William Joyce
1813 -
By
Dr Mary Mills
On 12 August 1850 there was great excitement in Greenwich. A ship was to be launched from Dreadnought Wharf. This was to be a steamship and it was being said that this was the first iron ship ever built in Greenwich.[1] By ‘Greenwich’ they meant the riverside between Deptford Creek and Royal Greenwich – and not the area across the Creek in Deptford where lots of ships were built, because that’s not really Greenwich, is it?
The
ship about to be launched had been built on the premises of William Joyce &
Co. of the Greenwich Ironworks. A large assemblage of inhabitants had tickets
to witness the ceremony - it was a fine day and flags fluttered everywhere. The
‘noble vessel’ was to be called City of Paris and she ‘shone resplendent
with fluttering bunting’ as she glided gently and smoothly into the river. [2]
City
of Paris was a paddle steamer apparently built to the designs of the
leading shipwright at Woolwich Dockyard, Oliver Lang.[3] But, if we are honest, she was actually quite
a small ship, at 425 tons, whose future was carrying passengers between Milford
Haven and Waterford in Ireland.[4]William
Joyce, the shipbuilder, had had a foundry in Greenwich since 1841 making steam
engines but he was one of only a few shipbuilders who worked in Greenwich
‘proper’ – rather than in Deptford or on the Peninsula.
Joyce
was the youngest child of Jeremiah Joyce, an interesting man who, sadly, cannot
be the subject of this article. He was a major figure in London dissent, coming
from a relatively poor background in Chesham and, via an education at
dissenters’ Hackney College, became secretary to the radical Earl Stanhope at
Chevening. He was thrown into the Tower of London for sedition in 1794 and
later moved to North London where he became an editor of numerous educational
publications. William was his youngest
child, born in 1813, whowas two years old when Jeremiah died suddenly[5]and
we know nothing about his childhood and education.
It
seems possible that he was helped, or worked for, one of his father’s
friends. This was John Farey whose
address William gave in early advertisements for his work. In the early years
of the 19th century Jeremiah Joyce
had edited a number of encyclopedias and part works – one was ‘Rees’s Cyclopedia.’As
a teenager Farey drew the illustrations for these and must have known Jeremiah
well. He is well known for his ‘Treatise
on the Steam Engine,’ the first part published in 1827, and a key work on the
history both of the technology and its applications.[6] It may be that he took the son of his
deceased friend in, perhaps as a trainee. The 1841 census shows the Farey
household some years later.One of the servants is a Louisa Edgecombe.
By 1835, when he was just twenty two William was circulating
leaflets advertising his ‘new improved pendulous steam engine.’[7]He describes himself as a
‘machinist, pump, lathe and press maker.’ In 1841 he was living in Francis
Street Lambeth[8] – a tiny road in the area
now covered by the entrance to Waterloo Station. He was 27 years old and
described as an ‘engineer.’ He appears
to be a lodger with a Welsh family –Margaret Gravell, and four young men,
presumably her sons, two of them in print trades.[9] The eldest, David Gravell
is also described as an ‘engineer’and was to become a very distinguished
railway engineer who worked worldwideand who joined the Institution of Civil
Engineers from an address in Moldavia.[10]Maybe William lived with
the family because he and David were friends.
William leased a site in
Greenwich to open his own foundry in 1841.[11]This was the old Norway
Street Gas Works – Greenwich’s first gas works, built by Gosling in 1926, then taken
over by the Phoenix Gas Co soon after and closed down, although some gas
storage remained on site. It had been
let out to various industries since, but in 1841 had been vacant some time.[12] The foundry was to remain
until it closed in 1866, and the site is now under the London County Council
built Eastney Street Estate.
In December 1841 William
married Louisa Edgecombe in St. Pancras Church – and it is most likely to be Louisa,the
servant in the Farey household. On the banns for the wedding Louisa gave her address
as ‘Compton Street.’[13] There was a Louisa Edgecombe
living in Compton Street but she seems to be a married woman with a small
child.[14]The Louisa who William
married had been born in Salisbury[15] and she may well have started out in life as
‘Louise Hedgecombe’ from Fisherton Anger in Salisbury,[16] and to be some three years
older than the age she gives on the 1851 census.[17]
Soon after, William and Louisa
leased 3Diamond Terrace, Greenwich.[18]This is a very nice house by
anyone’s standards and it would be interesting to find out how William got the
finance for itand the foundry. That source mighthave been William’s elder
brother, Charles.
Charles was fifteen years
older than William and by the 1820s was working for London merchants, Messrs
Briggs in Egypt. In 1825 while in
Alexandria he married the daughter of one of the firm’s partners. The
birthplaces of their eight children reflect their movements around the Mediterranean
and Near East.[19] He is said to have established cotton
brokerages and trading organisations in London and Alexandria.[20]He maintained a London
office, providing banking and underwriting services. He sat on the Board of a
number of companies concerned with railways, shipping and banking. He lived in a number of up-market London
addresses and leased Tonbridge Castle, where his youngest child was born, and
from where he sent a basket of fruit to the Queen. It would seem natural that he would provide the
financial backing for his younger brother’s business.
So, William Joyce opened his
iron works in Norway Street, in partnership with a Thomas Meacham. He most likely made a range of items although
information is limited. For instance, he may have provided the ironwork for abridge
in the London Docks in the 1840s.[21] However, what he was best
known forand what seems to have been his bestseller, was his ‘pendulous’ steam
engine - basically the engine he developed before he was 20, presumably with
the knowledge of –and maybe the help of - John Farey. This appears to be a fairly simple engine.[22]The pendulous engine is ‘suspended
from its top end, centres like a pendulum with the piston working out below.’[23]A view from acurrent steam
historian is more direct ‘I'm sorry to
tell you that it's a relatively unremarkable machine and typical of many of a
similar design produced at that time. I don't think he invented the idea
either. A simple oscillating steam engine,
whereby the steam cylinder is held on a pivot and allowed to oscillate.’[24]
Joyce’s
engine seems to have sold widely. One major installation was a corn mill in
Smyrna - today’s Izmir - in Turkey, which was the subject of a number of
contemporary accounts.[25]In
one article he is said to have sold the engine widely across the near East and
the Mediterranean. Another, where a legal action involved a Joyce engine sold
in Gloucester, has interested litigation historians in the US.[26]
Ten years later, in 1851, the engine was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in
Hyde Park whereitwas shown in connection with spinning and weaving machines.[27] Once
the Crystal Palace had moved to Penge one of his machines was used with the Masters?
Ice Maker to make iced desserts in the second-classrefreshment
room.[28]
However,
it is also clear that he sold many engines locally - although I only know details
of two. One of these was to John Bennett Lawes whose groundbreaking
superphosphate factory was opposite Joyce’s site on Deptford Creek.[29] It
received great praise for economy and reliability. The other was to Frank Hills for his chemical
works. Although Frank had a works in Deptford, again on the opposite side of
the Creek to Joyce, this was used in his East Greenwich tide mill and is listed
in the effects of the mill when it was sold.[30]
Joyce’
engine business had a lot of publicity in what, or then, was really bad luck.This
was through the terrible explosion on the river boat Cricket at Adelphi
Pier on 27th August 1847. Cricket
was preparing to leave the pier, crowded with 100 or so passengers. Along with her sister ships, Ant and Bee, she
offered ‘ha’penny fares’ at a time when
water transport was often the fastest way of getting around the City. The explosion, in the boiler, injured many
and blew others off the boat. The
numbers of the dead could never be known because many bodies were swept away in
the River. Great credit was given to
rescueattempts by workers on adjacent wharves. Although Joyce had built the
engines and boiler –and both he and Thomas Meacham gave detailed evidence at
the enquiry - it was clear that his machinery was not to blame, sincecrew members
on the Cricket had disabled safety valves, and gone for their lunches.Cricket’sengineer
eventually went to jail.[31]
In
the late 1840s Joyce began to turn to shipbuilding. Initially he had used Bishop’s Wharf- a tiny
river area off Norway Street and at the end of a tiny block of housing, Bishop’s
Buildings.[32] They were soon to also use the very much
larger Dreadnought Wharf. Although Dreadnought Wharf has gone and the site is
now just an extremely bland and boringwalkway, called ‘Dreadnought Walk,’it is
an area which many people remember on the Riverside. The Wharf dated from before 1800 and had
earlier been used by fishing vessels. Its name ‘Dreadnought’ does not appear to
relate directly to the hospital ship - it was not used as the ship’s depot or transhipment
area[33] -
but it was near to the this more famous ‘Dreadnought’ and so took its
name. After Joyce left it was used by
the Rennie Brothers as their shipbuilding yard and subsequently by Tilbury
Dredging and Constructing.
