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Archiver > LONDON > 2001-02 > 0981411483


From: "John Henley" <>
Subject: Re: [Lon] Late 1800's: Dockyard workers in London area.
Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2001 22:18:03 -0000
References: <017701c08ead$8193b000$6fb4193e@bk1>


Hi Barry,
In your message below you raise a general point of importance. We often take
it for granted that our ancestors, lacking motor cars, rockets, planes, and
before the 1840s railways, were not very mobile.
Yet they ( if they were British) explored and ruled a quarter of the world.
London, the great Wen, was a magnet from the time of Dick Whittintgton if
not before.
Every mediaeval bishop travelled to Rome and back on taking up his
appointment.
As you indicate, the primary motive was normally work and money - basically,
I suppose, hunger, before any adequate state welfare.
One result of this constant mobility (of some, not the majority, but perhaps
a sizeable minority, including the army and navy), and a reasonable postal
service from 1660 onwards (and excellent from 1840) must have been that the
majority of the population (if they had never themselves gone more than five
miles from their birthplace) (by when - 1500? 1600? 1700?) had a relative or
knew someone who had a relative many, many miles away.
So, when another lad was growing up, and no sign of work, perhaps Uncle Bill
or Cousin Fred, in London or Birmingham or Manchester or wherever, said
"there's a job for your Tom up here".
Our the next-door neighbour said "Our Dora's done wonderful well in London -
housemaid to Lady Bloggs' and walking out with a young man with prospects!"
And the local vicar would certainly have travelled a bit - university - and
may have had contemporaries in parishes where there was work, or even
looking for domestic staff themselves [I believe the 'innocence' of the
country born servant was preferred!]
So, to return to your brothers, I don't see it as impossible. And even with
the railways then, may well have walked. It would be interesting to know if
they married before or after leaving Devon - I suspect that it was after :
it was a harder thing to uporoot wife and family, though it did happen.

As for Carline and Cornbury, my list of street and mapsites below sigfile
may help.
Cheers

John Henley
(still catching up on masses of emails and not finding much time for -)
researching
HENLEY, PARKER, PRENTICE, SECKER, RAPER, DURDEN
[London/Middx./Essex/Suffolk]
ROLFE, (O)RAFFERTY, EVANS, PARSONS, SYMONDS [Berks/Hants/Wilts]
HILL [Staffs/Cambs/Berks]
A reminder that some good sites for London Streets past and present are:
Godfrey maps, www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk
Lost and renamed streets
http://www.gendocs.demon.co.uk/lon-str.html
and www.lost-london.inuk.com

Streets today http://www.streetmap.co.uk/
and http://uk.multimap.com/map/places

Map 1827 http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/greenwood/home.html
Map 1859: http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/snow/1859map/map1859.html
Map 1889 http://www.umich.edu/~risotto/maxzooms/sw/swe910.html
Some City parishes http://www.londonancestor.com/maps.html

HTH
----- Original Message -----
From: Barry Kinslow <>
Subject: [Lon] Late 1800's: Dockyard workers in London area.
> Hello London Listers.
> > Two of my great grand uncles seem to have left their home in Bideford,
> Devon, and settled in what was part of Surrey after 1865 and before 1881.
> > One was a Carpenter who in 1881 lived in Carline Crescent, Rotherhithe.
His
> brother was a Sawyer, and in 1881 lived in Cornbury Road, Deptford.
> > Is it likely that they moved from Devon because they worked in a
Dockyard,
> and moved to Rotherhithe and Deptford in connection with Dockyard work?
> > It seems a long way to travel, away from a tightly knit family, to take
up
> new employment. I know times could be hard in those days, but there must
> have been opportunities for employment nearer to home in the 1810's -
> 1880's.>
> I suppose Carline Crescent and Cornbury Road have been redeveloped by
now -
> they are not listed in my London A-Z.
> > Can any of you knowledgeable London Listers comment, please? It would
be
> best off List, unless anybody else expresses an interest of course.
>
>
> Kindest regards,
> Barry.
>
>
> ==== LONDON Mailing List ====
> London and North Middlesex FHS web site:
> http://www.lnmfhs.dircon.co.uk/
>
>

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