Month: October 2024

Peter Kennedy

Peter Douglas Kennedy, 1922–2006

Peter Kennedy’s parents were both at the heart of the folk music establishment. His father, Douglas Kennedy, was part of the English Folk Dance Society demonstration team before the First World War, and succeeded Cecil Sharp as Director of the EFDS – and subsequently the merged EFDSS. Peter’s mother Helen was the sister of Maud Karpeles and, like her sister, had been closely involved with Sharp’s folk dance revival, and a founder member of the EFDS.

Peter joined the staff of the EFDSS aged 26, in 1948, working first in the North East, and then in the West Country. In 1950-51 he worked with the American collector Alan Lomax to record material for the England LP in Lomax’s World Library of Folk and Primitive Music series on Columbia Records. Then in 1952 the BBC appointed him one of two principal fieldworkers on its newly established Folk Music and Dialect Recording Scheme. In this capacity he made hundreds of recordings of traditional singers and musicians all over the British Isles. These included recordings of Albert Beale and Charlie Scamp, made in 1954 in the company of his aunt Maud Karpeles.

Kennedy sent a detailed report of his Kent trip to Miss Marie Slocombe at the BBC. She had founded the BBC Sound Archive in 1936, had been appointed Sound Recordings Librarian in 1941 and, as a member of the EFDSS, was a keen supporter of the BBC’s Folk Music and Dialect Recording Scheme in the 1950s.

Kennedy’s report is available to view via the Peter Kennedy Archive, at https://www.peterkennedyarchive.org/1954-2/kent-1954/. It commences

Tuesday 14th January

Picked up Miss M. Karpeles and drove to B.H. [Broadcasting House] to collect Midget Tapes. Thence to Greenwich Pier to enquire after Mr. Richards, shanty-singer. Had left and was last heard of in Cutty Sark exhibition. To Cranbrook and then to see Mr. and Mrs. Henry Scamp at Goldwell Farm, near Biddenham.  Recorded from Albert Beale at Kenardington, Near Ashford:-

FMK 321 (15″)  The Bailiff’s Daughter (some mistakes) – 1’40”

                        In London’s Fair City (Villikens and his Dinah) – 1’50”

                        The Limerick Ditty – 1’30”

                        The Frog and the Mouse – Intro 0’15” (Edit out talk in between) 1’35”

                                                (…”You see you’ve got to get it in” quick out)

FMK 322 (7½”) The Moon Shines Bright (Carol) – 1’35”

                        Where are you Going to My Pretty Maid? – 1’15”

                        Toast: “Beef when you’re hungry.…” – 0’15”

                        The Dark-Eyed Sailor (1/2 way in) – 1’55”

Goldwell Farm is actually on the Tenterden Road, to the South East of Biddenden.

The comments such as “Edit out talk in between” are presumably notes to assist when using the recordings on Kennedy’s As I Roved Out radio programme. The report continued

Friday 15th January

To Mrs. Stanley (Bird) living in a caravan on Mrs. Stern’s farm, 3, Chimneys, Betenham, near Sissinghurst. She and her daughter Peg both had tonsilitis but we got names of large number of songs that she knew. Her life story would be well worth recording. She gave us address of her sister Mrs. Smith, Melton Meadows, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk. Her husband, Joe, plays fiddle and melodeon and names of other relations in Kent to whom we went the following day.

“Betenham” is in fact Bettenham, about half a mile from the Three Chimneys public house.

The Mrs Smith referred to is Phoebe Smith, née Scamp, whom Kennedy would record in July 1956.

Saturday 16th January to Sunday 17th January

To Mr and Mrs. Hilden, behind Denaway Cafe at bottom of hill down from Detling Aerodrome before Sittingbourne. Then to Scamps at Lower Halstow and then to Bill Scamp at Tonge, who also had a bad throat. Finally to the Scamps at Chartham Hatch.

 Recorded Charlie Scamp at The Royal Oak [Chartham Hatch]

Kennedy recorded seven songs from Charlie Scamp: ‘Barbary Ellen’, ‘Young Leonard’, ‘Father come Father come build Me a Boat’, ‘A Blacksmith Courted Me’, ‘The Folkestone Murder’, ‘How Old Are you my Pretty Fair Maid?’ and ‘Romany Song’. He also recorded Charlie and Ted Scamp talking Romany, but the recording session in the pub was brought to an abrupt end:

This last recording was interrupted by a police raid! So returned to the encampment. Ted Scamp would be prepared to find people to record Circus, Fairground and Tramp Slang. Rose Matthews in adjoining caravan should also be recorded.

The trip concluded with Kennedy and his aunt making more contacts, but failing to make any further recordings:

Monday 18th January

To the “Sun-in-the-Wood” at Lower Halstow, where we recoded Oliver Scamp, but he had also had a bad cold and was not up to it, but we would like to return and record himself, his son, Oliver and his little daughter Sylvia.

Returned to London and delivered Miss Karpeles to her house.

