Joel Plaskett (born April 18, 1975) is a Canadian rock musician originally from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.Steadily transforming himself through the first decade of the 21st century from an admired regional musician to a “nationally adored” icon Plaskett is comfortable playing in an eclectic array of genres, from blues and reggae and folk to rock and country and pop.
Plaskett is based in Dartmouth, and his songwriting frequently contains allusions to his home city. With his band The Emergency, he has toured throughout North America and Europe with such performers as The Tragically Hip, Sloan and Kathleen Edwards.
Stephen and Yhana is the official You Tube channel for the author’s blogs and websites (Stephen Robert Kuta), a shared adventure with his daughter. Featuring: Days Out in the UK / History / Genealogy / Virtual Walks / Virtual Cycling / Travel and so much more. Feel free to visit, subscribe and watch out for all of our upcoming episodes.
How you can easily create beautiful art for your home or your loved ones by Peter Black, founder of – Charmaché Art and Craft
William Morris, Edward Lowther and Arthur Powell A little Information about the criminals who burgled my elderly 4x Grt Grandfather “William Plaskett” in 1878.
William Morris was born in 1855 in the city of London, Middlesex, England
In 1881 he was serving time in Wormwood Srubs Prison, his occupation was listed as being a printer.
Edward Lowther was born in 1860, London, England
In 1881 he was serving time in Her Majesty Convict Prison “Princetown”, Tavistock, Devon his occupation was listed as being a painter.
In 1871 – Edward was living at 14 Blue Anchor Lane, St James, Bermondsey and was working as a House Decorator. His parents were Charles (a Gas fitter) and Harriet Lowther . He was one of 9 children.
Arthur Powell disappears from the records after 1878, he may have died before the 1881 census took place.
1881 England Census For Edward Lowther1881 England Census For William Morris
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The Proceedings of the Old Bailey 6 August 1878 William Morris / Arthur Powell / Edward Lowther
(There were two other indictments against the prisoners for burglaries, in one of which they obtained £700 worth of watches, and in the other £30 in money, and in both cases the same jemmy had been used. The COURT ordered a reward of £3. to the officer Lucas.)
731. WILLIAM MORRIS (22), ARTHUR POWELL (28), and EDWARD LOWTHER (19) , Burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Charles Tudge, and stealing silk, satin, and other articles and 30l. in money, his property, and a desk and two rings the property of Mary Holliday.
MR. CROOME conducted the Prosecution; and MR. PURCELL defended Morris
CHARLES TUDGE . I am a draper, of 133, High Street, Camden Town—on 31st May I went to bed about 1 o’clock, having seen the house securely, fastened—on 1st June I was awoke about 7 o’clock, went downstairs, and found the inner shop iron door leading to the house, broken open—some goods were pulled out behind the counter, and spread over with tallow candle—I missed a piece of silk, a piece of satin, several pairs of stockings, and several silk scarves, and from the drawing-room, two silver cups and an opera glass; a desk was broken open, eight doors were broken open from the inside, all the doors but one, which is the one leading to the back stairs—the policeman called my attention to the skylight—this satin (produced) is precisely the same as what I missed, in quality—I cannot tell the quantity because it was in cut lengths—these two scarves and these stockings are mine—Miss Holliday is in my employ, and lived in the house.
MARY HOLLIDAY . I am in Mr. Tudge’s employ, and live in the house—on 31st May I left this ring produced, on a hook on the dresser in the kitchen—on coming down in the morning I found my desk in the drawing-room broken open, and missed from it a gentleman’s signet ring, a silver thimble, and other articles; I have not seen them since.
LUCY BUNYAN . I live with my mother, at 148, Copenhagen Street—I know the three prisoners—Morris kept company with me in May and June—on 1st June I visited Esther Lacy, Minnie Collins, and the three prisoners at 3, Cromer Street—Lacy and Lowther lived together, Powell was keeping company with Collins—I slept with, Esther Lacy, and saw the three prisoners come in between 5 and 6 a.m. on 1st June—they had a piece of satin, and several pairs of stockings and neckties, two silver cups and an opera-glass; Powell took the satin out to give to his mother, the other articles were taken out by the prisoners, and I did not see them again, these are them produced—I identify this satin—a jemmy was kept between the bed and the mattress on which I slept, but I did not know it then; that was in Lacy and Lowther’s room, the room in which I saw the three prisoners—this Jemmy produced is very much like it.
