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My great grandfather Ernest Stroud.

               .Ernest  Stroud. 1865-1954

                                     

My great grandfather Ernest Stroud was born at Whitstable Kent in 1865, and at the early age of ten he started work as a fisherman under the guidance and instruction of his father,who lived to be 85.

When he was thirteen years old he found work at Ramsgate with the North Sea Fishing Smacks,and three years later, he was one of the crew of a coasting ship.

Coasting ships were glorious old sailing craft that played so big a part in building up the maritime strength and commercial wealth and prosperity of England ,and he lived and sailed on these for many long eventful years. As a young man, he did not neglect to make such provision as he could against misfortune and ill health in the future, and at the age of eighteen joined The Ancient Order of  Foresters. He served on the committee of that organisation for well over fifty years and was treasurer for forty years until his retirement.
                                                                                               
In June 1887 he married Florence Mary Foreman,and together they had eight children,but in1896,two of the children died. Tragedy struck again in 1902 His wife,eldest son,and new born daughter,died within ten days of each other,leaving Ernest with four children.  
As well as being a fisherman,he was also a pub landlord and was hard put to it as you can well imagine. In June 1903 he married Lucy Elizabeth Smith, she was a young girl of 19 years old that had helped in the bar when necessary,and they together went on to have nine children.

In 1889 he was appointed to the post of Fishery officer  for the Kent and Essex Sea Fisheries Board, a body formed for the protection of the oyster fisheries and the interest of the men engaged in them. That appointment, Ernest held for fifty seven years, and for the last twelve years of that long period of time, he was head Fishery Officer for Kent.

In the public life of Whitstable he was a prominent figure. Elected a member of the urban district council in 1910, he assisted in the founding of the Whitstable & Tankerton hospital, and helped in drawing up the plans for the war memorial in the town. In 1930 he became Chairman of the Whitstable Urban District Council, a post to which he was elected to. Ernest also served many years with the Voluntary Fire Brigade, and in 1934, Captain Fisher and other members of the brigade showed their appreciation by presenting him with a watch. He resigned from the Fire Brigade at the outbreak of World War II.

In his fishing smack “ Game Cock”, which was built in 1907 seven of his sons saw their first sea service under him. Three of them later went on to served on yachts in the J-racing class. Harold. Sid. and Jack, became officers on King George Vs famous yacht “ Britannia

Frederick Stroud:   Email:-familystroud1@gmail.com

Ernest Stroud 1865-1954 and Florence Mary Foreman  

                1869-1902  Married in June 1887
     

                                                 Florence Mary Foreman.        


The sons and daughters of Ernest and Florence

There are no photos of those highlighted in red below.

NAME                  BIRTH                     DEATH

Ernest                  1888                         1902

Florence               1889                         1969

Mabel                   1890                         1896

Alfred                   1892                    Unknown. (Stroud, Alfred, Seaman, RNR, 3384A)

Norah                   1895                         1896  March

Albert “Skipper”   1898                         1982 November

Clara                    1899                          Unknown

Dora                    1902                           1902

First wife of Ernest died                       1902

In June 1903 Ernest was remarried to Lucy Elizabeth

Smith 1884-1958 and went on to have nine more children.

             Name                    Birth                         Death

            Harold                   1903                         1964

            Stanley                 1904                        1906

            Sidney                  1907                         1986 

            Harry Ernest       1908                  Unknown

           Jack                      1910                           1999

           Gertrude              1911                           1980

           Winifred              1913                            2013

            Fred                     1917                            1942  

            Ellen                    1920                            2007

                    

                

                

                     

                     

                     


                                    

     

               

                                                   

                                         The spirit of Dunkirk.                      

                                                                                              

“ SKIPPER” ALBERT STROUD was bosun on an 866-ton yacht, Narcissus, when war broke out and the Navy took her over. Her name was changed to Grive, because the Navy already had a vessel named Narcissus, and she was being adapted by the Fleet Air Arm for salvaging fallen aircraft when the grim reality of war came to Albert.

