{"id":20122,"date":"2022-04-21T18:37:21","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T17:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/?page_id=20122"},"modified":"2025-10-16T11:58:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T10:58:42","slug":"wherrymen-of-martham","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/marthamnorfolk.co.uk\/?page_id=20122","title":{"rendered":"Wherrymen of Martham"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wherrymen of Martham<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Norfolk Museum Collection. Drawing, ‘River Scene with Wherry’ by Miles Edmund Cotman (1810-1858).

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The River Thurne<\/a><\/em> flows slowly across the north of Martham providing a network of links from West Somerton to the east, Potter Heigham to the west and then via Womack Water to Ludham or the River Bure at Thurne where another junction takes you west to Wroxham,  Hoveton, Coltishall and at one time even reached Aylsham. Alternatively going south from the Thurne junction you could meander your way via Acle to Great Yarmouth. It is then possible to cross Breydon Water to Norwich via the River Yare or to Beccles and Ditchingham using the River Waveney.  This then was the river highway that Norfolk wherries thrived on during the 18th<\/sup>\/19th<\/sup> century.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were three staithes <\/a><\/em>(or landing points) on the River Thurne<\/a><\/em> at Martham. Two were fed by lanes at the north end of Common Road and Ferrygate<\/a><\/em> and the other, near Dungeon Corner, by a green lane leading to Damgate.<\/a><\/em> In the 1800\u2019s these would have been busy with  wherries loading and unloading their cargo. Many of these were owned or manned by Martham men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wherry was once a traditional part of the Norfolk scene and its origins go back much further than operators can be traced from Martham. For centuries roads were poor and water was the principal means of transporting heavy or bulk goods. It is generally accepted that the forerunner of the wherry was a square-rigged clinker- built keel boat dating back to the early 1500\u2019s. The disadvantage of the keel boat was the deeper draft and the style of rigging which made them difficult to sail close to the wind on the narrow rivers of the Broads. The design evolved into ferry boats first seen on the Thames and used as \u2018water-taxis\u2019 more than for cargo. Wherries proved to be faster than keel boats, and speed mattered, consequently the Norfolk wherry became the commercial working river \u2018juggernaut\u2019 of the 18th<\/sup>\/19th <\/sup> centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1798 there were 120 wherries registered in Norfolk and the average tonnage was then 30 tons. As the years progressed there was an increased demand for woollen goods as well as growth in the agricultural trade. Bricks were made at Martham and river transportation was vital. The docks at Great Yarmouth were pivotal for moving goods like grain in and flour out, malt, beer, reeds, coal, sugar, tobacco, cattle feed, fertilizer, cement, chalk, timber and even refuse. There were many brickfields in Martham and one wherry was named \u2018The Martham Trader\u2019 or \u2018Brick Hod\u2019 because of the trade in Martham red bricks.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wherries were constructed at small yards without plans following family traditions; they just worked out the designs as they went along. In the 1880\u2019s a 30-ton wherry cost \u00a3400 to build so to own a wherry was quite an investment. Merchants would often have their own wherries and employ a crew, but many others were privately owned and families would live on them. Those employed on wherries were mostly called watermen or boatmen whilst owners were called wherry owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wherry Life<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It seems that wherrymen were quite a breed. They were hard-living, hard-drinking, hard-bitten men. A love of alcohol seems to have been common throughout the wherry fraternity. Wherrymen often dressed in distinctive sealskin caps or bowler hats and in winter they wore leather crutch-boots. A wherryman often lived aboard the boat with his wife and family. It was a cramped life, with virtually no personal space and consisted of just two bunks and a few lockers plus a small stove so food preparation and cooking must have been difficult. They had to work hard in all weathers, so it was a tough life. It was a dangerous place to raise children and accidents and even fatalities were not uncommon. As time went on some wherrymen acquired or rented small marshland cottages for their families. Safety regulations did not exist and wherries were often piled dangerously high. It was hazardous work for a single person so if the family lived on dry land a workmate was needed. Considering the responsibilities and skills needed employed men were not overpaid for their work although they earned more that agricultural labourers. They were often treated with a degree of suspicion based on reputation and rumours of smuggling, pilfering, carriage of illicit goods or boats used for illegal sports like cockfighting. The essence of a wherryman\u2019s trade was the need to acquire a consignment ahead of their rivals, deliver it as fast as possible and then turn the wherry around with a fresh load.  Self reliance and a sense of comradeship were evident, together with a pride in their vessels.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Wherry near Ludham<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Warnes Family, wherrymen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Whilst several local men and families worked on wherries the best known from Martham are probably the Warnes family whose distant ancestors still live in the village to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several generations of parts of the Warnes family were associated with working on wherries and it may be easier to follow them using the family tree shown below. It only shows those members of the family that were more directly involved with work on wherries.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

