Author Topic: STEVEDORE  (Read 8605 times)

Offline audrey

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STEVEDORE
« on: Wednesday 23 February 05 13:59 GMT (UK) »
any one know what a Stevedore is please
thanks
audrey

Offline suttontrust

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Re: STEVEDORE
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 23 February 05 14:59 GMT (UK) »
A dock worker, loading and unloading ships.
Godden in East Sussex, mainly Hastings area.
Richards in Lea, Gloucestershire, then London.
Williamson in Leith, Vickers in Nottingham.
Webb in Bildeston and Colchester.
Wesbroom in Kirby le Soken.
Ellington in Harwich.
Park, Palmer, Segar and Peartree in Kersey.

Offline audrey

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Re: STEVEDORE
« Reply #2 on: Wednesday 23 February 05 15:12 GMT (UK) »
thanks for that in outher words just a posh word for laborer
audrey

Offline suttontrust

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Re: STEVEDORE
« Reply #3 on: Wednesday 23 February 05 15:51 GMT (UK) »
Not at all, it was and is a very skilled job - handling cranes, fork lift trucks etc.
Godden in East Sussex, mainly Hastings area.
Richards in Lea, Gloucestershire, then London.
Williamson in Leith, Vickers in Nottingham.
Webb in Bildeston and Colchester.
Wesbroom in Kirby le Soken.
Ellington in Harwich.
Park, Palmer, Segar and Peartree in Kersey.


Offline goggy

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Re: STEVEDORE
« Reply #4 on: Sunday 13 March 05 02:55 GMT (UK) »
A stevedore was in charge of ..and responsible for,.the actual individual holds of a ship.
Each hold was accessed via the deck level hatch,holds were of many levels,say from ships tank tops,bottom hold,up three or more levels.
Each hold had to be carefully filled,for maximum space usage,and in consultation with the ships First Officer,re weight distribution+ease of unloading.When one hold was finished it was decked over,then another hold was ready for loading,When a series of holds were full,to deck level,the stevedores job was done.He also had to have a working knowledge of ships drawings.
He didnt handle machinery or that,he was a cargo loading specialist,as specialised as those loadmasters used by todays aircraft.
Long winded ay!!
Cheers,Goggy.

Offline suttontrust

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Re: STEVEDORE
« Reply #5 on: Sunday 13 March 05 07:47 GMT (UK) »
I bow to your knowledge, but I know that in these days of containers a stevedore requires a fork lift license, amongst other skills.  There does seem to be an attitude in some quarters that a manual job equals labouring.  But then, what's wrong with labouring?
Godden in East Sussex, mainly Hastings area.
Richards in Lea, Gloucestershire, then London.
Williamson in Leith, Vickers in Nottingham.
Webb in Bildeston and Colchester.
Wesbroom in Kirby le Soken.
Ellington in Harwich.
Park, Palmer, Segar and Peartree in Kersey.

Offline goggy

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Re: STEVEDORE
« Reply #6 on: Monday 14 March 05 00:59 GMT (UK) »
Suttontrust,manual labour is good for the soul!My "T" shirt is long gone,but memories of having been there,done that ,are still with me.
Regards,Goggy.

Offline jbidaho

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Re: STEVEDORE
« Reply #7 on: Saturday 26 March 05 07:58 GMT (UK) »
As a stevedore's daughter, I must add the comments my dad would have made when he was alive! 

As you say Goggy, it was a skilled job.  On this site, aren't we speaking about past occupations, not how it is nowadays? 

The stevedore was responsible for loading the ship and was therefore allowed on board, the dockers were on the quayside.

As Goggy said, the stevedore was responsible for stowing the cargo, keeping in mind the various ports the ship was visiting.  What hadn't occurred to me was that it wasn't just a matter of stowing the cargo to make it accessible at the right time, the balance of the ship had to be maintained throughout the whole of the journey. 

My dad wrote a booklet about the role of the stevedore, linking it to the rhyming slang that was used.  I'll try to find a copy of it if anyone's interested?

JB
Bedfordshire: Selwyn Stokes
Devon: Boyce
East London: Boyce Bugg Dignum Gerard Girard Cotterell Sime Brotherton
City of London: Bowen Noble
Essex: Gerard Davey Tokel(e)y
France: Girard Santonna
Germany: Mocker, Walter
Ireland: Sullivan Hennessey Lee
Kent: Davey
Norfolk: Sayer Noble Bugg Watering
Perthshire: Sime
Somerset: Boyce
South London: Davey
Suffolk: Noble Cotton Bugg
Wales: Bowen
Worcester: Stokes Nash Davis
plus romany connections!

Offline Clincher

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Re: STEVEDORE
« Reply #8 on: Saturday 26 March 05 09:07 GMT (UK) »
Yes please JB if you can find it. Which docks did your Dad work at?