Ralph_Smith

RALPH SMITH
The man with the scissors

If you have surfed this site or visited the tribute to the Jarrow marchers near the Viking center in Jarrow Northeast England or even browsed some books of the Jarrow crusade you will most probably have come across a photo of a man cutting the hair of some of the marchers.
His name was ralph smith, who was born and bread in Jarrow.
Now I dont know a great deal about this man, I believe he worked in the Palmers Shipyard.
He liked the odd wager on horses,dogs but most of all boxing.
How did I find these little snipit of information out about the Jarrow Barbar?.
Well Ralph Smith (the man with the scissors)was in fact my Grandfather.
I remember my Dad telling me the stories of grandad on the march and the hunger he himself, his younger Brother Jimmy,and two sisters Phyllis and Margaret along with there Mother Margaret had to endure through the days of the depression.
On the first of December 1987 my Father Tommy Smith lost his fight against Cancer, Nan died in Febuary 1990.
Nan moved down to Hatfield in the late seventies to be near to aunty Phyllis,uncle Jimmy moved to Bristol and Aunty Margaret moved to Newzealand and Dad moved to Stockton-On-Tees where he took a job as a caretaker in Baily street school which as long been demolished.
On Thursday October the 23rd 1986 Nan gave an interview to the Welwyn and Hatfield Times, the headlines read.

Jarrow marcher's widow recalls dark day's of 30s

FIFTY years ago this month 33 men set off from Jarrow on a protest march to London.
Times were hard in the thirties and even harder in Jarrow where 80 per cent were unemployed.
Margaret Smith's late husband Ralph was one of those who felt it was time to do something.
My man had been out of work 13 years and there was no hope of a job with all the shipyards closing.
He wanted to make the Government realise how bad things were in the North, said Margaret 77 who lives in drovers way Hatfield.

When times were really bad I remember keeping my husband and my self and four kids on a shilling a day (5p).
We used to eat whatever was cheap - on Sunday mornings the butcher used to auction the meat left over from Saturdays and you could get a lump of beef for a shilling.
I used to rush round after church then rush home with the meat and my husband would have the oven hot and ready said Margaret.

A newspaper cutting of Ralph giving a fellow marcher a haircut (below) keeps alive memories of her husband who died in 1955.
He used to set up his barbers shop in our back yard to earn a few bob.
On the way to London with their petition the marchers were joined by hundreds more.

Well-wishers cared for them along the way,letting them sleep in school's and church halls and holding civic banquets for them.
After the sparten diet they had been used to at home the rich food proved too much for many of them.
My man had to go to hospital when he got to London he had carbuncles under his arms and they said it was because of the rich food said Margaret who left Jarrow for Hatfield 12 years ago to live near her Daughter.
Back home the wives had a harder time: the authorities refused to pay dole money at first because there husbands were on the march.

We all sat down outside the office and refused to move and they said they would think about it.
When they did give us money it wasn't much I got 27 shillings (Ł1.35p) for the five of us and they said we had to pay it back - but we never did said Margaret.

The marchers came home in November 1936 and margaret remembers they got an hero's welcome and fireworks at Jarrow station.
But when the excitement died down very little had changed it didn't really do any good.
My man was out of work for couple of years after that things didn't really pick up until the war and they were not that good after that.

Now fifty years on Margaret hopes to relive a few memories when the 1986 Jarrow marchers pass through Herdfordshire later this month she hopes to be able to join them for part of their journey.