The Derbyshire Stokers
A project to research and share the stories of the men from Derbyshire's
mining villages who served as ship's stokers during the First World War
The Derbyshire Stokers
During the First World War more than 700 men from Derbyshire (the county furthest from the sea) joined up to serve in the Royal Navy. Most of those brave men came from the mining villages of North East Derbyshire and they served as ship's stokers.
Their job was to shovel coal into the huge boilers that powered the steam ships. Their job was dirty, back-breaking and dangerous. The men worked in conditions that were just as bad as they were down the coalmines. And in the event that the ship was hit and about to sink, the men stood little chance of getting on deck from down in the boilers rooms far below.
The purpose of this website is to record and share the results of research into the Derbyshire Stokers, whose stories until now had been remembered only by their loved-ones. The research was funded by Heritage Lottery Fund and undertaken by historian Laura Alston on behalf of Kidology Arts CIC.
Henry Goodfellow (above right)
Image reproduced by kind permission of Denise Dunstan (Henry's great-niece)
If you know of a Derbyshire Stoker that we have missed please contact us by
Disruptive Pattern (above) - a digital artwork by Richard and Amanda Johnson
Funded by Arts Council England and Derbyshire County Council
Click above to download
the free learning resource
EVERY STOKER
To the best of our ability
we have compiled a list of
every Derbyshire Stoker.
To search the list
New information added about Ernest Chapman (top left)
and his friend and fellow stoker George Stevenson (top right)
Information about both men kindly contributed by Wendy Stevenson