Cross-examined by MR. PURCELL. I had been engaged to. be married to Morris, we were asked out twice, but I broke it off—Morris did not make a charge against me about a coffee house—Esther Lacy was also charged in this case, and Minnie Collins—they are here—the detectives came to see me—I did not tell them anything about this man.
Cross-examined by Powell. I did not bring these things in on the Saturday morning between 5 and 5.30—I was in bed with Esther Lacy when the burglary was done—I was not with you in the public-house—I did not go up Euston Road with you and ask you to stop there for the night—I did not say, “I am going. with Morris and another young man to do a bus”—I did not show you the jemmy under my shawl—I did not say that I was going to sleep in Cromer Street that night, to let you in next morning.
Cross-examined by Lowther. The quart silver jug was about this height, and the small one has two handles, but we could not very well recognise them because you bent them so shamefully about, you put them in a box, the biggest one had a handle—on 31st May I was moving from my mother’s, and I slept at my lodgings all night.
Re-examined. I broke off the marriage with Morris because I found out what they were doing for their living, and I did not choose to stop with them any longer.
ELIZA SINGER . I live at 23, Cromer Street, in the same house where Lowther lived—Esther Lacy had a room in the same house for ‘six or seven weeks, and Morris called on her twice and Powell once—I saw Lowther once inside and twice outside—I have not seen the prisoners together in the house—I have seen Lucy Bunyan there once; she asked me for a pitcher of water.
Cross-examined by MR. PURCELL. Miss Lacy had several young gentlemen visitors.
WILLIAM CLIFFORD (Police Sergeant Y). I have seen the prisoners together lots of times: and at the end of May and the beginning of June daily.
ALFRED GILLHAM (Police Sergeant P 33). On the morning of 18th June I found this jemmy in the back garden of 84, St. John Street Road, where a burglary was committed that morning—that garden abuts on 56, Rawstorne Street.
Cross-examined by MR. PURCELL. A person named Tassel was convicted of that burglary on Saturday. (See page 463.)
JOHN HENRY BURJES . I am clerk to Mr. Leonard Needes, pawnbroker, of 19, Barnsbury Road—on 1st June this piece of satin was pledged with me for 15s. by a customer who I know as Ann Everett—I do not know whether that is her real name.
THOMAS LUCAS (Detective Y). About 9th June I examined Mr. Tudge’s premises, and found marks on several doors corresponding with this jemmy—I went to 26, Rawstorne Street, to a room occupied by Lowther and Esther Lacy, and found these stockings and these two scarves—Powell stated that he gave a ring to Morris’s sister, and I got this ring from Mary Ann Morris—she was wearing it—I heard Powell say before the Magistrate that he gave m a piece of satin to his mother.
Cross-examined by Lowther. I am in error; I found the stockings not at your lodgings, but at Lucy Bunyan’s—she lodges some distance from Esther Lacy.
Powell’s Defence. Lucy Bunyan asked me to stop with her that night I said “Yes.” She said, “I am going with Lowther and another young man to do a bus,” and she asked me to stop and let her in, and when she came to 23, Cromer Street she brought the silk, satin, two cups, the stockings, and a ring, and gave them to me for stopping there all night I gave the satin to my mother as a present I received the silk, but I did not know it was stolen. I know nothing about the burglary.
Lowther’s Defence. What Powell has stated is a lie. He said that he would try and get Bunyan in as an accomplice. I have two witnesses to prove that she was never at my place. When she left him to go and live with Morris she had a little box with silk ties in it—she asked me to let her leave them at my lodging, and I said “Yes.” She had a row with Morris soon after, and came and took all her clean ties away and her under-linen. The silk tie found at my lodging was left there with her dirty clothes. I am innocent I was not with the prisoners on the night the burglary was committed.
GUILTY . They were all charged with previous convicitons, Morris in October, 1876, Powell in November, 1877, and Lowther in November, 1876, to which they PLEADED GUILTY. MORRIS** and LOWTHER**— Seven Years each in Penal Servitude . POWELL**— Eighteen Months’ Imprisonment .
There were two other indictments against the prisoners for burglaries, in one of which they obtained 700l worth of watches, and in the other 30l in money, and in both cases the same jemmy had been used. The COURT ordered a reward of 3l. to the officer Lucas.
ESSEX CASES.
Before Mr. Justice Lindley.
