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 Gretna 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 so 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, Margaret Bridilla Turnbull was involved in a theft at a local shop in Gretna! A huge thank you to research volunteer Marylin all her research which has made this possible.
Margaret Bridilla Turnbull, known as Minnie Turnbull, was born in 1899 in Earsdon, Northumberland. Her mother, Mary Anne Turnbull (nee Christopher), worked as a charwomen, while her farther, John Robert Turnbull, was a tug boat man.
In the 1901 census, the family is living in a house in Bedford Street, North Shields, which is shared with 3 other families. Although, Mary is listed as being married, her husband is not present. We know he later worked with boats as a tug boat man in the 1911 census, so perhaps he could be away working on a boat, but it is impossible to know for sure.
By the 1911 census, Marry has died, leaving John Turnbull widowed and working as a tug boat man. Minnie is one of 10 children with 9 surviving in the family, which has now moved to another address in Little Bedford Street, North Shields were they live in three rooms.
In 1917 we know that 18 year old, Minnie Turnbull was employed as a munitions worker at H.M. Factory Gretna thanks to the newspaper report of some rather nefarious behaviour at a Gretna “fried fish” shop. But what exactly happened? Well, one winter Sunday evening the chip shop was particularly busy with munitions workers from the factory. Suddenly, the lamp in the shop got blown out and the chip shop was plunged into darkness. It was only in the following morning that the shop owner, Baldi Toni, found something missing! But what was missing? Money from the till? Fish? The lamp? None of the above, in fact what had vanished was:
- 9 cheese plates;
- 2 cans of corned beef;
- 6 boxes honey;
- and 3 bottles of Worcester sauce.
Does anyone else wonder what they were planning to use this rather bizarre assortment of food for?
We know that hostel matrons at H.M. Factory Gretna could provide their boarders with Borders Meal Tickets that could be exchanged for food in the factory’s messrooms. Each ticket could be traded for one meal. As described in the factory manual “these were dated and issued to the Operatives as they, left the hostel to go on shift, each receiving a number of Tickets corresponding to the meals to which they were entitled during the particular shift.” [2]
According to ‘The Factory Manual’ boarders at hostels or bungalows for H.M. Factory Gretna were also catered for their lodgers with their ration books being stored in the office of the Factory’s Catering Committees Office with “the coupons detached from the Ration Books weekly in all cases other than those departing.” [2] It also records “employees did not realise the importance of bringing their Ration Books with them when entering the hostels,” which caused “much correspondence in recovering the books, which had been left at home.” [2]
Meal tickets are also mentioned in the ‘Regulations Governing Employment’ at H.M. Factory Gretna with the strict instructions that they are “not transferable” and can only be used by the person they are issued to. In fact “any person found improperly disposing of, or receiving and using, any meal ticket would be liable to prosecution and dismissal.” [3] Could the Gretna workers with the autograph book photographed below be breaking the rules?
A munitions workers autograph book with one meal ticket for one of the H.M. Factory Gretna’s messrooms stuck inside.
However, what about the people who didn’t board at factory hostels? They could be supplied with food at the factory messrooms in exchange for a tariff to buy Food Value Tickets from the time keepers office at the entrance. Minnie and co couldn’t have been on shift at the factory on the Sunday evening in question, so perhaps they couldn’t access food in the factory messrooms at this time?
Compulsory rationing was introduced in Britain in early 1918, when the Government were concerned about some food shortages[4]. Perhaps food shortages could indeed be the reason for this theft in 1917? However, we are not aware of any food shortage at H.M. Factory Gretna. In fact, ‘The Factory Manual’ indicates the importance of ensuring that H.M. Factory Gretna workers were fed by emphasising that the Ministry had to be “absolutely certain that at least the essential food supplies for the general population of the Area were available” [2] with a particular emphasis on those boarding at the factory hostels or bungalows. Indeed, the Committee of Catering were set up with the purpose of helping to achieve this, as the management of the factory “realised that not only the retention of labour, but the general health and efficiency of workers would depend to a very large extent on the manner in which these needs were met.” [2]
So perhaps this was just an opportunistic theft? We may simply never know for sure, either way we know that they all soon faced consequences for their actions.
As reported in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard, Minnie Turnbull with her fellow Gretna chip shop regulars Lily Brown, Ellen Doran, Christina Lanagan and Isabella Kennedy were charged with theft and pleaded guilty. Or as the newspaper puts it:
“THEFTS BY GRETNA GIRLS at Dumfries yesterday: – before Sheriff Campion – Lily Brown (20), Ellen Doran (19), Christina Langan (19) Minnie Turnbull (18) and Isabella Kennedy (19), munition workers at Gretna, pleaded guilty to stealing nine cheese plates, two cans of corned beef, six boxes honey and three bottles of Worcester sauce from the shop Springfield, Gretna, occupied by Baldi Toni between 5th January and 15th February. James Kissock, depute fiscal stated that a large number of the factory girls were regular visitors at the fried fish, shop, especially on Sunday evenings. One Sunday evening about five or six weeks ago the shop was full of girls, and someone blew out the lamp, with the result that the shop was in darkness for some time. On the following morning when Toni examined his stock he found that the articles mentioned in the complaint were missing. The accused were charged with theft, and they all admitted it. Mr I. F. Edgar, solicitor, made a statement on behalf of the accused, and the Sheriff deferred sentence until May.”
– The Dumfries and Galloway Standard, Wednesday 21st February 1917.
According to the 1921 census, Minnie had moved to Auckland, Country Durham.
In 1928, Minnie Turnbull died in Tynemouth aged 29 years old.
***
[1] The Dumfries and Galloway Standard, Wednesday 21st February 1917
[2] The Factory Manual, From H.M. Factory Gretna from The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s archive.
[3] H.M. Factory Gretna Regulations Governing Employment, April 1918, page 10.
[4] Fighting Through Food, The National Archives website – https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/first-world-war/home-front-stories/fighting-through-food/
Margaret Bridilia Turbull’s online database entry>
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>
