On the 25th August proud participants in the joint Go Folkestone/Plimsoll Group project placed a memorial to the safety campaigner and MP, Samuel Plimsoll gather in front of the newly unveiled mural by local artist Shane Record. The unveiling was made by Nicolette Jones, author of the award winning The Plimsoll Sensation and children’s editor for the Sunday Times.
The picture includes donating councillors Dylan Jeffrey, Ann Berry and Mary Lawes, the Plimsoll Group’s Michael Foad, Angela Conyers Tom McNeice and Nicolette Jones, Go Folkestone’s Richard Wallace and Frank Bond and the Fishing Museum trustees Alan Taylor and John Gale together with Father Mark from St Peter’s, the fishermen’s church, and Michelle Keutenius standing in for the Mayor.
70 people watched the unveiling of the superb portrait, which includes an impression of a local Folkestone shipwreck of the type that Plimsoll prevented. Guests included the owner of the museum building, Josh De Haan and family, members of Shane Record’s family and his team, and representatives of the RNLI, Royal British Legion, Merchant Naval Association and Rotary. The picture will greatly boost the profile of the Fishing Museum, and many guests happily sampled the tea and delicious cakes laid on by Go Folkestone members and the Museum afterwards.
The Plimsoll Sensation by Nicolette Jones which has been enthusiastically reviewed, scrupulously researched and is a prize-winning book, and a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, chronicles a resonant episode of Victorian history. It is the tale of the agitation led by Samuel Plimsoll MP, ‘The Sailor’s Friend’, and by his wife Eliza, who worked together to defend sailors against nefarious practices including overloading and the use of unseaworthy ‘coffin-ships’. The backlash of libel cases and vilification almost ruined Plimsoll, but his drive and passion made him feverishly popular with the public; he was the subject of plays, novels, street ballads and music hall songs. With the demonstrative support of the nation, he faced down his enemies, came close to ousting Disraeli’s government and achieved lasting safety measures for merchant sailors, including the load line that bears his name. Nicolette Jones throws light on a cross-section of Victorian society and tells the story of an epic legal, social, and political battle for justice, which is still an inspiring example of how the altruism and courage of determined individuals can make the world a better place.
Plimsoll, who entered The House of Commons as a Liberal, lived the last years of his life in Folkestone and is buried at St Martin’s. At his funeral, and as a mark of respect, Folkestone fishermen dispensed with the horses drawing the hearse and pulled it themselves.
