Waterman Lighterman

[LindaN]

|soapbox|Hello it's Linda can anyone find out some more info on my Grandad Sydney Horace Watkins he was a Waterman Lighterman in Greenwich London he was born in 1883, i have found out his family history, but i would dearly love to know exactly where and when he was a waterman lighterman and what was his duties. Many tanks from Lindan.

[Jan1954]

Hello Linda,

I see that Parish Chest has the book "My Ancestors were Thames Watermen" (http://www.parishchest.com/shop/index.php?cmd=viewproduct&cat=&id=P86086&pageOffset=0)by James Legon. It gives a fair old background to the working lives of Watermen and Lightermen and looks an interesting read.

[Mutley]

If you google for watermen (move people) or lightermen (move goods) there are various pay per view sites with records.

They had to serve a seven year apprenticeship and there were records kept. Try Waterman's Hall (http://www.watermenshall.org/history-main/)for some history.

BTW the book Jan mentions is very good ;)

[Spangle]

This link provides some interesting information too: http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cache:RZ6aQwdWGAsJ:www.parishregister.com/LicensedRiverThamesWatermenandLightermen.pdf+thame s+waterman+watkins&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk