Horse Slaughterer's Cart Object Number(S)
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Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 1DL Tel: 01449 612229 www.eastanglianlife.org.uk Object(s): Horse Slaughterer’s Cart Object number(s): STMEA:A.898 Researcher details: Paul Kettle, Volunteer Note. The trade of Slaughterer and Knackerman are similar in many aspects. Research sources are much greater for knackermen than for slaughterers, so I have taken the liberty of using knackerman information where there is a lack of information for slaughterers and where I consider the information to be common. Figure 1. A Dead Horse on a Knackers Cart, by Thomas Rowlandson 1756-1827.1 A water colour with pen and brown and red-brown ink over graphite on medium, slightly textured, beige, wove paper. 1 Knacker [Internet]. En.wikipedia.org. 2019. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knacker Attribution: Thomas Rowlandson / Public domain Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 1DL Tel: 01449 612229 www.eastanglianlife.org.uk The loss of a working horse would be likely to impact greatly on a farmer’s livelihood and I believe this is reflected in the expressions of both the family and the Knackerman. Figure 2. Horse slaughterer's cart of 1892, scale model. Including poleaxe 2 By observation and comparison the William Syke’s cart at MEAL is similar except that it incorporates a removable rear board between the centre and rear platforms. 2 Horse slaughterer's cart of 1892, scale model. Including poleaxe. [Internet]. Available from: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co25914/horse-slaughterers-cart-of-1892-scale-model. Attribution: © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 1DL Tel: 01449 612229 www.eastanglianlife.org.uk Downloaded from Science Museum Collection3 3 9. Horse slaughterer's cart of 1892, scale model | Science Museum Group Collection [Internet]. Collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk. 2019. Available from: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co25914/horse-slaughterers-cart-of-1892-scale-model Attribution: © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 1DL Tel: 01449 612229 www.eastanglianlife.org.uk A Detailed Description of the Horse Slaughterers Cart The rough sketches above of the Horse Slaughterer’s Cart at MEAL are based solely upon observation of the cart itself, located in the MEAL Collection Storage area. The horse slaughterer’s cart is a special, purpose-built, horse drawn cart used for loading and transporting slaughtered or fallen horses away for disposal in the days before motorized transport became available. These carts are built to a similar design to the model cart shown above, but cannot be found in James Arnold’s book ‘Farm Wagons and Carts’, so the following description is based upon observation of the cart held in storage at MEAL. Refer to the sketches above for clarification. The floor of the cart consists of two parts, a cart floor, which is expected to be roughly level when a horse is harnessed between the shafts. The two shafts extend forward to accommodate a single horse to draw the cart. Immediately in front of the cart floor is a narrow driver’s platform, attached over the shafts to provide seating for the driver. Forward of this, mounted onto the shafts is a loading roller, complete with a ratchet mechanism to facilitate the loading of the cart. Attached to the rear of the centre floor is a fixed, rear platform that is angled slightly downwards and incorporates two rollers, located side by side, at the forward end of the platform. There are two fixed side panels attached to the centre floor. Attached above these are two name plates that display the name and trade details of the owner. Between the cart floor and the rear platform is a rear panel, this being removable to facilitate loading of the cart. Mounted immediately below the centre floor at each corner are fixtures that accommodate the attachment of two large, longitudinal leaf springs. The wheel axle is fixed to the centre of the leaf springs, with a hub and large wheel attached at each end of the axle. Fixed immediately below the middle of, and to the centre floor, is a curved structure that sits immediately above the wheel axle. This serves to provide some control of lateral suspension of the cart in conjunction with the stability offered by the two leaf springs. The large wheels help ease the cart over small undulations in the road or track. There is a metal step attached at each side of the driver’s platform to ease driver entry and exit of the cart. There is a metal holder bracket at the front of each side panel to accommodate the fitting of lights for nighttime transportation. There are also two metal loops at the rear of the side panels. Their purpose