John Wilkins was born on Saturday 8 March 1788 in Horsleydown, Surrey, the son of Henryck Willckens, a Mariner and Catherine Leggatt. John, the yougest of three brothers was baptised at the church of St John, Horsleydown in Southwark, Surrey on Monday 7 April 1788, [1] and was the only sibling to survive through childhood (see family tree, below).

The Wilkins family lived in King's Row, part of a small residential area off Shad Thames, just south of and adjacent to the river Thames. The area was popular with waterman and ligterman working on the Thames. The eighteenth century saw the population of London increase from six-hundred thousand to over a million as a result of the industrial revolution. Living conditions were quite basic, before the advent of gas and electricity homes were heated via coal fires and lighting was provided by candles. Water suppy was a problem, being taken from the Thames which was used both the source of London's drinking water as well as the repository for its waste water.

John was just two years old when his father Henry died. Henry was buried in the churchyard of St John Horsleydown on Monday the fourteenth of June 1790 [2]. Little is known of John's upbringing, but when he reached the age of fifteen he started an apprenticeship as a lighterman on the river Thames [3]. He was bound to William Howard for seven years, starting on twenty-first July 1803. It was usual for apprentices to live with their master and and in return for the unpaid work to receive training in their chosen occupation, in this case as a lighterman. The job of the lightermen was to transport cargo or goods from ships moored in the middle of the Thames, via barges or 'lighters' to the docks alongside the quayside.

Sometime before his apprenticeship ended, John set-up home with Jane Ann and started a family. Their first son, Henry John, was born on eight of April 1810 and their second son, John Henry, was born on the twenty-first of December 1811, and both of whom were baptised at the church of St John Horsleydown on the eighth of April 1812. No record of any marriage between John and Jane Ann has been found. John gained his freedom on thirteenth of June 1811 to become a lighterman on the Thames.

During their life in Kings Row John and Jane Ann had eleven children, the last of which George, was born in Feb 1837. Two of their sons, both named George, died as infants. One year later, in February 1838, John was involved in an unfortunate accident in which he fell overboard from a lighter whist working on the Thames at Greenwich. Two men managed to pull him out of the water, and rowed him to shore. He was taken into the Golden Anchor pub and dried out, and then he taken home via a hackney carriage to Kings Row. Unfortunately, he had been suffering from a chill for three months, and he died three days later [4] from the effects of falling in the water.

An Inquest [5] was held at the Bell and Griffin, Boss Street, Southwark on 20 February 1838, where the Coroner, William Payne, recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Copyright © 2006 - R Wilkins