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.

---

Dormer, Dormer and Dormer

No, not a bunch of lawyers, just a photograph in the family's possession of the three brothers. From left to right they are Ted, Joe and Ernie Dormer.

Ted, on the left, is Georgia and Nancy’s great grandfather. The connection is shown in the diagram at the foot of this post. All three are looking very smart - they have handkerchiefs tucked into their breast pockets and although this is only a sepia photo it looks though they are all wearing very similar light ties with a bold pattern.

Ted, Joe and Ernie Dormer
Click illustrations to see full size

They each have a tie-pin, not at the bottom of the tie keeping the tie from flapping in the wind - their buttoned-up double-breasted jackets would do that - but at the top of the tie and behind it, holding down the collar. An expert on the fashions of the day could probably put a rough date to the photo just from that one clue; sadly I am no fashion expert. Their shoes all look highly polished and shiny and Ernie has smart pin-stripe trousers.

When was the photo taken? Well, Ernie, the eldest, was born in 1910, Ted in 1911 and Joe, the youngest, in 1915. By scanning the image, Microsoft’s How-Old.net estimates their ages as Ted, twenty; Joe, thirteen; and Ernie, forty seven (!). It does show shows their gender correctly as male. My own guess is that they are from mid to late teens. If Ernie is, say, nineteen, then that would make Ted eighteen and Joe fourteen and the photo would have been taken in the late 1920s or early 1930s, about 85 years ago at the time of writing.

How-Old.net's guesstimate of their ages - I don't think they got Ernie's quite right!

Where was the photo taken? I can’t even give an approximation here. They appear to be standing together on a balcony and the two letters ‘U’ and ‘N’ appear in reverse on the left-hand side of the picture, with the word ‘THE’ below the ‘U’ and the ‘N’. Not much of a clue there, then, and there is nothing written on the back of the original.

So there you have it. Three smart young lads, out and about, all dressed up in their best finery. I’d love to have known what the occasion was…

Click image to see full-size

William Joseph MASSER and his Patent In-car Route Planner

I had an email from the family history web site Mocavo recently telling me that more MASSER references had been added to their database. As usual they had little information on events in the UK - they were mainly in the USA - but they did have a pointer to an announcement in The Times of London of 15 December 1906, p5, for William Joseph MASSER's marriage to Minnie Louisa HORNIMAN née BENNETT (1). William Joseph MASSER was Georgia and Nancy's second cousin, four times removed and I already knew of the extraordinary story of his marriage to Minnie - I look forward to telling that tale in another post.

While pursuing this I came across a reference in  the Intellectual Property EXchange Limited (IPEXL) web site to a patent taken out by him in 1912/1913 for United Kingdom Patent 191228178-A. The patent was for 'Improvements in or connected with Movable Announcements, Maps, Route Indicators and the like' and the wonderfully complex description - beat this, Heath Robinson! - ran:

28,178. Horniman, W. J. M., Richardson, J. R., and Byrom, T. Dec. 6. Moving-map and like indicators for vehicles. -One or more webs, bearing announcements, maps, routes, &c. are operated by a vehiclepart so as to indicate the position of the vehicle at any moment, admit of the adjustment of the webs and reversal of their travel, and allow automatically for the deflexion of the vehicle in traffic. The route-web may be wound upon a drum Q, passed between a rubber-coated roller Q and a spring- pressed roller, led across the device to another pair of rollers, one spring-urged upon the other rubber-coated roller, and on to a roller Q. A band bearing the names of theatres &c. may be arranged in a similar manner between the rollers R', R'. The rollers R, R, Q, Q are urged against bevel-wheels J, K, L, M by spring-cups Q, R, and the bevel-wheels gear with wheels H, H

