SCARBOROUGH MARITIME HERITAGE CENTRE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Wonderful Friendly Helpful Staff
Admiral Sir John Lawson, Edward Harland, Sitwell family, Tindall family, Woodall family, Lord John Beauclerk, Martin Frobisher, Oliver Sarony, Albert Strange, John Dean, Lord Londesborough and many more. Please contact us for more information.
Job Titles:
- Owner of the Yorkshire Coble 'Gratitude WY97' That Was Part of the Queen 's Flotilla
Alan Richmond In January 2024, a small WW2 RAF Service Issue New Testament Bible was donated to us. Inside the cover was the name G Richmond and Spreight Lane Steps. We researched this Scarborough man and found the following story. Geo...
Alan Richmond was the owner of the Yorkshire Coble 'Gratitude WY97' that was part of the Queen's Flotilla on the Thames for her Golden Jubilee in 2012. She also made an appearance on the West Pier for Seafest.
Alan was in the merchant navy and the RNLI. His son, Alan, worked for the Maersk shipping line.
Job Titles:
- Engineer
- Engineer & Benefactor
Alfred Shuttleworth Engineer & Benefactor Alfred Shuttleworth was a businessman/engineer, who never made a permanent home in Scarborough, but nevertheless was a major benefactor to the town. His father was Jacob Shuttleworth, who ha...
Alfred Shuttleworth was a businessman/engineer, who never made a permanent home in Scarborough, but nevertheless was a major benefactor to the town. His father was Jacob Shuttleworth, who had taken over the running of his father's boat building business, on the river Witham, Lincolnshire, in 1832. In adjoining premises to the boat building yard was a steam-packet company run by Nathaniel Clayton, who had taken over the business on his father's death in 1827, Nathanial had also built an iron-foundry on the site. In 1842 Jacob married Nathaniel's sister, Sarah Grace Clayton, and around the same time Jacob and Nathaniel established the firm Clayton and Shuttleworth, building and selling steam and traction engines; they initially specialised in agricultural machinery such as threshing machines and hoists. The company was extremely successful, leading to the opening of branches in Austria, Hungary, and the present-day countries of Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine.
On 23 May 1843, Sarah and Jacob had a son Alfred, followed in 1845 by a second son, Frank. Sadly, in 1849 Sarah died and Alfred was sent away to school in Rugby. On finishing his education, he entered the family business, working in every section of the company before being made a partner in 1869. At the same time, he married Nathaniel's daughter, his cousin, Mary Ann Clayton, on the 11 March 1869. Their home was in Lincoln, but they found they loved Scarborough spending many months in the Esplanade area of the town. In 1880 Mary Ann died, at just 35-year-old, whilst visiting Scarborough and Alfred had her body returned to Lincoln to be buried in the family plot.
Even Mary Ann's death never dampened Alfred's love of Scarborough, and in 1905 he bought Redcourt on the Esplanade as a holiday home. Redcourt had been built just four years earlier for Colonel Frederick W Tannett-Walker, a mechanical and civil engineer, his invalid wife and two daughters; however, the cost of building it had proved to have stretched his means too far.
At the time Alfred bought Redcourt, he changed the name to Red Court, the town corporation was having a problem with the Warwick Tower. The Revolving Observational Tower sited near the castle entry had been built in 1897 by Thomas Warwick, after a little early success it started failing as a business venture; and Warwick walked away taking no responsibility for it. The corporation were left with a pile of rusting steel and the 500 tons of concrete it was built on. At the time the corporation had little spare money to solve the problem, so Alfred stepped in and paid the full cost of the tower's removal.
As Alfred's permanent home was in Lincoln he was just as, if not more, generous to them as Scarborough. He was the Lincoln JP and in 1899 he was appointed the High Sheriff of Lincoln. He lived at Minster Yard until 1888, when he purchased Eastgate House, at the other side of the Cathedral. In 1892 he bought The Dolphin, one of the oldest inns in Lincoln, and had it demolished because it spoilt his view of the Cathedral. He also owned Hartsholme Hall near Lincoln, where, after a short illness, he died on 25 November 1925.
