chatham dockyard old apprentices

One of the boys' favourite moments is the time they bent the new uniform rules. The boys even achieved ISMs, Imperial Service Medals - but what really stays in their memories, they say, is the 'camaraderie' and the laughter. [20] Another novel application of steam power was embarked on in 1817, with the building of a 'Lead and Paint Mill', in which a single beam engine powered a rolling mill and a series of devices for grinding pigment and mixing paint; the plant was operational from 1819. We place some essential cookies on your device to make this website work. Mr Elgar, 66, who lives in Hoo St Werburgh, was transferred to the naval base at Devenport after the Chatham closure in March 1984. These are the first standardised industrial buildings. Saw HMS Jamaica of Bismarck fame and I believe we saw HMS Manxman too in which a friend's uncle had served during WW2. Nicholas, South Africa, last updated: 26/03/2009 at 15:36created: 26/03/2009. Please do get in touch with a member of the collections team if you have any questions about this project. I later worked on such ships as HMS Lincoln, Warspite, Spitfire, Torquay, Hebe, Vidal, Hydra and many many more. Subscribe now for regular news, updates and priority booking for events.Sign up, All content is available under the Open Government Licence NOSTALGIA: The mysterious case of the disappearing Portsmouth Guildhall, When Purbrook had three pubs within 100 yards - Nostalgia. Those that we have in our collections are ones that have been donated to us, usually by families of former dockyard workers or Chatham Ratings. We receive enquiries from all over the world covering a wide range of different subjects. The officers all had servants, who were provided with their own accommodation in the garret. The surviving records for dockyard workers tend to be various kinds of records of pay, including muster books (but not after the mid-19th century) and pension records. By 1611 Chatham had been chosen as its location (in preference to Deptford, which at the time was the nation's principal naval shipbuilding yard; this led to speculation that Deptford was going to be sold off). He said: It was second to none. We were all in the same boat together and struck up an instant friendship, which we still have.. Apprentices of Chatham Dockyard - Particularly 1956 to 1961. The Trust is preparing an application for the Dockyard and its Defences to become a World Heritage Site. No 4, 5 and 6 Slips 1848. Coordinates: 512350N 003140E / 51.39722N 0.52778E / 51.39722; 0.52778 Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional . Great days out, can still smell the hot dog stand with its fried onions. who died 02/05/1915 BABY 700 CEMETERY, ANZAC Turkey (including Gallipoli) ' Our Education Directory has everything you could possibly need! [134] In 1865, following the opening of new and enlarged hospital facilities in Fort Pitt, the old Garrison Hospital was closed; its buildings (on what is now Maxwell Road) were converted into barracks and named 'Upper Chatham Barracks'[135] (later 'Upper Kitchener Barracks'). [136] The new development has retained the name Kitchener Barracks. Undoubtedly there are countless memories and stories from the dockyard, particularly 'the bygone era' of the 1950s and 1960s, when times were very different, but many of them don't get recorded or spoken about. New married quarters were also opened in March that same year, into which soldiers' families were moved, mostly from lodgings in the town. This guide will help you find records of the staff of Royal Navy dockyards, victualling yards and other naval establishments from around the 1920s or before. Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. The group would welcome any recorder from the Dockyard who would like to join the group. if (year < 1000) year+=1900 The oldest surviving naval storehouse in any Royal Dockyard. However, it was not unusual for officers to move between the the Navy Board and the Board of Admiralty over the course of their career. It has been Grade I listed since August 1999. The chances of finding someone by name within this series are steadily improving as details are added to the online catalogue as part of the Navy Board cataloguing project. He has two sons Samuel, 35, and Lloyd, 39, who went into engineering. var year=mydate.getYear() Chatham (1567-1983) Deptford (1513-1869) Plymouth - from 1824 known as Devonport Dockyard (1690-present) . "Ted was living in the Maidstone area at . The annual intake was usually restricted to ten applicants and we were required to attend the Dockyard School for three years and pay a weekly visit to the Royal Navy Barracks gym and swimming pool for training sessions by naval personnel.Our apprenticeship covered many departments including the Boat House, Mast House, Drawing Office, Joiners Shop, Paint Shop, Plumbing, Ship Repairs (rivetting, caulking etc. Also, is it definitely RNH? [137], The Royal Marine Barracks, Chatham were established in 1779, on a site nestled between the Gun Wharf to the west, the Dockyard to the north, and Infantry Barracks to the east. [143], Media related to Chatham Dockyard at Wikimedia Commons. Pay once to enjoy again and again for an entire year. dailyinfo[31]=' 15229 Lance Corporal Ernest Charles EVANS 11th Bn. When the first Labour budget in eighteen . My Grandad had already retired by the time the Dockyard was due to close." Amusingly, they rigged the draw, Keith says, so their friend would win. Another, Mike North, got in touch and sent me his cartoon of the staff who were there when the station closed. 