William Jarvis

Do you know why you were given that name?

Yes, I was given that as my mother had another boy before me and he died early. Being the next boy along I ended up the name William Henry. Also, my dad’s name is William Henry George Jarvis.

Where were you born?

I was born in Plymouth. My dad was in the Royal Marines, at Plymouth, so I was born there. In 1937 we came from Upper Dill, when my dad retired from the Royal Marines after 21 years, and moved on to the island.

What year were you born?

1935. February.

Have you lived here all your life?

Most of it from the age of 2 to 12 years ago, when I moved down to Wingham, on the other side of Canterbury.

Do you think it’s a good place to grow up, and if so why?

Yes, the island has got so much, and as you know over the years it’s grown so large, but its lost a lot of its history and I appreciate what you are trying to do today in passing on the knowledge of what Sheppey was like in the past.

What are your favourite or least favourite aspects of the church?

I was in the choir at the Dockyard Church, my two brothers were as well. In those days we had the army and the navy using the Dockyard Church, and there used to be 2000 on parade on a Sunday morning. When I left the choir and joined St John’s band, we used to march quite a lot of the troops to the church, because the barracks were alongside the church in those days. The first part used to be the officer’s quarters, and then you had the parade ground further down opposite the main gate. Further down you had the families.

Did you attend any special events at the church?

Yes, all the special ones that they had at the Dockyard. Here you can see the Captain of the Dockyard in 1958. Here I am there with the cross. They used to have quite a lot of different functions, like most of the churches in those days.

Why did you go to the church?

Because my father worked at the naval sports ground, which was down New Road in Sheerness, and we had 21 acres there, all of different types. During the war my mother used to wash all the football shirts and trousers and that, as they came ashore to have a game of football. They’d have a break from their ship. That was the time that I started my apprenticeship in the Dockyard. I started on the electrical side in 1949, and in 1950 I did a boilermaker’s apprenticeship for 5 years.

Do you know anything about the clock?

Oddly enough I do not, other than that it was a marvellous clock.

Did you use the church often?

Yes, obviously with the choir, and I was confirmed there in 1951 by the Bishop of Dover. In those years the Bishop used to do most of the confirmations in the Dockyard Church.

Were there any damages to the church?

No, it was a lovely church, a lovely family church, everybody worked together. There was Dr. Madwire, he and his wife did a lot for the Dockyard Church. Obviously they had their committees. The first house of the terrace used to be for the vicar, he used to live in the first one. As you know there was an entrance behind the church where the Captain’s house was, and the Captain used to come through that special gate for the services on a Sunday.

Would you be able to tell us a little bit more about your time in the choir, how long you were in, how often you practiced or used the church?

I joined in early 1948 to 1953. You had a Sunday service there, we had regular meetings, we had choir practice every Thursday evening, and Mr. Brightman was the choirmaster. One of the vicars, Harkness Brown, he had two girls and a caravan down on the naval sports ground. He used to walk just over a mile from the grounds in New Road to the church, so we knew a bit more being closer to the family. When he left the dockyard church he went over to the Maidstone area. I wish I could remember all the names of the people who were there.

Do you have any particular memories that jump out when you were in the choir, perhaps any events?

Yes, they used to do the messiah and quite a lot of the modern singing at the time. They had special events.

You’ve also brought a photograph of your sister’s wedding would you be able to tell us a little bit about that?

Yes certainly, my sister got married in the Dockyard church in 1950 on Boxing Day. That was my sister there, obviously that’s my other sister and there I am next to my dad and my grandfather. Most of the relations on my mother’s side, came from all round Sandwich and that area.

Do you remember the fire at the church, were you still living on the island?

No, I wasn’t on the island then, it was such a shame to hear about it. Because I worked for St John’s ambulances I moved to Sittingbourne. I would come and see people on the island but it was difficult, and I lost touch with many of my friends.

Do you remember when the church ceased being a church, and how you may have reacted to that?

When it stopped functioning as a church I thought it was such a shame, because it was really the main church of Sheerness and full of character. Though it’s been burned down its still kept that character, you can’t take it away from it. To try and build it back up and get it running again would be beautiful to see.

“I was in the choir at the Dockyard Church, my two brothers were as well. In those days we had the army and the navy using the Dockyard Church, and there used to be 2000 on parade on a Sunday morning.”

If you have your own memories of the dockyard church – as a church, a social club or as it is now, we’d love to hear from you. We're also keen to build an image archive by making copies of photographs and memorabilia of the church.

If you’d like to contribute memories or images to the archive, please tell us a bit more about what you have using the form.