Any Royal Arsenal related posts here

2/23/2017

Madiha Ahmad

2/23/2017 05:25:13 pm

Dear Steve, I'm an architecture student from UCL in London. I'm doing a research project in Thamesmead, including its history and I came across this website, which is fascinating. I was wondering whether I could meet you personally to ask some more questions and gain some insight into the area? Regards, Madiha Ijaz

Ian Bull link

4/2/2017 02:26:52 am

Hullo Madiha

I've never lived in Thamesmead but many years ago I did study the development as part of a Town Planning degree and went on to work with GLC housing staff who had had a close involvement. I have since developed a significant knowledge of the Royal Arsenal and may be able to assist. Feel free to contact me.

[email protected]

All the best - Ian

Hugh Gladden

2/23/2017 05:37:49 pm

Hi. I'm trying to track down information - and especially photos - of a powder hulk used by The Arsenal, which was moored near Tripcock Point from 1890 until around 1910. I've established that the hulk was formerly HMS Thalia, which as you may know was the last ship to be completed at Woolwich Dockyard before that became a mere stores depot, in 1869. So far the only pictures I've found of Thalia as a powder-hulk are two watercolours painted by W.L.Wyllie in 1905, but after finding your excellent website the thought occurs to me that you may know of the whereabouts of any photos of Thalia in her powder-hulk guise? My interest arises from the fact that my Grandfather was a Metropolitan Policeman who served from 1890 until 1920 in The Arsenal, and one of his duties was to row out to Thalia to check on security etc. My father and his four siblings were raised at the Police Quarters near the Harrow Manorway or 'Berber' gate. You are of course welcome to the information I have assembled regarding the Thalia, if you would like it, plus one rather tatty photo of the Police Quarters taken around the turn of the last century...

Sam Skinner

2/23/2017 05:43:52 pm

Hi, I'm putting together a Thamesmead art and culture magazine and would like to include something on the history of the area. I came across your excellent website and wondered if you might be interested in contributing? I live in the area and coordinated the recent Thamesmead Arts Festival, and the magazine is intended to come out 4 times a year and feature goings on in the area. I particularly liked the insurance photos of the area flooded also the german bomber photos, do you have originals of these or can you point me to where i would find them? Please email me of you can help or are interested in getting involved. Kind regards, Sam Skinner

Christine Fern

2/23/2017 06:05:05 pm

Could you let me know just where the police Quarters were situated in the Royal Arsenal. I am doing some research into servicemen who died in the Great War and one of the addresses given is 38 Police Quarters, Royal Arsenal, Abbey Wood

Ian Bull link

4/2/2017 01:38:55 am

Hullo Christine
No. 38 Police Quarters was a two story house of about 1900. It was located just East of the current Harrow Manor Way has an elevated roundabout above the Southern Outfall Sewer. There are maps of that on this site but if you want something more specific, let me know.

All the best - Ian Bull

Tony Collins

3/10/2021 09:04:06 am

Hi can anyone tell me if saddlers/collar makers were employed at the Arsenal 1850. Also do you know the weekly wages of that trade 1850. Thks

Margaret Stocker link

2/23/2017 06:08:06 pm

I have family history with the Arsenal on my father's side. Please advise on how I can send this to you. i would like to know more about records of workers, as my grandfather was a "writer" there from 1890's to the 1930's

Carole Jones link

11/29/2020 03:16:35 am

Great grandmother possibly remarried between WW1 and WW11

Rachael Keene

2/23/2017 06:14:20 pm

Hi, I am from Australia, and am writing a historical fiction novel on British women in the Great War and the 1920s. My main female character works in munitions at Royal Arsenal Woolwich from 1916 - 1918. Could you please tell me the postal and physical address of Woolwich Arsenal that would have been used during the war? For example, the postal address her fiancé in France would need to use to send letters to her. Thank you so much for your help. I am loving learning all about Royal Arsenal. It is fascinating. Rachael

Ian Bull

4/2/2017 02:10:36 am

Hullo Rachael

As far as I know it wasn't possible to post directly to those working in the RA at any period unless they were senior staff. The Postal address was simply...

