STATIONMASTERS
Flordon Station was closed down by Basil Hyatt (1931-2005) who was the last of a long line of Stationmasters. He lived in the station house for several years with his wife, Peggy, and their eldest son was born there. After Flordon closed, they moved to Aylsham until that, too, was closed.
Local people can also remember Harry Wright and his wife Elsie and family. They comment on the roaring fire in the waiting room and the beautifully tended garden. In the 1939 Register, Harry is entered as 'Porter & signalman GER' but he was also acting as 'Stationmaster'. Harry was assisted by another porter and signalman, Aubrey Leach, who lived in the first Council House. Other railway employees included Ted Sheldrake ('Buttonhole Ted': it is said he walked everywhere to the measured step of a linesman treading the railway sleepers.
In 1911 the Stationmaster was Frank Pratt. The porter and signalman was Walter Smith, and his 18-year-old son Frank was also a porter. Frank Pratt Snr must have succeeded the diligent Mr Stannard....
1909 - Mr A A E Stannard given a cheque for £8. 10s 'in recognition of the conscientious way in which he has discharged his duties at Fordon Station during his four years' service.' The occasion may be marked in the photo below - if the Stationmaster is the man standing on the right holding a scroll or similar. His assistants were probably the men who were also recorded in the 1911 census: Walter Smith, signalman and porter, and his son Frank a young porter. Is that Frank sitting on the seat with the dog? Sadly, Frank died at Gallipoli in 1915 and is remembered on the WW1 memorial. Note the local policeman keeping an eye on things!
Mr Stannard followed on from a stationmaster who served for twice as long in Flordon:
8 Oct 1904 - 'Mr Hoggar, who for the past 8 ½ years has been the station master here, and who is just retiring from the service, was the recipient of a purse of gold subscribed by those using Flordon Station.
Going back those 8 years we meet the previous stationmaster:
Thetford & Watton Times, 23 May 1896
FLORDON: PRESENTATION - The late station-master, Mr John William Stone, who has recently been transferred to Foulsham, has discharged his duties here for the last nine years with such marked efficiency and courtesy as to gain the respect of all classes in the neighbourhood.... [He was given a clock, 2 vases and a tea & coffee set.] The timepiece bears the following inscription:- "Presented to Mr. John William Stone (Station-master), by the parishioners of Flordon and neighbourhood, as a mark of their respect and esteem, May, 1896". [Presented at Flordon Rector by Rev. I. Easton]
There must have been a short-serving or temporary stationmaster before Mr Stone, for the next recorded presentation is some 11 years earlier:
6 Dec 1884 - report of presentation to Mr A C Sainty, moving to Swaffham after 4 years at Flordon. He is Austin Christopher Sainty, listed at Stationmaster in White's Directory of 1883.
And then a couple of stationmasters who hit the headlines:
Albert A Chilvers, stationmaster until 1875 made money on the side by ordering and selling coal, but that brought him into conflict with Mr Henry Smith, then coal merchant of Flordon. The saga of Stationmaster Chilvers, Mr Smith, and a turncoat employee has been researched by Albert's great-great-nephew from articles printed in newspapers throughout the Eastern counties. On Friday 4 December 1874 the readers of the Essex Standard
read this over their breakfasts (with commas and paragraphs added to the original to make it more readable):
'Mr Albert A Chilvers, railway station-master, of Flordon, Norfolk, was
charged before the Mulbarton Bench of Magistrates, on Friday last, with
assaulting Mr Henry Smith, also of Flordon, coal merchant. Mr Joseph Stanley,
of Norwich, appeared on the part of Mr Smith. The defendant was represented by
Mr J T Valentine, from the offices of the Solicitors of the Great Eastern
Railway Company.
The evidence was to the effect that the plaintiff went to Flordon Station to
see whether a truck of coke had arrived for him from Norwich. As he did not
find anyone at the station, he proceeded to the siding, where he saw a goods
porter, and as it had not arrived, asked the porter to unload it for him when
it came.
While there, the defendant came up and calling him a "dirty
scoundrel", asked him what business he had there, telling him at the same
time, to be off. Plaintiff said he would go, but would not be forced off, when
the defendant immediately commenced pushing him about. He also seized
complainant by the coat, and endeavoured to run him against one of the trucks,
striking the complainant's head four or five times against one of them, the
effect of which was to break two of his teeth, cut his lips both inside and
outside, and cause a large bruise on the back of his head. At this time the
express came up, and the defendant released his hold of the complainant in
order to get out of its way.
