However, two of the legs had been cut off, probably to avoid a below ground obstacle when the box was in service. Its top has a round cap fitted over the centre, suggesting that it was designed to mount a lamp standard. Most such electricity junction boxes surviving on Shooters Hill are of (probably) later manufacture, on the 1935-6 Laing estate where they are situated in roadside verges planted with shrubs. These boxes were made by Siemens to a similar pattern, but lack the Woolwich Arms and do not have provision for mounting a lamp standard. Nowadays electrical supply connections are generally in boxes below the footway.

This item originally appeared in the Woolwich Antiquarians Newsletter in 2006 – with thanks.

Notes and snippets
from 12 years ago - December 2006

GREENWICH EMOTION MAP

Whaaat!? The East Greenwich-based Independent Photograph Project have produced an Ordnance Survey-type map of the Greenwich Peninsula based on people’s emotional reactions to it – via a clever little hand-held device and some clever computer software. See www.emotionmap.net. The Independent Photography Project has an ambitious programme, much of which is based on research and memories of industry on the Peninsula.

VICTORIA DEEP WATER TERMINAL
Victoria Deep Water Terminal, Greenwich Peninsula SE10

MoLAS geo-archaeological monitoring of geo-technical test pits and boreholes, November 2002.
The site lies on the western side of the Greenwich Peninsula, where a ridge of floodplain gravel, overlain by sand exists below the alluvium. A peaty soil had developed above the sand, which was buried by a bed of peat, about 1m thick. At the interface of the soil and peat struck flints were recovered, which may be of Neolithic date. The peat represented several cycles of increasingly wet then increasingly dry conditions, with probably episodes of dry woodland, wet Alder Carr and sedge fen interspersed with periods of prolonged flooding in which much wood was found. It was overlain by clays and silts, representing a transition to salt marsh and mudflats. The high clay content and increasing iron-staining especially in the upper parts of the minerogenic alluvium suggests it might represent seasonal flooding of a marshy / grassy floodplain soil as opposed to mudflats and salt marsh. The pre-Victorian land surface was represented by a soil that had developed in the upper part of the alluvium in parts of the site, and in the north of the site waterlain channel-edge or foreshore deposits were found between 0 and +1m OD, which may represent (or link with) a post-medieval sluice, tidal creek or watercourse. A sluice dating from the post-medieval period and linked to drains and watercourses existing into the 19th century is known to have existed in this part of the Peninsula. Tarry contamination was found in the lower levels of the made ground, which was up to 3m thick close to the river, in the western side of the site. This is likely to relate to the use of the site from the 1840's by the Improved Wood Pavement Company to make coal tar-soaked wood blocks for paving using the waste products of the gas industry.
Thanks to David Riddle who spotted this piece.

SPREAD EAGLE ART COLLECTION
Dick Moy – who was a founder member of GIHS and whose recent death was a great blow to many who cared about Greenwich left much to remember him by. His involvement with The Spread Eagle is part of the remarkable story of post-war development in Greenwich. In addition to food, music and theatre, The Spread Eagle has had close connections with the visual arts. The Moy family managed an art gallery and antique business in adjoining buildings for more than fifty years. After Dick Moy's death in 2005, The Spread Eagle was acquired by Frank Dowling. Their respective historical art collections are brought together to form The Spread Eagle Art Collection. The catalogue is a pictorial souvenir of the people and places in Greenwich. It features a wide range of distinguished artists and illustrators, from the 17th century to the present day, who were inspired by Greenwich, including many who were familiar with the tavern, coaching inn, and restaurant. The Spread Eagle spans more than 300 years of history. It is situated on Stockwell Street, one of the most ancient roads in Greenwich and a tavern from before 1650.

The advent of rail travel in the 1830s and later the development of motor transport led to the demise of The Spread Eagle as a coaching Inn. It survived as a tavern until 1922. For more than forty years it was occupied by a Printer and bookbinder and finally became the receiving office of a laundry. The Moy family purchased the property in 1964 and Dick began the task of restoring the building as a restaurant. During the restoration process many original features were uncovered and many lost relics were discovered. Roman pottery, a Tudor show and a Kentish 'fives9' board - the forerunner of darts, were found. Also a whip that may well have been used by Joseph Steel the Spread Eagle's coachman renowned in Greenwich for his bare-fist fighting. In 1819 he fought Bishop Sharpe and lost a £25 wager. A print, now part of The Spread Eagle Art Collection, portrays him knocked upside down. A trunk was discovered in the attic which originally belonged to Mrs. Webb - the landlady of The Spread Eagle during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. This was also the popular period of English Music Hall and the trunk contained her collection of dedicated photographs and letters of her musical and theatrical clientele. The artistes had all performed at the neighbouring halls of present-day Greenwich Theatre.

These - and many other pictures of Greenwich are included in the catalogue.

GAZETEER OF INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY IN BEXLEY BOROUGH
We have been given a copy of the 2nd edition of the Gazetteer of pre-1945 industrial sites in Bexley Borough with the compliments of The Bexley Local Studies and Archives Centre who have supervised and paid for the production of the Gazetteer, and The Bexley Civic Society who have given their unstinting support for the preparation of this new edition. It is the work of Michael Dunmow – better known for his devotion to the Crossness Engines Trust. The relics of the industrial past of an area are always under threat from vandalism, dereliction and redevelopment. Bexley has had its historians and photographers at work for many years, most of them working in specific locations or on specific topics. This booklet is based upon a survey which has attempted to secure a record of the industrial relics in the Borough in a systematic way which, it is hoped, will enable future workers to add to and to amend the record and to draw on it for future studies. The work on this gazetteer began some years ago and from the outset was supported by the Planning Committee of
The Bexley Civic Society who have followed its gestation with great patience and have kept the project on their agenda since its inception.

ARMING THE FLEET
Explosion! The Museum of Naval Firepower in Priddy's Hard, Gosport, Hampshire, is pleased to announce the launch of this highly anticipated new publication: Arming the Fleet - The Development of the Royal Ordnance Yards 1770 - 1945. The publication, by David Evans, has been produced by the Museum in association with English Heritage. This major new book reveals, for the first time, the complete history of Britain's naval ordnance yards from the early conversion of fortifications such as Upnor Castle and Portsmouth's Square Tower, to the underground strongholds of the Second World War. From extensive research using a wealth of original documents, David Evans, author of the acclaimed Building the Steam Navy, traces the development of the sites, buildings, workers and policies that underpinned Britain's armed forces for over 150 years.

THE HILL FOLK
Life in Rural Kent 1950's to 70's by Iris Bryce. 'The Hill Folk' follows Iris' award winning book Remember Greenwich and Tree in the Quad. It is a collection of essays of life on a farm near Wrotham in Kent in the fifties, sixties and early seventies.

CABLES ON TV
It was with some excitement that we received an email from Allan Green – who spoke to GIHS about cable-maker Henley in October – about the Coast programme on BBC TV. The programme was to visit the Telegraph Cable Museum at Porthcurno in Cornwall where Allan is based and where the archives of Greenwich cable makers are kept. Cable enthusiasts everywhere were emailing each other frantically. In the end it was an interesting description of the Museum and the revolutionary nature of the telegraph cable – shame they never mentioned that ALL of them were made in Greenwich!

SEVERNDROOG CASTLE BUILDING
PRESERVATION TRUST
London's most romantic castle is set to enter a new phase of life, if the support it gained during this year’s London Open House weekend is anything to go by. "As good as the Monument", "a wonderful gem... full of magic and presence" and "really spectacular" were just some of the comments from visitors. "It's not the biggest castle I've been it but it has the best views" and "I would love to live here" were comments from children. Nearly a thousand people queued, some for hours, to go up the 18th century folly in Castle Wood, Shooter's Hill, London SE18, and to see its rarely accessible interior. The three-sided castle, holds fond memories for many South Londoners as a place to visit for relaxation and enjoyment, for children to play - and as the area's only castle.

Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust, the group which has been campaigning to save the Castle, appointed Waloff Associates Ltd in August 2006 to prepare an Audience Development Plan for the castle and its surroundings. The Plan, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage, will help the Trust decide which uses are most sustainable and viable for the castle, and then approach the London Borough of Greenwich to obtain a long-term lease. The local authority is currently the owner of Severndroog Castle, which is not accessible to the public at present. Dr Barry Gray, Chair of the Trustees, said: "The Open House event showed the amount of public support. Now we need to be clear what the castle can be used for - and how this can be to everyone's benefit. We look forward to working with Greenwich Council to make sure this happens".
The Trust has also commissioned 2 further reports, a Conservation Management Plan and an Access Plan. This work will be undertaken by Thomas Ford & Partners, a firm of Chartered Architects and surveyors who also act as historic building consultants. When all 3 reports are completed, the Severndroog Castle Building Preservation Trust will approach Heritage Lottery Fund for funding to fully restore the Castle.

NEWS FROM CROSSNESS
VICTORIAN PROGRESS
Victoria's intermediate pressure (IP) cylinder has been laid bare. All the old metallic cladding has been removed and the lagging stripped off. In the main, the cladding on the cylinder was in a sound condition and although the outer surface was pitted with rust there were patches on the inner surfaces that retained their original 'blued steel' finish. Plain horizontal joins in the cladding were covered by 2 inch wide circumferential brass bands which are in store prior to cleaning and polishing. The metallic cladding itself has also been stored pending a detailed inspection and a decision on which bits to retain. It is interesting that many of the complex non-plain joints in the cladding, such as those between cylindrical and flat parts of the cladding, have brass fascias attached by brass rivets that cover the joins themselves. Again, a decision has to be made as to how many of these brass pieces we retain. Each part of cladding has been measured, a sketch made and a numbered disc attached to it. Removal of the lagging proved to be a very dusty job although much of it came away in chunks. It was applied in about 1900 before asbestos was used for lagging and seems to be a mortar-like material. Samples have been kept for display, testing and record purposes but the rest of the removed lagging has been disposed of as ground in-fill around the site.

With the lagging removed, the intermediate pressure cylinder casting was cleaned down by needle-gunning and wire brushing whereafter it has been primed with red lead paint. The flanges for the steam heating pipes and the pressure tapping points have been left unpainted so that they can be faced off to ensure they make steam-tight joints when the mating flanges are fitted. However, there is still a lot of cleaning to be done and this will be ongoing as we progress. Having removed the lagging, we were then faced with the question 'What do we take off next?' The simple answer was 'The part that is easiest to get at' but that part proved to be crucial to the timing of the cut-off of the steam inlet valve. To ensure that the valve timing is right when the engine is reassembled it is essential that the distances between various adjustable parts of the valve gear go back as found.

On Prince Consort the standard engineering practice of 'pop-marking' the components was used but what we had overlooked was the fact that when the rust and corrosion was cleaned off so the pop-marks were also removed. Therefore, on Victoria, learning from that lesson, before we removed any parts a sketch was made showing the critical setting dimensions by measuring centre-to-centre distances between the pins and bolts also from pins/bolts to flat surfaces of associated parts. The parts that we finally decided to remove were the inlet valve trip rods, complete with adjustment devices that are essential components in determining the trip timing of the steam inlet valve. These parts have now been stripped down to their individual components, detail drawings made of them - and numbered discs attached. They are now being cleaned up and polished prior to being put on display until they can be reassembled back on the engine. This we hope to do progressively - it being probably as efficient a way of storing the various parts as any, and at least we should still be able to remember where they came from!

Published in Crossness Record – apologies for publishing without their consent – due to difficulties in contacting them.

Crane Exported From London
The elderly grey-painted Stothert & Pitt crane, used to unload the small sand and gravel carrying motor ships of J. J. Prior Ltd at their wharf on Deptford Creek has recently been replaced by a tall PLA-type crane of the kind common in the larger London docks about 30 years ago. J. J. Prior carefully dismantled the old crane and it left the Creek on one of their vessels about Friday, 8th September 2006.

Bob Carr - from GLIAS Newsletter.

Siemens Brothers Engineering Society
Members will remember that Siemens Brothers Engineering Society have produced a catalogue of items in their possession. Brian Middlemiss, their Secretary and GIHS member, has written to tell us that following a recent large donation of archive material to the Engineering Society, they have now produced a formal Supplement to this Main Archive Material Catalogue. They have been kind enough to supply us with a copy of the Supplement to be associated with the Main Catalogue previously supplied in 2004. They point out that the need to produce this Supplement was triggered by the sad death of Bill Speller, one of their Members, following which his family made a large donation of archive material to the Society. They took the opportunity to include in the Supplement all the other donations received since publication of the Main Catalogue in June 2004. There will be no further Supplements – all subsequent donations will be treated as 'private donations' and passed, with a covering letter, to an appropriate new holder. The Supplement lists all the items donated, with the identity of the new holders to whom they have been given for the benefit of future generations and researchers. The Society remains indebted to Siemens, UK, Corporate Communications who continue to support their activities and have facilitated the printing and binding of the Supplement.

Letters from 12 years ago December 2006

From: Gordon Braughton

Re. Johnson and Phillips material in the August Newsletter. I was born in 1915 in Eastcombe Avenue. Adjacent and to the rear of our flat was the premises of Johnson and Phillips. Through my early years I recall them being a major employer in the area. The works were in three sections spanning the then Southern Railway line in Victoria Road (now Way). The terrace housing of nearby Troughton Road, Rathmore Road, and Fossdene Road suggests that these were established to house Johnson and Phillips workers. As a pupil of Fossdene Road, LCC School, I was well aware that J&P was an important manufacturer of cables in particular. My knowledge of the company after 1939 was cut short by the evacuation of the Research Department – Metallurgy Section at Woolwich Arsenal to Cardiff University. I think that some time in the post war years it was taken over by the Delta Company.

From: Brenda

It’s a wonderful newsletter and I am happy to be able to receive it. My interest is in the Strong Fisher families. They are my direct ancestors and their sons came to New Zealand on the ann in 1848. I believe that there was a business of the name Strong Fisher or Fisher Strong. My lot lived in Silver Street, Rotherhithe and were boatmen, sawyers and watermen.

From: Jeremy Cotton

During the First World War my maternal grandfather, Charles Corner, who had recently retired from building railways in various parts of the world, came out of retirement to help manage the railway inside Woolwich Arsenal (usually described as powered by superheated steam) while the regular managers from the Corps of Royal Engineers went off to run the railways behind the lines in Northern France. That is about as much as anyone in my family knows.

I would be grateful for any further information, (a) on the actual technology of the railway (b) on the way it was manned and managed, in peacetime or © under the conditions of 1914-18. I have lived in Thamesmead since 1984, and began a botanical survey of the area including the railway in 1975 (aborted once the degree of contamination became apparent). There were still a few recognisable relics lying around then, and one or two items of rolling stock at the Railway Museum in North Woolwich Station a little later, but in Thamesmead at least there seem to be no traces left. I find this frustrating. Any documents, references, or other information would be of great family interest.

From: D.A. Parkinson

Would you know if there are any ship's models, paintings, or prints of:

Breda - 70 Guns, 3rd-Rate warship, built Woolwich 1692 or Defiance - 64 Guns, 3rd-Rate Warship, built Chatham, 1675. Rebuilt Woolwich 1695.

From: Malcolm Tucker

Some corrections to the August 2006 Newsletter

1) In my letter on p5, in the last sentence, 'drains' should read 'drums', I this is hope self-explanatory.

