WAPP - Waltham Abbey Personnel Project

1. John Wreight/Wraight was appointed as a Charcoal Burner at Faversham on the 26th April 1824. He was paid 2/4d per day, and was a 22-year-old single man. During May 1826, he was sick and was stopped 1/-d for medical attendance. 2. Employed as a Charcoal Burner at Faversham, John was transferred to Waltham Abbey in November 1832 (Supply 5/207 dated 19th November 1832). 3. Wreight was employed as a Labourer in the Charcoal House at Waltham Abbey in 1832 and paid 2/2d per day. (Winters, p.102). 4. According to the Return dated the 1st April 1833 (WO54/587), Mr.Wraight had been trained as a Saltpetre Refiner; at that date he earned £33.16.0d per annum, and was also allowed to Watch in turn, which brought his total annual earnings to £39.0.0d. His service was given as nearly 12 years, and he was then aged 31, a married man with 3 children. 5. WO54/593 dated 1st April 1834 recorded that John was employed as a Cylinder House Man but that his basic annual pay had then been reduced to £28.5.6d He was allowed to watch in turn, and this gave him a total annual sum of £33.9.6d, as opposed to his previous earnings of £39. His period of service was given as just over 12 years and his age as 32. On the 16th April 1834, two Mills exploded when he was not at work, and John Wreight, watchman, was called before Lt.Col. Moody as a witness (Winters, p.103). 6. WO54/593 dated the 1st October 1834 confirmed the information given in the previous note. However, John was then 33 years' old and had served for 13 years. Sometime in the mid or late 1830's, he moved into a small cottage owned by the Board in Powder Mill Lane, which property had previously been occupied by John Wilday, who had retired. HE PAID 2/-D RENT (Supply 5/237), and the tenement has been identified as part of Plot No. 61 on the Town Map in Appendix 1. 7. Return of Employees on the 1st October 1839 (WO54/623) recorded that John was still employed as a Cylinder House Man with pay of £39.0.0d, which included an allowance to watch in turn. He had been engaged at Faversham on the 1st July 1821, and became a Saltpetre Refiner. In 1839 he was a 35-year-old married man, with 4 children. 8. The 1841 Census stated he was living in High Bridge Street with his wife,Lucy, and children, Sarah (aged 10) George (8) Helen (6) Winford (4) Mary (2) and Eliza (4 months). See also Faversham Book