Central Criminal Court
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Morris, Powell and Lowther The Burglars of No. 538 Mile-end-road, Bow, Poplar, London, England Home of William Plaskett Friday 12 July 1878 Marylebone Police-court
Extensive Burglary at Bow Published: Saturday 13 July 1878 London Standard
At the Marylebone Police-court yesterday William Morris, alias Coaly, aged 22, a labourer, Arthur Powell, alias Linton, 34, a butcher, and Edward Lowther, 19, a gasfitter, were charged with being concerned together in burglariously entering the premises, No. 538, Mile-end road, and stealing there from articles of jewellery valued at £700 and about £34, In money, the property of Mr. William Plaskett, jeweller. Last week the prisoners were committed for trial for burglaries committed at 31, Chalk Farm-road, and 133, High Street, Camden town. Mr. William Plaskett, the prosecutor, stated that on the night of May 24 his premises were all safe when he retired to rest, and when he came down the next morning, at half-past seven, he found that the back door leading into the house had been violently broken open, and on-going into the shop he found everything in disorder, the entire stock of watches and jewellery having been stolen.
The ring produced was in his shop on the night of the robbery, as were also the links produced. The value of jewellery stolen was over £700 and £34 in money was also taken. There were about 120 gold and silver watches, and about 216 gold rings among the property.
Detective Serjeant Howlett, K division, said that on the morning of the 25th May he went to the premises, and after a careful examination found that an entry had been effected through a washhouse window, which had been left open, and the forcing open of a door in the back room. Last week he found that the marks on the door corresponded with the jemmy produced. Lucy Bunyon, who had been associated with the prisoners, stated that the jemmy produced was identical with that belonging to the prisoners, and which they used to keep between the mattress and bed. On the 24th May they left her, saying they were going to Bow, on a jewellery robbery. They came back on the following day. On the latter day she saw two girls named Collins and Lacey, also associates of the prisoners with a number of rings on their fingers. She saw the prisoner Morris that morning, and he said he had a good deal of money, as they had had a good “bust” (meaning burglary) that night. The Prisoner bought new clothes on that day, and Morris gave her half a sovereign. The latter told her that he had met a lamplighter that morning, and asked him for a light, and he wondered that the lamplighter did not notice that he had some of the stolen property about him. Joseph W. Brown, the lamplighter in question, stated that on the morning of the 25th May, at about three o’clock, he was in a thoroughfare at the rear of Mr Plaskett’s when a man like Morris called out to him to give him a light, and he told him he had not got one, and went away.
Mary Collins said she used to keep company with Powell, and sometime ago he gave her a ring, which she pawned at Mr. Solomon’s in Gray’s-inn-road, in the name of Buckley. (The Witness seemed afraid to give evidence, as the prisoners kept addressing her in a threatening manner. On Mr. Mansfield saying he would have them removed to the cells they desisted.) The Witness, in answer to questions, said she did not remember the prisoners bringing home a quantity of property. An Assistant to Mr. Solomon having proved that the ring produced, and which was identified by the prosecutor as his property, was pawned by the last witness on May 28. Detective Sergeant Lucas deposed to finding the links in Powell’s cuffs when he was taken in custody. When he took Lowther in custody he asked him to account for his time on the night of the 24th May, and he said he should take time to consider. None of the property had been found except the ring and the links. The prisoners denied being the owners of the jemmy. Mr Mansfield committed them for trial. Throughout the hearing they kept continually laughing, interrupting the witness, and behaving in a disorderly manner. It was incidentally stated during the hearing that the bulk of the property had been disposed of in Whitechapel.
Extensive Burglary at Bow Published: Saturday 13 July 1878 London Standard
Daring Burglary – Early on Saturday morning last the premises of Mr. Plaskett, Chronometer maker and jeweler, 538. Mile End-road, were entered from the back by burglars, who succeeded in getting clear with the whole stock of watches and jewelry, amounting in value to nearly £700. It is supposed, by the footprints on the garden bed, that there were three in number. Considerable force must have been used in breaking open the kitchen the door with a “jemmy” and it is evident that murder might have resulted had the burglars been disturbed, by the fact that they had removed a formidable chopper and a “lignum vitre” towel roller from below into the shop. So quietly did they execute their work that the inmates, who slept overhead with the door wide open, were not the least disturbed, and the robbery was not discovered until the kitchen door was found in the morning to be tied from the outside, sure of time to escape. They left behind a silk neckerchief, by which it is possible a clue may be obtained. The police have a suspicion of the parties concerned in the robbery. Several attempts have been made during the past year to effect an entrance to the same premises, and upon a previous occasion a man was nearly captured. We may add that some Mr. Plaskett’s friends, being desirous of expressing their sympathy with him in a practical form, have made an appeal to raise funds on his behalf, and we are pleased to learn that up to the present it has been generously responded to. Mr. S. Allen, of Canal-road, Mile End, is the treasurer.
