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Boatmen in Birmingham.

Boatwoman

knowlegable brummie
I am doing my family tree on Ancestry. A lot of my mum's side of the family are from Birmingham. I have discovered that my 2nd Great-Aunt Millicent Thacker BIRTH 31 OCT 1874 • Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, married John Edward Ryder 1896. John Edward Ryder was a boatman in Birmingham along with his son John Frederick Ryder and his father Edwin Ryder. They owned their own coal boats and worked in and around Birmingham. Does anyone have anything on either family and their boats or whereabouts?
 

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  • Millicent Owen and son Norman.jpg
    Millicent Owen and son Norman.jpg
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An interesting history Boatwoman. A gentle reminder, please follow the common courtesies we value on this site ie “please” and “thank you” - members give up their valuable time to help others and are more than willing to help. It may have been an oversight but such courtesies go a long way. Good luck with your research.

Viv - moderator.
 
Hi Boatwoman. My family tree includes many Brummie boatmen from 1850 to 1930 they seemed to live mainly in the Bordesley area near to the Wharf. Most of their B M D were at St Gabriels Barn St or at St James the Less in Ashted which were almost Boatman churchs so you may find some of your people there. Good luck with your research.
Regards Acklam19.
 
These two short threads may be of interest



Viv.
 
Hi Boatwoman. My family tree includes many Brummie boatmen from 1850 to 1930 they seemed to live mainly in the Bordesley area near to the Wharf. Most of their B M D were at St Gabriels Barn St or at St James the Less in Ashted which were almost Boatman churchs so you may find some of your people there. Good luck with your research.
Regards Acklam19.
Good afternoon Acklam19. Thank you for replying to my post. I will see if I can find out anything more about where they operated from. I have tried with boating friends who do the family research for the canals and no luck so far. But will keep you posted.
 
These two short threads may be of interest



Viv.
Hi Viv. Many thanks for the links. I will give them a look and see if it can help me on my trail.
 
An interesting history Boatwoman. A gentle reminder, please follow the common courtesies we value on this site ie “please” and “thank you” - members give up their valuable time to help others and are more than willing to help. It may have been an oversight but such courtesies go a long way. Good luck with your research.

Viv - moderator.
I am truly sorry. It was indeed an oversight. :)
 
Welcome to our site Boatwoman. Viv.
Thank you Viv. I did post sometime ago, when I was looking for information on my Birmingham family. I am back into doing the tree again and have been drawn to the boatmen as I live afloat on a working boat. Look forward to posting more.
 
How lovely. Good to hear, so to a large extent you’ll have a good understanding of the way of life, but hopefully with less of the hardships. Viv.
 
Viv for 10 years we carried and sold coal from our boat. We packed up in 2016, so I have some idea how hard the work was, but we had the luxury of having our coal in bags :). I always thought I can boatmen in my family somewhere and so i am so pleased to find out it is true. I also discovered another member of the family Walter Owen also worked on the Birmingham Canals. Our history is so fascinating. Have a lovely day.
 
Hi Boatwoman. My family tree includes many Brummie boatmen from 1850 to 1930 they seemed to live mainly in the Bordesley area near to the Wharf. Most of their B M D were at St Gabriels Barn St or at St James the Less in Ashted which were almost Boatman churchs so you may find some of your people there. Good luck with your research.
Regards Acklam19.
According to the 1911 census John Edward Ryder and Millicent were living at 134 Wellington Street, Birmingham, which is not far from the Soho Loop, which we have been round many times. Millicent was helping with the coal business.
 
Hi Mikejee. Wow. Thank you for sending me this clip. What a dreadful thing to happen. I will see if it fits with my family. But there cannot be that many John Edward Ryders out there who are also boatmen and in Birmingham. I do not have a second wife for him though, so I will have to investigate further. Interesting that this was dated 1869. I have just checked and this is my John Edward Ryders Grand-mother. Wow, I never knew about this. Many thanks for helping me with this clip.
 
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