To search our directory of workers at HM Factory Gretna either enter any name, place of birth or place of death in the search box or if you know what their job was from select from the drop-down menu.
Frederick Arthur Bird
- In the 1881 census, Frederick is 5 years old and living in Harwich, Essex with his father Ebenezer, a widower and draper, and his siblings.
- Frederick married Ellen Alice Rayson.
- Newspaper Article ‘Dumfries & Galloway’, July 27 1918, p. 6.:
- ‘FACTORY FATALITY AT DORNOCK.
…
John Campbell Birkett
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : John Campbell Birkett
Gender: Male
Date and place of birth: 13th September 1861, Kirklinton/Rockcliffe, Carlisle
Date and Place of Death: July- August, 1940
Nationality: British
Childhood
Parents : John Campbell Birkett and Jane ?
Parents occupations: Farmer
Schools / universities attended and years of attendance: Not known
Occupation: Police Constable the Poulterer and fishmonger
Place of residence at Gretna: Police Camp, Eastriggs
Marital status: Married
Children : 6 , 4 sons and 2 daughters
Travels : None known
Awards/recognitions: None known
Positions held: Police Constable
Trivia / any other information: Yes
Bibliography
Books published (Title, year of publication, publisher):
Books written about the individual or mentioning the individual (Title, year of publication, publisher):
References
Blogs about the individual:
Websites about the individual:
Further links, notes, and comments:
Hatton Garden – Liverpool City Police
Biography
John Campbell Birkett 1861-1940
John Campbell Birkett was born on 13th September 1861 at KIrklinton, Carlisle to John Campbell Birkett Snr , Farmer , and Jane .…
Eliza Blenkinsop
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) :Eliza Blenkinsop (Elizabeth Mitchell)
Gender: Female
Date and Place of Birth: October 1899, Sunderland, Durham
Date and Place of Death: 8 March 1966, 6 Belmont Avenue, Eaglesfield, (Middlebie), Dumfries-shire (Scotland’s people)
Nationality: English
Biography
Childhood: 1911 census at 22 South Railway St, Seaham with 4 sisters
Parents: Death certificate almost impossible to read from Scotland’s people Thought to be John William Blenkinsop b Apr 1871 and Ellen b1872 d July 1925 Sunderland Durham who married in about 1894 (1911 census at 22 South Railway St, Seaham. …
Annie Boak
Email from Catherine Annie’s granddaughter in Feb 2020: ‘My grandmother was Annie Fowler /Boak who came from the north east. She lost 2 daughters soon after delivery. Then she had two living boys. There was also Hilda Holmes / Bird and Edith Holmes/ Riley. Neither were able to conceive more than 1 child.…
Douglas Anderson Bowack
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by): Douglas Anderson Bowack
Gender: Male
Date and Place of Birth: 29/ 09/ 1880 at St. George, Middlesex (1) (4)
Date and Place of Death: 28/05/1964 at Queen Alexander Hospital, Southwick Road, Cosham, Portsmouth.…
Robert Percy Brousson
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Robert Percy Brousson
Gender: Male
Date and place of birth: 9th November 1871, Sutton, Surrey
Date and Place of Death: 1st July 1945 Chipperfield, Hertfordshire
Nationality: British
Childhood: Privileged with a Prussian born father and an Australian born mother
Parents: Louis (Antoine) Jacques Maurice Brousson and Clara Emily nee Habgood
Parents occupations: Editor/author/journalist ( Father)
Schools / universities attended and years of attendance: Finsbury Institute
Occupation: Electrical engineer
Place of residence at Gretna: Not known
Marital status: Married
Children: One son
Travels: Travelled extensively to North and South America
Awards/recognitions: OBE after 1919
Positions held: Chief engineer at Gretna
Trivia / any other information: Yes
Bibliography
Books published (Title, year of publication, publisher):
Books written about the individual or mentioning the individual (Title, year of publication, publisher):
References
Blogs about the individual:
Websites about the individual:
Further links, notes, and comments:
Within the biography below.…
Lily Bruce
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Lily Bruce (Lee).
Gender: Female.
Date and Place of Birth: 28th of March 1901, Coundon, Durham, England.
