Goole Volunteer firemen

At long last the weather is improving and I have been able to cut the grass. I have a very old ride on mower and it is a challenge to steer it around the still green snowdrop leaves and the daffodils. But it is amazing how quickly everything is growing and I know that if  I do not cut the cow parsley now it will soon be waist high. Flowers that I am very pleased to see are my few fritillaries and cowslips. They are spreading very slowly.

On the history front we went to the York postcard fair and bought some lovely cards of Laxton, Saltmarshe, Newport and Gilberdyke which will eventually appear on the old photo section of my website. I am so far behind with updating the photo section that it is always best to ask what I have.

The fair did not seem as busy as previous years - and this year we remembered to take our own sandwiches instead of buying the very expensive ones at the venue.

I have recently been searching the Goole Times archives [ I am now their custodian] for various people who want copies of articles.  I bought a small portable scanner so that I can scan from the files without damaging them.

There are some excellent old photos reproduced in the early 1960s which I am fascinated by. The picture below shows the Goole volunteer fire  brigade. Although of course the pictures are a bit grainy they are quite clear enough to identify faces.

Goole volunteer firemen

Clifton Gardens, Goole

This last month seems to have flown by and now we are in October. The pond is still dry and although the grass had grown in some parts of the garden where it is under trees it was brown and flat when I gave it all a last cut.

I have been picking, eating and giving away apples. It is a good year in that there are lots of them and the eating varieties - Laxton Superb and James Grieve are quite sweet - but they are also smaller than usual.

I have now begun teaching my WEA local history classes in both Howden and Goole and in both there are plenty of students. Sadly however the class which I had hoped to run in Gilberdyke did not recruit well and so it has closed.

One of the topics which came up in the Goole class was Clifton Gardens, a street built in the 1890s and consisting of impressive Victorian houses.

Student Pauline Stainton searched the Goole Times files and came up with an interesting obituary for Frederick Chambers who lived at number 17 Clifton Gardens. She has transcribed it and I have included it below.

DEATH OF MR. F. CHAMBERS.

A WELL-KNOWN GOOLE ARCHITECT.

LOSS TO LOCAL WESLEYAN METHODISM.

        It is with deep regret that we record the death, which occurred on Thursday of last week, at his residence, Thorne Croft, Clifton gardens, Goole, of Mr. Frederick Chambers, L.R.I.B.A., architect and surveyor. He was 67 years of age, and had been confined to his house since October 1 as the result of a seizure.

       The late Mr. Chambers was a native of Hatfield. The family subsequently removed to Thorne and later to Goole, where his father was the owner of a number of schooners which at that time were the chief vessels sailing from the port. His son, however, had no inclination for a career connected with the sea, and after qualifying as a sanitary inspector and surveyor, he ultimately occupied each of these positions in turn under the local authority at Goole. He later became a member of the Goole Urban District Council and established an extensive practice as architect and surveyor, which he carried on upon to the time of his death at offices in Belgravia. During the war, in the absence on military duty of the surveyor to the Urban District Council, he occupied the position of consulting architect and surveyor to that body, and at the time of his death the firm was acting as architect to the Goole Rural District Council in the carrying out of their housing scheme.

 Among the numerous buildings designed by him were the Temperance Hall at Thorne, the Wesleyan Chapels at Reedness and Rawcliffe Bridge, and Ashfield, the residence of the late Mr.G.B. Wadsworth in Hook Road. He also took an active part as architect in the erection of houses in the more recently developed portions of Goole, notably in the Marshfield district, and his last work was the successful transformation of the Sailors’ Institute, Goole, into the local headquarters of the Y.M.C.A., a task which he carried out for the good of a cause which had his keenest sympathy.

      Mr Chambers was an active member of the Wesleyan body, and was closely associated with the church in Boothferry Road. He was a local preacher, and held every lay office in connection with the Goole Wesleyan circuit. He was a welcome attender at various church functions, and could always be relied upon to give a pithy and appropriate speech on any occasion. Interested in education, he served on the local education committee, and was a member of the governing body of the Goole Secondary School.

       An ardent student of archaeology, the late Mr. Chambers was well versed in the historical associations of the district, and he was also an authority on wood-carving.

       He leaves a widow, four sons and three daughters.

Goole Times 30 December 1920

Goole was an expanding and flourishing town in the 1890s and it is interesting to find out about the local architects and builders who gave us much of today's townscape.

One of the sons of Frederick Chambers was Herbert E Chambers, for many years headmaster of Boothferry Road school. Herbert's daughter Kathleen who died in 1990 taught music to many local children, including the late Frank Ella.

The Birks family and Goole Fields mill

I have recently been finding out more about the Birks family who were millers in Goole throughout most of the nineteenth century.

