We got this email in the crosswhatfields inbox a day or so ago:
I have just come across the Crossfield blogs - I am not sure whether you can help but….
I lived at 13 Crossfield Street a 2 up 2 down with my Mother, Father, Granddad & Grandmother + chummy my dog from 1946 (my birth) to 1950/51. My surname is Farrer which is not particularly common although the Queens Solicitors are Farrer & Co!
Therefore, does anybody know why FARRER HOUSE built during 1949 in Church Street got its name?
Also my Mother was born at 13 Crossfield Street (and was married in St Pauls) as were at least one of her siblings and other members of the family living at the Rectory Buildings which were also in Crossfield Street.
Regards
Graham Farrer
Now, I don't have any idea who the eponymous Farrer was. I'd like to think that Graham's next door neighbour was Finch the fishmonger, renowned for his Congers, but this seems rather unlikely.
So, is there anybody who can answer Graham's question? Surely of all the people living in Farrer there must be a couple who know how it got its name.
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2)
When I returned from a sunny Sunday constitutional early this afternoon, there was some filming going on in Creekside. It involved a female athlete in Team Britain colours being filmed on a ''training run'' from outside Cockpit Arts along to Faircharm.
Here she is a bit closer up:
And here's another of her sitting on the back of the truck, on the edge of the new Creekside duckpond, trying to keep those muscles warm:
Now, I know very little about athletics and didn't get to ask the crew what was going on. So, does anybody recognise her or know anything about the filming?
Looks like Denise Lewis.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking at some of her more recent photos online, I think you might be right, Darryl. I wonder what brings her to Creekside.
ReplyDeleteSome Olympics promo I guess?
ReplyDeleteLooks more like Christine Ohuruogu to me. She's probably lost
ReplyDeletewas it not the case that most of the Crossfield blocks were named after vicars of Deptford?
ReplyDeletehaving trouble with Frankham but here's the rest unless i've missed one or two? Browne maybe Sir Richard Browne owner of Sayes Court before John Evelyn
Richard Holden, vicar St. Nicholas from 1692 to 1700
St. Paul's
1775, Richard Conyers/Congers
1808, Richar Farrer
1834, Benjamin Sanderson ffinch (while we're here)
any missing?
Wilshaw
ReplyDeletecaptain thomas wilshaw of Deptford, controller of the storekeepers account 1693-1702
Castell
Nicholas Castell, Shipwright and now Master Boat Builder of His Majesty's Yard at Deptford of Saint Nicholas Deptford, Kent
11 May 1756
Oh how marvellous, Shipwrights!
ReplyDeleteApart from Frankham, just one more: Cremer
Thank you!
Cremer
ReplyDeletethere was a Thomas Cremer associated with Navy financies during the late 17th early 18th century, and one Henry Cremer who paid Hearth Tax on five chimneys in 1664. For comparative wealth John Evelyn paid hearth tax on 19 chimneys at the same time. To be 25% as wealthy as Evelyn was not a bad position to be in I imagine. Its not a lot to go on but Navy employees were the first salaried people who often left money to local charities in their wills (Addey and Stanhope) perhaps Cremer left a piece of land?
then this came up.........
ReplyDeleteThe women we hear least about are the close relatives of sailors and in particular their mothers and sisters. We catch glimpses here and there. Captain John Cremer, more familiarly known as Ramblin' Jack, came from a seafaring family in the East End of London and left a journal describing his adventures at sea. He was born around 1700 on East Lane, Bermondsey, on the south bank of the Thames a mile or so downstream from the Tower of London. His father was master of a merchant ship, and his uncle was a captain in the navy. "As to my mother's family; she was a master ropemaker's daughter, which had three rope-walks joining on the back of East Lane, and called Cantor's Rope-walks to this day." The rope-walks can be seen alongside the adjoining timber yards on old maps of London. They were long, narrow sites where strands of hemp were twisted to form the lengths of rope used for the rigging and anchor cables of ships. Jack's father was captured by the French and died around 1706, leaving his mother a house in Deptford and about £14 a year. We hear nothing more about Jack's mother beyond the fact that her brother, who was a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, arranged for Jack to join the crew of his ship, HMS Dover, in 1708.
http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/servlet/DCARead?standardNo=0375500413&standardNoType=1&excerpt=true
who knows it could be related?
then this.....
ReplyDeleteRamblin' Jack
John Cremer
Ramblin' Jack
the journal of Captain John Cremer, 1700-1774
transcribed by R. Reynell Bellamy; with an introduction by Sir John Squire.
Published 1936 by J. Cape in London .
Ramblin Jack House sonds much better
Shipwright's Palace, thank you so much for your excellent contribution. We are much beHolden to you.
ReplyDeleteI'll post more when i've read Ramblin Jack Cremer's journal. Just ordered it from Canada! one last thing, in 1708 the Master Shipwright in Deptford earned £20 per year. So Mrs. Cremer's £14 a year in 1706 gave her a very high standard of living, enough perhaps to leave bequests. Not forgetting that bequests were made to the poor in order that the souls of the departed were prayed for.
ReplyDeleteThanks SP, that's fascinating and I'm looking forward to hearing more! I, for one, have always wondered about the origin of Ffinch Street which I travel on a daily basis, although many Deptford residents probably don't even know it exists!
ReplyDeleteDD....do you not risk imminent exposure of your clandestine self by posting your quotidien manouvers?
ReplyDeletehehe, I'm not that clandestine! But you're right, perhaps I should take the long way round for a couple of weeks ;-)
ReplyDeleteis it possible for you to forward my email address to Graham Farrer who asked the question about Farrer House? I've found a plan of a garden from 1775 leased to a Mr. Farrer next to Crossfield Lane. I'd like to send him the jpeg. thanks
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work, Shipwright's Palace! I've forwarded your email address to Graham. Should I remove your email address from public view or are you happy to leave it on the comments?
ReplyDeleteerrrrr oh yes please remove. and thanks. Graham Farrer got in touch.
ReplyDeletememorials recorded in St. Nicholas Church, Deptford
ReplyDeleteNorth Ile.
John Wilshaw Son of Thomas and Mary Wilshaw, 1668. And Thomas Wilshaw himself, 1672. And Grace his Daughter, 1680. And Richard, 1683, and William, 1694.
Robert Castel of this Parish, Gent. 1698. A Man of excellent Worth. Margaret his Wife erected this Monument.
This is a very old thread but, I have Farrer's in my family tree who were in Deptford from the late 18th/early 19th Century. Graham Farrer may be interested to know that the family is connected to the Queen's solicitors if you go back far enough. Also my grandfather was born in Crossfield Lane in 1899 , and the family lived there for well over 50 years.
ReplyDeleteAll the names of the flats on the Crossfields estate were each named after Fathers in ST. Pauls Church, Deptford High St. I hope I have been of some help to Mr Graham Farrer
ReplyDelete