Collections blog

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. 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   A huge thank you goes to all our research volunteers, without them these blog posts wouldn’t be possible!

This week’s Worker of the Week, Thomas George Dippie was born in Australia, seems to have been involved in more than one performance during his time working at H.M. Factory Gretna and once had a newspaper-worthy case of indigestion!

Early Life

In 1884 Thomas was born in Collingwood, Victoria, Australia.

His parents were Jessie (Louttit) and George Dippie. Both George and Jessie seem to have travelled separately to South Australia prior to Thomas’ birth. George travelled from London to South Australia in 1878, whilst his mother left Plymouth for Australia in 1881. It seem that they both could have met during their time in Australia and married on 7th July 1882 in Adelaide.

Following Thomas’ birth we know the family moved to Scotland, although there has been no passenger list found recording their return journey. What we have found is that they are recorded as living in Edinburgh in the 1891 census.

By the 1901 census, the family has changed house, but is still living in Edinburgh.

First Marriage

Our next record of Thomas happens to be from his first marriage.

On the 24th June 1911 Thomas married Mary McLeod. Their marriage took place in Dunbarton.

H.M. Factory Gretna

Although we do not know exactly when Thomas and Mary moved to Gretna, we have found them both in the electoral register for Gretna in 1918 to 1919. They are listed as living in 9 T West in Gretna and Thomas is described as a clerical assistant.

Although the rural factory site actually stretched from Longtown in England to Dornock in Scotland, Gretna was one of the townships (the other of which was Eastriggs) built to accommodate all those who worked at the factory. As described in the H.M. Factory Gretna manual Gretna township was also the site for “Central Administration Offices for the whole Factory”[1]. Accordingly, perhaps Thomas could have worked in these central offices as a clerical assistant. We do not know of Mary’s occupation, but is not impossible that she could have possibly worked at H.M. Factory Gretna.

Indeed, we have found evidence that suggests Thomas and Mary were highly likely to have lived in the area from at least 1917 (some time before the demobilisation of H.M. Factory Gretna began on 6th December 1918).

Turns out Thomas was a performer and appeared in many productions, especially during 1917! These performances include:

• A concert in aid of Gretna School & Athletic Association Benevolent Fund in 1917;
• Appears to have helped arrange two concerts for the ‘Fancy Fair’ also in 1917;
• Took part in an open air concert at a carnival for France’s Day on 25th August 1917 and patriated in a mounted wrestling competition at this event too.

The Gretna Choral and Operatic Society

With Thomas’ clear enthusiasm for performing, it is unsurprising that we think that he could have also been a member ‘The Gretna Choral and Operatic Society.’ [2] We know the society held at least four performances at The Border Hall in Gretna and we’ve previously covered one of the founding members of this society Alexander McKenzie Lupton in our Worker of the Week blog [3].

 

 

The last performance from The Gretna Choral and Operatic Society was The Gondoliers at The Border Hall in Gretna, and we have found a certain Mr T. G. Dippie in the cast list. Was this Thomas? We think so.

He is listed as playing Giuseppe Palmieri, one of the Venetian gondoliers in play, which is apparently a role for a baritone [6]. Thomas would have preformed alongside Alexander Lupton [3] as previously mentioned and Egerton Sayer who we have also covered in a prior Worker of the Week blog [4].

If your interested in watching a more modern performance (bearing in mind the performance Thomas was involved in was over 100 years ago) of ‘The Gondoliers’ we have come across a version of this on BBC iPlayer. At the time of writing you can find the The Gondoliers on BBC iPlayer by clicking here>

This performance at The Border Hall in Gretna, as well as the other events Thomas was involved in, were part of a range of recreational facilities and activities that were available for H.M. Factory Gretna workers to get involved with. In fact, there was a Social and Recreational Department at H.M. Factory Gretna which was in charge of this.

Not only does this show that they were aware of the happiness of those who worked at the factory could have a positive impact on their productivity and keep them out of mischief, but it also highlights the duty of care they felt in looking after the munitions workers, many of which were young women around 16 or 17 years old. For many of these working at the factory would have been their first time living away from home. However, there was still a Women’s Police Force to keep them on track. A strict 9pm curfew was imposed on munitions workers hostels by the Women’s Police Force and they used to check the back rows of cinemas!