Clearly it was not Kennedy’s fault that several of the singers he encountered were suffering from winter ailments. And given just how many recordings he did make across the length and breadth of the country, it would be churlish to complain that – so far as one can tell – he never returned to record Bill or Oliver Scamp, nor to record Mrs Stanley’s life story. It is nevertheless frustrating that these opportunities were lost.

Between 1953 and 1958 Kennedy presented the Sunday morning BBC radio series As I Roved Out. In contrast to the earlier Country Magazine, which had used trained singers to deliver songs collected by Francis Collinson, on As I Roved Out Kennedy played his own field recordings of country singers.

Many of Kennedy’s field recordings were issued commercially – for example on the 10 LPs in The Folk Songs Of Britain series issued on Caedmon in the USA, and subsequently by Topic in the UK, on his own Folktrax releases and, since his death, by Topic in their Voice of the People series. Some of Kennedy’s recordings of both Albert Beale and Charlie Scamp have featured on these releases. His archive is now held by the British Library, who were also responsible for the Peter Kennedy website at https://www.peterkennedyarchive.org/ which provides access to the reports he compiled on his collecting activities for the BBC.

Kennedy was a prolific and important collector of folk songs, tunes and dances, but his reputation was sullied somewhat by the rather proprietorial attitude he took towards the material he had collected (claiming copyright not just on the recordings, but on the songs themselves), the notoriously poor production values of his Folktrax cassettes and CDs, and the fact that he was not averse to doctoring field recordings before releasing them.

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Alice Travers

Alice Borgström Travers, 1893-1970

There are 3 copies of the carol ‘Lazerus’ (‘Come All You Worthy Christian Men’) in Francis Collinson’s collection. Two of these are clearly in Collinson’s own hand, and are labelled “Collected from Mrs. Lurcock of Bredgar, Kent, and noted down by Miss Alice Travers of Bredgar”. The third (COL/5/36D) is in a different hand – probably that of Miss Travers. There are no other records in the Roud Index which mention Miss Travers, so it may be that this was the only song she ever collected.

Alice Travers was born 17th September 1893, and baptised at Chelsham, Surrey on 29th October. At the time of the 1901 census the family was living at ‘Woottonga’, Warlingham, Surrey. Besides Alice there were 2 other daughters and 2 sons. The household also included a nurse, cook, parlour maid and house maid. Her father, James L. Travers, was shown as “Wholesale Grocer” in 1901, and as “Merchant retired” in 1911. By 1921 they had set up residence at Bredgar House, Bredgar, with a slightly slimmed down household – now just a coachman and a cook. Mr Travers was listed as “Director & Manager Of Ltd Co / Merchant retired”. His obituary in 1924 related that the family had moved to Bredgar from Warlingham in 1919, noting that “Members of the family had identified themselves with the parochial life of the village”1. Alice Travers seems to have been particularly involved with the Women’s Institute – in 1960 the East Kent Gazette reported that she had been producing plays for the Bredgar WI for about 40 years2.

It may well be that she knew Mrs Lurcock through the WI. We don’t know when she noted down the carol – was it shortly before sending a copy to Francis Collinson, or some years earlier? We don’t actually know when she sent her transcription to Collinson, but it’s a safe bet that this was at some point after the BBC’s Country Magazine came on the air in May 1942.

The 1939 Register listed Alice Travers as a smallholder, living at Cedar Cottage, Bexon Lane, Bredgar. She died on 27th January 1970.

An exchange in the local newspaper, the East Kent Gazette, in 1947 provides a nice snapshot of the differing views of post-war Britain held by members of the monied classes, and those with, perhaps, a better understanding of the needs of the population at large. On 8th November 1947, under the headline “ROYAL WEDDING PRESENT”, the newspaper passed on a message from Councillor F.J. Millen, chairman of the Sittingbourne and Milton Urban District Council, that the fund to purchase a wedding gift for the future Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip would be closing in a few days. The editor also reproduced a sentence from a letter sent in by Miss Travers “alluding to the attitude of some members of the local Council”, saying “I hope that when the present is sent to Princess Elizabeth it will be made clear that it comes from the loyal section of the community only”.

The following week, 14th November, there was a robust response from Councillor W. Wyllie, asking “Do you honestly think that there is only one way to demonstrate loyalty, and this is to subscribe money to a presentation?”. The councillor makes it clear that he – or quite possibly she – has not subscribed to the fund; but says they “have other views on this matter which I am sure must tend to show that there is a certain amount of loyalty in my make-up”. These are 1) having volunteered to serve in the Royal Navy in war and peace, 2) “I have given some years to the training of boys to become good citizens, and seamen in the Royal Navy”, 3) “I have given my son to the service of his country for the next fourteen years” (in the RAF), and 4) “I have also been employed in the making of guns (when most required) so that we should destroy the enemies of this island”. The writer suggests there will be many others in the area who have not subscribed, but “can lay a higher claim to being more loyal than I”, and reiterates what, presuambly, they had said in Council, that “the mothers of Sittingbourne and Milton require a maternity home far more than H.R.H. requires this presentation. I have only mentioned a maternity home, but there are lots of other necessities required in this locality”.

