Francis Collinson had the words of two songs from a Mr Sawkins of Pembury, on 26th March 1952. It has not so far been possible to identify this singer from the census records for Pembury. George Frampton found two photographs of a Will Sawkins in Pembury in the Past by Mary Standen (Meresborough Books 1984). One, undated, shows three farm workers, and is captioned “The three [hop] driers have a rest on the pocket they have just finished. They are Pat Brown, Arthur Clarke and Will Sawkins who worked at Beagles Farm”. The other shows an early 1950s Darby and Joan Club Christmas dinner at the Church Institute, with Mr and Mrs Sawkins identified as amongst those present. It’s hard to tell from the photograph, but it seems likely that Mr Sawkins was born in the 1880s, or perhaps a little earlier. However, there is no William Sawkins in the census records for Pembury, so this may be a case of someone universally known as Will, but that not actually being his official forename.
At the time of the 1939 Register there was a George Sawkings, born 1877 – so the right kind of age – living with his wife, son and daughter, at Batchelors Cottages, Pembury. He was born at Elmsted, and had worked as an agricultural labourer in East Kent; but his surname is consistently spelled as Sawkings, with a “g”.
Songs
- There Was a Jolly Boatman (Roud 570)
- The Twelve Days of Christmas (Roud 68)
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