BottomThe Peaks
Philip Peak was married at Maidstone in December 1840. His marriage certificate gives his father's name, John Peak, and his father's occupation, armourer, but no record of Philip's birth can be traced.
At the time of the 1851 census Philip was living at Waterside, Maidstone
Name Relation to Head of Household Age Occupation Place of Birth Philip Peak Head 33 Bargebuilder Strood, Kent Rebecca Peak Wife 32 Boxley, Kent Philip John Peak Son 9 Maidstone, Kent Henry Peak Son 5 Maidstone, Kent Eliza Peak Daughter 3 Maidstone, Kent Fanny Peak Daughter 9 mths Maidstone, Kent
From the early seventeenth century Maidstone had been a port, serving local industries. Ragstone was shipped from here, as was brick clay and timber for the dockyards at Chatham. In the middle of the nineteenth century it was a thriving the town, with fifty to sixty barges trading. A good place then for a bargebuilder to raise his family.
The picture on the right shows barges on the Medway at Maidstone.
The 1861 census records that Philip John Peak,19 years old and living at home with his parents, was also a bargebuilder. Henry was not at home, but it was Henry who was to carry on in the bargebuilding business after the death of his father in 1880.
Henry William Peak is listed in the 1891 census living at 32 Faith Street.
Name Relation to Head of Household Age Occupation Place of Birth Henry William Peak Head 45 Shipwright Maidstone, Kent Susan Peak Wife 44 Maidstone, Kent Henry W. Peak Son 23 Shipwright Maidstone, Kent William Peak Son 16 General Labourer Maidstone, Kent Ernest Peak Son 14 Port Shop Boy Maidstone, Kent Elizabeth Peak Daughter 11 Scholar Maidstone, Kent Julia Peak Daughter 9 Scholar Maidstone, Kent Arthur Peak Son 6 Scholar Maidstone, Kent Albert Peak Son 6 Scholar Maidstone, Kent
A Kelly's directory of 1914 lists Henry William Peak, barge builder and undertaker, of 29 Albert Street, Maidstone, and a 1937 Kelly's directory lists William Peak bargebuilder living in Allington.
