| Notes |
- PRIVATE
- PRIVATE
- 1891 English Census:
1911 Census: WILKINS PERCY ALBERT M 1887 24 Medway Kent
1960: living at Ashley Heath near Ringwood (near Poole in Dorset)
"..Worked in the mold loft [of the Chatham Docks] and then the Board of Trade..."-Chas. Wilkins.
"...In my father's case, he became an Admiralty Overseer when he left the dockyard school. ... Later on, my father sat further examinations and became a ship surveyor."
"An Admiralty Overseer is responsible for ensuring that naval ships are
constructed (or repaired) exactly in accordance with its design drawings. A
Ship Surveyor is responsible for ensuring that all merchant ships which call
at the ports under his control are fully seaworthy in conformity with its
design and International Regulations, particularly, safety regulations."
My father was an Admiralty Overseer responsible for the construction of
naval ships and «b»during WWI«/b», and he was posted to «b»Newcastle-upon-Tyne«/b» in
Northumberland (hereinafter abbreviated to N'castle).
After that war he was urged by his mother to sit the Board of Trade examinations for the post of
ship surveyor (she would find out when these exams were to take place and
tell him about them) and, out of approximately 400 candidates, my father
came in seventh. Only the top six candidates were taken that year. The
following year, Adelaide, again encouraged him to sit the exams (at the age
of 34/35 he was somewhat reluctant!) and this time he came second. It was
just enough, because they only took two candidates that year. Employment
after WWI was difficult to obtain. The Board of Trade is the Government
Department responsible for administering the International Maritime Safety
Regulations for ships of all nationality using U.K. and Colonial ports and
this responsibility was administered through their Ship Surveyors, so, my
father would be posted to whatever port the Board required. In 1921/2, he
was sent to Hull (I was born in North Ferriby, just outside Hull) and, then,
to Headquarters in Whitehall, London. As a family, we lived in Rainham,
Kent while he commuted to London six days a week - a daily journey of at
least three hours. In 1938 he was sent to Aberdeen, Scotland followed by a
move back to N'castle in 1944 and, finally, to Cardiff in 1946.
Source: Alan Wilkins. e-mail of 20 Oct 2006.
Retired in 1956 and went to live at Ringwood.
"After he retired, my father suffered an embolism in his leg (I think it was in 1959), which the local medics were unable to shift. As a result,
gangrene set in and, to save his life, his leg was amputated just above the
knee..."
Source: Alan Wilkins e-mail 10 Oct 2006
Both Earnest and Percy were excellent pianists and organists. Refer to Ernest for the story about playing Souza.
During WWII, my father was based in Aberdeen, Scotland (we had moved up
there in September 1938) where he, as Senior Ship Surveyor, was responsible
for all merchant ships using all the ports from Dundee northwards to the
Orkney and Shetland Islands
Source: Alan Wilkins E-mail 16 Oct 2006
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1887 - Abt 1969 (82 years)
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