The sad story of Alice, a salt pig, and a burial at sea

This is the extraordinary, and sad, twist to the story that has been unravelling in Memories ever since Des Needham in Low Dinsdale sent us a picture of the salt pig that he had bought in a sale.

On its front, it said: “Mrs JS Watkins, Darlington, November 1, 1890”. Now that we are all experts in salt pigs – ceramic containers with large mouths so cooks could get at the salt easily – we know that it was produced by the Wetheriggs artisan pottery beside the Stainmore railway line near Penrith.

Brilliant genealogical work by readers discovered from the 1891 census that Mrs John Southern Watkins, known as Alice Annie to her family, lived with her husband, an engine fitter maker.

READ MORE: READERS TRACK DOWN THE OWNER OF THE DARLINGTON SALT PIG

The couple had married in June 1890, both aged 20. They had their first child, Lily, in November 1890, and they lived at 4, Gladstone Street, Darlington – this must have been where the salt pig with Alice’s name on it took pride of place in the kitchen.

But our researchers could not find the family on the 1901 census – it was as if they had moved to a foreign country.

And then David Lewis reported that he’d found a record saying that a John Southern Watkins was initiated into the Darlington Freemasons Lodge on the September 5, 1905, when he gave an address in east Borneo.

Alice Watkins is on the left of the second row with the tennis racket. Her toddler Alice is in front of her, and her husband, John Southern Watkins, is seventh from the left of the third row

“I read your article and thought John Southern Watkins, that’s my grand-dad,” said Carol Hutchinson. “Then it said there was a Borneo link and I said to my daughter ‘my grand-dad’s in the paper!’. It was a real surprise.”

But then comes the sad twist in the salt pig tale. Carol said: “My grandmother, Alice, had nine children in 13 years, five boys and four girls. Every time she fell pregnant, she came home, had the baby and then went back out.

Alice Watkins with her 13th child, Alice, in 1904 in a studio photograph taken by Alfred Harrow, the well known Darlington photographer, of Priestgate House

“In 1904, she had my mother, Alice, and went back to Borneo but the doctor said that if she didn’t get back to England she would die, so my granddad got them all on the ship, all the children, but she took ill on board and died, and she had to be buried at sea.” Alice was 35.

It seems that John, who was originally from Hartlepool, was using his engineering skills in the oil trade on the Asian island of Borneo – the north of the island is part of Malaysia and the south is part of Indonesia.

Among Carol’s items connected to her grandparents is a letter dated May 9, 1904 and addressed to John in “the machine shop” (above).

It is on headed notepaper from the “Nederlandsch-Indische Industrie en Handelmaatschappij”. “Nederlandsch-Indische” refers to the Dutch East Indies, or Indonesia, and this company specialised in ship, railway and port building, especially for the oil industry.

READ MORE: PRACTICALLY EVERYONE HAS A SALT PIG!

The company’s address on the notepaper is Ballek Pappan in oost Borneo – now Balikpapau in east Borneo. Balikpapan was just a small fishing village until, on February 10, 1897, oil was struck, and it became a boomtown, attracting foreign workers, like John, from all over. It is now a city with a population of 850,000.

Alice Watkins is ninth from the left with the tennis racket. Her husband, John Southern Watkins, is the tallest by a long way, third from the right with a cigar

The letter concerns a fire in the company’s still shop, and it was sent on behalf of the general manager, J Bazley-White, thanking John “for the great and most invaluable help accorded by you not only in endeavouring to stay the fire itself, but in preventing the danger from spreading”.

It says: “Mr Bazley-White also wishes me to state that the help given by you was of inestimable value, without which the fire would have grown into most serious proportions, and on behalf of the company he wishes to convey his sincere thanks for the prompt and thorough service you rendered.”

Alice being held by a nanny or servant in Borneo with one of her sisters standing by

It was about a year after the fire that John and Alice had, for the sake of her health, to return immediately to Darlington but tragically, Alice didn’t make it.

“When they got back to England, he arranged for the five boys to go to boarding schools and the girls went to relatives,” said Carol. “Because my mother was so young, no one really wanted her but she was taken in by ‘aunty’ Polly and her husband Ralph Stephenson in Lansdowne Street who fetched her up. She never saw much of her dad as he went straight back over to Borneo.”

It seems likely that before he returned, he was initiated into the Darlington freemasons in Archer Street.

John Southern Watkins who was blown up with his horse in France towards the end of the First World War. This beautiful portrait was taken by Sydney Wood, another well known Darlington photographer

He must have been doing well in oil to afford to send his five sons – all of whom had “Southern” as a middle name – to boarding school, but as the 13 siblings were completely split up, they faded out of each other’s lives. One of the boys, John, was killed in France during the First World War; Lily, the eldest, ended up in Stockton; another sister, Mary, lived in Shildon.

Alice married James Hutchinson, had three children, of which Carol is the youngest, and became a psychiatric nurse at Aycliffe Hospital.

John seems only to have returned from Borneo towards the end of his life.

“When I was about 10 in 1953, my grand-dad, who was in 80s, came and lived with my mum in Hundens Lane,” said Carol. “When my mother was rushed into hospital, I went to live with her sister and he went to lodgings, but one night, getting up to go to the toilet in an unfamiliar place, he fell down a flight of stairs and broke his neck. He was nearly 90.”

What an amazing story to arise from one piece of old crockery. Many thanks to everyone, especially Carol, who has contributed to it along the way. And if you’ve got anything to add, please get in touch…

READ NEXT: THE DARLINGTON SKYLINE COULD CHANGE FOREVER IF THIS DERELICT LANDMARK COMES DOWN