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 While it will not easily capture the casual reader's imagination, this book will provide some valuable details and information of relevance to genealogical researchers and Greenwich historians. Ms. Tadman has done a very thorough job of putting it all together in the context of William Bracegirdle's life.
Reviewed by Deborah K McGinnis
A Fisherman of Greenwich
by Julie Tadman
Flaxton, Qld; Post Pressed, 2001. 96 pages. ISBN 1876682264, paperback, $34.95 (Aus.)
The first thing that comes to one's mind when speaking of Greenwich, England, is that it is the place of time - Greenwich Mean Time, the Prime Meridian of Longitude from which all time in the world today is derived. But the Greenwich in A Fisherman of Greenwich is a place of business and community and, as well as, the home of William George Bracegirdle (1782 to 1863) who was a fisherman there. Author and genealogy researcher, Julie Tadman, a descendant of Bracegirdle, outlines the facts of his rise and fall in business. She gives particular attention to the lawsuit which, along with the declining fishing industry, ran William's commercial enterprises into the ground, leaving him, literally, in the poorhouse.
Founded in 1695, Morden College is the largest charitable trust in Greenwich and it owned a sizeable amount of property that included Ballast Quay. William Bracegirdle leased the quay from the College. Over the years the ownership of the right-of-way became a matter of dispute between the parish of Greenwich and Morden College, with William caught in the middle. When the case was decided against him and Morden College, the lost business and investments that he experienced along with the rent he had to continue to pay while the entire matter dragged on over several years, left him in great financial distress. The development of fast rail transport from coastal ports to London caused the deterioration of the Greenwich fishing industry. That decline coupled with the lawsuit left William, finally, in the Queen Elizabeth College Almshouse.
This book was written as a spin-off from Ms. Tadman's personal genealogical research. While it will be of some interest to Bracegirdle genealogists, there is not enough in-depth detail known about William personally to provide a true picture of the man himself. And, as the author states, it is not "meant to be a detailed account of William's life," but "a discussion of places and matters in which he had some involvement and influence." Thus it provides a meticulous account of the history of Ballast Quay during the mid-1800's and the lawsuit that shaped it's future over 150 years ago. It will have the most significance to historians of Greenwich and Morden College. Most of the text relies on the records of Morden College, legal documents and advertisements of the era. Illustrations are provided but many of the captions describing them are listed in the front of the book requiring the reader to page back and forth in order to understand what one is seeing. An index has been included as well as a brief list of references. Because it is somewhat difficult to follow the minutely detailed chronology of events, a time line would have been helpful to the reader.
While it will not easily capture the casual reader's imagination, this book will provide some valuable details and information of relevance to genealogical researchers and Greenwich historians. Ms. Tadman has done a very thorough job of putting it all together in the context of William Bracegirdle's life. Though the author's effort is admirable, one could only wish to know more of the story of William's personal history. Perhaps someday Ms. Tadman will be able to fill in more details to satisfy that curiosity and turn this into a truly intriguing tale.
For more information about A Fisherman of Greenwich, visit:
http://www.postpressed.com.au/index.html?verse/greenwich.html
About the Reviewer: Deborah K. McGinnis is a solo librarian with the U.S. Office of Surface Mining (DOI), Western Regional Coordinating Center in Denver, Colorado. She has been there since 1987 when she returned from two years service as a Peace Corps Volunteer with the National Library of Jamaica. A Colorado native, she received her Bachelor's Degree in English Arts from Colorado State University and her Master's Degree in Library Science from San Jose State University, California. Her professional background includes experiences in a public county law library, a natural resources technical library, a squatter settlement library, and a newspaper indexing service. Outside of her vocation, she enjoys reading, singing, sports, and spending time with her husband and daughter.
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