Oysters and the wreck of MOLLIETTE
Douglas Stoker worked as an oyster dredger on the Blackwater, but the river also offered an unusual source of income: recovering spent brass shell cases from around the wreck of MOLLIETTE. He sold the metal for scrap and used some of the proceeds towards building his bungalow.
MOLLIETTE was a former concrete coaster that had been moved into the Blackwater and eventually used as a wartime aircraft target. Stoker's salvage work took place after the war. His account is a personal recollection of a particular livelihood, not evidence that dredging shell cases was a general Mersea trade.
The first West Mersea inshore lifeboat
Stoker was a member of the crew of Mersea's first inshore lifeboat. The RNLI established the station in July 1963 with a D-class inflatable housed beside the Yacht Club. An Atlantic 21 replaced it in 1972. A contemporary crew photograph identifies Stoker as the third man from the left.
Two surviving recordings
Dennis Chatters interviewed Stoker in 1983 for issue 62 of Mersea Island Lions' Talking Magazine. Over 26 minutes he spoke about oyster dredging, MOLLIETTE, laid-up ships in the river, ferrying nuns to Bradwell and the beginnings of the lifeboat service.
A separate April 2002 BBC Radio Essex recording preserves his recollection of recovering the brass shell cases. The interviews are valuable partly because they record the contrasts between the fishing, salvage and rescue work undertaken by one waterfront resident.
Recordings and lifeboat record
Mersea oral histories: Douglas Stoker · BBC Radio Essex recording record · RNLI station history.