Thomas Birks, son of John was a farmer until 1815 when he became a miller at Goole. I think that he may have taken over what was formerly known as Broadbents' mil, a smock mill which stood on the riverbank where Goole docks is today.

He had to move in the 1820s when the Aire and Calder Co. began building their new canal and docks exactly where his mill stood. So he moved to the other side of the Dutch River and built a new windmill near what we now know as Old Goole, on Goole Fields. It is still there.

Sadly Thomas died in 1828 leaving his widow Hannah, nee Colbridge to run the mill.  She eventually married William Greenfield, also a miller but he was killed when he took hold of the moving sail and was carried up in the air before falling to the ground.

But by then Hannah's son, Thomas Gilderdale Birks was old enough to take over running the mill. He continued milling until in his turn his son, another Thomas Gilderdale Birks took over. This third Thomas was particularly interested in the natural history of Goole Moors.

He was an enthusiastic member of the Goole Scientific Society and its recorder of botany. He studied the algae of Goole and Thorne moors and was a founder member of the British Mycological Society, and the Yorkshire Naturalists Union.

In 1883 he was offering 'Andromeda, the three Droseras, pllujarla, and many other rare flowering plants, characeae, algae, diatoms, desmids, micro- fungi, plants for freshwater aquaria and well-mounted slides in exchange for books on natural history, cabinets, slide boxes,
or apparatus.'
Anyone interested was invited to reply to Thomas Birks, jun., Old Goole Mill, Goole.

By 1899 he had moved from Goole to become the manager of the Cleveland Flour mills but still returned to Goole to study the moors. In 1911 he was living in New Southgate, Middlesex, a corn dealer and shopkeeper.

In 1911 both William Gawtry, a waterman and William Phillipson , a jobbing gardener gave their address as the Mill House, Goole Fields.

If anyone can add any more to the history of either the Birks family or the mill I should be pleased.

Goole Times - Back in Time

Readers of the Goole Times may have noticed that I have begun contributing to the newspaper's very interesting 'Back in Time' pages. These weekly pages feature articles and photographs from readers who have memories and information about the history of Goole and the wider area.

I have recently written an article in the newspaper about the great number of young goslings which were imported through Goole, arriving in crates on the decks of such ships as the SS Wharfe.

I have also contributed some of my old photographs to the 'Back in Time' pages. Many of these pictures did originally appear in the Goole Times but they have no identification on the back with regard to year or occasion.

I am putting small versions of the published pictures here on my blog. If you are interested in purchasing copies as either prints or digital images do visit my website - Howdenshire History - and fill in the contact form.

Goole Traders fancy dress

Children from Boothferry Road school with Goole's Christmas tree

Geese grazing on Victoria Street in Goole, now the site of the telephone exchange

Last night in the Steam Packet 4th March 1967 before it was demolished. Landlord Ken Rose

SS Wharfe of Goole

Christmas Past

It seems appropriate as we approach Christmas to have a look back at how the season was celebrated locally in times past. We are at present having wet weather but it is not too cold.

However in December 1878 the York Herald reported that it was well below freezing and the rivers were frozen. It is interesting in these days of a long Christmas break to read that on Christmas Day the businesses were closed - which suggests that they were probably open on all other days. The report begins with what was happening in York and then moves to Goole and Howden.


From the York Herald, Saturday 28th December 1878

"Those who have sighed for a 'good old-fashioned' Christmas have at length had their wishes realised to the full, for the weather is of a more severe character than any that has been experienced for many years.

In York Christmas Day was observed in the orthodox fashion, the various places of business being closed, and services held in the different churches and chapels.

The hallowed day was ushered in by a gladdening peal on the Minster bells, and as soon as the day was fairly born the waits awoke the stillness by their carols and hymns. The Ouse and Foss being frozen, hundreds indulged in the exhilarating and healthy exercise of skating, of which for several seasons they have been deprived.

The inmates of the York Union Workhouse, numbering about 60 more than last year, were supplied with a substantial Christmas dinner, consisting of roast beef, potatoes, and plum pudding. To supply such a large number of appetites 67 stones of beef, 10 bushels of mashed potatoes, and 55 plum puddings, were called into requisition. The plum puddings were made up of 210lbs of currants, 70lbs of brown sugar, 40lbs of ground lump sugar, 120lbs of moist sugar, 13lbs of sultana raisins, 33lbs of lemon peel, and 60lbs of suet.

At tea, currant cakes, baked out of 20 stones of flour, were served up with as much of the "cup that cheers but not inebriates" as the inmates desired. Various parts of the house were decorated with evergreens and mottoes, and everything was done to render those to whom the institution afforded shelter from the cruel blast of poverty, contented and happy.