Illustration from Espacenet Patent Search web site (2)

having teeth I, I capable of engaging clutch-members I, I rigidly secured to a shaft F. The rubber-coated rollers are all geared up to the bevel-wheels J, K, L, M and effect the travel of the webs. A flexible cord C, driven from a wheel of the vehicle, drives a worm-wheel D with clutch teeth E, E' capable of engaging clutch-members E, E3 on a shaft F according to the position of a lever G, which controls the longitudinal movement of the shaft F and is operated by the conductor of the vehicle so as to reverse the direction of travel of the web when desired. A key controls the bevel-gearing W, W and enables the shaft F to be rotated manually so as to adjust the web when necessary. To compensate for the vehicle having to deflect its course, a lever Z, Fig. 9, is connected to the steering-gear and is deflected thereby. If moved to the right, it causes a rod Z to slide, rotates a lever Z about its pivot Z, and moves a disk Y along a shaft Y towards the centre of a disk Y, driven by a wheel of the vehicle. If moved to the right, the lever Z again causes a diminution in the speed of rotation of the disk Y' and, consequently, of the cord Y, which, in this case, drives the worm-wheel D, Fig. 4.

Application Number: GBD191228178
Publication Number: 191228178 (A)
Application Date: 1912-12-06
Publication Date: 1913-07-17
Inventor:
HORNIMAN WILLIAM JOSEPH MASSER
RICHARDSON JOHN ROBERT
BYROM THOMAS
Assignee:
HORNIMAN WILLIAM JOSEPH MASSER
RICHARDSON JOHN ROBERT
BYROM THOMAS
Full Text at United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (IPO).(3) 

I love the idea of the 'band bearing the names of theatres &c'.

TomTom and GPS, eat your heart out!
Google maps - a Masser did it a century ago!

William Joseph MASSER took the name HORNIMAN after his marriage to Minnie Louisa but as I said, that's another story.

Why the interest in an in-car route planner? Well, William Joseph was importing a car which he sold as the Mass, from France - there is a picture of a 1905 Mass 8 hp 2-Seater on the Classic Cars web site showing a registration number LC 5670. The description runs:

Lot 317
Dukes Auction, Vintage Cars & Automobilia
19th May 2010
1905 MASS 8HP TWO SEATER
Registration Number: LC 5670
Engine Number: 18097 

Mass motor cars were built in Courbevoie, Seine, for the English market and took their name from their importer, Mr Masser-Horniman. From 1912, it was sold in its homeland under the name of its manufacturer, Pierron. 

Initially, there were only single cylinder versions of the 4 ½ hp and 6hp models, but in 1905, two and four cylinder versions arrived. From 1907 and up until the Great War, the range became more advanced. 

This example was found in the 1950's by John Jarvis, having been left in a garage in Highgate by its then owner since before the First World War. Since its rediscovery, the Mass has been part of the collection of the late John Ahern. Correspondence in the history file confirms that it was also part of the Patrick Collection up until 1996. 

Now in restored condition, this attractive Edwardian motor is finished in blue with black wings has black leather upholstery and is complete with a beige double duck hood, brass radiator, rear mounted spar and side lighting. It is thought to be the sole surviving example of the marque. 

The aforementioned vast history file includes important data and history notes, photographs, the V5C registration certificate, and a VCC Dating Certificate No. 652, dated 12th June 1957. 

Careful recommissioning may be appropriate following museum storage.
£10,000-15,000. (4)

Duke's appears to be an auction house in Dorchester, England (5).

1905 8 h.p. single cylinder De Dion Engined tonneau LC 5670
Acknowledgements to motorbase.com

Another view of LC 5670
Acknowledgements to motorbase.com

The claim that it is the sole surviving example of the mark may be erroneous; elsewhere I have seen a report by T C Hudson on the Northwood Village web site that another Mass, a 1910 22hp model registration DL 557 went from the Isle of Wight to Ohio in the United States (6). The article shows Raymond Porter (driving) and George Marvin (of the family of the original owners).

DL 557 with Raymond Porter (driving) and George Marvin
Acknowledgements to Northwood Village web site

There is a further report of the occasion in the Isle of Wight County Press web site for Friday, March 5, 2004:

50 Years Ago
March 6, 1954
The oldest running Island motor-car was sold by its owners to an automobile enthusiast in America. The 22hp 1903 Mass car, with a registration of DL 557, did a maximum speed of 50mph and 18 miles to the gallon.(7)

And how did John Robert RICHARDSON come into it? He was William Joseph's partner according to the Motorbase web site which states:

1903 - 1923
Like the Marlborough, the Mass was built in France but sold largely on the British market, and its name came from the British importer Mr Masser-Horniman.  The first cars were assembled voiturettes typical of their period, with 4 1/2hp Aster or 6hp De Dion Bouton engines and tubular frames, many components coming from Lacoste et Battmann.  A 10hp 2-cylinder De Dion with twin carburettors was offered in 1904. 

