I am thankful to say I have had a charmed life.
I was born in a small village in the parish of Teynham {Conyer}, Kent, in the year of 1894 on July 29th.
Leaving shool at thirteen and a half I started working in a Kentish brick field {Smeed, Dean & Co Ltd}, pushing out thirty two wet bricks, each weighing ten pounds, on a long slatted barrow sixteen bricks a side. There was a single wheel in the centre of the barrow so one had to be very careful when turning. About a hundred yards away was a man who stacked the bricks carefully and then back again with the empty barrow for another load. Should rain or storm break out then the bricks had to be covered with boards or caps to keep them dry. Times and wages: 6am - 5pm, 1 o-clock on Saturdays, seven shillings and six pence per week. The brick making was only done in the warm summer months, a moulder and his mate worked for one hour alternately averaging nine hundred bricks per hour with a single iron mould.
Brick making finished, I then started in the local shipwright's yard {White, Conyer} boiling tar and pitch, running with two buckets of boiling tar for the vessel's planking. Times and wages: 6am -5pm, 1 o-clock on Saturdays, again seven shillings and sixpence per week. Not one machine in the place, all chalk line, saw and perspiration. This work was so grand that some of these vessels are still working to this day. A vessel carrying 110 tons was built and sold for £750, and the larger vessels, around 130 tons cost around £1000, every item complete, sails, cloths, and spars, ready to load and sail away.
At fifteen years old I was afloat with my dad trading the channel ports and the Thames {SB Sandown}. In the month of March 1918 I joined a ship named the "Princess Maud" at Hermitage Wharf, just below Tower Bridge. After several voyages to Leith, Scotland, we were bound north again when at twelve o-clock mid-day while changing watches we were torpedoed. Out of twenty nine in the crew, only five of us were saved. After being picked up by trawler men we were taken to the Tyne, South Shields, this all happened on June 10th 1918.
After several weeks at home, I joined a ship in Tilbury Dock, her name was "Flavia". The voyage was to Montreal, Canada. We took on board seven hundred and fifty horses and mules, 300 Serbian soldiers, 100 cattlemen and, with the crew 500 souls in all. Leaving Montreal we steamed around to St John's, Halifax, waiting for several days for other ships to arrive. Finally leaving St John's with about eight ships in convoy. Everything went OK until the early morning of August 24th at five minutes to five, the weather being dull but fine. I was on duty at the time and told the helmsman to stand by as we would be altering our course in a few minutes to zig zag. This idea was introduced to put off the enemy torpedo firing, all ships were continually turning right round the clock, perhaps six then eleven and then nine minutes. The master of each ship had to meet on shore before the voyage to adjust and synchronise their clocks to ensure that all ships turned at the same time. Then, such a bash, a torpedo hit number one hold forward and knocked that 22,000 ton ship down on her side as though it was a tug, everybody going crackers. No boats could be lowered on the starboard side as they would fall inboard. Then bash again in number two hold and the ship started to sink fast but levelling up at the same time, allowing us to get the boats away. An old bargeman named Welland from Rainham in Kent was helping me to get our boat away from the ship, our only chance was to get clear, and even then I had about eight persons more than I should have on the boat, we prayed the weather held fine for us. After several hours a destroyer picked us up and steaming fast for forty eight hours we arrived in Ardrossen, Scotland. Out of 500 souls, 126 were saved.
Although the war was still on, I took a barge of about 200 tons with coal, coke and troops across to the French ports {SB Briton}. Mostly Gravelines, Calais and Boulogne until the war finished..
Married in 1922 taking charge of various craft and tugs, then came 1939.
Owing to my experience, I was asked to take charge of a large salvage tug {ST Westbourne}. I was fortunate in having a good crew, going out to the Channel ways doing our best for ships that had been mined or torpedoed. We had three wonderful salvage pumps and were congratulated on our good work.
Sadly the remainder of the notes do not exist.