Arthur Miller was born in 1936 in Salford. He grew up on a farm near Bridlington and went to the Hull Navigation School. Age 16 he joined the Merchant Navy, Bank Line, and sailed the world, being at sea for up to 2 year stretches. In 1962 he joined Fyffes and married Hester in 1966. He retired from sea in 1973 and started work for the Ministry of Trade Examination Board, testing seamanship skills. In 1977 he became Scarborough's Harbour Master for 24 years. He retired age 65 and passed away in 2023.
Job Titles:
- Seeking Information on the Smalley Family
Job Titles:
- Great Sense of History and Knowledge
Captain Peter Simpson Captain Peter Simpson (16/5/1937 to 16/5/2024) was a valued member of the Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre for over a decade. He helped with the refurbishment of 45 Eastborough and was a weekly volunteer and a valued...
Captain Peter Simpson (16/5/1937 to 16/5/2024) was a valued member of the Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre for over a decade. He helped with the refurbishment of 45 Eastborough and was a weekly volunteer and a valued trustee. He was always kind and friendly, sharing his knowledge and advice. He wrote his memoirs about his working life history that can be seen in our Centre or downloaded here . They give us an amazing insight into life in the Merchant Navy. From the Graham Sea Training School, Peter learnt his trade and progressed through the ranks, visiting ports all over the world. He will be sadly missed by us all.
Captain Sydney Smith was an important resident of Scarborough. He worked at Trinity House and built up detailed records of thousands of ships that were made or sailed in an out of Scarborough over the centuries. He was also a member of the Sons of Neptune who campaigned against sewage pollution in the sea here. Photographs credit to David Barry.
Job Titles:
- Very Informative and Interesting, Friendly Staff
After George Alderson Smith's death Wheatcroft Cliff was sold to the Laughton family (The acter Charles Laughton was part of this family) who owned a number of high class hotels in Scarborough, a few being the Victoria, Pavilion and Royal, they renamed the house Holbeck Hall. In WW2 it was closed and towards the end of the war it was used as a resettlement home for returning prisoners of war. After the war it was sold by the Laughton's and changed hands a number of times until it was acquired by the English Rose group of hotels in 1988.
Frank Dalton RNLI Bronze Mdeal Holder In January 1951 the Lifeboat, named the ECJR, see note 1, was new to Scarborough, at 11.15 on the morning of 9th December 1951 a call was answered from a Dutch coaster, ‘Westkust' that was in di...
Frank Dalton was posthumously awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal for his gallant conduct whilst coxswain, John Sheader and 2nd Mechanic Thomas Mainprize were also awarded the Bronze Medal.
George Alderson Smith - Steam Trawler Owner George Alderson Smith was born in Leeds on 6 March 1834, he was the second son of John Smith, a banker, and Ann Catherine Jane Metcalfe. On leaving school he was articled to be a solicitor's clerk,...
George Alderson Smith was born in Leeds on 6 March 1834, he was the second son of John Smith, a banker, and Ann Catherine Jane Metcalfe. On leaving school he was articled to be a solicitor's clerk, and eventually, briefly, going into partnership with JA Ikin an attorneys and solicitors practice in Leeds; but by 1859 the partnership was dissolved, and George turned to manufacturing worsted goods.
On 1 August 1860 he married Helen Alder, at Christ Church, in Hull, she was the daughter of John Alder, a corn merchant and Mary. Sadly, Helen died giving birth to their sixth child, Alder on 23 October 1870. By 1879 George had retired to Scarborough and against many people's advice he had Wheatcroft Cliff built on the cliff top off what is now Holbeck Gardens. His retirement was not unproductive however, as over the next few years he became involved with the Grand Hotel Company, became chairman of the South Cliff Tramway Company and a director of Scarborough Spa Company, he also became a JP and Deputy Lieutenant for the North Riding of Yorkshire.
