A few notes about the creation of this biography,
and some of the trickier details of the family history:
I am a descendant of Joseph Myatt; my name is Kathryn Darley. Joseph's second son William Myatt had six children who were baptised at St Paul’s Deptford and grew up on Manor Farm. William’s fifth child, Henry, had a daughter called Bess Myatt and a grandson called Frederick Joseph Ghent who was my paternal grandfather. That makes Joseph Myatt my great-great-great-great grandfather. I live in Sydney, Australia, and one of my sons’ middle name is also Joseph.
Many years ago I was given a collection of papers about Joseph Myatt by my great-aunt. Recently, looking for more information, I found that a variety of people had written about him. Some focused on plants and food history while others concentrated on his family life, but none was a complete story of his life and work. I decided to compile all of the known information plus new references together into one biography and make it available for everyone. I am indebted to people whose words and pictures were my starting point. Chiefly they are family historians Bill and Joy Cunningham, Steve and Noreen Ghent and Brenda Payne, food writer David Porter and author of Forgotten Fruits, Christopher Stocks.
This document was written in good faith for the interest primarily of Joseph Myatt’s descendants, but also anyone interested in food history and the histories of Camberwell and Deptford. I have endeavoured to say to the best of my knowledge which information is certain and which is speculative. Nevertheless there may be corrections to this text that come to light over time. Some contradictory information has been posted by family historians on genealogy websites; I have tried to use only that which is proven by historical records.
One foggy area is the identity of Mary, the mother of Elizabeth, James and William Myatt. Some family historians believe that Joseph had married a woman named Mary Basford. However most agree that this is very unlikely since Elizabeth’s birth record in 1802 shows that her parents were unmarried and the marriage record that does exist between a man named Joseph Myatt and a Mary Basford predates that. No death record for a Mary Myatt fits with Joseph's known movements. Therefore, it is more probable that Joseph and Mary never married and the identity of Mary remains unknown.
Another controversial point is the marriage between Joseph and Sarah Myatt between 1805 and 1809. A man named Joseph Myatt married Sarah Allcock at Stoke-on-Trent in 1806 and many family historians have concluded that this is the couple who went on to live in Deptford. The Sarah who was married to the Joseph Myatt in question did not live long enough to have her birthplace recorded in the 1841 census and thus verify that she was Sarah Allcock. Nevertheless, it is often assumed that this marriage record is that of the Joseph and Sarah Myatt in question. I am not so sure. On the marriage record between Joseph Myatt and Sarah Allcock, Joseph is described as a potter. If this was 'our' Joseph Myatt, he must have briefly taken up the occupation of potter, even though he was an experienced gardener by 1806. This is not impossible, but it seems curious. Pottery was a booming industry for Staffordshire at that time; indeed the famous Josiah Wedgewood lived in Maer, the village where Joseph Myatt was baptised. Historians have described how many farmers and tradesmen around Stoke-on-Trent took up pottery to supplement their incomes in that era. Perhaps Joseph had briefly abandoned gardening and returned to Staffordshire that year, but it is already known that several men named Joseph Myatt who were potters lived in Staffordshire at this time.
Little is known about Joseph Myatt’s family background in Staffordshire. His father was definitely called Joseph Myatt but, unfortunately for genealogists, Myatt was a relatively common name around Stoke-on-Trent at that time. One Joseph Myatt worked as a potter and land agent in Lane End around 1770, but his children were baptised at nearby Langton, so this was surely a separate family. Two men named Joseph Myatt lived at Eccleshall, four miles south of Maer. One was a butcher and he died in 1795. Another was still living there in 1803. It is possible that these two men are father and son, being Joseph's grandfather and father. In 1803 a local newspaper reported that one of Joseph Myatt's cows had been injured at Eccleshall. This was most likely to be Joseph’s father. This Joseph Myatt's occupation is not known; he did own cows and could have been a farmer, but on the other hand it wouldn't be unusual for a rural tradesman or merchant to own cows in that era. If the Eccleshall butcher called Joseph Myatt who died in 1795 was Joseph's grandfather, perhaps Joseph's father was also a butcher. There is evidence of a William Myatt living in Eccleshall when he advertised a timber sale in 1796; perhaps this was an uncle.
Joseph's father was buried in 1820 at St Peter’s in Maer, the church where the Myatt children had been baptised. Joseph's mother Ann Myatt was buried there in 1833.
Little is known of the lives of Joseph’s siblings. Confusingly for us, two other children named Joseph Myatt, and at least one other Benjamin, Elizabeth, Mary and John Myatt were among the families living in Lane End/Langton at the same time as the Maer/Eccleshall Myatts. For example, the Benjamin Myatt who became an innkeeper at Lane End was surely from one of these other families. It is a nice aside that in the 1830s and 40s when Joseph Myatt was achieving his great success as a market gardener in London, one of his namesakes still living around Stoke-on-Trent was recorded in the Staffordshire newspapers as a prize-winner for his home-grown vegetables at local cottage garden competitions.