2) Response to query, p8: Albion Sugar, makers of glucose, occupied the former Rigging House, Sail Loft and Engine Store of Woolwich Dockyard. It was demolished in 1982 (not 1932 as mis-printed in Pevsner). It was a monumental 4-storey brick building from 1842-6, except for an infilling on the landward side of 1856-7. This had a cast-iron-framed wall with a resemblance to the Boat Store at Sheerness but slightly more ornamented. Unlike the pioneering Boat Store, from 3 years later, it had the brick walls of the existing building to help it stand up. It proudly bore the plaque of the structural ironfounders, “H & MD Grissell”, and it was presumably designed under G.T. Greene, the Director of Engineering and Architectural Works at the Admiralty.

From: Rachel Langdon

My grandfather, Charles Patrick Langdon is 98 years old. He was born in New Zealand in 1908 and was still, until recently, in pretty good health for a person of his age. He has now been diagnosed with a kidney problem and I am concerned about how much longer he will be with us. In 1905 my grandfather's father Charles Robert Langdon came to New Zealand with his wife Hannah Winifred Ryan aboard the steamer SS Morayshire. Charles Robert was an interesting man. He was a shipwright who was very much a socialist and, on coming to New Zealand, became involved in the communist and fledging unionist movements. Possibly this involvement came from his apprenticeship days in England as a shipwright where he had to sign an agreement to be subservient to his 'masters'! Unfortunately for my grandfather and my family, Charles Robert also decided that he would sever all ties with his family in England. He wanted nothing to do with them! This knowledge that my grandfather has never had contact with any of his direct family, has led to my recent quest to try to find some direct relations that he can have contact with before he dies. Apart from his mother and father (and his children), my grandfather has no idea of any other living Langdon relation! I have over the last months gathered and researched the following information.

Apparently Charles Robert was an amateur photographer; and because of this, we have photos' of some of his relations, and images of presumably Greenwich and Kent in the late 1890's. My hope is that by contacting you, you may be able to help me in my quest to find some living relatives of my grandfather.

NOTES ON THE ENDERBYS

Barbara Ludlow

Enderby Wharf on the Greenwich Peninsula - and the activities of the family who made rope and canvass there, and built Enderby House (the only listed building on the Peninsula) - are of great interest to industrial historians. I have acquired a mass of material over the years about the Enderbys and their business - therefore I am dealing with only a few specific points but would be pleased to expand on, and answer, more if approached.

Samuel Enderby.1640-1723. Samuel and family owned a tannery in Bermondsey. The Enderbys were granted forfeited estates in Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland. In l660 these were sold and the money was invested in the oil and Russia trade.

Daniel Enderby, 1681-1766. Several researchers have stated that Daniel married Mary Cook, the sister of Captain Cook. During Daniel’s lifetime the firm of Buxton, Sims and Enderby, Oil Merchants, was established at Paul's Wharf, Thames Street. Daniel's son, Samuel, married Hannah Buxton (1st wife). Samuel was a barrel maker at first. It was through marriage that the business became dominated by the Enderby family.

Samuel Enderby, 1719-1797. His second wife was Elizabeth. Enderby ships were registered in London and Boston in America. They transported goods to the colonists and brought whale oil back to the UK. In 1773 the Boston 'Tea Party' took place and it has been said that an Enderby ship carried the tea. However, Dan Byrnes of Australia has stated that there was no direct involvement of Enderby ships in the event. By 1775 The War of Independence had cut off American whale oil so British ship-owners, and Samuel Enderby in particular, decided to go whaling in the South Atlantic. In about 10 years the whales in the South Atlantic were nearly extinct. The Enderbys then concentrated on the seas around New Zealand with The Bay of Islands as a main base. In 1789 after much pleading with the government the Enderbys won the right to go into the South Seas and were then bitten by the exploring bug. This was the start of a drain on their profits.

Samuel Enderby, 1756-1829. Son of Samuel described above. Samuel and all his brothers and sisters were baptised and entered in the Protestant and Non Conformist Register for London, now kept at the Dr. Williams’ Library. Money was left to the preachers at Sailors Hall. It is just possible that the forfeited lands in Ireland were given to the Enderbys for their allegiance to the Non-Conformists during the English Civil War in the 17th century. No proof as yet, just a thought. Samuel got his Captains to go to the Antarctic - thus Enderby Land. Mount Gordon - his daughter Elizabeth married Henry Gordon and so General Gordon was his grandson. By the time of Samuel's death the British whaling industry was in trouble and his son Charles Enderby thought of ways to expand the firm. He was interested in the new 'technology' that was emerging and he was a founder member of the Royal Geographical Society.

Charles, Henry and George Enderby were Samuel's sons. In 1841 Charles was living in Enderby House at Enderby Wharf, while George and Henry were living with their mother in Old Charlton. Previously the family had moved from Greenwich/Blackheath to Eltham. By 1846 Mary Enderby was dead and Charles tried to save the firm by setting up the South Seas Whaling Company with others. As he sailed out of Plymouth to go to the Auckland Islands, NZ, a notice to the effect that the Enderbys were unable to meet all their financial commitments appeared in a London newspaper. There is an excellent book on the ill-fated settlement.

George Enderby. It is unlikely that George lived on Greenwich Marsh. The Enderby Rope Works and other buildings were destroyed or badly damaged by fire in March 1845. Enderby House was eventually repaired.In 1849 Charles moved away, never to return to Greenwich. I had a letter from a Gravesend historian who found George Enderby living in the 1850s and 1860s at Orme House in Northfleet, Kent. The 1861 census listed him as unmarried, age 58; a retired ship owner. His housekeeper Mary Nunn called him ‘Captain Enderby’ and when George moved to Dover Road, Mary moved with him. I have no death date for him.

Henry Enderby. After leaving the Charlton area at some date, he went to live with a male opera singer in West London.

William Enderby. Born 1805. William had money in the firm but does not appear to have been that involved. He married a Mary Howls in 1830 and they had 8 children, e.g. Baptism entry from St. Luke's Church, Charlton, May 23rd 1837:- Charles, son of William and Mary Enderby. Abode Eltham. Father’s profession - Gentleman. Later William Enderby is listed as a ratepayer in Shooters Hill Road. Other information is taken from a notebook of H.H.Enderby of Kai Iwi Beach, Nr.Wanganui, NZ. - H.H. Enderby was William and Mary's grandson. After the firm crashed it is quite likely that William went to Australia or New Zealand. I have no death date for him.

One whaling historian described the Enderbys as "Clogs to clogs in three generations".

Dunkirk and the General Steam Navigation Company

By Tom Mogg

The General Steam Navigation Company was founded in 1824. At the start of the 1939-45 war they had about 45 ships, of which 10 were pleasure boats. These were ideal as they could carry up to 2000 passengers at up to 21 knots. These, and some of the Company's cargo boats, saved around 10% of all those rescued from the French beaches. This is the full story of those ships.

The twin-screw motor vessel Royal Daffodil, built in 1939, could carry 2073 passengers at 21 knots. She started the war by helping to evacuate school children from London to the east coast ports of Lowestoft, Felixstowe and Yarmouth. She made seven trips to Dunkirk and saved over 8500 troops. On her final voyage she was dive bombed and hit on the starboard side. The bomb passed through three decks, through the engine room, just missing the main fuel tank on that side, and exploded astern of the ship. This caused the engine room to flood. The Master ordered all on board to move over to the port side, causing the ship to list sufficiently to lift the hole out of the water; enabling the second engineer and the donkey man to crawl in and block the hole with mattresses and timber. She then returned to Ramsgate, disembarked her troops, and had temporary repairs. From there she travelled round the coast, into the Thames and on to the Company's repair yard at Deptford for full repairs. The upper structure was riddled with bullet holes, one of the lifeboats having 187 holes, all of which had to be filled.

Her sister ship, the Queen of the Channel, managed only one trip to Dunkirk, taking off some 950 troops, but after leaving she was attacked by Stukas and straddled with a stick of bombs. This lifted her out of the water and broke her back. While every effort was made to save the ship she had to transfer her troops to a coaster and then sank.

