A fire revealed an ancestors’ long-held secret. There were surprising revelations when a family history researcher discovered the secret of Peterboat Inn, which her innkeeping ancestors owned. What they had been up to for 300 years at the River Thames fishing village was finally exposed in a 150-year-old official forensic report on the blaze recently found in Town Hall archives.
| by Terry Walker | 04032024 | 7 minute read |
Heather Gentry’s ancestors were known for centuries as respectable innkeepers, cocklers, watermen, and even farmers until the diligent family history researcher discovered the dark side of their lives.
Ancestors can be honest and upright or dishonest and dishonourable, but they remain an ancestor hanging on the family history tree forever. Being an “innkeeper” is probably an upright occupation. But what does it take to shift that newly discovered forebear into the dishonest and dishonourable category?
The Peterboat pub had been recorded at the heart of the waterfront at the picturesque fishing village of Leigh on Sea, Essex, England, since the early 1600s. Records indicated that Samuel Osborne was the most likely early owner until he died around 1695. One of his 21st-century descendants discovered Samuel’s son, John Osborne, who became the landlord in the same year his father’s death was recorded.
Confusing for family history researchers
John Osborne died in 1739, while further records showed the Peterboat pub had passed not to his son John Osborne (II) but to his grandson John Osborne (III). Local documents confirmed he was the licensee in 1769. Giving a son the same name from generation to generation was a standard practice in the olden days. However, it can be confusing for family history researchers.
The Osbornes continued this for four more generations. So many Johns, including Grandpa John (VI). A total of six John Osbornes could have been serving pints of cockles and pints of beer at the Peterboat Inn.
Inn and homes destroyed
All were socially “respectable” enough, with no cause for concern, even when one of the Johns showed his occupation as a waterman and farmer. It was a departure from beer pulling but a logical expansion given that fields overlooked the pub and the River Thames estuary flowed right by it.
“Respectable” until 1892, when a disastrous fire destroyed the Peterboat Inn and nearby. It started during some after-hours drinking, during which the ancestor landlord and his nephew knocked over an oil lamp… They then had to knock down the wall of the house next door to rescue his wife and children and help evacuate other neighbours as the blaze spread along the street.
Villagers were shocked at the fire and the damage caused to the waterfront properties and felt a lot of sympathy for the Osborne family. But then came gossip-worthy disclosures following a closer inspection of the inn’s fire debris.
Evidence found in secret cellar
Town hall officials discovered a hidden cellar and passages extended beneath the quayside. A door provided direct access for boats tied up to the quay. The authorities found “contraband and evidence of smuggling in the cellar.” The Osbornes were suddenly in big trouble.
Leigh on Sea was suspected to be a haunt of the smuggling fraternity along the Kent and Essex coastlines. So when, in 1892, the Peterboat pub burned down, few locals were surprised at the smuggling allegation. The cellar and secret passages directly accessed the waterside adjoining the Alley Dock. A path from the dock ran up to Daws Heath — a notorious area for lawless highwaymen, transients and drifters.
For nearly 300 years, the Osborne family were seen as respectable innkeepers at the heart of the local community. Now it looked like their big secret was out, and they were lawbreaking smugglers and part of a network of “Free Traders”. Two Osborne brothers, Joseph and Joshua, were alive at the time of the discovery.
More research after discoveries
Their customers might not have been surprised at the smuggling revelations. However, should the current family history researcher re-categorise her ancestor’s social standing? It seems harsh, but maybe ”dishonest” and “dishonourable” might be more accurate for the Osbornes on the Leigh on Sea waterfront.
The family’s researcher, Heather Gentry, says: “I wasn’t really surprised at the revelations, so why should I judge them? After all, many family trees include black sheep ancestors who have strayed from the straight and narrow path. I was taught on my mother’s knee that Essex folk have been ‘Free traders for centuries’. To discover I was a descendant of ‘Free Traders’ adds a new dimension to my life.”
More research might establish if there had been enough evidence to convict them as smugglers and if they were punished by banishment in Australia. The transportation lists contain many Osbornes.
How we catch cockles in the River Thames
Our cockle boat Mary Amelia goes out from Leigh on Sea into the Thames Estuary when the tide is coming to reach its destination to begin cockling. The boat is well equipped with radios and plotters used to plot a course to the permitted cockling areas.
Cockles are fished using a dredge placed into the water when the boat is floating between five and 15 feet above the cockle beds. During this time, the vessel will be moving at a speed of around five knots. A blade is submerged into the ground while high-pressure pushes water into the ground to dislodge the cockles to be sucked up through a pipe onto the boat.
These cockles then pass through a screen that rotates around. The screen bars are spaced so any small, young cockles, plus mud, sand and water, fall back into the sea. Cockles then move onto a conveyor belt and fall into the boat’s hold. It can take as little as three hours to fish 10 tonnes of cockles. This is the amount permitted by the Kent & Essex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority.
Once the boat reaches its permitted quota, it will return to Leigh-on-Sea. Depending on how quickly it has managed to fish them, it may be able to return to Leigh on the outgoing tide. If it misses this, the boat sits on the mud until the next tide.
: : Written by Graham Osborne of the Peterboat pub and Thames cockler.
UPDATE
Leigh on Sea has been the first port of call for smugglers for centuries. There were plenty of customers in surrounding towns like Rayleigh and Southend. London is a mere 30 miles upstream for local cockleboats. Contraband can be easily concealed among cargoes of cockles, oysters and other seafood. The Peterboat pub is still owned and run by a branch of the Osborne family. They also own the best-known cockling business in Essex County.
Economics finally signalled the end of the great smuggling era. In the 1840s, Britain adopted a free-trade policy that slashed import duties to realistic levels. Within ten years, large-scale smuggling was just a memory… or just a “diminished” family concern in some cases?
The boats used by fishermen up to the mid-20th century were much smaller than those in current use. The earliest type seems to have been the ‘Peter boat’, originally a double-ended boat without gunwale or rim. But as solid and safe as a fisherman’s boat should be.
Related ancestry story: Bar brawl in Bahia Blanca
Another true ancestral smuggler story
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