Alfred Poole (1884-1898) - Shop boy from Freeman, Hardy and Willis
by Chris Phillips
Alfred Poole's parents, Thomas and Esther (née Turner), both came from Suffolk. They married at Haverhill in the summer of 1858 when Thomas was about 22 years old and his bride some three years his junior. A daughter, Emily, had been born to them about a month before the wedding and although this might have been regarded by some as unfortunate it was by no means an uncommon beginning to a marriage. Esther had been in service from a very early age following the death of her father and marriage to Thomas might well have seemed like an attractive prospect – but she could not have guessed that she would remain Thomas' wife for more than half a century, bring fifteen children into the world and lose nine of them before they reached adulthood.
Thomas Poole had grown up in Haverhill in Beggars Row where his father was a drabbett weaver – a maker of the coarse but hard wearing linen-like material used for the smocks which were the working clothes of many rural folk. It was the denim of its day and Haverhill was an important centre of its manufacture. He did not, however, follow his father into weaving but became a fellmonger - not a word much heard today but the proper name for someone who prepared animal skins, usually sheepskins, for tanning. It was an ancient trade with a Guild that regulated the quality of skins, workmanship, apprenticeships and so on. Just at what level in the trade Thomas operated is not known but there are no indications that he became a wealthy man and raising so large a family he may well have never done much more than simply get by.
Thomas Poole had grown up in Haverhill in Beggars Row where his father was a drabbett weaver – a maker of the coarse but hard wearing linen-like material used for the smocks which were the working clothes of many rural folk. It was the denim of its day and Haverhill was an important centre of its manufacture. He did not, however, follow his father into weaving but became a fellmonger - not a word much heard today but the proper name for someone who prepared animal skins, usually sheepskins, for tanning. It was an ancient trade with a Guild that regulated the quality of skins, workmanship, apprenticeships and so on. Just at what level in the trade Thomas operated is not known but there are no indications that he became a wealthy man and raising so large a family he may well have never done much more than simply get by.
After their marriage the Pooles remained in the Haverhill area for more than a decade but these years were marked by much sadness. Baby girls born in 1860, 1861 and 1863 died within hours of their birth and were not given names and in 1864 a boy, named William, lived only a matter of days. Mary Ann, born in 1865 survived and lived to raise her own family but Ellen born in 1868 lived only four months and died at the end of January 1869. On 24th April of the same year 11 year old Emily passed away leaving Thomas and Esther devastated.
Later in 1869, perhaps in search of a new beginning of sorts, the couple moved to Sawston in Cambridgeshire where there was a growing leather industry centred on Thomas Evans' tanyard which employed a workforce numbering almost 250. They settled in Orchard Yard where the 1871 census return reveals a cluster of families engaged in different aspects of the trade. Life seemed to improve especially when healthy children were born in 1870 (Jane), 1872 (William) and 1875 (Thomas) but a downturn in the market saw many lay-offs in the latter years of the decade and, again searching for work, Thomas moved his family to Ely in about 1878 and settled at first in Waterside, not far from the Black Bull public house, where their neighbours were mostly working men and their families. Almost certainly Thomas found employment at the fellmongers' yard in Broad Street, a street to which they later moved and in Ely three more healthy children were born – Robert in 1879, May in 1881 and Alfred, the subject of this article, in 1884.
Later in 1869, perhaps in search of a new beginning of sorts, the couple moved to Sawston in Cambridgeshire where there was a growing leather industry centred on Thomas Evans' tanyard which employed a workforce numbering almost 250. They settled in Orchard Yard where the 1871 census return reveals a cluster of families engaged in different aspects of the trade. Life seemed to improve especially when healthy children were born in 1870 (Jane), 1872 (William) and 1875 (Thomas) but a downturn in the market saw many lay-offs in the latter years of the decade and, again searching for work, Thomas moved his family to Ely in about 1878 and settled at first in Waterside, not far from the Black Bull public house, where their neighbours were mostly working men and their families. Almost certainly Thomas found employment at the fellmongers' yard in Broad Street, a street to which they later moved and in Ely three more healthy children were born – Robert in 1879, May in 1881 and Alfred, the subject of this article, in 1884.
Alfred, the youngest of the Pooles was born when his mother was already 45. With national educational reforms already well established he would have been able to attend school until he was 12 or so. Beyond the 'Three Rs' of reading, (w)riting and (a)rithmetic his schooling was no doubt fairly rudimentary but he was judged bright enough – and presentable enough - to get a job as a shop boy in the Freeman, Hardy and Willis shoe shop on Forehill when his education came to an end. 'F. H. & W.' founded in 1875 was a growing national chain of shops and Alfred must have counted himself lucky to have found a position in the local branch just around the corner from where he lived. There was not, however, to be a happy ending to this young man's story.
On Tuesday, 22nd November 1898 Alfred set off for work early in the morning – perhaps cheered by the prospect of an early finish as it was the city's half-holiday. He left the shop sometime after two o'clock and met and chatted to his friend William Nightingale the son of the proprietor of the “Baron of Beef”, an eating house on Forehill. At much the same time a traction engine, belonging to Messrs Foley of Bourne, Lincolnshire, drawing two trucks and a portable engine was on its way through Ely heading for Graven's engineering yard in Broad Street. The driver, not knowing the town, drove onto Forehill instead of making for the safer, gentler slope of Back Hill. The consequences were disastrous and the Cambridge Chronicle of 25th November reported:
On Tuesday, 22nd November 1898 Alfred set off for work early in the morning – perhaps cheered by the prospect of an early finish as it was the city's half-holiday. He left the shop sometime after two o'clock and met and chatted to his friend William Nightingale the son of the proprietor of the “Baron of Beef”, an eating house on Forehill. At much the same time a traction engine, belonging to Messrs Foley of Bourne, Lincolnshire, drawing two trucks and a portable engine was on its way through Ely heading for Graven's engineering yard in Broad Street. The driver, not knowing the town, drove onto Forehill instead of making for the safer, gentler slope of Back Hill. The consequences were disastrous and the Cambridge Chronicle of 25th November reported:
The brake was useless and reversal unavailing, and the enormous weight of metal and wood were at the mercy of gravitation. The portable engine swayed from side to side of the road, the wheels striking the the kerbs and at an unfortunate moment it lost its ponderous near hind wheel, which ran into and over a boy named Alfred Poole, aged 14, who died from his injuries in six hours.”