Royal Arsenal
Woolwich
London
SE18

Your character would most probably have lived close-by though and this London Postal District map might help...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LONDON_post_town_map.svg

Good luck with the book!

All the best - Ian

richard ralph

2/23/2017 06:16:21 pm

Hi I'm researching for a book on the history of Kent football. There was a team called ROFTLA between the wars. I'm presuming that it was connected to the Royal Ordnance Factory but know nothing more. I hope that you can help and look forward to hearing from you soon. R's Richard Ralph Gravesend

Steve

3/30/2017 03:37:44 pm

Please see Football page and there is a R.O.F.S.A section

Abbie McGowan

2/23/2017 06:17:30 pm

Hi there, I'm trying to trace a six pounder Finbanker cannon that was used at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691 and subsequently kept at Dublin Castle. This cannon was removed from there in the early 1920's and I recently came across a post card of Woolich in the 1960's with a restoration style cannon that looked remarkably like the one in Dublin Castle. Could you shed any light on this for me at all? This particular cannon is significant as it's reportedly the one that decapitated the Gen. St. Ruth on the battlefield, thus losing the Jacobite cause in Ireland. Thanks and kind regards, Abbie

Ian Bull link

4/2/2017 02:42:27 am

Hullo Abbie
Strangely enough I've recently supplied some maps of the Battle of Aughrim to 'Military History Monthly' magazine.
I can say with certainty that the gun you mention wouldn't have been made in Woolwich for the Arsenal didn't begin making Ordnance until 1720. Prior to that the Crown purchased all its guns from private founders. That said, it might well have been Proofed on the Woolwich Marshes as many were although there are no records to consult. I suspect your best bet for further research would be the Royal Armouries.
Poor old St. Ruth, if he hadn't been the unfortunate recipient of that round the battle, and history, might have been different.

All the best - Ian

Callum Sutherland

2/23/2017 06:19:17 pm

Dear Sir/Madame I am doing some research for a book and wondered if you could help me as to which building in the Royal Arsenal site was used in 1979 as the Forensic Explosives lab before it moved to Fort Halstead. I also wondered if there was a description of the building available. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you Callum Sutherland

Steven Peterson link

2/23/2017 06:22:29 pm

Hi Callum,

Sorry for the delay, please see my video of Royal Arsenal East Buildings - R.A.R.D.E (2001) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzVOji2jBUg&t=188s

John Gardner

2/23/2017 06:24:56 pm

I have been trying to find out if Woolwich arsenal was ever bombed during WW1 or if it suffered any accidental explosions. I am writing a book and my principal character Daisy Seale works at the factory. Many thanks for your help. John Gardner

Steve

3/30/2017 03:38:53 pm

Please see bombs dropped on bomb page

Ian Bull

4/2/2017 02:02:16 am

Steve is referring to this page...

http://www.royal-arsenal-history.com/royal-arsenal-bombs.html

The answer is that the RA was bombed extensively in WW1. Indeed, I believe there were more fatalities in WW1 than WW2. If you go to the Imperial War Museums WW1 project...

https://livesofthefirstworldwar.org/

...And seek the Royal Arsenal you'll find the recorded account of a WW1 'Munitionette'. She makes repeated comments about the 'Gothas', the large aircraft that carried-out most of the bombing.

All the best - Ian

Stephen J. Brind

3/27/2017 09:16:06 pm

My Father, J. W. Brind. Started his career as an Apprentice at The Royal Woolwich. Born in Plumstead, SE London.

He was excellent in Maths. He then went on to be in charge of R.O.F Bombay, which built one of the most formidable Tanks in History "The Centurion" which had the first self leaving gun in the world at that time (1951)
He went on to be a Director Level at the Ministry of Defense. He returned to the Arsenal toward the end of his career to close the Arsenal Down... He had been appointed to be the Director of the Royal Mint. In the same position of Sir Isaac Newton, but died before he could take up the task.