  1. East Kent Gazette, 12 January 1924 ↩︎
  2. East Kent Gazette, 25 November 1960 ↩︎
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Mrs Lurcock

In Francis Collinson’s collection the carol ‘Lazerus’ is recorded as “Collected from Mrs. Lurcock of Bredgar, Kent, and noted down by Miss Alice Travers of Bredgar”. Lurcock is a common surname in that part of Kent, and there is no indication of when the song was noted down by Miss Travers – although the chances are that she wrote it down and sent it to Collinson at some point after May 1942, when the BBC’s Country Magazine programme was first aired. It’s not possible to be 100% sure of the identity of the singer, but the most likely candidate is

Ann Flosy Lurcock, née Drury, 1884-1988

Born on 8th August 1884, her birth record has her as Ann Flosy Drury, although when baptised at St James’, Sheldwich, on 24th August her name was recorded as “Anne Florence”. All subsequent official records have her as Ann without an ‘e’, and where her middle name is given in full it’s never “Florence”, but always “Flosy” or “Flosey”.

Her parents were Charles Drury, a farm labourer, and Keziah née Bramble, and in 1891 they were living in North Street, Sheldwich. By 1901 they had moved to Bunce Court Cottage, Otterden. Ann was at that point the eldest of four children, although ultimately there would be seven children; her father was working as a carter on a farm.

The 1911 census shows Ann working as a “Kitchen maid domestic”, for a Scottish couple, Mr and Mrs Simson, at Ickleford Manor, Ickleford, in Hertfordshire.

She married James Lurcock, a labourer, and native of Bredgar, on 13th May 1916. He appears to have enlisted in the RAF in July 1918, but by the time of the 1921 census they were living together in Bexon Lane, Bredgar. From local newspaper reports they appear to have participated in events run by the Bredgar Cottage Gardeners’ Association, and to have attended whist drives and dances held at the Red Triangle Hut (Mrs Lurcock came third and won a tea strainer in December 1923!).

A newspaper article celebrating her 103rd birthday (East Kent Gazette 13th August 1987) gave details of her life:

She does not claim to hold the key to eternal youth, but believes hard work and a drop of brandy might have helped her to keep going!

Her memory is still sharp and she can recall her full life in minute detail.

She was born the eldest of seven children at the family home in Badlesmere. As a fashionable youngster she remembers having a string of admirers and modern ideas about women at work. She herself worked below stairs as a cook in Hertfordshire and spent a year cooking at a stud farm In Ireland.

Mrs. Lurcock said: “A lot of the people I worked for asked if my family minded me working so far away from home, but I really enjoyed it. I suppose it now sounds a bit like ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ with butlers, footmen and all.”

Although life was hard, Mrs. Lurcock admits there was time to relax at local dances.

She remembers slipping into tight-fitting ‘”hobble skirts” to tempt the lads at the local hop.

And it was at a dance in Bredgar that she met her husband James, who lived in Bexon Lane. They married on 13 May 1916 at Sittingbourne Register Office.

The couple lived in Bredgar and had no children. After her husband died in 1932, Mrs. Lurcock went back to work as a lady’s companion.

Later she shared a home in Rainham with her sister until the latter’s death two years ago. She then moved to Court Regis old people’s home in Milton where she shared her birthday celebrations with relatives. staff and friends.

She died the following year, on 2nd June 1988.

Songs

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Maud Karpeles

Maud Pauline Karpeles, 1885-1976

Maud Karpeles was the daughter of Joseph Nicolaus Karpeles, a tea-merchant who had been born in Hamburg, but settled in London and became a British citizen. Thanks to her father she was of independent means, which allowed her to devote her life to folk music. With her sister Helen, she became involved in the English folk dance revival led by Cecil Sharp; both were involved with the foundation of the English Folk Dance Society in 1911. During the First World War she accompanied Sharp on his song collecting trips to the Appalachians. She was more than just a secretary. She provided Sharp, who suffered from frequent and varied medical issues, with invaluable support, both at home and abroad, and also became effectively part of the Sharp family. She in return was a lifelong disciple of Sharp, defending his legacy and promoting his views.

She held roles both with the English Folk Dance Society and its successor, the English Folk Dance and Song Society. After the Second World War she played a key role in establishing and running the International Folk Music Council, and remained active in the folk music world right up to her death at the age of 90.

