Suspicious Dreams.
Like many people I probably have dreams far more frequently than I realise. Sometimes I wake up, vaguely aware of a dream, but by the time that I am fully awake the memory of the dream has gone. However I do remember a dream that I had frequently from the age of about ten to fifteen years of age. At that time my upstairs bedroom, in Heacham, faced in the direction of the sea, but was a mile or two from the beach. Even when standing on the window sill a sea view was not possible. Despite this I frequently dreamt of standing there watching boats sail by, presumably on their way in and out of Kings Lynn. I had no more interest in boats than any other boy and was totally unaware that my father’s maternal family were fishermen from the North End of Kings Lynn. I was certainly not aware that my Great Grandfather William Hornigold had died at sea off of the coast at Heacham.
William came to a sad and untimely end on 15th October 1885. He was the skipper of his boat, The Sheldrake, known as the Wild Duck, and sailing with him was 21 year old James Anderson, who was also from the North End. They had set sail from North End, heading out into the Wash, intending to catch shrimps. They ran aground on Ferrier Sand, just off of Snettisham/Heacham. Late in the day they were spotted by some other fishermen, including a member of the Balls family from North End. He suggested that William borrow his rowing boat as the Wild Duck did not have one, but William rejected the offer, seemingly quite confident that the Wild Duck would re-float as soon as the flood tide returned. Unfortunately, when the tide turned it was strengthened by a strong wind, sufficiently strong enough to knock a hole in the hull of the Wild Duck as it surged to and fro on the sandbank as the tide reached it. It was reported that William climbed the mast and held onto the rigging, perhaps looking out for other fishermen who could help. As the smack began to break up, the mast fell into the sea. William and James were both drowned. When they did not return that night the North End fishermen set out to look for them and both bodies were found the following morning. William was still in some of the rigging into which he had climbed.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was normal for the fishing families to be at the quayside awaiting the return of their loved ones. If they did not return a search party would be raised. One hundred years after the death of a Great Grandfather that I did not even know about, I frequently dreamt of watching boats sail past the very spot where he drowned. Was I unconsciously mimicking my ancestors by watching and waiting for the return of a family member?