Sheila Sweetingburgh gave us an absorbing, illustrated talk on inheritance among Kent fisherman and their families around 1450-1650, with particular reference to the Dyne family of Lydd. Her sources included wills, inventories, deeds, local tax records, muster lists and surveys and fraternities. Sheila said that we were particularly fortunate as the Diocese of Canterbury was an especially good source of records from the mid-15th century onwards; between 1400 and 1600 there were 451 wills for Lydd alone, 74 of which mentioned fishing equipment.
Fishing was an incredibly important industry for the Cinque Ports and therefore these places have some of the best records in the country. According to Domesday, every year 40,000 herrings, amongst other fish, were supplied to Christchurch Priory Canterbury, from Sandwich. Herrings were very seasonal and shoals moved from the Baltic down the east coast of Britain and arrived in the Channel by late November. A 13th Century charter gave the Cinque Ports rights over Great Yarmouth, where they could land boats and dry nets; it even gave them control of the lucrative herring fair in that town.
Fish were an important part of the diet in medieval times, especially for religious communities. Every Friday was a fish day, according to the Church’s teaching, as were some Wednesdays and fish was usually eaten at Lent and Advent. Herring was the most important fish because it could be preserved by drying or salting which made it particularly vital for London fishmongers – one of the premier Livery companies was the Fishmongers’ Company founded in 1272.
Overall in wills, twenty different types of boats were mentioned along with 30 types of named nets. Wills showed the importance of daughters in the fishing communities as they were always left nets in their fathers’ wills and wives and mothers were important to provide continuity. Sheila studied the Dyne family of Lydd, over at least 3 generations, where 4 of the 6 sons of Adrian and Florence Dyne were involved in fishing. By the late 1500s it was getting more difficult to make money; with more sons the family could spread the risk and the chances of survival as fishing was a very hazardous occupation. Wills extended further down the social scale in Folkestone and Lydd and gave a glimpse of how people below the ‘middling sort’ disposed of their accumulated wealth. Wills also provided evidence of fishing partnerships and friendship links. Supplemented by other records and data, Sheila has been able to study the transfer of fishing assets within fishing families and fishing communities in SE Kent. Living on the coast, it may be a side of genealogy that we should consider more often with regard to our own family trees.
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Lesley Smith, Deal branch Secretary
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