£700 in 1878 is in 2013 worth £67000.00
Published in the East London Observer
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How you can easily create beautiful art for your home or your loved ones by Peter Black, founder of – Charmaché Art and Craft
James Edward Plaskett was one of seven children to Annie (nee: Town) and William Reuben J Plaskett, he was born in Dagenham, Essex in 1920.
Little is known about James because a lot of records from this period are still closed, I know more about the ship he died on during WW2. So in memory of James and the other 368 men who died this is a brief story of HMS FIDELITY.
HMS FIDELITY
1920 – 1943
2,456 ton Special Service Vessel
On 28 Dec, 1942, HMS Fidelity (D 57) (Lt C.A.M. Costa) fell behind the convoy ONS-154 due to engine troubles and streamed its torpedo nets, which brought down her speed to 2-3 knots. The next day, the commander decided to head for the Azores and launched her motor torpedo boat HMS MTB-107 and a Kingfisher floatplane for anti-submarine patrol. The aircraft spotted the lifeboats of Empire Shackleton which were towed by the two landing craft to HMS Fidelity. The 44 survivors were picked up and the aircraft and the landing craft were lifted aboard again.
At 21.38 hours on 29 December, U-225 (Leimkühler) fired the stern torpedo at HMS Fidelity, but missed. U-615 (Kapitzky) observed the suspicous vessel during the day and attacked her with five single torpedoes between 22.00 and 23.00 hours, but they either missed or were caught by the torpedo nets. At 16.38 hours on 30 December, the vessel was finally hit by two torpedoes from U-435 and sank immediately after heavy detonations. The U-boat reported a surprising high number of survivors on overcrowded rafts and swimming in the water, none of them were rescued and all drowned in the worsening weather. 274 crew members, 51 Royal Marines and the 44 survivors were lost. The landing craft HMS LCV-752 and HMS LCV-754 on board were lost with the ship. The engines of the MTB broke down and the crew of eight men was later rescued by HMCS Woodstock (K 238) (T/A/Cdr G.H. Griffiths, RCN), which then scuttled the disabled vessel. They were the only survivors apart from two men that had been picked up by HMCS St Laurent (H 83) (A/Cdr G.S. Windeyer, RCN) after the other Kingfisher floatplane from the vessel crashed on take off on 28 December.
Stephen and Yhana is the official You Tube channel for the author’s blogs and websites (Stephen Robert Kuta), a shared adventure with his daughter. Featuring: Days Out in the UK / History / Genealogy / Virtual Walks / Virtual Cycling / Travel and so much more. Feel free to visit, subscribe and watch out for all of our upcoming episodes.
How you can easily create beautiful art for your home or your loved ones by Peter Black, founder of – Charmaché Art and Craft
Clock That Predates London Fire Sells For Record $286,000
A rare and important lantern clock, dating back to the reign of James I
William Bowyer – Clockmaker
11th Grt Grand Uncle
Engraved with a “Memento Mori? (Remember your mortality)
(1603?1625), was sold for $286,000 at Bonhams on June 19 ? a world record price for a clock of this kind.
Made by William Bowyer in 1623, the brass clock was estimated to fetch between $60/100,000 at Bonhams’ sale of fine clocks. The sale of 110 clocks made a total of $1,085,635.
“This magnificent lantern clock is undoubtedly one of the finest still in private hands today,” explained James Stratton, director of Bonhams’ clocks and watches department. “The date of manufacture of 1623 puts it firmly in the first few years of the production of the type of timekeeper that has come to be known as the English lantern clock. Horologically speaking, the clock predates the pendulum, the anchor escapement and rack striking.