"It was the morning of May 29 . . first thing after breakfast a squad came aboard and ordered us to proceed to Dover. We could see the French refugees coming down the channel and sandbarges were loaded with civilians and cars—so 1 guessed we would be heading to Dunkirk."

In fact, he was to make four journeys to Dunkirk; the lives of 3,300 men would be saved thanks to the bravery of Albert and his crew. Like the thousands of other seamen who took part in the greatest of all rescue attempts, they worked nonstop night and day. "I put on my life jacket that Wednesday morning—and I wore it until it was taken off in Chatham hospital on Sunday."

Born and brought up in Whit­stable. Kent, the son of an old sea-going family, Albert, now 82, recalls that he already knew Dunkirk and the Belgian coast, -like the back of my hand—I'd been there in the First World War." He chose to take the long route, by the Goodwin lightship, past Calais, following a channel that had been cleared by a  minesweeper. Albert remembers: "On the first trip we went as near to the shore as we dared— the beaches were black with men. It was pitiful. But I felt proud to see our troops still marching in long columns in spite of the bombing. The stretcher cases were in front and the walking wounded set the pace behind. We used our small boats to ferry the men aboard until they were loaded like sardines, while our two guns blazed away at enemy aircraft. We arrived back at Dover after midnight and reloaded with stores and rum, which we dished out to the troops." That was the end of the first of Albert's 12-hour trips.

On the second run, the Grive was .able to go into harbour as the wooden east pier had been re­paired after a bombing raid, and the men were able to step aboard. "As we left, a cheer went up. Our guns had scored a dirrect hit on an aircraft which exploded over the sea. We needed to take      ammunition aboard before leaving for the third trip, but when we got back to Dover we found we had to move berth to make room for another ship—the delay would have been too long, so we left with only 12 shells aboard. When we returned to Dunkirk that evening, anti-aircraft guns were firing away, and bombs falling. We berthed alongside a hospital ship, its rails lined with nurses, waiting as calmly as if they were on a summer cruise. But the noise of the guns and the bombs seemed to draw the breath out of me."

On the way back to Dover they stopped to pick up the survivors from a bombed destroyer.We were jam-packed full of survivors when we got back to Dover on Saturday, June I. We had our first meal for days, loded on more stores and prepared for the fourth trip. 'You have done a fine job,' the Captain told the men, We are going back now because there are still some troops to bring back, but any man who cannot face another journey is at liberty to go ashore.' But the men stayed with the ship and reached Dunkirk at dusk.

"I went around the ship seeing all the crew at the action stations, then took my position between two skylights, watching the fires of Dunkirk over the port bow and listening to the bombers over­head. Suddenly I heard an • ex­plosion. I felt the decks shudder, my legs go, my teeth drawn out of my gums, my clothes ripped off. I was up to my chest in water —the deck rose like a wall Albert managed to force his way clear and two sailors pushed a raft across to him. They waited until they heard the _,first boat which came to their rescue. Only 17 of the crew of 43 were picked up and taken back to Ramsgate on Sunday morning.

Skipper Stroud was taken to hospital in Chatham. His injuries were so severe that it was 16 weeks before he was well enough to be moved to Epsom for a further 19 months in hospital.    

                                                             

 Frederick Stroud:-Grandson                                                                                           Email:-familystroud1@gmail.com

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Albert Stroud with his siblings.Clara with Jack on her lap,

Gertie left and Winnie right. Approx.1916.

Ernest Stroud and his wife in 1938

SITE NOTICE

 

Any visitors to this site, if you are, or are interested in the "Whitstable Strouds" branch of the family we would be more than pleased to recieve any pictures or information regarding the above.

Publishing will of course bear the name of contributing persons.

Many thanks and a Happy New Year.

