Who knew Kew was such a mine of information?
DAVID MEDCALF LOST HIMSELF IN THE WARREN OF HISTORICAL DATA HELD BY THE BRITISH NATIONAL ARCHIVE ON ARKLOW SAILORS, ASHFORD LADIES OF PROPERTY AND THE TALE OF A WAITRESS FROM BRAY – ALL DOCUMENTS WHICH ARE AVAILABLE FREE OF CHARGE DURING THE CURRENT LOCKD
IF your reporter appears bloodshot and frowning, like a man who has been held prisoner for an extended spell in a darkened room, then there is good reason. I have been submersing myself in material held at Kew Gardens in London, at the suggestion of Coollattin specialist historian Kevin Lee.
Kew is surely best known for its gardens, in which grows one of the most remarkable plant collections in the world. However, the site south of the Thames at Richmond is also where the British state stores what is called the National Archive. The scope of this vast accumulation of papers and photos extends to places far beyond England, far beyond Britain – their definition of ‘national’ has always been elastic.
Some of the material, running to many hundreds of thousands of documents, includes references to Irish people, Irish schemes and Irish property.
The curators of this warren of forms and red tape and reports and minutes and images have been putting much of it on line. The task of ‘digitising’ the collection is far from complete but items from the Doomsday Book of the 11th century through to 20th century Cabinet papers may already be downloaded. A charge of, typically, £3.50 per file is levied for this service but, while the Covid19 lockdown is in operation, all fees are being waived.
So now, while the pandemic has everyone confined to their bunkers, may be the right time to put in some work on a family history or simply take a wander through this virtual treasure trove. Registration is straightforward and, once registered, you may place an order of up to ten items, with a limit of 50 items in any 30 day period. But where to start? Try https:// www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/.
Perhaps it might be nice to begin with a few pictures from the Dixon-Scott collection.
Dixon-Scott is credited with taking 14,288 photos, most of them snapped during the period between the two World Wars. His itinerary included at least one visit to Ireland when he and his camera were drawn to well-known beauty spots such as Glendalough and Avoca. The black and white images may now be downloaded, free of charge – an indisputable bargain.
The website has a handy search engine, which throws up no less than 5,891 results when asked to look for ‘Wicklow’. It turns out that less than a fifth of these can actually be ordered for home consumption.
The remainder may be physically held in some other archive – Sheffield or York perhaps – or simply not yet digitised.
Key the word ‘Arklow’ into the search engine and it coughs up a list of more than 2,000 documents. Of these, 443 may be downloaded – most of them brief individual records held on sailors who plied the seas in British ships. The British Empire was long a hive of bureaucracy, with institutions such as the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen to the fore.
Pick one of their files at random – on Anthoney (sic) Weadick, place of birth Arklow, date of birth 1883. We learn that he was awarded a Mercantile Marine ribbon in 1919 in recognition of his service. Then a little further down the list is Patrick Weadick, again from
Arklow, but born a year later, who went one better and earned a Mercantile Marine medal, which was pinned to his chest in 1920.
It turns out that there is info on a clatter of Weadicks held in perpetuity in Kew, all either naval or merchant men – John born 1902, Timothy born 1893, and naval reservist Matthew who was born in 1868.
Unfortunately, the record does not show whether they all came from the same household though it is reasonable to suppose that they were all related. The Weadicks were only in the ha’penny place compared with the Tyrrell clan. A search for ‘ Tyrrell Arklow’ yields 34 matches, all detailing sailors, with dates of birth ranging from 1835 to 1898. Remarkable.
Arklow continues to pride itself on maritime connections but it did not hold a monopoly. According to these records, almost every town in the county produced its share of seafarers for the British authorities. It seems that the Jolly Jack Tar so beloved in English mythology – ahoy me hearties – was as likely as not to speak with an Irish accent…
Tinahely throws up 25 references (six downloadable), and nearby Coolattin or Coollattin 18, only one of which may be acquired for home consumption from the website. This single document is the last will and testament of Mr Robert Chaloner of Coollattin Park in the County of Wicklow ‘in that part of the United Kingdom called Ireland’. That is the easiest bit to read in a document which at first glance appears to be presented in some North African script. A closer looks confirms that the contents are actually presented in English, though the writing is in a form very demanding to the modern eye.
As far as I can make out, the late R Chaloner Esquire was happy to leave administration of his estate to his son, also called Robert, on the understanding that the younger man’s mother would be looked after while she was still alive. Such an approach would lead to immediate legal challenge nowadays but they did things differently back in the 1830s. Robert senior also made it clear that his son could not simply trouser any money that came to him on his dad’s death. He was expected to pay any outstanding debts and funeral or other expenses.
