IPSWICH RAILWAY STATION MASTER 1914 – 1927.
Born: 1864, Sudbury, Suffolk.
Father: GEORGE ROWE was born in 1821, in Bulmer, Essex and was baptised on the 2nd September 1821, at St. Andrew’s Church, Bulmer, Essex. George was employed for twenty years as a coal yard foreman for Messrs. Allen and Co. George Rowe died on Sunday, 25th July 1886, at his home in Cornard Road, Sudbury.
Suffolk and Essex Free Press – Wednesday, 28th July 1886 – DEATH OF A WELL-KNOWN INHABITANT – On Sunday, a well-known inhabitant of Sudbury, Mr. George Rowe, who for twenty years was a foreman in the employ of Messrs. Allen and Co., died at his house in Cornard Road.
It appeared that for a long time past, George Rowe had been in the habit of cutting a bad corn he had on one of his feet, so that an abscess was caused on the sole. Both the foot and the limb became affected, and George’s general health also suffered; he went to Lowestoft for a few weeks for a change and returned apparently better. Notwithstanding, however, attention, he got worse, suffering much pain, so that the doctors arranged that an amputation must take place on Monday. The patient, however, died on the previous morning. Most of the passengers by the railway and those who frequented Cornard Road must have been struck by the trimly kept and gay garden opposite Mr. Allen’s chalk pits. This was the delight of George Rowe, who was greatly interested in floriculture and was always pleased to show friends his well-filled beds and choice flowers. He was on the Committee of the Sudbury Horticultural Society.
Mother: REBECCA ROWE (nee BLACKSLAW) was born on the 12th April 1822, in Sudbury, Suffolk. After George Rowe died, Rebecca lived with her widowed daughter, Susannah Morley. Rebecca Rowe died on the 10th August 1907, at 8, Church Street, Sudbury and was buried at Sudbury Cemetery.
SIBLINGS:
EMMA REBECCA ROWE was born on the 1st March 1845, in Sudbury and baptised on the 15th June 1845, at All Saints Church, Sudbury. Emma Rowe was employed as a domestic nurse for many decades at the family home of Elliston Allen, Esq., a maltster and J.P., of The Grove House, Middleton Road, Ballingdon cum Brundon, Suffolk. After Emma had retired, she lived at the home of her widowed sister, Elizabeth Harber. Emma Rowe died in 1928 in Sudbury.
ELIZA ROWE was born in 1847, in Sudbury and baptised on the 31st October 1847, at All Saints Church, Sudbury. Eliza Rowe died in 1854 in Sudbury.
SUSANNAH ROWE was born in 1852, in Sudbury. On the 7th December 1871, at the Baptist Chapel, Sudbury, by the Reverend Henry Hugh Bourn, of Burlington Chapel, Ipswich, Susannah Rowe, of Cornard Road, Sudbury, married Joseph Morley, a baker – own account, born 1842, in Little Waldingfield, Suffolk, baptised 19th June 1842, at Little Waldingfield. Susannah and Joseph had four children and made their family home and bakery business at 82, North Street, Sudbury.
Joseph Morley died on the 10th November 1889, at 82, North Street, Sudbury.
After the death of Joseph, Susannah continued their bakery and confectionery business. After the death of her father, her widowed mother, Rebecca Rowe, came to live with Susannah and her children.
ELIZABETH ROWE was born in 1854, in Sudbury and baptised on the 18th June 1854 in Sudbury. On the 25th March 1880, at Friars Street Congregational Chapel, Sudbury, by the Reverend James Morell Blackie, Elizabeth Rowe married widower James Harber, a gardener, born in 1837, Coulsdon, Surrey, of 4, Sellinhurst Road, Tooting. James had six sons with his late wife, Helen. Elizabeth and James lived at the Harber family home at Sellinhurst Road and had three children.
James Harber died in May 1884 and was buried on the 24th May 1884, at Tooting. Elizabeth continued to live in Tooting until all her stepsons had left home, at which point she returned to Sudbury with her three children and was a laundress. When her three children left home, they all returned to London; her daughter stayed with her stepbrother, Richard James Harber and his family for a while.
Elizabeth Harber died on the 3rd November 1938, at her home at York Road, Sudbury.