“In a wider context, James I was King of England, the Clockmakers Company had not yet been established and the English Civil War, the Fire of London and the Great Plague were decades away. The engraved side doors of this clock are the only pair known to have survived from this First Period, and offer us two of the most memorable engraved pieces of brass in horology. I was not that surprised by the price. We were expecting it to do well.” – Bonhams
Engraved with a “Memento Mori” (Remember your mortality) scene of a skeleton with Biblical reference and, on the other side, Chronus walking with his scythe, the clock’s decoration reflects society’s widespread preoccupation with mortality and the afterlife during the Seventeenth Century. Puritans of this time were highly preoccupied with Divine Judgment and the afterlife. The clock dates from this period, when salvation of the soul was at the forefront of many peoples’ thoughts and actions.
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How you can easily create beautiful art for your home or your loved ones by Peter Black, founder of – Charmaché Art and Craft
Extract from the book – South Wiltshire Clock Makers
7th Grt Grandfather
Redlynch, as the modern spelling is – or Redlench or indeed Redlinch as the 18th century engravers spelt it – is about five miles south of Salisbury in Wiltshire and about one mile from Downton. It was a small rambling villiage in an agricultural area, with a pub near the crossroads at the foot of what is now called Bower’s Hill.
The road where Peter Bower lived and worked, now named after him
From here Peter Bower must have produced hundreds of simple thirty-hour longcase clocks. We know he lived to the age of 80 and had a long working life, but even so he probably had one of the largest outputs of any country clockmaker and must have employed other journeymen and apprentices. One local story has it that he used to hang clock faces from the trees all around his house to advertise his trade!
Peter Bower was born in 1715 and on 23 April 1739 he married Susannah Bayly at St Martin’s Church, Salisbury. He was listed in the marriage licence as a blacksmith, age 23, of Downton, Wiltshire, and she as a spinster, age 22, of Downton. They had six children.
Peter Bower, now listed in the records as a clockmaker, was buried on 5 July 1795, aged 80, at St Lawrence’s Church, Downton.
Most of the clocks that one sees by Peter Bower are thirty-hour birdcage types, either in simple oak cases or often as movements only, but there are at least two musical longcases by him in existence, and also an eight-day longcase. It is possible to categorise his clocks as follows:
Basically the simplest, the early ones have a single hand showing the hours on a square brass dial, 9″ to 10″ wide, nearly all with the same sprandels and a plain matted centre. The name is usually engraved on the chapter ring although one exception seen had the name engraved on a rectangle brass plaque. The movement will have four iron posts 3/8″ by 3/16″ with a going and a striking train set one behind the other. Over this will be a fairly massive bell on an iron bell stand with a nice chunky hammer. The top and bottom brass plates may well show casting faults.
Later these were made with two hands, with minute figures and divisions on the chapter ring. The next development was to engrave the dial centres. The early ones had floral swags and scrolls engraved and at least two of these also had calender apertures above the six o’clock. However there must have been problems as both were blocked off, probably at the time of making as the one seen showed no sign of datework to the movement and the blocking had been done with a piece of old file in the same way that Peter Bower made many of the retaining wedges for the movement pivot bars.
The last of these clocks had beautiful engraved scenes in the West Country style – men of war, village scenes with seagulls flying over and ships entering estuaries with castles and trees. Nearly all of these clocks had the same spandrels and the movements are similar. It is possible to list some typical Bower features: the hedgehog face filed on the bell spring stop; the nut on the bell and nuts on the movement all having a cross filed on them so that they seat better; a turned wood pulley, not brass, for the weight; an unusual pendulum construction, the brass bob on the slide hooked on to the pendulum rod and the top of the rod not screwed into the suspension block but turned round a pin within the blocks; the name usually engraved on the chapter ring on the earlier clocks either as ‘P Bower Redlench’ in a single line or if there are two hands on two lines. The engraved centre examples usually incorportate the name in the design and it is then written as ‘Peter Bower Redlinch’.
Do not dismiss Peter Bower as a mere maker of thirty-hour country clocks; he also made two musical clocks and one eight-day clock. And if you wanted a good-looking brass arched dial two-handed clock but could only afford a thirty-hour movement he could arrange that.
There exists an apparent brass arched-dial eight-day with two hands but which is obviously a thirty-hour birdcage movement. This clock is still in the same house as it was when first bought from the maker. Another thirty-hour clock is still within a quater of a mile of where Bower lived and has been in the same family for many years.
