Biography:
1. Richard Hudson was hired at the age of 28, according to records dated the 27th November 1788 and 24th January 1789 (Supply 5/212). He was promised to be continued as a general Labourer since he had previously worked for Mr Walton. He started work at the Mills on the 1st April 1788, and was paid 1/6d per day.
2. Richard was described in Supply 5/212 dated 21st March 1789 as "mixing composition."
3. He was "cutting and planting willow trees, cutting of canal at the new Corning House, removing earth to the Store, unloading barge of coals & charring wood." according to Supply 5/213 dated 13th April 1789, but Supply 5/214 dated September 1789, recorded that he was employed in mixing composition, and confirmed that at that date he was 28 years of age.
4. Supply 5/214 dated the 27th March1790, confirmed that he was mixing composition.
5. Richard was again described as mixing composition on 22 August 1789 (Supply 5/213) as well as on the 14th August 1790 (Supply 5/215) and January 1792 (also Supply 5/215),
6. He was "marking barrels" in August 1793 (Supply 5/216 dated the 31st August 1793) as well as in January to August 1794 (Supply 5/216) and in December 1794 (Supply 5/217).
7 In June 1795, his work was described as marking barrels and attending the magazine, and he was paid 1/6d per day. (Supply 5/217 dated the 24th June 1795).
8. Hudson was working in the Magazine and a Private in Voluntary Company, according to Supply 5/219 dated September 1798.
9. A signed document relating to a Petition on Pay (Supply 5/220 of the 2nd February 1800) showed that he was literate and was working as a Labourer.
10 Report dated the 8th May 1801 (Supply 5/221) recorded that he was working as a Labourer, and that he was a married man with no children. Note: in this document anyone who was not an artificer was described as a Labourer.
11 In a letter dated 23rd June 1801 (Supply 5/195) it was stated that the writer had "the Board's commands to transmit to you on the other side hereof a list of the men who have been burnt and otherwise hurt by the fire which lately destroyed (16th June 1801) the Corning House at Waltham Abbey; and I am to desire the storekeeper will pay the men all of their pay until they are recovered."
12 The list, also dated 23rd June 1801 (Supply 5/195) included Richard Hudson, and therein stated, "we beg to represent the situation of the poor men who were burnt when the Corning House took fire 16th instant while under repair." It further stated "These men are burnt in a dreadful manner, their pain is very great..." and "Our surgeon has represented the necessity of the men most burnt having immediate assistance in wine, as a considerable Suppuration is come on their constitutions. They cannot Support it without wine, and we have directed wine to be immediately provided to them, and request your permission for our continuing to Supply these poor men with such wine or other proper Support as their surgeon may think their respective situations require."
Winters, in his book "Centenary Memorial", makes it clear that the men were employed in repairing the Corning House which blew up on the 18th April 1801, [and that] the fire was caused "from the blow of a copper hammer on pit wheel."
13 In a letter to the Board dated the 29 July 1801 (Supply 5/221) it was recorded that the men who were burnt at the Corning House on the 16th June had requested that they were reimbursed for the loss of clothing. The list included Mr. Hudson, whose claim amounted to £2.4.6d in all - for a hat (4/-d), handkerchiefs (5/-d) stockings (3/6d), shirt (6/-d) coat (5/-d), breeches (6/-d) and sheets (15/-d). The same letter went on to say that Mr. Hudson, amongst others, suffered so much that he wished for death to release him from his torture, and that it was a matter of surprise that he was recovering. The constant attention the men needed meant that their wives could not undertake seasonal work (haymaking) at which they could earn sufficient to pay the rent. It was requested that financial allowances be made.
14 A Return of Artificers and Labourers dated the 3rd November 1801 (Supply 5/221) recorded that because Mr. Hudson was so severely burnt in the Old Corning House, it would be dangerous to expose him with the other men in repairing the river banks at that particular time, and he that he may instead perform trifling jobs as they occurred.
15 Supply 5/222 dated the 8th May 1804, recorded that Richard was working as a Refiner with pay of 2/-d per day. All Refiners received an additional allowance of 1/-d per night when it was their turn "to watch" - on average every 5th night.
16 In March 1805, he working as a barrel-marker earning 2/-d per day, in addition to which, he was paid an allowance of 1/6d every third night for rounding.
17 According to a List of Foreman Artificers and Labourers dated the 30th January 1806, Mr. Hudson was marking barrels, earning 2/-d per day, and at that date he had 17 years' service (Supply 5/224).
18 According to the entry on Supply 5/227 dated the 23rd August 1808, Mr. Hudson was an "Office Keeper" earning 2/6d. per day, and a "Rounder at 2/-d each night."