Ownership of the company is somewhat uncertain; Masser-Horniman was described as the proprietor in 1904, with premises in Ladbroke Road, North London and the 'principal' in France was Leon Pierron.  From 1912 his name was used for the cars sold on the French market.  The manager of the Courbevoie factory in 1907 was Englishman J.R. Richardson whose Lincolnshire-based company also sold Masses and made Richardson cars.  It is possible that the Richardson was in fact, a Mass; certainly the smallest Richardson of 1905 had a 6 1/2hp single cylinder, as did the smallest Mass. 

In 1911 the biggest Mass had a 4.9 litre 4-cylinder engine and for 1913 came the first six.  By then it was becoming difficult to sell cars in England, and Mass Cars Ltd took on agencies for American R.C.H. and Paige cars, selling the latter under the name of Mass-Paige. 

Source: Nick Georgano / The Beaulieu Encyclopaedia of the Automobile (8)

Sources cited:

1. http://www.mocavo.com/The-Annual-Index-to-the-Times-1906/399312/498 retrieved on 18 January 2014
2. http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&II=0&ND=3&adjacent=true&locale=en_EP&FT=D&date=19130717&CC=GB&NR=191228178A&KC=A
3. http://patent.ipexl.com/GB/191228178ZZDASHZZA.html retrieved on 18 January 2014
4. http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/car-advert/mass/8hp/1905/93672/ retrieved on 18 January 2014
5. http://www.dukes-auctions.com/ retrieved on 18 January 2014
6. http://www.northwoodvillage.org.uk/the-mass-by-t-c-hudson/6039/ retrieved on 18 January 2014
7. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/friday-march-5-2004-5428.aspx retrieved on 18 January 2014
8. http://www.motorbase.com/manufacturer/by-id/2033015246 retrieved on 18 January 2014 citing Georgano, Nick. 'The Beaulieu Encyclopaedia of the Automobile'

Henry Mariott RICHARDSON's 'The Rock of Justice'

Isn't it amazing what you can still find on ebay!

A copy of Henry Marriott Richardson's 'The Rock of Justice' arrives through the post - HMR was 2-great grandfather to Georgia and Nancy. There is no publication date but a publisher's announcement on the back refers to new books for spring, 1928.

The book is a typical detective/mystery novel of the period, well written in the style of the time - not surprisingly as HMR was a journalist by profession and he later went on to become a founder member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) before being elected the Union's first paid General Secretary in 1918. Interestingly, one of the characters is named Mona, which was also the name of his then 17-year-old daughter.

Another nice family memento...

Another piece of the RICHARDSON jigsaw fits in place

Ancestry had an open day for Canadian records on Canada Day, July 1st, this year. Bless 'em. Lots of interesting stuff, including the Form 30A Declaration of Passenger to Canada for Harold Guy RICHARDSON (1873 - 1945). It gave the usual details of his home address in Ottawa, name of the ship - S S Melita -  in which he was travelling, and date of sailing - 16 October 1924. There are some period photographs of the interior of the Melita on E J Palmer's web site.

As well as these details there were two bits of information which were really fascinating - his reason for the voyage and his last address in England.

Michael, a descendant of his, had been told by his mother of Harold's connection with the League of Nations but since Michael started research his family history he had found no evidence at all to support this. In 2010 Michael had written to the United Nations archives in Geneva but they had found no trace of any connection with Harold. In fact, the League of Nations connection seemed unlikely, since Harold appeared to have worked in newspapers in Canada ever since he emigrated to Canada from England early in the twentieth century. 

However, here we have the connection. His occupation is recorded as "General Secretary to the League of Nations Society in Canada" and his reason for leaving Canada is given as "To attend the League of Nations in Geneva". Documented confirmation of oral tradition - it's interesting how there is almost always a solid basis of truth behind family stories.

