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

Old postcards

This weekend I visited a postcard fair at York racecourse. There must have been thousands of old postcards to look through and it was sometimes quite difficult to find which boxes to search. Goole, for example, is now in the East Riding of Yorkshire but for most of its existence it was in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Some stallholders put all Yorkshire postcards together and I now feel an expert on pictures of obscure North and West Yorkshire villages.

But I managed to find and buy some nice pictures of Howden, Bubwith, Blacktoft and Snaith. I was particularly pleased with an advertising card from Joshua Barrett who moved to Snaith in the 1890s. He sold embrocations and tonics under the name of Mandrake and his house is still known as Mandrake House. His trade mark was a strange amalgam of man and drake, the man supposedly being Joshua himself.

Of course, Mandrake root has long had associations with fertility and witchcraft and JK Rowling in her Harry Potter books makes use of the belief that the root screams as it is dug up.

Joshua was a farmer's son from Bluntisham near St Ives who had formerly lived in London. One wonders why he settled at Snaith.

[The motto beneath the Mandrake logo is a Latin phrase which translates as "Life is more than merely staying alive".]

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.

George Tutill, flag maker

It has been a few days since I wrote anything here on my blog. Blame the lovely weather as I have been out in the garden tidying up and cleaning out my pond.

Maybe three years ago we saw some bulrush roots [variously bullrush or reed mace] which had been cleaned out from a local dyke. Thinking a few bulrushes would look nice in our pond we planted them. At first nothing happened but last year they grew and produced magnificent 6 foot spikes - although not where we had put them. The rhizomes had obviously floated across the pond and rooted near the outlet from the drain from the house roof.

This year small green shoots are coming up everywhere and I have been digging them out whilst standing in the water. Molly, the Labrador puppy thinks this is great and runs around playing with the snake-like roots. At least though we do have water in the pond unlike many areas. I hope we get some frogspawn.

The local history class which I teach in Howden on Monday afternoons has now 'broken up' for summer. We shall resume in September and would welcome new members. We spent a recent Monday afternoon in the church where Rev Little kindly gave of his time and knowledge to point out some of the interesting features of the building. He drew our attention in particular to the lovely west windows by the Brussels glass artist J B Capronnier.

Afterwards I went home and researched a little more about them.  Two, including the magnificent centre window were in memory of the Scholfield family of Sandhall.

But the third window, I found, was  erected in memory of George Tutill, a native of Howden who died in 1887 in Acton. Who was this man who could afford such a magnificent window?

Further research led me to George Tutill, flag makers who are still very much in business and gearing up to a very busy time for the Queen's jubilee. And yes - it was the same man who founded his business in 1837. He has an entry in the Dictionary of National Biography and although he left Howden as a boy he was buried  in 1887 in the churchyard here.

He made magnificent silk trade union and friendly society banners  in the nineteenth century and was himself prominent in the Foresters. I shall look at the window with even more interest in future.

R38 airship book

My friend Ken Deacon of Howden has just published a novel based on the crash of the R38 airship in 1921.

 The airship, which was crewed by both American and British servicemen, was on a trial flight before flying to America. Unfortunately while carrying out a tight turn over the Humber off Victoria Pier in Hull she broke in two and most of the crew were lost.

Ken's book [available from him direct on kenneth.deacon@sky.com  ] tells the story of a Goole girl who, having lived through the Zeppelin attack on Goole in 1915, gets a job on the Howden airship station where the R38 was based and meets a young American flyer.

 Their story, entitled My American Sky Sailor ends with the crash but you will have to read the book to find out what happens to the young lovers.

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.

Country notes

Although we are not quite at the end of February today felt like spring was on the way. I was able to walk Molly without wearing a woolly hat (me not Molly!) and it was still light at half past five. The snowdrops in my wood are carpeting the ground and seem particularly good this year. It is hard to believe that only a few days ago they were covered with snow and frost.

I have a few aconites in flower too but try as I might I cannot get them to spread. I envy the large patches I see in a nearby wood, contrasting so beautifully with the snowdrops.

It is warmer too and the Rayburn, stoked with logs from a dead elm, is keeping the house warm without too much input from the oil boiler. Listening to it going always makes me think that it is like burning money.

Tomorrow I am fetching three new brown hens and hope this time to keep them from the fox. I have plenty of grain for them and they will have no excuse not to lay us lots of eggs.

I have had the trees which fell over winter - two or three - dealt with and logged up although the young men who enthusiastically carried out the work 'accidentally' cut down my lilac tree. I was not happy.

Molly is now asleep in her bed, whimpering as she dreams of who knows what! A dog's life is not a bad one.

Holiday cottages at Saltmarshe near Howden

Last night I was the speaker at the Laxton WI and had a very enjoyable time. The meeting was thrown open to any interested villagers and around 50 attended. I had gathered together around 150 old pictures of Laxton, Saltmarshe, Sandhall and Skelton and put them together into a Powerpoint presentation.

There was a mixture of scenery and familiar faces but of course the most popular were the old school pictures. The noise rose to a crescendo as those who were infants in 1955 saw themselves in short trousers or corduroy pinafores.

Afterwards we all ate butterfly buns and fruit loaf and cheese [the latter a traditional Yorkshire pairing]  and drank cups of tea.

I was talking to my neighbour who has two holiday cottages and provides bed and breakfast on the family farm. In fact she was a few minutes late as she was settling in some guests.

I met some  of her American guests last year who combined a UK holiday with researching their family history. It is only a short walk along the riverbank to where I live and I was able to find them some information on their family from my resources as well as suggesting what they should look for in the archives at Beverley and York.

I have added a link to Appletree Cottages and can recommend them to anyone wanting a peaceful break with stunning views of the River Ouse.

Here is a picture of the village shop in Front Street, Laxton which I showed last night.

Goole cricket history

I have recently been asked whether I have any information about when Goole cricket club was formed. I have some pictures but not much about the history of the club.

I am still searching but have come up with the newspaper clipping below which is from the Hull newspaper and describes a match in  August 1849 between a Howden team and a team from Reedness. At the bottom of the report is a mention of a possible match with the Goole Cricket club.

If anyone can add any more about the  early history of the club I should be grateful.

It is very cold today and there was a fall of snow, the first of this winter, on Saturday night. Unfortunately it was, for me 'the wrong sort of snow' as it managed to worm its way through the slates on the front part of the house roof  and collect in the loft. We only knew about it when it began to melt on Sunday morning.