Follow us on Facebook  @FHofDW

John Cutfield

92 Lower Street

Deal Navy Yard
Illustrated London News – Saturday 05 August 1854

Occupation: Royal Navy Officer, Master of Deal Naval Yard

Midshipman of the Royal Navy (c. 1799), by Thomas Rowlandson

We don’t know for certain where or when John Cutfield was born. The 1841 Census for Deal tells us that he wasn’t born in Kent and that he was then eighty years old, however, ages were often rounded up or down on the early censuses. The GRO death register,  tell us that he was ninety one when he died making his year of birth as 1754. If this is correct then, he could be the John Cutfield who was baptised that year in Felpham, on the Sussex coast. Interestingly there is a John Cutfield buried in a vault in St. George’s in Deal in 1777 but we have no way of knowing if they are related.  

Naval Officer

We do know that our John Cutfield was in the Navy and, in 1781, he married his first wife Ann Thompson in Portsea, by license at which time he was serving on HMS Prothee as a Midshipman.  

The couple may then have moved first to Southwark where they had a daughter Mary Ann, who was born in 1782, then to Wapping in London’s Docklands. George Thompson Cutfield was baptised there in 1784. He appears to be followed by a William in 1787 though his father’s occupation is given as a Labourer. Unfortunately, these records, found online, are only transcriptions and we haven’t been able to view the originals to check for any errors or further clues. Therefore, it is our ‘best guess’ that these three children are our John and Ann Cutfield’s. What happened to these firstborn children we don’t know as frustratingly no further records can be found for any of them.

Life in Deal

By 1789 the couple are in Deal which is where Mary Ann, the second of that name, was born in 1789 three years later, in 1792, Frances Charlotte was born in Deptford. Soon after they return to Deal where there last two children were born and sadly, it is where Ann died in 1800. She was buried in St. George’s on 26 December according to the Sexton’s Records this was in a new vault in the Chapel Field. The burial records for St. George’s Chapel  say “Ann Cutfield with prayers aged 42”

John in 1795 was serving on HMS St. Albans. The British Royal Navy Pension Records tell us that this was his last ship. On 3 June 1795, he starts to receive an annual pension of £4.00 that was paid quarterly. It is probable, from around this date, he started to be employed in Deal’s Naval-yard.  Later documents and mentions in the newspapers tell us he was Master Superintendent there.

Undated map of Deal’s Navy yard that covered the area from Deal Castle to South Street and from the Beach to Prospect Place (Victoria Road)

Master of the King’s Yard 

In 1808 John is listed, amongst others, in a letter of complaint printed in the newspapers accusing them of not being able to judge “…the services rendered by men in heavy gales of wind at the risk of their lives” These men were the appointed Commissioners of Salvage by the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and the complaint being laid against them was that they were employed by the “..Ship Owners and underwriters receiving six guineas a sitting plus tavern expenses which often came to more money per man than the boatmen obtained for their share, for the risk of life, for labour and wear and tear of their property…” The Boatmen were alleged to not be complying with the new Act which meant the delivering within seven days any salvaged anchor or cable to the Lord Warden’s Commissioners and “…be paid such as the Commissioners should allow…”  The complainant says that they were holding back on those payments. The letter ends by saying “…All the Boatmen ask is to receive the salvage allowed on giving up the anchors and cables within 14 days after the delivery.”

John Sampson, Secretary to the Commissioners, responds in their defence. Saying the Commissioners express considerable surprise at these complaints and go on to name the Commissioners, their residence and their occupations in order to declare their abilities and qualifications to make such judgements as needed. John Cutfield is described as “ a very old Master in the Royal Navy, and now residing in Deal.” As to the claim against the fees, Sampson responds by saying that the fees received by the 

Kentish Gazette – Friday 09 December 1808

Commissioners are set uniformly by the Lord Warden; as to the tavern expenses, these came to no more than a few shillings. With respect to the complaints of salvage, he says “… that as no case has ever been brought before them consequently there can be no cause for complaint….”  He concludes by saying that the Commissioners “…have no possible reason, so it has never been their wish, to undervalue the Boatmen’s services; or favour the owners …”
A copy of the Parliamentary Papers shows that John was still working as a Commissioner of Salvage in 1837. These papers layout the services provided by un-named boatmen which included carrying out anchors and cables to vessels in the Downs plus rendering other services in all weathers and gives the sum awarded to them. It also gives the Commissioners Fees as £5. 5s the Registrars Fees as  £3 8s 5d and ‘Sums paid for use of rooms out of Registrars fees’ as 5s. At least by 1837 the fees and expenses of the Commissioners were legally documented.

A Plan of the Downs Regatta

The First Deal Regatta
In 1826 we found John was sitting on the Committee of Management for the new Deal Regatta. This, the very first to be held on the South Coast, was held on August 10, 1826.  Luggers and galleys from along the South Coast competed in rowing races, and yachts came from as far afield as Cowes on the Isle of Wight to take part in the sailing contests.  To round the day off, for those who could afford it at least a Deal Regatta Ball was held at the Assembly Rooms.
Whether John remained on the Regatta Management Committee or not we don’t know, but the Regatta was to continue to be a big event in the town for many years to come. 

Morning Chronicle – Friday 18 November 1808

Sholden Landowner

John, who held land in Sholden,  met with others holding land in that parish at the Leather Bottle in Mongeham in December 1838 to come to an agreement over the Commutation of Tithes Act. The land that he then owned was in what is now the Mounts Close &  Birdwood Avenue area. 

Land Held by John Cutfield in Sholden marked with red dots.

John died in Deal in 1845 aged 91, and was buried in St. George’s on 20 October. The burial register for St. George’s for this year is missing so at first glance it appears that he was buried in St. Leonard’s but the entry, in the St. Leonard’s register,  clearly states the officiating minister who was ‘Rev. M Pennington Curate of Deal Chapel.’ The records of Samuel Rammell the Sexton of St. George’s confirm that he was buried ‘in the Vault’ presumably with his first wife Ann.
In his will, John left bequeaths to all his children, including Alfred Baker Cutfield, his grandchildren and of course to his wife Ann.  This included property in Deal and “…all that piece or parcel of marshland containing about four acres situate in the Parish of Sholden…”

Sources and further reading:
Deal, St George Sextons Records for Burials 1836-1848  U3/67/1/30 under burials on FMP
Maps courtesy of Deal Maritime & Local History Museum
Tithe Schedule- Kent Archaeological Society
Newspaper image © The British Library Board. All rights reserved.
With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)