Also still in Redlynch is an eight-day clock with a 12″ wide brass dial 17″ high. The chapter ring has the hour and minute figures and the name ‘Peter Bower Redlinch’ engraved on it. The four spandrels are Bower eight-day type and the dial centre has an engraved scene with a house and cupola, two little wicket gates and fences. The calender aperture below the dial centre is of the large didc type as opposed to the ‘ring’ on the eight-day musical clock. The winding holes cut through part of the engraving (the movement is original) and suggest a lack of planning. There is a full engraved seconds dial above the dial centre. In the arch over are two dolphin sprandels surrounding an engraved, silver boss with an eagle type design and the words ‘Tempus Fugit’. It is in an oak case 6′ 8.5″ high which has replaced cheeks but it is original, particularly as it is similar in dsign to the case of another Bower clock nearby.
The eight-day musical clock unfortunately was discovered as a movement only has now been recased. The 12″ wide dial has fine ‘urn’ spandrels, different from the other eight-day clocks. The engraved silvered chapter ring shows the hour and minute figures, with no maker’s name as this appears on top of the arch as ‘Peter Bower Redlench’. The moon disc has two moon faces on a deep blue ground with stars. The two hemispheres are engraved with miniature scenes similar in style to the thirty-hour engraved dial centres and probably by the same engraver. The figures 1 to 25 + are engraved round the arch but there is no pointer. In the right hand corner of the dial is the tune selector lever, giving a choice of two tunes. The clock has two hands and the dial centre is engraved with floral swags with a date aperture above six o’clock.
Peter BOWER (1715 – 1795) is my 7th great grandfather
Stephen and Yhana is the official You Tube channel for the author’s blogs and websites (Stephen Robert Kuta), a shared adventure with his daughter. Featuring: Days Out in the UK / History / Genealogy / Virtual Walks / Virtual Cycling / Travel and so much more. Feel free to visit, subscribe and watch out for all of our upcoming episodes.
How you can easily create beautiful art for your home or your loved ones by Peter Black, founder of – Charmaché Art and Craft
Peter Plaskett was born about 1778, in Hampshire, England, he was one of two known children of Henry and Mary Plaskett. The family were religiously strict and were part of the Salisbury Methodist circuit in Wiltshire, England.
A biographical sketch about his mother ‘Mary Plaskett’, was Written and Published in 1833By James Dredge, and an idea of family life can be easily imagined within its pages.
Peter was named after his grandfather, Peter Bower who was a well-known clockmaker in Redlynch, Wiltshire, Peter Plaskett probably spent a lot of time with his Grandfather because on the 5 August 1794, he was recorded as being an Apprentice in Downton, Wiltshire, where his Grandfather lived at that time and where his family hailed from. The apprenticeship was taken with David Bucklee of St Luke, Old Street, London.
Peter’s grandfather died in June 1795 and around this time he moved to London where he traded as a watchmaker, it’s very likely that he continued working with David Bucklee of St Lukes because in 1805 his nephew John Plaskett was recorded as being born here.
I have searched for more information about Peter over the years, but he disappears from the records after 1805.
My relationship to Peter Plaskett
Peter PLASKETT (1778 – before 1837) is my 5th great grand uncle
Henry PLASKETT (1731 – 1782) Father of Peter
Reuben PLASKETT (1775 – 1854) Son of Henry
William PLASKETT (1820 – 1912) Son of Reuben
William Reubon PLASKETT (1844 – 1918) Son of William
Edmund Lionel PLASKETT (1881 – 1952) Son of William Reubon
Edmund Samuel PLASKETT (1906 – 1977) Son of Edmund Lionel
Joyce Margery PLASKETT (1934 – ) Daughter of Edmund Samuel
Stephen and Yhana is the official You Tube channel for the author’s blogs and websites (Stephen Robert Kuta), a shared adventure with his daughter. Featuring: Days Out in the UK / History / Genealogy / Virtual Walks / Virtual Cycling / Travel and so much more. Feel free to visit, subscribe and watch out for all of our upcoming episodes.
How you can easily create beautiful art for your home or your loved ones by Peter Black, founder of – Charmaché Art and Craft
Charles Plaskett was born about 1825 in 18 Grove Street, Bath, Somerset, England. He was the youngest of 8 children by Reuben and Mary Plaskett. His father Reuben was a well-established Clock, Watch and Jeweller maker who learnt his trade from his late uncle Peter ‘of London’ Plaskett. Reuben in turn taught his trade to his five sons, all of which became noted makers in their own right. Charles on the other hand was that little more special and became direct successor to Reuben Plaskett he stuck by his father until his death on the 23th April 1854, which was probably the key reason that his father’s established business was left to him.
