Mike was right 😀✔️ I hadn't posted my history update to this forum and so herewith an extract from the mail I DID send to all on 09/08/24: "Following Mike Gibbs having been corrected by someone on a tour, we have investigated and uncovered some evidence regarding Kingston Rail Bridge and the pipes there on, and Mike Gibbs has suggested I update what we now know.  I have added to this an extract from an earlier email regarding Kingston's opinion of the railway. I am NOT imposing any of this on you or controlling what you say, it is simply clarification of what we now know- nothing more or less.  I hope it is of interest!? Kind regards Julian"

Let’s hear it for the girls                                                                                                                      Julian McCarthy We often think of Esther Hammerton, sometime Sexton of All Saints Church, as being someone special but not just because of her rescue from the grave in which she had two feet as opposed to the proverbial one. The fact that she took on the duties of her late father leads us to think that, as woman working in a man’s world and carrying out the onerous tasks of church ‘Sexton’ (including the digging of graves), she was somehow ‘unique’ and an early example of female equality in the workplace.  A sexton is a parish officer, usually responsible for the maintenance of the church buildings and churchyard and, as mentioned above, for the digging of graves. At a time when women were barred from most public offices, Esther’s occupation to us may appear surprising but as research has shown she was not the first woman to hold this office, nor even the first one in Kingston upon Thames.An interesting account entitled ‘The Sextoness of Goodramgate’ by Sally-Anne Shearn can be found online wherein she advises:   “The existence of ‘sextonesses’ can be traced back to at least 1671 when a female sexton was recorded at Islington in Middlesex. A ‘sextoness’ was also employed at nearby Hackney in 1690 and 1730. It is not yet clear how common this practice was, but in 1739 it proved controversial enough to prompt a court case when Sarah Bly, the widow of the sexton of St Botolph without Aldersgate in London, was elected to succeed her late husband to the post.  Mrs Bly had polled 209 votes to her opponent’s 196; crucially, forty of her votes came from female householders in the parish. Her opponent, John Olive, took the matter to the Court of King’s Bench, requiring judges to decide not only whether a woman could hold the position of sexton, but whether women could vote in such elections at all.  Fortunately for Sarah Bly and those who came after her, after five months of deliberations the court ruled that as women had held higher offices (Anne, Countess of Pembroke and hereditary Sheriff of Westmoreland was used as an example), and as ‘the office of sexton was no public office, nor a matter of skill or judgement, but only a private office of trust,’ it was perfectly legal for any woman who paid her church rates to hold the office and to vote in the elections for it.” To consider Esther as the first to hold such office in Kingston is doing both her mother and a lady called Mary Gardner, who died in 1724, a disservice.  Vestry minutes dated 10th March 1729 record the unanimous decision to appoint Sarah Hammerton, wife of the deceased Sexton, as the new Sexton. She served the church for 12 years until her death in 1741 when minutes dated 14th March record that both Esther and Thomas Jarman are unanimously chosen as joint Sextons. Thomas being her brother in law who had been with her during the partial collapse and whose head had been pinned by stonework. Esther’s mother therefore served the position more than twice as long as Esther who died in 1746.     But what of Mary Gardner, whose place Abraham Hammerton took as Sexton in 1724. I have found that at the Vestry meeting dated 28th December 1721 the meeting discussed the complaint by the Sexton regarding payment of a charge for winding the clock. The meeting awarded her 20 shillings. I have yet to find the date of her appointment in the Vestry minutes which commence in 1695. I will check again. Is it possible that she held the position prior to the first-minuted meeting in the 1695 – 1826 Vestry minutes?  Whatever the date of her appointment, surely she should be remembered as much as Esther and, of course, Sarah Hammerton.

Cesar’s story is more than just ‘’Skin Deep’.                                                Julian McCarthy   The story of Cesar Picton is widely told, but the focus always centres on his ethnicity whereas for me it is Who brought him to England?; Why he was brought?; How he could afford to buy this house? and What happened next?  that I believe are the more interesting aspects of the story. The tale is often tailored and embellished with phrases such as “slave” and “a life of servitude” and “prisoner” to make a particular point and this skewing of the tale is mistakenly believed as fact.  If, however, one scratches the skin of the true story  and looks deeper, this shabby tailoring falls off and a true story of benevolence, enlightenment and even Picton’s sardonic wit emerges. Cesar is believed to have been about six years of age in 1761 when he was ‘given’ by Captain John Parr to Sir John Philipps, who had just in May of that year been elected MP for Pembrokeshire.  Sir John’s journal entry for 8th November 1761 advises: “Went to Norbiton with Captain Parr and Lieutenant Rees, taking with me a Black Boy from Senegal given me by Captain Parr, also a paraquet (sic) and a foreign duck.”1 Nobody appears to have ever bothered with asking the question ‘who was Captain Parr?’ which, for me, is at the heart of the story. Some merely assume he was as ship’s captain (he wasn’t) and others consider him a slave ship’s captain. But if we don’t know who Parr was, how can we have any idea about the nature or the thought behind the gift?  I like puzzle solving so you can imagine what happens when I read accounts which state: “The reason for the gifts is unknown”2 and “Little more is known about the friendship between Captain Parr and Sir John or the reason for these exotic gifts”. 3  I felt that there must be something more to this as, clearly, the  ‘gift’ of a young African boy, a bird and a duck is indeed exotic and has a lot of thought or intent thought behind it. It wasn’t a last minute purchase and I believe Sir John and Captain Parr must surely have known each other and, I suggest, this would have had to have been before Parr went out to Senegal. Parr clearly knew what Sir John would appreciate. I believe I have found the link and although this is simply reasoned conjecture, I hope that it provides a key to eventually unlocking the finer details of Parr’s excursion and command in Senegal and Cesar’s return journey. Sir John’s family seat was Picton Castle in Pembrokeshire, and after being a councilman of Haverfordwest a few miles to the west, Sir John became mayor of the town in 1736. 4. However, six years earlier one Thomas Parr, who records say was a glover and skinner, was Sheriff in 1710 and then Mayor of the town in 17305, possibly at the time when Sir John was part of the council. It is not a stretch of probability that Sir John and Thomas Parr knew each other. Thomas Parr had a son, John (born 1723), who was the named heir, by his mother’s brother, to the Blaiddbwll estate, consisting of six farms, four tofts, two mills, and 354 acres when he attained the age of 21. John would later become a Captain of the militia.6  The chances that Sir John knew two captains called John Parr, although possible, are slim and I propose that the Captain John Parr who brought Cesar back to Sir John was the son of fellow mayor and possibly business acquaintance or friend, Thomas Parr. Thomas died in 1731 when John was only 8. Sir John is known to have been a keen supporter of local education. Is it too far-fetched to suggest that Sir John and Lady Elizabeth helped with John Parr’s education and, quite possibly, his upbringing?  If so, John Parr could easily have been considered a close family friend or even as close as an un-adopted son In 1761, with Capt. Parr in Senegal, two events occurred either of which could have led to Cesar’s subsequent arrival.  Richard, the Philipps’ only son, left home aged 17, to enter Pembroke College and Sir John was elected MP for Pembrokeshire.  Reasoned speculation suggests that Parr’s gift could simply have been gratitude for his education, or a distraction for Lady Philipps following the departure of her son, or as a congratulatory gift for Sir John. Whatever the reason, it appears highly unlikely that Cesar was ever a slave and this seems to be borne out in a letter written (10th September 1761) by Boston slave trader, Thomas Fitch, to his slave ship captain Peter Gwinn. Gwinn about to head for Senegal and his instructions are certainly clear. Fitch states that the youngest boys to be taken was 14 and “you are not to take any children and especially girls, if you can avoid it by any means”7.  