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Chapter 10
ROBERT - The Poplar Link
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With the exception of the years 1663, 1682, 1701 and 1767, which
respectively saw two Powditch Christenings, and two Powditch
marriages, at the Parish Church of St. Dunstan's, Stepney, in the district
of Poplar, London, there was to be a gap of approximately 80 years from
the last event before another Powditch was recorded in the Church
registers.
Robert, first born child of James and Biddy (nee Metcalfe), was born in
1822 at Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, and was "received into the Church"
of St. Nicholas, on 27 November 1822. In the baptismal register, his
father's occupation is given as "Sailor".
Mentioned in the 1841 Census for Wells-next-the-Sea, as living with his
parents, and with his brothers and sisters, at Lugger (or Logger) Yard,
Robert's age is given as 15 years old, whereas in reality he was aged
19 ! (the 1841 Census rounded all ages down to the nearest "5th year" -
with the exception of children aged 10 or less, in which cases their exact
ages were written. Thus a 19 year old has his or her age "rounded
down" to 15; a 34 year old to 30; a 22 year old to 20, and so on).
Ten years later, in the 1851 Census at Wells-next-the-Sea, Robert, and
the rest of his family, are "missing" from their birth-place. As can be
seen however in Chapter 5 - "James - The Trinity Man" - most, if not all
of the family, had moved (during the years 1848/1849), to Steynton,
near Milford Haven, West Wales - and yet, I don't believe that Robert
went with them, for there are a couple of "pointers" which lead to his
having moved to London.
First of all, in my contact with Marjorie Stein, great-granddaughter of
Robert, she not only advised me that via Robert there was a link with
South Wales, but also that he had been indentured to a Shipwright at
Blackwall, London. Unfortunately, the Indenture (and the wording of its
contents) appears to have been lost or mislaid, so that we are not
aware of Robert's Employer's name and address, or in which 'branch'
of shipbuilding he was apprenticed.
The docks at Blackwall - both at Blackwall Reach, with its claim of "the
birthplace of the British Mercantile Marine", and at Blackwall
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Yard, with its shipyard, which was founded in the seventeenth century,
have had a long and famous involvement with ships and with men.
The Honourable East India Company's ships berthed at Blackwall Reach,
discharging their "rich" cargoes, and creating a local "power-house",
whilst trade exchanges helped to bolster mercantile and commercial
power in London. In later years, the West India Docks, the Blackwall
frigates, and the "clipper" ships, were each to make their mark in the
world of the merchant.
Blackwall Yard, lying between the East and West India Docks, on the
north bank of the River Thames, has been a shipbuilding yard for over
300 years. The 19th century firm of Green and Wigram, together with
many other firms built ships there, and Hellyers - a family of figurehead
carvers had their workshop at the yard.
Still at Blackwall, but. now looking at Blackwall Wharf, the Trinity House
Corporation had its workshops here - its buoys and lightships
maintained at the wharf. In the nearby shipbuilding yard, were also built
Trinity vessels - both for use in British coastal waters, as well as for use
in Trinity House's "Imperial Service", in far off seas.
Although one branch of the Powditch family did have associations with
the Honourable East India Company (as Volume 5 will reveal), Robert's
family had a closer affinity with the Trinity House Service. After all, were
not his father, and his brother, both Lighthouse Keepers - and others
within the same family had been involved with "floating lights" within the
"Service".
Unfortunately, although Robert was indentured to a Shipwright, the
actual indenture has either been lost, or mislaid - thus denying
descendants any details relating to Robert's employer, or indeed, the
terms and conditions of his apprenticeship. As a result, we can only
wonder as to which shipyard he was apprenticed, and in what type of
"craft" he learnt his trade. We are also left wondering, whether during
the period of his apprenticeship he ever had to sail the high seas to
distant shores, or sail the coastal waters of Britain - or indeed whether
he ever left the dockyard on a ship.
In 1836, when Robert was only aged 14 years old, the Births and Deaths
Registration Act, together with the Marriages Act, was introduced, with
Civil Registration (as we know it today) commencing on 1 July 1837.