Charles spent his childhood in Bath, Somerset, a city which in Georgian times was very wealthy and very popular as a spa town, as a result the city underwent vast changes during this British period and as a result the Georgian city of Bath is pretty much what we see today. The Plaskett’s lived and worked from 18 Grove Street, Bath, directly under the cold shadow of Bath Prison. Which was directly across the road from them.
A drawing of the rear of 18 Grove Street, with the prison looming down in the background. Sourced from: Bath in time
By 1839 the family were recorded as having moved from Bath and had now set up home and their trade in London, England. The beautiful city of Bath had been exchanged for the dark, narrow streets of Whitechapel, and they resided in the parish of St Mary’s at 31 Raven Street. In the 1880’s Dr Charles Booth recorded this street as fairly comfortable, with good ordinary earnings, but it was still only a walk away from very poor and the lowest class and vicious semi-criminal.
In the 1880’s Dr Charles Booth recorded that Raven street was fairly comfortable, with good ordinary earnings, but it was still only a walk away from very poor and the lowest class and vicious semi-criminal.
Charles Plaskett married on the 14th January 1849 in Saint James Church, Clerkenwell, London, to Harriet Wilson the daughter of William Wilson a joiner by trade. Her father William and her sister Mary Ann Wilson both witnessed the marriage. For a short period Charles and Harriet both resided together in the Wilson Household, Bowling Green Lane until moving back into 31 Raven Street sometime in the fall of 1849, just before the birth of their child. Henry George Plaskett was born on the 24th November 1849, in the Parish of St Mary’s, Whitechapel. Life however, was about to shatter for Charles as the harsh realities of Victorian, London hit hard. On the 6th March 1850 the family rushed through a baptism in St Mary’s Church, as illness took hold. Henry George Plaskett died a few days later, he was 4 months old. 3 months later in June 1850, Harriet Plaskett died too. Charles had lost his son and wife all within a few months of each and only after a year of marriage.
I think it’s difficult for us today to imagine just how hard life was for our ancestors, death was a daily occurrence and excepted and familiar in everyday life.
The census of 1851 recorded half of the population of Britain as living in towns – the first society in human history to do so. Over the previous 70 years, the population of Britain had risen at an unprecedented rate, passing the levels reached in an earlier period of growth, in the early 14th century, when the population had been decimated by epidemics such as the Black Death.
‘… with death from sickness at a level not seen since the Black Death.’
But was there any reason for optimism? The towns offered a better chance of work and higher wages than the countryside, where many families were trapped in dire poverty and seasonal employment. On the other hand, the countryside was healthier. A baby born in a large town with a population of more than 100,000 in the 1820s might expect to live to 35 – in the 1830s, life expectancy was down to a miserable 29.
A comparison between a desperately unhealthy large town and a small market town shows the costs of migrating in search of work and prosperity. In 1851, a boy born in inner Liverpool had a life expectancy of only 26 years, compared with a boy born in the small market town of Okehampton, who could expect to live to 57.
Large towns were thus desperately unhealthy, with death from sickness at a level not seen since the Black Death. New epidemics were stalking the cities – cholera and typhoid were carried by polluted water, typhus was spread by lice, and ‘summer diarrhoea’ was caused by swarms of flies feeding on horse manure and human waste. The problem was easy to identify and difficult to solve. Too little was invested in the urban environment, in sewers, street paving and cleansing, and in pure water and decent housing.
As the decade continued, life for Charles Plaskett worsened, in 1854, within two months of each other he lost both his parents to old age and Bronchitis, and even though he succeeded his father Reuben Plaskett and took over the families business in Whitechapel, by the end of the decade with loss of business and mounting debt it was gone.
In 1860 Charles left London for good, hoping to leave behind his broken trade, his creditors and his sorrowful past. He took his knowledge and well-earned trade with him to the parish of St Mary’s, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales and began a new life there.
The 1861 census and trade directories records Charles as residing at 59 – 60 Bute Street, Cardiff, and his occupation was listed as a Chronometer Maker, which is the second time we see Chronometer’s mentioned as a trade in the Plaskett Family, his brother William had already started specialising in Marine Chronometers ten years previously.
By 1861 Charles was living as married to an Elizabeth, who was born in 1829, Falmouth, Cornwall, little is known about her except it’s likely she had Austrian ancestry because two boarders with the surname of Cingmas were also residing with them in Bute Street. An Esther Cingmas born in 1840, Falmouth, Cornwall and a Nicole Cingmas listed as being male and born in Austria in 1832. No relationship status is mentioned, only that they are boarders… Although I do believe a family connection exists here because of the similarities with the place of birth for both Elizabeth and Esther and because Esther was also the name given to the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth.