Back to Thomas and we unfortunately do not know if he was involved in any of the other performances given by The Gretna and Choral Operatic Society. Given that he appears to be a keen performer, it would be lovely to think he was!

(If only our museum team was equally as enthusiastic as performing for The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s TikTok… but that does leave us to wonder what Thomas George Dippie, himself would have thought about TikTok? Or perhaps, our museum assistant should not be trying to write a blog and plan a TikTok at the same time…)

Indigestion?

Anyway, it appears that Thomas stayed living in Gretna until at least sometime around 1920. How do we know this? Well, because Thomas had ingestion.

More specifically, he seems to have appeared in a numerous newspapers in an advert published in 1920 as “Mr. T. G. Dippie” from “9 West, Gretna” for Bisurated Magnesia. According to the aforementioned advert, “it is generally recognised that for all ordinary cases of stomach trouble, including Indigestion, Flatulence, Heartburn, Gastritis etc., Bisurated Magnesia is an unrivalled remedy.”[5] This advert continues to give the testimony of Thomas which follows:

“For over 15 years I suffered a form of indigestion which produced acute pain… I consulted several doctors and attended a Royal Infirmary, but only got temporary relief. About four months ago I decided to try Bisurated Magnesia; after the second dose I had not another pain.”

–  Mr. T. G. Dippie from 9 West, Gretna as recorded in an advert for Bisurated Magnesia. [5]

In the words of the research volunteer who kindly found this information about Thomas, we ‘hope he was rewarded for this endorsement!’

Second Marriage

Sadly, our next record is Mary’s death in 1945. Presumably, this was early in the year.

It appears that by mid-September Thomas married again, this time to Georgina Catherine Margaret Coventry in Edinburgh. Georgina was a music teacher. However, it appears that this second marriage perhaps wasn’t to be. After around six years it appears that Thomas and Georgina divorced on 3rd May 1951.

Later Life

From what we know we can assume that Thomas spent the majority of the rest of his life in Scotland.

In 1955, at the age of 70 years old George died in hospital in Glasgow.

Sources and Further Reading

[1] H.M. Factory Gretna Manual from The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s archives.

[2] Gretna Choral and Operatic Society, The Gondoliers programme, December 1918 from The Devil’s Porridge Museum’s archive.

[3] Worker of the Week: Alexander McKenzie Lupton – https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/worker-of-the-week-alexander-mckenzie-lupton

[4] Worker of the Week: Egerton Sayer – https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/worker-of-the-week-egerton-sayer

[5] The British Newspaper Archive.

[6] The Gondoliers Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gondoliers

Find Thomas George Dippie’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 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>

Join our Project: Exploring the Commonwealth, Migration & Home

We find it important to remember and the contribution of people who came to work at H.M. Factory Gretna from the Commonwealth and beyond. Although many of the stories we share focus on are from the past, like that of  Thomas George Dippie who was born in Australia, Australian Clifford Arthur Abbot or Cyril Callister and Canadian brothers Robert Dalton & Knox Affleck, we know that the varied experience of migration and home across different communities is equally important today. We hope to foster empathy and raise awareness of this by sharing diverse personal narratives through our Exploring the Commonwealth, Migration and Home project.

Currently, The Devil’s Porridge Museum is researching the historical and contemporary factors that drive migration within the Commonwealth nations, exploring personal narratives of migration, and examining the meaning of home through our Commonwealth, Migration and Home project. Our project seeks to foster empathy and awareness of the varied experiences of migration and home across different communities. We are looking for people who have migrated Commonwealth country or have Commonwealth heritage to help us with this project and we would love to hear your story.

By sharing your experiences, you will help create a deeper understanding of migration, identity and home, while contributing to a project that highlights diverse voices and histories. If you would be interested in getting involved in our Commonwealth, Migration and Home Project you can read more by clicking here>

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. 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, is Beatrice Victoria Campbell. She signed up to join the Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps, while at Gretna. As always gigantic thank you to all our research volunteers for making this possible.

Please be aware that there is reference to historic treatment of mental health conditions and content some readers may found upsetting in this post.

