Saturday, July 5, 2008

Another Great Grandfather

I thought that I'd put together another little family history snapshot.

My great grandfather Henry West was born on 16 May 1862 and according to the 1871 census was, at the age of 8, living with his parents, Arthur and Sarah, at Wrafton, Braunton, Devon.

At 18, he worked as a "Farm Servant (Indoor)" at the 95 acre farm of William and Elizabeth Quick in Georgeham, North Devon.

A very flimsy piece of paper with his handwriting, dated August 1891, gives details of his family’s birthdays. Sadly, out of Arthur and Sarah’s 13 (possibly 14) children, 5 (2 boys and 3 girls) died young. There were no surviving daughters. Out of the 8 male siblings, 5 became policemen. Aged 23, Henry joined the Metropolitan Police on 13 July 1885. 3 of his brothers also joined the Met.

Around that time, to join the Metropolitan Police the following qualifications were necessary:

to be over 21 and under 27 years of age

to stand clear 5ft 9ins without shoes or stockings

to be able to read well, write legibly and have a fair knowledge of spelling

to be generally intelligent

to be free from any bodily complaint.

The bodily complaints for which candidates were rejected included; flat foot, stiffness of joints, narrow chest and deformities of the face.


In early 1891, 29 year old Henry was unmarried and living in the Section House of Lambeth Police Station at Kennington Lane. Later that year he married Caroline Sharman.

Between 1888 and 1891 the name of Jack The Ripper was regarded with terror by the residents of London's East End, and was known the world over - I wonder what Henry's experience of the situation was?

Henry lived not far from Charlie Chaplin, who went to school in Kennington Lane and whose occupation (then aged 12) in the 1901 Census is given as Music Hall Artiste.


There exists, still, an extremely flimsy piece of paper (shown below) written by Henry whilst in London. It is his police report of a collision in High Street, Peckham in which a brewer’s dray was involved. The actual report is just about legible!
Henry’s wife Caroline died aged 40. Henry went on to marry Ellen Collins, a Londoner, in Lambeth in 1907.

During his Metropolitan police career, he was stationed at Marylebone, Lambeth, Westminster and Whitehall. He was pensioned on 26 September 1911 as this document, nearly 100 years old and still in pristine condition shows:-

After leaving the Metropolitan Police, they returned to Braunton, where Henry was again a policeman - I have a hazy photo of him in uniform, directing the traffic in Braunton during the 1930s in the middle of a flood.

The following photo, showing Henry on the left (with the very long legs!) was possibly taken at Braunton Burrows just around the corner from where he lived at 17 Barton Lane.
Aged 84, he died on 29 March 1947 (having being driven into by an American woman’s car, whilst he was on his bicycle, or so I have been told – I would like to find the documentation). He is buried in the graveyard of St Brannock's Church, Braunton, Devon.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is so fascinating, I have no grandparents so no family stories and no photographs, I'm living vicariously through you!!

angel said...

That is lovely, what a wonderful man.
Thanks for a look into your family facinating history. Mwah XXXXXX

Sandie said...

Thank you Frugal and Angel ... I have two huge files of family history research and this blog is a good way to convey some of that information to my family. I'm delighted that it's of interest to you and thank you for taking the time to read it.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Sandie for that information. Its so interesting to read about our ancestors but to see them by way of a photograph aswell, is even better! Now I know where I get my long legs! Recycle Lady xx

Mary Poppins said...

Remarkable history thank you for sharing
an uncle of mine is interested in geneology and I find it interesting
lovely thought provoking blog you have lovely X

Unknown said...

Hello, thx for popping by my blog and the lovely comments. I've really enjoyed reading your blog, so many things of interest.
I had my wedding reception in Burford and know of some of the places you talk about.
I also love Geneology and have been researching my family tree also, it's fascinating. Your mum looks like a film star ! My dad was a policeman as was my uncle and my brother is a policeman in Cornwall. My grandad was a prison officer at Dartmoor prison and dad grew up on the moors of Dartmoor ..
x

Country Cottage Chic said...

Sandie - what a super blog you have! I'm so pleased you visited me so I found your blog to read.
You have such wonderful info about your relations - I wish I did!