An oral history of the Cloggs and their family business, spanning three centuries
As told to Beryl James by Shirley Whittard
Images of rope making by Alvimann from www.morgueFile.com
My mother, Amy Clogg, was born in 1904. Her father, Harry Clogg was the third generation of the family to be rope makers in St Thomas. My great-great-grandfather, John Clogg, was born in 1784 in Dittisham and had a rope works in Kingsbridge. He moved to St Thomas with his son John after the death of his first wife and by 1822 was in business at 4 Cowick Street. His son, John Satterly Clogg set up another rope business at 13 Cowick Street.
John Clogg senior married again and my great-grandfather, Joshua Clogg was born in St Thomas in 1806. He married in 1842 and his third child, Harry, born in 1855, was my grandfather. Harry joined his father, Joshua, in the business, which by then also had an adjoining ironmongery store. Even then a successful business looked for marketing opportunities and encouraged staff to maximise customer spend. However, when a shop apprentice was encouraged to follow this practice he said to his boss: 'I do Sir - I always says "You don't want no nails do you"!'
Rope making used hemp grown on local farms which was washed in the River Exe during manufacture. The rope sheds had to be very long to allow for the twisting of lengths of rope. The business supplied rope for agricultural use, but also bell ropes for local churches. By 1893 a trade directory entry reads: 'Established 1821, rope makers, sack merchants, cord, twine and waterproof covering manufacturers'. The covering was used for hay stacks. By 1899, when Joshua died, the business had been handed over to William Pike, the manager. It closed just after World War One.
My grandfather, Harry Clogg, married Frances Bradshaw in 1899; he was 44 and she 29. Her father, Edwin, had owned an asphalt and building works at Haven Banks and Harry and Frances had known each other as children before the Bradshaws left Exeter for Portsmouth in 1886. Frances was a school teacher before her marriage. Harry and Frances had two daughters: Frances, born in 1900 and my Mother, Amy who was born four years later. The family lived at The Retreat, 2 Alphington Road. The house had extensive grounds with a large vegetable garden, greenhouse, hen run, fruit trees and stabling. The potting shed was the domain of 'Old Kingdom', the gardener, whom mother, when a child, was not allowed to disturb. The family also had a cook. On Sundays the whole family always went to church, grandfather wearing his top hat. He was a church warden and sang in the choir. My mother remembers taking huge bunches of flowers and baskets of fruit and eggs from the garden for harvest festival.
Mother was educated at home until she was seven; in those days there was a risk of diseases such as diphtheria and scarlet fever and her older sister was withdrawn from a local dame school after a pupil died of diphtheria. Amy and Frances were not encouraged to mix with other local children and both attended the Maynard School. The journey there through the West Quarter, then very poor, must have been quite a risk to health! There is a nice little tale of my mother's first maths lesson: she was asked "If one fish costs five pennies, how much will three cost?" Amy burst into tears and wailed "I can't do fish, I can only do apples!" My mother recalled walks with her father about St Thomas and longer walks to Alphington Cross, Stone Lane, Cowick Lane, Buddle Lane and even as far as Ide.
My grandfather died in 1918 after a long illness and afterwards my grandmother sold the Retreat and moved to Pennsylvania and later moved away to Sussex. I lived there with her from age four to seven, whilst my parents served as medical missionaries in India, and we sometimes visited relatives in Exeter. My mother had vivid memories of her childhood in St Thomas and recorded some of them before she died in 1987.
As told to Beryl James by Shirley Whittard on 6.11.2008, and using additional material from a transcript of a recording with Amy Clogg, supplied by Shirley.