Some history on West Thurrock in the county of Essex

Essex | West Thurrock

© Crown Copyright. Reproduced with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland under the Creative Commons Attribution licence.

West Thurrock is a parish, 3 miles east from Purfleet and west from Grays station on the London, Tilbury and Southend railway, 11 south-east from Romford and 19 from London, in the South Eastern division of the county, Chafford hundred, Orsett union and petty sessional division, Gravesend county court district, rural deanery of Orsett, archdeaconry of Essex and diocese of St. Alban's. The Grays and Upminster section of the London, Tilbury and Southend railway joins the main line here. The church of St. Clement is an ancient structure, consisting of chancel, nave, north transept, aisles and a low but massive embattled tower at the west end, containing 3 bells, dated 1632: the nave and aisles are the oldest part and date from rather early in the Lancet period : the chancel and west chantry are Decorated, and some windows in the aisles and chantry Perpendicular, the tower being late in the same style, while the south chantry is modern Gothic : the material is chiefly flint, banded, in the case of the tower, with stone : this church, built on the river bank and far away from the nearest house, was erected, it is supposed, soon after the murder of St. Thomas à Becket, for the convenience of pilgrims going to his shrine at Canterbury : in the north chantry there are two full-sized effigies in alabaster of a knight and his lady, representing Sir Daniel Holford knt. patron of the living, who put in the east window in 1623, and his wife ; in the chancel floor is this inscription, in Roman letters on a brass, set into a slab of shell marble, "Katherina Ridinge Filia Homfiridi Haies Obiit Decomo sexto Die decembris anno domini 1591, anno ætatis suæ vicesimo quarto." Another brass is that of Humphrey Heies, ob. Oct. 10, 1584, and his son of the same name, ob. Jan. 22, 1585, with eighteen elegant Latin lines, containing a succession of puns on the name of Hays or Heies : a rectangular slab near the east end of the chancel floor is inscribed - "Nichol[a]s : Ferobavd : gist : ici : dev : de : alme : eyt : merci :" and in the centre is the matrix of a floriated cross, with a demi-figure in the head. The register of marriages dates from 1668 ; burials, 1681 ; baptisms, 1683. The living is a vicarage, tithe rent-charge £192, net yearly value £149, with 3 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of Samuel Whitbread esq. M.P. and held since 1876 by the Rev. Thomas Aldersey Morley M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin. The Primitive Methodist chapel here was erected in 1876; there is also an iron chapel, built in 1885, chiefly through the exertions of Mr. W. H. Vellacott, but attached to no particular denomination. Here are extensive cement works. Samuel Whitbread esq. M.P. of Southill Park, Beds, who is lord of the manor, the Tunnel Cement Company, G. R. Burness esq. John Hunt esq. and John Edward Curtis esq. are the principal landowners. The soil is loamy; subsoil, chalk. The chief crops are wheat, beans and peas. There is much marsh land here. The area is 2,995 acres of land and 710 of water ; rateable value, £15,616 10s.; the population in 1891 was 2,540, which includes Purfleet and 314 civil and military in the garrison and 207 persons on board the reformatory ship "Cornwall," off Purfleet. Parish Clerk, John Francis.

Column-2

© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

© Image from author's photographic archive. DO NOT COPY

Column-3

© Photo taken by author on August 2nd, 2019. DO NOT COPY

"On Saturday week, an accident, which terminated fatally, occurred at Messrs. Gibbs and Co's, Chalk and Cement works, West Thurrock, to a young man named Henry Pavitt, about twenty years of age, a resident of Aveley. He had been employed as a driver by the company for some little time, and about 10.0 a.m., was unhooking his horse from some mud wagons which were in motion, when the latter caught and knocked him down across the metals and the wheels passed up his thigh from the knee to the groin, cutting and tearing away the flesh and muscles in a fearful manner. Dr. Pery. of New Road, Grays, was at once sent for, and ordered Pavitt's removal to the London Hospital, whither he was conveyed from the Grays station by the 11.34 a.m. up train. At the hospital, despite all that could be done, he gradually sank and died on the following day [Sunday]. An inquest has since been held at which a verdict of "Accidental Death" was returned. Deceased was known as a well-conducted industrious young man, and much sympathy is felt for his relatives in consequence of his untimely end."
"Sad And Fatal Accident"
Essex Times : October 27th 1875 Page 8

"William Diggins, alias Ford, was charged with assaulting his wife, Martha. Complainant said defendant was her husband, but she was living apart from him; he lived at West Thurrock with his sister; he left her against the Angel, at Islington, with 2d. in her pocket. On the 20th of January she met her husband at ten o'clock in the morning by arrangement; she spoke to him and followed him, and asked him what he was going to do; she wanted him to give her something or release her. He thereupon knocked her down, and tore her jacket; he went away and left her; she then walked on to Purfleet, and went to the paper works, where her husband went by the name of Ford; she afterwards saw her husband against the Rabbits, at West Thurrock. They there had a conversation, and they met again at the Fox and Goose. She treated him to a quarter of whisky and some beer; when she came out she again asked him in a friendly way what he was going to do, and he again knocked her down, and her head was cut open. She went to his lodgings, where he again assaulted her and pulled her clothes off her back, so that she had nothing left on her but a petticoat and a pair of drawers. Defendant said his wife came to where he lodged three times, broke the windows, and would have come a fourth time had not the constable stopped her. She threw bricks and stones at the window, came into his house, and said she would not go out for anyone, and he put her out and shut the gate. William Goodson, of West Thurrock, said defendant did not strike his wife, for he was with him all the time. She kept them awake and annoyed them until five o'clock the next morning; she abused him, and had he not stepped back, she would have hit him on the nose. Complainant : Oh you liar; you beast you take his part, don't you. - Cross-examined : I did not come out of the gate and assault you. An altercation here took place between the witness and complainant. Complainant : I will speak the truth. don't damn me. The Bench dismissed the case, and ordered each party to pay costs. Complainant, when asked by Mr. Capron [the clerk] for the expenses, behaved very strangely, and said "You can have that and more besides if you like; I am not destitute. What would you like? I have got it somewhere." The Chairman here told Mrs. Diggins to be quiet or go out, and it ended by Inspector Megran ordering the parties to go into the office to settle. Later on the husband returned and complained that his wife had smacked his face."
"An Unhappy Pair"
Southend Standard and Essex Weekly Advertiser
February 16th 1888 Page 3

Column-4

"George Tople, of West Thurrock, was charged with assaulting Elizabeth Crabb, on the 24th March. The defendant excited some merriment by his eccentric conduct in the box. He was obviously under the influence of drink, and he leaned the greater part of the time he was in court against the rails of the dock. Mrs. Elizabeth Crabb said that the defendant came into her house on the day in question and assaulted her. The defendant asked to plead guilty, and said he did assault the woman but did not strike her. Ultimately he explained he thought "insult" and assault synonymous. The woman said defendant did not actually strike her, but he came to her house and offered to do so. He would have done so only he was prevented. The defendant was very noisy whilst this evidence was given, and introduced several unprintable adjectives into it. Ultimately he was put in the cells, and the case heard in his absence. The Chairman said defendant's conduct, though he did not actually strike complainant, was technically an assault, and he would have to pay 10s and costs. Time was allowed, and then defendant was locked up to get sober."
"Peaceful Row Proves Neither Peaceful Nor Free From Rows"
Southend Standard and Essex Weekly Advertiser
March 14th 1889 Page 2