John Hooker, House Carpenter

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Title deeds held by the Medway Archives Centre reveal the names of some of the men who contracted with Jacob Cazeneuve Troy to build houses in Troy Town. They included:

John Bigelston, carpenter 

John Hooker of Chatham, house carpenter

Samuel Paine of Chatham, house carpenter

William Manneringe, house carpenter (was also involved in the development of New Road Chatham).

Richard West of Strood, bricklayer

Thomas Winter, bricklayer

House carpenter or bricklayer was the occupation normally given by these builders. Later historians sometimes describe them as  artisan builders.  Study of one of them, John Hooker, shows that they were much more substantial men than the terms house carpenter or bricklayer would seem to suggest. 

John Hooker was originally from Ashford. Ashford Manorial records describe various pieces of land held by him and his wife Ann, formerly Matthews, including 'land with cottage & 2 stables & necessary house' and 'shop, prev. butchers, then glaziers, now & for some time a dwelling house, in place called Butchery, prev. Market Place'.


John Hooker and Ann Matthews were married at Ashford in 1761. John was in Chatham by 1776, as he is described as 'of Chatham' from that date, although continuing to hold property in Ashford. 

It is not known what took him to Chatham, possibly family or local connections, but Chatham was an expanding town where a carpenter was sure to find opportunities. He was evidently a master, working on hs own account; John Hooker, variously described as a carpenter or joiner, had apprentices in Chatham in 1779, 1780, 1781, 1787 and 1788. The majority worked in the Dockyard. 

In July 1781, John Hooker advertised in the Kentish Gazette:

Wanted Immediately: Two Pair of SAWYERS. Good Workmen in that Branch, who can be depended upon, may have constant Employment.

John and Ann had four known children - Ann, baptised in Ashford in 1763, John, baptised in Ashford in 1765, Daniel, baptised in Chatham in 1776, and Elizabeth, date and place of baptism unknown. Daniel was buried at Chatham in 1778. John the younger died in 1795; the death of 'Mr John Hooker, jun. house-carpenter' at Chatham was reported in the Kentish Chronicle. He was buried at St Mary's, Chatham.  

Ann Hooker married Edward Chiles of Gillingham at Ashford in 1783. Elizabeth married Jonathan Gillett at Chatham in 1792. 

John Hooker's wife Ann was buried in Chatham in 1797. He must have remarried, as in his will he refers to his 'dear wife' Elizabeth. 

John Hooker died in 1807.  He was buried at St Mary's Chatham. 

In his will he described himself as a house carpenter, but a sale notice published after his death in the Kentish Gazette described him as a timber merchant, with a yard in Chatham High Street. His executors were offering for sale:

A large quantity of OAK SCANTLINGS, OAK TOPS, ARRIS RAILS, ELM BOARD, SPOKES, DEALS, &c.

When John Hooker's executors advertised his freehold and leasehold estate for sale by auction in 1809, it consisted of:

A handsome modern dwelling house with coach house, stables &c. in High Street Chatham; 

A piece of land, part freehold and part leasehold, most desirably situated for building, in Richard Street, Chatham, 19 feet in front and 98 feet deep; 

Two Leasehold DWELLING HOUSES in Richard Street aforesaid, at the clear yearly rent of 15l; 

Two excellent DWELLING HOUSES in Best Street, Chatham at the clear yearly rent of 57l; 

A Piece of Leasehold LAND, being 130 feet in front of Rhode Street and 149 feet back and 62 feet part of ditto in front of Richard Street;

Two Freeehold DWELLING HOUSES, with various outbuildings, in High Street afroresaid,  and three-quarters of an acre of LAND, more or less, beig the east side of Rhode Street;

Two freehold DWELLING HOUSES with good front shops well situated for trade, in High Street, Chatham at clear yearly rents amounting to 40l; 

Eight new-built leasehold HOUSES in Rhode Street, at the clear yearly rent of 92l 8s;

Four leasehold HOUSES in eight dwellings, in Best Street aforesaid at the clear yearly rent of 75l 12s;

A handsome freehold RESIDENCE in Union Street, Troy Town, Rochester, at the clear yearly rent of 40l;

Three new brick built Freehold HOUSES pleasantly situated in Nelson Place, Luton, in the parish of Chatham, at the clear yearly rent of 44l 2s 9d;

Two Freehold HOUSES situated in King Street, Chatham, at the clear yearly rent of 18l 8s 6d.

The total annual rental income from all these properties was £324 2s 9d. 


Richard Street and Rhode Street in Chatham, 1866
(Reproduced with permission of the National Library of Scotland)

Nothing remains of the buildings that would have been in Richard Street, Rhode Street and Best Street in Chatham in John Hooker's time.


Junction of Rhode Street and Richard Street, looking towards Chatham High Street. On the left a car park. Red brick building is the rear of now closed Debenham's department store, formerly Allder's. On the right a multi-storey car park.

Detailed research using maps and ratebooks might reveal whether any other part of John Hooker's property empire survives. 


Next: Thomas Troy

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The author has lived all her life in Kent, apart from a few years elsewhere as a student. She has a lifelong interest in local history, especially the history of Kent, and has been researching family history for decades. This blog brings together those interests in an ongoing study of the history of a small area of a smallish English city. The author also writes historical mystery fiction, which can be found on Amazon Kindle: see links at the foot of each blog post.

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