So,
the paddle steamer which I mentioned in the first paragraph,was launched there
to a great deal of celebration and was called The City of Paris. I have already quoted some of the plaudits. It
was built for the Commercial Steam Navigation Company to ply with passengers
and goods between London and Boulogne. It was designed by Oliver Lang,
Assistant Master Architect at the Royal Dockyard, Chatham -‘his first design
…. constructed of iron.’ The engines, they said, were ‘constructed
with the collective power of a hundred and 20 horses.’ [34]
Most importantly it ‘may be considered as creating a new and important branch
of industry in the town.’ We must also not forget theexcellent luncheon given
to the builders and a select circle of their friends, includingdrinking to the
success of the designer and builders, which was received with great cordiality.’[35]
In fact
The City of Paris never did run between London and Boulogne but instead
did the twice weekly Milford Haven - Waterford run which it seems to have
undertaken with great efficiency and maybe some charm. There are a number of stories of minor
collisions, embarkation of soldiers and weathering of sudden storms.[36] Perhaps her most famous moment was when she
escorted the Great Eastern into Milford Haven where ‘the channel fleet anchored
in a double line ... Great Eastern and was greeted with cheers from the
crews in the rigging .. soon clustering in every yard.’[37]
I
don’t know what happened to The City of Paris. She was sold in
1864. The National Maritime Museum says
she was converted to a screw steamer in Renfrew in 1870.[38] I
am sure the NMM are always correct and we must remember thatCity of Paris’was
a common ship name at the time. I have
found no more trace of her after that.
A
year later another boat was launched at DreadnoughtWharf. This was the Kassheid
Kheir, a ‘schooner rigged iron steam yacht on the screw principle’...one of
the finest and most symmetrical vessels that we have ever seen.’The name means
'Good Omen’. It was built for His
Highness the Pasha of Egypt and I am aware that it seems very likely that it
was probably Joyce's brother’s influence which got him the contract. I note
that J.Tibaldi, the Pasha’s agent, took charge of the vessel. Charles’ wife had
been a MissTibaldi – I wonder if he was Charles' brother in law?[39]
There
seem to have been more than several steam yachts built in London in that period
forvarious notables in Egypt and other countries. In fact at the same time
Joyce’s ship-was launched C.J.Mare & Co. had a rather larger such yacht
under construction at Blackwall.[40]
The
newspaper report describes it as being in ‘splendid oriental style’ with many
details right down to the bed springs. However I note that some of the others
were equally in splendid oriental style and some were enormous. An illustration
of a banquet on one of them in London seems to show a dining room of a size
which would not have disgraced a modern cruise liner. Some of these dignitaries
had more than one such vessel.
There
is an unexplained phrase in one newspaper report. It mentions‘the jealous feeling existing in
the minds of many persons, but we trust that the Kasshied Kheir will
stamp their character as engineers, and eradicate all prejudice and ill feeling
that may exist.’[41] Does this perhaps refer to the demise of the Cricket?