In 1953 she embarked on a song collecting expedition in Kent. Details of this trip can be found in the VWML archive catalogue, under the heading “Folk Song Collecting Expedition Kent October 12th – 17th 1953” (MK/1/2/4907). This report tells us that Miss Karpeles stayed with Violet Rumney (a school friend), at Sissinghurst from October 12th to 17th and ventured out each day – Miss Rumney or her sister driving. Karpeles estimated that they covered about 400 miles during the week, making enquiries at the following villages:

  • Headcorn
  • Smarden
  • Warehorne
  • Ham Street
  • Appledore
  • Stone
  • Rye Harbour
  • Kenardington
  • Sissinghurst
  • Frittenden
  • Cranbrook
  • Goudhurst
  • Binningden [sic – probably Benenden]
  • Pluckley
  • Harrietsham
  • Snargate
  • Brinzett [sic]
  • Brookland
  • New Romney (not exhaustively)
  • Dungeness
  • Lydd
  • Ivychurch
  • Bethersden
  • High Halden
  • Staplehurst
  • Bethersden
  • High Halden
  • Staplehurst
  • Beckley
  • Bettenham

She wrote that she had recorded a version of ‘John Barleycorn’ from Dave Wicken (actually Dave Wickens), at Smarden. And five songs from Albert Beale at Kenardington – as she notes “son and brother of singers from whom Cecil Sharp noted songs”, and it seems likely that she had deliberately sought out any surviving relatives of Sharp’s “informants”.

The report continues

I interviewed  some gipsies, name of Stanley, at Bettenham. They know a number of songs, but I could not ask them to sing  as there had just been a death in the family. I arranged to pay them a visit later on.

I found a number of people who remembered hearing some of the songs, from parents, grandparents, or other old people in the neighbourhood, but they had not themselves learned them.

Contrary to expectation Romney Marsh seemed to be further away from the tradition than the “upland” regions. I suspect this is because they are too isolated.

I found a greater understanding of the type of song I required than is usually the case. This may be due to Frank Collinson’s Country Magazine contributions.

She returned to Kent in January 1954, in the company of her nephew Peter Kennedy, and together they made recordings of Albert Beale and the gipsy Charlie Scamp.

The Woodside Woodison

From John and Ted Lancefield

Collected by Francis Collinson, Aldington, 24th June 1942

Francis Collinson Manuscript Collection COL/1/31

Roud 21873

COL-1-31 The Woodside WoodisonDownload

The only entries for this song in the Roud Index are for this version – in other words the song was never collected from anyone other than John and Ted Lancefield and, to date, no printed copy – for example on a broadside ballad sheet – has surfaced. The song tells of the events of 21st and 22nd December 1894, when a large number of ships were lost in the North Sea, and many more were battered, as a severe storm hit the North of England, Scotland, Ireland, and continental Europe. Provincial newspapers for Saturday 22nd December report on the damage caused in their locality, and further abroad:

THE STORM.

At Bradford the storm was the most destructive on record, enormous damage being done to property in all parts of the district, dozens of buildings having been unroofed and shop fronts blown in. Three trams were overturned in the streets, and one steam tram had the top compartment blown off. One fatality only is recorded.

The terrible westerly gale has been severely felt at Liverpool and the Mersey is in a more turbulent state than has been known for some years. Owing to the wholesale interruptions of telegraphic and telephonic communications reports are much delayed, but it has been ascertained that a schooner was sunk at the mouth of the river, and it Is feared that all hands have been lost.

(Exeter Flying Post)

THE STORM.

HOUSE AND SHOP BLOWN DOWN.

A large house and shop belonging to Mr Wm. T. Atkinson, builder, of Reed-street, in Lister-street, in course of erection, was blown down about nine o’clock this morning.

NORTHALLERTON DISTRICT.

A terrific gale is blowing at Northallerton, with drenching rain. Great damage has been done to shop and house windows having been blown in. Two very narrow personal escapes occurred when the gale was at its height by chimney posts crashing through the house roofs. The railway station roof was much damaged, and the waiting-room window was blown in. The telegraph wires are snapped and several country roads are blocked by fallen trees. The high wall of the National School at Northallerton was blown down. The rivers Swale and Ure are flooded.

(Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail)

The Shields Daily News wrote that the storm had stopped telegraphic communication between Tyneside and other parts of the country; roofs, slates and chimney pots had suffered at Shields; many chimney stacks had been swept at Carlisle; while “much havoc has been done in the Clyde ship-building yards”. The article in the Edinburgh Evening Dispatch was headed

THE STORM.

FACTORIES BLOWN DOWN.

LOSS OF LIFE.

DESTRUCTION OF TELEGRAPH WIRES.

The Kentish newspapers do not appear to have paid the storm much heed at this point (although The Echo, published in London, noted that a goods train on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway had been derailed during the storm). However in the new year worries were being expressed over the fate of the Woodside, a collier brig that operated out of Folkestone. The Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald for 5th January 1895 reported that

Grave fears are entertained for safety of the brig Woodside, of this port. The vessel is considerably overdue. She sailed about two days before Christmas, and would, in the natural course of events, have encountered the full force of the great gale, which played such havoc on both sea and land. But there are hopes. The stout vessel has a splendid master in Captain Milton—a man of unflinching bravery and much resource. It may that the vessel is disabled, and drifting in the wide expanse of the North Sea. However, we will all earnestly hope for the best. Down at the Fishermen’s Bethel on Sunday evening last prayers were offered for the safety of the crew.