The twin-screw motor vessel Royal Sovereign made six trips, four to Dunkirk and two to La Panne, rescuing some 12,000 troops. Later that year she struck a mine in the Bristol Channel and was a total loss.

The paddle steamer Royal Eagle, (built 1932) made two trips to La Panne, saving at least 2000 troops. She was one of the last to leave Dunkirk on 2'"1 June, with a number of wounded on board.

The paddle steamer Golden Eagle made three trips, but on the first visit she found the PS Waverly sinking so she rescued the crew and troops and took them back to Margate. On returning to near the east pier at Dunkirk her lifeboats managed to take men off the beaches; in two trips a total of 3200 were saved.

Another paddle steamer involved was the Medway Queen, bringing back a fall complement of 800 troops each time.

The paddle steamer Crested Eagle arrived at 1400 hrs on 29th May and berthed on the east pier along with a trawler, a cross Channel ferry, and a destroyer. The Germans made a sustained attack, destroying each in turn, troops and crews transferring from one ship to the next, until they were all on the Crested Eagle. But as she left she too was bombed and had to beach farther down the coast, and became a total loss.

A further 4000 troops were rescued by the PS Queen of Thanet, which included 2000 taken off the SS Prague which had been disabled. All of those rescued were taken over to Margate jetty. Fortunately the SS Prague was able to limp back into Dover.

Some of the Company's cargo boats also took part in the rescue. The motor vessel Bullfinch was ordered to stand off the beach at La Panne, but as the troops were unable to reach the ship she was instructed to run ashore. She dropped her anchor and ran up onto the beach, but the anchor did not hold and she swung broadside on and was firmly aground. Quickly 1500 troops piled on board, but she could not pull herself off. While she was stranded the Germans attacked with bombs and strafing. All the troops were below in the holds and 'tween decks. The Bullfinch struggled to get free. A Sergeant Head, one of the troops on board, asked if he could man one of the ship's two Bren guns. When three dive bombers next attacked the Sergeant shot down one, and again with the next attack.

The GSNC later recommended him for an award. While still struggling to get free the Royal Sovereign came along and soon pulled the Bullfinch off.

All along the French coast right down to Bordeaux GSNC ships rescued refugees and others wanting to leave France, as well as their own staff and agents. Exact numbers are not always known, but the following ships took part: MV Goldfinch saved some 500 from St Valery, where about 2400 waited on the beach. MVs Drake and Crane went to other N French ports and on down into the Bay. The SS Falcon brought back 60 refugees including 24 officers and men of the RAOC from Bordeaux. While the SS Woodlark saved not only the GSNC staff but also 73 members of Lever Brothers who had fled down the coast from port to port hoping to find transport before it was too late.

Other GSNC ships which participated were the SS Groningen, the SS Cormorant and the MV Stork; exact details of their efforts are not recorded though they would have collected GSNC staff from the other agencies in France together with others wishing to escape. Undoubtedly GSNC ships must have rescued at least 35 000 people, perhaps more.

Acknowledgement: "Semper Fidelis ", GSNC's official history from 1924 - 1948.

Tom Mogg served a 5 year apprenticeship at the GSNC's Deptford yard, later serving on 14 of the Company's ships, from 1945 to 1957.

This article appeared in the GIHS Newsletter of April 2007 and had previously appeared I a Woolwich Antiquarians Newsletter

STREET FURNITURE

In an issue of 2006 Richard Buchanan and Susan Bullevant described how they and other members of GIHS/Woolwich Antiquarians rescued an old Borough of Woolwich Electricity Junction box. Richard later wrote expanding on the subject.

Are these features still there - comments?? please??

The junction box with the Woolwich Arms is presumably the earliest type they used (and the only one of this type I have seen in recent years). I have seen three other types of electricity distribution box in the Borough of Woolwich; two made by Siemens, and one by Henleys. These are somewhat bigger - it is never easy to dress the cabling in the confines of a junction box - and are fitted with a door that is hinged at the very edge of the box for maximum accessibility. Woolwich boxes have double sided access, being designed to be put near the edge of the pavement, with a door or removable panel facing the road; and a door facing the pavement. (Modern BT and CATV distribution boxes are single sided and usually set at the inner side of the pavement, backing onto the adjacent property). Overall Height of the distribution boxes described below is above an integral plinth at ground level; below ground they extend about another foot. A rounded height is given, as there is variability in how the box is set in the ground, particularly where the ground is not level. I list below boxes I have seen at the end of 2006. There are probably more.

Woolwich Junction Box with the Woolwich Arms on Shooters Hill: removed from Eaglesfield Road opposite the end of Cleanthus Road. It has a door on either side, hinged on the right with a key operated lock on the left. Overall dimensions: Height: 52 in, Width: 19.5 n, Depth: 14 in. Weight: assuming an average thickness of 1 cm, this junction box works out at 250 kg (1/4 tonne). It is unusual in having a round cap fitted over the centre of the top, suggesting that it was designed to mount a lamp (or alarm?) standard.

Siemens Junction Box I Shooters Hill, Laing Estate (built 1935-6).

I have counted the following on the Laing Estate: Ashridge Crescent: 4, Bushmoor Crescent: Kinlet Road: 2 Plumstead: one in Timbercroft Lane at the junction with The Slade. Overall dimensions: Height: 56 in. Width: 24 in Depth: 15.5 in.

These boxes have a door hinged at the right hand edge of the side facing the pavement, with pintles held in the base and top; on the left is a key operated lock. Below the door, on the base is cast “SIEMENS”. The roadside face has a removable panel held by six screws. On each side there is a 4 inch square plaque stating: REGISTERED No 750202/29. PATENT No 336752

Siemens Junction Box II - Shooters Hill, Wimpey Estate, one in Condover Crescent. “Siemens” is not visible, the base being sunk in the pavement, but the box has the same plaque on its sides. It is wider than Box I, with full width doors of the same type, on both sides: Overall dimensions: Height: 56 in Width: 30 in Depth: 15.5 in

Henley Junction Box - Plumstead, one in each of Pegwell Street and Lucknow Street by Timbercroft Lane. Overall dimensions: Height: 60 in, Width: 20 in, Depth: 16 in. These boxes have a door on the side facing the pavement, hinged, for maximum accessibility, on the left hand edge. The door has two key holes on the right, at top and bottom. The roadside face has a removable panel held on eight studs by nuts. On the base, below the panel, is cast “HENLEY”.

Woolwich Junction Box with the Woolwich Arms. Further to the one taken from Shooters Hill to the Greenwich Heritage Centre, I have now seen three more. Plumstead: one, at the junction of Burrage Place and Burrage Road; two, diagonally opposite, at the junction of Frederick Place and Bloomfield Road. They have a door on either side, hinged on the right with a key operated lock on the left. The door on the side facing the road is not the full width of the cabinet, while the one on the pavement side is the full width of the cabinet. Both doors bear the Arms of the Borough of Woolwich. These boxes are of a regular pattern, and do not have a cap fitted on top as the one taken from Shooters Hill did.

We have had a number of other details sent in about historic street furniture around the Borough

From a Greenwich Transportation Engineer about an old traffic light pad in Farmdale Road. This dates from when Farmdale was at the end of Westcombe Hill before the construction of the motorway. Recent road works by the Water Board may be in the process of destroying it.

From Mike Neill: The lamp column and base at White Hart Lane Depot have recently been removed – within the last few months - presumably as part of Tilfen's site clearance. It used to stand in the space between the gate pier and the weighbridge office. The weighbridge still survives however, as does an ornate thing that I think was a sign holder - not a light as the old column was right behind it.

There is a Council Tramways cover just beside the bus stop o/s Dreadnaught House on the Woolwich Road

The last surviving wood block paving that I know of in the Borough - maybe from the works featured in the GIHS? - curiously enough in Powis Street, Woolwich.

There is also an old tram telephone box near the Blackwall Tunnel entrance in Blackwall Lane – almost alongside ‘Ranburn’.

(this was cleared during Olympic tidying up)

In Vanburgh Hill outside the nurses homes, now converted to flats, is a metal plate marked ‘Merryweather & Co.’ – was this part of some sort of integrated fire extinguisher system within the building?

We received an enquiry about a Merryweather leather pitcher which we put on our Facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1549240565122658/).

Merryweather were the Fire Engine specialist manufacturers based in Greenwich High Road . They made lots of other things to - pumps, trams, etc etc.

We sent all the stuff off to Merryweather expert, Neil Bennett, and here is what he says:-

"In reply to your enquiry about the Merryweather pitcher or Black Jack, ................... this is clearly a superb example of the very rare leather 'black jack' and may have come from the Merryweather museum in Greenwich Road / Greenwich High Road, London.

The firm also had longstanding premises in Long Acre (Covent Garden) among others. The inscription 'Merryweather Fecit' most likely refers to Moses Merryweather, although there were other members of his family already in Long Acre when Moses came down from Yorkshire in 1807. (One was a carriage-maker whose work included leather items).

A major customer of Merryweather black jacks was the Greenwich hospital for the Royal Navy, founded in 1694. Some information on black jacks is in a chapter from my book. (we have a copy of this if anyone is interested)

If you are reading the inscription "...ngton" correctly, this would be

Richard Edwin Stubington L I Fire E, A I Fire E, ACA, FCA, RE (TA)

He was (born 1893, chairman of Merryweathers from 1943, retired from work 1966). So this gives a wide possibility of dates for the gift.

As far as W R Crow and Son are concerned, I cannot find any further evidence as to why they received the black-jack from Merryweather's. Your mother may be right that Crow's provided storage and accommodation after one of MW's bombings (5 Nov 1940 and 24/25 Jun 1944), or for some other favour. Merryweather were always a considerable user of timber in their products and patterns etc, so Crow's may have been a dependable supplier or may have helped out in special circumstances.

I have found the following about W & R Crow & Son Ltd:1885 - see attachment

1891 - still at 6-8 Benjamin Street/Cowcross Street, EC. timber and mahogany merchants and importers of joinery.

In 1943 moved from Greenwich? to Crow's Wharf, Crabtree Manorway, Belvedere, nr Erith, Dartford, Bexley. Had a 300ft quay.

1948 - Aerial photos - see internet. Jenningtree Point, Erith.

1954 - still at Crabtree Manorway

In 1961 at 6-8 Benjamin Street, London EC1 (registered office), Faringdon/Islington/Clerkenwell.

In 1961 the company was liquidated, apparently on a voluntary basis, by Redford Crosfield Harris FCA

1967 - Crow's (apparently still extant) presented a petition for the winding up of Ridgebild Ltd.

1970s - appears to have morphed into a timber protection company with several addresses - see attachments.

I don't know if the 1945 cutting is relevant.

The following books and newspaper articles are about black-jacks and Merryweather:

Oliver Baker: Black Jacks and Leather Bottells, 1924, esp. p.116-117 and p.188
Isle of Wight Observer 15 Apr 1916 p.6
Millom Gazette 17 Jan 1902 p.6
'Nor-Rider' (fire brigade magazine) Jun 1955 p.28-29

Letters sent to GIHS in April 2007

From: Len Williams

Robert Pakenham Williams was a Baptist minister and was associated with the Seamen’s Mission on Creek Street, (now Creek Road). We have a bible presented to him, which is inlaid with a message of goodwill form the members of the mission. The mission building still exists, and is now the "Up the Creek" comedy club and I have been trying to find out more about the building's history but currently have drawn a blank. The management company tell me that the building is listed, although clearly that listing doesn't go as far as stopping them painting it purple. Do you have any information relating to the history of the building, or can you point me in a direction that might solve my problem.

From: Pamela Smith

I would like to find out about some artifacts that I have; a scarlet coat, silver badge inscribed and dated 1869,back board from a boat inscribed and dated 1875, and a door knocker inscribed. “All to do with Greenwich”.

From: John Ricks

I have a pair of very large pictures (27 inches square and 23 x16 inches)taken from the Illustrated London News of the 30th. Sept. 1876 and before, showing the gun being shipped at Woolwich and being fired at Shoeburyness. If you know of anyone who might be interested in having them, please reply to my message. As I live in Tralee, Ireland it might be a little awkward to show them but I have enclosed a couple of pictures as attachments to give you a clue (they are not very high resolution but I could take proper pictures if required).

From: Keith Dawson

It is that man from down under, about the Enderby's. Can you give me the Lat & long of where Coom or Croom House used to be? George Enderby Ist's will says he was of Coome House. Sam Enderby III wrote a letter from Cooms House 18/9/1803, although they used Paul’s Wharfe as an address on other business letters till at least 1809. one authority says they did not move to Great St. Helens until the 1840's. Morden College has told me that Coome House was demolished and flats erected by the Beaver Trust in 1830's or 1930's The Australian Agricultural Company was set up in the 1830's and the first manager was a Robert Dawson, He is said to be a horse dealer from Essex. My father's ancestors came from Essex and had the same occupation. Robert got on the wrong side of the MacArthurs, he was sacked & came to live in Greenwich (at Morden College? he would fit the criteria) he is buried in Greenwich I believe St. Luke’s?

From: Bob Hawker

Is it possible to ask for information on Thomas William Cowan's activitieswith the Kent Ironworks, 1860 - 1890ish? Anything that any of your members might have on Kent Ironworks, Greenwich, would be much appreciated. For example when did the business cease trading, did it mutate into the North Kent Ironworks Ltd. ? The information I have in brief it is: -

Patents: -

Cowan. Air compressed hammer.

Cowan and Winton. High and low pressure double cylinder hammer.

Burgh and Cowan. Trunk engine.

GB809, 1861. John Grieve Winton and Cowan, both of 42 Bridge St. Blackfriars, London. Improvements in the means for actuating machine hammers, which said improvements, are also applicable to pile-driving and other such like machines and purposes. Use of compressed air to aid steam hammers.

GB2306, 1861. Cowan. Improvements in the construction of breech-loading ordnance. Revolving firing-chambers for artillery. A large six shooter!

GB2525, 1862. Cowan. Improvements in the construction of portable or fixed pumps. A double barrelled pump with four valves or pistons. The same or variation on the trunk engine above.

Yarrow and Hilditch of Barnsbury, steam carriage made by Cowan for Ex. 1862. Details of construction in "Steam on Common Roads", William Fletcher, p 161.

North Kent Ironworks Ltd. March 1891. Shareholders of the Co. file for voluntary liquidation following an action against the company by one of the first mortgage debenture holders on 20th Feb. 1891. There was only £3,750 for distribution to the second debenture holders. The company was finally wound up on 25th March.

There appears to have been a change in Cowan's circumstances ~ late 1889, he moved from Sussex into London, became even more active in bee-keeping and travelled extensively - cross Atlantic six times (both ways) in the next 15 years, and numerous European visits.

From: Richard Blackbourn

I have an oilpainting which has been in the family forever. It shows a gentleman sitting in an office with a large number of fishing boats visible out of the window over his shoulder.

I have now found out that the picture is of a fishing fleet, is located at Greenwich and that members of the family were fishermen in Greenwich around 1816-1870 and before that at Wandsworth.

The names were:

Thomas Blackbourn - Fisherman - Stable Yard Street, Greenwich - 1820 - 1841, 7, Church St,Greenwich – 1851.

Thomas Blackbourn - Fisherman - Hog Lane, Greenwich – 1841 Frederick St – 1851 Thames Street - 1861

William Blackbourn - Fisherman - High Bridge, Greenwich - 1841

George Blackbourn - apprentice vintner - Crown & Sceptre, High Bridge, Greenwich - 1841

I was wondering if any records existed regarding the fishing fleet. i.e. : boat owners, crews, fleet managers/owners etc. or any other records regarding fishing in Greenwich around this time.