Esther Maud Plaskett daughter of Charles and Elizabeth was listed in the 1861 census as being born in Cardiff. At the time the census was taken on Sunday 7th April 1861 she was recorded as being 3 months and 12 days old, making her birth date 26 December 1860. The family also had a Joseph Simmons boarding with them whose occupation was listed as being an optician and they also employed a servant by the name of Mary Thomas, a local girl of 18 years.
Life seemed good for Charles and his new family, and between 1860-61 they must have been doing well, because Bute Street was an affluent area of which they held two premises there, numbers 59 and 60. All that changed though about March 1862, when an application for Bankruptcy was filed I would guess that his London creditors had caught up with him.
The London Gazette, published these articles:
The London Gazette, 14 March 1862
Charles Plaskett, of the Docks, Cardiff, in the county of Glamorgan, Jeweller and Watch and Chronometer Maker having been adjudged bankrupt under a Petition for adjudication of Bankruptcy, filed, in Her Majesty’s Court of Bankruptcy for the Bristol District, at Bristol, on the 12th day of March 1862. He is hereby required to surrender himself to Charles Orme, Esq., the Registrar of the said court, and the first meeting of creditors, to be held before the said Registrar, on the 1st of April next, at eleven o’clock in the forenoon precisely, at the said Court, at Bristol. Mr. Alfred John Acramati, of No. 19, St. Augustine’s place, Bristol, is the Official’ Assignee, and Mr. T. H. Jinsor ‘Cardiff, is the Solicitor acting in the bankruptcy.
The London Gazette, April 4 1862
Charles Plaskett, of the Docks, Cardiff, in the county of Glamorgan, Jeweller and Watch and Chronometer Maker, having been adjudged bankrupt under a Petition for adjudication of Bankruptcy, filed in Her Majesty’s Court of Bankruptcy for the Bristol District, on the 12th day of March, 1862, a public sitting, for the said bankrupt to pass his Last Examination and make application for his Discharge, will be held before Matthew Darenport Hill, Esq., the Commissioner of the said Court, on the 5th day of May next, at the said Court, at Bristol, at eleven o’clock in the forenoon precisely, the day last aforesaid being the day limited for the said bankrupt to surrender. Mr. Alfred John Acraman, of No. 19, St. Augustine’s-place, Bristol, is the Official Assignee, and Messrs. Clifton and Benson, of Bristol, are the Solicitors acting in the bankruptcy.
For the next two years Charles would see his new life fall apart, as everything he had was lost. On the 28 August 1863, He was sentenced to three months imprisonment. The following year in October 1864, his daughter Esther Maud died aged 4, his wife Elizabeth disappears from the records around this time and it’s difficult to say what actually became of her. I would guess she died sometime in 1863/4.
Charles Plaskett left Cardiff that year and moved hoping to start a new life in Bristol, Gloucestershire. Surprisingly it didn’t take long for him to start a new life, because in September 1864 he is recorded as having re-married. Charles married his third wife Eliza Hussey in Bristol, she is probably someone he already knew because she lived close by to Charles when he lived in London.
Charles Plaskett doesn’t appear in the 1871 census, but his last known address was listed as: 53 West street, Bristol, Gloucestershire. He is recorded as living here in the 1879 and the 1880 trade directory for Bristol. His third wife Eliza died aged 54 in March 1873, Clifton, Gloucestershire, sadly he had no more children.
Charles Plaskett continued working as a clock, watch and chronometer maker until his death in June 1880, he died in Barton Regis, Gloucestershire. His Chronometers can often be seen at big auction houses across the world including Bonhams, they have been known to reach a sale price of £5000.
My relationship to Charles Plaskett
Charles PLASKETT (1825 – 1880)
is my 4th great grand uncle
Reuben PLASKETT (1775 – 1854) Father of Charles
William PLASKETT (1820 – 1912) Son of Reuben
William Reubon PLASKETT (1844 – 1918) Son of William
Edmund Lionel PLASKETT (1881 – 1952) Son of William Reubon
Edmund Samuel PLASKETT (1906 – 1977) Son of Edmund Lionel
Joyce Margery PLASKETT (1934 – ) Daughter of Edmund Samuel
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