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UPDATE No 32 |
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The potteries of Samuel South & Sons and E. G. Cole & Sons were developed on the site of Tent Farm, White Hart Lane, Tottenham (see the maps in Update no. 5). The farmhouse faced the lane and, later, became Tentdale, a pair of semi-detached houses. In 1891, Edward Cole lived at 1 Tentdale with his family and Samuel South(1) occupied 2 Tentdale with his wife, Alice, and eight of their ten children. His grandson, Jim South, has recalled ".....they lived in a house near Coles Pottery a place I well remember, causing me to wonder how they all got in there!" The houses were demolished in the late 1950's during the development of the Cole Pottery site. A painting of Tent farm remains in the possession of the Cole family and is reproduced above. The date is unknown but probably pre 1850. |
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Further information about the emigration of members of the South family has been discovered following research on the internet and attendance at the Bysouth day organised by Tom Doig, the local historian, at Reed Village Hall in November 2001. Joseph South(1) 1822-1906 emigrated to New Zealand with his second wife, Mary Ann Dutton, in 1874. However, an Australian website - www.firstfamilies2001.net.au - provides details of the earlier emigration of close members of his family. In 1853, three of Joseph's brothers, Benjamin b 1821, John b 1827 and Henry 1830-1904, emigrated to Australia. A descendant of Henry, Margaret Baker, has posted the following information: "The Genghis Khan left Liverpool on the 25 March and arrived in Melb. on the1 July 1853. Two of Henry's brothers came at the same time, they were Benjamin who was contracted and John who was on his own access (like Henry). John and Henry went to Maldon" A year earlier, in 1852, James Bysouth 1801-1874, the uncle of Joseph(1), had left the UK for Australia. His descendant, Hazel Dunn, reports: "Following the death of his wife, Mary Ann, sometime between 1836 and 1852, James with his two youngest children, Mary Ann (17) and Henrietta (15) sailed on the Isle of Skye, departing London on July 27 1852 and berthing at Geelong on December 12, 1852. The long journey had taken one hundred and thirty eight days. James was employed as an agricultural worker by Mr O' Hern at Indented Heads. Later Droving became his occupation." |
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JOYCE BARKER |
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Joyce Mildred Barker nee South (1918-2001), the youngest of the eight children of Samuel(2), passed away at Chase Farm Hospital, Enfield, on 25 November 2001, aged 83, after a short illness. In the late 1930's, after employment in the City of London, Joyce went to work in the Potteries office and after WW2 continued to keep the wages ledgers until the closure in 1960. Her nephew, Graham South, has recalled: "Auntie Joyce was always polite to the two young "pretenders" [Graham and his cousin, Peter South] entering the potteries' office through the queue of correctly spoken pot-makers waiting for the wages given out by the lady who knew all about PAYE. Late Friday afternoon she ruled at the little sliding window, with never a hasty word when she explained why extra tax had to be taken, not welcome after a weeks toil in the sheds, but Auntie Joyce could soften the blow. The only lady amongst the men and boys, she was accorded respect, we never heard a rude word when Auntie Joyce held court." |
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Gladys Short |
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The second of two extracts from the memories of Gladys Short describes the move from Snells Park to River House. Teenage Years My father moved to River House to be nearer the potteries during the 1914-1918 war. It was very rural but rather lonely and when we first moved we still went to the old church school which was a very long walk. We took our own lunch and ate it at the grand parents' house. We got plenty of visits on Sundays from near relatives, it made a good place to call in after the pleasant week. Very large garden as you can imagine by the houses built on what was our kitchen garden. There was a fairly large pond on the site of the present White Hart and lots of fruit trees. Nearby was an earth lavatory with a double seat. Three beautiful white chestnut trees at the back of the house and a large lawn, a little white gate lead into the field. There was another large house beyond River House and also a small cottage. The old New River ran through our kitchen garden and sometimes we had children brought in to be dried out after they had got wet catching tadpoles, they had usually wandered in from the field. There was another pond in the lane and there were three fierce geese on it, later they were taken to the pottery yard. It was an interesting house inside with an older wing but extremely cold and inconvenient inside. Rough stone scullery floor, a large walk in larder, another store used for coal and a huge bread oven. Granny King had a bed-sitter over the old kitchen. The door most used opened onto a York paved floor, very cold, a door led to the cellar and there was a wooden rack hanging from the ceiling evidently used to dry bacon etc. at one time. Up two steps probably to what was a serving pantry, then the two fairly large sitting rooms. Upstairs three bedrooms all ran into each other, not very private! Two separate bedrooms and two small ones in the side wing, later they were used by the living in maid. Imagine the old kitchen with an iron cooking range, very large dresser, dozens of shoes and boots kept underneath. No modern conveniences, these come years later when New River House was built. Round about this time Dad's builder brothers started on the New River House although at first this was just an addition to the old one, one large bedroom and two smaller ones, a very large kitchen with a scullery. Gladys Short nee South 1906-2001 |
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WEBSITE |
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The Samuel South website <www.samuelsouth.btinternet.co.uk > continues to expand with new articles and photo galleries. Over 1100 "hits" have been recorded since the launch in October 2000. KLB 2/02 |