Or something else? Things were indeed
about to go very wrong.
The
next few years are confused and confusing. They are dominated by the
construction of ships for the Spanish and Portuguese Shipping Company – owned
by the Wapping based Wood family. The
financing and management of them is described in great detail in the subsequent
legal action which continued after Joyce’s death and in which the business was
no longer directly involved. The case features in some American legal textbooks.
What
is clear is that Joyce’s shipyard was very busy. There ae press reports of
launches which tell us what ships were actually built and it is clear that
there is a lot more going on. For example one report of a launch includes a
comment that another ship- otherside unmentioned undescribed- is now on the vacated slip brought in for
major alteration.[42] There were usually two slips with work going
on - one on the older site at Bishop's Wharf and the other on Dreadnought
Wharf.
Joyce’s problems began with the contract to build steam ships for the Wood family for their Spanish and Portuguese wine shipments. There were contracts on finance set with strict deadlines on dates and other conditions. In August 1853 Peninsula was launched from Joyce’s yard by Miss Wood, granddaughter of the Lord Mayor and an MP. The ship was a screw steamer rigged as a three masted schooner.[43]
Following the launch of Peninsula, a ship called Gibraltar was built for Woods on the same slip. She was launched in December 1854 apparently ‘built for the Spanish wine trade.’ In fact, things were going very wrong. The press reports said she would initially he used as a troopship and, indeed, expensive adaptations had had to be added before she was launched.[44] Two days later on 11th December 1854 Joyce petitioned for bankruptcy. Throughout this period and subsequently there was a mass of litigation.[45]
There was another contract with Woods for a ship to be called Britannia
which was being built at Dreadnought Wharf. Work on her had stopped and it
seems likely that the engines built for her were disposed of separately and
there are some other issues concerning her.
I have never found a report of a launch.
In succeeding years there are many press advertisements for ‘Steam to
Lisbon, Gibraltar and Cadiz’ on Peninsula, Gibraltar and Britannia
- but these are all very common ship names of the period and could easily
be different vessels to those built for Woods by Joyce.Clearly Britannia
did not remain half built on the Dreadnought slip forever, but I have found no
explanation of what happened to her.
At Joyce’s bankruptcy
hearing the Commissioner said that the major cause of failure was a contract to
build two large steam vessels on which numerous alterations were ‘required by
the Government rendering them eligible for the conveyance of troops in
consequence of the war.’He saidthat ‘the bankrupt had been exceedingly diligent
in rendering every assistance.’ There are favourable comments about the quality
and value of much of the estate.[46]
There are also some
unclear issues around Dreadnought Wharf and the Norway Street foundry. In March 1854 Joyce had deposited the lease
on Dreadnought Wharf with the Woods family as a security.[47]Then,
later that year, 1854, Phoenix Gas Company, the owners, advertised the freehold
of the iron works for sale.[48]It
seems likely that some of the responsibilities these incurred were devolved to
Thomas Meacham – Manager of the Shipbuilding yard, engineer, foreman, etc. In press reports the firm is now often named
as ‘The Victoria Foundry’ or a similar name while ‘Messrs Joyce’ or ‘Greenwich
Iron Works’ are used less often. The
Victoria Company was now managing the foundry and shipyard and we must assume
by this they mean that Thomas Meacham is in charge.
By the Spring of 1856
things had improved and apparently recovered.