Cesar was about six years old. He was baptised ‘Cesar’ by Rev. Dr. Philipps on Sunday 6th December 1761 and was given three godparents on the same day: Sir John gave each of them – named Elizabeth Cooper, Thomas Davies and Thomas Lewis – 7s 6d. Three Godparents is somewhat a honour for someone people believe was just a lowly servant.  Sir John died three years after Cesar’s arrival and aged 9 would have been raised and educated by Lady Philipps and her daughters. The role that the three godparents would have assumed is not known. When we next hear of Cesar his is 33 as in 1788, Horace Walpole, Sir John’s cousin, writing about a visit to the Philipps sisters he notes: “they have a favourite black, who has been with them a great many years and is remarkably sensible”.8 Note the reference to a ‘favourite black’ which implies that others of similar ethnicity were in the household and Cesar was not alone in that respect. Lady Philipps died that year and bequeathed £100 (£7,700 today) to Cesar who rented the house and set up as a coal merchant Malt houses needed coke which needed coal. Someone who could guarantee a supply of coal would make money. Cesar, most likely dealing with the Lord Milton, Sir John’s son living in Picton Castle in South Wales, would have been able to guarantee coal from the Phillip’s family’s mining contacts. It is Lady Philipps’ bequest that provides the money but it is the family’s enlightenment and benevolence in the way they raised, educated and treated Cesar almost as an equal that is the crux of the story.  Each of Sir John’s daughters left him money (£100 in 1801, £150 and £30 for life in 1820) but Cesar was already wealthy by his own efforts when they died. As for Captain John Parr, he returned to Pembrokeshire and is mentioned in an Act of Parliament (1765) as being appointed as a Land Commissioner for Pembrokeshire, alongside Sir Richard Philipps, Sir John’s son.9 He died in 1811 and bequeathed £5 (£250 today) a year  to provide bread for the poor. A memorial to his wife is in the church at Haverfordwest, South Wales. The last word goes to Cesar and is a measure of the freedom of speech he had. When Sir Horace Walpole visited the ailing Lady Philipps in 1788, shortly before her death, he found the family amusing her by reading an account of the Pelew Islands (now Pilau). He wrote: “Somebody happened to say that we were sending a ship thither; the black, who was in the room, exclaimed, “Then there is an end of their happiness”. Walpole continued “What a satire on Europe!”10  Only someone who felt relaxed, safe and socially secure in his standing and in the company of the Philipps sisters and presence of Sir Horace Walpole would feel able and be able to voice his opinion so openly, without fear of reproach. It is to the credit of Sir John and Lady Philipps that he could do so in an age when even trusted servants could not. No, I do not believe Cesar was ever a slave. He was cared for and, possibly, was even loved as a son and brother.                  References: 1. Picton House- J Allen (et al) (p.  24) 2. The story of Cesar Picton c1755 to 1836 (Leaflet) – Kingston Museum and Heritage Service (referencing K.U.T.A.S. Paper 1979 Picton House and the People connected with it: K.U.T.A.S. Occasional Papers “ 1979) 3. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1080069  4. http://yba.llgc.org.uk/en/s-PHIL-PIC-1491.html Dictionary of Welsh Biography Philipps family of Picton, Pembrokeshire. 5. http://welshjournals.llgc.org.uk/browse/viewpage/llgc-id:1277425/llgc-id:1286388/llgc-id:1286442/getText  6. Ibid. 7. http://www.medfordhistorical.org/collections/slave-trade-letters/voyage-capt-peter-gwinn-senegal/  8. Horace Walpole Letters ix 157 and Boswell’s Life Of Johnson Volume 5 (p.  314 ‘The training of gentlemen’s daughters’) 9. Anno regni Georgii III ... quinto. At the Parliament begun and holden at Westminster, the nineteenth day of May, anno Dom. 1761 ... and from thence continued ... to the tenth day of January, 1765, being the fourth session of the twelfth Parliament of Great Britain. 10. Horace Walpole Letters ix 157 and Boswell’s Life Of Johnson Volume 5 (p.  314 ‘The training of gentlemen’s daughters’)