The Mick Twyman collection

It is almost three years since Mick Twyman died and at the same time Margate lost a true friend. Mick was totally dedicated to conserving the history of Margate especially at a time when there was little interest in sea side history and during his lifetime he built up a huge archive of research and photography.
Margate has undergone a renaissance and Margate's seaside history does attract considerable interest and thanks to the internet Margate's sea side history can now be accessed and promoted  in a positive way.
Recently I received from Mick's widow a number of disc's containing some of Mick's collection of photographs and postcards. I know for a fact that Mick would supply images from his collection to whoever asked for a particular  image for nothing as long as it was used for education, research, media and to publicize Margate. The discs I have cover almost every avenue of Margate's sea side heritage and if you require a particular image just email me and I will see what I have got.
Subjects include Bathing machines , Margate Sands , Cliftonville , Hotels , Shipping , Events , Dreamland Margate Pier , Harbour, etc.,, All you have to do is ask.

I like this photographic postcard above. Customers for the bathing machines would enter a board walk from narrow gates in the railings on the sea front. The gates are still visible to day.
The  customers would then  climb aboard a high wagon that will take them out to the bathing machine in the water.

Margate Harbour and its precincts - 1812 to 1912 collection of items.

This afternoon I had a good sort out  some of  the items I have found in and around the Margate Harbour area and out towards the main sands. This also includes some items found close by  inland of which I have purchased. Many of my items were found during the underpinning of the stone pier. This is my second collection as the first collection I gave to the Margate Museum.  With the first collection the emphasis was more on the late Victorian period. This collection however pre dates that period and includes items I can safely date from around 1812 when the Margate Pier and Harbour Company came into being. So in reality this collection represents every decade of the first century of Margate Harbour since construction began in 1812 and has the provenance.
 In reality it is a miracle I have found this much considering the amount dredging that has taken place in the 20th century, something I also put down to the amount of crushed items that can be found out towards the main sands area.
Mounted on foam board I have included photographs I took around the time of the underpinning works.

The will of Dr. Arthur Walton Rowe.

Pressing ahead with my investigation into the TDC art & artifact collection I now have the benefits of the Margate Historical Society research engine. I have now drawn the conclusion that no individual or group of individuals are responsible  and the problem is entirely due to the fact that this entire mess is down to TDC giving the collection such a low priority for thirty nine years.
Surely someone at TDC must have realized when they embarked on art, culture and heritage as a regeneration project that they themselves are sitting on a collection once described in their own reports as a "seaside history collection of national importance".

 One of the get outs I am expecting from TDC is that the problems are "historic" and I have had early indicators that this maybe the case for the defence . However it is by research as far back to the very roots of the collection that a full understanding of the provenance of the collection needs to be established something that has never been done.   So with the benefits of the Margate Historical Society research engine we are looking into the will of Dr. Arthur Rowe  whose bequest in 1926 formed the very roots of the collection.We already have a list of items from Dr. Rowe's notes of  72 pictures and prints  he bequeathed to the town of Margate in 1926. So what does the will have to say ?

The trustees of the will were Dr. Rowe's son in law Francis Lamont Cassidy and Margate solicitor Cyril Collingwood Maughan.  Given the amount of the items given to the Corporation of Margate there is not a lot of detail.
 On page 2 of the will  items 6 & 7 read as follows;

"I direct my trustees to offer my collection of Fossils to the British Museum (natural history) through Dr. F A Bather F R S Keeper of the Geological Department for a sum of no less than five hundreds pounds and if this offer is not accepted I give this collection to the Sedgwick Museum Cambridge . My Trustees shall also offer  to the British Museum my collection of local pottery"

"Should the Corporation of Margate wish to have my collection of books pictures and prints and are in a position adequately to house them but not otherwise I bequeath these articles to the Corporation"

Dr Rowe also had a shell collection in cabinets but these were bequeathed to "my faithful and  trusted  scientific colleague Miss Gladys Tansley". This does rule out that any of the 17,000 sea shells owned by TDC are part of the Rowe bequest. However it does state clearly that Dr. Rowe's collection of books,pictures and prints  were bequethed to the Corporation of Margate. In 1934 it was published that the Borough of Margate had 2075 items from the Rowe bequest and that is the start of the paper trail that will eventually lead to local government changeover in 1974. There is no mention of archaeological items.