Carl Brind

9/25/2020 04:59:33 pm

Hi Stephen. I used to run the Brind Family history page on Facebook. I am also from the Plumstead Brinds. I have alot of info on the PLumstead/ Woolwich Brinds

Admin @ Royal-Arsenal-History.com

3/31/2017 12:49:22 pm

If youhave photo's and more infomration I can add this informormation to a related page on this website

Steven Hinton

6/24/2017 09:41:12 am

Hello
I look after a site in Birmingham we have a set of WW1 gun proof butts located on site along with associated buildings. The personnel stationed at this location were from the Woolwich Garrison Artillery. As far as we are aware they were testing 4.5in QF Howitzers produced localy. We are trying to trace further information on the testing of guns at this location who may of been involved and any information relating to the testing of Guns at the Warren Lane proof Buts at Lickey. If you want to see what we have found so far please take a look at outr FB page @LickeyHillsWW1 thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give

Michael Ray

10/4/2017 02:26:45 am

Hello from America. I am seeking any information regarding a revolver I have recently acquired.

It is a Colt Official Police model in the caliber 38-200. The date of manufacture is 1941. The revolver has a "W" inside a dome as a proof mark. I have been told this is the Woolwich stamp. The additional information is that the gun would have been possibly sent to Australia during WWII.

If there is any additional information to share, I would be so very grateful.

Patrick Ellum

5/30/2018 10:44:08 am

My great grand uncle Sir Frederick Abel FRS KCB GCVO etc was the Chemist to the Ordnance Office and then War Department Chemist at the Royal Woolwich Arsenal from 1854 to 1891. Prior to that, from 1849, he assisted Michael Faraday as the Instructor in Practical Chemistry to the gentlemen cadets at the Royal Military Academy, taking over from Faraday as Professor of Chemistry at the Academy in 1852 (I note that Faraday might be an interesting name to drop into your excellent timeline: he was the Chemistry Professor there from 1829). Sir Fred went on to be involved in many scientific advances, successfully fight a lawsuit by Alfred Nobel, claiming that Fred's cordite was a breach of a Nobel patent, and become one of the great and the good of Victorian Society. I am interested to know where he lived and worked at the Arsenal. A particular point that confuses in my research is whether the Royal Laboratory and the Chemistry Department were the same (or whether, having been different, they were pretty much the same thing by the later 1880s).

Ian Bull link

5/30/2018 05:21:28 pm

Dear Patrick

Senior staff at the Arsenal were allotted houses in a road known as 'Avenue H'. The properties were fine Georgian and Victorian dwellings with a pleasant private garden. The road ran Eastwards from the main gate in Woolwich's Beresford Square parallel with the Arsenal's boundary wall, indeed the boundary wall was the garden wall in some cases.If your illustrious relative lived in the Arsenal it would have been there. Sadly, Avenue H, was destroyed in 1982 as part of a scheme to widen Plumstead Road which saw said road extended into the Royal Asenal's site. The main gate survives.

Sir Frederick would have worked throughout the Arsenal but he would have been based at the pioneering Chemical Laboratory, modelled along an early operating theatre. There is an excellent article here...

http://greenwichindustrialhistory.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-chemical-laboratories-in-royal.html

I'm delighted to say that the Chemical Laboratory has been preserved, it is a listed building. See here...

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1245204

The Royal Laboratory was the oldest of the Arsenal's departments by far and I'd assume that the Chemistry Dept. was always part of that wider Department. Confirmation would come from Brigadier Oliver Hogg's monumental book (2 vols) on the Royal Arsenal. You can search within the book online at this similarly monumental address...

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QOsdAAAAIAAJ&q=The+Royal+Arsenal&dq=The+Royal+Arsenal&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjenYGU-K3bAhXLIMAKHZ3UDdcQ6AEIGDAB

Whilst I'm here, could you confirm that the Abel Mausoleum in Nunhead Cemetery is that of your predecessors?