In addition, he built a fleet of steam trawlers, it has been said that at one time he owned the largest fleet of steam trawlers in the country. In the 1890's a different way of trawling was being tried out on the relatively new screw steam trawlers, one of the pioneers of this form of trawling was Tom Normandale, Skipper on Alderson Smith's steam trawler the Otter. The boards used to keep the trawl nets open became known as Otter Boards, after the name of the boat they were first used on.
n 1900 George remarried to Eleanor Marianne Eden Cookson at Skipton, she was the daughter of William Cookson, a retired Army Major and Eleanor Ann, and they had a daughter in 1904. By WW1 his fishing fleet had been reduced to just three trawlers, the Seal, the Otter and the Dalhousie.
The George Coull collection of photographs The George Coull collection of maritime photos was generously donated to Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre by Mr. Coull during his lifetime but was so large it had to be transported from Aberdeen to Sc...
A Short Biography of George Scales George Scales (1917 - 2005) George spent his entire life in Scarborough (although, I believe his first few months were lived in Filey). His parents, Thomas Scales and Edith (ne...
George Coull became associated with Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre when vice chairman George Westwood procured the collection having been associated with him for a number of years through the mutual interest of fishing boat photos. However it was George Scales who was the common denominator in the procurement of the collection for he and George Coull had been exchanging maritime photos for decades.
When George Scales passed away George Westwood procured the George Scales collection to be donated to Scarborough Maritime Heritage centre and when it was suggested to George Coull that his collection could be kept alongside the George Scales collection he accepted without hesitation and the collection was brought to Scarborough from the Kincorth area of Aberdeen.
George Coull was a native of Aberdeen and worked practically all his life in a ship repair yard in the Torrey district of Aberdeen and it was from his place of work that many of his photos were taken with a Russian made 35mm SLR Zenith. From the shipyard and other vantage points around the quaysides he would photograph all manner of shipping in transit to and from the port of Aberdeen but steam trawlers were his real passion.
When George Coull became associated with George Scales of Scarborough together they set up a network of like minded people throughout Britain who shared the hobby of ship photography and would exchange hard copy prints by post. Sadly the digital age of photography and email communications preceded both George Coull and George Scales which could have enabled massive financial savings and the two collection may have been considerably larger.
Both men are now gone but their legacy will serve for decades to come as volunteers at the Heritage Centre are painstakingly digitally copying every image. This is no mean feat as the George Coull collection is believed to number 30000 photographs.
Job Titles:
- Very Interesting, Helpful Staff
Job Titles:
- Married Ernest Dade, Artist
Henry Barlow Carter Artist In August 1793, Joseph Carter and Elisabeth Ann Barlow married at Mary Magdalene Church, Bermondsey, Middlesex; eleven years later, on 4thFebruary 1804 their son Henry Barlow Carter was born. On the baptisma...
In August 1793, Joseph Carter and Elisabeth Ann Barlow married at Mary Magdalene Church, Bermondsey, Middlesex; eleven years later, on 4 th February 1804 their son Henry Barlow Carter was born. On the baptismal records Joseph is registered as a Gent of Long Lane, Bermondsey. Sadly, much of Henry's early life has been mis-recorded by various biographers, who have confused him with his uncle, Henry Barlow, also from Bermondsey. It is said without any hard evidence that he (Henry Barlow Carter) served in the Royal Navy (there are no records of him serving, however his uncle served in the East India Company), he probably took an early interest in ships and seafaring life because he lived just a short walk from the Thames, which would have been a hive of shipping activity at that time. Joseph and Elizabeth Ann died in 1834 and 1846, respectively.
Job Titles:
- Engineer
- Engineer and Lock and Lift Covers
Henry Harry Pickup Pickup's Engineering - Harpic Henry Harry Pickup was born in Scarborough on 16thNovember 1888 he was the son of Henry Pickup (1859 - 1940) founder of Pickup's Engineering Ltd, and Florence Emily Alliso...
