Catch : How Forwarded. 21 



Catch : How sent to market, Till about 1820, or not long 

 after, the main catch of the Leigh fishermen had to be sent to 

 Billingsgate by boat, or occasionally by a cart, according to old 

 Mr. Gilson. London was the chief market, probably Sheerness 

 and Chatham received a small share. Thereafter a Mr. James 

 Cook commenced to run vans nightly from Leigh to London. 



These vans were large, four-wheeled, open vehicles, wherein 

 were placed the shrimp " pads," viz., oblong lidded baskets 

 and bags of oysters or other fish as the case might be. Each 

 "pad " would hold from eight to ten gallons of shrimps, and 

 they were packed one above another, a tarpaulin covering the 

 lot, and the driver perched on a high seat in front. The vans 

 started from the " Billet " Wharf between six and seven p.m., 

 occasionally later even to nine o'clock. With considerable excite- 

 ment they were driven four-horsed up the steep hill of the 

 village, then two or three horses took on the load, according to 

 its weight or condition of the roads. They went by Wickford 

 and Shenfield. At the latter they changed horses, and, again 

 starting, arrived at Billingsgate between four and five next 

 morning. 



Mr. Cook, accidentally falling from his van, broke his neck 

 and died. A Mr. W. R. Hay bought the vans, &c., and 

 continued the business as heretofore. The vans were licensed 

 to carry passengers, so fishermen occasionally paid a visit to 

 Billingsgate to ascertain how business went, and otherwise 

 have a day's town enjoyment. Before long Hay had a rival 

 firm for the fish traffic in Messrs. Ab. Surridge and Sam Hong. 

 The latter soon, though, left the opposition firm, and Hay and 

 Surridge became partners. Hay ran between Leigh and Shen- 

 field, and Surridge from Shenfield to London. 



Next came the railway to Leigh (1855-56 ?), when Hay split 

 partnership and became contractor to the railway, carrying the 

 fish, &c., from the City Goods Station to Billingsgate. Surridge 

 for a short time unsuccessf ally attempted competition with the 

 Railway Company, and since then the Railway Company have 