John Warnes (1781-1838) was born at East Somerton and was a boatman. He married Elizabeth Manship (1777-1829) at West Somerton in 1802. Elizabeth had a sister called Mary, born 1770, and she was also married to a waterman called John Dawson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Warnes & Elizabeth had a son named Robert Manship Warnes (1802-1854). In 1841 he lived with his wife Mary, nee Saunders, at Black Street,<\/a><\/em> Martham; they had married at St Mary\u2019<\/a><\/em>s in the village on 16th<\/sup> July 1828 and went on to have six children. In 1841 Robert was a waterman but by 1851 he had become one of an exclusive group of men as a wherry owner and in that year only four men in Norfolk described themselves as owners of wherries. Many coal, timber and grain merchants would have owned wherries, but their ownership would have been secondary to the prime description of their occupation. For them, a wherry would have a been an asset of the business just as a delivery lorry is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the six children of Robert & Mary was William Saunders Warnes (1828-1873) who was destined to have a colourful life.  Even as a young lad of 13 he would probably have been working with his father on the wherries as it was customary for lads to assist on the boats from a very young age. He married Sarah Ann Grapes at St Nicholas Church, Great Yarmouth on 22nd<\/sup> January 1850. Sarah was from a family that were associated with riverside pubs at The Lion, Thurne and the Berney Arms on the River Yare. Pubs were an integral part of a wherryman\u2019s life providing an evening stopping point and leisure spots. Many watermen had a reputation for hard drinking.

When William & Sarah married their address was given as North Quay, Great Yarmouth. The port was where the three rivers, the Yare, the Waveney and the Bure converged and many wherries would be moored there. William had become the master of the wherry “Victoria” which probably belonged to his father Robert. William was then only 22 and had a crew to assist him. After their marriage William & Sarah only had a couple of months together before a turning point in their lives. Events moved fast when William was charged on 23rd<\/sup> March 1850 with \u2018feloniously stealing two sacks each of the value of three shillings, and four bushels of malt, each of the value of five shillings of the goods and chattels of Richard Bullard. Then and there being in a certain barge or wherry called the \u2018Jane\u2019 upon the navigable river Yare\u2019<\/em>. He was accused with two accomplices called Thomas Saunders, aged 22, and Thomas Paston, aged 21, who were members of his crew. All three were remanded to appear at the Great Yarmouth Quarter Session on 27th<\/sup> June 1850 before the local Recorder. The trial papers describe in detail the proceedings in court, mostly based on evidence given by a policeman who had seen William transferring sacks from the \u2018Jane\u2019 to the \u2019Victoria\u2019 that were moored adjacent to each other. Sacks were produced in court that were marked \u2018Ballard\u2019 and \u2018Ballard-Malts\u2019 that had been found with others aboard the \u2018Jane\u2019.  All three men were found guilty and William was given twelve months goal with hard labour for being the ringleader whilst Thomas Saunders and Paston were given nine months goal with hard labour. Sentencing policy was much harsher in the mid nineteenth century than it would be now and concentrated on setting an example to deter other would be criminals from offending.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Tolhouse Goal, Great Yarmouth. c1819<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

The men served their time at the Tolhouse goal where the oak-lined cells are cold and dark with stone floors. The prison regime was severe and included a large treadmill that served no practical purpose except for punishment exercise. Men worked for 15 minutes, rested for 15 minutes and then returned to the treadmill and this routine lasted for up to 8 or 9 hours a day. The treadmill looked like a rather large stairway where prisoners were condemned to everlasting climbing never to reach the top.  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

William was fortunate that his father owned at least one wherry, probably two, and he had work waiting for him when he got out. His wife Sarah Ann was not so lucky, when William went to goal, she had a baby to look after and in 1851 she had returned to live with her elderly father at Potter Heigham whilst William served his time. Upon his release Thomas Saunders (no relation to William) continued to work as a waterman and lived with his wife and children at Gorleston. Thomas Paston left the river life and turned to farm labouring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The hard life of a wherryman had its lighter moments. Regattas developed as regular sporting events and racing between trading wherries took place. Owners would sometimes race themselves or employ professional waterman for the prestige of winning. William won a wherry race at Wroxham in 1859 in the family wherry \u2018Sarah Ann\u2019, a vessel obviously named after his wife. His reward for winning was five guineas.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

William continued to work on the rivers but by 1873 was said by members of his family to have become a heavy drinker and this caused problems for his wife and son William Grapes Warnes. William’s colourful life came to an untimely end when on 27th<\/sup> February 1873 he was found drowned in a drainage ditch. The cause of his death was recorded as “drowning and suffocation accidentally caused by the deceased falling into a dyke or stream of water.”<\/em> He was recorded as being a wherryman. Perhaps the demon drink contributed to his demise.  His son William had moved away to the north of England on account of his father’s volatile nature but later returned and lived in Lowestoft where became a bricklayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Local Wherrymen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The itinerant nature of being a wherryman means it is sometimes difficult to trace those who lived on the boats they owned or worked on. Nevertheless, the closeness of Martham to the River Thurne<\/a><\/em> meant that some men who worked on the river also had homes and families on dry land. These are some drawn from the Martham census returns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n