GEORGE ROWE was born in 1856, in Sudbury and baptised on the 13th April 1856 in Sudbury. On the 17th August 1880, at All Saints Church, Little Cornard, Suffolk, George married Eliza Bell, born 1856, in Ballingdon, Essex – daughter of Abraham Bell, a baker and owner of a beer retailer, and Susannah Bell (nee Newman), and stepdaughter of Mahala Bell (nee Pilgrim), of Upper Road, Little Cornard. Eliza and George had nine children and made their home in Sudbury, where George was employed as a coal yard foreman for Allen and Boggis – coal merchants. George Rowe died in 1923, Sudbury,
ELLEN ROWE was born on the 27th February 1858, at Church Street, Sudbury and baptised on the 27th March 1858, at All Saints Church, Sudbury. In 1880, at Sudbury, Ellen, a milliner of hats and bonnets – own account, married Charles Webb, born in 1857, Colchester, Essex. Ellen and Charles had three children. Charles was a professor of music and elocution and an author and composer of singing studies. He taught harmony, composition, theory, violin, piano, and singing at the Webb family home, 13, Palmerston Road, Ipswich and was singing instructor at the Girls’ Middle School, Ipswich. Charles Webb died on the 26th June 1894, at 13, Palmerston Road, St. Helen’s, Ipswich and was buried on the 28th June 1894 at Ipswich Old Cemetery. After the death of Charles, Ellen lived with her daughter, Dorothy Blackshaw Gosling (nee Webb), and her husband Alan Rey Gosling, at their home 76, Winnock Road, Colchester. Ellen died in Colchester on the 4th January 1953.
Photo of Charles Webb courtesy of Leonard Webb.
CENSUS
1871 Cornard Road, St. Gregory, Sudbury, Suffolk.
James was 7 years old and lived with his parents and siblings.
George Rowe, 48, a Coal Porter.
Rebecca Rowe, 48.
Susan Rowe, 19, a Servant.
George Rowe, a Whitesmith.
1881 St. John’s Street, Woodbridge, Suffolk.
James was 26 years old and a Railway Clerk. He was a boarder at the home of the Kemp family.
Elizabeth Kemp, 77, a widow, born Ufford, Suffolk.
Theresa Kemp, 32, born Wickham Market. In 1886, Theresa would marry James Rowe.
1891 116, London Road, Kirkley, Suffolk.
James’ wife and daughter were visitors to Ellen and Samuel John Folkard, a shipwright.
Theresa, 40.
Theresa, 3 years and 6 months.
1901 Norwich Road, North Walsham, Norfolk.
James was 36 years old and a Railway Station Master. He was married and head of the household.
Theresa, 43.
Theresa, 13.
1911 Railway Station, Chelmsford, Essex.
James was 46 years old and a Railway Station Master. He was married and head of the household.
Theresa, 53.
Theresa, 23.
1921 24, Gippeswyk Road, Ipswich.
James was 57 years and 2 months old and a Station Master for the Great Eastern Railway. He was married and head of the household.
Grace, 57 years & 5 months old, Home Duties.
Theresa, 33 years & 8 months old, Home Duties.
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On the 20th September 1886, at St. John’s Church, Woodbridge, Suffolk, by the Reverend Charles Bowning Ratcliff, James Rowe, a railway clerk, of Lowestoft, married THERESA CHURCHYARD KEMP, born 1846, at Wickham Market, Suffolk – third and youngest daughter of Benoni and Elizabeth Kemp, of Parham Old Hall and Woodbridge.
Theresa Kemp was baptised on the 20th December 1868, at St. Mary’s Church, Woodbridge – parents Elizabeth and Benoni Kemp, a bailiff, of Seckford Street, Woodbridge.
BENONI KEMP was born on the 2nd June 1800, in Parham, Suffolk and baptised on the 8th June 1800. Benoni was a gentleman and a general agent and bailiff of Parham Hall. Benoni Kemp died on the 27th January 1880, at St. John’s Street, Woodbridge.
ELIZABETH KEMP (nee CHURCHYARD) was born in 1805 in Ufford and died on the 18th June 1888 at Lowestoft.
Theresa and James had one daughter:
THERESA ADA ROWE was born on the 14th September 1887, at London Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk and baptised on the 22nd April 1888, at Woodbridge, Suffolk. Theresa Rowe died on the 10th August 1967, at the Nursing Home, Fonnereau Road, Ipswich, of 25, Gippeswyk Avenue, Ipswich, and was buried at Ipswich Old Cemetery.
