The Ten-Year Wait

Every ten years genealogists and family historians get their biggest and best birthday present. 

Ten years is the twinkling of an eye in genealogical time. Ten years is a lifetime while waiting for genealogical data to become available. Ten years is the period between each UK census.

For the genealogist and family historian a census can be a treasure trove of information. Well, a treasure trove when we can find our ancestors in it and a source of much frustration when we can't. The earliest useful national census was taken in 1841 and they were thereafter taken every ten years and, since personal census data (as opposed to statistical results) is not released for a hundred years, the last useful census was taken in 1911. In five years' time we will be able to access the 1921 census; after that, nothing for 1931 and 1941.

So why no 1931 and 1941?

Well, in 1942 the returns for the entire 1931 census went up in flames - you can read more about it on the National Archives web site. Then, by 1941 there was a war on and a census was scarcely a priority. This meant that no census was taken between 1921 and 1951.

Luckily, all is not lost. On 29 September 1939, twenty-nine days after World War II was declared, a National Register was compiled. It listed personal details of every civilian in Great Britain and Northern Ireland in order to issue identity cards, organise rationing and so forth. It was later used by the National Health Service (NHS) when it started in 1948 and the records remained with the NHS until 1991 to maintain National Health numbers.

Although it didn't have quite as much information as a census, it did have names, date of birth and occupation of all civilians at each address in the country. You can now access it through the FindMyPast web site and when you do, the Hundred Year Rule only allows details of people born over 100 years ago to be shown; the others are redacted with the words 'This record is officially closed'.

So when we searched, what did we find in the 1939 National Register?

Ted and Blanche Dormer

Well, we looked for Edward ('Ted') Dormer, born on 1 May 1911, and his wife Blanche (Louisa), born on 12 November 1911, and found both of them at 40 Lynton Road, Peterborough. Ted was described as 'Dormer, Edward, M[ale], born 1.5.11, M[arried], Radio dealer manager' and Blanche as 'Dormer, Blanche, F[emale], born 12.11.11, M[arried], Unpaid domestic duties'. They appear to be in lodgings with George Bustin, a Railway Yard Inspector, and his wife Ethel who are at the top of the entry for 40 Lyndon Road. There is a redacted entry which is probably a child of the Bustins.

Edward and Blanche DORMER at 40 Lynton Road, Peterborough in the 1939 National Register.
Click on the image to see full size.

The page has obviously had some wear and tear since it was first filled in. There are updates in red ink and anyone who has come across a battered old book or document will recognise the old yellowed Sellotape repairs on the pages. This gives a clear indication of the dangers of using pressure-sensitive tape for repairs - they are not archival and here even a professional conservator has found the staining impossible to remove.


40 Lynton Road, Peterborough

So what were Ted and Blanche doing in Peterborough, so far from their London roots? Ted was from Bethnal Green in the East End and Blanche from Fulham. They had been married in East Finchley in north London a month before on 26 August 1939 when he had been described as a 'Manager'. This suggests that either he had been moved to another branch of his employers, or had started with a new employer.

Ted Dormer (right) with a colleague outside the radio store where he worked, probably in London.

The family has several photographs of different branches of District Radio Supplies where Ted had been working in London. The one shown here has a sign above Ted's head reading: 'Your accumulator thoroughly charged for 3d'. 3d was three old pence, just over one new penny. In those days most radios ran on batteries for the high tension (HT) and accumulators for the low tension (LT) power supplies, though some were directly mains powered. When the HT battery ran down you simply bought a new one and plugged it in but the LT accumulators needed regular recharging. I remember carrying the accumulator for the school radio down to the local garage to be recharged—it was, to say the least, rather heavy. The prices in the windows are in shillings and old pence with twelve old pence to the shilling and twenty shillings to the pound. A pound was often referred to as a 'quid', a shilling as a 'bob', six old pence as a 'tanner'; half a crown was two shillings and sixpence and a guinea was one pound and one shilling. Oh, and a florin was two shillings and there were also silver threepenny pieces to put in the Christmas pudding! No wonder we were better at mental arithmetic in those days—today's decimal coinage is certainly simpler...

Well, where do we go from here? What about the rest of Ted's family?

Ernie and Louisa Dormer

Ted had two brothers, Ernie and Joseph; they are also in the 1939 National Register. Ernie, the eldest of the three, was at 17 Southborough Road, Hackney, London with his wife Louisa. They were described as 'Dormer, E(rnest) H(enry), Male, born 10.6.10, Radio Sales Manager' and 'Dormer, L[ouisa] R[ebecca], Female, born 21.9.11, Unp[aid] D[omestic] D[uties]'. Also living at number 17 was Emily Benoy, a widow and dressmaker, born in 1875.


Ernie Dormer and Louisa at 17 Southborough Road, Hackney, London, in the 1939 National Register.

It's interesting that both Ted and Ernie went into the radio retail industry, then very 'new technology', and that both of them progressed to the post of manager.



Southborough Road, Hackney

Joe Dormer

In the meantime, where was Joe, the youngest of the three brothers? The 1939 register shows him at 57 Approach Road, Bethnal Green, in London with his mother Emma. They were described as 'Dormer, Joseph J., M[ale], 15 June [19]15, S[ingle], Radio Sales Clerk also Lorry Driver' and 'Dormer, Emma, F[emale], 14 Nov [18]76, W[idow], Tie Maker Retired'. Joe, 'also Lorry Driver'? What was that about? When and for whom had he driven lorries? That is a question still to be answered.

Joseph Dormer and his mother Emma at 57 Approach Road, Bethnal Green in the 1939 National Register

It may be pure coincidence, but also at 57 Approach Road were two single ladies with the surname Webb. Were they in any way related to Joe's brother Ernie's wife Louisa née Webb? It's an intriguing thought and may later be confirmed or contradicted by further research.


Approach Road, Bethnal Green

The two brothers lived on opposite sides of Victoria Park, Joe to the south and Ernie to the north, and both lived close to the former family home at Lessada Street, which was badly bomb-damaged during the blitz and later razed to the ground. Its site now lies opposite Palmers Road on the east side of the Regents Canal and within the northerly end of Mile End Park.

Route between Southborough Road, Approach Road and Palmers Road, opposite the site of Lessada Street

Epilogue

Early in the war Ted joined the RAFVR on 2 October 1940 with the Service Number 1205031. After training in Scotland as an RTOp (Radio Telephonist) he was "billeted near the Pyramids in Egypt"—his service records show 6 months in Egypt, 2 months in Cyrenaica (Libya) and 2 months in the Lebanon.

Joe also joined the RAF in 1940, while Ernie joined the ARP for the duration of the war.

Both the Masser and the Goddard families appear in the 1939 National Register; but that's for another post.

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