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Image credit: John Ferguson
This year the Easter Bank Holiday had a morning low tide. It wasn’t a particularly low tide but it was a beautiful day, so I threw my boots in the car and headed to the river for a spot of mudlarking. I got there earlier than I expected and the tide had only just started to drop so I decided to explore an area closer to the foreshore than I would usually search. As I bent down to adjust my kneepads, my eye was drawn to some lettering just visible through a layer of mud. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I could see the outline of a ‘J’ and a word that looked like it could be ‘London.’
My heart leapt! I knew instantly what I had found and it was high on my mudlarking wish list! The question was, was it still intact? Very carefully I removed the mud from around the edges until it came free. What emerged was a completely intact pewter tankard with a handle. Once I had swilled it in the Thames water, I could see a name and address engraved on it: "James Burrows, Rose & Crown, Lower Thames St"!
I couldn’t wait to do some research. As soon as I got home, I started. I discovered that James Burrows was the landlord of The Rose & Crown on Lower Thames Street from approximately 1832 until the late 1850s. My newspaper archives search revealed the sad story of the death of a regular at The Rose & Crown, William Henry Sweet, in 1840. William drowned himself in front of Custom House after the woman he had fallen in love with refused his proposal of marriage. James Burrows was one of the last people to see him alive and was called as a witness at William’s inquest.
I decided to take the tankard to the site of the former Rose and Crown on Lower Thames Street and then to the foreshore in front of Custom House to raise a toast to James and William. Later that same day I discovered that the newspaper article was published on April 26th, 1840, exactly 183 years to the day that I returned the tankard to the very same spot. If you would like to see me find the tankard and then pour beer into it for the first time in over 150 years to toast James Burrows and William Sweet, you can see my YouTube video here.
It’s so special to be able to tell the stories of these long-gone people through my Thames finds.
The tankard also has two William IV verification marks and a beautiful engraved ‘B’ on the handle. The temptation to straighten it out is great. What do you think? Or should I leave it in this crushed state as part of its journey?
About Tideline Art
This is Nicola White, self-proclaimed Mudlark and founder of Tideline Art. Nicola regularly uploads videos to her YouTube channel showcasing her incredible finds and treasures. Over the course of the next 12 months, Nicola will be sharing her fascinating stories and finds with us on the Muck Boot blog!
When I moved to London from Cornwall over twenty years ago, I had no idea that the River Thames would introduce me to such a fascinating and magical world, and that its muddy shores at low tide would reveal a plethora of historical secrets and characters from the past. I was used to walking windy beaches in Cornwall and discovering treasures, but I never thought anything similar would be possible in an urban environment like London.
More from Mudlarking
Stories from the Thames
A rare Tudor coin
An ancient bottle
The smallest finds
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