By Kristine Grey
The history of North Shields is inextricably linked to sea faring and one North Shields family certainly played their part in that history – one which goes back a number of generations and made a mark globally through the careers of six brothers.
The older Foreman brothers were born in North Shields until, needing more space, their parents Adam and Elizabeth moved from a flat in Shields to a family home in Wallsend.
Eldest brother Sydney (Syd) became a Chief Engineer on fishing trawlers and then second son William (Bill) become a Director at Swan Hunters Shipbuilders.
Third son Alan followed his father into blacksmithing at Swan Hunters – custom making metal goods for the shipbuilding process.
Fourth son Kenneth (Ken – the author’s late father) rose to the peak of his career as a Chief Engineer in the Merchant Navy, working all the over the world including North and Central Africa, U.S., Japan, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and nearer home in Scandinavia and Germany.
Fifth son Derek also joined the Merchant Navy spending much of his time in North America and the ice flows of Canada. And finally Edward (Ted) became a Lloyds of London insurance surveyor working all over the world.
As Kristine explained: “Sadly none of the brothers are with us now but the collective memory of their exciting and interesting jobs lives on in the memories of their children.
“However the story of the Foreman family didn’t start in North Shields and was distinctly more rural.”
Research into the Foreman family history following the receipt of a Georgian will petition from the County of Kent, it was discovered that this side of the family came from a small Kent village and the Foremans were originally Yeoman farmers.
Kristine explained: “A descendant of the main will petitioner, James Foreman, was a ships rigger and he travelled up to North Shields where rope making was thriving and he met a local lass and stayed here. They could not have lived anywhere more central to the hub-bub of the Fish Quay – on Bell Street!
“James was the great grandfather of the six Foreman brothers and their grandfather William also went to sea so the family’s maritime history came full circle.”