On 7thApril two boats were launched from Dreadnought and
Bishop’s Wharves. One of these was the Victor
Emmanuel - ‘a magnificent vessel.’The launch ceremony was performed by Miss
Airy, daughter of Prof. George Airey the Astronomer Royal. The ship had a ‘screw steam propeller’ and the
engines had been designed and built by the Victoria Foundry Company. The report said ‘she is a useful specimen of naval
architecture’ and her name was suggested ‘with much taste and good feeling’ by
the recent visit of the King of Sardinia to England. It added‘we hear a great
deal of talk about Aberdeen clippers and Clyde built vessels but in symmetry of
build, in quality of materials and in point of workmanship, that London built
ships are superior to any of the northern productions of naval architecture.’[49]
Later that afternoon a
second boat was launched. This was Fidget one of two gunboats built in
the yard. She was launched by Miss Sweetwright, daughter of the Admiral at
Deptford Dockyard. This was the first
gunboat to be launched in Greenwich. Contracts for gunboats were being handed
out by the Government to most shipyards at this stage of the Crimean War, and twenty
in all were built in the Navy’s ‘Cheerful Class.’ The Joyce company had responded
to the call to build them ‘with energy and promptitude.’ [50]
Fidget’ssister,
Flirt, was launched two months later on 14th of June ‘the
honours being undertaken by Miss Dudgeon.’
Flirt
was the second ship launched that day. Earlier in the afternoon anothersteamer had
been launched, the Fernando Catolico. She was said to be ‘suitable for plying
in shallow waters ‘and had been commissioned by a Spanish Railway Company to
‘ply from the termination of the new Spanish Railway in Trocadero to Cadiz.’
The launch was carried out by ‘a young lady called Mancha’ [51]-
presumably Spanish, so perhaps the supply of local dignitaries’daughters had
run out. The distance between Trocadero
and Cadiz seems negligible but an advertisement of 1853 for the Xeres Port
StMary and Cadiz Railway explains plans for the line ‘from Trocaderopassengers
will be conveyed to Cadiz by steamers belonging to the company. Transit
nottaking more than quarter of an hour.’
And indeed two steamers are budgeted for in the accounts given below.[52]I
have been unable to trace if this system ever existed and what happened to the
two steamships when it was replaced. It
appears that the railway had been constructed to facilitate the export of
sherry- and we should note that Woods, who had commissioned Britannia,
Peninsula and Gibraltar, were wine merchants who wanted the ships for that
trade.
I'm not sure that any of
these ships built at Dreadnought Wharf in 1856 had particularly long
existences. Fidget and Flirt
were wooden screw propelled ships built for the Navy. Both were broken up at
Haslar in 1863.[53]
Victor
Emmanuel also had a short life.It appears that
Joyce & Co. maintained ownership of Victor Emanuelwhich they said
they had built specifically for themselves. The ship had been intended by Joyce
& Co. as part of Charles Joyce’s planned
shipping line.[54]A report
of June 1856 says that Joyce and Co. of Moorgate Street were about to establish
a line of vessels between England and the Cape in which steam power would only be
used when the wind could not be used‘for these capabilities.’[55]
The line was not continued following William’s death. However it was intended to use Victor Emmanuelas
a sailing ship and her engine waseventually removed.
On
30 January 1861 Victor Emmanuelwent aground at Blackgang, Chale Bay,
Isle of Wight. She was on her way back to England from Alexandria with ‘a cargo
of beans, barley, wool, flax and gum.’ The ship was in pieces within 90 minutes
and attempts to launch the boats failed when they were stoved in by the side of
the ship. The coastguard was unaware that the ship was in trouble because of
poor visibility and 15 of the 19 crew were lost.[56]The
ship’s bell is preserved in a museum on the Isle of Wight.[57]
William
Joyce died unexpectedly in the morning of 22nd August 1856. He had
woken up well but before leaving for the foundry had an internal haemorrhage
and died quite quickly.[58]He
was just 42. He was buried at Nunhead
cemetery where the hearse was followed by the entire workforce of the company ‘men
and lads walking two and two in the employ of the firm of nearly 200.’ As an
employer of labour and one who has done much to promotethe prosperityof the
working classes within this neighbourhood,his character stood high and his loss
will be severely felt.’[59]
Mourners
at the funeral included his brother Charles with Frederick Westmorland,
Charles' son-in-law and partner. Officiating
were Dr Rev.North and Rev. Mr Norris[60]- these
two are a bit of a mystery as they were the Roman Catholic priests based at the
newly built our Lady Star of the Sea - the Roman Catholic Church in Greenwich
very close to Joyce’s home.[61] However
Joyce is buried in the dissenters section of the cemetery deep in undergrowth
where his grave cannot easily be found.[62] Also
at the service was Thomas Meacham who was clearly about to inherit the firm and
with him Joseph Delaney employed as the firm’s ‘naval architect’ - and we will hear
more of him.
