We had been expecting to participate in a workshop on East Kent Mercury newspapers where we would try and index some articles but the newspapers had been moved to the Deal Museum so were no longer available. Luckily, Sheila Harris stepped in at the last minute, to give us an illustrated talk on one of the Deal Mayors, George Cottew, and his family.
There were three generations of Georges in the Cottew family. George Snr. was the youngest son of Isaac and Ann MayCottew. George married Elizabeth Thompson on 13th March 1811 in Walmer and the couple had 2 sons and 1 daughter. One of the sons, William Henry was a mariner, who died at sea while the daughter Amelia had an illegitimate daughter Eliza. The other son George, worked in his father’s building business. In the 1841 census George Snr. was described as a builder whilst the younger George, only 15, was described as an apprentice mason.
George Cottew Jnr. married in 1845 at the Congregational Church in Deal to Susannah Bayly. In 1851 they were living in 167 Middle Street with 3 children under 4 years old. He was a bricklayer and mason employing 8 men and appeared in several newspaper articles of the time. The saddest was in March 1871, when a house under construction in Duke St. collapsed, trapping the builder, his son and six workmen; sadly the builder himself was killed. George Cottew was called in the subsequent case as an expert witness. George gave evidence that the house was poorly constructed with sand having been dug out from below the foundations and it was therefore not surprising that the 3 storey house was faulty and fell down.
George Cottew Snr. died in Dec 1872 at the great age of 95 at 3A New St. His son George had become a prolific local builder and was responsible for Victoria Hospital in Deal as well as the Congregational Church, various schools, the Cinque Port Golf Club and Victoria Baptist Church. He was elected to Deal South Ward in 1887 and became Mayor of Deal in 1893 and 1894. George Jnr. died at 1 Southampton Terrace, Victoria Rd. Deal on 16th March 1908 leaving over £24,000 to his family. His son George Bayly Cottew, also a builder, died very shortly afterwards on 12 July 1908 at Farrier St; unfortunately, they appear next to each other on the National Probate Calendar of 1908.
Sheila gave us an excellent talk with far more detail than can be given here. Several generations of a prominent Deal family had provided much material for investigation and many newspaper articles so Sheila had plenty to research and gave us a very enjoyable evening.
Lesley Smith, Secretary, Deal Branch Kent FHS