Theresa Rowe died on the 9th June 1914, at 24, Gippeswyk Road, Ipswich and was buried at Section H, Ipswich Old Cemetery.
In February 1917, at St. Clement’s Church, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, James, a station master, married GRACE PAYNTER FREETHY HAWKEN, of Danbury, Essex, born on the 17th January 1864, in Truro, Cornwall and baptised on the 8th April 1864, at Truro – the eldest daughter of William and Louisa Hawken, of Truro.
WILLIAM FREETHY HAWKEN was born on the 7th November 1841, in Tregonce, St. Issey, Cornwall and baptised on the 7th November 1841, at Saint Ida Church, St. Issey. William was a miller of corn. William Hawken died on the 18th November 1882, at his home 12, Pydar Street, Truro, Cornwall and was buried on the 21st November 1882 at Truro.
LOUISA HAWKEN (nee BLACKER) was born in 1843, in Truro, Cornwall. After the death of her husband, Louisa resided with one of her children, first in Luton, Bedfordshire, and then in London, before moving back to live in Truro. Louisa Hawken died on the 26th September 1930, at Truro.
Before her marriage, Grace Hawken was in the employ of the Hon. Alwyne Henry Fulke Greville and The Hon. Mrs. Mabel Elizabeth Georgiana Greville (nee Abel-Smith), at St. George Hanover Square, London and Danbury Park, Essex, for 20 years.
James Rowe died on the 13th November 1933, at the Nursing Home, Fonnereau Road, Ipswich, of 25, Gippeswyk Avenue, Ipswich, and was buried at Section H, Ipswich Old Cemetery.
Probate to Theresa Ada Rowe – daughter, and Francis Lewis – solicitor.
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ENGLAND and WALES REGISTER 1939
Grace Rowe and Theresa Rowe lived together at 25, Gippeswyk Avenue, Ipswich.
Grace Rowe died on the 1st February 1952, at 25, Gippeswyk Avenue, Ipswich and was buried with James
Probate to Theresa Ada Rowe – stepdaughter, a spinster and Robert Harold Latter – solicitor.
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SERVICE WITH THE GREAT EASTERN RAILWAY
James Rowe joined the Great Eastern Railway in 1876, first as a probationary Clerk at Subbury; after which he had appointments as Booking and Parcel Clerks at Haughley, Woodbridge, and Lowestoft. On leaving Lowestoft, James was presented with a table lamp.
In February 1891, James Rowe was appointed to his first station at Salhouse.
In 1894, James was appointed station master at Somerleyton, where he served for four years before being appointed station master at North Walsham.
He served four years at North Walsham before being appointed station master at Cromer. On leaving North Walsham, James was presented with a purse of gold.
In 1906, after four years as station master at Cromer, James was appointed station master at Chelmsford. Whilst at Cromer, James was presented with a solid silver inkstand, engraved by the Colonel and officers of the King’s Own Norfolk Imperial Yeomanry as a mark of their appreciation of the services he rendered in connection with the encampment of the Regiment at Cromer in 1903.
In 1914, after serving eight years at Chelmsford, James was appointed station master at Ipswich Railway Station, where he served until his retirement in 1927.
Norwich Mercury – Saturday, 5th May 1894 – PROMOTION – James Rowe, formerly chief parcels clerk at Salhouse, has been promoted to take the important post of station master at Somerleyton.
E.A.D.T. – Monday, 11th March 1895 – STATION MASTER’S FUNERAL AT BURY – On Saturday, 9th March, James Rowe, the station master of Somerleyton, attended the funeral of Arthur George Kemp, station master of the Northgate Station, Bury St. Edmunds.
Cromer and North Norfolk Post – Saturday, 14th May 1898 – OUR NEW STATION MASTER – The Great Eastern Railway have announced the promotion of Mr. James Rowe from Somerleyton to take charge of their station at North Walsham. The station master was formerly at Salhouse, and he enters upon his duties here at North Walsham as a well-known and highly respected company official.
