On 16 April 1746, 
the forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie were defeated at the battle
of Culloden. News had reached London by the time that John and Mary Sykes baptised
their son, Nathaniel, at the newly rebuilt Church of St Botolph in Aldgate, just
east of the Tower of London. The baptism register (pictured right) shows that John
and Mary were living at East Smithfield. 
By the time that Nathaniel’s siblings, George
and Mary, were born in 1748 and 1749, John and Mary had moved to Angel Court off
Nightingale Lane. The map below shows the location.
John may have worked as a sail or rope maker, as this was the occupation that Natheniel
took up. Sails were needed to fit out the ships of the Royal Navy, as well as Britain’s
large merchant fleet. In the mid-eighteenth century, this fleet was trading coffee,
sugar and slaves from the West Indies, and spices and fabrics from the East Indies.
Sails were made in a sail loft which had a deck that was large enough for a sail
to be spread out completely. Once the sail size was determined, the outline was marked
out using twine held in place and off the deck with awls. The sail cloth, which was
24” wide, was then laid out under the outline, overlapping to allow for the seams.
Once the sail was assembled, reefbands, and buntlines and clews were added. The photograph
on the right shows Sailmakers’ House, a surviving sail loft, situated at 136 Narrow
Street in Ratcliffe. Nathaniel probably worked in a building like this.
Details of Nathaniel’s marriage have not been found, but it is likely that he married
in the 1770s as his first child, Nathaniel, was born in about 1777. His wife’s name
is given as Elizabeth. Two more children followed: Mary who was baptised on 17 May
1784 at the Church of St Dunstan in Stepney, and Elizabeth Ann who was baptised on
31 July 1799 at the Church of St Paul in Shadwell, over a year after she was born.
Nothing more is known about Nathaniel.
