Worker of the Week is a series of blog posts which highlights the workers at H.M. Factory Gretna that our volunteers researched for The Miracle Workers Project. This project aimed to centralise all of the 30,000 people who worked at the factory during World War One and, although it may be over, our amazing research volunteers are continuing to uncover more stories about H.M. Factory Gretna workers to be added to this database. We are always looking to learn more about H.M. Factory Gretna workers. If you know anything about a H.M. Factory Gretna worker please feel free to get in touch with us by contacting info@devilsporridge.org.uk Hold on to your hats! This week’s Worker of the Week is Sarah Carter, who was accused of stealing a hat. A huge thank you to all our research volunteers past and present.
Early Life
Sarah McCormack was the fifth of nine children born to John and Sarah Hannah. She was born on 29th February 1884 in Middlesburgh, Yorkshire.
By 1901 census, the family is still living in Middlesbourgh. Sarah is working as a domestic servant by this time. John, her father, was working as a machinists fitter.
Marriage
We next come across Sarah in 1908 when she married Robert Carter in Middlesborough.
In the 1911 census, Sarah is recorded as still living in Middlesborough with Robert who was working as a ship’s plater. They had two children, both of which are under four years old at the time of this census. The family are living in three rooms at 19 Sutherland Street.
Sadly, Robert died in 1914.
In January 1916, Sarah Carter married Frederick Thompson at Middlesborough.
H.M. Factory Gretna
We don’t know exactly when Sarah came to work at the factory, but we know she must have done around this time. And how do we know?
It’s thanks to some thievery recorded in the local newspaper! Sarah was accused of stealing another munitions workers hat. [1]
As recorded in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard:
“THEFTS BY GRETNA GIRLS At Dumfries yesterday. May. Sarah Carter (33) a Gretna worker, pleaded guilty to stealing a hat belonging to another munition worker. She had been previously convicted. The Sheriff said they must put a stop to these thefts at Gretna if possible, and sent the accused to prison for ten days”
– Dumfries and Galloway Standard, Saturday 10th March 1917
Could Sarah Carter have stolen a hat like this one?
It’s worth noting that Sarah seems to have been employed at H.M. Factory Gretna under her previous married name of Carter, rather than Thompson. It has led us to suppose that maybe Sarah could have started working at H.M. Factory Gretna prior to second marriage. It’s possible that Frederick Thompson even worked at the factory too and they met while working there! However, we haven’t found any records of Fredrick Thompson working at the factory so far.
What we do know is, that as a consequence of her hat thievery, Sarah was sent to Dumfries Prison in Maxwelltown for 10 days!
Of course she wasn’t the first person to be involved in nefarious behaviour, while working at H.M. Factory Gretna. On one memorable occasion a gang of munitions workers stole a assortment of food items from a Gretna chip shop! [2] There is also a article about potatoes being stolen from one of the factories messrooms [3] and that’s not all! There’s further newspaper reports of stolen coats, tampering with the post and even threatening a matron.
Maybe it stands to reason that the Sheriff does point out that “they must put a stop to these thefts at Gretna if possible.” The demobilisation of H.M. Factory Gretna began on 6th December 1918, so perhaps in one way or another thefts made by H.M. Factory Gretna workers would soon cease forever.
Life After H.M. Factory Gretna
By 1939 Sarah, her two children and Frederick returned to Middlesbourgh. Fredrick is working as a general labourer.
Munitions workers received much better wages than domestic servants. Perhaps this was the only reason why Sarah moved away from Middlesborugh, as she seems to have lived there for most of her life!
In 1965 Sarah Thompson died in Middlesbrough, aged 81 years old.
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[1] The Dumfries and Galloway Standard newspaper, Saturday 10th March 1917.
Find Sarah Carter’s online database entry here>
Do you have a relative who worked at H.M. Factory Gretna? We would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact us by emailing info@devilsporridge.org.uk. You never know maybe your relative feature in a future Worker of the Week blog post! You can also have a look at some more H.M. Factory Gretna workers on our online database here>
