My maternal grandfather David Clarke was born around 1888. David Clarke’s father (my great grandfather) was also called David and was born on 26th August 1842. Old David Clarke was a relatively wealthy accountant who made his money providing auditing services to the cotton milling industry. We have a faded photograph of him at work at a large and ornate desk, presumably taken somewhere near Oldham at around 1885.
He married a much younger woman, Sarah Kenyon on the 9th April 1882. Sarah was born in 1862. In the 1881 Census she was recorded as being 19 years old, and was then working as a dressmaker living with her married sister Elizabeth Nicholson at 119 West Street, Oldham). The Kenyons were also reasonably well-off and built and owned a street of row houses when Oldham was developing. [My mother was born Mabel Kenyon Clarke and I named my second son Peter Geoffrey Kenyon Johnson].
Old man Clarke retired to Nantwich, Cheshire from the Lancashire town of Oldham (near Manchester), establishing a young family consisting of David (the eldest), Nettie, Rosie , Florrie and Frank.
The Marriage Certificate for great grandfather David Clarke and Sarah Kenyon records David as an Accountant. It confirms Sarah's address as 119 West Street, Oldham and her married sister Betty Nicholson was one of the witnesses. The other witness was George / Georgie Kenyon (presumably her brother). The couple were married in a Baptist Chapel. The Marriage Certificate entries are not clear on the photocopy and we cannot be entirely sure of some of the other details. It seems that David's father was Ebenezer Clarke (and that he was / had been a Shoemaker). He must have been born around 1820. Sarah's father Oliver Kenyon was already dead by the time she married (which may explain why she was living with her sister) . We can't be at all sure of Oliver Kenyon's occupation. It clearly was not a common one that can be easily deciphered from Minister John Barry's quirky handwriting.
In the 1891 Census, my great grandfather was recorded as an Accountant (47) living at the Whitehouse, Willaston, near Nantwich, with wife Sarah (29) born Oldham, Lancs; daughters Florence Eveline and Rosella born Manchester, and younger children Lillian Annette and David Kenyon (my grandfather) who had been born in Willaston. David's birthplace is clearly recorded as Weston Favell, Northamptonshire.
And we can pick up David again in 1881 as being 36, unmarried, lodging with Henry Lyon at 13 Manor Terrace, Liscard, Birkenhead. At that time he was described as 'Bookkeeper to Wallasey Local Board' (i.e. treasurer to the Local Council) and was also recorded as having been born at Weston Favell, Northants. At least the Northants connection links to shoemaking is established - and although there is no obvious link in the 1881 Census to an Ebenezer Clarke who might have been David's father, there are Clark(e)s who were shoemakers living at Weston Favell, including a Henry Clark (66) b Weston Favell and his wife Ann Clark (58), dressmaker, b Rockingham, Northants, who could be my great grandparents (assuming that the full name was Ebenezer Henry Clark(e).
The Cheshire Clarke family lived then at ‘The Whitehouse’ which was then on the outskirts of the Barony, Nantwich (the house is still there). David was an adventurous youngster who found his niche in the merchant navy. Bright and diligent, David soon rose in rank and he eventually became a First Officer / Captain with the Elder Dempster line sailing out of Liverpool to West Africa. On one occasion he took some brass bars with him to Benin, Nigeria and the local craftsmen made 2 large trays and several small ones.
We still have one of the large trays (the other went to the Clarkes) and I hope that we always keep it as a family heirloom. It dates from about 1910 and is unique in depicting a giraffe – these have long been extinct in West Africa. David travelled very widely and may well have also visited New Zealand on one of his voyages. We still have a copy of a charming 1908 letter from him when he was 20 years old to his younger brother Frank (13 years old) that was posted in Vera Cruz, Mexico. This gives some idea of his adventurous character and describes his journey on a tramp steamer taking mules from New Orleans to British India (see below).
This original copy of this letter has the cover note written by my grandmother Gladys Clarke to all subsequent family members who read it: "This letter was given to me August 10th 1939. Always treasure it, Mother"
S.S. Yola
Vera Cruz
MEXICO
August 10th 1908
Dear Little Frankie
I felt I must write a letter to you alone because you are my only brother. Maybe you think I have forgotten you. Far from it, I could never forget you, my dear little brother.
