Whitstable Times: Issue 4,369.
They all had “Nicknames”.
Four Williams on one ship. What would you call them?
Too many names to list, just enjoy reading it, and then learn why.
His home is in Wandsworth, but he was born in Whitstable sixty-five years ago, and the other day he came back to have a look around the town and call on those friends of his youth who are still living here. He found it a different place to the one he was brought up in, though there were parts of it which had undergone scarcely any change, these bringing back to his mind a rush of memories. It was when he got out of High Street and walked to Tankerton that he was impressed by the changes which had taken place. It was a walk he made every Sunday as a boy, the only form of recreation he was allowed to induldge in on the Sabbath, which children werer taught to observe far more strictly than is the case now.
There was scarcely a house of any sort to be seen then at Tankerton, nothing but trees, green fields, and the sea all the way up to Priest and Sow corner. And when the permitted walk was over and young “Bodsey,” as George Browning was nicknamed, had taken leave of his chums who had trudged along with him and returned home, he would be given some carefully chosen book to read. Parental control was strict, but boys and girls were all the better for it, and were glad to remember in after years that they had not been allowed to do just as they liked.
They loved the sea, were always down on the beaches when school was over for the day, among the boats, roaming the harbour, watching the ships coming in and going out. Ships had a particular fascination for young “Bodsey” and his chum, George Foreman. They knew the names of masters and crews and were boyishly proud of the notice taken of them by the men for whom they had an admiration that has never waned with the passing of the years. Among these fine, old ships were the “Tartar,” the “Anne Sophia,” the “Cornucopia,” the “Magic,” the “C.P. Knight,” and the “E.D.W. Fairbrass,” whose name was later on changed to “Gratitude.”
Then there was the brigantine, “Clyde,” which had the carving of a Salvation Army lassie for a figure head, and whose master was Captain Frend. His Whitstable home was a house next to the old post office in High Street. He had three sons. One of them, Harry Frend, became master of the ketch, “Good Hope,” and was drowned at sea. Another son, known as “Bubbles,” who became master of the “Clyde” after his father, was also drowned at sea. The third son, “Stockings,” to use the name everybody knew him by, became skipper of the “William Dyer” and after leaving the sea, set up in business in Whitstable as a shopkeeper dealing in second-hand goods.
This and other interesting information is given in a letter to George Browning from Frank Payne, living at Hayes, who has been a reader of “The Whitstable Times” for 40 years. He remembers that George Rigden was the owner of the M.V. “Freda,” and had “Dubbie” for a nickname. Captain T. Rigden rejoiced in the nickname of “Weasel,” and Captain Frend was known as “Nebbie.” The “Clyde,” says Mr. Payne, was sunk by a German submarine in the Channel during the first world war. Master of the “Blonde,” old “BlowSoup” Kemp lived in Sydenham Street, four doors above “The Fountain” public house. Next door to him lived Captain G. Joiner who, together with his brothers Walter, John, and William, owned and sailed the brigantines, “Henry,” “Mary Ann McKay,” “Carmenta,” “Flirt,” “Ada,” and the schooner “Matilda Caulder.” Living next door to the Assembly Rooms was Harry Browning, master of the “Eliza Blaxland.” Frank Payne’s father was Captain “Long” Harry Payne, Master for many years of the brigantine “Alice H,” he and his second son “Taffy,” were lost at sea in 1904. The George Foreman referred to in “Notes of the Week” recently, says Mr. Payne in his letter to George Browning, had a house at the bottom of Victoria Street next to “Jimmy” Hart’s farm. “Buck” Foreman lived opposite the “Coach and Horses” public house and had a son who was a carpenter. He moved later on to a house on West Cliff, facing Seasalter golf course, and died there some years ago.
Young “Bodsey’s” father was master of a Whitstable collier at eighteen years of age. His mother, who is living with him at his Wandsworth home, is in her 88th year. She was a member of the Kemp family, whose history, interwoven with that of Whitstable for hundreds of years, can be traced back to the thirteenth century.
E.B.
What can we learn from this article?
We find out that many of the Whitstable mariners were not called by their proper names. The reason for this is that with the commonality of surnames and the tradition of naming the first-born son after his father life could get a tad confusing. Far better that young men were ‘named’ by their fellow sailors. These nicknames generally reflected something about their appearance or characters and were not always complimentary! Despite that, they were stuck with them for life, but fortunately for us they don’t appear to have used them when the census enumerator appeared.
Having solved one problem of identification, the sailors then compounded the problem by often giving a new lad the same nickname as his father. So, if you’re walking down the High Street, Mr. Rigden, don’t be offended if someone calls you “Weasel”, it’s probably a sign of respect!