Henry Pickup Engineer and Lock and Lift Covers Henry Pickup was born on 20 October 1859 at Whitby, he was the son of Henry Pickup (1831-1928) who was a whitesmith and Mary Waudby (1835-1883). When his father had completed his apprenticeship whi...
Henry Harry Pickup was born in Scarborough on 16 th November 1888 he was the son of Henry Pickup (1859 - 1940) founder of Pickup's Engineering Ltd, and Florence Emily Allison (1864 - 1946) of Norwood in London. Harry was educated at a private school in Boston Spa, after leaving school he spent some time at his father's business learning the engineering trade before emigrating to Canada in 1911.
In 1913 a Scarborough woman, Gertrude Mary Newlove (1889 - 1976) arrived in Canada, and they married, they probably intended to live in Canada, but for whatever reason, they returned to Scarborough the same year (1913) and started their family of four children, three boys and a girl. In the early 1920's they moved home from Scarborough to Teddington in London where Henry Harry and Gertrude had their fifth child, another boy. It was about this time that Henry Harry discovered that the waste product, nitre cake, from post war, London's munitions factories when mixed with water, made a powerful toilet cleaner and limescale remover, he named the product Harpic from his own name Har(ry)Pic(kup). The cleaning solution could be made using a domestic coffee grinder and it was at first developed by the Pickup company before they sold the rights to Reckitt's in 1932, who turned it into a world-wide cleaning product, now available in many different forms, initially marketing it with the slogan ‘clean round the bend' which led to it becoming a slang term for crazy.
Another product created by Henry Harry was Oxypic which was and still is used as a boiler sealing compound. Towards the end of the 1930's Henry Harry and Gertrude split up, with Gertrude keeping the Teddington family home where she died in 1976. At the start of WW2 Henry Harry was in Marseilles, France when Germany occupied the region, he personally chartered a collier which ferried all the British citizens in the area to the safety of Gibraltar. It was at this time Henry (sen) died and Henry Harry took over the firm, he remarried Marjorie Maude Day from Woodgreen in 1942. It would seem Henry Harry had no affection for either Scarborough or the Pickup's company as in 1948 he sold the company to the then Lord Downe and never returned to Scarborough. He died on 9th June 1975 at Slaugham, Sussex, his second wife Marjory died in 2002 at Warminster, Wiltshire.
Henry Pickup was born on 20 October 1859 at Whitby, he was the son of Henry Pickup (1831-1928) who was a whitesmith and Mary Waudby (1835-1883). When his father had completed his apprenticeship which was served in Scarborough, and married Mary he had moved to Flowergate in Whitby where he combined his trade as a whitesmith with that of being a tobacconist. It wasn't long however before he returned to Scarborough with his family to live in Victoria Street and was employed in the position of foreman whitesmith at WW Lathbury's Iron Foundry on Sussex Street, where Henry (jr) also learnt his trade.
When Mr Lathbury moved to London, he asked young Henry to go and help him out in London and it was whilst there he met and later married Florence Emily Allison at Saint Michael and All Angels, Croydon on the 15 June 1885. They had four children, Henry Harry followed by twins, a boy and girl, and then Hilda Mary. One of the twins, May Cecilia, died within a short while of birth and the other, Wilfred Percy, joined the West Yorkshire Regiment in WW1 and died of wounds received in battle aged 19.
In 1892 Henry took the step of going into business on his own, as a heating and construction engineer, he got premises on Brook Street and opened a shop on Westborough. The company was successful, producing cast iron gates, railings, gas lamp posts etc. But the company's big break came when it won the contract to supply all the iron work needed in the construction of the Marine Drive. Work continued to mount and in WW1 they moved the small foundry they had in Falsgrave to create a larger one in Roscoe Street. After the war the Council began the work of driving through the link road that was to become Northway, this work meant the demolition of the Brook Street workshops which had to be rehoused in an enlargement to the Roscoe Street premises.
