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PEMBROKE PEOPLE

The following few pages give some idea of the sort of material which the book contains and how the entries are cross-referenced. The categories of the more common trades such as blacksmiths, carpenters, mariners, &c, contain dozens of entries, whilst the sections on labourers and dockyard workers run into hundreds of entries. The detail given in the entries, varies with what is available. As a minimum I have attempted to identify the members of each family group with the dates of baptisms, marriages and burials. The fuller entries may include details of religion, wages, property, places of residence, dates of death, particulars of wills and occasionally details of law suits, debts, crimes and imprisonment.
BUTCHERS
JOHN CURTIS, h. (1) Elizabeth, h. (2) Anne Llewhellin, St Mary's. P. & C. 1830, 1835. SRNCD, 1852.
Children: By (1) Amelia bapt. At St Mary's 10.10.1822 and buried (Emilia) 26.3.1823 aged 8 months, Emily bapt. 16.4.1824, Samuel 27.8.1826, John 31.12.1828. Elizabeth Curtis was buried at St Mary's on 7.9.1828 aged 35. John Curtis then married Anne Llewhellin by Licence at Steynton on 27.12.1830. Witnesses, Elizabeth J. Crispin, William Lewis. Children: By (2) Elizabeth bapt. at St Mary's 29.2.1832, Caroline 24.5.1833 and buried 27.8.1833 aged 3 months, Caroline bapt. 27.8.1834. Curtis was a witness in the prosecution of Mary Saville for robbing Terence McLoughlin, Butchers, in 1819. NLW 4 Wales 835-1 & 2. Witness in James John of Carew's prosecution of Ann Gullam for stealing five one pound notes and £2 4s 6d from his person on 28.1.1826. NLW 4 Wales 837-1. Juror QS Epiphany 1827. Curtis supplied beef to the Workhouse; legs and shins of 10 lbs were sold at 1s 5d each, heads at 2s and suet at 6d a lb. Pem R.O. SPU/PE/2/1. He died on 2.1.1859 aged 70 and was buried at St Deiniol's.

DOCKYARD SAWYER

ROBERT DRINKWATER, h. Mary (Griffiths), Monkton.
Children: Martha bapt. at Monkton 19.11.1828, Robert 2.5.1830 and died 11.2.1899, George, John, William, Elizabeth, Mary.
Robert Drinkwater was the natural son of Grace Morgan, the widow of George Morgan, Mariners, and was bapt. at St Mary’s on 13.12.1799. He married Mary Griffiths, X, of St Michael’s by Banns at Monkton on 3.11.1827. Minister, the Rev. Charles Philipps, witnesses, James Vaughan, (Shoemaker, husband of Phoebe, half-sister to Robert Drinkwater) Henery [sic] Davies, Shoemaker.
Service and wages: 1828, No 31 Gang, Sawyers. Year's wages 1828, £48 12s 4d.
Drinkwater was left £1 1s by the will of Susannah Drinkwater, widow of Thomas Drinkwater, Shopkeeper in 1824.
DOCKYARD SHIPWRIGHT

JOHN COCK, h. _______, Milford, Lanion Terrace, 1851. (See also Publicans).
Children: Mary, born at Bodmin about 1803.Service & Wages: John Cock was born at Truro and served his apprenticeship to Mr Shepherd of Mevagissey, Cornwall, and worked 5 years 3 months at Plymouth Yard. Yard to Navy Board 6.7.1814. Entered Dec 1813, Plymouth, aged 40. Quarter's wages, Christmas 1815, £22 0s 7d. Instructor to Jno Cole, 1820. Quarter's wages, Midsummer 1820, £29 1s 4d, (1 day with leave). Year's wages 1828, £63 2s 0d. He was imprisoned in Haverfordwest Gaol from 26.12.1826 at the suit of William Rowe for a debt of £64 2s 2d. In the Debtors’ Register he was described as “Innkeeper of Milford” and so he probably ran a public house as well as working at the Yard. He was absent from the Yard from 28.12.1826 onwards with leave of absence until 12.3.1827. He was remanded for a year from the date of filing his petition. The Yard enquired on 5.5.1827 if they ought to dismiss him and were told to do so, but that the Board would consider his re-admission on his release from prison. On 11.5.1827 John Cock wrote to the Board thanking them for their time and attention to his case and asking for a further two months leave from 20.5.1827. “.... should your Honourable Board grant a truly distressed individual this indulgence it will be chearing in his present gloomy situation to reflect that his future support is not endangered.” He was discharged from the Yard on 13.5.1827. He was released from Gaol on 4.2.1828 and was reinstated at the Yard on 11.2.1828 following a favourable report to the Board .
On 21.12.1829 the Yard sent the Board a model of a rudder constructed by Cock, together with an explanatory letter from him. The model of the “Rother,” as he termed it, showed “a substitute for the Woodlock, and the removal of the Upper Pintle and Brace...” It was considered unsuitable and was returned by the mail coach.
In 1851 Cock was 82 years old and lived in Lanion Terrace with his daughter Mary, aged 48, the “Conducter of the House.” She was probably a Milliner. He was buried at Park Street on 16.2.1860 aged 91.

