Genealogy Chat

I know Im always recommending this site (Im not related - though actually I may well be - to the chap who runs it). If you have watermen/lightermen ancestors there is so many interesting items and cds on there. If you just have dockland ancestors you can also search the transcribed parish registers on there. Use a surname and bring up the whole lot for each church that has been transcribed so far. New stuff has been added again this month.

I just love the site Lyla - wish I was on commission. Every time I get a newsletter I get excited about the new stuff that they have on offer. Actually, anyone with dockland ancestors, the site is trying to arrange an outing in the summer - trip along the Thames, lunch at the Propect of Whitby (fab old old pub overlooking the river) and a talk on dockland ancestry.

PS, Through a recent contact, I can now number over 200 lightermen in my lines!! Spose that does make me a bit more keen on the site than the average joe.

Thanks Heather, Just been and had a look, there is a whole bunch of mine on the search, just got to work out what to do next. Suex

Hi Heather I've just been on Dockland Ancestors, looking through the shop. I have just been 'rummaging' through the Bargain Basement, and seen the sixth item down...... 'Old left sock. Only one hole, hurry while stocks last, postage free' I wonder if anyone has bought it? Sandra

Yes, I know about the sock, James who runs the site is a real joker - he said to me that he put it in the bargains, just to see if someone bought it! Lyla, yes, Ive still got a few claiming to be lightermen who dont show on apprenticeships. But Im sure I read there were sort of 'private' lightermen companies employed by big organisations like the insurance coys, in which case they wouldnt show. (Im saying this as I dont like the thought of my Dixons lying, as that is something my dad always said he hated! - me too!), My GGF, a Cheal, was a bargeman - he actually sailed barges around the coast - so still a very skilled job! Perhaps our guys were just modest, eh? Yes, do ask James about the do. He also has a book launch in April - he rather wants any descendants of the Doggetts Coat and Badge winners to be there (yes, I do have that glorious claim to fame - see John Dixon, Bermondsey!) but not sure if its a bit too close for me with so much going on here. The outing is going to be in July he said so we have a 50/50 chance of it not raining or being freezing cold on the Thames. And as someone who stood next to the Thames last Saturday (with my streaming cold) scattering my dear dads ashes into the water near the Rotherhithe rowing club - totally illegal, so do I look worried? - you def dont want to be near that river when its raining or cold, it freezes you to the bone. I was still frozen the next day, honest. Anyone else up for it? I havent been to the Prospect of Whitby since I was a teenager - its like something out of a Dickens novel, overhanging the water. My nan used to play the piano there when she was widowed, to make a bit of cash. PS Lyla, well if you do go on the outing, you will have to stand there wearing a life jacket and keep well away from me as I cant swim!

Sandra, I just mailed Dockland Ancestors to say people were interested in the bargain basement sock. Got one back saying another interesting item on there - check it out, I just PMSL.

Brilliant!! I won't be ordering though, as I actually have one. He is 17, eats everything as mentioned, hides cups, plates, old cans etc in his lair. My one speaks in grunts, unless he want's something, then I get the 'arm around the shoulder, kiss on the cheek, ask if I want a cuppa tea' treatment. Sandra Just emailed them too, to say I already have one in my collection, so wont be ordering!

I asked if they took part exchange - I have one nearly 6 ft, 19 who comes complete with a £844 mobile phone bill unfortunately they turned me down. Its comforting to know the one for sale also has probs flushing loos, I thought it was just my boy! Glad you emailed them, James will love that! And it is really a brilliant site, if you look through those cds of parish records etc., most of them are not available anywhere else. I have several of the books on there and the apprenticeship bindings - Im tempted to get another couple of cds on lightermen watermen in the 17th century.

Hi Heather It's me harping on about my Frederick Wood (unregistered lighterman) again. I wondered since you know a lot about boatmen that you might be able to give me some ideas. I have found the following on the Old Bailey site about a theft of a pair of trousers from a Frederick Wood in 1827 (naughty Joseph Harrison was found GUILTY). FREDERICK WOOD. I am an apprentice on board the Prince George, which lay in Blackwall basin. The prisoner was working on board - I lost my trousers from my hammock; they were safe about five o'clock. Whether or not this is my guy - why isnt there any Frederick Wood listed in the apprenticeship records? My man would have been aged about 25 - would he have been too old to have be an proper apprentice? I wonder if there are existing records of the Prince George and where I might find them? Any other ideas? Lyla

Lyla, I will have a look - there is a section of 'overage boys'. These served only a 2 year apprenticeship and were looked down upon by the regular 7 yearers! If you want, I can ask James on Dockland Ancestors later (when he is awake!). PS _ Thanks, but I definitely dont know a lot! My over age boys list only goes from 1865 - I will give James a quick mailing to ask why we have all these people who claim to be apprentices or lightermen but dont show. I know this month he has a new cd on there by Rob Cotterell 'the oracle' on lightermen with apprentices who were reassigned. That is, they start with one master, he kicks the bucket or gets impressed or whatever and so the apprentice is signed over to another person. I wonder if that is a reason?

Lyla, got a message back from James Legon: Giving possible reasons for no show on the bindings: 1. Your ancestor was telling porky pies to the census enumerator. As the lightermen considered themselves the aristocrats of the river, it is not surprising that people 'sexed up' their occupation from, say, casual dock labourer. 2. The ancestor is in the Bindings Indexes, but not under the name you searched for. Names change over time, transcription errors do occur. 3. Perhaps he was a lighterman, but not on the tidal Thames. The companies remit for example, extended only as far as Teddington Lock. He might have worked on another river, the Medway for example. Ive asked James if there are any records available for the Medway.

Lyla, got a lot of stuff from him on that ship, Ill pm you!

Hi all, Slightly off-subject, the word Blackwall Basin caught my eye as that is where I now work (in a big office block, of course). My company produced a small booklet which gives some of the history of the area. If you are interested in it, PM me & I'll see if I can find one for you. Carole

Heather thankyou - however did you find out so much about the ship? As well as the possible Blackwall connection I do know that Frederick Wood drowned in the Regents Canal Basin (in 1854 and I can't find a likely newspaper covering that area then - grrr). So it sounds like perhaps he didn't actually work on the tidal Thames after all. That would explain why he was so insistent he was a lighterman - he was. I wonder if his apprenticeship might be recorded somewhere else? Hmmm, lots to think about - off to find my googling hat. Carole I'm going to pm you. Thanks again Lyla