The Northenders
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The Northenders always remained a fellowship
separate from the rest of the King's Lynn people. Their hard and sometimes dangerous life
led to a fierce loyalty to their own community - they supported each other in times of
crisis, and seldom married anyone from outside of the North End. Indeed, many of the great
fishing families were products of inter-marriage The entire North End was filled with fishing families. The men, who always wore their traditional 'ganseys' (as seen on 'Duggie' Carter, left) would fish for shrimps or shellfish in the Wash, while their wives would tend the children, wait and pray and mend the nets when they came home |
Most of the Northenders were known only by their
nicknames, perhaps as a way of identifying the barious members of the large families.
These nicknames included:
Perhaps the most famous story is that of the Bone family. Annie Bone's husband (shown right) often returned late to find his dinner dried up, and in his anger he would throw his dish to the floor. When she could take no more she collected the broken pieces, baked them in a pie, and served it to her husband the next day! From that day on he was known throughout the North End as 'Broken Dish' Bone! |
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The Northenders were very superstitious as well as religious people. Their superstitions included never carrying money at sea, never whistling while on a boat (that would blow up the wind), and never putting to see on a Sunday. It has always been said that the reason the boat the 'Mystery' sank, drowning those on board, was that on his way to the boat 'Matty' Smith collected some money for his mother, who had mended some nets. He carried the coins in his pockets onto the boat, and it sank off the coast at Heacham. To this day his body has never been recovered.
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To find out more about the Northenders, while not visit the Northender's Website - written by a genuine Northender himself!
