Stephen Mockett

Beach Street
Nelson Street
31 Duke Street
11 Duke Street

Occupation: Chemist & Druggist & Lecturer

Stephen was born in 1788, the son of Thomas Mockett and Mary Denne; he married a local girl Ann Foster in March 1811 and settled in Beach Street where the previous year he had taken out a lease on a property with fellow Chemist and Druggist, Richard Smith. Here he continued to trade until debt caught up with him.

An Insolvent Debtor

It seems as if Stephen was living beyond his means from at least 1815 when he started to accumulate both personal and business debts ending in bankruptcy in 1821.

Between 1815 and 1821 he had run-up grocery and clothing bills of over £14 and business bills for medicines and perfumery of over £200. He had also borrowed money from various gentlemen of the town and owed £130 to Richard Smith for his share, of four years rent, on the Beach street property and a further  £157.10 also to Richard Smith when the Beach Street property was left empty. This was probably when Stephen and his family had moved to Great Mongeham. A further £415 was owed to John Fagg on an unpaid mortgage on a property in Duke Street which is curiously where, Stephen’s parents, Thomas and Mary, lived until about 1824 when they moved to Lower Street.

According to a copy of the schedule filed with the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors in November 1821, which we found in the archives of Deal Maritime & Local History Museum, Stephen  “…a Chemist and Druggist and Occasional Lecturer on Chemistry” had debts that amounted to  £1,010 4s 6d   ( approx £58,000 in 2019 ) owing to 38 creditors. This was only marginally offset by the £18 19s 6d that was actually owed to him!

used with permission of DM&LHM

Dover Castle Gaol

Stephen entered Dover Castle Gaol for debtors in October or November 1821 with only 12s in his pocket, this was soon taken from him to help pay for his “maintenance” during his imprisonment which far from covering all his needs meant that he would have needed help to survive. Especially as it was quite usual for prisoners to be charged for food, drink, and bedding. If they were lucky they could work, providing it did not interfere with prison regulations’ but for most in a small gaol such as that within Dover Castle, this wouldn’t have been possible. So to help those in greatest need ‘An Act for the Relief of Poor Debtors and others confined within the Goal of Dover Castle’ was passed in 1814. This brought £300 a year to the prison authorities from the Cinque Ports to provide bedding, medicines and food for those who could not provide for themselves. Prisoners also begged for money from visitors who were common in the summer. Apparently, there was a grating on the second floor through which they could let down a purse in which visitors would then place money. 

Stephen may not have had to resort to begging as his schedule states that “I have been otherwise supported during my confinement by the benevolence of my friends.” 

We can only assume that his wife and children were also cared for by ‘the benevolence’ of their family or friends as little was left to them. According to the schedule, they did at least have some  “Wearing Apparel” and items of bedding and furniture as in total they were valued at less than £20. This were all itemised under ‘Excepted Articles and the Values Thereof’ on the Schedule.

Detaining Creditor

used with permission of DM&LHM

Henry Tritton Reaks, to whom Stephen owed £18 3s 6d, was his Detaining Creditor. Although we haven’t found a definitive meaning for this, it does appear that it was Henry who had Stephen arrested and ‘detained.’

In 1813 an Act of Parliament had been passed for the ‘Court for Relief of Insolvent Debtors.’ This allowed debtors in prison to appeal for their release after two months during which time a schedule of debt was  prepared. At the hearing they were examined and once an agreement to surrender their property and belongings were made they were then released. But they would still be liable to pay off what remained of their debts. It is probably safe to assume, therefore,  that Stephen’s case followed along these lines and that he was arrested and in gaol by the end of October and released, as the schedule states, on 29 December 1821. At which point he still owed a total of £595 4s 6d which, in today’s money, is just over £34,000!  In March 1822 a meeting was called by the Dover Solicitors, Knockers, to start the process of assigning the proceeds of Stephens estate and belongings. Then as now legal proceedings take time and in 1827, five years later his real estate went up for sale.

