Gillingham Town Criers & Bill Posters

Gillingham Town Criers

1875 - 1889 Andrew READ born Gillingham 1819 son of Thomas a Yeoman and blacksmith and Edith Read. Married Harriet TAYLOR at Gillingham in 1847, and after she died he married Eliza EDWARDS at Gillingham in 1872. He was a farmer and died in 1890.

1895 - 1898 Sylvester EDGAR born at Crewkerne, Somerset in 1827 son of John and Elizabeth Edgar. Married Hannah PALMER at Melbury Osmond in 1848, and after she died in 1855 he married Hannah GOLDSBOROUGH in May 1858. He was a clock and watchmaker and died at Gillingham in 1909

1903 John COCHRAN - is in Cooksley's booklet but no link found to Gillingham, there are Cochrane families in Gillingham in Kent, so may be an error ?

1907 - 1927 John Howe GATEHOUSE born at Shaftesbury in 1855, son of George a gardener and Martha Gatehouse. He married Mary FARMER at Shaftesbury in 1875 and worked as a gardener and later as a bill poster, a job often associated with Town Crier. He died at Milton on Stour in 1940.

1931 - 1935 Henry Tom STONE born at East Stour in 1867 son of Edward a labourer and Mary Stone. Married Lucy GIBBS at Stour Provost in 1894 and worked as a corn merchant's carman and later as a jobbing gardener. He died in 1952.

? - 2018 ? Dave WATHEN born at Shaftesbury in 1933 he married Brenda WHITE at Sturminster Newton in April 1954. They were a popular couple in the town for 30 years, and when Dave decided to " hang up his bell. " He and Brenda were both made Freemen of Gillingham. He died at Gillingham in February 2018.

Gillingham Bill Posters

1895 Charles FISHLOCK born at Devizes, Wiltshire in 1822 son of Michael Fishlock. He married Mary Ann Green at Gillingham in November 1854, and in 1861 he was a box and trunk maker, and a pedlar in the 1871 census. From 1881 to 1901 he was an agent for Prudential Assurance, but the City and County Directory on 1895 says he was also the Bill Poster. He died at Gillingham in April 1903.