One of the most successful items that Pickup's produced were manhole covers (in modern terms inspection lids) and they applied for the patent for the Lock & Lift covers theyhad designed. These Lock & Lift covers were transported worldwide as they could not be forced open in floods, nor lifted and used as weapons in riots. In the 1920's and 30's Pickups were ahead of their competitors as they were involved in new technologies including steam cooking, oil fired boilers and water softeners which were being introduced, especially in the hotel industry, where Pickups were able to instal these new systems.
A new family home was built on West Parade Road close to the firms Roscoe Street site and it was here Henry died on 16 July 1940 followed by Florence his wife in 1946, Harry's sister Hilda Mary never married and also lived at the West Parade Road home until her death in 1970. The firm was taken over by Henry's son Henry Harry.
Henry Vandyke Carter Doctor and Artist Henry Vandyke Carter was the son of Henry Barlow Carter, artist, and Eliza Caroline Barlow; he was born in Scarborough and baptised at St Mary's Church on 8 July 1831. It was Eliza's wish that ...
On the 14 th November 1857 the Sunderland brigantine, Elizabeth, with a crew of five was making its way from Memel in Prussia to London; as she was passing the Yorkshire Coast a storm blow up. The crew fought hard to control the ship, but by the time it was passing by Scarborough they were fighting a losing battle. The Elizabeth hit rocks to the south of Scarborough Spa and started breaking up from the pounding of the waves.
The Scarborough fishing community could see the difficulty the Elizabeth was in and there was no means of reaching the crew from the cliff side and the waves were too strong for anyone to swim to shore. Henry Wyrill, a local fisherman, immediately put together a small crew and set to sea in his small fishing smack. They courageously fought their way across the swirling South Bay seas and somehow pulled alongside the Elizabeth getting all five of the Elizabeth's crew into the fishing smack. Even as the rescue was being made the Elizabeth was breaking up. Henry then returned the fishing smack back to the safety of the harbour. It was said that by the time they had reached the harbour the Elizabeth had been totally destroyed.
At the time of the incident Scarborough's lifeboat facilities were run locally and RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) had not been adopted at Scarborough. However, at that time the RNLI didn't just award lifeboat men but also anyone who affected a special rescue by wading or swimming into the sea from the shore or other such rescues, and as such Henry Wyrill was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal. He was only the fourth Scarborough man to receive such an award, and to date there have been fourteen RNLI Silver Medals and four Bronze Medals awarded to Scarborough men.
Henry Wyrill was born in Scarborough on the 25 August 1809, the son of James Wyrill also a fisherman and Mary Harris. Aged twenty-two, on the 31st May 1832 he married Jane Stanhope and they went on to have seven children, three boys and four girls. He lived on Whitehead Hill before moving to Sandside and by the time he retired he was employing 48 men on his fishing smacks. He died on 16 August 1885 aged 75
Job Titles:
- Married Francis Dewsbury, Registrar at Madras
Jim Spencer In April 2023, Merchant Navy man, Jim Spencer, passed away. He was a director, volunteer & trustee at the Maritime Centre for over a decade. He grew up in Scarborough and went to the Graham Sea Training School where he eventually s...
In April 2023, Merchant Navy man, Jim Spencer, passed away. He was a director, volunteer & trustee at the Maritime Centre for over a decade. He grew up in Scarborough and went to the Graham Sea Training School where he eventually spent his last few years as it was turned into retirement flats. He was in the Merchant Navy and travelled the world. He served in both The Mala front and The Falklands campaign amongst many others. photo shows him at the Bombardment Centenary service in December 2014. Jim regularly took part in the 'Blessing of the boats, service at Seafest each year and the 1954 lifeboat disaster memorial day. Jim donated his collection of minature battleships to the SMHC.
The story of John Dean was the talk of all the coffee houses in London in the mid eighteenth century. This book rekindles that long forgotten tale of a merchant seaman of humble origins from Scarborough who became famous throughout the UK for...