Cromer and North Norfolk Post – Saturday, 4th April 1903 – NORTH WALSHAM PRESENTATION – On Thursday, 2nd April 1903, at the King’s Arms Hotel, North Walsham, Norfolk, James Rowe, the Great Eastern Railway station master at Cromer, and formerly of North Walsham, was presented with a purse of gold and an illuminated address containing the names of 64 subscribers. The presentation was made by Major Ladell, who, in complimentary terms, referred to James Rowe’s excellent conduct of affairs during the time he had charge of the North Walsham station. In reply, James Rowe thanked his friends for the kind way in which they had remembered his services. The address was in the following terms: “The undersigned residents of North Walsham and the neighbourhood have subscribed for a purse of money to be presented to Mr. James Rowe, as a token of their esteem and appreciation of the manner in which he carried out the duties of station master during a period of four and a half years.”
Eastern Daily Press – Monday, 10th July 1905 – FATALITY ON G.E.R. – CROMER PLATELAYER’S DEATH – On Saturday, 9th July, at the Red Lion Hotel, Cromer, Mr. Walter M. Barton, Coroner, held an inquest touching the death of James Thompson, 59, a platelayer, in the service of the G.E.R. Company, who died at the Cottage Hospital earlier in the day from injuries received through being knocked down by a goods train running into the G.E.R. station on Thursday, 7th July.
Dr. Arthur Burton said he had seen James at 2:30 on Thursday afternoon at the Cottage Hospital. He had just been brought in suffering from shock. James had a fracture of the left fibula, and dislocation of the left great toe, and much bruising to the hips. No operation was performed, but the deceased had chloroform for the reduction of the dislocation of the great toe. At first, Dr. Burton had hopes of recovery, but signs of peritonitis supervened on Friday morning and increased with progressive weakness until death at five o’clock on Saturday morning from peritonitis. This was caused by the abdominal injuries received.
Henry Robert Thompson, of G.E.R. Cottages, Cromer, the son of James Thompson, said his father had been in the service as a platelayer for thirty-two years and had considerable experience as a platelayer. After the accident, James told Henry that he slipped and could not get clear. He blamed no one. He was going across the line from the signal box with a scythe in his hand to cut some grass when he was knocked down.
James Rowe, station master, said the train was in at 1:58. He was at dinner at the time. When he got to the scene, James Thompson was picked up. When in the brake, he heard James Thompson say, “My mind was on my work as to what I was going to do in the afternoon. I did not notice the engine until it was right upon me.” “There was no one to blame.” James Rowe said the deceased came to Cromer when the station was being built and had been there ever since. He was a sober, respectable man.
The jury returned a verdict of “Accidental Death.”
Cromer and North Norfolk Post – Saturday, 26th August 1905 – COTTAGE HOSPITAL – Mr. Alfred Edward Salter, the hon. secretary to the Cromer Cottage Hospital, acknowledged the receipt of £4 0s. 3d., from Mr. James Rowe, station master at Cromer Station, the result of a special collection by Herbert Edwin Griffin, a parcels clerk, among the employees at the Great Eastern Railway station, and also the cabmen and ‘busmen using the station.
Chelmsford Chronicle – Friday, 9th February 1906 – PROMOTION – Mr. James Rowe, station master at Cromer, has been promoted to Chelmsford. James Rowe has been in Cromer for three years; prior to that, he was station master at North Walsham for four and a half years. He has been in the Great Eastern Railway Company’s service for 30 years.
Essex Newsman – Saturday, 16th February 1907 – FOR THE INFIRMARY – James Rowe, as station master, presented Messrs. Rodd and Slipper, the collectors, £2.2s., contributed by all grades of the staff at Chelmsford Railway Station for the Infirmary.
Essex Newsman – Saturday, 25th January 1908 – FAREWELL PRESENTATION – On Saturday, 18th January 1908, the local staff of the Great Eastern Railway assembled in record numbers at the Plough Hotel, to bid farewell to Mr. Frank Jubilee Mills, who for four years has been a telegraphist at Chelmsford, and who is leaving to join Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph Co. James Rowe, the station master, on behalf of 56 subscribers, handed Frank Mills a well-fitted leather dressing case and a tobacco pouch, as a mark of esteem. James said the staff were sorry to lose Frank Mills.
