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
This week’s Worker of the Week, Alice Gertrude Menzies Harding, who was a suffragette! We’ve found a few inconsistences in information about Gertrude, so if you know more about her or are aware of any corrections we need to make please let us know. A huge thank you to all our research volunteers, as always!
Early Life
Alice Gertrude Menzies Harding (who was known as Gertrude) was born on 18th August 1889 in Welsford, New Brunswick Canada. She was the youngest of seven children to William Stening Harding and Jane ne Paschal. William was a farmer.
Suffragette
In 1912 she moved to London to become a suffragette. Gertrude was involved in carrying out and planning political protests. We’ve found suggestions that one of her protests involved some rather rare flowers at Kew Gardens! [1]
From 1914, Gertrude became the editor of ‘The Suffragette’ newspaper. [2] This was a underground newspaper focusing on the news and campaigns of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), of which Gertrude was a member.
It is worth noting that ‘The Suffragette’ newspapers usually tend to say that they are edited by Christabel Pankhurst on the front cover. This even includes ones from the time when Gertrude would have been working on them, like this one from the 14th August 1914 in the London Museum’s collection>
Maybe this could be because Christabel Pankhurst was more well known for her support of the women’s suffrage movement. Although Gertrude was actively involved in protests, Christabel Pankhurst was a co-funding member of the WSPU.
Interestingly, Gertrude is not the only H.M. Factory Gretna worker and suffragette to be involved in women’s suffrage newspapers! Helga Gill helped to distribute copies of Votes for Women to freshly released WSPU prisoners. Do you think they would have met each other at H.M. Factory Gretna?
Following this, in 1915 Gertrude moved to Paris. [2] But why exactly did she move to Paris? Well, she was working as private secretary to none other than Christabel Pankhurst. This happened the same year that ‘The Suffragette’ newspaper changed its name to become the ‘Britannia’ newspaper in October 1918. [3]
H.M. Factory Gretna
However, we have also found some records that suggest Christabel already returned to England in 1914 at the outbreak of World War One. [5] So perhaps, Gertrude was finishing off Christabel Pankhurst’s work in France, during her time in Paris?
According to the book ‘Rise Up Women: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes’ by Diane Atkinson, Gertrude then went on to work at H.M. Factory Gretna. She is described as “providing social assistance to the women who worked there under terrible conditions.” [6]
Therefore, we believe that she could have possibly been a member of the Welfare Department during her time working at H.M. Factory Gretna. The welfare department were responsible for looking after female munitions workers. If Gertrude had this role she may have also been involved in passing on complaints, comments or feedback from munitions workers and even inspecting rooms to make sure that they were up to standard. [4]
It is possible that fellow factory worker Helga Gill could have worked in the Welfare Department during her time at Gretna. Perhaps Gertrude and Helga could have possibly even worked together during their time at H.M. Factory Gretna, although we cannot know this for sure.
Later Life
In 1926, Gertrude returned to Canada from Liverpool. She was described as a social worker.
Gertrude died on 7th February 1977. She had returned to New Brunswick in Canada by this time.
***
[6] ‘Rise Up Women: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes’ by Diane Atkinson, published by Bloomsbury in 2018.
Find Alice Gertrude Menzies Harding online database entry by clicking here>
Gertrude Menzies Harding has a Wikipedia page, which can be found by clicking 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>
