Fishermen, Bathers and Beach Folk

Description

Fishermen, Bathers, and Beach Folk explores the life of the young Quaker artist, Juliet Seebohm, and the colourful lives of those she captured in her sketchbook of Cromer during the summers of 1883 and 1884. The Cromer born fishermen turned swimming tutors, William and James Mayes; the bathing machine proprietor, Lucy Miller; Lucy’s mariner brother, Gilbert ‘Leather’ Rook; erudite Russian professor, Sir Paul Vinogradoff; the sociable and friendly Mrs Locker; genial cricketer, Mr Samuel Hoare; eccentric ‘Old Salt,’ Billy Mayes; and Juliet’s cousins, Bertie and Daisy Barclay all feature in her hand-coloured drawings. By researching the fascinating lives of these individuals and telling their stories, the author allows us to gain a unique insight into this little windswept fishing town in the late Georgian and Victorian period.

Juliet’s beautiful sketches, with accompanying humorous captions, were bound into a handful of privately printed books and given by Juliet as precious keepsakes to a selected few. Captured in the sketches was Mrs Hannah Jane Locker, the author’s Great Great Grandmother whose copy was passed down through the family. This rare sketchbook forms the basis of this work.