Goole
 
For the first time for several years, Christmas Day has come with the river blocked with ice, and with consequently a large number of men unemployed. The companies, in whose hands the steam trade of the port rests, have made strenuous efforts to keep the channel open, but the great block of ice in Goole Reach has baffled their efforts, and their steamers have had to return to Goole after a struggle of an exciting nature, in which the ice was the victor.

The river now presents a very picturesque appearance. Blocks of ice, stranded on the shoal sands, rise to a height of 10 or 12 feet out of the water, dotting the river for miles, while portions of the channel are covered with great sheets of ice closely heaped together, over some of which men and youths have crossed.

The Aire, the Dutch river (or Don), and the Derwent, are all blocked. On Christmas Day the thermometer was 22 deg., or ten below freezing, but until noon the weather was fine and bright. After that hour it clouded over and became very foggy. The parish church, which was very prettily decorated by the ladies of the parish, was well attended, the Christmas sermon being preached by the Rev. Dr. Bell, vicar of Goole.

At Snaith, Rawcliffe, Hook, Airmyn, and the other parishes round, the churches were suitably decorated. To meet the needs arising out of the distress, coals were distributed on Christmas eve, and on Wednesday, at the Market Hall, there was a soup boiling, tickets being given by the committee to those persons suffering from the present stagnation of trade or by the frost.

At the workhouse the usual treat was provided for the inmates by the Guardians, and a number of ladies and gentlemen attended to assist. The guardians present were Mr Huntington, Mr Bromley, and Mr Gleadow, and, notwithstanding the extra number of inmates, the house being full, there was enough and to spare. The visitors included Mrs and the Misses Wells, of Boothferry House, the Rev. T. Dickin, &c. At the close the usual speeches were made, and a very pleasant afternoon was passed.

Howden

The usual services were held at Howden Church, which was tastefully decorated, and a service was also held in connection with the Wesleyan body. The inmates of the workhouse had their accustomed treat in the shape of a dinner of roast beef and plum pudding, with other little luxuries for the inmates after dinner. The ice was the centre of attraction in tbe afternoon, and skating was indulged in by a great number of people both down the Selby-road and at the Kilpin Brick-yards."

---

A later newspaper report comes from the Hull Mail in 1936:

"HOW GOOLE SPENT CHRISTMAS"

"Goole spent a cheerful Christmas, reflecting the recent improvement in trade of the port, and family parties, football and dancing were the chief attractions.

The aged, the sick, and the poor were not forgotten, and there were the usual festivities at the hospitals and institutions. The Mayor and Mayoress (Alderman and Mrs S. G. Bevan), with a number of other guests, attended the Christmas dinner at the Poor Law Institution, where an original note had been struck in the decorative scheme, the dining hall being bedecked to represent a cruise on an ocean liner.

The Christmas fare included beer provided by Mr Fred Taylor. In the evening a concert organised by Alderman and Mrs Ernest Johnson was given by Mr Geo. Waud (tenor), Mr E. Walker (baritone), Miss D. Bullock (elocutionist), B. Fish (ventriloquist), Mr Harold Dodson (piano accordion), Mr G. W. Jennings (piano), the Cliftonians Mandolin Band, and the pupils of the Bradley School of Dancing.

At the Bartholomew Hospital, each patient received a present and was allowed two visitors to tea. The Mayor and Mayoress toured the wards, and Father Christmas (Dr. K. Barrett) handed gifts from the Christmas tree to the patients and visitors. In the evening Mr H. Dodson entertained with his piano accordion, and on Boxing Day a cinematograph show was given by Mr H. Kay.

Nearly 300 poor children of the town were present at the annual Christmas Day breakfast organised by Carlisle Terrace Church Christian Endeavour Society. The Mayor and Mayoress also attended this effort, and Mr Sam Lister, acting as Father Christmas, distributed toys and sweets to the boys and girls."

---

I hope all readers of this blog have a merry Christmas and enjoy their Christmas dinner. I hope too that the rivers are not frozen and the weather clement!

Goole coal hoists

I am hoping to clear up a minor mystery here. I have recently read  two books which include pictures of Goole where the coal hoists are described as 'pepper pot hoists'.

I think the newer book took the description from the first one. I know that the Goole water towers are often affectionately known as 'salt and pepper' because of their shape.

But other than in these books I have never come across the hoists being described as pepper pots - although looking at the hoists it is perfectly possible to see where the idea came from. So is this something I have just never picked up on or is it something written in the books which is unknown to Goole people?