I would love to hear from anyone who can contribute further to this shared knowledge about the life of Joseph Myatt.
Many years ago I was given a collection of papers about Joseph Myatt by my great-aunt. Recently, looking for more information, I found that a variety of people had written about him. Some focused on plants and food history while others concentrated on his family life, but none was a complete story of his life and work. I decided to compile all of the known information plus new references together into one biography and make it available for everyone. I am indebted to people whose words and pictures were my starting point. Chiefly they are family historians Bill and Joy Cunningham, Steve and Noreen Ghent and Brenda Payne, food writer David Porter and author of Forgotten Fruits, Christopher Stocks.
This document was written in good faith for the interest primarily of Joseph Myatt’s descendants, but also anyone interested in food history and the histories of Camberwell and Deptford. I have endeavoured to say to the best of my knowledge which information is certain and which is speculative. Nevertheless there may be corrections to this text that come to light over time. Some contradictory information has been posted by family historians on genealogy websites; I have tried to use only that which is proven by historical records.
One foggy area is the identity of Mary, the mother of Elizabeth, James and William Myatt. Some family historians believe that Joseph had married a woman named Mary Basford. However most agree that this is very unlikely since Elizabeth’s birth record in 1802 shows that her parents were unmarried and the marriage record that does exist between a man named Joseph Myatt and a Mary Basford predates that. No death record for a Mary Myatt fits with Joseph's known movements. Therefore, it is more probable that Joseph and Mary never married and the identity of Mary remains unknown.
Another controversial point is the marriage between Joseph and Sarah Myatt between 1805 and 1809. A man named Joseph Myatt married Sarah Allcock at Stoke-on-Trent in 1806 and many family historians have concluded that this is the couple who went on to live in Deptford. The Sarah who was married to the Joseph Myatt in question did not live long enough to have her birthplace recorded in the 1841 census and thus verify that she was Sarah Allcock. Nevertheless, it is often assumed that this marriage record is that of the Joseph and Sarah Myatt in question. I am not so sure. On the marriage record between Joseph Myatt and Sarah Allcock, Joseph is described as a potter. If this was 'our' Joseph Myatt, he must have briefly taken up the occupation of potter, even though he was an experienced gardener by 1806. This is not impossible, but it seems curious. Pottery was a booming industry for Staffordshire at that time; indeed the famous Josiah Wedgewood lived in Maer, the village where Joseph Myatt was baptised. Historians have described how many farmers and tradesmen around Stoke-on-Trent took up pottery to supplement their incomes in that era. Perhaps Joseph had briefly abandoned gardening and returned to Staffordshire that year, but it is already known that several men named Joseph Myatt who were potters lived in Staffordshire at this time.
Little is known about Joseph Myatt’s family background in Staffordshire. His father was definitely called Joseph Myatt but, unfortunately for genealogists, Myatt was a relatively common name around Stoke-on-Trent at that time. One Joseph Myatt worked as a potter and land agent in Lane End around 1770, but his children were baptised at nearby Langton, so this was surely a separate family. Two men named Joseph Myatt lived at Eccleshall, four miles south of Maer. One was a butcher and he died in 1795. Another was still living there in 1803. It is possible that these two men are father and son, being Joseph's grandfather and father. In 1803 a local newspaper reported that one of Joseph Myatt's cows had been injured at Eccleshall. This was most likely to be Joseph’s father. This Joseph Myatt's occupation is not known; he did own cows and could have been a farmer, but on the other hand it wouldn't be unusual for a rural tradesman or merchant to own cows in that era. If the Eccleshall butcher called Joseph Myatt who died in 1795 was Joseph's grandfather, perhaps Joseph's father was also a butcher. There is evidence of a William Myatt living in Eccleshall when he advertised a timber sale in 1796; perhaps this was an uncle.
Joseph's father was buried in 1820 at St Peter’s in Maer, the church where the Myatt children had been baptised. Joseph's mother Ann Myatt was buried there in 1833.
Little is known of the lives of Joseph’s siblings. Confusingly for us, two other children named Joseph Myatt, and at least one other Benjamin, Elizabeth, Mary and John Myatt were among the families living in Lane End/Langton at the same time as the Maer/Eccleshall Myatts. For example, the Benjamin Myatt who became an innkeeper at Lane End was surely from one of these other families. It is a nice aside that in the 1830s and 40s when Joseph Myatt was achieving his great success as a market gardener in London, one of his namesakes still living around Stoke-on-Trent was recorded in the Staffordshire newspapers as a prize-winner for his home-grown vegetables at local cottage garden competitions.
I would love to hear from anyone who can contribute further to this shared knowledge about the life of Joseph Myatt.