The following week brought no further news of the ship’s fate. This article appeared in the Kentish Express, 12th January 1895:

SUPPOSED FOUNDERING OF A FOLKESTONE BRIG.

A gloom has been cast over the eastern quarter of Folkestone by the disappearance of the Woodside, brig, belonging to the port. The Woodside left Sunderland on Thursday, December 20th, with a cargo of coal, and she must have encountered the dreadful gales which raged a few days after in the North Sea, and in which 22 smacks were lost. The Woodside was spoken by a Whitstable vessel on the day after she sailed, and the captain reported all well, that he expected a sharp passage up and to be home in time for his Christmas dinner. The captain’s name was Milton, he resided with his wife in Fenchurch-street, Folkestone, and was 58 years of age. He had followed the sea from his 11th year, and was mate of the Tricky Wee, a Folkestone vessel which was shipwrecked on the Yorkshire coast on Boxing Day 1885. Captain Milton bore the reputation of an excellent seaman, and had a share in the Woodside. The other owners were Mr. Francis, coal merchant; Mr. Franks, sail maker; and Miss Pearson, landlady of the True Briton Hotel. The vessel was not insured. There were eight men on board, three of whom were married. The mate’s name was Wooderson, and his wife is left in peculiarly distressing circumstances. She has two young children, and is in a delicate state of health, and has moreover been seized with paralysis in both legs. The owners, having given up all hope of seeing the vessel again, have this week paid the wages of the crew to their relatives. An appeal will be made to the public on their behalf. Among the men who were on board the Woodside was a Dover man, well known in Folkestone as well as in the sister port as “Dover Jim”. This man has been singularly unfortunate. He sailed to Sunderland in a Dover vessel in October, and there met with an accident and broke his leg. He was taken to a hospital and remained there until December, when he was discharged. Being unable to get a berth he became destitute, and Captain Milton kindly gave him a passage to Folkestone so that he could get to Dover. Another passenger of the same class was a Swede, whom Captain Milton was also assisting back to Dover.

The same week, the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald provided further details:

LOSS OF THE BRIG WOODSIDE.

HELP NEEDED FOR TRE RELATIVES OF THE CREW.

The anxiety expressed last week for the safety of the crew of the brig Woodside, of this port, have been deepened by the non-arrival of the vessel during the past few days. From careful and

EXHAUSTIVE ENQUIRIES

that I have instituted, I learn that the Woodside (179 tons register), Ieft Sunderland for Folkestone with a cargo of coal on Decembe5 20th. She carried a crew of seven, including a captain, mate, two able seamen, and lads. I am sorry to state that, after allowing for possibilities, I am compelled to come to the conclusion that the Woodside is numbered amongst the lost. In this opinion I am supported by the most experienced of our sailors, and other authorities. Yet there is still left

A SPARK OF HOPE

The vessel may be blown away or dismasted in the wide expanse of the North Sea. This is the only glimmer of hope. True it is faint, but still it is—hope. In the ordinary course of events the Woodside must have encountered the full force of the hurricane which blew with such terrific force on the night of Friday and Saturday morning previous to Christmas Day. Twenty-eight vessels in all left the port of Sunderland on the same day as the Woodside, and a comparatively small number of these have reached their destinations. The Woodside on the Friday night “spoke” a schooner named the Stephen and Sarah, belonging to Whitstable, and signalled in answer to enquiries that they

EXPECTED A RAPID RUN.

It was now that the gale struck the vessels, and they parted, the schooner hugging he land, and the brig making for the open sea. On the following morning the wind and sea were, to one who weathered the storm, simply awful – past the conception of those who live on land. Since that date nothing has been heard of the Folkestone vessel. Three of the men are married, viz., Capt. Milton (who is in his 58th year), the mate Wooderson, and Cotterell, a seaman. Naturally, the relatives are in a state of great anxiety. I called on Mrs. Milton,

THE CAPTAIN’S WIFE.

The good woman lives in a humble abode at 13, Fenchurch-street, and her home is a picture of cleanliness and order. Although others give up all hope, yet Mrs. Milton clings to the belief that the vessel will yet return to port. The good lady is bearing up well, although her face betokens the mental strain through which she is passing. Her family of sons and daughters are for the most part grown up. “Yes,” said Mrs. Milton, “my husband is one of the best that ever drew this world’s breath,. and after all these years I cannot but think he will arrive home safe and sound. He nearly lost his life once, and that was when the Trixie Wee foundered at sea, on December 26th, 1886. With the exception of this, he has had no misfortune befall him in his long career.” “I am much obliged to you for calling,” said Mrs. Milton, as I bade her good morning, “but I shall keep on hoping to the last.” The case of the mate’s wife is

SAD AND DISTRESSING.

