|
- 19th century
Samuel Hewett
The second son of Scrymgeour Hewett who, in 1764, founded the Short Blue
Fishing Fleet at Barking in Essex. In 1815 Samuel took over and introduced
the use of ice for preserving fish and installed, at Barking, the first
ice-making plant in the country. He introduced the fleeting system which
allowed vessels to stay at sea and keep fishing while fast cutters raced
the daily catches to market. His various innovations and enterprise (and
that of the family) helped to make 19th century Barking one of the greatest
fishing ports in England.
Information from London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Libraries,
Essex Record Office and The Victoria County History of Essex vol 5.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pte. Frederick Corbett V.C.
Born in 1853 at Maldon, Essex, Corbett's real name was David Embleton.
While with the 3rd Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps in Egypt,
the mounted infantry, on 5th August 1882, on reconnaissance upon Kafra
Dowar and advancing under constant enemy fire, he remained in the open
with a mortally wounded officer, Lt. Howard Vyse. He tried to stop the
bleeding and, while still under fire, helped to carry Lt. Vyse off the
field. For this brave action he received the Victoria Cross and, when
he was discharged from the army, he sold his medal.
It was said that he lived for the army but, after this, he found it difficult
to cope and died in the Maldon workhouse on 25th September 1912 and was
buried in an unmarked grave in Maldon cemetery. In April 2004, the Commonwealth
War Graves Commission held a special memorial service in \Maldon cemetery
and unveiled a new headsto0ne to his memory.
Information from the Commonwealth war Graves Commission, East Anglian
Daily Times 17th April 2004, Kenneth Neale (ed), Essex Heritage, the National
Army Museum, London and the Essex Society for Family History.
|
|
|
|
|
William Holmes Frogley, 1855-1924
b1855 in Barking, Essex, the son of a captain in the Short Blue Fleet,
which sailed from Barking. He wrote an unpublished history of the town
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He takes the reader
round the streets introducing many colourful characters of the time and
illustrates it all with his own sketches.
Information from the ERO, the Essex Society for Archaeology and History,
the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Libraries and The Victoria
County History of Essex vol 5.
|
|
|
|
|
Isaac Marsden
He was a printer, publisher and bookseller in Colchester between 1800-1815
and, in the years up to 1823, in both Chelmsford and Maldon. Primarily
a printer of local ephemera and a few pamphlets, specialising in the difficult
process of printing on parchment, hide, leather and doeskin. In 1805 he
printed a masonic apron on doeskin, when aprons were decorated at the
whim of the owner. This apron was found in the 1900s, still in excellent
condition, under the floorboards of a house which was being restored in
Hadleigh, Suffolk. Ten years after Isaac Marsden printed this apron the
United Grand Lodge decided aprons should be of a standard pattern, indicating
the type of lodge and the position attained by the wearer.
Information from the ERO, Freemasons' Hall Library, Gt Queen Street,
London, The Historical Printing Society and Virtue and Silence, Masonic
Lodge no 332, Hadleigh, Suffolk.
|
|
|
|
|
"Gypsy" Smith, 1860-1947
Rodney "Gypsy" Smith was born one of six children in Wanstead,
Essex. His father, Cornelius Smith, was a true gypsy and made baskets,
clothes pegs and tin ware. Rodney was converted in 1876 and, in 1877,
he contacted William Booth, later General Booth of the Salvation Army,
at the Mission at 227, Whitechapel Road and, in June 1877, became an evangelist
at the Mission. He invested in clothes suitable for a preacher and, for
the first time in his life, lived in a room rather than a tent. He remained
with the Salvation Army until 1882, converting thousands all over the
country. His magnificent singing proved a great attraction. From then
on he preached all over the world, including the USA and Australia.
Information from Essex County Library, Chelmsford and the London Borough
of Barking and Dagenham Libraries.
|
|
|
|
|
Charles Parker d 1931
Son of John Oxley Parker (1812-1887) who was a successful farmer and
land agent living in Woodham Mortimer Place near Maldon, the family home
for nearly 100 years. Charles was also a successful land agent and his
activities stretched as far as India. The family knew the Strutts, who
were also farmers and land agents and, in 1885, Charles Parker and Edward
Strutt combined their resources to become Strutt and Parker, Estate Agents,
Land Agents, Surveytors, Valuers and Farm Managers.
Information from the ERO, J.O. Parker, The Oxley Papers and Sir William
Gavin, Ninety Years of Family Farming.
|
|
|
|