Early Life

On 2nd December 1898, Beatrice Victoria Campbell was born in Cupar, Fife. She was the penultimate child of eight (she had five sisters and two brothers) to her parents, John Johnstone Campbell and Annie (otherwise known as Anne) Dewar Morgan Campbell.

Beatrice’s father John was a fish dealer and it seems that he could have been inspired by another member of his family. The 1871 census record seems to indicate that young John had moved to Selkirk when he was nine. John’s father, or Beatrice’s grandfather, had then taken up the occupation of a fish monger after previously having worked as a carter and general labourer. Seemingly, this trade had been passed on to John! (Even if John’s remaining living brother became a tailor instead).

Indeed, adult John and family appear to have a Fish Emporium trading at 30 to 32 Bonnygate, Cupar. We have even seen evidence of an advert for the family’s fish emporium, which boldly claims it is “the oldest established in East Fife” and even appears to sell “rabbits,” in addition to describing itself as an “ice merchant, poulters and game dealers” and boosting its very own phone number. However, it is probably well worth noting that we do not know the exact date of this advert or exactly where it was advertised (if we were to hazard a guess we would say a local newspaper, but this is not a steadfast guarantee).

From a photo of the Fish Emporium in Bonnygate, it certainly looks like a very impressive building and was located on the main shopping street of the town! At the time it even appears to have had a fish shaped sign hanging outside.

We next come across Beatrice and the family in the 1901 census. Instead of living above the fish merchant, it seems that they moved to live in another house in Cupar. Although we can only theorise, perhaps living with the possibly pungent smell of the Fish Emporium was a bit too fishy for the family.

Sadly, in September 1904 one of Jessie, one of Beatrice’s sisters, died at the age of 16. Jessie’s death certificate records that she died as an intestinal blockage. Beatrice would have only been around 3 years old herself when this happened. Unfortunately, this seems to have been only first of much tragedy and hardship faced by the family.

However, that would come later. First, at 5 years old, on 27th August 1906, Beatrice started attending Castlehill Primary School [1]. This would have been only around a 13 minute walk from her home each day.

Jeannie Campbell

When Beatrice was 11, nearly 12 years old she would have been aware of what was happening to her older sister Jeannie Campbell.

On 27th November 1911, 23 year old Jeannie was committed to an what was referred to at the time as “asylum.” According to the register Jeannie had been suffering from “mania… hereditary and adolescence.” However, we are aware that historically mental health conditions were misunderstood. Not only does this seem to be exemplified in some of the terms used for the register – although perhaps standard for the time – but in a previous Worker of Week blog were we have reflected on the how a entirely different family responded to shell shock with with a lack of understanding (you can find out more about this in our Worker of the Week blog for Winifred Maud McLintic by clicking here>).

This then perhaps makes it more all the more notable that John paid £34 privately for his daughter to be committed, whilst many of the charges for others in the register seem to be made by local parishes. We have no further information on the reasons behind this.

We are in no way experts in what Jeannie would have gone through during her time there, or a more specific reason why she was committed. The information we do have have informs us that Jeannie spent two years there and was discharged on the 14th July 1914.

By this time John had died. In the October of 1912, he suffered a fatal cerebral haemorrhage. Beatrice would have only be thirteen years old at this point.

We learn from his probate that the family appear to still be living in the same location and John’s estate was worth around £4282 15s 2d.

Only around two years after Jeannie’s discharge in December 1916, Annie, Beatrice’s mother also died.

H.M. Factory Gretna

Perhaps it make sense that Beatrice wanted a change of scenery after all this turmoil.

We have seen Perth Academy Memorial suggest online that Beatrice worked at H.M. Factory Gretna. However, we don’t know when she exactly worked there, nor have we found her name in any electoral records so far, or known what she would have done at the factory. This suggests she may not have worked there for very long. One record seems to suggests that Beatrice’s job title was “domestic” in 1917, so possibly she could have helped out in one of the factories many hostels, but we do not know for sure.