Apart from human error in recording (or omitting) details, Civil
Registration for England and Wales was compulsory, and required
everybody to inform the Registrar of birth, marriage or death details -
a penalty being levied an those failing to comply. Until the mid-1970s,
the General Registry Office (housing the Birth,
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Marriage and Death Registers) was housed at Somerset House,
London, although in 1974, the Office was moved, not far away, to
St. Catherine's House - also in London.
According to the St. Catherine's Register of Marriages, there is not an
entry recorded for Robert Powditch in England or Wales, which appears
to indicate that his marriage may have been registered in Scotland,
Ireland, the Channel islands, or "outside" Britain - or conversely may
highlight his having failed to register the "event".
From a. recently acquired birth certificate, we discover that Robert's
first son, Francis Wells, was born on the third of August 1847, at
12 Chrisp Street, Poplar. According to the Certificate, Robert Powditch,
a Shipwright, was married to - Jane Powditch (formerly Shawl), and
the birth of their son was registered on the 25th August 1847.
Whilst not conclusively proved to date, Robert and Jane would appear
to have had a second son - Robert Metcalf (or possibly Robert John
Metcalf) - who was born in the late summer of 1852. In later years, a
Robert John M. Powditch married in the Mile End district of London
around July 1875, and there is a strong possibility that two Poplar-born
children - William James M. (born 1876), and Ada Jane (born 1877;
died 1881), could have been the offspring of this marriage.
Robert and Jane may also have had a daughter - Mary Jane (born in
1861) - but by that year there was another Powditch family living in the
area, and Mary Jane could have been their daughter.
As details of Robert Metcalf and Mary Jane are extremely "sketchy" at
the moment, I will not surmise any further, but will be continuing research
into Poplar and Stepney Powditch's, and hope to provide conclusive
information at a later date.
That the family remained in the area for many years is evidenced by the
number of birth, marriage and death certificates issued within the District
of Poplar, and it is to those sources of information that we must currently
turn to discover more details about Robert, his wife and their children. It
is also from the certificates that we discover that Robert, far from his
birth-place of Wells-next-the-Sea, died at Poplar at the end of 1881,
aged 58 years old, and that his widow, Jane, followed him five years later,
at the beginning of 1886, when she died, aged 65.
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Robert and Jane's first. child - Francis Wells - who was born on 3 August
1847, seems to have "followed in his father's footsteps", for on various
later certificates, we learn that Francis Wells was a Shipwright, and (from
Marjorie Stein's information) also learned his trade at Blackwall, London.
We also, from Francis' marriage certificate - dated some 26 years later -
may have discovered the family's home address, for when Francis Wells
Powditch, on 22 October 1873, married Sarah Ann Fenwick, his
"Residence at the time of Marriage", was given as - 16 Dorsett Street,
in the Parish of Stepney.
Francis Wells, a Bachelor, aged 26, married Sarah, a young widow,
aged 28, who had been living at 7 Laura Terrace, in the Parish of
Stepney. Both signed their names, although one of their witnesses -
Julia Ann Barker, had to make her mark (X). The other witness,
Ithiel (?) Price, signed his or her name.
An error was made on the entry in the Parish Register. Francis Wells'
father, as we have previously learned - was Robert. The Register
however (possibly a clerical error), shows Francis Wells' father as
being - Francis Wells !
Sarah's father's name was given as William Howard - thus disclosing
to us her maiden name, prior to her marriage to Mr. Fenwick (deceased).
The marriage was "solemnized" in the Parish Church of St. Dunstan,
Stepney, and the curate signed his name to the effect that Francis and
Sarah had been "Married in the Parish Church, according to the Rites
and Ceremonies of the Established Church, after Banns by Me, Alfred
Love, Curate".
From the marriage between Francis Wells Powditch, and Sarah Ann
Fenwick, the union was to produce three (definite) sons. However, at
the risk of being proved wrong in my later research, I am going to
state (based on calculations of "available" Powditch's living in the
Districts of Poplar and Stepney during the period 1847 to 1886) that I
believe that Francis and Sarah had as many as eight children.