The hydraulically operated coal hoists were invented by William Hamond Bartholomew to lift the floating pans or compartments (called Tom Puddings locally) full of coal and tip them into the hold of a ship. They were in use - five of them eventually - from 1863 and were unique to Goole. One hoist has been preserved and can still be seen today.

Here is a picture of a hoist in action in Goole docks. Was it ever called a pepper pot?

SS Mersey of Goole

I am writing this on the morning of 11th November, Remembrance Day and thought it would be right to include here a memorial to some of the many servicemen and women, including those who served in the Merchant Navy.

Captain William Rockett, lost on the sinking of the SS Mersey

Shown above is Captain William Rockett who was lost when the SS Mersey sank on 20th April 1940. It was believed that she had hit a mine.

The report in the Hull Mail of 22nd April 1940 follows:

'Goole Steamer Mined with Loss of 14

THREE OF SIX SURVIVORS IN HOSPITAL

GOOLE'S biggest shipping disaster since the outbreak of war occurred on Saturday, when the 1,037-ton collier Mersey sank off the south-east coast following an explosion, and 14 of her crew of 20 were lost. It is believed that she struck a mine.

The ship was only a few miles from the shore at the time of the explosion, and it sank within a few minutes. A man walking on the cliffs at the time said: "I was looking out to sea, and there was suddenly terrific explosion. A column of water shot into the air. The ship I had been looking at a few minutes before had disappeared."

With the exception of two, who came from Hull and Bridlington, all the crew belonged to Goole. The missing men included the master, Captain W. Rockett, of 81, Adeline-street, Goole. The other members of the crew were:

Second Officer, J. A. Vickers, 717, Anlaby-road, Hull

Steward, T. W. Garner, Lime Tree-avenue, Goole

T. Nicholls, A.B., Edinburgh-street, Goole

C. E. Riggall, A.B., Gordon-street, Goole

F. Vaux, A.B., Cottingham-street Goole

T. Wilson, A.B., Estcourt-street, Goole

J. P. Leddy, A.B., Promenade, Bridlington

F. Overington, A.B., Burlington-crescent, Goole

T. Nicholls, A.B., Edinburgh-street, Goole

E. Barker, Deck boy, Chiltern-road, Goole

F. Huntington, fireman, Percy-street, Goole

H. Walton, fireman, Western-road, Goole

H. Ducheman, fireman, Gordon-street, Goole

E. W. Cox, fireman, Prospect terrace, Goole

S. E. Clark, fireman, Bell-lane, Rawcliffe

R. W. Taun, fireman, Cross Gordon-street, Goole

The survivors are:

Chief Officer, J. A. Carr, Rutland-road, Goole

Chief Engineer, W. L. Pollock, Eton-road, Goole

Second Engineer, J. A. Drury, Brough-street, Goole

F. Vaux, A.B., Cottingham-street, Goole

T. Wilson, A.B., Estcourt-street, Goole

Vickers died of his wounds after being landed. Three survivors, Drury, Vaux and Ash, were injured and are in hospital at the port where they were landed. The other three, Carr, Pollock, and Wilson, were unhurt, and returned to Goole in the early hours of Sunday.

MINED AND TORPEDOED IN LAST WAR 

Seen by a "Mail" representative, the men would make no statement beyond saying that they had had shocking experience. 

The SS Mersey, owned by the Goole Steam Shipping (L.M.S.R.) Co., served throughout the last war as a cable ship. The last ship to be lost by the company was the SS Calder, which foundered on a voyage from Hamburg to Goole on April 19 1931, nine years ago almost to the day. 

Captain Rockett, who was 47 years of age, entered the service of the company as a chief officer in 1924, and had occasional temporary commands until 1929, when he became a permanent master. He was one of the company's youngest captains, and had been in command of the Mersey for about 12 months. 

During the last war he was both mined and torpedoed. 

Two years ago his 19 year old son, Jack Rockett, was killed by falling from the mast of a ship in port at Cartagena, Spain, while adjusting the wireless aerial. 

NEARLY ALL MARRIED 

Captain Rockett was a Younger Brother of Trinity House, and a member of the Goole (Aire and Calder) Lodge of Freemasons. He leaves a wife, two sons, and two daughters. 

Garner, the steward, was a married man with four children, and most of the other missing men were married with families. Riggall was injured when the Goole trader Lowland was mined in the early days of the war, and this trip on the Mersey was his first since coming out of hospital. 

Able Seaman Joseph P. Leddy, of tbe Promenade, Bridlington, was making his first trip for 12 years. A married man with one child, he had lived at Bridlington for about eight years. He was 37 years of age and the son of the late Mr P. M. Leddy, who was senior clerk to the Customs at Goole during the early part of the last war. For some time before joining the merchant service Leddy had been unemployed. His mother, Mrs Leddy, lives at Priory-crescent, Bridlington. '

William Pollock was sadly lost in another incident in 1941

SS Mersey of Goole

WEA local history classes

It seems some time since I wrote a post and quite a lot seems to have been going on.