All the best

Ian Bull

Patrick Ellum

5/30/2018 10:02:50 pm

Thanks very much for that useful feedback Ian. I know Sir Fred is buried in Nunhead Cemetery but I was unaware it was a mausoleum. I don't think other family members were buried there.

Ian Bull link

5/30/2018 10:17:00 pm

It might not be a Mausoleum but it's certainly large enough for more than one occupant, six at least I'd say. Of course, Sir Fred was a nationally significant figure and such a large Tomb might have been considered fitting. It's in very good condition and in a prime position.
All the best - Ian

Michael Buckley

6/3/2018 06:41:29 am

What a great archive, well done!

Tony Collins

8/22/2020 02:44:48 pm

Hi last post was 2018 so I hope this reaches you. My great grandmother was born 1 Nelson St Woolwich in 1849. I am researching her history & wondered what sights & sounds she was born into. Her father was a harness maker (at Woolwich Arsenal I think). I know the Arsenal manufactured but was there military activities/training etc going on there, soldiers in the street etc. Her father my great great grandfather died in 1859 in Salutation Alley. Rgds Tony

Colin Janes

11/16/2022 07:09:58 am

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/architecture/sites/bartlett_architecture/files/sol-woolwich3-ch1.pdf
I am doing similar research into my own ancestors, and came across this. Refer page 55 for Nelson Street references.

Tony Collins

11/16/2022 08:42:57 am

Hi Colin
I believe I have that article & will check. Nelson St centre of "Dustbowl" a Victorian slum area & not a good place to start life. I have uncovered some details (birth/death) but there is so much detail hard to find that long ago. My great grandmother was born in 1848 & died in 1894. So many deaths caused by disease & poor living standards. Please dont hesitate to make contact if you have information. Regards

David Erickson

10/26/2020 05:02:04 am

At Middle North Battery in Simon's Town, South Africa, is a 9 inch wrought iron Muzzle Loading Rifled Gun of 12 tons. It is a Mark I, No. 22 RGF, manufactured at the Royal Gun Factory, Woolwich and was first issued on 18 May 1866. It is mounted on Carriage, Garrison RML 9" - 35° E Mark I (Iron) Reg. No. A961 and Slide, L RML 9" C Pivot 35° Mark III Reg. No. A985.

The gun was mounted in its present embrasure in 1896 and was finally struck off charge in 1906.

David Erickson

10/26/2020 05:49:17 am

[Continuation of above query] The gun has been refurbished and is a Registered National Monument/Provincial Heritage Site. It is regularly fired with a charge of 5 kg gunpowder (no projectile!) by South African Navy personnel with support from the Cannon Association of South Africa.

The gun was was issued on 18 May 1866 to Halifax, returning to Woolwich on 08 November 1878. It was then issued to Bermuda on 17 November 1879, returning to Woolwich on 13 September 1881.
The 3rd issue was to Sheerness on 30 March 1882, returning to Woolwich on 10 February 1885. The 4th and last issue was to Simon's Town in 1895, where it was first test fired on 13 February 1896. It was struck off charge on 19 September 1906 and has remained in situ in the original embrasure.

When the gun was issued to Simon's Town in 1895, it was accompanied by a second 9 inch RML gun, of which we have no details. The second gun was mounted in 1896 in an adjacent embrasure, however this second gun was removed and the embrasure demolished in January 1902, to make way for a new battery of 2x 6" Quick Firing guns.

It is not known whether this second gun was returned to Woolwich or whether it remained in South Africa.

It appears that both guns were issued to Bermuda at the same time (17 November 1879) apparently designated for installation in Fort Cunningham, which had 2x 9" embrasures that were never used. Both guns were then returned to Woolwich.

Our query is whether the same two guns were then issued to Simon's Town; whether any details for the second gun exist (e.g. Memorandum of Examination) and what happened to the second gun (final disposition).