is not clear but they may be anchor points for securing the load for transportation. The nameplate bears details of the owner with the inscription WILLIAM SYKES JUN. LICENSED Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 1DL Tel: 01449 612229 www.eastanglianlife.org.uk HORSE-SLAUGHTERER, WYVERSTONE TELEGRAMS: WYVERSTON. (Refer my note on MEAL Data sheet above). Red is the background colour with the lettering in a pale yellow or cream. The basic colour of the cart is dark brown with red lines and decoration as a finish. It is possible that this colour scheme may be typical of farm carts from this area of Suffolk but I still have to find reference to this for confirmation. Other equipment that would normally accompany the slaughterer’s cart would be a poleaxe, for the stunning and possible termination of a horse before its removal. For humane reasons, modern legislation requires the use of a mechanical or electric stun gun instead of the poleaxe of old. A lever to operate the ratchet roller during loading of the cart. Ropes, and possibly chains, would be used to secure the dead horse once it has been loaded onto the cart. A tarpaulin would likely be used to cover the dead animal during its transportation. The Loading of a Cart John Warman, a member of The Licensed Animal Slaughterers and Salvage Association (LASSA) describes the loading of a cart. Although it refers to a knackerman and the transport of other animals, the procedure would be the same for the loading of a horse by a horse slaughterer. ‘Up until motor transport was available, the horse and cart was the only way to transport dead cattle and horses. These knacker carts were specially built for the job, when a knacker man went to a farm to collect a dead animal he would take the horse out of the cart and tip it up in front of the dead animal’s head, he would then put a roller between the shafts of the cart this roller had a ratchet on it and would act as a type of winch to slowly pull the animal on to the back of the cart. He would then tip the cart up straight again, put the horse back in and go back to the knacker yard.’4 The Owners of the MEAL Slaughterer’s Cart from Find My Past Based upon the limited information provided upon the MEAL data sheet, we know the horse slaughterer’s cart was donated by Michael Sykes and was used by Michael, his father, his uncle and 4 10. History - Licensed Animal Slaughterers' & Salvage Association : LASSA [Internet]. Licensed Animal Slaughterers' & Salvage Association : LASSA. 2019]. Available from: https://lassa.org.uk/history-of-the- knackerman/ Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 1DL Tel: 01449 612229 www.eastanglianlife.org.uk possibly his grandfather. Research of Ancestry websites and local trade directories has allowed us to identify who these people were, their occupations and where they lived. Searches on Find My Past using birth, marriage, census, 1939 register and location information on the William Sykes household has been taken to provide greater information. The small number of hits on the name William Sykes in Wyverstone, Suffolk for each event were reasonably conclusive to give a very high degree of confidence that the persons identified are the people who worked with this cart. Briefly, before providing more conclusive evidence, the users of this cart were Michael Sykes, the donor, his father, Edwin A Sykes, his uncle, Herbert W Sykes and his grandfather, the William Sykes Junior, the owner and named on the cart name plate. All were born and lived in or close to Wyverstone, Suffolk. By his own admission, Michael used the cart, although it is not possible to confirm that he was a slaughterer. However, the 1939 Register confirms that his father Edwin, his uncle, Herbert and grandfather, William, were all horse slaughterers. The following is the evidence and its source used to determine the above summary. The relevant hard copy printouts are provided separately to confirm the information for file records. At the 1871 Census (Find My Past) William Sykes, a 23 year old dealer in fowls, was living at Westhorpe, Suffolk. Living with him was his wife Emma and his son William, aged 1 year and born on Westhorpe, along with two others. With the additional records below, it has been concluded that the 1 year old William (born 1870) is the grandfather and cart owner identified by Michael Sykes, the donor of the cart. This is the William Sykes Junior named on the cart nameplate. It was also confirmed separately that the father of William (Senior) (born 1848) was named Samuel, therefore the use of the designation Junior for William would seem appropriate. At the 1891 Census (FMP), William Sykes (Jun) is now 21 and married to Ellen (nee Cutting). He is a butcher and is living at the Street, Westhorpe, Suffolk along with a daughter.