Interestingly,
also in the cemetery at Nunhead is the Martyrs Memorial which commemorates the
Scottish Martyrs;[63]
support for whom is one of the reasons his father Jeremiah was sent to the Tower
of London. One wonders if the Joyce family were aware of the monument.
Louisa
does not appear to have been at William’s funeral. By 1861 she was living in
the home of Rev. Randall, a Church of England vicar and grandson of Jeremiah
Joyce, son of his daughter Emma.[64]
Meacham
was five years younger than William, came from Stourport and lived in Circus
Street, Greenwich with his wife and daughter.[65]He
too was to die young in 1867 aged only 50 and after a long illness.[66]
However he put out a statement which said that the Victoria Foundry Company had
purchased the Greenwich Ironworks with all the plant tools and machinery and
were carrying on the business.He stressed the need to pay particular attention
to the pendulous engineand invited estimates for ‘engines, millwork machinery,
sawmills or anything else.’[67]
Work
at the foundry and shipyard continued and the next May a Ship called Metropolis
was launched which had doubtless been begun under William. It had the usual
lavish launch ‘notwithstanding the unpropitious state of the weather.’ The
‘elite’ of Greenwich attended – including Prof Airy, the two Roman Catholic
clerics, and J. Townsend the MP, but there was no music ‘which detracted from
the treat.’ [68]In
October it did the trip to Guernsey in record time.[69]
In September 1858 a vessel berthed in Gateshead attracted a great deal of attention. It had been constructed by the Victoria Ship-building Co. of Greenwich, for the ‘Jointed Ship Company’ to the patent of a Mr MacSweeney. It was ‘intended to facilitate the delivery of coal’ and it was called The Connector as an experiment.
It was claimed she could do the work ‘of three ships ... by having
one loaded section waiting for her in the north, and another lightened of her
burden in the Thames … each section may
lie left at the wharf of a different merchant, according as is required.’
Technical details of her construction followed but basically the ship consisted
of a ‘train’ of demountable sections.[70]
In November, once again in the North East, the press was asked to come aboard and meet Mr. MacSweeney along with Captain Mullett, formerly of the William Cory screw steamer. The Connector had a 10-horse power engine and was rigged fore and aft with sails to each section. It was intended to build vessels to carry 1000 tons of coal to the Thames, in sections of 200 to 250 tons each. The Northern papers were enthusiastic. [71]I note the connection with Corys and also the note in the article that wharfage charges would be saved by this system. It might be noted at around this time Cory’s were setting up the Atlas hulk in Charlton in order to avoid such charges and dues.[72]
Very little was heard of the Connector after that. It is said that she failed in sea trials although she seems to have got from Greenwich to Gateshead without difficulty. Despite the warm welcome in Gateshead the press coverage included several dramatic pictures which could have never been drawn from life. The concept seems to have been treated with derision, at the very least, and ever since. It may be that the failure was to do with construction issues but this remains unknown.
The Victoria Foundry and the shipyardclearly made lots of items of
whichwe have no knowledge. One, perhaps the only visible relic we have of the
shipyard, is from a miscellaneous category. This is the Cape Point Lighthouse which
is a tourist attraction in South Africa.
I've had endless contacts from people who have visited the lighthouse
and sent me photographs of the plaque which says that it was built in
Greenwich.It was in use from 1 May 1860 until the First World War.