This article was contributed by Dave Jordan a good friend for many years although we lost contact with each other and were reunited via facebook, he grew up with Dave Stroud, Sidney" Smoker" Strouds son and being a seafaring person himself researched the Stroud Family.

Whitstable and the Strouds.

From fisherfolk to Royal Yacht and Americas Cup

Long has it been a tradition for seaman to congregate in pubs and around harbours and mull over old times, relate sea tales and Whitstable was no exception, seafarers are a close knit  breed and can be a little aloof, to folk who are not involved with their world, they would work long tiring hours plying their trade to eek out a meagre living but that did not dampen spirits as all would have a cheery word if they knew you. As a child the harbour was my everything and I  knew most of  the people who derived a living in whatever way from that area, I would hang about within earshot and listen to the tales and yarns, spun by the fisher folk  it was best  when the weather was blowing one of those. and going to sea not possible, some would even go to the “dole office” and sign on for a day or so until the weather improved, but going back to the 19^th and early 20^th century there was no helping hand when you had no income, and during the Oyster close season there were other jobs you could turn your hand to, some of the company men were still employed running as far afield as Holland, and in 1919 skipper Stroud was demobbed  joined the Ham Company and skippered Whitstable’s largest smack the “Seasalter” F322 Built 1870  LOA 51.8ft  14ft Beam, Hold Depth 7.8ft  she was then used mainly for brood (young Oysters) carrying to and from Essex with the occasional  trip to Holland, prior to 1900 she made regular trips to Falmouth bringing brood back from the Ham Companies owned beds in that area.

Before the Great War oyster drudging and fishing in general enjoyed its heyday nothing was known of modern sophisticated fish finding and weather forecasting instruments and was solely reliant on bitter experience.  I went to sea in the late 50’s , and was well aware of what would be expected of a skippers mate having gone to sea as a teenager  with Ollie Wiseman (who came to Whitstable with Alf Leggett, ) Ogie Laker,  and Sid Stroud (Smoker) in his Whelk Boat,  I did this as often as I could . Sid Stroud was a fisherman I preferred the company of.   I knew him in my childhood through to my middle twenties, growing up with his son David,  we were eventually to work together on the fishing boats.  There were two prominent fishing and drudging families in Whitstable, the Stroud’s and Rowden’s there were others but that was more father and son,  but it is the Stroud’s, principally, that this article will be dealing with, but another family will be mentioned later in the story.  

Sidney Stroud, “Smoker” as I shall hereonin call  him was a great  seaman as was his family, and arguably the best sailors to come from one family, seven brothers in all, and all made a living from the sea,  I worked with Smoker  on  seawall  reparations  for Whitstable Urban District Council in 1958  this could only be carried out in the winter, and over a period of time knew him  quite well, he would talk of his father Earnest having owned a pub in Whitstable “The Royal Native” in Harbour Street, having also had a hand in other money spinning projects dealing in shellfish and smoked fish he had his own smoke room  and copper for cooking shrimps and  shellfish, Smoker, I remember saying perhaps jokingly, that’s where I got my knickname going round the boatyards and fetching back sacks of oak shavings and then lighting the smokehouse fire, but I always thought that this name derived from the fact that he always smoked a pipe and that he fueled it with hand rolling tobacco “Hearts of Oak” which tended to smoke more than pipe tobacco, and when in deep thought would puff  more regularly and would soon fill a bar with a haze.