Mrs. Wooderson lives now at Foord. She is very poor, has two children, and the family at any moment may be added to. Moreover, the woman is paralysed in both her legs. Add to all this the mental agony that is now cast upon her by the supposed loss of her breadwinner, and her sad lot will create a feeling of pity in the stoniest heart. The owners of the vessel, which is not insured, have attended to the poor woman’s immediate wants, but

HELP—AND THAT SOON—

I feel sure will be forthcoming to meet the needs of this very sad case. Enough! The cry of the little ones and the anguish of the mother appeal to you with greater force than any words of mine. The remaining married man is the seaman Cotterell. His parents have  abandoned hope for their eldest son, now 24 years of age. His father is the proprietor of the ham and beef establishment at the bottom of High-street. Strange to say Mr. Cotterell has another son that follows the sea, and he sailed from London in the sailing vessel Via, which left the Thames on the day previous to the Woodside leaving Sunderland, so that the two vessels must have passed each other. Mr. Cotterell allowed me to peruse a letter which he had received from his son on reaching the northern port. Therein he gives a description of the gale, which their vessel rode through. “It was terrific,” he says, “and we were compelled to hove to for 40 hours under close reeftopsail. Our sails were blown to ribbons.”

The other members were of the crew were lads, and some of these helped to support their parents. On the vessel were two passengers, who worked their way homewards. One of them is known as “Dover Jim,” and the other is a Swede. The former, three months ago on a voyage to the north, broke his leg, and had just been discharged from the hospital. Being penniless, Capt. Milton gave him a passage home. Further particulars will be placed before the public shortly, and in the meantime I trust my readers will render assistance where it is urgently required. We, who sit around the fireside in comfort and ease, can at least let our hearts go out towards those who “go down to the sea in ships” and bring for us through  the “great  waters,” that which supplies us with warmth and comfort. The sailors in the colliers that trade from this part—as with others-have experienced terrible times of late, and out of the gratitude that we owe them, let us think of those who are now bowed down with grief and anguish, and at least express the hope that whatever their fate they ultimately

“May reach that port when life is o’er
Where billows break and surges swell no more.”

The following is a full list of the crew:-Henry Milton (master), Jessie Wooderson (mate), John McKay and William Baker (able seamen), Benjamin Cotterell and Alexander Smith (ordinary seamen), Charles Woollett (boy), and James Bachelor (passenger).

Elsewhere in the same newspaper, further details were provided of the charitable appeal:

a subscription list has been opened at the National Provincial Bank, and that contributions may be paid there, or to Mr. Councillor Peden, Sandgate-road. The case is a sad one, and calls for a generous exercise of the virtue of charity. We heard yesterday one of the Woodside boats was picked ap at Salthouse, near Cromer, by a coastguardman who is a Folkestone man.

A few days later, hope was fading, the Folkestone Express, Sandgate, Shorncliffe & Hythe Advertiser for 16th January advising that “There is now unhappily no doubt that this vessel foundered in the recent disastrous gale in the North Sea on Saturday, December the 22nd, and that the crew were drowned. No particulars of the disaster will ever be known.” The article also quoted at greater length from the letter sent by the surviving Cotterell brother to his father:

The young man, Benjamin Cotterell, was a son of Mr. Cotterell, of the Ham and Beef Warehouse, High Street. He has another son who during the heavy gale was in great peril in another ship, not far away from the spot where the Woodside is supposed to have foundered. Writing on board the schooner Via, from Gateshead-on-Tyne, on Boxing Day, to his father, he says: “We arrived here safely on Monday evening, after having a fearful time of it. We left London on Wednesday, blowing a gale, and got out clear of the river, when the forepeak halyards came down, and we had to put back to Sheerness with the head of the sail split. Left again on Thursday morning, and went into Harwich in the evening. Left Friday morning, and got down off Flamborough Head on Saturday morning at four o’clock, when that terrible gale struck us. It had been blowing a moderate gale all night. We were blown right off the land—blew all our head sails to ribbons and two of the head stays with them. At last we got her hove to, with only a mainsail on her, and oil bags over the side. I very nearly lost the run of my mess, owing to the lower topsail. We lay hove to for about 40 hours, seas breaking aboard all the time. I think it was a lot worse than last year. I was over to Sunderland yesterday, was told the Woodside left on Thursday. I hope she came all right out of it.”

Then on 19th January, this appeared in the same newspaper:

THE WOODSIDE–This vessel has been posted In the Gazette as  lost. Information has reached Folkestone that one of her boats was washed ashore near Cromer, on the coast of Norfolk, leaving no doubt as to the fate of the vessel and her crew.1

A memorial service was held for the crew on Wednesday 23rd January, at which “the Folkestone band of ringers rang a muffled peal, consisting of touches of grandsire triples”. The offertory at this service raised £12 2s 6d for the Woodside fund.

Stephen Penfold, the Mayor of Folkestone, used the pages of the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald, 19th January 1895, to endorse the fundraising appeal on behalf of the crew’s widows and children. His letter mentioned that “The mate leaves a widow and two young children, another being daily expected; this is the most distressing case, as the poor woman is very ill”. And the newspaper was able to provide an update on this:

Since the letter was put in type we have been informed that the mate’s widow has given birth to an infant, and although the mother is very ill, hopes are entertained of her recovery. This adds another pathetic element to the cause, and supplies a “touch of nature” which must immensely strengthen the appeal which the worthy Mayor has now taken up as the head of the municipality.

