Henry Creedy

  General Notes:

In his younger days Henry was a sailor, Deep sea as well as local coastal as shown by the following listing in the "Crew List of Bridgwater Ships":-
Name Date DoB Name of Ship
Creedy Henry 1899 1879 New Design 2
A fellow crewman on New Design 2 was Alfred Bell Henry's Uncle (by marriage to Henry's Father's half sister Rhoda).
According to Gladys Baker, Alfred also accompanied Henry on his first voyage as a cabin boy aged 12.

Another family story relates that he was asked by his boss at the Brewery which way he had voted at a recent election (1906?). Henry said he voted Liberal, so his true blue Tory boss sacked him, leaving him and his young family with no means of support. Henry was forced to return to sea to earn a living and his family went on Parish Relief. He was offered a job in South Africa, but returned home to Bridgwater, where the his old bosses offered him his job back. He returned to the Brewery and eventually rose to the post of Head Foreman, living with his family in the old Brewery House in Northgate. He died of "reserve", when he contracted a complaint of the urinary tract (prostate?), but was too embarassed to seek medical help until it was too late.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Occupation: Head Foreman: Starkey Knight & Ford Brewery.

• Residence: Northgate, Bridgwater. The house may look grand, but it was owned by the Brewery and was the "tied cottage" for the Brewery Foreman (ie Henry).  When he died grandmother had to vacant the premises.

Henry married Emma Jane Chick, daughter of Joseph Chick and Emma Parker, about 1898 in Bridgwater. (Emma Jane Chick was born on 2 Sep 1879 in North Petherton and died about 1970.)