I would often see Smoker in the Smack public house Middle Wall, he particularly liked that watering Hole, and this particular evening I had free, a Thursday, and payday, the Smack was my first port of call, Smoker was in his usual place, nodding a greeting, we had both had a very cold day on the sea wall at one time blowing a northerly blizzard, I took my drink over to join him, passed the time with small chat, I spoke of being a bit unhappy with my life and thought  a six week course at the sea school in Gravesend, and then into the Merchant Navy would solve my dilemma, it was at that moment he came to life with agreement at my suggestion and went on to talk of his teen years  saying that he had reached that particular crossroad in his life and went on to relate this amazing life he led at the age roughly I was at that moment,  his Father and six brothers were all involved with the sea and were proficient in all aspects of fishing and drudging including five fingering (drudging starfish) for fertilizer in the close season, and stoning (Drudging for Mussels) he went on to say he was fed up and was off to seek adventure, he certainly found it, by joining King George the V’s Yacht “Brittania” K1 at the age of nineteen which was a fabulous 40 Metre Class Yacht, , these craft were the epitome of sheer opulence. Smoker had established his career and stayed full time for a number of years and was made up to Boatswain commonly  Bosun ( this post today on a modern Yacht, sail or motor can command an exorbitant salary. It should be mentioned that a racing yacht of the size of “Brittania” could not have operated without a bo’sun, Smoker said that it was very informal aboard and that the King would often consult with him regarding the boat and race tactics so that there were no surprises during the course of a race, Smoker was senior or leading deckhand versed and responsible for running rigging,  sails, warps and sheets , anchorage, stores, and indeed anything that effected the smooth running of a racing vessel conveying orders to the crew via the captain or officer and of readying the ship for sea, orders could be piped and were on some yachts, with a bosuns whistle which also doubled as a badge of rank hung around the neck  and could be heard above howling winds and flapping sails, though not in Brittania’s case the pipe was considered by this time to be obsolete, so verbal orders only.  And that is how the old superstition came about, no seaman whistles at sea, it was said it summoned up the wind, the simple  explanation was of course it could confuse the crew as to what duty to perform and the result could have been calamitous. I remember asking Smoker about the King and his attitude towards the crew he remarked that the King was a gentleman, in fact he said the King remarked  we are all different sized  well oiled cogs  that keep my yacht sailing at optimum speed and safety and that is why I employ this crew, praise indeed. Off duty all was very informal, Smoker also commented, that perhaps this bonding was based on the fact that being in the same boat,  life’s value is the same as the next man regardless of rank or class.

All of the fabulous J class would attend the regatta’s  along the south coast, Weymouth, Poole, Falmouth  Southhampton and up our east coast,  they would compete against each other, “Brittania” always attended but could not compete, as her class was Forty Metres  so to rectify this King George had his Yacht  modified to conform with J Class specifications.

Smoker went on to say that the two most memorable  sights to stir the salt water in the  veins were, a Spritsail Barge flying full canvas in a stiff breeze, and close hauled, the other is to see a J class, cutter rigged, flying everything, again close hauled, or goose winged (running before the wind),  he retorted, that has to be the most beautiful sight a sailor can cast eyes upon, I think he was reminiscing “Brittania”, which alas, when King George V passed away his beloved yacht was towed out to sea by the Navy at his request and scuttled in such a way as to leave no trace, this was on the south side of  the Needles, Isle of Wight. In 1936. It was common knowledge that he could not bear the thought of anyone else owning her.

Smoker’s next job found him aboard “Shamrock V” J 3, built in Gosport in 1929 her specifications were 119 ft 1in LOA, 81ft 1in LWL, Draught 14ft 9ins with a further drop keel, and a sail area of 7,550 sq ft her mast costing  more than the hull itself she also had an 80 ton lead keel, so, complete with her new innovative new look rigging “Bermudan” a much more dapper and  efficient sail plan and easier to handle,  she was built to race for the Americas Cup by Sir Thomas Lipton of  food and tea fame.  Smoker enlisted as Bosun and her crew numbered twenty two and among them was his brother Skipper Stroud,  Smokers elder brother, and a very experienced seaman he had joined the Merchant Navy for a couple of trips, in the twenties, it is here the story gets more interesting .