In our collection is a battered little navy blue booklet, about the size of an old-style British passport, is the Continuous Certificate of Discharge issued to Joseph Sawdon. It is special because we also have lots of supportive evidence of his remarkable career. It records details of each vessel he sailed on, date and place of his engagement, his rank, date and place of discharge and, most interestingly, a description of his voyage. Signed by the ship's master, it also records his ability and his general conduct, invariably very good.
Joseph Sawdon was born on 9 th January 1896 at 34 Longwestgate, to a family of seafarers. His older brother, Charles, became Master of a Steamship. In September 1911 he was 5' 6" tall, with brown eyes, dark brown hair and fresh complexion. Apprenticed for 3 years to Scrutton Sons and Co he was taught how to be a seaman. He was paid £5 for his first year, £8 for his second and £12 for his final year. He had a bonus of £10 on the satisfactory completion of his indenture. But he had to provide for himself "all seas bedding, wearing apparel and necessaries". He was provided with "Sufficient Meat, Drink, Lodging, Medicine and Medical and Surgical Assistance"
By September 1914, he was at sea, bound for the West Indies. His World War One service record shows he sailed the Mediterranean and to India, to the West Indies again, and intriguingly, to North Russia! Much of 1917 is shrouded in secrecy, but he was on Government Service, until November 1917, when he sailed to the USA and again in March 1918. By the end of 1918 he was back in the Mediterranean, at Malta, but still on Admiralty Service until June 1919. As a result of this war service he was awarded a general war medal for 1914-1918, but also the splendid more unusual Mercantile Marine medal for war service 1914-1918.
In the interwar years our Continuous Certificate of Discharge shows he sailed from Barry in Wales to Mexico several times, from Swansea to the River Plate, Stockton to India and Brazil and the USA, usually serving as 3 rd Mate. World War Two saw him on active service again and he trained on a Merchant Navy Defense course. By November 1942 he had completed several Merchant Navy A/A Gunnery Courses as 3 rd Officer.
His life took a very dramatic turn when in October 1942 he was one of 30 survivors of a merchantman sunk by enemy action and rescued by a ship of the Canadian Navy. A Canadian newspaper report, with most details redacted, can only say that they landed in an "East Coast Canadian port". Joseph reported for duty both in Canada and North Eastern USA, but evidently his health had suffered and he was discharged from Merchant Navy Service as being physically unfit on 27 th August 1943, back in Hull.
Our story ends with his World War Two medals, again a general service medal, but also the Atlantic Star. We are so fortunate to have a very detailed set of documents, all very kindly donated to us, recording the seafaring life of this son of Scarborough, described by the captains under whom he sailed as "hardworking and strictly sober".
Job Titles:
- Interesting, Helpful Staff
Margaret Feather World Champion Long Distance Swimmer - Local Hero Margaret Feather was born in Ashbourne, Derbyshire on 30 April 1933, the eldest child of George and Elsie (nee Artless). Her brother Arthur was also born in Ashford whilst h...
Margaret Feather was born in Ashbourne, Derbyshire on 30 April 1933, the eldest child of George and Elsie (nee Artless). Her brother Arthur was also born in Ashford whilst her sister Doreen was born in Keighley where the family had moved to where they ran a fish and chip shop. After WW2 they moved to Scarborough and ran the Feathers Hotel in Blenheim Terrace, where there final child, Jennifer was born.
On moving to Scarborough Margaret joined the Scarborough Swimming Club, where she took an interest in long distance swimming. Her early achievements were the Scarborough Castle Foot Swim and the Scarborough to Filey swim; followed in 1949 by the Morecambe Cross Bay Swim, finishing in 4 hours 3 minutes. When she was 17, in 1950, she became the youngest person to attempt a channel crossing, however she failed in achieving it, this was followed by two further failed attempts in 1951 and 1953. However, in 1953 she entered the Nile Swim in Egypt where she won the ladies section of the race.
