http://www.archive.org/stream/blackwallfrigate00lubb2/blackwallfrigate00lubb2_djvu.txtThe 19th century stevedores and dockers picked their gangs consisting of eight men. They would converge on the dockside and the 'ganger' would pick his men using his experience. Edward Henry would have seen this process many times not knowing that his decendants, the Alfred Daniels, 1st, 2nd and 3rd, would all become stevedores !
Here, Basil Lubbock describes how ships crew were 'hand' picked in similar fashion and how the crew joined the 'pecking order of 'perks'
pages 66-68
66 THE BLACKWALL FRIGATES
The chief officer was allowed 2 firkins of butter, 1 cwt.
of cheese, 1 cwt. of grocery, and 4 quarter cases of
pickles as extra provisions ; the proportions of the other
officers being on the same scale as the wine.
The captain was given two personal servants; the
chief officer, second officer, surgeon, bosun, gunner and
carpenter were each giv^en a servant. No wonder that
the Merchant Service was sought after by the highest
in the land.
The Foremast Hands of an Indiaman.
The crew of the Thames are not yet on board,
though they had been chosen before she hauled out of
dock. The business of signing on had been carried out
on board, for the day of shipping offices had not arrived.
The time — 11 a.m. — had been posted up in the main
rigging, and when the hour arrived there were perhaps
two or three hundred men on the docks ide. Most of
these men owed their advance notes to Hart, the Jew,
a noted Ratcliffe Highway slopshop keeper and cashier
of advance notes at high rates. His runners usually
contrived to get their men in the front rank so as to
catch the eyes of the first and second officers and boat-
swain, who, in picking the crew, soon showed themselves
to be expert judges of sailormen.
The pay for foremast hands was 35s. a month; the
advance, which was two months' pay, was at once
pounced upon by the Jews, but Jack boasted that on a
sou-Spainer bound to a warm climate he only needed a
stockingful of clothes. However, it was noticeable
that even if a man came aboard without a sea chest, he
always had his ditty bag, which contained his marlin-
spike, fid, palm and needles, bullock's horn of grease
and serving board.
FOREMAST HANDS 67
In those days there was no mistaking a seaman for
a landsman. He may perhaps be best described as
a full-grown man with the heart of a child. His
simplicity was on a par with his strength of limb, and
his endurance was as extraordinary as his coolness and
resource in moments of emergency or stress.
In appearance he was recognisable anywhere, not only
for the peculiar marks of the sea and the characteristics
of his kind, but for his length and breadth of limb.
In height he towered over the landsman of his age,
whilst his shoulders occupied the space of two landsmen
in a crowd, and his handshake was something to be
avoided by people with weak bones.
His dress was distinctive of his calling, the nearest
approach to it being the rig of the present day man-of-
war's man. He had, however, a fondness for striped
cotton in shirt and trouser, and when he did consent to
cover his feet sported pumps with big brass buckles
instead of clumsy boots. The black neckerchief came
in of course at Nelson 's funeral, being a sign of mourning
for the little Admiral.
As to headgear, his shiny black tarpaulin hat seems
to have become entirely extinct, and the gaily coloured
handkerchief, which was usually wound round the head
in action, would cause one to suspect its wearer of aping
the pirate in these sober-bued days.
Having had a prowl round the ship, seen our furniture
placed in our cabin, and drunk a glass of wine with the
purser, we finally leave the Indiaman and pull back
through the shipping on the first of the flood.
An Indiaman leaving Gravesend.
A fortnight later we find the Thames lying at
Gravesend with the Blue Peter flying. We get aboard
and then spend our time watching the busy scene.
http://www.archive.org/stream/blackwallfrigate00lubb2/blackwallfrigate00lubb2_djvu.txt68
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