More details emerged at the Inquest held the following day. William Nightingale told the Coroner how he had Alfred had been walking down Forehill and had heard a commotion. Realising that something was wrong they had taken cover in the passage way by the side of the Constitutional Club but after the traction engine passed by they re-emerged to see what was going on without realising that the portable engine was careering toward them. A piece of metal struck William, knocking him back into the passage way and dazing him and it was only when he came to that he realised that Alfred had sustained a much more serious injury.
Alfred Merrells Woodroffe, a plumber with a business on Forehill, took up the story telling the Coroner that he had been in the back of his shop with two others when he heard a rumbling noise out on the street. He had gone to the shop door had seen the engine and trucks swaying about and had watched in horror as the wheel came off and struck Alfred. The boy had tried to get up and had cried out for help and Woodroffe, his son and a servant had picked him up, carried him inside and had sent for Dr Beckett. Clearly the boy's injuries were terrible and all that could be done was to take him home to his parents; they were with him when he died as was his friend William Nightingale.
The Coroner also heard from the driver of the engine, named George Park Hare, who told his side of the story in some detail. As reported in the Chronicle he said:
Alfred Merrells Woodroffe, a plumber with a business on Forehill, took up the story telling the Coroner that he had been in the back of his shop with two others when he heard a rumbling noise out on the street. He had gone to the shop door had seen the engine and trucks swaying about and had watched in horror as the wheel came off and struck Alfred. The boy had tried to get up and had cried out for help and Woodroffe, his son and a servant had picked him up, carried him inside and had sent for Dr Beckett. Clearly the boy's injuries were terrible and all that could be done was to take him home to his parents; they were with him when he died as was his friend William Nightingale.
The Coroner also heard from the driver of the engine, named George Park Hare, who told his side of the story in some detail. As reported in the Chronicle he said:
Yesterday about 3 I was passing through Ely to Mr Graven's yard to take two trucks and a portable engine that had been sold to him. We had a man in front and a lad behind. When we got to the hill we were going about two miles an hour. I put on the brake it did not hold.........I did not know I had a bad brake till I got to the hill, We had no slippers for the portable engine at the back. I thought I had a level road and not a hill to go down. The traction engine was old – ten years.”.
Forehill much as it would have looked to Alfred Poole
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When asked by the Coroner how often the brake was checked the reply was that it was never checked since as an engine driver he relied much more on reversing and in any case came from a place where there were no hills. He added that as soon as he realised what was happening he shut off the steam and tried to reverse – but to no avail. He had shouted to the steerer “She's off; keep her straight!”. As the two men had struggled to bring the engine to a halt the portable engine had fallen over and this had enabled the driver to regain some sort of control. Both he and John Smith his steerer were adamant that they had done all that they could to prevent an accident.
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The Coroner agreed and complimented the two men for “sticking to their engine”. His verdict on Alfred Poole was “Accidental death”. At the conclusion of the proceedings the Jury, of which a Mr Wycherley was Foreman, gave their fees to Alfred's parents. Mr Foley, the owner of the engine handed £5 to Thomas and Esther “expressing his regret at the sad occurrence.” (Lynn Advertiser 25th November 1898). A week later the Cambridge Chronicle reported that £10 had been raised by Mr Laxton, proprietor of the Bell Hotel in High Street, from amongst his friends and neighbours and that this sum too had been given to the Poole family.
Alfred was buried in the Cemetery on 25th November in Grave no. D438. No description of the funeral is to be found in the local newspapers but The Revd Edward Clark Lowe, one of the Cathedral Canons, conducted the funeral and was present at the burial.
The Pooles remained in Ely. Thomas, who was still working at the time of the 1911 census, died in 1916 (buried in Grave No. F1273) and Esther three years later aged 80 (buried in Grave No. F1113). Jane married Joseph Cowley, a fruiterer, and raised a family in the town. William was apprenticed to a baker and Robert became a travelling salesman and moved to London – but tracking these brothers has proved difficult as has finding out very much at all about Thomas jnr. May Poole married William Jackson in 1911 and they raised a family in Ely – all of them worked on the land.
Alfred was buried in the Cemetery on 25th November in Grave no. D438. No description of the funeral is to be found in the local newspapers but The Revd Edward Clark Lowe, one of the Cathedral Canons, conducted the funeral and was present at the burial.
The Pooles remained in Ely. Thomas, who was still working at the time of the 1911 census, died in 1916 (buried in Grave No. F1273) and Esther three years later aged 80 (buried in Grave No. F1113). Jane married Joseph Cowley, a fruiterer, and raised a family in the town. William was apprenticed to a baker and Robert became a travelling salesman and moved to London – but tracking these brothers has proved difficult as has finding out very much at all about Thomas jnr. May Poole married William Jackson in 1911 and they raised a family in Ely – all of them worked on the land.