The document, drawn up in 1833, offers no suggestion as to how valuable the estate may have been. It was duly produced in 1942 following the death of the testator as confirmed by the signature of Commissioner Miriam (?) Tilson Marsh, incumbent of Mary Leamington (?). The question marks indicate best guesses.
Marcia Anastatia Crofton (‘ heretofore Earbery’) wife, of Inchinappa near Ashford, was much more forthcoming in her will. The wife of Reverend William Crofton, she set out her wishes early in 1822, outlining what was to be done with properties in Cork and Wicklow. She gave money to a school in Cork and to her sister but County Wicklow was not forgotten.
Fifty pounds was to be allocated annually by this lady
MY HUSBAND HAS BEEN IN EGYPT...I AM SURE ALL WOMEN WOULD RESENT THESE IMMORAL AND INDECENT THINGS THAT ARE BEING SAID
bountiful for the maintenance and support of a school for the education of the poor local children in the Protestant religion, along with two acres of land. Anything left over was to go to her husband, who was still alive to act as executor when his wife died in 1839. Hundreds of wills filed at Canterbury in Kent are retained by the archive in London for public perusal, with a smattering of them from Wicklow.
The website offers infinite scope for exploration of Irish social history. The material ranges from the petitions of 1374 about the archdeaconry of Glendalough to correspondence in 1918 of Irish parliamentary leader and Aughavanagh resident John Redmond with British prime minister Lloyd George. Here is one intriguing gem pulled from this flood of detail and data.
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps kept tabs on Mary Alice Kenny (born Mary Alice Tobin) who volunteered her services in support of the military effort in 1918. The handwriting on the official form is faded and erratic but it is evident that she was willing to serve at home or abroad, available to report for duty at three days notice. She gave Bray as her place of birth and Irish as her nationality, educated up to the age of 15 in the Loreto Convent there.
The space reserved for ‘particulars of any other training, stating certificates held’ was left blank. Asked the occupation of her father, she indicated merely that he had died when she was five years old.
She indicated that she was married and that her husband was with the British armed forces in Egypt. Asked for three references she offered the names of her parish priest in Bray and Mrs P Donegan at 52 Main Street in the town as well as Mrs B Johnston, a housewife in Walthamstow where the applicant was staying while she worked in London. The recollection of the parish priest (Father Richard surname illegible) was that ‘she had always a good character’. Mrs Donegan filled in the reference form to tell that she was acquainted with Mary Alice all her life: ‘I know her as a good servant as she has lived with me’.
Asked if the applicant was reliable, industrious and thoroughly trustworthy, Mrs Donegan wrote in a big ‘yes’.
The army identification certificate issued after her application was accepted tells us build: medium; eyes: brown; hair: dark brown. A brief medical history discloses that she was five feet three inches tall, weighing 123 pounds, with a ‘girth’ of 34 inches.
The application was accepted and, in due course, the Number 2 School of Instruction in Bedford certified that after training there she was fit to work as a waitress. Further paperwork continued with Mary Alice – now categorised as a ‘general domestic’ – confirming that she had a dependent mother.
A ‘statement of services’ is appended in which the mother is listed as the next of kin – Mrs E Langrell from Russell’s Terrace in Bray. The papers tell that the daughter was employed with the First King Edward’s Horse at Marlborough Barrack in Dublin. However, in March of 1919, the military approved her discharge ‘on compassionate ground (required at home)’. The file also contains a remarkable letter, typewritten, from MA Kenny in July of 1918 during her time in training at Bedford.
‘On July 2nd a fellow worker and myself were on our way to our billets after duty (9.30p.m.) when a woman Mrs. Bray 11 Offa
Road Bedford, passed by and stared at us in a most offending manner.
‘She told us a good day’s work would do us good, also we are a lot of ill bred pigs, and were at School of Instruction for the convenience of Officers to “muck” and “maul” about (these were the expressions she used) and that the “decent” and “respectable” women of Bedford could not walk through the town since the W.A.A.CS came here,
‘Can nothing be done to put an end to these insults? It has been going on for a long time now and not only does it give the girls a bad name, the majority of Officers and men here are married.
‘I am a married woman myself, my husband has been on active service in Egypt for three years, and I am sure all women in my position would resent these immoral and indecent things that are being said about the W.A.A. C.
‘We all should be thankful if something could be done on this case.’
The letter was addressed to her Unit Administrator and at the end of the month, she received a reply, which is also on file.
The response concluded that the matter did not appear serious enough to warrant DPP attention but ‘if the local police would act we have no objection; but doubt whether they will do so after the lapse of time.
I hope Mary Alice had a long and happy life but the National Archive does not tell.