3 Slip). [122] A few later buildings have survived: a long brick shed of 1805, southwest of the Command House, which once housed carpenters, wheelwrights and other workers as well as stores of various kinds,[123] the adjacent building (machine shop, late-19th century) which now serves as a public library, and the building known as the White House (built as the Clerk of the Cheque's residence in 1816). This was a somewhat unusual apprenticeship as we were required to sign on with the Royal Navy for twelve years from the age of eighteen, part of which was to complete a 4 year apprenticeship in Chatham Dockyard. [12], The dockyard received its first royal visit, from Elizabeth I, in 1573; later, in 1606, James I used Chatham dockyard for a meeting with Christian IV of Denmark. By 1619, the new dockyard consisted of a new dry dock and wharf with storehouses, all enclosed within a brick perimeter wall. For records of workers from the last 100 years you should start your search at one of the dockyard historical trusts or societies or at a local county or metropolitan archive. [131], During the Napoleonic Wars large numbers of troops were concentrated at Chatham Lines to counter the threat of a French invasion. In 1782, an, 18701892 A number of forts built at a greater distance from the dockyard: Forts, Resident Commissioner, Cadiz Yard, (1694), This page was last edited on 18 March 2023, at 23:48. He said: The training was excellent. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. Thereafter this was divided into three sections: 80 acres (0.32km2), the 18th century core of the site, was transferred to a charity called the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. At around the same time the officers' blocks on the terrace were given over to provide accommodation for sergeants and married NCOs, the officers being provided with new quarters 'near the fortifications at Prince Henry's Bastion'. The attached document lists all Apprentices connected to the towns of Chatham and Rochester, the majority worked in the Chatham Dockyard between 1710 and 1811. All these developments were to come together with the construction of HMS Achilles, in a newly expanded No 2 Dock, between 1860 and 1864: the first true iron-hulled battleship to be launched in a royal dockyard. Kent ME4 4TZ, Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust is a Registered Charity No. The Commissioners were:[89]. 'Everything had to be done by 4pm on Fridays', which made Fridays quite manic and stressful at times, they said. From 1844 St Mary's was used as an 'Invalid Barracks', accommodating soldiers having to return from service in different parts of the British Empire because of illness, injury or age. Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry who died 20/04/1915 YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL Belgium ' Posted 11 June , 2020 . var fontstart = '' The growing importance of the dockyard was illustrated with the addition soon afterwards of a mast pond, and the granting of additional land on which a second (double) dry dock was constructed, along with a sail loft, a ropery and residences for the dockyard officers: all of which were completed by 1624. The Black Yarn House to store the tarred yarn. Accommodating some 1,800 men, Chatham was one of the first large-scale Army barracks in England. Recommended Posts. Royal Welsh Fusiliers who died 23/04/1918 WARLOY-BAILLON COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION France ' The barracks remained in military use until 2014. Div Royal Marine Light Infantry who died 05/05/1915 HELLES MEMORIAL Turkey (including Gallipoli) ' [20] The following year, John Rennie was engaged to build an entirely new dry dock (following his own recommendations) which was the first in the dockyard to be built entirely of stone; it was built on the site of the old smithery. It was not until 1837, however, that steam power was first introduced into the ropery, and the smithery received its first engine (for blowing the forges and powering tilt hammers) in 1841. How the military presence developed after 1820, showing how the need for housing gave birth to New Brompton, and showing roads and railways. St Marys Island was just waste land, marsh, nothing, now look at it, he said. [28] In 1860 the dockyard's policing was also transferred to the new No.4 Division of the Metropolitan Police, which remained in that role until 1932. This was a somewhat unusual . Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust cares for over 70,000 objects in its collection ranging from archaeology, rigging, hand tools, machinery to fine art and photography. v3.0, Coopers and Labourers, 1797-1816, yard unknown, Caulkers, Coopers and Ropemakers, 1798-1831, Registers of protections from being pressed, 1794-1815, Civil Establishment of Admiralty and Navy Board (including yard officers), 1694-1832, clerk of cheque and storekeeper responsible for finance and administration, master shipwright responsible for building and repairs, master attendants and boatswain supervised yard craft and boats in ordinary (on reserve), master ropemaker responsible for the ropeyard, the agent victualler (in larger establishments only), Plymouth from 1824 known as Devonport Dockyard (1690-present), Pembroke Dockyard at Pembroke (1815-1947), Jamaica Dockyard also known as Port Royal (c.1675-1905), Kingston Dockyard on Lake Ontario, Canada (1788-1853), Penang Island part of modern day Malaysia also known as Prince of Wales Island (1800s), Port Mahon Dockyard on Minorca (1708-1802). The names that I have are Bob Piper, Calvin Sims, Chris Wyatt, Tony Davies, Malcolm Copper, Terry OHagan, Stuart Lukey, Ed Salvage, Ian Privet, Mick Tucker, Michael Arnell, Malcolm Bain, Allan Fudge, Barry Goble, Dennis Purvis, Bernhard Reed, Malcolm Reglar, Joseph Shears, Alan Weatley and John Miller.. This is a story of the creation of the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust and its history, from Elizabethan origins to fleet base and shipbuilding yard . Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust is committed to helping the public who have enquiries about our collections. [42], The easternmost basin (Basin No 3) was handed over to the Medway Ports authority and is now a commercial port (Chatham Docks). Some post-1920s service records for dockyards personnel are held by the Ministry of Defence. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. We can either copy our records onto paper or deliver them to you digitally, Visit us in Kew to see original documents or view online records for free, Consider paying for You are in: Kent > History > Chatham Historic Dockyard > Your memories. It came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional defences. Visit Veterans UK to find out how to request a summary of a service record. Trying to find the right nursery, school, college, university or training provider in Kent or Medway? When the . Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust holds very few records for either Naval or Dockyard Personnel. Captain of the Dockyard's House 19th century. Charles Dickens (18121870), who had grown up in Chatham, returned in later life and described in 1861 the novel sight (and sounds) of a ship being built for the first time of iron (rather than wood): Twelve hundred men are working at her now; twelve hundred men working on stages over her sides, over her bows, over her sterns, under her keel, between her decks, down in her hold, within her and without, crawling and creeping into the finest curves of her lines wherever it is possible for men to twist. [41] The Georgian site is now a visitor attraction under the care of the Trust: Chatham Historic Dockyard. [16], Peter Pett, of the family of shipwrights whose history is closely connected to the Chatham dockyard, became commissioner in 1649. Though I have been on visits it's just not the same!" Both my Grandad and my Dad worked there. Bob recalls: In the second year we were given the job of building the Dockyard entry for the 1965 Southsea Carnival which was based on the old woman who lived in a shoe.. In 1665, the Navy Board approved Sheerness as a site for a new dockyard, and building work began; but in 1667 the still-incomplete Sheerness Dockyard was captured by the Dutch Navy and used as the base for an attack on the English fleet at anchor in the Medway itself. "It's a nice crowd of boys, it's fun being here," says group member Joe May, 86 from Torpoint. The yard would have received, stored and issued cannons and gun-carriages (along with projectiles, accoutrements and also all manner of small arms) for ships based in the Medway, as well as for local artillery emplacements and for army use. Three ex-Chatham Dockyard workers Brian Jenkins, Barry Stevens and John The project has enabled a sustainable future for one of the Dockyards most important Scheduled Ancient Monuments. Chatham, [110], On 5 September 1971 all Flag Officers of the Royal Navy holding positions of Admiral Superintendents at Royal Dockyards were redesignated as Port Admirals. Careening took place on the river, according to a Privy Council instruction of 1550;[7] for more specialised repairs and maintenance, however, ships would have had to travel to one of the purpose-built royal dockyards (the nearest being those on the Thames: Deptford and Woolwich). Chatham dockyard closed in 1984, and 84 acres (34ha) of the Georgian dockyard is now managed as the Chatham Historic Dockyard visitor attraction by the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. The old boys of the dockyard who still meet up for a pint asked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the number of apprentices that entered Chatham Dockyard in each of the years 1974 to 1977; and what is the projected number for 1978 (a) as craft entries and (b) as technician entries. [129] The establishment of the Dept was linked to the appointment in 1778 of an 'Inspector General and Superintendent of the Recruiting of all the Forces employed on foreign service', based in Chatham, who provided a degree of centralised oversight of recruitment (responsibility for which had previously been left entirely to the regiments). Similar but smaller blocks to the north and south housed ancillary services, such as the pay office, infirmary and Quartermaster's stores.
Governor Desantis Press Conference Today, Articles C

chatham dockyard old apprentices 2023