In cross-examination, complainant denied that he had been served by a notice
from Mr Birt, the company's goods manager, warning him not to go on the
premises; had been daily in the habit of going there; did not refuse to quit
the premises, nor did the defendant push him gently and tell him to go; did not
seize him by the beard nor close his hand upon it; defendant and himself had
not been good friends for some time past.
The case for the defence was that the complainant was trespasser, and that the
defendant had a perfect right to eject him.
The Bench, after hearing the defendant's witnesses, deliberated a short while, then the Chairman announced that they had decided to convict the defendant of
the assault, adding that in their unanimous opinion it was a most violent,
serious and unjustifiable one. Considering the position in which the defendant
was placed as a public servant, they should not be doing their duty unless they
inflicted a fine of £5, or in default two months' imprisonment. They hoped this
would be a warning to him.
Defendant refused to pay the fine, and was thereupon given into the custody of
the Deputy Chief Constable for the purpose of being removed to Norwich Castle.
However, shortly afterwards, at Mrs Chilvers request, he was again brought
before the Bench, and paid the amount.'
Albert Chilvers had been employing Thomas Garrod to make deliveries. He was employed to take the coal in a cart to Chilver's customers and to receive the money where it was offered, and then to sell the remainder where he could. However, this arrangement also led to litigation. The Norfolk News of 27 March 1875 reports the trial of a Thomas Garrod (60) labourer, who was charged with "having whilst in the capacity of servant, stolen 13s, the property of his master, Albert Alexander Chilvers, at Flordon on 4th of October" (presumably 1874, a couple of months before the altercation between Chilvers and Smith). Briefly, that day Garrod took out 2 tons of coal. He sold 13s worth of coal in Long Stratton to a man named Tubby, and the fact that he received the money was verified by a lad who accompanied him on his round. He also sold other quantities of coal. However, "in the course of the day prisoner varied the delivery of coals by imbibing much beer at different public houses, so that when he returned ... with but two cwt of coals he was worse for the liquor he had drunk". Albert Chilvers didn't press for the money at that point due to the state Garrod was in, but he was not seen again. Garrod claims he had already given Chilvers notice, and that the money was due him as wages. The plot thickens though, as on the following Monday Garrod then started working for another coal merchant at Flordon - the very same Henry Smith who featured in yet another news report tussling with Albert in the station yard. We learn that ".. there had been differences between Smith and prosecutor, rival tradesmen ..."
In this case, the judge summed up to clarify whether this was embezzlement or just a civil debt matter, but the jury found Garrod guilty of embezzlement and he was sentenced to a month's imprisonment. This might be of passing interest, but Garrod features in another case of an assault by stationmaster Chilvers on coal merchant Smith, heard a couple of months before Garrod was imprisoned....
On 8 January 1875 Albert Chilvers was again up before the magistrates,
charged along with John Martin, porter, and the parish constable William Points
of assaulting Henry Smith on 23rd December. That was just 19 days after the court
case of Albert beating Smith in the goods yard. It would seem that a quantity
of coal had arrived for Smith and he had taken some away, but some had been
spilled. When he went back the following day the spillage was gone. Smith
complained to Albert who said he knew nothing about it. Martin (the porter) came up to see
what was going on, became aggressive to Smith (allegedly), and Constable Points
was summoned, who ejected Smith from the premises aided by Martin, using
considerable force, including the constable hitting him with his stick. Smith
denied using bad language, calling Albert "very foul names", refusing
to leave the station and did not observe some young ladies on the station
platform.
We then hit an amusing point when Smith calls a witness - the very Thomas
Garrod mentioned above, who backs up Smith's story that he gave no provocation
and behaved "very manfully", a comment which drew laughter in the
court. You may also laugh when you read the next part of the cross-examination:
"Mr Linay (defence lawyer) - You were formerly in Mr Chilvers' employment?
Witness - I was
Mr Linay - And at the present moment stand committed to take your trial for
robbing or embezzling his money?
Witness - I do, but I can't see what that has to do with this case
Mr Linay - And you are out on bail, and the complainant is your surety and your
master?
Witness - Well, that is so"
The porter and the Police Constable gave evidence, as did
three other independent witnesses, all of whom confirmed that Smith had used
language "of the worst kind". The charges against all three
defendants was dismissed. Smith himself was then counter-charged with using threatening language
against Albert, and he was ordered to enter into a recognizance for £15, and to
find a surety of £10 to keep the peace for six months.
As it happens, Smith found peace quite soon. Despite company support at the time of the initial goods yard fracas and being cleared of charges in the case brought in January, it seems Albert Chilvers moved on, and from 1875 to 1877 he was the licensee of The Griffin at 19 Church Street, Attleborough.
Going back another decade we find another stationmaster hitting the headlines, this time Edward Stiggles, who came to a sad end in 1863:
