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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 We would like to say thank you to all our research volunteers and all those who help to make this possible.

This week we’ve not got one Worker of the Week, but two! Married couple Elizabeth and Fredrick Eastaught are this officially this week’s Workers of the Week.  Whether you like poetry or hockey you can find out more about them below.

Frederick’s Early Life

• Firstly, Frederick Alldis Eastaught was born on 26th February 1882.
• He was born at Forty Hill, Enfield, Middlesex.
• Ellen Alldis and Frederick Eastaught were his parents.
• We also know that his father worked as as a school teacher.

 

• After this he must of studied at the Royal College of Science.
• In 1903 Frederick was awarded a B.S.C. from there and then received an Associateship at the Royal School of Mines in London. [1]
• Following the he started working as a lecture at the University of Sydney. [1]
• However, he did return to London for a year in 1909 to lecture at the Imperial College, University of London, London. [1]

Frederick and Hockey

• It’s impossible to fairly describe Frederick without mentioning his interest in sport, particularly hockey.
• When he started working at the University in 1907, it seems that hockey teams had only just been established at the university.[2]
• Frederick played a vital part of ensuring the long-levity of the sport at the University.
• He helped establish the Barbarians Hockey club, a team which he played for many times between 1907 and 1915. [2]
• Frederick also played for the New South Wales Team.[2]

 

• A shortage of umpires led Frederick to also act as one for many games between 1907 and 1914. [2]
• If that’s not enough to show his enthusiasm for the sport, perhaps how he wrote a hockey newspaper column under the name of “F.E” from 1907 to 1911. [2]
• Then there’s how Professor Eastaugh was the first president of the Sydney Universty Hockey Club (SUHC) in 1907. (More on that later).[2]

 

• Perhaps a better reflection of his passion for hockey is how he opened his doors from early 1908 after Wednesday lectures for anyone who wanted to learn more about the sport. [2]
• This was regardless of what club they supported.
• Despite, Sydney University Sports Union not allowing women to play on university grounds, Frederick welcomed women into his these mid-week talks. [2]
• More than that he encouraged women to take up hockey; umping, coaching and giving guidance to the University’s Women’s Hockey Team. [2]

Elizabeth’s Early Life

• Meanwhile, Elizabeth Muriel Grace Nicholson was born in 1885.
• She was born in Newark, Nottingham.
• Following this she was baptised at St Mary Magdalene church in Newark on 2nd August 1885.
• Elizabeth’s parents were Edward Henry Nicholson and Sarah Ann (nee Prior).
• We know Edward worked as a civil mechanical engineer.
• Eilzabeth had three older siblings.

 

• Next, we know in 1909, Elizabeth sailed all the way to New Zealand on the “Tongariro.”
• We know she was accompanying her Aunt Margaret and Uncle John Prior who had been on holiday in Britain.
• Seemingly, she would have arrived in Wellington on 15th December 1909.
• We wonder who else was in New Zealand around this time…

 

Married Life

• On the 5th January 1911, Frederick married Elizabeth at St John’s Fielding, New Zealand.
• Is it possible that they could have met while Frederick was in London, or did they meet in New Zealand? Perhaps they met somewhere else entirely. What do you think?

 

• What we do know is that Elizabeth and Frederick lived at Hunters Hill, New South Wales, Australia.
• Here Frederick returned to his academic career at Sydney University.
• Now working as Professor of Engineering and Metallurgy.
• The couple had two children during this time, prior to World War One with a third later born after it had ended.

 

World War One

• At the start of the First World War, Frederick was commissioned to work for the Australian Imperial Force. [1]
• However, his chemistry and engineering credentials proved to useful for him to go to into military service. [1]
• For the first few months of the war, he spent his time approving the chemical composition of steel used for making shells.

 

• Also around this time in 1914 he was chosen to umpire two very special matches! [2]
• These were the first two women’s international hockey matches ever played in Australia. [2]
• Afterwards Frederick Eastaugh and the other umpire Mr Redgrave were good naturedly presented with walking sticks! [2]

 

• Following this, he became part of an Australian munitions team of scientific workers and traveled to the UK in World War One.
• If you’re familiar with our Worker of the Week posts [3 and 4] you might be aware that we’ve touched on some of the reasons why Australian chemists and engineers traveled to the UK in World War One.
• If you’re not let’s just say, the Ministry of Munitions wanted more chemists, the Australian government wanted to upskill their workers about the manufacture of munitions and Australian  Arthur Leighton Edgar helped to make this happen. [5]
• When he arrived in the UK, Frederick was sent to work at a certain munitions factory, which crossed the Anglo – Saxon border (more on that later).

 

• Meanwhile, we know that Elizabeth and the children also traveled to the UK in 1916.
• They sailed on the “Corinthic” in November 1916, presumably to join Frederick.
• However, it seems that they spent time in London staying with Elizabeth’s and Frederick’s parents during this time too.

 

H.M. Factory Gretna

• If you hadn’t already guess by now (which you probably have if you’ve come across our museum before) Frederick was assigned to work at H.M. Factory Gretna.
• We know he worked at the Mossband area of the factory (near Longtown). [6]
• In the Mossband Farewell Magazine, which created by those who worked in the Mossband section of the factory to remember their time working there, a “F. A. Eaustaught” with a forwarding address of Sydney University Australia is listed as a member of Operating Staff. [6]
• We think this highly likely to be Frederick. What do you think?

 

• We know there several hockey teams at H.M. Factory Gretna and it’s not hard to imagine that Frederick may have wanted to be involved in this in some way.
• However, we are yet to come across any definitive evidence that he was.

Layout of the Factory

• We do know that Frederick appears to have lived at Staff Quarters, Eastriggs at some point.
• Now, (we’ve mentioned this before and we will do so again, but people can get a bit muddled on the geography and feel free to skip to the next paragraph if you know what’s coming) Eastriggs was one of the two townships built to house and facilitate all those who worked at the factory, with the other township being its namesake Gretna ( not to be confused with the Gretna Green of wedding-fame which already existed).
• The rural site of the factory actually ran from Dornock in Scotland to Longtown in England. The government called it H.M. Factory Gretna (presumably for ease of not having to say H.M. Factory Gretna, Eastriggs, Dornock and Longtown every single time, or perhaps more importantly for security reasons, or they could have been influenced by the fact that the central offices for the factory were reported to be in Gretna.)

Farewell Cordite!

• So, what was Elizabeth and the rest of the family doing at this time?
• We already know that they spent time living in London, but surely they must have been aware of what Frederick was doing? Would they have stayed locally at some point during this time?
• Again we can turn to The Mossband Farewell Magazine. [7]
• As well as names of those who had worked at the factory, the magazine also features artwork, stories and poetry by those who worked there.
• One such poem is “Farewell Cordite” written by Elizabeth Eastaugh. [7]
• Could this suggest that Elizabeth did live locally or even work at the factory? If she did we don’t know exactly what her role was, but we do have her poem which perhaps shows what she was feeling about her time at H.M. Factory Gretna.

“Farewell Cordite!

 

Farewell, Farewell to Gretna!

To Solway’s Moss and Tide;

We’re going far from Gretna

Across the oceans wide.

 

Our lives are once again our own.

Unmarked by Syren’s shift:

But men and maids must scatter,

And friendships come adrift.

 

The Southern seas are calling

Their men to sail away;

The Northern lights are hiding

The girls that worked so gay.

 

In days of future freedom,

What visions shall arise!

A sudden whiff of Ether…

And… were we fools or wise?

 

A long farewell to Gretna!

To Sycamore and Heath.

To Areas and Compounds-

And all the mud beneath!”

-Elizabeth Eastugh.

From The Mossband Farewell Magazine. [7]

(It’s not unusual for words to change meaning over time. If you told a H.M. Factory Gretna worker that they ate and left no crumbs, or even that they slay they’d probably interpret it completely differently than a young person would today.  Given context and time the line “the girls that worked so gay” refers to happiness of the munition workers, but if you’re disappointed by this you could always go read about Dr Flora Murray by clicking here>. Now she slays.)