It is built in cast-iron sections which were shippedto CapeTown
and then transferred to a small boat in which it was taken toBufflesBay. A
modified gun carriage was used to haulit over ground on difficult terrain and a
sledge was used for the final leg of the journey. Deliveries of oil and food were
made once every three months.[73]
The plaque says “DESIGNED, SPECIFIED AND DIRECTED
BY ALEXANDER GORDON CIVIL ENGINEER FOR THE BOARD OF TRADE IRON
TOWER BY VICTORIA FOUNDRY GREENWICH.
LANTERN & LIGHTS BY
DEVILLE & Co LONDON 1857.[74]
Alexander Gordon was a well known engineer of the day and it is
interesting to note that in 1847 he had prepared a paper recommending
that the Board of Trade establish a department for erecting, maintaining and
improving the management of Colonial Lighthouses.[75]
Throughout a long and varied career he continued to work on the development and
construction of lighthouses- some of it jointly with lighting specialst,
Deville.
The Victoria Foundry continued into the early 1860s. They are said
to have eventually collapsed in 1866 as part of the commercial crisis of that year.[76] It is however very difficult to find what
they did in those last few years - perhaps a few engines. In 1859 there had
been a sale[77] with a vast list of
equipment from the Victoria Foundry for sale by auction. There is so much here that surely it is a
closing down sale? Thomas Meacham was ill and seems to have left the firm. He
did not die until 1867 but ‘after a long illness’ – was this illness the reason
for the sale of equipment.[78]
The
works passed into the hand of Joseph Francis Delaney who had served an
apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer under William Joyce and stayed in the
firm as naval architect and manager of shipbuilding. He was assisted by John Charles Raymond Okes,
who, unusually for the management of the works, had been trained elsewhere including
an apprenticeship under Fairbairn.[79] They apparently continued until 1866.
Delaney
had an interesting afterlife. He had married the daughter of the chief
cashier of commitmentthus became manager of the Greenwich
branch of the North-Kent Bank. He didn't like this and when his wife died he
volunteered to become chief engineer in 1874 on the Chilean iron ship Magellan.
On reaching Chile he was promoted to be chief constructor of the Chilean Navy. He
died with his two sons of consumption in 1881.[80]
Dreadnought
Wharf continued as a ship building site under the Rennie brothers. One of the longest lived of all those
involved in the Joyce shipbuilding works and Victoria Foundry, was Charles
Joyce. He died in 1869 having collapsed
on a Metropolitan Line train and died on Kings Cross platform triggering a new
railway regulation about removing corpses from platforms quickly.
[1]Kentish Mercury 15thNovember 1856
[2] Kentish Independent 12th August 1850
[3] There are many entries on web sites to Lang’s work. He is buried in
St.Luke’s Charlton where there is a memorial plaque.
[4] Kentish Independent 12th August 1850
[5] John Issit. Jeremiah Joyce, Biography.
[6]Institution of Civil
Engineers: Obituaries; Wikipedia. John Farey, Jnr
[7]Kent County Archive. Correspondence of Cobb brewery,
Margate.
[8]Census 1841
[9]Census 1841
[10]Inst. Civil Engineers records.
[11]Garton.
History of South Metropolitan Gas Co. (serialised Gas World 1952)
[12]I
covered this in Jrnl. Greenwich Historical Society, 2017-18
[13]St .Pancras church records
[14]Census 1841. This Louisa was married to a
surgeon, Richard Edgecombe, and the family can be traced through subsequent
years
[15]Census 1851
[16]Fisherton Anger is now part of Salisbury, known
as the site of the County Gaol, the Bridewell, the local gallows, brickworks
and cholera. More recently the local mental hospital, the gas works, the
railway yard and too many rough pubs.
[17]Family History Search, baptism records. The
Mormon database picked up her alter-ego immediately!
