|
Charles Wittwer 'Hookey' Southerden 1793-1875 |
||||
|
Ancestors of Charles Wittwer Southerden John Southerden Jane Southerden Charles Southerden Rebecca Southerden Elizabeth Southerden Rosa Southerden Matilda Southerden Edgar Betts
Photograph supplied courtesy
|
Tony Eames tells us about his Hookey was a remarkable man. He was born in 1793, the son of Samuel Southerden and Jane (known as Jenny), whose maiden name (of Swiss origin) he was given as a middle name. Samuel was a wealthy grazier of sheep on land he owned on and around Romney Marsh and either side of the Kent and Sussex borders. Hookey was baptised at Rye, Sussex, where his father had recently acquired property.
His nickname came from the fact that his
left hand had been replaced with a hook. According to family legend, it
had been shot off during an altercation with Excisemen or Coastguards
while he was engaged in smuggling. The south coasts of Kent and Sussex
at this time were much used by smugglers, so the story may be correct;
but as he does not appear to have been prosecuted for any such offence, it
may be that he lost it at the hands of smugglers, rather than
law-enforcers. |
|
||
|
He seems originally to have been a ‘yeoman’, owning land, as he was described as such in 1821 when the Minister, Churchwardens and Inhabitants of Winchelsea certified him as “a person of good fame & sober life & conversation" (though for what purpose is unknown). However, he soon took up what was to become his life-long occupation of “keddle-net fisherman”. This type of fishing relied on the strong currents along the coast near Rye, fish being caught by their gills in ‘walls’ of very tall nets suspended from poles at right angles to the beach; the fish swam into them when the tide was high, and were harvested as it retreated. It is probable that he was able to purchase all the equipment to set up in this business, including horses and carts, when his father left him £300 on his death in 1827. He outlived three wives, producing 6 children by his first wife, none by his second, and 4 by his third. Two years after the death of his third wife, his housekeeper provided him with another son, whom he acknowledged as such in his will. He knew Charles Dickens, who regularly visited Romney Marsh. Dickens fell in love (as he was apt to do) with the daughter of a second cousin of his, and his brother married her sister. It is believed that Hookey was the inspiration for Charles Dickens’ character Captain Cuttle in “Dombey & Sons”, published in 1848. In 1872 money was raised by a large group of his friends, led by Mr James C. Vidler, to pay for him to sit for an oil painting, and the result was publicly presented to him by his friends and admirers, with the desire that it should be kept as an heirloom in his family. It is believed that the original was presented to Rye Museum by one of his descendants, but the Museum have at present lost track of it; luckily a colour photograph of it has survived. Hookey died on 25 October 1875 at his home at Coastguard Cottages, Camber, and was survived by all his children, each of whom received a handsome legacy by his will.
|
||||