19 The List of Officers on Employment dated 29th August 1812 (Supply 5/229) recorded that Mr. Hudson was then a Foreman of Stoves earning 5/2d per day, as well as still earning 2/-d per night as a Rounder every third night.
20 All in Note 19 still applied in 1814 (Supply 5/230 dated the 13th February). In 1816 the Board formed three tenements out of the dwellings in the Tanyard on the south side of High Bridge Street, and Richard, Foreman of the Stoves, was allocated one of them, with a rental of 3/-d per week (Winters' Centenary Memorial, p.83). This was confirmed in the statement "of monies to which the public were entitled to receive credit between the 1st January and 31st December 1821, shewing the amounts received by the storekeeper", which recorded that Richard had been living in a Board of Ordnance house, Tenement No. 23, from the 24th December 1816. It confirmed that his rent at the time was £7.16.0d per annum. The property has been identified as Plot No. 53 on the Waltham Abbey Town Map, being opposite Powder Mill Lane (Supply 5/232).
21 Lists of Officers & Others Employed dated the 25th June 1818 (Supply 5/231 and WO54/524) confirmed that Richard Hudson was still a Foreman of Stoves, that was aged 58, resided in Waltham Abbey and was married, but had no children. He then only earned 4/2d per day. He was trained as a baker..
22 Supply 5/231dated the 28th August 1818, recorded the names of employees to be retained between the 3rd September and the 31st December 1818. Hudson's name was on the list with his pay reduced to 3/8d per day.
23 List of Employees dated the 19th May 1819 (Supply 5/523) confirmed that Hudson was still employed as a Foreman of Stoves, and that he was a married man of 59 with no children, who lived in Waltham Abbey. He was paid 4/2d per day and had trained as a Baker.
24 List of Employees dated the 13th September 1820 (Supply 5/232) updated the above entry, with the basic details on pay, etc. remaining unchanged.
25 A statement "of monies to which the public were entitled to receive credit between the 1st January and the 31st December, 1821, shewing the amounts received by the storekeeper" dated the 4th April 1821 (Supply 5/232) recorded that Richard had been living in a Board of Ordnance house, Tenement No. 23, from the 24th December 1816, and that his current rent was £7.16.0d per annum. This property has been identified as one of five cottages on the south side of High Bridge Street, almost opposite Powder Mill Lane, and shown as Property No. 1972 on the 1825 Waltham Abbey Town Map. This same information was repeated in Supply 5/232 dated 16th February 1822, for the year 1821.
26 Supply 5/232 dated the 9th April 1821, recorded that Mr. Hudson was then 61, and confirmed that he was married, but that he had no children. He still lived in Waltham Abbey, was still a Foreman of Stoves, was trained as a Baker, and was earning the same amount as in Note 23.
27 A letter from Waltham Abbey to the Board giving details of a petition received from Mrs Ann Hudson, widow of Richard Hudson, Foreman of Stoves, who had recently died, pointed out that Richard Hudson was sent to Waltham Abbey by the late Gen. Congreve as a Labourer on the 1st April 1788 and that by good conduct and activity in the service he was made Office Keeper. In the year 1808, he was promoted to the situation of Foreman of the Stoves, in which situation he continued until his death. On the 16th June 1801, he was severely burnt in the fire at No.3 Corning House, and, thereafter, never enjoyed a good state of health. Ann, at the age of 60, and in a hapless situation, requested that the Board grant her a small charitable pension, or allow her to live in her cottage - which belonged to the Board - rent free.
28 The Board replied to the letter asking further questions, which Waltham replied to on the 22nd January 1822 (Supply 5/232). They agreed that Hudson had been severely burnt in the explosion at the Corning House in 1801, although the Surgeon who treated him, Robert Hilton, did not think that this was a contributory factor to his death at the age of 64. To alleviate her financial hardship, however, Middleton and Wright requested the Board to allow Mrs Hudson to continue to live in her cottage with the rent reduced from 3/-d to 1/-d per week. The Board agreed - see Note 29.
29 A Return of Properties prepared by the Royal Engineers' Office listing the houses and cottages owned by the Board and dated the 20th December 1834, recorded that widow Hudson had rented one of their cottages in High Bridge Street South (the site of the old Tanyard) from the 1st March 1822, paying £2.12.0d rent annually, which reflected Note 28 (Supply 5/237).
30 The 1841 Census confirmed that Ann Hudson, an Ordnance pensioner aged 70, was living on the south side of High Bridge Street, with James and Elizabeth Free as lodgers.