On Sunday we spent some time in The Lowther hotel in Goole as it was the heritage weekend and members of the public were welcome to visit the murals in the upstairs rooms. There were quite a few visitors and several were local Goole people who had heard of the murals but had not previously seen them.

We are still not sure who painted them but they represent the docks at Goole sometime in the 1830s and are beautifully detailed.

My WEA local history classes begin next week.

Monday afternoon [ September 17th ] 1.30pm in Howden upstairs at the East Riding customer service building  where we will study the history of Howden, the  local villages and Goole.

Tuesday afternoon [ September 18th] 1.30 pm at Eastrington village hall where we shall study the village of Eastrington, the local villages and Snowden Dunhill

Thursday morning [ September 20th] 10am at Ilkeston Avenue Community centre in Goole where we shall study the history of Goole and the Marshland.

All these classes are very friendly and you are welcome to contact me for more details or come along to the first class to see what it is like. No previous enrolment is necessary.

My book on the history of Howden is coming on well and I still hope to have it out for Xmas - but I find it hard not to write too much!!

Goole library

Yesterday I visited the newly re-opened Goole library. I was particularly interested to see how the move of the local studies library downstairs had worked out.

I have been using the local studies library upstairs for some 40 years [writing that it seems an awfully long time!]. I remember writing articles in the Goole Times about local history when I was a student and finding an untold wealth of information in the library.

The librarian then was Miss Isa? Thompson who was very helpful and keen to make the library somewhere that Goole could be proud of.

Anyway I think that this move downstairs may work out well. Not everyone who visited the library knew how many resources were available upstairs and now many of the books seem  more attractively displayed.

There is still a wealth of material behind the scenes which I hope will come out - Howden parish books and the original Saltmarshe book manuscript to name a couple - as well as many lovely old photographs. It is a difficult balance between protecting material and making it accessible.

And we have yet to see how easy it is to work there when the library is very busy.

Goole library - built originally as a furniture store!

On my way home I did some shopping and after unloading it left the rear door of my car open. Sometime later I noticed and shut the door. Much, much later, around midnight I went out to the car and opened the driver's door.

 I was shocked to be attacked by a mad creature hurling itself out of the car in the moonlight. It was Poppy, our cat who had obviously climbed into the car when the door was open and had gone to sleep. When I got over the shock I was pleased that I had inadvertently rescued her from her prison.

Men and tractors

I write a regular article in the monthly magazine Howden Matters. This usually consists of an old picture and a long caption describing the scene or people shown. Sometimes I get feedback, particularly where I have been unsure of names and by far the most popular recently has been a picture entitled simply "Men and Tractors".

I thought I would reproduce the photo here as I now have been given more information about it including the names of the men [do let me know if you think I have got it wrong!] and where the picture was taken. If you double click on the picture you should get a larger image which you can download and print.

The event was an open ploughing match held by the Goole Young Farmers in a field on Rawcliffe Road lent by Mr N G Silvester. The event was won by R A Backhouse. Date not yet known.

 Left to right:  Roger Thompson, Geoff Tune from Hensall, John Sykes, Bob   Backhouse, Geoff Tindall, Norman  Webster, Alma Wilson, Willie  Saville,  Roland Backhouse,  Robert Chantry,  Claude Brignall, Ken Tattershall , unknown,  William Bayston.               

The Pepper family of Goole

Yet again it has been cold, wet and grey. There has been flooding in West Yorkshire and a local gardener I talked to said all his vegetables were just sitting in the soil, not growing and looking a bit yellow. So my garden is not alone in looking very sorry for itself.

The poor weather has meant I can spend more time on the computer. I have been researching a Goole family called Pepper who spent much of their life on Goole barges and billyboys.

George Pepper was born on a canal boat and after his marriage to Emma Ward in 1880 he worked variously as a boatman and as a dock labourer. The family were living at The Barracks on the road to Swinefleet in 1911.

George had a few brushes with the law being summonsed for poaching and for salmon fishing without a licence.

At least two of George's sons, Paul and John Henry, served in the army in World War One. Paul survived but John Henry was killed in 1918, just before the end of the war. He was awarded the Military Medal.

Chris, who has recently set up a blog on Goole men who were killed in the war, provided the following entry from the Goole Times.

Taken from ‘Goole Times’ Thursday November 1^st, 1918.

SERGT. J.H. PEPPER KILLED.