Sadly, Jesse Wooderson’s wife Mary died. Their daughter, Jessie, was baptised at All Souls, Cheriton on 10th March 1895. Touchingly her full name was recorded as Jessie Mary Woodside Wooderson.

Contributions to the appeal came from many sources, and were duly reported in the local newspapers: The Conservative politician William Pleydell-Bouverie, Lord Radnor (his title had been Viscount Folkestone from 1869 to 1889, before succeeding to the earldom) donated £5 5s; the Shipwrecked Mariner’s Society donated £10; the Salvation Army gave £4; landlords of local hostelries donated money – probably raised from a collection in the pubs; numerous private citizens contributed small amounts; and £16 1s was raised by a concert. Folkestone Football Club organised a benefit match with the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and readers of the Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald were urged to buy a sixpenny ticket, whether or not they planned to attend the match.

On 20th March George Peden reported via the Folkestone Express, Sandgate, Shorncliffe & Hythe Advertiser that the fund was now closed.

The net amount remaining, after deducting cash advances made to Mrs. Wooderson during her illness, funeral expenses, arrears of rent, etc. was £265.

There were three little Wooderson orphans left. Mrs. Amos, mother of the late Mrs. Wooderson, has taken two of the children, and Mrs. Wooderson, mother of the late Mr. Wooderson, has taken one child.

[Although in the 1901 census, the now 6 year old Jessie was living with her uncle Walter Wooderson (a pilot) and his wife Josephine, at 16 Rosendale Road, Folkestone]

The money subscribed has been placed in the Folkestone Savings Bank, and will be paid out in small weekly sums, so that it will thereby last several years.

It now only remains to me, on behalf of these hapless women and children, to tender my most sincere thanks to the Folkestone public who so generously responded to the appeal.

The sums apportioned were as follows:

  • Mrs Milton and Mrs Amos – £80 each
  • Mrs Cotterell and Mrs Wooderson – £50 each
  • Mrs Baker – £5

It seems likely that the Lancefield brothers’ song was written as part of the fund-raising activities – hastily composed verses printed and sold locally, as the last verse puts it, to “try and help the children and wives”. We can’t know how the brothers came by the song though – John would have been 13 at the time, and Ted just 9, but one of their parents might have bought the song sheet. If they read the local newspapers they would surely have been aware of the tragedy.

It’s also unclear why the name Wooderson (mistranscribed as “Woodison” by Francis Collinson) should have become attached to the title of the song. Perhaps it was simply that the fate of Jesse Wooderson’s family seemed to be the most desperate, and attracted the most public attention.

  1. Folkestone Express, Sandgate, Shorncliffe & Hythe Advertiser, 26th January 1895 ↩︎

John and Ted Lancefield

John Alfred George Lancefield, 1881-1959

Edward Ernest Lancefield, 1885-1954

Francis Collinson collected a handful of songs from John and Ted Lancefield in June and July 1942. At the time they were employed as gardeners at Goldenhurst, Noël Coward’s country home near Aldington. Collinson and Coward were both involved in musical theatre – indeed Collinson had been one of the conductors on the original cast recording of Noël Coward’s musical Operette in 1938. Francis Collinson’s home near Bethersden was less than a dozen miles from Goldenhurst, so it would be surprising if they had not socialised from time to time. Knowing of Collinson’s interest in hunting out old country songs, if Noël Coward knew that his gardeners were singers he would have no doubt have drawn this to Collinson’s attention. Or it may even be that Collinson, on a visit to Goldenhurst, heard a gardener singing and proceeded to investigate.

The Lancefield brothers were both born at Crundale. Their parents were William, an agricultural labourer, and Ann, née Coombs. John was born on 17th August 1881 and apparently baptised at St Mary’s, Crundale the same day. Ted was born 15th April 1885, and baptised on 14th June.

By 1901 the family had moved to Cherry Gardens, Aldington. Ted was living with his parents and, like his father, was an agricultural labourer. John was recorded as “General serv agricultural”, working for John Bailey, farmer, at Falconhurst, Hurst (a couple of miles South of Aldington, and actually very close to Goldenhurst). At the next census in 1911, and in 1921, John and Ted were both living with their mother, Ann – now a widow – at Peacock Cottage, Aldington. Having previously been listed as general agricultural workers, in the 1921 census John’s occupation was given as Cowman, and Ted’s as Horseman, both working for Wheatley Bros Farmers. The Wheatleys farmed at Goldenhurst Farm – Peacock Cottage was 2 minutes’ walk from the farmhouse, and was almost certainly part of the farm estate. Ann died in 1936, but the brothers remained in the house, with one other resident, Dorothy Hills, who was listed as “Housekeeper” in the 1939 Register (presumably for Noël Coward, not for the brothers!). John and Ted were both now shown as “Gardener Heavy Worker”.

