Tom Blacketer, Mayor of Poplar

I  am fortunate enough to have recollections of three great grandmothers. The one I remember best was known to me as Great Nan, Mary Ann Peterken, who was by then the widow of Thomas Blacketer. She lived to nearly one hundred years. She died in a residential home, where, I am told, she would regale the youngsters (in their sixties and seventies I presume!) with tales of the reign of good Queen Victoria. It is largely through her that we had much already written down in the 1970s about the children of Octavius Peterken, and a little about the cousins.

The photograph below is a family portrait (gratefully received from my Mum, Barbara Tilley) of the Blacketer family, with my Nan, Elsie (born 1917), seated next to her mother Mary Ann. Standing is the older daughter Norah (born 1912), and seated on the right is Thomas John Blacketer. Mary Ann and Thomas John (Madge and Tom to their cousins) had been married in 1906. The story goes that he hesitated to propose while his mother was still alive, but Mary Ann forced the issue - it's now or never - so they were married. Which was just as well, because his mother didn't die until 1939 (BMD Sep1939 Poplar 1c 289 Age:87)!

The 1911 England Census has Thomas John and Mary Ann Blacketer living at 18 Myrtle Road Acton, his occupation is listed as Driver Fireman for the North London Railway. Mary Ann is 31 years old, and Thomas John is 30. They have two boarders living with them.

(In 1901, Mary Ann Peterken, age 22, is in domestic service, living with Frederick and Jane Maddox at 3 Osbourne Road, Forest Gate. By family report she had done some work as a nanny, but is listed here as General servant Domestic).

The 1901 England Census has Thomas John Blacketer living with his mother and 2 of his 3 siblings at 168 Campbell Road, Bromley.
     Hannah Blacketer   Head Wid   49  Laundress                        Essex, Loughton
     Ellen E                    Daur   S      24 Waitress                           London, Bromley
     Joseph H                Son     S      22 Tie Warehouseman           London, Bromley
     Thomas J                Son     S      21 Railway Foreman             London, Bromley
"Foreman" is probably an error for Fireman.

The 1891 England Census has all four siblings and their mother at 178 Campbell Road, Bromley.
     Hannah Blacketer   Head Wid   39  Laundress                        Essex, Loughton
     Florence A              Daur   S     16                                          London, Bow
     Ellen E                    Daur   S      14 Domestic Servant              London, Bow
     Joseph H                Son     S      12 Scholar                             London, Bow
     Thomas J                Son     S      10 Scholar                             London, Bow

The 1881 England Census has three of the four with their mother at 174 Campbell Road, Bromley.
     Hannah Blacketer   Wife Widow   29  Laundress                      Loughton, Essex
     Ellen E                    Daughter          4 Scholar                           Bow, Middlesex
     Joseph H                Son                  2 Scholar                           Bow, Middlesex
     Thomas J                Son              1M Scholar                           Bow, Middlesex
     Jane Holling            Boarder         77 Undertaker's Widow       Mile End, Middlesex
Florence Annie is to be found with Hannah's brother Harry and his wife in Chigwell.

In the 1911 England Census, Hannah Blacketer is a household of one at 154 Campbell Road and for occupation has Caretaker Sunday School. Of note, she records that she had four children, of whom all four are living. Here are some vitals:
     Florence Annie  
          BMD Birth Sep1874 Poplar 1c 600
          BMD Marriage Dec1897 Poplar 1c 1023 Ernest William Lofts
               Bromley St Leonards 25 December 1897
                    father given as Joseph Blacketer (deceased) Carman
          BMD Death Mar1964 Ilford 5a 408 Age:89 (Florence A Lofts)
     Ellen Elizabeth    
          BMD Birth Sep1876 Poplar 1c 627
          BMD Marriage Mar1903 Poplar 1c 677 Alfred Connell
               Bromley St Leonards 9 March 1903
                    father is Joseph Blacketer Coal Porter
          BMD Death Mar1931 Poplar 1c 516 Age:54 (Ellen E Connell)
     Joseph Harry      
          BMD Birth Mar1879 Poplar 1c 691
               School Admissions and discharge register specifies 7 January 1879
          BMD Marriage Jun1904 Poplar 1c 1025 Esther Elizabeth Corfe
          BMD Death Mar1942 Lewisham 1d 1149 Age:63
                National Probate Calendar specifies 14 February 1942
     Thomas John      
          BMD Birth Jun1881 Poplar 1c 617
               School Admissions and discharge register specifies 2 March 1881
          BMD Marriage Jun1906 Poplar 1c 1001 Mary Ann Peterken
          BMD Death Dec1953 Romford 5a 405 Age:63
               National Probate Calendar specifies 11 December 1953

Their father, Joseph Blacketer, married Hannah Thurley in 1873 (BMD Marriage Sep1873 W Ham 4a 8). BMD Birth has Hannah Thurley Mar1852 Epping 4a 39 and Joseph Blacketer Sep1848 W Ham 4a 12.
Joseph Blacketer died before Thomas John was born (BMD Death Sep1880 Poplar 1c 411 Age:31), so never appears on a census return with his family. We will see him in a later post; for now, back to Thomas John.

The years between the Great War and World War Two were years of economic and political turmoil. The British economy slumped after the Great War, culminating in the Great Slump of 1929. Depressed wages and reductions in welfare spending precipitated the General Strike (1926) and the Invergordon Mutiny (1931). There were seven general elections between 1918 and 1939. The Labour Party gained prominence as the vote was extended to include all men over 21 years and women over 30 in 1918, and then all adults over 21 in 1928. This was the political environment in which the Blacketer family grew.

In 1921 Thomas Blacketer was a councillor in Poplar Borough Council, during the Poplar Rates Rebellion headed by the Labour politician George Lansbury. In order to keep its local rates down, Poplar refused to pay the precept which went to pay for certain metropolitan London services so that it could spend on social welfare and programs to alleviate the chronic poverty in the borough. It was perceived as grossly unfair that while poor boroughs had to pay toward certain services, wealthy boroughs did not pay toward common welfare needs. Poplar Borough Council's refusal to pay the precept defied Parliament and the Courts, and 30 Councillors, including Lansbury, were gaoled for contempt of court. This generated much public sympathy, and the government were forced to back down after six weeks.

The family report is that the Blacketers with their young children (Norah would have been 9 years old, and Elsie 4) absconded to Devon to avoid arrest, and so his name is not on the mural on Hale Street, commemorating the Rebellion. They returned when the crisis was over. On 1st January 1922 Minnie Lansbury (George's daughter-in-law) died of pneumonia, thought to have been contracted while she was imprisoned. Janine Booth in Guilty and Proud of It (2009) writes:

Councillor Blacketer [wrote] that "Our loss is irreplaceable". Minnie, he said, had "died for the cause", arguing that imprisonment had weakened her, leaving her body unable to fight off the illness that killed her.

Thomas Blacketer was also George Lansbury's election agent, roughly equivalent to an American campaign manager, and the family has letters from Lansbury addressed to "My Dear Blacketer". In 1930 Blacketer was himself elected to the office of Mayor of Poplar, and this is a portrait of Mayor Blacketer with his mayoral chain of office (another scan from Barbara Tilley). The family story goes that Lansbury offered Thomas Blacketer a parliamentary seat if he desired to enter national politics. Thomas consulted with Mary Ann who said, "Over my dead body", so he declined the offer. Given the tumult of the time, I can well understand their concern that a political life might have destroyed their family life.

Too bad I never got to meet him. But we still have the stories and we pass them on.