            Official news has been received of the death in action on September 18 of Sergt. John Henry Pepper, Manchester Regiment, of 21, Antis Street, Plymouth, son of Mr. and Mrs. G. Pepper, of 23, George Street, Goole.

            Sergt. Pepper, who was 36 years of age and was well-known in Goole, had left the town some two years before he enlisted at the beginning of the war, and he had been out in France some three years. He leaves a widow and six young children.

            Writing to Sergt. Pepper’s widow, his officer, Lieut. J.A. Corley, says:- “Please let me offer you my deepest sympathy in your sad bereavement in the loss of your husband. I saw him a few moments before he was hit. A more gallant or brave soldier I have never commended for his bravery. I had already mentioned him to my Commanding Officer, who promoted him to the rank of Sergeant and recommended him for a decoration. His death is a loss to the company and myself; we greatly appreciated his services, and his cheerful disposition was a magnificent example to us all.”

            A brother of Sergt. Pepper, Pte. Paul Pepper, has just been discharged from the Army after being wounded five times and gassed twice. A brother-in-law, Mr. Chas. Abson, of 32, Gordon Street, is a minesweeper, and is at present in Russia.

In 1911 John Henry Pepper was in Dartmoor prison but nothing is known of why that was or indeed what happened to his family after the war.

George Pepper survived until his early 90s and in 1930 was featured in an article in the Hull Daily Mail as 'England's oldest boatman'. He claimed to have fathered 20 children and to have 100 descendants.

If you are one of them please get in touch!

Samuel Shirtcliffe/Shetliffe

Well, I did go to Eastrington show yesterday but as the field was so wet the horse and cattle classes had been cancelled. It was not actually raining when I was there and there was a good entry in the handicraft section in the village hall but it must have been disappointing for the organisers who had put so much work in.

On a completely different topic I have been contacted by David Shetliffe from Australia whose ancestors came from Goole. He is hoping to visit Goole later this year and would be delighted to meet any relatives. He has sent me details of his ancestor Samuel Shirtcliffe/ Shetliffe which have been passed down through the family and is happy for them to appear on my blog in the hope that he can find some Yorkshire relatives!

Samuel was born on 29th September 1816, one of five children of Thomas Shirtcliffe (the 'e' on the end of the name comes and goes) and Grace Clayton. Thomas was originally from Deptford in Kent and Grace was from Cowick.

Samuel married Ellen Rimmington at Snaith on July 14th 1838. Samuel was a seaman and  on one occasion brought his wife Ellen a silk shawl home from China in 1840 after a voyage on the Alexander Baring. He afterwards captained local vessels Bessie and Margaret and Sarah. 

Samuel and Ellen's first son, another Samuel, was born in 1846. In 1848 Samuel and the Margaret and Sarah were caught in a terrible storm in the North Sea and afterwards Samuel decided to stay nearer home and worked as a river pilot.

Their second son Joseph was born on December 1848 at Selby. The following year in September 25th 1849 the family sailed on the barque the Douglas for Australia and arrived at Port Adelaide on January 11th 1850. They then travelled by bullock dray to Burra Burra where Samuel worked in the copper mines. In February 1852 they moved to Goolwa where Samuel had heard news of shipping developments. Initially they lived in a tent.

Samuel worked for a time building the horse drawn railway between Goolwa and Port Elliott. Around this time the Shirtcliffe name began to be written as Shetliff[e] as this was in line with the way that it was pronounced by Samuel's workmates.

On March 6th 1854 Samuel and Ellen's daughter Amelia was born, the first white girl born in Goolwa.

Samuel put his shipping background to good use and went into business building ships, particularly paddle steamers which sailed along the River Murray. One wonders if he ever returned to Goole to get a few ideas!

If you can trace your ancestry back to the Shirtcliffes and Rimmingtons David would like to know. We do know that there is a connection with the Goole Hopley family. Robert Hopley married Mary Rimmington in 1827 at Hook.

Ellen Shirtcliffe

Samuel Shirtcliffe

Samuel [jnr] and Joseph Shirtcliffe/Shetliffe

Henry Bell Thorp, Goole architect

Members of the Goole Civic Society have recently been compiling a list of 'local heritage assets' - buildings which are an important part of the town's heritage and which planners  should therefore be aware of.

It became clear that several of these buildings were designed by Henry Bell Thorp, a local architect. So far we have found that he designed Bank Chambers (now the council offices) opened in 1892; the Clifton Gardens Methodist schoolroom [1890] and the adjacent Trinity Methodist church [1898] as well as the new Half Moon in Howden (now the Co-op shop) in 1890. I am sure that further research will add more buildings to this list. However no-one seemed to know much about Mr Thorp.

As I have  a lifelong interest in, and have written about, the Eastrington and Portington area I wondered whether there was a connection with Henry Bell of Portington Hall (see my recently published Eastrington history book).