DRUGGIST
LEWIS DRINKWATER, Pembroke, bapt. at St Mary's 12.7.1772, the son of Thomas and Susannah Drinkwater. Pigott & Co. 1835.
FARMER
JOHN GARBUTT, h. Elizabeth (Amson), Monkton. They were m. at St Mary's on 16.10.1791. Witnesses, David Llewhelling, Jane Amson.
Children: Henry Amson bapt. at Monkton 19.7.1792, Joseph 12.1.1795, George 8.1.1798.
I have put Garbutt in the category of farmers on the strength of Jean Tyler Grant’s letter of 23.7.1801 to her father Samuel Grant, in which Garbutt appears as a cattle dealer. “... I am sorry to tell you that poor Garbutt has had the misfortune to lose two hundred & 7 pounds the day before yesterday he had bene at tempelton fair and a boy with him the boy came home before him with cattle and Garbutt went to Mr ormonts [?] of Williamson and there he got drunk & then he came from there to come home along with the parson of carrew Church and there he had a nother glass as done for him I suppose & at the fourth mile stone at milton he fell of his horse and there he lay, a great many people past him but no one was so kind as to bring him from there but let him lie till as he supposes it might be a bout twelve a clock when he a woke of his own accord & as soon as he woke he mist his bills & stay’d about two hours longer untill it came day to see if he could find them but no site of them ... poor bessy was out about that place as soon as he came home but could get no satisfaction I pitty her from my heart...” There are a few more references in subsequent letters to Garbutt’s hopes of recovering his money but he probably never did.
Petty Juror, Great Sessions Autumn 1807. He may have been the same Garbutt, apparently a trooper in the yeomanry, to whom Matthew Campbell advanced money. MCD 22.4.1819 and 15.5.1819. Elizabeth Garbutt was buried at St Mary's 15.10.1811. She was a cousin of Mary Llewhellin. See Pearce Llewhellin, Saddlers. A John Garbutt was buried in 1833 at Stackpole Elidor.
FIDDLER
GEORGE HITCHINGS, h. Ann (Robb or Robbs)
George Hitchings, St Michael’s, m. Anne Robbs, X, at Angle on 30.12.1823. Witnesses, Thomas Bamkin, Thomas White. Thomas Bamkin was a mariner of Angle who m. Sarah Davies there on 27.5.1819.
Children: Thomas, Nicholas, John, Henry, Martha and Jane.
George Hitchings might just as well have been put down as a mariner or fisherman, which employments he followed at Angle in the earlier part of his life. He was bapt. at Bosherston on 1.1.1801 and was of St Michael's Pembroke when he married his wife at Angle on 30.12.1823. He was a fiddler in Monkton Lane at the 1851 Census and lived in the Main Street in 1861. His wife was quaintly described as a “Fiddleress.” They may have made a living by their music but their lives were not harmonious. On 4.6.1852 George Hitchings was sentenced to two calendar months in gaol for assaulting and beating his wife. The Gaol Register gives an unattractive picture. He was 56 years old, 6ft 1in in height, had dark hair, grey eyes and a sallow complexion, was pock pitted, had a cast in his right eye and blue marks on the back of his left hand. He could read and write imperfectly. He was released on 3.8.1852.

GENTRY

MARTHA LESTER, widow. She made her will on 6.8.1801 in the presence of Jane Higinbotham, Gentry, and Elizabeth Hughes. “... no relation of mine having taken the least notice of me for this ten years past I bequeath every article of whatsoever kind I am possessed of to my friend Captain James Robertson of the Royal Navy...” She appointed Captain Robertson, Naval Officers, as her executor. She was buried at St. Mary's on 12.9.1810. Captain Robertson proved the will on 15.11.1810. PCC f.555 November 1810.

INNS, INNKEEPERS AND PUBLICANS

THE GREEN DRAGON (now the National Westminster Bank, Main Street). An anonymous tourist in Wales in the summer of 1791 described the Green Dragon Inn as a middling one and Donovan, in his “Descriptive Excursions through South Wales and Monmouthshire in the year 1804,” thought that it had “the appearance of having witnessed better days” though he commented that, “It would be indeed fastidious to complain of our accommodations here, in addition to the civility we experienced; they were plain and good and the charges very reasonable.” The Green Dragon was the centre of social life in the town, though the balls that followed launches of ships at the Dockyard appear always to have been held at the Golden Lion. Assemblies were regularly held at the Green Dragon and it was the meeting place for a number of clubs, including the Society and the Farmers’ Club. Matthew Campbell was a member of one club that met and dined there on the first or second Monday of every month. The members included John Adams, J. Holcombe, Henry Leach of Corston, Frank Leach, Captain George Lloyd R.N., Bowen of Milton and Lord Cawdor. On August 1st 1818 Lord Cawdor had “a very bad dinner” at the Farmers' Club and then had a second dinner when he got back home to Stackpole.

JAMES MACINTIRE, h. Anne.

Children: “James of James & Anne MacIntire Bapd Jany 3d 1808” St Mary's Register, Joseph bapt. 21.2.1810.

James Macintire first appears as the proprietor in 1805. He vacated the Green Dragon in 1819, opened a hotel in Tenby and went bankrupt in 1820. His later career seems to have involved him in further difficulties. “Jas McInter” appears in a list of prisoners for debt in Haverfordwest Gaol [Pem. RO PQ/AG/79] in 1826 in connection with two actions in the King's Bench, the debts being £197 and £197 16s 9d. A James McIntire was later a shopkeeper in Haverfordwest, P. & C. 1835

The Green Dragon was advertised by the freeholder, Daniel Roberts, in the Carmarthen Journal of 30.4.1819 with occupation to be granted on 29.9.1819. John Upton took over the house and ran it ran it from about November 1819.

“Green Dragon, Pembroke.

J. UPTON

RESPECTFULLY acquaints Commercial Gentlemen and the Public in general that having considerably altered and improved the above Premises, he has now re-opened the same, and will endeavour to deserve their patronage by superior accommodation & reasonable charges.

Post Horses and Chaises, with good Stabling.”

Carmarthen Journal, 19.11.1819.

WILLIAM LOVER, proprietor, P. & C. 1835.

At the 1841 Census and in 1849 the Green Dragon was run by John Jones. It appears that by the time of the 1851 Census the inn may have been going out of business since the only occupier was Ann Apsey, the chambermaid, described as “Svt in charge of house.” See Phoebe Roch, Prostitutes, for details of Phoebe Roch's theft of towels from the Green Dragon in 1849.

LABOURERS

BENJAMIN BOSHER.

Children: “Benjamin a Natural Child of Benjamin Bosher” was baptised at St Mary's on 22.4.1796. Illegitimacy was clearly an heirloom to be passed on amongst the Boshers since the infant Benjamin in his turn became the father of an illegitimate son, also named Benjamin and bapt. at St Mary's on 14.11.1817 by Wm. Lloyd, curate. The mother was Elizabeth Roch, Prostitutes. Benjamin Bosher was committed to Haverfordwest Gaol for Bastardy on 10.1.1817 and discharged on 15.10.1817.

“Elizth Roach Examination 1s Warrnt 1s Const 1s - 3s -

Benjn Bosher Commitment 2s 6d Constable taking to Haverford 10s -12s. 6d.” Vestry A/Cs 18.1.1817.

DAVID REES, St Michael's, was committed on 24.2.1815 charged with having stolen on 16.2.1815 “forty pounds weight of hay of the value of two shillings of the goods and chattels of one George Bowling...” [See Attorneys] The Indictment was endorsed a True Bill, the Prosecutor was George Bowling and the Witnesses were William Bowen and William Powell, both labourers of St Michael's. William Powell swore an affidavit that “he met with David Rees of the parish of Saint Michael .... on Thursday night the 16th day of February instant between the hours of seven and eight of the clock with a Burthen of Hay upon his shoulders in the Lane leading from Pembroke to Kingsbridge near a certain place in the said road called Twopenny Hay where this Deponent lives. That he asked the said David Rees where he had been to which he replied he had just been in here getting a bit of hay....” William Bowen's affidavit, also dated 24.2.1815, states that “having missed hay from his Master's rick in the yard in the parish of St Michael [he] kept watch on the Rick on last night that while he was lying under an adjoining rick in the said yard about seven oclock he saw David Rees ... come into the said yard and get up upon the bench of the rick of Hay opposite to him & immediately pulled down a large quantity of the hay down to the ground, that he the said David Rees was then apparently preparing to take out his rope to tye up the said hay when he seemed to discover this Deponent and then ran off. This Deponent then pursued him round the rick but the said David Rees leapt over the wall & ran away upon which this Deponent cried out stop thief but did not take him ...” David Rees was transported for seven years. On 16.1.1816 he sailed for New South Wales on board the 501 ton ship Atlas which carried 225 convicts. These included a number from Canada and one from Glasgow called “John McNeil alias Neil alias McGerry alias Teapot.” Two of the convicts accused another called Ephraim, alias John Montgomery, of “an unnatural Crime” and all three were landed at Spithead. The rest went on to Australia by way of Rio and arrived at Sydney on 22.7.1816 after a voyage of 181 days. At the New South Wales Census of 1828 David Rees, aged 33, religion Protestant, was living at Curobungee, Cookbundoun. He was free by servitude and, though no details were given of the land he held, he owned 6 horses, 326 cattle and 300 sheep. At the General Muster of 1835 he was a landholder at Paramatta. Perhaps his transportation was a heavily disguised blessing for someone who might otherwise have ended his days as a pauper in Pembroke. New South Wales certainly did more for him than old South Wales ever could have done. NLW 4 Wales 832-5 and see Pem. RO PQ/AG/15, Pem. RO PQ/AG/1, PRO HO 27/11, HO 11/2 and HO 10 26-27.

MARINERS

GEORGE MORGAN, h. Grace (Rixon), St Mary’s. They were m. at Monkton on 8.11.1789.

Children: Phoebe bapt. at Monkton 11.1.1791, Lydia 5.9.1792 and (illegitimate) Robert Drinkwater, bapt. at St Mary’s on 13.12.1799.

George Morgan was the Master of the Friends of Milford, a coasting vessel trading between Milford, Bristol and Liverpool. He was lost in that vessel about 2.3.1797. On 6.9.1799 Grace Morgan, aged 40, petitioned Trinity House for a pension, supported by the signatures of the Rev. Nicholas Roch, and John Howell and William Jones, Churchwardens. At that time she was probably expecting her illegitimate child, whose father was one of the Drinkwater family. Her son Robert Drinkwater was later a Sawyer at the Dockyard and a beneficiary under Susannah Drinkwater’s will. Grace Morgan was buried at Monkton on 4.2.1838 aged 86 according to the register. Trinity House Petitions, Book 70.

SHOPKEEPERS

THOMAS DRINKWATER, h. Susannah, St Mary’s. Universal British Directory, 1795.

Children: Susanna bapt. at St Mary's 18.3.1777, Lewis 12.7.1772.

The type of shop run by Thomas Drinkwater is not clear; he may have been a Druggist, like his son Lewis. Thomas Drinkwater was buried at Monkton on 6.5.1814, aged 86. Susannah Drinkwater, widow, occupied a house owned by the Church Wardens at 8 West Gate, next to the house of Richard Blethyn, Whitesmith. (Land Tax Assessment, St Mary's, 1820). She made her will on 5.1.1822 in the presence of John Drinkwater and William Lock, Attorney, Pembroke. She left:-

1. to her relation Lewis Drinkwater of Castlemartin, son of Thomas Drinkwater of Court, £20, “two Silver Spoons One Punch Ladle One Gold Seal with his name on it”,

2. to Ann Lodgin of Monkton, £2,

3. to Jane Vaughan of Monkton, £2,

4. “I give and bequeath unto Ann Howell that is Blind the Sum of Two Pounds to buy some Gowns”,

5. to Margaret Jenkins, daughter of the late James Jenkins of Pembroke, tailor, “one of my best Blanketts...”

6. to Catherine Davies of Highgate “all my wearing apparel made and unmade...”

7. to David Griffith of Bowett, £10,

8. to Robert Drinkwater, the son of Grace Morgan, £1 1s,

9. to Elizabeth Barnes the wife of John Barnes of Pembroke “my small feather Bed which they lie on”, and

10. to Thomas Drinkwater of Court, whom she appointed her executor, all the residue of her property.

