G P W Burkett and Richard Dickeson & Co.

[jomck]

Hi All,

I am wondering if anyone knows where I can find any additional information regarding the above company that operated out of Dover in the late 1800's. My 3 x great grandfather, began work for them in Dover, later leaving his family to work for the company in London then being transferred with the company to South Africa where he died in Port Elizabeth in 1903. His name was George Peter Watts Burkett and through family tales there are many different stories to how he came to be in South Africa, we are trying to uncover the truth.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Jo

[casalguidi]

His name was George Peter Watts Burkett and through family tales there are many different stories to how he came to be in South Africa

Could you give some more details for him ie. date of birth would be helpful please.  I can see a couple of G P W BURKETTs at various times, baker and teacher being the professions I've seen.  What was the business of BURKETT and DICKESON and do you have a resource and/or dates etc. for this reference?

Casalguidi

[jomck]

Hi Casalguidi,

Thanks for your reply. George Peter Watts Burkett was born in October 1866, son of George Peter Watts Burkett and Catherine Tunbridge. He married Fanny Spanton in 1890 and had three children, Albert Spanton Burkett in 1892, Alfred Burkett in 1893 and Maria Sarah Burkett (my great grandmother) in 1894. It is believed that sometime c.1897 he began working for Richard Dickeson and Co. a wholesale grocer who supplied the army canteens in Dover and a couple of other districts. He then moved to London (or nearby) to work for the same company, who eventually sent him to South Africa. He died there in 1903. There have been conflicting stories in the family to why he was in South Africa when he died. We have found no evidence to suggest he was enrolled in the army. We have a letter he sent to my great grandmother showing his address as C/- R Dickeson and Co. in Bloemfontein sent in a chocolate tin that was presented to army personnel by Queen Victoria. When George left to work near London, my great grandmother and her brother (the eldest died as an infant in a cot fire) were adopted by George's brother William Wood Burkett (mayor of Dover 1905/06). I was hoping there might have been a record of employment records for Richard Dickeson and Co.? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Jo 

[Mabel Bagshawe]

whilst he may not have enrolled int he army, given his employer's army links I wouldn't be surprised to find he was out there running canteens/overseeing supplied

[viflyguy]

Jo.
I happened upon your request for information.  I live in Canada and my great grandfather was William Wood Burkett.  The one identified as the Mayor of Dover 1905/06.  His wife, my great grandmother was Maria (pronounced Mariah) Sarah Burkett.  She would have been born well before 1894, thus your great grandmother may have been named after my great grandmother.  They had a family bakery in Dover, which according to family history, was not well managed, so their son, my grandfather, William Wood Burkett II, moved his family to Alberta, Canada.  They had lived in the Edmonton area and for a while had a bakery in Fort Saskatchewan.  William Wood senior passed away shortly after being mayor and Maria Sarah Burkett moved to Coventry, where she and some of her immediate family were killed in a German bombing raid in WWII.
Unfortunately, I don't know much, if anything about GPW Burkett, but will go over my material and let you know what, if anything I find.
Feel free to contact me directly at viflyguy@gmail.com

Cheers.

V