After some research I found that there was.


Henry Bell of Portington [1729- 1816] was a landowner and farmer, lord of the manor of Portington and a friend and supporter of John Wesley. He and his wife, the former Mary Guy, had three sons and a daughter. Their eldest son Henry [1768- 1839] married Eleanor Wade and they had at least nine children.

One of their daughters, Maria [born 1800], married Robert Thorp at Eastrington in 1820. The couple lived at [Monken] Hadley in Middlesex (now part of Greater London) where their children were born. Their eldest son was Robert Hayton Thorp [b 1821], followed by Ellen Maria [1824], Henry Bell [1826] and Mary Ann [1828]. Both daughters died young - Mary Ann in 1843 aged 14 and Ellen aged 20 in 1844 and are commemorated in Eastrington church.

Robert also died and in 1841 Maria had married again to James Adcock, a linen draper. They lived in Wellingborough and their daughter Ellen Bell Adcock was born in 1844. Presumably she was named Ellen in memory of her sister.

By 1851 James too had died and Maria and Ellen were living at Temple Hirst with Maria's eldest son Robert, where he was farming. Robert's brother Henry Bell Thorp was living in York with his aunt and uncle.

Maria's younger sister Helen had married William Leak from Goole, a draper. Later uncle and nephew went into partnership as well known York drapers Leak and Thorp.

Meanwhile Robert married Ellen Acroyd in 1853. They had six children including another Henry Bell Thorp who was born in 1861 at Temple Hirst.

By 1881 the 20 year old Henry Bell Thorp described himself as an architect and was  lodging in London. I can find nothing about his training.

Although we know that he was designing local buildings by 1890/91, he also found time to make a trip to Canada. On 26th August 1891 at Toronto he married Emily Georgina  Hanning. They arrived in England aboard The Etruria on 12th September, having made the passage from New York to Liverpool.

Their son Henry Guy Hanning Thorp was born in 1895 at Goole. It is possible that he was born in a house in Clifton Gardens as it is known that Mr Thorp owned much of the land there.

The rest of Henry Bell Thorp's family had moved to Moorfields Farm on Goole Fields in the 1880s. His father died in 1890 and his mother in 1908 at Clifton Gardens.

His brother Robert Hayton Thorp lived at Willerby and another brother, Robert Justis Thorp, emigrated to Canada and lived at Telkwa in British Columbia.

Mrs Emily Georgina Thorp died in 1911 at Belle Vue House Doncaster. Henry Guy Hanning Thorp attended Haileybury School and was killed in France in 1915 whilst serving as a second lieutenant with 3rd battalion KOYLI. He was 19.

I believe Henry Bell Thorp died in 1953 but as yet have found no further details of his life.

If anyone can add further details to this account I would be pleased to include more about Henry Bell Thorp, who provided Goole with some of its impressive Victorian buildings.

Bank Chambers, Goole. Now East Riding Council offices.

WEA celebration day at The Lowther

Yesterday I joined students and tutors at The Lowther Hotel in Goole for a celebration get- together and tour of the famous murals. There were around 50 of us from classes held in Goole, Snaith, Howden and Eastrington.

 I have been teaching local history classes for the WEA for over 30 years and many of my students have become good friends.  We all enjoyed a buffet, had our pictures taken and were then taken on a tour  by owner Howard Duckworth who, with his wife Julie, has restored new Goole's first ever building from near dereliction into a prestigious hotel.

Today was Pentecost and we went to church. The day is often also known as Whit Sunday and the following day, Whit Monday was traditionally a holiday. Villages and towns had processions and everyone wore new clothes.

 It was a lovely hot sunny day and I spent the afternoon gardening. My broad beans are not doing well but the greenhouse tomatoes are romping away.

All the time I was outside I heard the incessant call of a cuckoo in nearby woods. It seemed a timeless sound.

Goole boxing pictures

I was contacted by a friend who had read my previous post about the Smithson family of Goole. She was particularly interested in the fact that at least two of the family were well-known boxers and has sent two pictures of Sam Smithson.

She has also sent me some  other pictures of local boxers which were taken by Goole photographers but as yet we do not know who they all are. The only other Goole boxer I have any knowledge of was called Joe Carroll  but I would not know whether he is pictured here.

Tommy Gilchrist on the right and officials

Goole boxer

Another Goole boxer

Sam Smithson

Lance Corporal Eric Lawton KOYLI

Sam Smithson and man in suit

 If you can help identify any of these men do please get in touch.