Essex Weekly News – Friday, 30th July 1909 – PRESENTATION – On Saturday, 29th July, during a smoking concert at the Plough Hotel, James Rowe, as station master, presented on behalf of the employees at Chelmsford Station, a barometer and an umbrella to Mr. William Dutton, who had been foreman of the Great Eastern Railway motor ‘bus department at Chelmsford, and was leaving for Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
Chelmsford Chronicle – Friday, 13th October 1911 –To The Editor – Sir, – I have received from the Mayor of Chelmsford, Mr. Thomas John Deeks Cramphorn
, Esq., 127 cheques, representing one week’s wages for each of the 127 employees on the wages lists at Chelmsford Station, and, having distributed these, the men desire me to return their hearty thanks through the medium of your newspaper to the Mayor for initiating the Fund, and the great amount of interest and trouble his Worship has taken in the matter on their behalf; also the many subscribers for the liberal manner in which they have responded to the appeal. JAMES ROWE – Station Master – Chelmsford, 12th October 1911.
E.A.D.T. – Saturday, 15th February 1913 –LICENCE FOR RAILWAY STATION – At Chelmsford Licensing Sessions on Friday, 14th February, Mr. Henry Christian Thomas Amendt applied for a licence in respect of premises to be erected at the Great Eastern Railway Station at Chelmsford. It was pointed out that the large number of people travelling on the line had to change at Chelmsford and sometimes wait a considerable time; it was astonishing that the station at the county town had not hitherto had a refreshment room upon its platform.
Mr. James Rowe, the Chelmsford station master, said there had been many inquiries by travellers for refreshment rooms; they were very much disgusted sometimes when they found there were none, and called the Great Eastern a rotten Company!
After hearing the objections from the Women’s Total Abstinence Union, the Mayor of Chelmsford, Alderman George Woodland Taylor, announced that the Justices granted the application. It would be an annual licence, with a fixed monopoly value of £12.
Chelmsford Chronicle – Friday, 19th December 1913 – STATION MASTER’S PROMOTION – Mr. James Rowe, station master at Chelmsford, has been promoted to a similar office at Ipswich, rendered vacant by the retirement through ill-health of Mr. William Cole, formerly of Witham Station. James Rowe has been at Chelmsford for nearly eight years and has gained the respect of his staff and the townspeople generally. During that period, James has witnessed the remarkable growth of Chelmsford and has played no unimportant part in the improved travelling facilities, several fast trains now stopping at Chelmsford, which formerly did not, while, mainly through his advice, the passenger train parcel delivery has been considerably extended. Other important improvements mooted by James Rowe are about to be carried out at the station, including a new luggage lift on the down platform, and reorganising and increasing the present parcels office and cloak room accommodation, with a separate entrance to the station yard, etc. James Rowe, who has been with the Great Eastern Railway for nearly 38 years, serving principally in the Norfolk district, will take up his new duties at the beginning of the year. James Rowe has often been complimented on the great improvement which he effected in the gardens in front of the station house.
Essex Newsman – Saturday, 3rd April 1915 –PRESENTATIONS TO EX-G.E.R. OFFICER – In April, Mr. Frederick Garwood Randall, the former Superintendent of the Line of the Great Eastern Railway, retired after forty-five years’ service. From the officers of the Company, Frederick Randall received a fine canteen of cutlery, together with a piece of jewellery for Mrs. Agnes Elizabeth Randall. Frederick also received a dining-chiming clock, a silver rose bowl, silver candlesticks and an inkstand.
The station masters and staff of the Ipswich district presented Frederick with a massive cigar box. The outside of which was elaborately inscribed. The gift and a full list of subscribers were privately presented by James Rowe, station master of Ipswich, who expressed the hope that Mr. Frederick Randall would have many years of health in which to enjoy his retirement. In return, Frederick Randall asked James Rowe, who had organised the collection of the subscriptions, to convey his thanks to the subscribers, with the assurance that he should always highly value the present.
E.A.D.T. – Wednesday, 18th April 1917 –G.E.R. EMPLOYE’S FUNERAL AT IPSWICH – On Monday, 16th April, James Rowe, station master at Ipswich, attended the funeral at Ipswich Cemetery, of Great Eastern Railway foreman porter, Mr. William James Punchard, of Ranelagh Road, Ipswich, who died on the 11th April 1917, aged 48 years.
Bury Free Press – Saturday, 17th September 1927 – The popularity which Mr. James Rowe, late station master at Ipswich, gained with the staff under his control during the fourteen years he held that responsible position, was demonstrated at a function, organised on Saturday evening, for the purpose of presenting him with a handsome oak Westminster chimes clock as a memento of the happy relations which had existed between himself and the staff.
SOURCES:
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