The story of Hetty Unwin. Born 1871, the daughter of a Portsea Island Waterman. Hetty left these shores in 1902 sailing to an unknown life in the USA.
Sharon gave us a detailed, illustrated investigation into one of her ancestors who came from Portsea. Sharon herself was born in Gosport and spent many years in Portsmouth, so knew the area well. She described Portsmouth as being on PortseaIsland and having one of the largest natural harbours in the world. It had been important as a naval base for many centuries, with Henry V sailing from Portsmouth to France for the Battle of Agincourt. The Point, which is the closest part of Portsea Island to the harbour, was known as Spice Island and the residents born on the Point were known as Pointers. The area was very poor with one beer house for every 100 people, many prostitutes and 8 or 10 fights occurring every day!
Sharon’s ancestor was Margaret ‘Hetty’ Unwin born in 1871 on Portsea Island. Her father was James Unwin, a waterman by trade, who owned a boat called ‘Susan’ (named after his wife). Watermen had a precarious existence and often had to fight to earn a living; they ferried goods, people and livestock around Portsmouth harbour. Hetty was the sixth child of James and Susan Unwin and the family lived in a court on The Point in very squalid conditions. Families on The Point often had only one tap and one privie between 60 people. It was common for two families to share a terraced house with the upstairs family entering the house via a ladder into the window, as the staircase had rotted away. Hetty’s family were one of the most disreputable on The Point, with her mother and brother James, often appearing in local newspaperaccounts, accused of being drunken, disorderly and brawling. Hetty took up with an Italian sailor, Phillipe Pelosi or Pelose,and was pregnant by the age of 19. They marry in Portsea but perhaps there is family disapproval as her son Frank is born in Great Yarmouth; this just goes to show that you may need to look beyond your family’s local area to trace them. They return to Portsmouth and live in Southampton Row, one of the first areas to be pulled down in the slum clearances, where the infant Frank dies and a second son, John, is born. Hetty’srelationship with Phillipe, a Royal Navy stoker at this point, becomes more fraught when he deserts her and is called upon to pay £2/month for Hetty and John’s support in the workhouse; money which they may never have received.
By 1901 Hetty is living in Walkden, Worsley, Manchester and working as a carder under the name of Lowes. She has already taken up with Dudley Devlin and has a son, Sidney,by him. Dudley is a coal miner and often skilled miners were given the chance to emigrate to the United States, where they were offered jobs and free houses. Dudley’s father Bernard takes his family out to Kansas and is followed in 1901 by Dudley, now with 2 sons by Hetty. Hetty follows in 1902 with her two sons by Pelose. These journeys must have been quite traumatic, with a long sea crossing to Ellis Island followed by a 400 mile overland train journey to the mining district in Kansas. Dudley Devlin was granted American citizenship but died in August 1903, leaving Hetty as a 31 year-old widow with 4 children. Hetty went on to marry George Hodgson, a Durham miner 12 years her senior and she has another 5 children with him. Sharon had help and photographs from Hetty’s family in America, who said she had a happy family life with George, who lived until 1944; Hetty herself lived to be 89 years old. Hetty must have been a tough and resourceful character and Sharon had carried out extensive research to track down her ancestor’s colourful story, her various relationships, emigration and her family life in Kansas. Thanks to the relatives in America, there were photos of George and Hetty in later life, her first ‘house’ in Kansas and family photos of all her offspring – a real detective story!
Report by Lesley J Smith
Next Meeting
Tuesday 13th November 2018
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