[18]Thanks to Neil Rhind for residency details
[19]https://edpopehistory.co.uk/entries/joyce-jeremiah/1793-05-19-000000
[20] Rollins. Letters from the Sphinx.
[21] Mechanics Magazine 1848. Although Joyce is not mentioned by name in the article itself, Mr. Dredge makes it clear in a note that the iron work was by Joyce
[22]https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co51081/model-of-joyces-single-cylinder-pendulous-oscillating-engine-oscillating-steam-engine-model
[23]AnElementaryTreatiseonSteamandtheSteamEngine_10031254 (7).pdf
[24] Richard Albanese. Private correspondence,
[25] Tredgold. Steam Flour Mills Erected in Smyrna. This has many detailed illustrations.
[26] Snyder, University of Texas. Email
[27] Catalogue 1851
[28]https://www.exhibitionstudygroup.org
[29] Practical Mechanics Journals 1849
[30] Estate Agent’s inventory 1892. Collection of late Patrick Hills
[31]There are numerous accounts of this terrible accident. Mechanics Magazine, 1847 p. 316 gives an account of the preliminary inquest with the Navy Board Inspector’s detailed report on Joyce’s equipment, the damage and the probable causes –he had some criticisms –but the verdict was ‘improper use’.
[32] Cases Heard in the Queen’s Bench … XIX Victoria 1856
[33][33]McBride.History of the Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital at Greenwich.Also see Richardson, Wood Wharf
[34] Kentish Independent. 17th August 1850
[35] Morning Chronicle 12th August 1850
[36]http://waterfordlibraries.ie/local-history-online/
[37] Waterford News 31st August 1860.
[38]https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-148900
[39] Morning Post 25th November 1851.
[40] Liverpool Albion 25th August 1851
[41] Kentish Mercury 8th November 1851
[42] South Eastern Gazette 16th August 1853.
[43] Morning Post 8th August 1853
[44] Kentish Mercury 9th December 1854
[45]LawTimes - Vols 26-28 – Pp 26-270. This just one of many reports of the case when it has reached the Queen’s Bench.
[46] Morning Post. 14th April 1855; Morning Advertiser 15th June 1855
[47] Law Times above
[48] Morning Herald. 20th June 1854
[49] West Kent Guardian 12th April 1856
[50] West Kent Guardian 12th April 1856
[51] Morning Chronicle 10th June 1856
[52] Railway Times. Vol.16 1853
[53]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheerful-class_gunboat
[54] Sun 15th May 1856
[55] Illustrated London News 28th June 1856
[56] Isle of Wight Observer 9th February 1861
[57]https://museum.maritimearchaeologytrust.org/2020/12/17/ships-bells-and-the-sv-victor-emanuel/
[58] Kentish Mercury 23rd August 1856
[59] Kentish Mercury 23rd August 1856
[60] Kentish Mercury 15th August 1856
[61] Information Fr Kevin Robinson, with thanks
[62]Information Ron Woollacott, Friends of Nunhead Cemetery with thanks.
[63]https://www.fonc.org.uk/
[64] 1861 Census
[65] 1861 Census
[66] Sun.18th July 1867
[67] Herepath’s Railway Journal 31st October 1857
[68] Borough of Greenwich Free Press. 30th May 1857
[69] Jersey Independent 24th October 1857
[70] Teesdale Mercury 8thSeptember 1858
[71] Northern Daily Express. Northern Herald November 1858
[72] Pearsall. Derricks at Charlton. Greenwich Antiq Trans 1971
[73] This information came from the old lighthouse’s original web site. It is no longer given on it and I have been unable to track it down elsewhere. The current web site is only concerned with visitor management and spend. Some details at http://capepoint.co.za/cape-of-lights-2/
[75]NationalArchives
[76] Inst, Civil Engineers. Obit.
[77] Morning Herald 19th M she arch 1859
[78] Ancestry and census details
[79] Inst Civil Eng. obit
[80] Int. CivilEng. obit
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