 

• We should also note that Frederick appears to have been in the Institute of Chemistry.

 

 

• Meanwhile, some further evidence that the family could have lived in Gretna appears in the Electoral Role from 1918 to 1919.
• Here, a certain Elizabeth and Fred Eastuagh are listed as living at 90 Victory Avenue in Gretna.
• Presumably, Frederick could have gone by Fred as a nickname and he could have moved from his earlier Eastriggs address to be with the rest of his family. What do you think?
• However, it doesn’t seem as if the family stayed in Scotland for much longer…

Return to Australia

• In 1919, the Eastuagh family returned to Australia aboard the Devanha.
• Back in Australia, Fredderick returned to Sydney University (as we’ve already seen from his forwarding address in The Mossband Farewell magazine.) [6]
• It seems he became Associate Professor of Engineering Technology and Metallurgy. [1]
• On his return to Australia, Frederick found that his team the Barbarians no longer existed, but this didn’t stop him continuing to enjoy other sports and support hockey. [2]
• A couple of years after their return of Australia, Elizabeth and Frederick had another child.

 

• Although, the family seems to have settled back in Australia, this Frederick appears to have visited London again in 1934.
• Perhaps he called on his parents or his local friends who lived in the area. We know he’d previously received post from a chemist working in that area.

Later Life

• Sadly, in 1935, Frederick and Elizabeth’s son Edward died of pneumonia after a short illness.[2]
• We can’t imagine what this must have been like for the family.

 

• In 1938, Frederick had taken up a position of Professor of Engineering Technology at the university.[1]
• This was a position until he retired in 1948. [2]

 

• Do you remember how he was elected president of Sydney University Hockey Club?
• Well, excluding two years were he was working at H.M. Factory Gretna, Frederick continued in this position until 1945. [2]
• He only left when he was elected president of Sydney University Sports Union, which was a position he held until his retirement. [2]
• From his time doing so and working at the university, he earned the nickname ‘Uncle Ted.’ [2]

 

• What of Elizabeth? It’s not the best news…
• We know the family were living in Alexander Street, Hunters Hill, Sydney.
• Unfortunately, we know this due to Elizabeth’s death in a local hospital on 21st June 1949.

 

• Following this Frederick returned to the UK.
• Seemingly, he was caring for his parents at his old family home in Enfield, 15 Grangeway, Grange Park.
• Although, he did briefly return to Australia in 1952, it Frederick seems to have spent the rest of his life in England, even after his parents death.
• It seems he went to live in Suffolk.

 

• Frederick Eastaugh died on 23rd July 1966.

Sources and Further Reading

1.  Eastaugh, Frederick Alldis, Book of Remembrance Role, Beyond 1914: The University of Sydney and The Great War from The University of Sydney’s website – https://expn-omeka.performx.com.au/s/beyond1914/item/402174

2. Frederick Alldis Eastaugh – “Uncle Ted,” page 28 to 30, Glebe District Hockey Club (GDHC), Red Rad (RR) Newsletter August 2018 – https://glebehockey.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Red-Rag_August-2018.pdf

3. Worker of the Week: Arthur Parkin – https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/worker-of-the-week-arthur-parkin
4. Worker of the Week: Sydney Bertram Abbot – https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/worker-of-the-week-sydney-bertram-abbot
5. Anticipating Tomorrow’s Defence Needs – A century of Australian Defence Science by Peter Donovan published 2007 by The defence Science and Technology Organisation, Canberra, Australia.
6. Cordite Staff Mossband 1916 to 1918, Operating Staff, page 13, The Mossband Farewell Magazine from H.M. Factory Gretna.
7. Farewell Cordite!, page 31, The Mossband Farewell Magazine 1918 from H.M. Factory Gretna.

 

Find Elizabeth Eastaught’s online database entry by clicking here>

Find Frederick Eastaught’s online database entry 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 could 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>