By Audrey Dewjee
A front-page story in the Hull Daily Mail has brought to light another Hull seafaring family with African ancestry.
On 27 April 1936, the newspaper reported that earlier in the day three ships had been reported as in distress in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, having sent SOS messages. Two of these ships had crew members from Hull. One, the 5,125 ton Rushpool, was a British freighter that belonged to the Pool Steamship Company, owned by West Hartlepool-based Sir R. Ropner & Co. Ltd. The ship, which had set off from the River Tyne in January and left New Orleans on 15 April, was carrying a general cargo. On board were a father and son both named Claude Drayton Gittens of Lindum Villas, Paisley Street, Hull. Claude Senior, described as “a native of the West Indies” was a steward and Claude Junior was a cook.
The Mail also noted that Claude Gittens Senior had had an eventful life at sea:
"The father was shipwrecked in the Atlantic while with a previous ship. Fire was discovered aboard, and the crew took to the boats. Shortly afterwards the vessel blew up.
"All the men lost their belongings, and after rowing for a number of hours they landed on an uninhabited island, where they were compelled to remain until picked up by an American patrol boat."
Fortunately, the fears for the Rushpool were unfounded. The ship continued safely on its way and father and son returned home to Hull in due course.
Because their name is slightly uncommon, it has been possible to find out a good deal more about the life of the family. Their story, like that of many other families, contains tragedy and drama as well as happy times.
Claude Drayton Gittens was born in Bridgetown, Barbados about 1877. When he arrived in Hull is not yet known, but he married Babette Marie Burkhardt in the city in 1910. Their first child, a daughter, born at Sculcoates at the end of the year, was named Malta. Claude Drayton Junior arrived on 23 May, 1913. A second son, Carlisle was born in 1916 and another daughter, Cynthe was born at Sculcoates in 1918. Sadly both Carlisle and Cynthe died at the end of that year. There was an epidemic of the deadly Spanish flu in Hull at this time, so perhaps they both succumbed to the virus.
Two more children followed, Mavis Ione born in 1919 and Drayton Cyril Mark in 1921.
It is amazing just how much family history can be discovered in old newspapers. From time to time over the years, members of the family are mentioned in the pages of the Hull Daily Mail. In 1925, 12-year old Claude Junior was a pupil at Paisley Street School. He attended a lecture at the Boys’ Natural History Club on “The Marvels of the Microscope,” and was one of the boys who “spoke to the vote of thanks.”
After leaving school, he joined his father at sea and the two of them are mentioned from time to time in US shipping records – for example in 1932 when they arrived in Boston on the Rushpool at the end of a voyage from Mariupol in Russia. Claude Senior is listed as “West Indian” and his length of service at sea as 40 years. Claude Junior is listed as “English” with four and-a-half years’ service. By 1937, 16-year-old Drayton had joined his father and brother on the Sedgepool, as a galley-boy. The three men arrived in Boston on a voyage from Buenos Aries and Aruba. In this record, Claude Senior’s race is recorded as “Negro” and his sons’ as “English” – all three of British nationality.
According to the Shields Daily News, in February 1938, after the Sedgepool arrived at Smith’s Docks, North Shields, an 18 year-old cabin boy, who was leaving the crew, stole a suit worth four guineas belonging to Claude Junior. He was arrested at his home in Monmouthshire, where he was found wearing the suit, and brought back to court in North Shields. Pleading guilty, he was sentenced to three months’ hard labour.
In the meantime, Drayton Gittens was turning into quite a tearaway. In 1938 he appeared in court on three separate occasions – firstly on 19 July when he was accused with another lad, Sidney Roustoby, of annoying a 12-year old girl in a park playground and swearing at her. Witnesses failed to identify Roustoby, so the magistrate had to dismiss the summons against him but “Gittens, a coloured youth, was found guilty of annoyance, and also of assaulting 70 years old Arthur Ingram” who had come to the assistance of the little girl. Drayton was fined 10 shillings and he and Sidney Roustoby were also each fined 5 shillings for riding a cycle not made for two in Walton Street on 6 July. Each was ordered to pay 2 shillings costs.
These fines didn’t discourage their bad behaviour because on 30 September both lads were back in court pleading guilty to being on enclosed premises – the roof of Paisley Street School – for an unlawful purpose. They were put on probation and told they must not associate with any person whom the probation officer disapproved.
On 1 December 1938, under the heading “Month’s Hard Labour for Hull Youth,” the Mail reported the most serious offence to date. Along with Sidney Roustoby and Thomas William King, Drayton (now described as a driver’s mate) faced two charges – stealing two guns, a number of cartridges, and a pair of field glasses from a boat in Humber Hessle, and, secondly, stealing articles, including a number of tools, from another boat at Haven. They pleaded guilty. Again in the list of names of the accused, “coloured” was inserted after Drayton’s name, and he was considered to be the “ringleader.” He was said to lack parental control – perhaps not very surprising as his father spent a lot of time at sea.
The police felt that King had been led into trouble by the other two and he was placed on probation for two years. When Gittens and Roustoby had been put on probation in September, they had been warned not to associate with each other but they had ignored this condition. Roustoby had his period of probation extended and he and King were ordered to pay the costs of the case. Drayton Gittens was sentenced to a month’s imprisonment with hard labour. By now his parents must have been really alarmed.
The following year there was better news in the paper – the birth of a daughter, Marlene, to Malta and her husband Peter Jackson. In 1940 the birth of another grandchild was announced – Brian, son of Claude Junior and his wife Iris (née Hudson).
Perhaps the spell in prison taught Drayton a lesson or maybe he settled down because war had been declared. Whatever the reason, by September 1942, he was in the Royal Air Force, married to Vera Redshaw and the father of a baby boy named Michael. Tragedy then struck the family. Michael, described as having big blue eyes and lovely curly brown hair, died at the age of six weeks, “after much suffering”. Members of the family poured out their grief and devastation in the “Deaths” column of the Mail.
In 1943, there was an announcement in the paper’s “Social Record” column:
Perhaps the spell in prison taught Drayton a lesson or maybe he settled down because war had been declared. Whatever the reason, by September 1942, he was in the Royal Air Force, married to Vera Redshaw and the father of a baby boy named Michael. Tragedy then struck the family. Michael, described as having big blue eyes and lovely curly brown hair, died at the age of six weeks, “after much suffering”. Members of the family poured out their grief and devastation in the “Deaths” column of the Mail.
In 1943, there was an announcement in the paper’s “Social Record” column:
The wedding will take place Sat., 26th June, 2.30, at the Transfiguration Church, between Mavis Ione Gittens, youngest daughter of Mr and Mrs C. D. Gittens, of 9, Lindum-villas, Paisley-st., Hull, and Sgt. H. Hebb, of Beverley. Reception at the Manchester Hotel. All friends welcome at the church.
Unfortunately, this marriage seems to have ended by early 1946.
A baby daughter was born to Drayton and Vera in 1944 and named Lorraine. On her first birthday, greetings from several members of the family were published in the paper. Drayton was still in the RAF, but serving in India. Another son, Paul, was born to the couple in 1948.
In 1949 the happiness of the family was shattered by the sudden death of Babette at the age of 64. Clearly she had been held in deep affection by her family and friends, who paid tribute to her in the newspaper – “She died as she lived, everyone’s friend” and “What a beautiful memory to leave behind. Deepest sympathy to Pop.” Claude Senior passed away in 1952, but the family continued to live in Hull for many years.