Perhaps you have forgotten all about it but I haven't - you gave me a little box before I left you left with the King and Queen on it. It had had Rowntree's toffee in it - I think Nettie gave it to you. Well, I will tell you all about it - one of the Mexicans who came onboard our ship, gave me a small piece of silver wire. I kept this wire and wrapped it round this little box and hung it up in my bunk, where everyone can see it. Every time I look at this precious little box it puts me in mind of something -guess what it is? Well, I shall tell you. Every time I look at it, I think about a fat little boy - his name is Frankie. He has two rosy cheeks and two fat legs and now he is laughing and talking in faraway Old England, while an older brother who idolizes him is in South America - but who very soon will be in the North (North America).
Frankie, on board our ship there is a thing called a telescope - and the captain allows me to look through it, and I see something which I know you would like to have. These are monkeys and parrots screaming in the palm trees, and on those palm trees are coconuts, bananas, peaches and everything what you like - and perhaps if I am able, I will fetch you one home. I hope you will be a good boy to Dear Mother - a far better one than I have been. Look after her and comfort her whenever she needs it and do not cheek or have anything to do with bad boys.
Frankie, where we are now, you can see sharks 10 feet long swimming in the water - terrible monsters they are. Also sword fish and thousands of other things - fish that have wings and can fly. On Saturday 9th August, it was wired to us that the King was going to be crowned. All the flags were up and at night, a lot of fireworks were let off - would you have liked to have been there?
Tell mother to write to me in a month at Port Said. The address is:
D.K. Clarke
S.S. Yola
Care of the British Consul
Port Said
EGYPT
Also say to mother that I have put in your letter that I love the sea so far and am in the Captain's good books - that means a lot to me when we return. We are chartered by the Government to carry mules to Bombay from New Orleans. Perhaps we shall not see England again for two years.
Dear Frankie do keep my guinea pigs living if possible - I should so like to see them well and fat when I return - and also you. Tell mother she must not sell the house for anything, for if she does it will drive me mad. I hope Rosie and Nettie have passed their exams 1st class and Florrie can speak French like a native and will soon be teaching piano to youngsters. I hope Mr. Nichols got the hay harvest in all right. If he had weather like it is out here, it would be made in a day.
Here, I must bid you goodbye - for a very short time. Frankie, you need not be afraid of me forgetting you. Give my undying love to Rosie, Nettie, Florrie, and the Queen of all Doting Mothers.
I remain
Your loving brother.
David.
The data on the Clarkes that can be gleaned from the 1901 Census is as follows. They were then living at 20 Whitehouse Lane, Wistaston, Nantwich. By that time, my great grandfather David had already died and Sarah was the head of household, aged 39. She had been born in Oldham, Lancashire. Her children are given as: Florence (Florrie) 17 dressmaker, born Oldham [never married]; Rossela A. (Rosie) 16, Teachers School Assistant, born Wermeth, Oldham [married Mr Green - children Nora, Molly, David, Geoff]; Lillian Annette (Nettie) 14, Teachers School, Assistant, born Wermeth, Oldham [married Jack Sleath, no children]; David Kenyon 13, born Nantwich (my grandfather); Francies A. (Frankie) 5.
Apparently, the family was very well-respected and Sarah was offered the opportunity to become a Justice of the Peace - very rare for a woman at that time. There are also oral history memories of the family have a carriage / trap pulled by 2 white horses (today's equivalent of a Rolls or Jag). However, inflation and children gradually ate into Sarah's resources and the family became quite impoverished.
My father Jay was appalled in the late 1930s to find them using old man Clarke's book collection for toilet paper. I remember visiting Florrie as a boy when she was living in poor circumstances in Crewe - and being present when her little back-to-back house was being cleared out after her death. Frank went to work in the Potteries at the Dunlop Tyre Factory and had two daughters. He used to visit us occasionally at the farm, bringing other members of his family along in the sidecar of his motorbike.
My maternal grandmother, Gladys Salter was born on 25th January 1893. She is the only one of my four blood grandparents that I ever knew and I was very fond of her . There are two small plaques in Wellington Cathedral under the title ‘The Cathedral Builders’, recognizing my donations to the 1999 extension fund. One of the plaques is inscribed ‘For Cyril Johnson and Gladys Clarke’ . Gladys was the daughter of Joseph Salter, born 1864 (from whom I inherited one of my Christian names).
