Deptford Dockyard & Workhouse Records

[Spike Malet]

A William Riggs worked for 5 years in the "clerkline employ" at Deptford Dockyard c.1780. There is also a burial for a William Riggs, Master of the Workhouse at St Nicholas Deptford in 1796.

Could these be the same man? Are there any dockyard or workhouse records which would help prove it?

[Bookbox]

There’s a fair chance it could be the same man, especially as he seems to have been seeking employment in 1783. But it could also be a relative with the same name.

As far as I know there are no records for the St Nicholas Deptford parish workhouse at this date.

There are plentiful records for the Deptford dockyard, in ADM 42 at the National Archives, Kew, but they are not online. If you can get there, or if anyone else can search for you, start with the yard paybooks for 1780 and work forwards, to find out how long your man held the post.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01a6x/

The standard TNA research guide may help.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01a6w/

[Spike Malet]

Thanks Bookbox. Was he employed by the Navy or the East India Trading company though? They both had docks at Deptford and presumably have separate records?? The word "clerkline" sounds more civilian than military perhaps?

[Spike Malet]

According to the text below the piccy in this link

http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/13352.html

The East India co stopped hiring their own yard but continued hiring ships from civilian ones.

Was the term "boatswain" used in civilian yards as well as military ones?

[Bookbox]

Thanks Bookbox. Was he employed by the Navy or the East India Trading company though?

Working at Deptford at that date, almost certainly employed by the Navy. The EIC's administrative offices were in the City of London (Leadenhall Street). In any case, the Duke of Portland (to whom he was appealing in 1783) came from a family with a long Naval tradition.

The term 'boatswain' might be used in any context where there were boats.

The Admiralty employed huge numbers of clerks. I would start with those records, as being far more likely.

[Spike Malet]

Ok will do. Thanks.

[Spike Malet]

Well I think I found him, but am not 100% sure!

There wasn't a William Riggs listed in the Deptford Ordinary but there was a William Grigg. He worked as a Storekeeper Ordinary on Deptford's Storehouse Longboat for just under 5 years and left just after 1783. This ties in with Wm Rigg's letter to the Duke of Portland in terms of dates of service and, as far as I know, working in the supply chain to the ships sounds like it could fit in with working "on the clerkline" and as a "land waiter".

If he was working on a supply boat aged 40 I guess this does make it likely he served in the Navy before this. Is there any easy way of tracking down any Royal Navy or East India Co. service he did before 1779?

[Bookbox]

Well I think I found him, but am not 100% sure!

Glad you found a possible candidate, even if not a perfect match. Riggs and Grigg are rather different, but 'mis-spelt' names do occur in the ships' musters/paybooks. It seems they were simply copied from one book to the next, until someone took the trouble to make a correction. I don't see why the yard paybooks should be any different.

If he was working on a supply boat aged 40 I guess this does make it likely he served in the Navy before this.

I'm not entirely sure that assumption is well-founded. He might have been working in a clerical post elsewhere for the Admiralty, or for another institution, rather than on active sea-service? The required skills would be different.

Is there any easy way of tracking down any Royal Navy or East India Co. service he did before 1779?

At this early date and without the name of a ship, I think not. But you might want to ask a Moderator to move this thread to the Armed Forces board, where you might get more expert help on that point? Or start a new thread on that board, linking to this one?

The only other thing I would suggest (if you haven't already tried) is the Cavendish-Bentinck estate papers at Nottingham University (Special Collections). If William Riggs' father contributed to building Bulstrode, there's just a chance there might be something there. You could try emailing the archivist for advice on that specific point? I've always found them helpful there.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01adm/

[Spike Malet]

If he was working on a supply boat aged 40 I guess this does make it likely he served in the Navy before this.

I'm not entirely sure that assumption is well-founded. He might have been working in a clerical post elsewhere for the Admiralty, or for another institution, rather than on active sea-service? The required skills would be different.

My reasoning was that his actual job on the Storehouse Longboat was a bit more "hands on" than perhaps his letter to the Duke of Portland suggested. If the job of the Storehouse Longboatmen was to both transfer goods from the storehouse on shore to the boats and then also to unload incoming boats, he would have had to have done a lot of loading/unloading and sailing in addition to tallying up the Stock books. Is it more likely that he picked up sailing skills as a 40 yr old or as an 18 yr old? I would say the latter.

Land waitering is a natural extension of this, i.e. dealing with import/export taxes but without the physical side that working on a longboat would entail. If he was in his 40s perhaps he was picking up a few aches and pains and wanted a job that was a bit easier on his body!