The Rowe Bequest

In 1926 a Doctor Arthur Rowe bequeathed to the Borough of Margate his collection of literature, artwork and archaeological remains . Excluding the archaeological objects the collection is as follows.

Books, pamphlets & excerpts          536
Portfolios                                           11
Prints and illustrations                       569
Manuscripts                                       72
Maps                                                 40
Posters, programmes, guides etc.,     534
Book of views                                    40
Photographs                                     154
Plans                                                  36
Original works of art                           66
Bound Acts of Parliament                    16
Music                                                    1

Total                                               2075

All these items became assets of either the Kent County Council and Thanet District Council on 1st April 1974. I am not sure of the distribution of the archaeological remains but most of the collection which is a library collection went to Kent County Council. Thanet District council did receive a number of items and I do possess a list of 77 items.

George P Collard

This  top of an earthenware flagon is a more recent find. It is impressed with the name P. Collard & Son, wine and spirit merchants, Canterbury. In fact the complete name should read George P Collard who traded as a wine and spirit merchant from their premises at 32 St Margaret s Street Canterbury. The nearest date I could find in a directory is 1884 and that came from a Canterbury directory on the internet, Above the word "son" there is a Lambeth Doulton potters mark.
It is surprising how many fragments of large flagon  that do appear on the Margate coastline especially in and around the harbour area. So far this year I have only found two fragments that have a clear identity the rest have been unidentifiable.

Brylcreem

I have never been one for Brylcreem, but this bottle does fascinate me. It just oozes 1930's art deco by its design and shape plus it has that beach weathered  appearance. Items from the 1930's are something I do not often come across as my focus is the older stuff but I do cherry pick unique 1930's items for the Margate museum.
Come the end of November the Beachcomber exhibition at the Museum  ends and I should point out that my only contribution to the exhibition was to find the stuff. All the work, research, layout and presentation was done by the army of Museum volunteers.
 Last week I donated 12 complete Margate bottles to the Museum collection and I am now going through the items the Museum can have for display material or for the permanent collection.
My two pet projects Georgian Margate and Earthenware in general are coming along well and I am learning more day by day about that area of Margate. I have found earthenware pieces of Dutch and German origin and it does come as a surprise that German spring water was bottled in three pint earthenware containers and sealed with cement. Only to be exported to London and then consumed on Margate main sands.
Recently inside the harbour I did find part of a top of a George Barret ginger beer bottle that matched up perfectly with another piece I found in February during the deep digging . Both pieces were found in different locations, something I put down to the excavations.
Shards from George Barret Ginger beer bottles are heading the tally at present but the reason I keep them all is that I can get data about all the different designs and manufactures of the bottles. Something that is becoming clear is that in the same time period there are two distinct quality of bottles used by the same companies. I am now starting to think that this could be down to Victorian snobbery  as the mineral water outlets may have deliberately catered for two different class of customers by the quality of the bottles.

Bathgate Soda Water

Following from previous posting I have photographed the Bathgate Soda water bottle  retrieved from the seabed off Broadstairs. I have photographed the bottle especially for the benefit of internet search engines. The bottle has the "EX" duty mark that dates it between 1817 to 1834. Other websites indicate that Bathgate was a chemist in Calcutta India. So I am working on the assumption this bottle may have English East India connections as it was retrieved from the sea bed.



This bottle that has a striking similarity to the one above. It was found this year in Margate Harbour. It was found after all the spoil from the digging arising from the under pinning of the stone pier had washed down. It has no potters mark or any other impressions that does make accurate identification and dating impossible. However I am interested in the similarity to the bottle above, plus I also know at what depth it was dug and the location in the Harbour. In the same location I did find remains of English squat cylinder bottles from the 1780's to 1820's period.


This is earthenware shard no 2 on my records. It is part of a flagon lent by E G Wastall who were wine and  spirit merchants. The shard was found as result of the sea defence works at Margate this year.Even though the shard is impressed Ramsgate the company had premises in both Ramsgate and Margate trading from 1874 to 1914. The Ramsgate store was in Queen Street Ramsgate and the Margate one was at 19 High Street Margate.