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Family History as written by my Uncle, Jim Foreman (to the best of his knowledge), Leigh-on-Sea Essex, 1993
During the 13th and mostly 14th century it became the custom to take on the surname of one's father and grandfather, especially
if you followed the occupation of your father, or you looked looked like him, or lived in the same place.
At this time, the English fleet was based, not at Portsmouth or Plymouth, but at Yarmouth.
The warships of this time had a wooden castle at the front or fore part of the ship and another at the rear or stern of
the ship. These were manned by marines, mainly archers. The men in the fore castle were known as forecastle men and the ones
in the stern, as sterncastle men. In time these were shortened to Foreman or Sternman. There were, of course, quite a lot
of them. If you look in the telephone directory, you will see many people named Foreman and also the name Sternman, or Stern
or even Stenan.
At a rather later period there was also people named Forman of the fields who was a bailiff or overseer to look after
the interests of the Lord of the Manor, especially after the period of closure of the commons by the nobility, but for some
reason this was always spelt Forman, and there were only very few of them.
If you look in the telephone directory you will see very few people of this name.
Now as to family tradition. Dad and his sister Aunt Maud always affirmed that his family were the Village blacksmith for
generations at Diss, near Norwich. My Uncle Bill and Aunt Maud visited Diss some years ago and found that people named Foreman
were running the local bus service and running a large garage there.
Dad's grandfather came from Norwich. He was a carpenter but became the works foreman at Doultons and was burned to death
trying to fight a fire at the factory.His youngest son, my grandfather Benjamin, was apprenticed at Doultons as a potter.
On one occasion he ran away, joined the army, was brought back, and after 14 days in goal, finished his apprenticeship.
My father, the youngest of three, was born in Three Mill Lane, Bromley by Bow. His mother Elizabeth died soon after he
was born. His father took to drink and neglected his children. At one time he had an interest in a deep-sea fishing boat and
was reputed to have done well out of smuggling brandy. Eventually he died of drink in a lunatic asylum. Dad was then looked
by his grandmother until she died and then lived with an uncle who eventually chucked him out and he went to lodge with his
friends, the Gaywards.
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