This startling suggestion requires names, dates and reasons.
As we have read earlier, Francis cool Sarah in 1873. Their first child
Robert John H, (the "H" standing for Sarah's maiden name of "Howard"),
who was born in 1874. Their second child was Wells Charles, born in
1884, and their third child was John Metcalf, who was
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born in 1886 - or were they really the first, second and third children of
the marriage?
Marjorie Stein (daughter of Wells Charles) has advised me on several
occasions in the past, that her father had told her that;-
a) Sarah Ann was Francis' 2nd wife,
and that,
b) he (Wells Charles) had one true brother - John Metcalf -
plus step-brothers and a step-sister.
From Francis and Sarah's marriage certificate, we have already seen
that at their marriage, Francis was a Bachelor, and Sarah, a widow -
so it was Sarah's second marriage, and not Francis'.
Being a widow, there may well have been children from Sarah's first
marriage, which would agree with Wells Charles' comments regarding
step-brothers and a step-sister.
I am puzzled however about Wells Charles' comments regarding his
"one true brother", unless it was meant in the context of being his
"closest" brother, and someone that he was able to turn turn to in, or
with, confidence. James Robert Powditch (grandson of Wells Charles'
brother - Robert John H) had advised me that R.J.H. had had
3 brothers and 2 sisters - which doesn't confirm the "one brother"
comment, although it also doesn't negate the closeness between Wells
Charles and his "one true brother".
James Robert advised me that the 4 brothers were;-
The sisters may have been their step-sisters, or may be as I will advise
further on.
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Births of Powditch's in the district of Poplar during the period 1847 to
1886 are as follows - their father's name and date of marriage being
shown alongside each entry;-
As can be seen, the majority of children are accounted for, even if the
father in a couple of instances is still unknown to me. There are however,
five children, whom I have starred (*) that I believe are the offspring of
Francis and Sarah.
Robert John H. was the first child of the marriage. A two or three year
gap between children, whilst unusual, is not abnormal, but here we find,
after Robert's birth, a 10 year gap until Wells Charles birth, and then a
two year gap to John Metcalf's birth.
A closer look, however, at the children starred (*), above, discloses
some distressing information.
With the exception of James Wells - who is, I believe, the "Jim" referred
to on the previous page - all the other children (except
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Alice Ada:) were born before Wells Charles' birth. Also, Alice and
Thomas, all had died before Wells Charles' was born.
In an age, where, in large Cities such as London, Birmingham,
Liverpool, etc, there was a very high level of infant mortality, due to poor
living conditions, bad sanitation, dietary problems, disease, and many
other 19th century every-day occurrences, high birth rates were
matched by the equally high death rates - at all ages. Whether Robert,
James Wells, and John, would have been told by their parents - in later
years - of the loss of their other children, their babies, is a
debateable subject. Certainly, by the time that Robert John Howard
was aged 27 years old, James Wells aged 25, Wells Charles aged 17,
and John Metcalf aged 15, their Mother, Sarah Ann had died (1901),
aged 52 - and just two years later, they were orphaned, when their father,
Francis Wells, died, in 1903, at the age of 59.
During 1874, the year that Gladstone resigned, and Disraeli became
Prime Minister of Great Britain - Sarah Ann (Francis Wells' wife) gave
birth to their first child - a son - Robert John Howard Powditch. The
birth was recorded in the district of Poplar, East London, and
registered between April and June.
The twenty-four year period between Robert John H's birth, and that of
his marriage, has failed to uncover any details, other than the loose
description that he was a "Seaman" - apparently working on a steam-
tug in the area of the River Thames. Following his marriage, at Poplar,
in 1898, (registered between April and June), to Emma Harris - who
hailed from the nearby parish of Stepney - Robert John H, and Emma
were have 14 children - 7 sons, and 7 daughters !
They were;
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Acknowledgements