I originally surmised that Joseph was the younger son of a farmer who became interested in dog breeding (most of the current breeds were being stabilized at the end of the 19th century). The Salters married in 1889 (marriage recorded in Winchester) and moved to Cheshire from Hampshire when Joseph took a job with a wealthy patron, Mr Henry Reginald ‘Jack’ Cooke, developing the Black Flat Coat Retriever breed .
Old Grandma Salter - Mary Elizabeth was born in 1868. As a boy, I went down to Romsey, Hampshire with Gladys to spend time with her cousin - my Auntie Rose Rice. Gladys was one of three children – the others were Reg (who had two sons late in life, Reg and Don Salter), and Mabel (who married Bern Mills and had a daughter Betty and a son John). The Salter family home in Nantwich was called ‘Riverside’ (the house still exists). The family has proudly cherished a list of the prizes won by Joseph’s dogs over the years (as given in a previous blog entry).
The details for the family from the 1901 Census are as follows. They are recorded as living at Riverside. Joseph Salter was 37 and was recorded as a Groom Liveryman who had been born in Upham, Hampshire. His wife Mary was 33 and she had been born in Market Lavington, Wiltshire. The children were Mabel (10); Gladys, my grandmother(8); and Albert Reginald [Uncle Reg] (6). I can now also add data from the Marriage Certificate for Joseph Salter and Mary Elizabeth Davis. They were married 9 December 1889 at the Parish Church of Martyr Worthy, Hampshire. Both Joseph and Mary Elizabeth were 25 at the time. Joseph was described as a bachelor, working as a groom in Nantwich, Cheshire. His father - also Joseph Salter - is also described as a groom. Elizabeth's father Henry Davis is described as a shepherd.
Given the above information, I am fairly sure that Old Joseph Salter 66 was recorded as working as a Liveryman for the Hornsley Family at Upham House, Hants in 1891, living at Little Stables with his wife Elizabeth W. Salter (also 66, nee Elizabeth Palfrey). Joseph was recorded as having been born in Ottery St Mary's, Devon (where many Salters are recorded as farmers / farm labourers). In 1881, Elizabeth (55) born Ottery St Mary, Devon, appears to have been caught temporarily as the Head of Household, at Widler's Lane, Upham, with daughter Mary A. (23), dressmaker, son Robert (21), shepherd, and son Henry (21), Agricultural Labourer, all the children having been born in Upham, Hants.
I am also fairly sure that my great grandfather Henry Davis is the Agricultural Labourer recorded in the 1891 Census, as being 50 years old and as living with wife Martha 47 [nee Martha Whatley] at Main Road, Matyr Worthy. They still had a host of Mary Elizabeth's siblings living with them - Charles 15, born St Giles, Dorset; Alfred 13; Frederick 10; Rose 7; Selina 5; Ernest 4, and Annie 1 (all the later children having been born in a string of villages along the Hampshire Downs, presumably as Henry moved to find work).
The overall feeling that I have is one of immense respect for Joseph and Mary Salter in breaking away from pretty feudal conditions and making a very positive new life in Cheshire. Joseph must have been a man of extraordinary character and talent. It also seems charming that Joseph returned to Hampshire to claim a childhood sweetheart. Nice to know that we share some good strong enterprising stock!
We are also lucky in another sense in having a very complete record of the type of life that their forbears lived, provided by the Wessex Novels of Thomas Hardy (see Jude the Obscure, Tess of the D'Urbevilles and the Mayor of Casterbridge for starters).
Strangely, Joseph Salter was a beneficiary of the Depression and prospered while the Johnsons faced very hard times. As a lifetime saver, Joseph was able to buy successively bigger farms for cash as deflation boosted the value of money. Gladys also gained as the pension that she received from Elder Dempster appreciated in buying power. She was able to buy and run a car in the 1930s - a quite extraordinary situation for a young widow. However, the inflation that developed in the post-War period rapidly eroded her financial position.
David Clarke and Gladys Salter met and married in Nantwich. However, they first set up house in Liverpool as David’s career with Elder Dempster prospered. We have two beautiful water colour landscapes by the well-known artist Scarborough that date from this period. These illustrate merchant shipping in the Port of London around 1900 and are always likely to remain valuable (more in the UK than in NZ). My mother Mabel Kenyon Clarke was born on 19th June 1915. She hated the name Mabel and always used the nickname ‘Meg’. Her brother – my Uncle Ron Clarke – was born in 1918.