She was buried at Monkton on 5.12.1824 aged 78. Probate granted 13.12.1824. “Effects sworn under £200.” SDP1824/222.

VAGRANTS

JOHN POOLE.

On 31.3.1819 Matthew Campbell, Customs Officers, “Took a man calling himself John Poole before J. Humphries who committed him as a Vagrant and very suspicious character.” Poole was admitted to Haverfordwest Gaol on 1.4.1819 and was “to be whipt and discharged by the order of the cort [sic] April 21st 1819.” The QS accounts show that William Jones the Gaoler charged 15s for “Whipping three Vagrants @ 5/-.” 3s 6d was then advanced to them when they were discharged. QS St Thomas 1819.

WINE MERCHANTS

WILLIAM HENRY KEMP.

He was formerly a Shipwright at the Dockyard and was described as a Wine Merchant when he was imprisoned for debt on 24.11.1832, but the many entries referring to beds, meals and drinks in his ledger make it seem probable that he was also running an inn. His customers included a number of tradesmen and private individuals in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock together with workers at the Yard. He charged 12s for a gallon of gin, 14s 6d for a gallon of rum, 3s 4d for a pint of cognac, and 2s 6d for a bottle of port or Cape Madeira and, when it came to drinks, a glass of rum or best brandy could be had for 5d, rum or whisky grog at 6d, shrub at 3d, negus at 9d, whisky at 2½d and a mysterious potation called a Damper for 1½d. The latter was supplied to Jack Postillion who, together with the Culm Man, Tomb’s Men (“Short Man” “Round Face” “Handsome Man”), Red Shawl, Long Evans, Patch Phillips, Jack Opposite and Tall Man Castle, formed a class of vaguely identified debtors whose names are scrawled in his account book. Like most of the bankrupt tradesmen whose records have been preserved Kemp was extending credit to even the smallest customers and his more substantial patrons were allowed five or six months credit before they were troubled with a bill. Mr Cozens and Little Davies who had respectively run up bills of £1 8s 1d and 9s 7d for brandy, soda water, negus, gin, cigars and breakfasts between 18th and 21st November 1831 probably fled far away without paying; their accounts have the word “Constantinople” written over them in vast letters followed by, “Be careful who you make your confidens.” Pem RO PQ/RD/49.

PAUPERS

MARGARET BARNETT , aged 29, was committed to a month in the House of Correction by John Adams on 14.3.1828 for "Returning to the Parish of St Mary's Pembroke after being regularly removed without first obtaining a Certificate from the Parish of Angle." She was discharged from Gaol on 14.4.1828 but "Remained in Prison (not being in a fit state from Debility) to leave the Prison till the 15th." The Surgeon's Journal reveals why the parish was so anxious to get rid of her: she was immediately put on the sick list when she entered the Gaol, the reason being stated as "Child Bed." She was allowed butter, tea, sugar, spirits and ale whilst in the Gaol. Pem R.O. PQ/AG/2 , PQ/AG/72.

SARAH GWYNNE was a widow aged 85 who was attended by Dr Henry Prout Jones, Surgeons, for a broken hip in 1844. His attendance on her appears to have been perfunctory. A girl called Betsy Rogers deposed that Mary Gwynne, Sarah's granddaughter, asked "How could the Doctor know that her thigh was broken by feeling her pulse?" According to another account, denied by Dr Jones, he did not lift the bedclothes to examine the thigh. He was exonerated of misconduct by the Board of Guardians. Jones reported that his patient, after "being relieved in several attacks of diarrhoea … sank under a very severe one…" PRO MH12/16668

DOCKYARD

Chief Clerk to the Clerk of the Cheque.

EDWARD WRIGHT, h. Margaret, Pennar.

Children: Edward John bapt. at St Mary's 31.5.1815.

His salary was £120 in 1814. A letter from the Yard to the Navy Board dated 7.11.1815, endorsed “Outrage,” encloses copies of correspondence concerning an assault by Mr Blake, the Timber Master on Edward Wright. This appears to have been provoked by a letter from Wright to Blake’s sister. Wright’s letter is so florid as to be almost incomprehensible but the dispute seems to have involved a maidservant who had formerly worked for Wright. According to Wright, Blake had assaulted him “by wrenching my nose several times and putting himself in a menacing attitude to strike me with his umbrella.”

Richard Rose has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.