Skinner Family Discoveries 1

October 5, 2017

St. Thomas à Becket Parish Church, Lewes, Sussex, England

Our first journey to uncover my family history was to Lewes, Sussex, the birthplace of my Great-Grandfather, George William Skinner. He was baptized here on 14 March, 1852 at St. Thomas à Becket parish church, so we made the church our first stop. The church is located at the far end of the high street, which happens also to be the street that his family lived on nearby when he was born.
 

The church was founded in the 12th century and the ladies working in the church told us the baptismal font dated from the 14th century. They also showed us a very unique medieval relic - a kind of pass through / window that was outside

Baptismal Font

the church (its inside now) where people with communicable diseases like leprosy could receive communion. Apparently these were once common, but it is only one of two surviving in England.

Though census data showed George was living in Eastbourne by 1881, he was married in Lewes in 1882 so we suspect that he was married in this church. We will order his marriage certificate and update once we find out!

After finding the church and exploring it, we headed back to the centre of town. According to the 1871 census the family lived on West Street. George was still living at home at 19 and was listed as a watchmaker. When we tried to find what we thought was the house at number 103, it turned out to be a short street and  the numbers didn't go above 50, so that was a little frustrating, but we carried on.  Perhaps the street changed during the war? Maybe the numbers were redone?

West Street, Lewes

We stopped in at the tourist information centre and Brad asked about any books that might show what Lewes streets looked like in the 1870s. It turns out that we had just missed a photographic exhibition of old Lewes, but he recommended we visit the photo studio that put it on.

Our next stop was Lewes Castle, right in the heart of town. When we bought the tickets, I asked the clerk if she happened to know anyone that would know the history of Lewes and I explained about the street conundrum. It happened the resident historian was in the back and she called him out. I explained the situation and showed him the image of the census and he smartly pointed out that 103 was actually the entry number on the census, not the street number! So, one mystery solved - however the census didn't have street numbers, so we aren't sure exactly which house they lived in, but it was definitely the right street.

Meanwhile, when I explained about George being a watchmaker, he told me his brother-in-law was an antique clock dealer and loved the history of clockmakers in Lewes and I should go meet him (right around the corner from West street!).

Lewes Castle

We had a good visit to the castle, what an amazing view of Lewes! After the castle, I popped back to the shop but the owner wasn't there, so next we stopped into the photo studio, Edward Reeves Photography on High Street.

The person there was also very helpful, and was the wife of the owner. It turns out that his shop has been in the same family since it first opened in the 1850s, one of the first such shops.

Lewes as viewed from the castle tower

We looked through some old images of Lewes (which I still need to get from their web site) and she showed us the actual photo studio - and if our family had portraits made when they lived there, they were probably done right in that room! When I explained about researching our great grandfather, she ALSO told us we should meet the owner of the antique shop - I think it was a sign! So, after lunch, even though I was thinking I didn't want to venture back across town, Brad encouraged me to go back as it was such a good opportunity so we headed back to W. F. Bruce Antique Clocks.

Thankfully Brad convinced me to go back - the owner was there and he was very excited to find out that my ancestor was George W. Skinner as he was one of the watchmakers that he was very interested in! He showed us some old books that listed George and his brother Edward as clockmakers in Lewes and he told us about the master that they apprenticed with, William Tanner - who was responsible for the clock in the church were George was baptized! I was interested in the fact that they were listing themselves as watchmakers on the census, not clock makers - apparently it was more prestigious to be a clock maker!

Mr. Bruce went into the shop searching for some examples for us and he found that he had a pocket watch that he was convinced was made by George. It was inscribed with tiny initials in front of the name Skinner and Lewes was also inscribed. He explained that the engraving was done in batches when the watches were made and they often made mistakes that didn't get corrected because it was too expensive. We were all very excited and he was willing to sell me the watch so it could go back to the family, so off we went with my first ever pocket watch!

I have to admit that I had doubts about it being made by George, but it was exciting nonetheless. When we got back to the hotel in Brighton we did some more research on Ancestry.com focusing on Edward Skinner. There was a lot of information in the census on his branch of the family and it turned out that his son Percy Walter Skinner was also a watchmaker and continued to live at the same address where Edward had his shop for many years. So, on much closer examination of the watch in better light, it was clear that the initials are P. W. Skinner. It's too bad that the watch isn't from Great Grandfather George, but it is still great to have a family heirloom like this. Meanwhile, I'm hoping that the antique dealer will continue to search for a clock by GWS.


Read on to the next blog for where we went after Lewes to continue the family search.