George Kemp (1846-1884)
In 1865 the Norfolk Chronicle recorded the following incident in Great Yarmouth:
‘George Kemp, an apprentice to Samuel Roberts, master block maker [mast and block maker – sic], was charged with absenting himself for three days from his work, without just cause. – Defendant said he had been unwell, but admitted that he had played on the dulcimer for 2s. or 3s. each night. – Having been previously convicted, he was sentenced to twenty-one days’ hard labour.’
This seems to have been George Cotton Kemp. He must have completed his apprenticeship, as in the 1881 census he appears as a block maker.
The monetary attraction of playing the dulcimer – presumably in pubs – is clear from the amount he could make per evening!
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