Firstly I will give a brief history of the Americas Cup, The J Class has its roots in the oldest sporting race in the world, The America's Cup, established in 1851. This International Event was born from an annual race around the Isle of Wight, hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron and called the '100 Guinea Cup'. In 1851, an overseas yacht was allowed to participate for the first time. as part of the Royal Exposition of 1851. In response, a syndicate of six business  men, led by John Cox Stephens, spent $30,000 to build a new racing schooner, “America”  After sailing to France to be repainted and outfitted with racing sails, she was entered in the 58-mile race around the Isle of Wight. Sailing against 17 other British yachts, “America”  finished 18 minutes before her closest competitor. As “America” finished, Queen Victoria asked which vessel was second. This question resulted in the famous response, "Your Majesty, there is no second."

Several existing large British yachts, ‘Astra’, ‘Candida’, ‘White Heather II’ and ‘Britannia’, were converted to comply with J Class ruling and raced alongside the J's. Smoker went on to say that the King would not have a  J on his sail to denote the yachts class as he was a K, being King, so his sail number finally read K1, the Royal Yacht Squadron allowed this.  Of the true J-Class, only ten were ever built (4 in the UK and 6 in USA) and these raced together for just seven seasons from 1930 to 1937. With the loss of the King in 1936, 1937 saw a new racing season but it was all a bit half hearted and there were ominous rumblings in Europe, racing on the scale it had been was no more, and declined.

The crew had joined “Shamrock V” J3 at the beginning of the season and it would be decided by the outcome of the regatta races which boat should represent us and to bring back the trophy lost seventy nine years earlier, the crew were chosen on sea skills and three crew from Looe in Cornwall were chosen  A.J.Pengelly,  Joe Uglow, and Jack  Sargent , A.J.Pengelly had previously sailed on “Velsheda” and another J Class, so was well experienced.  They did the regatta tour, Smoker as I remember had mentioned the Cornishmen and said that they were a tough bunch, and used to seas being less kind than that of the North Kent Oyster drudgers and flatsmen.  Shamrock exceeded expectations racing at the 1930 Regatta’s, The King in his “Brittania “ giving “Shamrock V” the most tactical problems which she surmounted and earned  the right to challenge for  the cup. Smoker went on to say after competing successfully, “Shamrock V” sailed to Gosport where she readied herself for the  journey across the Atlantic to Newport.  Rhode Island,  United States.

It  was July 1930, the off day, we were given a send off  befitting the task that was entrusted to us, apart from the Atlantic crossing which was daunting enough, entering waters that were unknown to all of us, certainly the crew , we were all a little apprehensive the morrow saw us making good headway nose to wind and blowing a stiff sowesterly, the wind after a while gained strength to the point of being uncomfortable the crests between waves  were shorter  than our length which caused, on about every third crest our bow  would dig into the wall of water, causing a lot of water over the bow, then the bow would rise quickly and the stern would be under the safest place was amidships with safety lines on, A.J.Pengelly said that this boat was built for speed and not rough weather, he was also quoted as saying he would sooner have made the crossing in his own boat “Our Daddy” (still afloat today) although less than half the length was built to withstand these conditions. The crew stood watch at four hours on and four hours off, Smoker said that “Shamrock  V” had taken a pounding she had sprung a plank and was leaking badly, Smoker organized running repairs which were a temporary measure and made for the Azores to effect proper repairs. 48 hours later saw us again on our way but the wind was still south westerly and was to remain that  way  for the duration, Smoker said that sleep was a luxury, all the crew were wet through and there was not a dry place on the boat, changes of clothing were wet through and the cooks tried to muster food for the crew but alas it was mostly sandwiches for the duration, in all the crossing took twenty six days, and Smoker said dryly, that was twenty six days of hell. Like all trials when they arrived at Rhode Island there were boats of all shapes and sizes coming out to meet them, fire tugs with all hoses fired up escorting them in, the  hooters and sirens were deafening and as they neared the quayside the people lined the quay in hundreds cheering and whistling waving flags, quite a lot of “Jacks”, blowing trumpets and whatever else could make a noise, as the tugs nudged her gently into her berth, she had no engines, the hellish trip over faded into obscurity, we were left bathing in friendly welcoming sounds which almost made you feel really special.  

A great welcoming ceremony was held at the yacht Club where the food suddenly improved, Smoker remembered making a bit of a grunter of himself but he wasn’t  alone and some even had the luxury of a hangover he recalls.  The following day saw the yacht making ready for her challenge, and it was Smokers job to check and double check sails, warps, halyards, standing rigging, rudder mechanism , sheets, cleats, winches, blocks, all this done she was now ready to compete. The following day was spent fine tuning, studying charts, the race course, and discussing race tactics, which may have to be revised should the weather differ from the forecast it was a bit hit and miss in those days.

The race day came and moorings were slipped “Shamrock  V” and “Enterprise” were towed out to open water and the start line, with a great many small craft following, eager to see these majestic giants do battle for yachting’s most coveted and prestigous prize, the Americas Cup, as it was now known. Over the next few days the races took place Smoker did not go into detail only that the weather was perfect for sailing but at the end of the agreed number of races to decide ownership of the cup “Shamrock V” had lost four out of four races they had a real trouncing the night following final race a farewell dinner was held in honour of the challengers at the “Hotel Belvedere, Rhode Island” and no great thing was made of America successfully defending the cup, but Smoker remarked that “Enterprise” could point to wind a lot closer than Shamrock,  A. J. Pengelly also made reference to this, and of the thirty crew only ten were on deck at any one time, the rest were engaged below working the winches even trimming sails was done below decks, Enterprise was also made of  Duralumin, Aluminium to us, including the frame , this would have made her about one third lighter than Shamrock none of the rules on class build were compromised and we were beaten fair and square. I do not know much about the return journey only that Gosport was the first port of call and a refit ready for the following season. I believe that Smoker was paid off and rejoined the Kings yacht Brittania which was in 1931 converted to a cruising yacht and fitted out to a very high standard so as to impress foreign dignitaries and also the ladies, as it was now becoming fashionable for ladies to go aboard what has always been a man’s domain and where functionality was the only concern, women, at least the more adventurous had their own yachts built and became formidable adversaries when racing, Tracy Edwards is just an example of many other top notch skippers.   

It is gratifying to know that the J Class  “Shamrock V”,  “Velsheda”, and “Endeavour” are still sailing to this day, and the legend lives on, I must also add that having lost the trophy in 1851 the United Kingdom has never won it back, ever. Countries that have been successful are Australia, Once, New Zealand Twice, and lastly Switzerland, Once.

I would like to dedicate this article to the memory of Smoker Stroud, and  Alfred (A.J.Pengelly)  from Looe, Cornwall (Who wrote the book “Oh for a fishermans life in 1979)  and whose son Terry,  T.J.Pengelly who I am in touch with and has kindly donated pictures for this article, they have given me inspiration for this article, and also to the selfless fishermen who left families behind in the summer months  when little or no fish were to be had, and to join the large yachts and race the summer season regatta’s on the east and south coast, thus earning enough  money to keep their families fed and the landlord from the door,

Regards and fair winds

Dave Jordan

Email:-  pixelman@btinternet.com

http:/www.the-birds-of-kent.blogspot.com

I have composed this blog in the hope that it will enable me to reach family members wherever in the world they may be, and hoping that if they have any conection with the Whitstable Strouds they would, through this family site exchange information and photo's for the benefit of all those that in later life are wondering where their relatives are.
This is a new site and will take a little while to get off the ground, so please be patient and drop in from time to time and view posts and articles.
Kind regards and a happy Christmas
Frederick Stroud.

On the left is Ernest Stroud and his seven sons, who between them created quite a large Whitstable family and  some of whom  are now dotted around the globe.

Several members individually attained considerable status, and all were masters of the sea.
Ernest is standing aboard the Smack "Game Cock" which he commissioned in 1907, this is a correction to the above photo that displays 1927 it is well maintained and sailing to this day.
Future postings will give an insight into the lives of these Whitstable men of the sea.