The Smithson family of Richard Cooper Street, Goole

I was recently contacted by a descendant of John B Smithson of Goole and his wife Edith Mary [nee Binnington].  The couple lived at first in Estcourt Street, where John had a rag and bone yard, and then for many years in Richard Cooper Street, at number 52 where they were well known and respected. John was a chimney sweep.

Their great grand-daughter is happy for me to share this information about them here:

 "John and Edith reared a pig in their backyard and the residents of Richard Cooper Street would take their scraps of food to feed the pig until it was ready to be harvested. My Great Grandfather would then distribute the meat to the residents who had helped to feed it and a feast was had by all!

 My Great Grandmother was a very stern, stiff upper lipped lady who had her own wooden chair, pride of place, adjacent to the wood burner in the Queen Victoria public house on Hook Road, Goole. There she would sit smoking an old Warden pipe. Not one of the locals would ever dare to sit in this chair for fear of the wrath of Edith Mary, my great gran.

John and Edith had six children; John, Billy, Owen, Sam, George Henry and Mary. Sam and my Grandad were both boxers known as  Sam 'Boy' Smithson and 'Sonny Boy' Smithson."

Trip on the Sobriety

Last Friday I went on a trip on the Sobriety with 12 members of my Goole WEA class from the Waterways museum at Goole. Sobriety is a Humber keel, built in 1910 and now fitted out for day and residential trips either along the canal system or on the river.

The trip was organised by Eileen Sherburn who, with her husband Goff, is  a member of   the class. Goff has spent his working life on such vessels and, as their son Chris, along with Waterways manager Rachel Walker, were our crew, we were in safe hands.

Although it was cold and sometimes wet it was fascinating to see Goole and the local villages  of Swinefleet, Saltmarshe, Blacktoft and Whitgift from the river. We journeyed past Hull up to Paull as we were travelling with the tide which was flowing quickly. The trip took us all day and we returned to Goole around half past six in the evening, passing through Ocean Lock on our way back to the museum.

Below are some pictures of our trip taken by Gilbert Tawn, our resident photographer!

Sobriety at the Waterways museum

Leaving Goole

Passing Saltmarshe

Whitgift church

Yokefleet windmill

Gilbert

Passing under the Humber Bridge

Hull

Almost home

St John's church, Goole

Goole Grammar school 1909-1959

I have been reading my copy of  the Goole Grammar school booklet which was produced in 1959 to celebrate the fifty years of the school's life from 1909.

It is a fascinating read with recollections from both old pupils and staff. Some of the  old pupil contributors were Beatrice Hopley [pupil from1909-1913], Eric Arnold [1909- 13], Frank Schofield [1909-14] Annie Maud [1909-14], T H Hewson [1912-17], J E Jenkinson [1921-27], George Fish[ 1920-4] and Arnold Dufton[1943-47].

The former headmasters and staff also write and without exception they have fond memories of the school. I suppose the school memories page on www.goole-on-the-web.org.uk/ now provides a similar function.

The booklet includes pictures of early hockey and rugby teams wearing, particularly in the case of the girls, some very cumbersome outfits. And I thought the square-necked blouse with my name embroidered across it in large blue [for Norman house] letters was bad enough.

I gave a talk on Tuesday to the Selby Family History society about how to present your family tree. It was, I thought, a well-planned Powerpoint presentation with various shapes of tree and ways of writing up one's family history.

Unfortunately the cable which should have linked my laptop to the society's projector was faulty and I had to give the talk without any slides at all. Perhaps we rely too much on computers these days. But I think the question and answer session on family research which I resorted to [have you ever tried to give a slide show without slides?] went quite well.

J L Latimer, headmaster of GGS when I began as a new pupil.

Goole hobbies exhibition

Yesterday I had a stall at the Goole hobbies exhibition. It was very busy and I met lots of people interested in local history. I had a screen linked to my laptop and had different folders of pictures on display. By far the most popular were those showing ships, docks and railways. Several of those watching scenes of launches of Goole ships had worked on building them and were able to add information. Many remembered the launch of the Arctic Freebooter, a stern trawler, in 1965. Apparently there was a problem and she listed badly after entering the water.

I was kept very busy answering queries as varied as how large was the Goole registration district, did I have any old photos of Adlingfleet [only of the church] and when was the present Howden market cross erected [1909].

Today I have been sending off digital images of old photos which people ordered yesterday.
I did however make time to take Molly for a walk although we seem to have returned to winter weather and there were white flakes in the rain. The field near where we walk has recently been ploughed and she finds it puzzling to have to slither up and down the furrows whereas before she could run freely.

We have had a pair of Mallards on the pond and the new brown hens are beginning to lay. My rose hedge is beginning to grow and the daffodils are flowering amidst the snowdrops. I know it is only the beginning of March but I am keen to begin gardening.