Joseph BALMFORTH

Joseph Balmforth - Waterman

Unfortunately, although his poor drowned body was fished out of the water and given a very respectable burial with an enormous ledger stone ( was he a specially tall man?), the rest of his life has disappeared without trace. Thorne Quay was a thriving port alongside the river Don, with its associated shipyards, ancillary industries such as rope walks and sailmaking, and a new canal was under construction in the 1790s to link the Don with the Trent. The parish church is dedicated to the patron saint of seafarers, Saint Nicholas, and Joseph was baptised here in 1757 ( transcript of baptism as Bamforth). If this is the correct person, he was the son of Richard Bamforth and Ann (Burr). And he may just possibly be the Joseph Balmfirth who married Susey Hick in Wath upon Dearne in January 1783.

As an aspiring waterman, he may have had a formal apprenticeship, but it’s more likely he learned the ropes (sorry!) from  his father or an uncle. The watermen of the Thames still have a proud tradition with a livery company and strict entry exams, but the profession doesn’t seem to be so organised this far inland. Watermen would normally have their own, beautifully maintained and often gaily painted, boat,  from a tiny skiff to a heavy Humber keel, in the keenly competitive business of transporting cargoes or people along the rivers and canals, or just from ship to shore. The Goole on the Web website (https://www.goole-on-the-web.org.uk/vol1/humber-craft.html) describes the typical sailing craft of the time, quoting from “The Humber", by A. Watts.

"The watermen took great pride in their boats and paint, varnish and gilt stripes were the order of the day; like all rivermen's boats the Dusters were keenly raced once or twice during the year - but the real prize was the capture of a wealthy incoming trader."

There’s a particularly striking passage which might explain how an experienced waterman might come to a sticky end: 

"The waterman's boat in use on the Humber in the days of sail, and in the early years of steam, was known as a "Duster" or "Gold Duster". These craft would be sailed out to meet incoming ships and would offer their services for the "boating" work of the ships whilst they were laid in the Roads or going into and leaving dock.

In the heyday of sail, the Dusters would race out to secure the most prosperous ships and the Duster first to "gaff" a ship would have prior claim to her, subject to concluding an agreement with the Mate. A hook, mounted on a 12'0" pole, was used as a gaff, and a high degree of skill and watermanship must have been required to gaff a ship at speed and be towed alongside whilst the negotiations took place. Such was the competition that Dusters from Hull would sail well out to sea or as far up the coast as Hornsea to find an incoming ship."

I can’t find any newspaper report of the fatal occasion, and we don’t know if it was river or canal, although it is possible that he may have been working the ferry crossing between Hook and Howdendyke?  But we can imagine when Joseph overreaches his gaff one last time, falls in and of course can’t swim. “Drowned in pursuit of his Business “. 

It may be that Joseph was a member of a trade body, friendly society, or insurance policy to pay for his funeral and splendidly lettered ledger stone , but again, although we can see the bubbles of suggestion, we have no evidence. And we don’t know what happened to his young family either.