In 1954 she was selected as part of the Great Britain long distance swimming team to take part in the Butlin's International Cross Channel Swimming Race. This time she was successful, completing the crossing in 16 hours 23 minutes, coming fourth in the race. It is said that she was the first person to complete the crossing without being covered in animal fat as a protection against the extreme cold, she claimed that as she did her training at Scarborough in the North Sea the water was always cold she did not need the protection. She repeated this achievement again in 1955. Also in 1955 she took part and completed the Capri to Naples swim, becoming the first woman to do so. This achievement lead to her being proclaimed the World Champion Long Distance Swimmer.
Despite her success of becoming the World Champion Long Distance Swimmer it is not that achievement that won her the accolade of a local her. But in 1955 a 16 year old girl had ignored the red flags on the beach at Scarborough and went into the extremely choppy North Sea, an off duty beach patrol man saw that the girl was in difficulty and went to her aid, getting into difficulty himself. Margaret had been alerted to the problem and she went into the sea fully clothed and managed to bring the girl back to the safety of the beach. Sadly the beach patrol man, Tom Walker, wasn't as lucky and he lost his life. Royal Humane Society Bronze Medals were awarded to Margaret and Tom, with Tom's widow collecting his award posthumously.
Margaret retired from competitive swimming and concentrated on teaching swimming, moving to Chelmsford where she married Edward Ronald Dixon who had just lost his first wife, leaving him with a small son and daughter. Margaret took on his children and her own daughter to Abdel Moneim Abdou an Egyptian long distance swimmer, increasing the family by a further three daughters before emigrating to Australia in 1965. In Australia she continued running swimming lessons and managed swimming pools. In 2017 Margaret donated her silver Channel swimming trophy to the Town of Scarborough as thanks for supporting her in her swimming career. The trophy was put on display at Scarborough Town Hall.
Sadly, Margaret passed away in an Australian nursing home in March 2022. She had been asked some time before her death what she saw as her greatest achievement, her answer was saving the 16 year old girl from the sea in 1955.
We currently have 22 volunteers aged from 20 to 80 years old, both male and female. Most volunteer in our Centre for 2 to 3 hours a week during our opening times of 11am to 4pm, Wednesday to Sunday, all year round. They meet and greet the public, scan and index our archives, update our website and social media, plan and create exhibitions, help with fundraising, give talks to school and community groups. We are always looking for new friendly volunteers to come on board. Please call in or contact our volunteer co-ordinator, Lindy Rowley, on 01723 369361 or email scarboroughmaritime@yahoo.com
Job Titles:
- Really Interesting Good Information for My Research
Job Titles:
- Very Interesting Information
Reg Warrener Reg grew up in Scarborough and went to the Graham Sea Training School. In 1940 he went into the army and was in the First Airborne Division. He was a prisoner of war in Mulberg, Germany, until he was freed by the Russians in 1945. In ...
Job Titles:
- Interesting and Staff Are Friendly
Richard "Tich" Oakes. A tribute by George Westwood - August 2023 So nicknamed because of his extra large physique and larger than life character but he was more commonly refrred to by the fishing fraternity as Oaksie, especial...
Job Titles:
- MP - Website for the Local Member of Parliament
TripAdvisor: Scarborough, North Yorkshire - Local listings on one of the world's leading travel websites
Job Titles:
- Fantastic Mix of Social and Maritime Information. Great Volunteers
William Boyes Business Man William Boyes was born at 15 Bedford Street, in 1859. His father, also called William was a joiner and his mother was Martha, nee Chester; sadly William's mother died when he was still young. In 1861 his father ...
William Boyes was born at 15 Bedford Street, in 1859. His father, also called William was a joiner and his mother was Martha, nee Chester; sadly William's mother died when he was still young. In 1861 his father was living in North Street and registered as a grocer and baker bringing up William and Freda, William's sister. The following year William remarried Hannah Robinson, and in 1870 William and Hannah were living at 19 St Mary's Walk, William senior had reverted to his old trade as a joiner. William junior attended school at the National School then the Lancastrian School, it was about this time in 1871, that young William started his first job as a newspaper seller. He told a story of having been bullied by other newspaper venders because he used to sell more papers than them. This was followed by a job as an errand boy for various stores. Whilst still young he joined the Batty Alley Band of Hope, this was in a small mission chapel off the top of Dumple Street (now Friargate). When he was fifteen, he started an apprenticeship with George and Collings drapers, on Westborough.
