Site history
Charles Porter
Relics
Yard photograph C. 1920s
Our house is built on the site of C Porter’s Ginger Beer Factory.
The 1901 census reveals the following members of the Porter household:
Charles Porter - Head of family - Brewer - Age 45
Annie Porter - Wife - Age 34
Charles William Porter - Son - Employed at Brewery - Age 14
Horace Porter - Son - Apprentice Pattern Maker - Age 15
Alec Edwin Porter - Son - Clerk - Age 14
Gertrude Annie Porter - Daughter - Age 10
Archie Porter - Son - Age 9
Constance Eve Porter - Daughter - Age 7
Kathleen A M Porter - Daughter - Age 5
Reginald Porter - Son - Age 3
Victoria Mildred Porter - Daughter - Age 3
Florence Irene Porter - Daughter - Age 1
William Porter - Uncle - Age 72
Susan Brown - Servant - Age 16
This list is in itself a piece of social history, reflecting the larger family size in those days and the fact that better off families had servants.
Charles Porter
This photograph was provided by a woman whom I was fortunate to contact and who is a relative of the family. It is of C Porter, her great Grandfather.
There was also a reference in the 1841 Census to a Charles Porter, age 5, and one for him in the 1851 Census, age 15. This doesn't quite fit with the Charles Porter listed in the 1901 Census as he was then only 45.
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Relics
When I was digging over the garden I found many broken fragments of glass and earthenware bottles, which were clearly remnants of the factory’s produce.
I uncovered only two complete examples, one earthenware and the other glass. The glass bottle has a marble in the throat that was forced into a restriction by the pressure of the gaseous ginger beer, thus retaining its fizz.
Unfortunately children used to break the bottles to remove the marbles, making complete specimens very scarce.
I gave the glass bottle to the woman who kindly provided details of her family history.
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Yard photograph circa 1920s
This photograph was also provided by the relative of the family. It was probably taken during the 1920s and one of the children was her nan. The ginger beer factory is in the background and cottages are on the left.
Apparently her great grandparents were very wealthy and owned the first car in Chatteris but bad fortune during the second world war, and a decline in the sales of the ginger beer, left them penniless. The factory was left to rot after the war.
A fire in the factory ultimately led to its demolition, and in 2002 our house was built on the site. The Yard remains a conservation area and the house has been built sympathetically to match in with the two neighbouring cottages.
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