From: Len Metzner

The Society for the Acquisition and Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. I have today learned of this organisation and its lecture rooms in Royal Hill, Greenwich. In the course of reading about this and its formation circa 1840's, and its organiser H.S. Richardson. It also mentions the 9,000 books in their collection. Wondered if you have any knowledge as to where any of these books have ended up, if the halls are still Lecture Rooms for Greenwich University, Maybe?

William Lloyd Metzner opened the first local library in his home in Stockwell Street and established and held meetings of the Literary and Scientific Institution, later to move onto a larger hall. The picture I have of the meeting of this Society has all the appearance of being the same as that shown as a meeting of the Greenwich Acquisition of Knowledge in their new hall, now known to be on Royal Hill.

From: Iris Bryce

Does anyone remember the formation of the Local Defence Volunteers at the Telcon in the 1940's? These were the forerunners of The Home Guard. I worked in the Buying Office of the Telcon, aged 16 and along with Glenys, the filing clerk joined the LDV. We were given rather large badges made of some lightweight wood I think and painted to resemble gold. I joined three other girls and we went to learn map reading in a very cold, dirty building just outside the entrance to Blackwall Tunnel -1 think it was a Martello Tower. Glenys went to learn how to ride a MOTOR BIKE! We lasted about three weeks. I wasn't too happy to be left alone with the retired Major!! And Glenys rode the bike into a wall. The reason I'm enquiring is that over Christmas we were given a copy of the Home Guard Manual and although it mentions the LDV there is no mention of women joining up. Unfortunately I lost the badge when our house in Woodland Walk suffered blast from the time bomb in Woodland Grove and we were evacuated out of the street for two weeks or more.

Thanks for mention of The Hill Folk. Could you let me know how to contact Mel Wright, as Owen and I are very interested to see he is lecturing on Jazz in the 40's. Owen of course was the founder member of the Geo.Webb Dixielanders in 1943 and lived in Thomas Street. We started the first Jazz Club in Woolwich in the 40's and many of the well known jazz musicians from all over England stayed at our flat in Thomas Street when they first came to make their name in London.

From: Neil Bennett

After leaving Greenwich, Merryweather moved to the Rassau Industrial Estate, Ebbw Vale, Gwent, S. Wales, NP3 5SD and in 1984 to Belliver Industrial Estate, Roborough, Plymouth (as TGE Merryweather - stands for Tecalemit Garage Equipment). They were also at Commercial Brow, Godley, Hyde, Manchester, Cheshire, SK14 2JN, along with the historic John Morris fire engineering company. Contrary to common belief the name still survives, although the company is (by its own admission) "A shadow of its former self".

At Tuesnoad Grange, Bethersden, Kent they make or supply only fire extinguishers, owned and run by Mr Jeffrey J Wright. One of their clients is the Sandringham royal household. Mr Wright is interested to learn of the company's past and in particular is willing to purchase or see old Merryweather sales brochures. I am researching the company's past with a view to writing a book.

From: John Grigg

Labour Heritage. In 2005 we celebrated the 60th anniversary of Labour's 1945 election victory. 2006 was the 100th anniversary of the 1906 general election when Labour first became established in Parliament. 2007 is the 60th anniversary of Indian independence. We recently found a supply of one of Labour Heritage's early bulletins produced in 1986 by the Women’s Research Committee. The Editor, Christine Collette, is still a member of Labour Heritage and lives in France. Of particular interest is Irene Wagner's account of her early life in Germany until she left the Naziregime to come to Britain in 1938. Irene was Labour Heritage's first treasurer until she handed the job over to me in 2004 and is still a member of our National Committee.

From: David Dowd

I was pleased to see a report on a lecture given by John Ford on Siemens Brothers. This must be the very same John Ford who ran a scheme for apprenticing young hopefuls to Siemens as draughtsmen in the middle 1950s. I was one such and I owe him my subsequent lucrative career as a product designer. However, my reason for writing is that in his lecture he did not mention that, in the days when British merchant ships had British crews, Siemens trained so many wireless operators that Siemens-trained were in the majority. This was gleaned from the very readable Siemens company magazine. Another item which more closely concerned me at the time was that Siemens designed the first PCB .

From: John Bowles

Woolwich Arsenal Tramway Plates

The article in the latest GIHS Newsletter on the rescue of the Borough of Woolwich electricity junction box has reminded me that I had forgotten to let you know that we now hold at Waltham Abbey the surviving 18" gauge cast-iron tramway plates salvaged by the Oxford Archaeological Unit and held in Building 1° at Woolwich Arsenal. The plates reached us on 6th December. Basically the archaeologists had recovered an example of the various types used at Woolwich, nine in all, so we are very pleased to have them where they can be displayed and on which we can run our 18" gauge rolling stock. The main collection of the plates is at Chatham, where most are sadly currently used as ballast for WS Gannet - a matter which has not found favour with the narrow-gauge railway fraternity. I am glad that we were able to prevent them from going for scrap, as they were separate from the two plates used under the wagon returned from North Woolwich. The long-term future of the plates at Chatham is unclear, so the position there is being watched closely, as their use as ballast must be unacceptable except in the very short-term - just to get HMS Gannet afloat.

I am told that they were cast at Woolwich.

From: Mike Harnett

I am looking for any information on a firm based in the Greenwich area in the late 1800s called Moser, West and Bateman. Their business was the making of emery wheels which may have been used in the production of armaments at Woolwich Arsenal.

Reviews and Snippets from April 2007

The Sustainable Historic Arsenals Regeneration Partnership (SHARP) was formed between the EU nations of England, Malta, Estonia and Spain to share lessons learned while seeking new futures for these culturally important but neglected former military sites. As lead partner in the part EU-funded project, English Heritage reviewed the story of the rescue, conservation and re-use of the former Royal Arsenal, Woolwich - an example of the contribution that heritage can make to social, economic and cultural regeneration. This was followed by investigation of the challenges and opportunities presented by comparable sites in Malta, Spain and Estonia. In Malta, the aim is to revitalise a succession of military sites adjoining the Grand Harbour; at Cadiz it is to bring back into public view the fortifications that repulsed Napoleon's army; while at Tallinn it is to help the citizens of the young Republic of Estonia to understand their complex past under Russian Imperial, Soviet and Nazi rule. Each of these projects is providing fascinating lessons and outcomes.

A recent conference on SHARP centred on the launch of a book Regeneration from Heritage. This glossy and lavishly illustrated publication outlines the Historical background to the sites involved in the scheme (Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, Battery Tallinin, Grand Harbour Malta and the Real Carenero Arsenal). It described a number of themes in relation to the sites – Masterplanning, Partnerships, Heritage, Tourism, Education and Sustainable Regeneration. It is published by English Heritage (no price or details given on it).

The Severndroog Castle Campaign has heard from Awards for All England that the application for funding has been successful! And they have been awarded £6,035 for their "Audience Development Project". This will pay for: a laptop and accessories (like bag/ remote for presentations / cordless mouse), software, multimedia projector, display boards, promotional materials (bookmarks/ business cards) to advertise our new website, a year's membership to Volunteering England, digital camera and web design and development training.

The Winter 2007 edition of Industrial Heritage contains an article by Mary Mills on ‘An explosion Two Hundred Years Ago’. This is about the Tide Mill which once stood near the Pilot Pub on the Greenwich Peninsula and the explosion in the boiler of a steam engine supplied by Richard Trevithick there. Industrial Heritage published by Hudson History,

The preceding issue of Industrial Heritage ran an article ‘Crossness Engines to the Rescue’ by Peter Skilton.This is about the Stewart & Co. steam engine which was at the David Evans silk works in Crayford and its subsequent rescue and removal to Crossness when Evans closed.