We have not yet found any record of his voyage out to Geneva, but he gives his nearest relative in the country from which he came as "H M Richardson" of the "National Union of Journalists, Fleet Street, London" - "H M Richardson" was his brother Henry Marriott (1876 - 1936), who himself had been a journalist and founder member of the NUJ before being elected the Union's first paid General Secretary in 1918. He still held this position in 1924, so it looks as though Harold was visiting family on his way back to Canada - as well as Henry Marriott, Harold had another brother, Charles, who was also a journalist.

So, in Michael's words, "Another nagging question answered!"

Two Joseph Fallowfield MASSER Items

Two items from ebay arrived in the post today. Their frontispieces announce:

"Meadow Lane, Leeds.
Particulars and plan of valuable building land, suitable for shops, workshops, warehouse, &c. Situated in Meadow Lane, Leeds, and lately forming the site of the Trafalgar Mills.
To be sold by auction by Messrs. Hepper and Sons at the Great Northern Railway Station Hotel, Leeds, on Tuesday, the 28th day of July, 1874.
Leeds: J.F. Masser & Sons.
1874"

Trafalgar Mill Estate, Meadow Lane, Leeds

and

"The Oxton Hall Estate.
Particulars of an important and most desirable seat situated in the townships of Oxton and East Tadcaster, in the Ainsty of the City of York, and comprising Oxton Hall, park, pleasure grounds and farm lands.

Containing in the whole 167 acres together with an annual tithe rent charge of £75 9s. 9d which Messrs. Hepper & Sons will sell by auction, at the Royal Station Hotel, York on Wednesday, the 1st day of May, 1872.

Leeds: J.F. Masser & Sons.
1872"

Oxton Hall Estate, Tadcaster

The first is a folded printed pamphlet with a coloured folding plan of the Trafalgar Mills estate; the second is also a folded printed pamphlet with a large litho-coloured folding plan of the Oxton Hall estate.

These are the first Joseph Fallowfield MASSER plans I have managed to acquire and they are quite large - 42cm x 26cm (16.5 x 10 inches) - so I have had to photograph them instead of scanning them in my A4 scanner.

Joseph Fallowfield MASSER, a successful Leeds lithographer, was Georgia and Nancy's 4 great grandfather.

What It's All About...

When I first started looking at my family's history, I had always thought that my roots were in the North East of England. That was where my grandparents lived; where my father went to school and to college; and where my family always went when they went "home".

After my mother's death in the mid-1970s we found that she had left lots of notes about the family on little bits of paper. Who were all these people? Putting the jigsaw together revealed ancestors from the North West as well as the North East of England; from East Anglia; and from the South. A patchwork of country landowners and illiterate farm labourers, paper manufacturers and marine engineers, builders and farmers, public house owners and Methodist teetotallers.

Research has taken me to County Record Offices from the North of England to the South. When I started you could still handle the original parish records and vellum documents. No longer. Original documents were first replaced by fiche and microfilm. These are now being replaced by on-line scanned documents on the internet.
In place of paper files and Family Record Sheets we now have data files on our computer. A Family Record Sheet can be printed out at the (metaphorical) touch of a button. A 3.5 inch hard drive now holds the equivalent of many feet of shelf space.

The world also has shrunk. We might have known of a cousin or two who had emigrated. In those days, if we were still in contact with them at all, a letter probably involved a large payment for a small postage stamp. An international phone call would cost a month's wages, if the international operator could put you through at all. This has all changed as well. The world wide web has brought us into contact with many more cousins; our emails go back and forward 24/7.

So it has been change, change, change since I started. Interesting enough in itself.

But I have other reasons for continuing.

There's the excitement of the chase; the unexpected connection; the pleasure of knocking down a brick wall; the satisfaction when you find which of several Joe Bloggs in Lower Mandeville is yours.

Then there's the feeling that you are leaving something for future generations. I found a chart of a branch of the family tree made by a cousin in 1903. If anyone appreciates my work as much as I did his, it would all have been worthwhile.

Finally, theres the fascination of the family stories that are revealed. In some cases they are dramatic - murder, mayhem and sudden death. Others are the stories of great success, in business and the professions.

I hope to bring you a few ideas based on my experiences. I may add some of those stories. I'll probably raise as many questions as I give answers.

Let's see how it goes.

Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us.
Ecclesiasticus Chapter 44, verse 1