Any information - or guidance to alternative sources - will be most appreciated.

We have a copy of the Memorandum of Examination for Gun No. 22 and will be happy to email this and recent photographs of the gun being fired, if required.

Carole Jones link

11/29/2020 03:07:20 am

Trying to find records on Brigadier Stocker or Stoker British Army WW1 great grand father

Ian Bull

11/29/2020 03:23:31 pm

Hullo Carole
I'm afraid that royal-arsenal-history.com doesn't have access to any personnel records and it's doubtful that any exist. You could try the North West Kent Family History Society. Sorry that we can't be of more assistance.
All the best - Ian Bull

Adam Rouse

3/9/2021 12:38:17 pm

Hello everyone, not sure how many readers will get this message. I am researching my family tree. I am trying to locate my grandfather and have very limited information. Unfortunately my grandmother refused to talk about him even to my dad. She died in 1997 taking most information with her. My dad has a name which is either James Charles or Charles James. After a bit of research I find information about a Charles F James who was a shell examiner at the Royal Arsenal . We know my grandmother worked in the munitions factory in Southfield Road. This is quite far from Woolwich so I was wondering if anyone would know did examiners travel or were based temporarily near one of the munition factories? Would be great if someone knew this information. Thanks Adam

Ian Bull

3/9/2021 10:50:29 pm

Hullo Adam
There were a vast number of examiners in the Arsenal, it was a vital task and the output was vast. They had their own body, the Central Inspectorate of Armaments (CIA). I'd image that most inspectors at Woolwich were probably based there on a permanent basis. It might be worth looking-up the CIA in its own right. It operated under the Chief Superintendent of Ordnance Factories.
All the best - Ian Bull

Adam Rouse

3/10/2021 09:11:29 am

Thanks Ian for the reply. I will have a look at the CIA and see what I can find. Thanks again Adam

Anthony Collins

2/20/2023 11:42:30 am

Can anyone please tell me what the road/highway condition was like when travelling from Whitechapel to the Arsenal in the 1880's. Assuming coach/wagon transport.
Tony

Ian Bull

2/23/2023 07:17:20 pm

Hullo Tony
By the 1880s the road surface would have been very good. Both Woolwich and Whitechapel were important locations by that time and the roads to/from London would have had the best surfacing available, that invented by Macadam. See...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macadam
Some parts in the town would have been surfaced with Granite Setts or pine blocks. No problem for coach or wagon transport.

Best - Ian Bull

Tony Collins

2/23/2023 07:42:31 pm

Ian thks for replying. Is it possible for me to email you for further discussion? I have ancestry in Woolwich from 1700's particularly from 1849 when my great grandmother was born in Nelson St in the Dusthole. She left Woolwich in 1870 ending up with 2 sons in Boston US. Her partner (a tailor) died in a fire in Boston and she returned to Woolwich 1880 where she met & married my great grandfather. They operated a grocers and tobacconists & had several children. Two daughters emigrated to Canada early 1900's and I am in contact with their families. She had an awful start in life but had an interesting one. I am putting a book together mostly fiction but have so many holes to fill as accurately as possible. If you could help it would be appreciated. I am happy to visit. Regards Tony

Ian Bull

2/24/2023 01:38:01 am

Hullo Tony

Write to...
ianbull at btinternet dot com
But, I'm very short of time and may not be able to assist rapidly.
Best - Ian

Christine Pritchard

7/16/2024 02:09:41 am

Greetings from OZ. My grandfather’s father and brothers lived in Plumstead and worked at the Royal Arsenal in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I am perplexed why my grandfather’s father took his wife + 1 child to the Cape Colony South Africa where 2 sons were born in 1883 and 1885; returning to Plumstead prior to the birth of my grandfather in 1887. Did the RA send some of its employees with the armaments they sent to the Cape Colony. Many thanks for any insights you might be able to provide with this puzzle. Cheers

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