Woodlands Farm are about to reach their tenth anniversary and we must all congratulate them. They are appealing for any old photographs of the Farm which can be used in an anniversary exhibition. They are about to launch a sustainable food growing scheme on the 341 Shooters Hill site – the area once occupied by the Blackheath donkeys.

Crossness DVD. Crossness Engines have now produced a DVD of the first public steaming of Prince Consort on 4th April 2004. This is £8 from their shop on visitors’ days or by post (plus £1.50 p&p) from Crossness Engines Trust, The Old Works, Thames Water STW, Belvedere Road, Abbey Wood, SE2 9AQ.

Crossness are also advertising for people to help with gardening at the site – lots and lots of fresh air (and not too smelly either).

Dockyards – we have recently received both the newsletter and the Journal of the Naval Dockyards Society. Clearly our area had two of the most important of the Royal Dockyards at Deptford and Woolwich. Strange then that these two publications – once again – make no mention of either while they go on and on and on about Portsmouth and so on. Is this our fault for not sending stuff to them? Or do they really want to ignore us? Is there a nasty suspicion that the Deptford site, arguably that of the foremost of the Royal Dockyards, will be redeveloped with hardly a mention of its illustrious past?

We have been sent a copy of the latest publication by the South East London Industrial Archaeology group. Bizarrely this is about the Sherburn and South Milford Gas Company – but that shouldn’t take away from the many merits of this interesting little book. It is by SELIA’s Chris Rule and is available for £3.75 from SEILA Ltd. , 35 Grange Grove, London, N1 2NP and is worth every penny of it. Highly recommended.

Greenwich Historical Society have published their latest Journal now edited by Julian Watson. It contains articles by several people who are also members of GIHS – but in particular it is dedicated to, and contains eulogies to, the late Alan Pearsall. Alan was of course a GIHS member and gave a number of talks to us but one of his major tasks in Greenwich historical circles was as editor of GHS’s Journal. There are articles about him by Professor Roger Knight, Pieter van der Merwe (actually a poem) and Julian Watson.

Other articles are about the theft of Nelson’s replicas from the Painted Hall by Anthony Cross, and Richard Cheffins' work on Greenwich in Parliament.

Labour Party Staff. A Century of Serving 1906-2006. We have been sent a copy of this book by Labour Party Regional Organiser Terry Ashton. Woolwich was of course the home of the earliest organised Labour Party in Britain and the first mini-biography in the book is about William Barefoot. He is described as having built in Woolwich "a strong local party, a model for the whole country"… he was “the organizing genius who made it all happen”.

Swiftstone Trust. We have the latest newsletter of the Trust which cares for the Swiftstone tug and it describes work on the tug and the difficulties encountered since the redevelopment of Wood Wharf. They are hopeful for donations, so don’t disappoint them if you write.

Matchless and AMC - celebration of Woolwich-made machines at Firepower. AMC Event - Sunday 9th September 2007. In total, some 53,400 Matchless machines were contracted for supply throughout the conflict of WWII and many stayed in use during the 1950's with the final machines being disposed through public auction in the 1960's. Examples of these and many more from both the pre- and post-war models from AJS, Matchless and all those other manufacturers within or associated with the AMC Group will be on display and ridden at the event on 9th September.

Wartime memories of Shooters Hill and Woolwich Common. Shooters Hill was of great strategic importance during World War Two forming part of an Anti Invasion Stop Line as well as hosting elements of the defences of London such as Anti-Aircraft Guns and Barrage Balloons. As part of a research and education project, local archaeologist Andy Brockman is recording the military archaeology of the Shooters Hill/Woolwich Common area. This includes both structures such as Pill Boxes, trenches and other sites used by the Army, RAF and Home Guard as well as buildings and sites used by the civilian services such as the Police, Fire and Ambulance Services and the ARP Service. If you or members of your family have any memories of wartime Shooters Hill or you have photographs or memorabilia such as documents please contact

A degree in Maritime History? The Greenwich Maritime Institute is right on our doorsteps on the University site. They are currently inviting applicants for September this year to their various postgraduate courses: MA in Maritime Policy, MA in Maritime History, MBA in Maritime Management. Entry needs either a good honours degree or maritime experience.

GREENWICH MATERIALS RECYCLING FACILITY

By Richard Buchanan

The Blackheath Scientific Society had a visit to the Greenwich Materials Recycling Facility on 16 Jan 2007. Numbers were limited to ten. Unlike other Councils, the Greenwich philosophy is to ask people to put all dry waste in one blue top bin, and to collect it with a single lorry. They then separate it at a mixed, dry, recycling plant.

The plant occupies a big grey building at the far end of Nathan Way, Plumstead. Mr Peter Dalley, the manager, took us round, on a first floor walkway, and showed us the various machines which are linked by rising conveyor belts. The day we went there was much rubbish on the floor under the conveyors, and paper/plastic separation did not seem as good as it might have been, though presumably acceptable.

The first process is bag splitting, so any pre-sorting one might have done is nullified. Then oversized items are removed with a Trommel Screen, to be manually sorted. This is followed by a Ballistic Separator (a large spinning drum) which does an initial sort of containers from paper. Containers are separated into iron, aluminium and glass: a Magnet (people with pacemakers are not let on the visit) takes out iron cans etc; an Eddy Current separator removes aluminium; leaving glass. Plastic bags, paper and a residue remain. An infra-red lamp detects Plastic and drives a puffer machine to separate it from paper. Paper is sorted first automatically, and then manually - it is important that no glass gets into it, though small wispy pieces of plastic are tolerated. The last piece of equipment is a Baler. Some incoming waste, such as bulk paper from a business, can go straight to the baler.

Depending on market prices, particularly for plastics, extra manual sorting can be done. Manual Sorters work two or three to a room about 6 m (20 ft) square, for seven hour days, no shift lasting more them four hours. The plant is run with a staff of about 20 per shift.

Mr Dalley took questions afterwards and outlined future plans. He gave various prices: Paper for newsprint earns £250 per ton; Cleanaway, who take the baled waste, put up £6m towards the cost of the plant; National Land Fill permits come with a fine of £150/ton for excess; and an EU fine of F/Wday; a waste disposal lorry costs £125,000; wheelie bins for 120, 240 & 330 litre capacity cost £25, £18 & £40.

At present 72% of residents voluntarily use blue top bins, and produce high grade waste. It is proposed to revise the use of bins so that all residents use blue-top bins for dry waste and green-top bins for kitchen and garden waste – with weekly collection for both. Other waste would be put in a bag and collected fortnightly. Biodegradble Cornstarch bags would be used for kitchen waste - fitting in a kitchen container, tied off when full and put in the green-top bin.

It is proposed to build an anaerobic digester for green waste so that methane given off as it rots can be fed to a Combined Heat and Power plant (better than a garden compost bin venting to the atmosphere). If restaurant waste were properly sorted this too would be taken and would improve digester efficiency. Other by-products would be a good quality top soil and liquid fertiliser, both useable by the Council. In the future it might be worthwhile to adapt the digester to produce hydrogen

Dear GIHS Members

This is to let you know that the meeting scheduled for Tuesday 14 April WILL NOT TAKE PLACE. Because of Coronavirus we have cancelled ALL MEETINGS until after the summer.

Your GIHS committee will continue to monitor -- as far as we can -- the industrial heritage of Greenwich. We will be grateful for any input you can offer. We will remain concerned about and alert to planning applications on industrial sites, the demolition of the gas holder, the Charlton and Woolwich sites with recent planning enquiries, the Arsenal, Deptford Creek and so on. We appreciate any assistance you can give in these difficult times. Please keep your eyes open and let us know about anything we should know about.

Because we have had to cancel the programme for the beginning of 2020, we are going to waive all subscription fees until the end of 2021.

In the autumn of 2020, so long as the pandemic is over, we plan to come back with an exciting programme of talks, running through until summer 2021.

