From The Lane to the water
Johnny Milgate was born in The Lane, West Mersea, in 1890 and attended the village school. He left school for a working life afloat, serving on yachts and a sailing barge before joining the Royal Navy during the First World War.
In interviews late in his life he described the vessels on which he worked and served. His account is particularly valuable for its details of an ordinary sailor's experience, rather than a retrospective account of the war as a whole.
Work and gardening after the war
After the war Milgate married and worked for the council on Mersea. He lived in Firs Road and became well known for the fruit, vegetables and plants he grew. An island photograph records him with the overall winner's cup for produce at the Summer Show.
When he reached his hundredth birthday he received a telegram from the Queen, which later passed to his eldest granddaughter. That family account is part of the record alongside the audio interviews.
Two 1983 recordings
Dennis Chatters interviewed Milgate in 1983, when he was 93, for Lions Talking Magazine numbers 66 and 68. The two parts last 23 and 24 minutes. Most of the conversation concerns his schooldays, employment afloat and naval service; he said comparatively little on tape about his later gardening and family life.
A 1960 family wedding photograph shows him with his son George and George's bride, Beryl Phillips. Johnny's life belongs to an earlier generation than shipwright John Milgate; a shared surname should not be treated as evidence that the two men were father and son.