London Gazette 9 March 1822

London Gazette 23 March 1827

Lectures

Exactly when Stephen gave up being a Chemist and Druggist we don’t really know but according to the schedule, the Beach Street Chemist premises had been unoccupied from about 1816. He certainly did not return to that trade on his release from gaol choosing instead to rely on his abilities as a lecturer to support himself and his family. We see from the Kent newspapers, from at least 1834, that he was is in high demand giving lectures all over the county in astronomy, chemistry and philosophy. He pleased his audiences with experiments by turning fluids into solids and creating a flame underwater. Although these may seem ‘tricks’ to entertain, these lectures were for the serious and interested and Stephen seemed to be a natural teacher giving, as was reported in the papers “…clear and lucid explanations…” and appealing to all classes with “..elocutionary tact.”

Kentish Gazette Tuesday 27 April 1858

`The Dover Museum and Philosophical Institution were the founders of the Dover Museum in 1836. The Institute aimed to promote “literary and scientific knowledge by means of a museum, library and reading room, conversazioni and classes.”  This was still the case when just over twenty years later, in 1858, Stephen ably closed the season of lectures held by the Institution.

The Bell Inn

Stephen Foster,  his eldest son, followed him onto the lecture circuit giving similar lectures but by 1847 he had taken over The Bell Inn on Robert Street. 

There was a Bowling Green attached to the Inn, which was extended in 1850. An additional room was added, too, in which was held a celebration supper for his customers who all appeared to have greatly enjoyed themselves, the elder Stephen included.

John Barlycorn

“John Barleycorn” is a British folk song. The character of John Barleycorn in the song is a personification of the important cereal crop barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it, beer and whisky.

Dover Telegraph and Cinque Ports General Advertiser – Saturday 12 January

There were three men come out of the west, their fortunes for to try
And these three men made a solemn vow, John Barleycorn would die
They’ve ploughed, they’ve sown, they’ve harrowed, thrown clods upon his head
Till these three men were satisfied John Barleycorn was dead
There’s beer all in the barrel and brandy in the glass
But little Sir John, with his nut-brown bowl, proved the strongest man at last
They’ve let him lie for a long long time till the rains from heaven did fall
And little Sir John sprang up his head and so amazed them all
They’ve let him stand till midsummer’s day and he looks both pale and wan
Then little Sir John’s grown a long long beard and so become a man
There’s beer all in the barrel and brandy in the glass
But little Sir John, with his nut-brown bowl, proved the strongest man at last
There’s beer all in the barrel and brandy in the glass
But little Sir John, with his nut-brown bowl, proved the strongest man at last
They’ve hired men with the sharp-edged scythes to cut him off at the knee
They’ve rolled him and tied him around the waist, treated him most barbarously
They’ve hired men with the sharp-edged forks to prick him to the heart
And the loader has served him worse than that for he’s bound him to the cart
So they’ve wheeled him around and around the field till they’ve come unto a barn
And here they’ve kept their solemn word concerning Barleycorn
They’ve hired men with the crab tree sticks to split him skin from bone
And the miller has served him worse than that for he’s ground him between two stones
There’s beer all in the barrel and brandy in the glass
But little Sir John, with his nut-brown bowl, proved the strongest man at last
There’s beer all in the barrel and brandy in the glass
But little Sir John, with his nut-brown bowl, proved the strongest man at last
And the huntsman he can’t hunt the fox nor loudly blow his horn
And the tinker he can’t mend his pots without John Barleycorn

Stephen died in 1868 and was buried in Hamilton Road Cemetery on 16 September.  

Sources and further reading:
https://www.dovermuseum.co.uk/Information-Resources/Articles–Factsheets/Dover-Museum-History
The Worst Poverty a History of Debt and Debtors by Hugh Barty-King
Newspaper image © The British Library Board. All rights reserved.
With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
Deal Maritime & Local History Museum