On completion of his apprenticeship he travelled around gaining experience in London and other places, by 1881 he was in Otley living and working for a Mr Till, a draper, shortly after, in 1882 he married Jane Riby of Gemble, near Beeford. They went on to have seven children, two boys and five girls.
In October 1882 he took premises at 28 Eastborough (corner of Eastborough and Globe Street), he had decided that if he could buy remnant cloth from manufacturers at a reasonable price, he could sell them to his customers at a reasonable price. His judgment had been perfect, as word got around that he stocked remnants big enough to make dresses and other items that could be sewn at home, his business went from strength to strength, and he soon found there wasn't sufficient room in the premises to stock and sell the goods.
He examined a warehouse on Market Street which after having been used by W Rowntree & Sons was empty. He was advised by many people that as it was not on the main shopping street he would not be able to attract many customers; this made William doubt his decision and he was fearful he wouldn't attract the necessary trade to ensure success of the venture. His doubts proved wrong as very soon he found he had to expand again and adapt the upper floor of the building to a serving area as his goods were so popular; over the next few years he kept acquiring adjoining property and expanding the shop, until he had obtained the entire side of Market Street, plus property on Queen Street.
In such a short period of time, about fifteen years, he had extended his counter space in Eastborough from 14 foot (4.2M) to about 600 foot (183M) in Market Street.
Throughout this period William was taking an active interest in local politics and stood as a Liberal candidate for the North ward in 1895, only to be defeated, He stood again in 1899 and secured a seat in a different ward which he held until 1908 when he stepped down.
Also, in this period he bought a house on Oak Road, then purchased land nearby, on the corner of Seamer Road and Highfield, on which he had a house built to the design of Scarborough architect John Caleb Petch, who had just finished work on Green Gables further up the road. When the family moved into the new house in 1897, they named it Chesterfield. He stayed in that house until 1918 when he sold it to James Johnson, a racehorse trainer, who changed its name to Penguin Lodge, the name of his first horse, and it remains with that name today. At that time William moved to Westwood End, Westwood, Scarborough. Sadly, his wife Jane died in 1919.
In 1900 he decided he needed to combine his properties on Market Street and Queen Street and build one new department store; to secure funding for this he set up a limited company with three local business men and formed W Boyes & Co Limited. Again he turned to John Caleb Petch to design the new building which opened in late 1901, named The Remnant Warehouse or the ‘Rem' as it was more affectionately known. It is easy to see, even at this time, that William was not only a good businessman but a good employer, as many people employed then saw out their working life at Boyes. In 1903 most of the staff received a good pay rise, whilst in 1904 a £50 bonus was distributed among the staff. The success continued when a new store was opened in York.
Britain went to war in 1914 and in December Scarborough was bombarded from the sea by German war ships, Scarborough had hardly recovered from this event when in February 1915 disaster struck the Rem Store. A fire thought to have started in a gas making plant in the basement broke out, resulting in what was the biggest fire ever seen in Scarborough. Not only was the ‘Rem' totally destroyed but also the adjoining Jubilee Church, as well as much of the property on the opposite side of Market Street and many shops opposite on Queen Street were also badly damaged. William, who had been in London buying, returned and told his staff that he would keep them all employed. He then went about acquiring temporary premises in St Nicholas Street and Newborough, which were all stocked and open to the public within two weeks. The Queen Street store was put in the hands of Plaxton's, a local builder, and they managed to have the new store open by July 1916, which was a wonderful achievement when you think there was a world war going on and there was a shortage of building materials. Over the next few years, Boyes stores expanded into new premises in Hull, Newcastle and South Shields.