On my Mum’s side my family tree can be traced to Cheam village in Surrey. There, practically in the centre of the village (opposite the library), is Whitehall – a clapper-board house that dates back to the 16th Century.

In the mid 19th Century Captain James Killick (my great-great-great-great grandfather) raced to and from China all for the sake of tea*, and in 1861 with James Henry Martin founded Killick Martin & Co. Ltd.

* Better put in a correction here – that’s not in time for tea but when giant ships (clippers) such as Killick’s “Challenger” raced back from China with a cargo of tea. The Cutty Sark is a fine example of a clipper which has been restored and is in dry-dock at Greenwich.

The Killick family (or its descendants) lived at Whitehall from 1741 until 1963, when Sutton Council bought the house and began restoration work. The House today is a museum describing its own little place in history.

The Killick Family Tree

I’ve scanned in a copy of our Killick Family Tree (older descendants) and relatives mostly living between 1900 and 1980. In the older descendants the tree starts from John Killick of Walton, Surrey 1515 to 1612, and then just picking a few names which might help people searching via google…

• John Killick died 10-Aug-1764 (took tenancy of Whitehall 1741)
• Captain James Killick born 26-Aug-1816 died 21-Oct-1889
• Lucy Killick born 2-Nov-1859 died 12-Aug-1936 (one of Captain Killick’s daughters) married Frederick William Moore born 21-Mar-1864 died 17-Feb-1930

In the relatives mostly living between 1900 / 1999 image:

• Continues with Harriet Maud Muller born 23-July-1872 died 9-Aug-1958 (lived in/owned Whitehall)
• Maurice Perret born 1918 died 1992

I’ve just picked a few names/dates out to try to give a sense of the range of entries on the two files. The family tree has not been updated since 1984 although I have cropped the last two generation lines from the tree (for privacy of those persons alive today).

What happened to Challenger?

A long while ago I was wondering what happened to Challenger, and found a database listing sail ships’ history; Challenger was sold in 1868 and abandoned on 14th May 1871 at 48°N, 13°W. Anyone know where 48°N, 13°W is?

Tea Clippers

Channel 4 did a 1 hour documentary about clippers the other week, but they didn’t make any mention of Challenger. Surprised to see archive black and white film of the clippers at sea though. And the company that Captain Killick founded Killick Martin exists today.