Suzanne and Sharon gave us an in-depth, illustrated talk with real local connections. For the last three years they have been working on a website, which is freely available to view: Families & History of Deal & Walmer
Sharon started the talk with a story of great bravery. Robert Gordon Douglas was the son of John Douglas, himself a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and Robina, his wife. Robert joined the Royal Navy in Walmer, trained in Portsmouth and had risen to the rank of Admiral by 1888. While still a Captain, he was involved in rescuing the crew of the schooner Racine, during a violent storm in February 1870. The storm started on Wednesday 9th February when strong winds from the north-east continued to build. Several ships were sheltering off Deal in The Downs but by Sunday their anchors were dragging and the Racine's broke, causing her to founder south of Walmer Castle. The crews of the lifeboats did all they could and many local people tried to help but the crew of the Racine were in great peril. Captain Douglas rushed into the sea on 3 occasions to try and get a line on board and eventually all the crew were saved, except one boy, who fell into the sea. A painting, immortalising the event, was painted by T.L. Mourilyan and can be seen on the Families & History of Deal & Walmer website.
Suzanne then described the terrible plight of the Orrick girls. They were the three youngest daughters of eight children of Thomas and Mary Orrick, who ended up without care or guidance. Their mother died in 1854 and Thomas changed occupation from shoemaker to boatman, meaning he was away from home for days at a time, leaving no-one to care for the young girls. Their lives moved from petty theft of food and clothing items, purely from want, resulting in the magistrate sending them to Eastry Workhouse and later to Sandwich gaol. This state of affairs continued for some time with various of the sisters ending up in prison. Ann Elizabeth found stability with James King, some time after leaving Brixton prison but the other sisters continued in the same vein, adding prostitution to the list of offences. The girls had never had a stable home life and were in great want of care and attention; who knows how they would have turned out if their mother had still been alive?
The next history was of Stephen Berwick Allan Cavell, born in Jews Harp Alley, Deal in 1815. By trade he was a house painter, married Ann Phillis and the couple had 6 children. Nothing remarkable so far, but Suzanne and Sharon discovered an account book of his father Henry Cavell, painter and plumber, in Maidstone Archives which pointed to a very different story. Towards the end of the book, Henry drafted various Wills, suggesting Stephen was not the son his father would have wanted. Henry left Stephen only a few shillings a week from rents to ‘keep you from the Parish or Union House.’ Henry continued ‘ I should not be so particular but given you are a very ungrateful son, no husband to your wife and no father to your children…..’ and that he was ‘tired’ of trying to recoup Stephen’s debts to him. Digging deeper, Suzanne and Sharon found Stephen in various newspaper articles, as a drunk and violent husband, causing his wife and children, although penniless, to leave him. Unsurprisingly, his life continued in a downward spiral, with Stephen lining the pockets of a range of landlords and reaching an early grave.
Suzanne related the story of John Stephen Moss, who spent his life at sea. He served in the Royal Navy in the 1850s then became a pilot for the Deal and Walmer boatmen. While serving on the lugger Stronaway, he and two boatmen were thrown overboard during a storm. Once John had saved himself, he jumped into the water, not once but twice to try and save his fellow seamen. He succeeded in saving William Axon but George Claringbold was beyond his help. John received two silver medals for bravery, one with a clasp, from the RNLI. He tragically lost his life in 1887 in the shipwreck of the ‘Pride of the Sea’, partly owned by him, on the Isle of Wight.
Sharon told us of Pleasant Harbor Baile, who was the eighth of eleven children in another story of hardship and destitution. Her first husband, William Trott a boatman, died of consumption, leaving Pleasant with 5 young children. The family was probably already receiving outdoor relief before William died but as a widow, Pleasant had to resort to entering Eastry Workhouse with her young family. She didn’t let the harsh regime break her and was constantly standing up for herself and her children against the Master and Schoolmaster. Although she married again to Jeremiah Baile and returned to Deal, life remained hard. After Jeremiah’s death in 1860, Pleasant remained in Coach Yard or Crown Court, Deal but died in Eastry Workhouse in 1892 at the great age, for the time, of 80.
The last story, which we were all waiting for with baited breath, was a scandalous one! This story involved Lady Elizabeth Owen and her surgeon/doctor William Hulke jnr. in an adulterous affair. Lady Elizabeth hated the life of a naval wife, a role she’d endured for 10 years before William Hulke appeared on the scene. He started visiting at all hours of the day and night and eventually the couple ran away together. Her husband Sir Edward Owen brought a case of ‘Criminal Conversation’ in 1815 against William Hulke in the Sheriff’s court in London. His servants gave evidence against Lady Elizabeth, saying William had visited ‘at all times of the day’ often staying until ‘half past three in the morning’ and had eaten supper in the lady’s bedroom between ten and eleven at night! William was fined £1,500 for Criminal Conversation and ordered to pay costs, which in today’s money is about £87,000. Lady Elizabeth returned to her husband but in 1817, he filed for divorce and as this involved an Act of Parliament at that time, the whole sorry tale was regaled again in the House of Lords. The divorce was granted and Royal assent was given on 16 June 1817; Lady Elizabeth Owen died 8 years later. William Hulke’s career, however, did not seem to be harmed by this scandal. He married Elizabeth Pollard King in 1819 and the couple went on to have 13 children. His medical career continued, being appointed “surgeon-apothecary in daily attendance” upon the Royal children when they were at Walmer Castle as well as surgeon to the Duke of Wellington. On the 14th Sept 1852, William, and his son John, were called to attend the Duke of Wellington at Walmer Castle but sadly on the same day, they returned to witness the great man’s death.
With all these tales of the ordinary and less ordinary folk of Deal and Walmer, Suzanne and Sharon gave us a very enjoyable evening. If your appetite has been whetted by these stories or you want to look at other people of the area or local streets and buildings, or more details on any of the stories, please go to the website and browse or search: http://familiesofdealandwalmer.co.uk
Report by Lesley Smith