Beadnell - Sound

Transcription of an interview with George Fawcus recorded on the 11^th June 1973.

George Fawcus was born at Beadnell in 1888. Mr. Fawcus started work as a fisherman in 1903, after having spent three years in the Beadnell Herring yards. All his family, on both his father and mother's side were fishermen. His paternal grandfather was drowned along with his three sons in 1885. Mr. Fawcus died in July 1984 aged 96 years. During the full interview Mr. Fawcus recalls the herring fishing industry in Beadnell during the period 1900 to 1912. He also talks about the various Beadnell fishing families.

During this extract Mr. Fawcus recalls his time spent at the Beadnell Herring yards, and the work of the fisher women there.

[Transcription]

And what did you do as a boy?

What did I do. Now when I left the school I helped mother, and the first job I ever had was in the herring yards, and I used to do the messages, and I carried the shavings and the sawdust to the man for smoking who was making the kippers, in Beadnell herring yards.

Now the women if they were gutting them herring they had different swirls or baskets and they were chucking them into one basket or another. The women new them and they put a hold on them you see, they new, and of course the Cooper was keeping an eye on them, he was going around and having a look all the time, and then they had to go and pack them into barrels. Now the barrels were about that height.

That's about four foot?

Aye, and the women had to get down into the bottom of them barrels for the first course you see, and they packed them, gutted them, they packed them for a shilling a barrel that was the pay. And when they were kippering the herring they stood and split the herring and the got four pence an hour.

 

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This tape recording comes from the large collection of oral history recordings held by the Northumberland Archive Service. Interviews were conducted by Record Office staff from the early 1970's right through until the mid 1980's. The purpose of the recordings was to capture the essence of life in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Many different subjects were covered, including coalmining, farming, fishing, domestic life, World Wars and entertainment. Over 350 recordings have been collected comprising approximately 700 hours of recollections.

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