Noël Coward had found Goldenhurst (now a Grade II listed building) in 1926 after he placed an advert in the Kentish Times. He rented the property at first, but purchased it in 1927, carrying out a considerable amount of rebuilding and renovation work. The property had extensive gardens – in 1956, in a letter to Laurence Olivier explaining why he was selling Goldenhurst and moving abroad, he stated that he employed “five gardeners all year round”. The Lancefields presumably worked for him as gardeners from the beginning of his time there.

During the Second World War Goldenhurst was requisitioned by the Army, and Coward moved to White Cliffs, a rented house at St Margaret’s Bay. But he returned to Goldenhurst in December 1951, and set about repairing the damage done during four years of Army occupation. Coward’s secretary and biographer Cole Lesley remembered it thus:

Noël swung into action immediately, and so did everybody else. The next four months were beset with the same frustrations we had endured when moving in to White Cliffs; permits were still necessary for repairs and alterations, and the Army’s depredations since the requisitioning in 1940 had reduced the lovely house to a sorry state. Patience Erskine, kind friend of many years, had occupied Noel’s suite of rooms with her two dogs since the Army had finally evacuated, and that was all. Patience had taken care of the very large house, the garden and the grounds—she is a gardener by nature and from deep-rooted love of it—but the thought of getting at least thirty rooms shipshape from their stark and war-scarred condition was daunting.

No matter, I was as excited and eager as Noël at the thought of ‘coming home’. Goldenhurst really was home, which White Cliffs never quite had been, and we would end our days there we thought. Patience moved into a caravan parked near the pond until the pleasant rooms over the garage were converted into a flat for her, and we all worked with a will. The only people who didn’t bestir themselves were the bestowers of permits, until Noël became incensed by the delays.
[ … ]

The permits were granted (though far from liberal) and Patience moved into her flat— known as The Lodge from now on—where one could rely on good talk, an abundant supply of Scotch whisky and a loving welcome. She now ruled her kingdom as head gardener, Old John and his brother Ted her lieutenants, soon joined by a Kentish lad, John Brooks. Young John adored Patience, and indeed helped and served her faithfully until he died too young, twenty years later. For the next weeks we all mucked in, including Noël at weekends, wielding paintbrushes, staggering under the weight of innumerable books, and hanging pictures. 1

Ted died on 17th January 1954. His obituary in the Kentish Express, 29th January 1954, reported that “The funeral took place at the Parish Church [Aldington] of Mr. Ernest (Ted) Lancefield, who lived at Peacock Bungalow since 1908. Before retirinq through ill-health, he worked at Goldenhurst for 36 years and his employers included Mr. Noël Coward for whom he was a gardener. From 1914 to about 1946, he was a Special Constable”.

John survived his brother by 5 years. He was discovered dead in his garden on 11th May 1959, but a post-mortem confirmed that he had died of natural causes. The Kentish Express 22nd May 1959 reported on his funeral:

PLAYWRIGHT REMEMBERED HIS GARDENER

A large wreath of red roses from the famous playwright, Noël Coward was among flowers sent to Friday’s funeral of Mr. John A.G. Lancefield, of Peacock Bungalow, Aldington, who for several years was Mr. Coward’s gardener when the playwright lived at “Goldenhurst”.

For 31 years, and during two wars, Mr. Lancefield was a special constable, resigning in 1945.

As well as noting songs from John and Ted, Francis Collinson records that they gifted to him their collection of broadside ballad sheets. In an article in Kent County Journal, 6 (4), July -Sep 1945, p81 he wrote

The Kentish name for a broadsheet, which is still remembered and used, is a ballet (to rhyme with mallet). These ballets were hawked through the streets of towns and villages all over the country at a penny each, and sung or “cried” by their vendors to any old tune that happened to fit. The most extensive collection of them I have come across was in the possession of the brothers John and Ted Lancefield, of Adlington [sic]; and I have to record with gratitude their kindness in making a gift of them to me, for these old broadsheets are treasure to the song collector. One of these is reproduced below. It deals with a common subject of the broadsheet poets—shipwreck, and it is quite probable that the story was a true one, or at least had some basis in local fact. The Lancefields could not remember the tune to which it was sung, but I did get some other songs from them complete with their tunes—including one with the intriguing title of “The Folkstone Murderer.” The ‘shipwreck ballad’ generally appeals to its hearers in the last verse or in the refrain to help the widows and orphans of the disaster (here the appeal is to the Deity), but it is doubtful if any of the proceeds of its sale ever found their way to this charity!

The ballad which was reproduced in the article is ‘The Wreck of the Northfleet’ (Roud 1174), which was indeed based on an actual event. And the Lancefields had another shipwreck ballad in their repertoire, ‘The Woodside’, which commemorated the loss of a Folkestone vessel and its crew in December 1894.

Songs

  1. Cole Lesley, The Life of Noël Coward, London:Cape, 1976, p308. ↩︎

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