Jonas King: A most untrustworthy, despised and highly valued man.
In 1794 Jonas King was appointed riding Officer and coastwaiter at Whitstable in the port of Faversham. His annual salary …
Author Archives: Philip Atherton
Doggett’s race against the tide
Thomas Doggett was a famous Irish actor and an associate theatre manager at London’s Theatre Royal, and the Drury Lane. He …
“The Agents seek him everywhere.” The Pimpernel of Whitstable. Part 2
This is the second part of a portrait about James Feaste. Part 1 concentrates on the capture and subsequent trial …
“They seek him here, they seek him there.” The Pimpernel of Whitstable. Part 1
James Feaste (AKA James Moore AKA Captain Thomas Harman AKA Thomas Feaste Moore AKA Thomas Maitland AKA Thomas Herbert AKA Theodore Eugene Feaste) was a …
The Land of Promise: Importance of London wharfs to smuggling
In 1799 Mr P. Boyle of Paternoster Row published his ‘View of London and its Environs’. Within this catalogue of London …
Be wary of “hovering” at sea.
The various “Hovering Acts” introduced by the British had at their heart, a very simple premise: They attempted to halt …
Life inside the prison hulks: Fall of a divine.
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries there were few penal sanctions authorized by England’s criminal code. Fines, military …
Life inside the prison hulks: Staying alive.
The fear of incarceration in a prison hulk was an all too dreadful prospect. It must have haunted the memory of …
Tradition of cross-legged tailors
Why are tailors so often portrayed sitting cross-legged while they work? People raise the most tantalizing questions on Twitter. On Sunday 8th …
I leave you with a leaden heart
After two more days researching the prison hulks around the Thames, the Medway, and North Kent, I started to trawl …
Blue Anchor Corner 