Meanwhile we have been thinking about the venue for our events, but we'd welcome your views. The Old Bakehouse benefits from easy access by public transport, but is limited in size. Do you have any suggestions of alternative locations? Would anyone enjoy afternoon sessions? Would anyone like us to record sessions or even transmit them live by YouTube, Facebook or some other medium?

"While we are not having meetings we are still very busy on-line and are always happy to publish items of news on our Facebook page - and look forward to comments and discussion on items which appear there. Longer articles are more than welcome for the GIHS blog. You will also be glad to see that we also now have an Instagram and a Twitter account'. Please send items to marymillsmmmmm@aol.com indhistgreewich@aol.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1549240565122658/?ref=bookmarks

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greenwich_industrial_history/

We shall continue to be in touch with as many of you as possible via email. We know there are some of you who do not use the internet and therefore may not see this email. If you know of anyone like this, please let them -- and us -- know.

Alan Burkitt-Gray

Mary Mills

Elizabeth Pearcey

Neil Bennett has sent us these notes on Midgie Dolphin .................... read on ...................

Miss Midgie or Midge Dolphin (once given confusingly as Dolphni) appears to have been ‘trained’ for appearances in films involving ‘stunt’ or ‘action’ sequences at Merryweather& Sons.

She would have met the famous and flamboyant company boss, James Compton Merryweather. In 1912 he was aged 72 (and had five years to live). JCM, as well as a fire-fighter, engineer and businessman was a considerable publicist for his fire-fighting equipment and fire engine company Merryweather& Sons. Known as ‘The Fire King’ he placed thousands upon thousands of newspaper adverts, wrote signed letters to newspapers and almost certainly, with editors’ approval, placed many newspaper articles he had written himself, to keep the company name in the public eye world-wide.

As for Midgie/Midge Dolphin, the ‘training’, rehearsals and the photos and publicity, would have kept her, and the company, in the news. Did she initiate the visit(s) to Merryweather’s (in Greenwich, London), or her father or someone with a view to her career, or James Merryweather himself? Was she accompanied in the visit? JCM and his staff were accustomed to training provincial private fire brigades, including ones for schools and ones exclusively women. But he would surely have taken a decently reserved pleasure in the company of a 13-year old ‘film actress’.

Here are the newspaper clippings I found, all related to stage appearances..…can we find what film(s) Midgie appeared in, beforehand, or later (benefitting from her Merryweather training)? Did her career lead anywhere?

The clippings and other sources indicate that she danced at the Aldwych in Jan 1912 in five small plays collectively known as ‘The Golden Land of Fairy Tales’, and in the same year 1912 she was the fairy Mustardseed in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ in the play revived by Sir Herbert Tree at the Gaiety, Manchester. (Stage Yearbook)

She appeared in ‘Theodore and Co’ aged 16 in 1916. She was the daughter of the stage manager of ‘Daly’s’, whose name I don’t know [see below], although there was a chap called Wilfred H Dolphin, an actor, who may have been relevant.

Daly’s was a Leicester Square theatre where ‘Vue West End’ now stands, at no.2 Cranbourn Street. It was the last theatre in the Square to be demolished, in 1937, in favour of the oncoming ‘picture houses’.

…see cuttings below, from ‘British Newspaper Archive’I seem to have exhausted the information on Wikipedia and the Internet….

Also no trace of her in ‘Encyclopedia of British Film’. At that time actors were not highly paid and considered on a par with electricians and mechanics. Films, which would of course have been silent and black & white, were often destroyed and recycled for their silver content.

Daily Mirror 6 Feb 1914
(Please note the precise wording – do we trust the Daily Mirror?) So far no luck (speaking as an engineer) in identifying the crane, or whether it belonged to Merryweather’s.

¬

Further looking finds references to her in The Stage 20 Apr 1911 p.19 as Mustardseed; The Tatler 8 Nov 1916 with photo and her drawings, Sunday Pictorial 26 Nov 1916 with pics and Daily Mirror 11 Oct 1917, with pics, where aged 18 she married Major Edwards RGA (Royal Garrison Artillery). Maybe she then gave up her acting career…?

George A M Dyson writes…

I can tell you a little more about Midge. She was Margaret Flora Stuart Dolphin, daughter of a couple from Manchester, Walter and Matilda Dolphin, who had evidently moved south shortly before Midge was born at Catford in 1900. Her father was a musician, and he was obviously keen to put his whole family on the stage, not just Midge.

The Dolphins evidently moved around. They were in Fulham by the time the 1901 Census, and in a boarding house in Lambeth in 1911, and, though she was a south-east London girl by birth, I don’t know where Midge would have been living when she used
Merryweather’s premises to practice her stunts. But with JCM keen to make sales in the theatre world it looks like a smart move on his part. (Around the time of 1914there were few if any new installations of Merryweather theatre safety curtains, perhaps as a result of the oncoming cinemas, until the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford, in 1932).

As for what became of her later, all that I know is that she married a second time, in 1938. Sydney Burnet Edwards had served in the South African Horse Artillery before transferring to the RGA, and incidentally at some point he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), though I’ve not found any report of how he earned that award. So, if he was South African, it may be that they spent the 1920s and 30s in S Africa, and as far as I know S African historical records aren’t easily available anywhere. If she did maintain her career there ought to be some kind of press records of that, but I haven’t looked and I wouldn’t know the best way to do it.

What is clear enough is that in Islington in 1938 Margaret F S Edwards or Dolphin married Charles H Cartwright. No reason to assume she was a divorcee – I assume Sydney had died. And I notice that at Crosby in Lancashire in 1940 the birth of a child Michael Y Cartwright was registered with the mother’s name given as Dolphin; I can’t find a newspaper notice of that birth (nor of the 1938 marriage), and there’s no proof that’s Midge and Charles, but I think it’s more likely to have been them than another couple with the same names.

I hope all that is interesting. It would have been nice to round off the record for you by finding an obituary for Margaret F S Cartwright, but I haven’t found anything.

Five index entries, which record (in chronological order) -

•Midge’s birth; we learn later that she was actually born in Nov 1899, but a bit of a delay in registering a birth isn’t unusual.
•Her marriage to Maj Edwards.
•Her marriage – under the two surnames – to Charles Cartwright – in 1917 and 1938 the index gives all three initials, and that’s how I’ve been able to identify her in the birth registers and the 1901 and 1911 censuses too; but with three forenames myself I’m not surprised to see the third one went missing in later records!
•The entry from the national population Register taken in England & Wales in September 1939, for 152 Widdenham Road, Islington; it’s hard to know which of them is being described as incapacitated.
•An entry from the National Probate Index; the matching entry in the death register index for the Colchester registration district tells us that this Margaret Flora Cartwright was 62 years old, which fits with what we know of Midge.

I’ve no idea who the woman who administered her estate was. It doesn’t look as though her life after marrying Maj Edwards was as glamorous as we might have hoped – but you never know, ‘dresses etc’ might have been haute couture, and she might have bestowed a fortune on her nearest and dearest before she died. But I suspect not.

b 10 Nov 1899
d 7 Feb 1962 age 62 as Margaret Flora Cartwright, then of Frinton, – effects £130/16/0

Woodlands Farm - Lie of the Land Project

Reviews and snippets May2006

Dick Turpin

Letters May 2006

English Heritage Reports on Arsenal Sites

Croydon Airport

Reviews and Snippets August 2006

Letters August 2006

Borough of Woolwich Electricity Junction Box

Notes and snippets from 12 years ago - December 2006

Letters from 12 years ago December 2006

Enderby family notes

Dunkirk and the General Steam Navigation Company

Street furniture - old Greenwich Borough sites

Merryweather 'Bottell' and W.R.Crow

Letters sent to GIHS in April 2007

Reviews and Snippets from April 2007

Greenwich Materials Recycling Facility

Message to all Members and Friends

Midgie Dolphin - the girl who trained with Merryweather's