Unfortunately, the truth is there are some things about those who worked at H.M. Factory Gretna which we may never know for sure. We do not have a comprehensive list of all those who worked at H.M. Factory Gretna and / or what they did there. Our excellent team of research volunteers are continuing to do an amazing job of finding out about H.M. Factory Gretna workers from the sources we do have – these range from newspaper articles, to autograph books, electoral registers and the Mossband and Dornock Farewell Magazines – but a major source of information is from relatives who politely contact us to kindly let us know more; all of this allows us remember and commemorate the individual H.M. Factory Gretna workers who played such a vital, be it commonly over-looked, part during the First World War.

So if you do happen to know more about Beatrice or any other H.M. Factory Gretna workers, please do contact us! Equally as importantly, do remember to be kind to our staff. We only have a small team who have a lot of work to do and not everyone in our team works on our H.M. Factory Gretna database. We always hugely apricate your patience or understanding and the best way to contact us is by emailing info@devilsporridge.org.uk. Thank you.

Although we may not know much for sure about Beatrice’s possible time at H.M. Factory Gretna, we are still very proud to be able to take the time to remember her in this blog!

QMAAC ( Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps)

What we do know about Beatrice is that she appears to have enrolled in the Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps, or QMAAC, whilst residing in the township of Gretna (with the nine-mile long, rural, site of H.M. Factory Gretna being located in Longtown in England to Dornock in Scotland). Beatrice joined in 1918. Coincidentally, the QMAAC was formerly renamed in the same year ( on 9th April 1918 to be more exact)  as it was previously known as the WAAC or Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps [6]. Beatrice enrolling is more than likely to be a response to the recruitment campaign for this, which was widespread in Scotland during this time.

In the Imperial War Museum’s collection there is a signed photo of Beatrice in her uniform, which you can see by clicking here>

WAAC was designed to relive men from some non-combat duties on the frontline; leaving them free to fight. This included things like administrative, cookery, storekeeping and even some mechanical services with different sections for each [3]. However, these tasks were in no way free from danger. Located in the Western Front, the WAAC would have lived through many of the same conditions as the men. [5] Air Raids were a very real danger and would be detrimental to Beatrice’s survival.

To give you an idea on what the impact of this could have been like, The Imperial War Museum have a short video showing some of the aftermath of an Air Raid on a camp (around 2:17 in there is some footage of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps attempting to clean up). You can find this video of the aftermath of an air raid by clicking here>

The National Army Museum’s website shows us that on 29th April 1918, Beatrice went out to Abbeville on the Somme.

Conditions were very dangerous here, with many air raids. As The National Army Museum explains:

“On the Western Front, the WAAC often shared the same dangers as their male colleagues. Air raids on the camps and depots were frequent. At Abbeville, on 30 May 1918, nine women died.”[5]

– Danger, Stepping into Line, National Army Museum website – https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/stepping-line

Sadly, we know that Beatrice was one of those who died in this air raid. She was 20 years old at this time.

As well as being remembered on the war memorial in Cupar, Beatrice is also remembered on a memorial at her families grave in the area. Her Commonwealth War grave is located in Abbeville. [8 and 9]

 

Sources and Further Reading

[1] Castlehill Primary School Admission Book.

[2] Beatrice Victoria Campbell Records on the Imperial War Museum’s website – https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search?filters%5BagentString%5D%5BCampbell%2C%20Beatrice%5D=on

[3] Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps on Wikipedia. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Mary%27s_Army_Auxiliary_Corps

[4] WAAC Camp at Abberville Following an Air Raid on 22nd May 1918, Imperial War Museum’s website. – https://film.iwmcollections.org.uk/record/3098

[5] Danger, Steeping into Line on the National Army Museum website – https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/stepping-line

[6] Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps on the National Army Museum’s website – https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/queen-marys-army-auxiliary-corps

[7] Beatrice V. Campbell, Every One Remembered on the Royal British Legion website – https://www.everyoneremembered.org/profiles/soldier/78251/

[8] Worker Beatrice V. Campbell, A Street Near You website – https://astreetnearyou.org/person/78251/Worker-Beatrice-V.-Campbell

[9] Beatrice Victoria Campbell, Find a Grave website – https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56590700/beatrice-v-campbell

***

Read Beatrice Victoria Campbell’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 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>