Date and Place of Death: 7th of February 1971, Leeholme, Durham, England.…
Maud Ellen Bruce, OBE
Maud Ellen Bruce was born on 20th December 1894 in Coundon, Durham, England to Thomas and Emma Bruce. She was their fifth child and had two brothers and six sisters. Her father Thomas worked as a coalminer.[1] Coundon was traditionally a coalmining village, and Thomas probably worked at either Black Boy Colliery or Auckland Park Colliery, both nearby.…
Samuel Bullough
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by): Samuel Bullough (Sam)
Gender: Male
Date and Place of Birth: 28/6/1894 New Mills , Derbyshire (1) (2) (4)
Baptised 24/6/1894 (6) at home
Date and Place of Death: 24/10/1959 at Chapel -en -le-Frith, Derbyshire, aged 65 (5)
Nationality: British
Biography
Childhood : Two brothers, Harry Bullough born 1891 in Bolton, Lancashire and Tom Bullough, born 1893 at New Mills, Derbyshire.…
Catherine Burgess
Email from relative June 2021: I don’t know anything about the people in the photograph apart from that one was my grandmother. Miriam was born on 20th August 1894 and lived in Tyldesley Lancashire (now greater Manchester). She died in Carlisle on 10 July 1982 at the age of 89. She was married in 1920 and was still in Lancashire in 1910.…
Miriam Burgess
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Miriam Burgess
Gender: Female
Date and Place of Birth: 20 August 1894, Tyldesley, Lancashire, England. Source: 1901 England Census, 1911 England Census and 1939 England and Wales Register
Date and Place of Death:10 July 1982, Carlisle, Cumberland, England.…
Reginald George Burn
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Reginald George Burn
Gender: Male
Date and Place of Birth: 14 Jun 1893, Bradford
Date and Place of Death: 29 May 1961 Clyde Villa, Bolton–le-Sands, Lancashire
Nationality: British
Biography
Childhood: 1901 Potter Newton
Siblings Florence 1891-1908, Ernest Francis 1898-1984
Parents: George Francis Burn, b 27 August 1861 in Malta (British subject his father was a Foreman sail maker in Naval Dockyards) d 8 Jan 1940 in Chapel Allerton, Yorks and Katharine Amelia Usher b 21 Sep 1864 Birkenhead, d 15 Feb 1856 Leeds
Parent’s occupations: Mechanical Engineer and Engineering Teacher, Head of department in Leeds Engineering School
Schools / universities attended and years of attendance:
Occupation: Chemist, later Farm Manager on Marriage in 1922 and a Sanitary Inspector on probate in 1961 and in Hull in 1939
Place of residence at Gretna:17-19 The Ridge Gretna
Job title at Gretna: Shift Chemist
Marital status: Married in 1922 to Florence Emily Collett (1899-1992)
Children: None found Wife was living with Parents in 1939
Travels:
Awards/recognitions:
Trivia / any other information: Non conformist church wedding and Quaker Burial
Ethel Burnett
- Mentioned in Chris Brader’s PhD Thesis Timbertown Girls (Microsoft Word – WRAP_THESIS_coversheet (warwick.ac.uk)) on p. 22, 23, 27.
- Appears to be an oral interview conducted with Ethel held in the Liddle Archives, Uni of Leeds
John Charles Burnham, CBE
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by): John Charles Burnham CBE.
Do they already have a Wikipedia page? If yes, please paste link: No.
Gender: Male.
Date and Place of Birth: 9th December 1866, Camberwell, Surrey, England.…
Jane Burton
Name: Jane Burton nee Raine
Date and place of birth: 11th May 1893. Washington, County Durham, England.
Childhood: Jane’s parents had six children, although only three survived to adulthood
Parents: Thomas and Mary Raine
Parent’s occupations: Thomas was a miner
Marital status: Married to Peter Burton in 1921
Trivia: Jane worked at Morecambe (National Filling Factory No 13) in WW1, before coming to Gretna.…
P Burton
- ‘Mrs Burton of Sunderland remembers: I later worked at Gretna Green and the winter (1917) was the coldest I ever remember. In our hostel our bottles of milk were just blocks of ice, and our towels had to be heated before we could use them, so you can guess what it was like working outside where I was loading trucks.
…
Harold Frank Cabell
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Harold Frank Cabell.
Gender: Male.
Date and Place of Birth: 13 JAN 1891, Grimsbury, Banbury, England.
Date and Place of Death: JUL-AUG-SEP 1975, Southend on Sea, Essex.…
Thomas Irwen Cairns
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Thomas Irwen [Tewen]Cairns
Gender: Male
Date and place of birth: 13th May 1881, Stapleton, Longtown
Date and Place of Death:13th August 1975, Longtown
Nationality: British
Childhood: Eldest of 5
Parents: James and Saah nee Forster
Parents occupations: Ploughman
Schools / universities attended and years of attendance: N/K
Occupation: Railway surfaceman
Place of residence at Gretna:Longtown
Marital status: Married
Children: At least 3 born , 2 survived
Travels: N/K
Awards/recognitions: N/K
Positions held
Trivia / any other information:
Bibliography
Books published (Title, year of publication, publisher):
Books written about the individual or mentioning the individual (Title, year of publication, publisher):
References
Blogs about the individual:
Websites about the individual:
Further links, notes, and comments:
Mini Biography
Thomas Irwin Cairns 1881-1975
Thomas Irwen Cairns was born at Stapleton, Longtown, near Carlisle on 13 May 1881 to James and Sarah nee Forster.…
Agnes Calder
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Agnes Calder
Gender: Female
Date and Place of Birth: 21 January 1895, Grahams Court, Ashley Street, Carlisle. Source: https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/new-photos-of-world-war-one-workers
Date and Place of Death: June 1931, Bower Street, Carlisle.…
