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.
James Ross
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : James Ross
Gender: Male
Date and Place of Birth: 1888, Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire
Date and Place of Death: May 1940, 40 Crathie Avenue, Dumfries
Nationality: Scottish
Disability: Rhematic arthritis
Childhood: 3rd of 9 children.
Parents: James McAll Brydon McAllister Ross and Mary nee McDonald
Parent’s occupations: Hawker
Schools / universities attended and years of attendance: N/K
Occupation: General labourer
Place of residence at Gretna: 33 High Street, Dumfries
Job title at Gretna: N/K
Marital status: Married Catherine Murphy on 16th April 1913.…
Joseph Thomas Royal
JOSEPH THOMAS ROYAL
Date and place of birth: 6 February 1858 Richmond, Melbourne, Australia
Date and place of death: 8 August 1917 HM Factory Hospital, Gretna, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Nationality: Australian
Biography: Joseph grew up in Australia with his siblings
Lucy Ellen Royal 1852
Joseph Donald Royal 1855-1856
Parents: Joseph Royal married Sarah Harriet MacPherson 21 January 1852 Victoria, Australia
Parents occupation: Joseph was a Blacksmith
Schools Universities attended and years of attendance: Not known
Occupation: 1914 Electoral Roll Joseph was a Commission Agent
Place of residence at Gretna: Newfoundland House, Dornock, Eastriggs
Job Title at Gretna: Not known
Marital Status: Joseph married Charlotte Annie ‘Lottie’ Carter 1905 Victoria, Australia.…
Euphemia Runciman
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by): Euphemia ‘Effy’ Runciman / Haimes / Smith.
Gender: Female
Date and Place of Birth: 5 Little Longland (?) Place, Canongate, Edinburgh. 5th August 1895.
Date and Place of Death: Possibly North Berwick, 1989. …
Versale Van Ruymbeke
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by): Vesale Emile Lotharie van Ruymbeke.
Gender: Male.
Date and Place of Birth: 13th July 1890. Aurora, DuPage, Kendall and Will, Illinois, United States (or in Canada- according to Mossband Farewell Magazine).…
Janet Corse Scollay
Email from grandson: ‘I have reason to believe from family stories that my grandmother originally born in Orkney but worked in Dumfries at the start of WW1, may have worked in the Gretna factory. Her name was Jane/Janet Corse Brown (nee Scollay).
So my grandmother was Janet/Jane Corse Scollay (spelt Schollie, Scholley and other) Born in Kirkwall Oct 13 1897, orphaned in 1907 when both parents died of TB.…
Stuart Gordon Farquhar Shand
STUART GORDON FARQUHAR SHAND
‘Captain Shand’
Date and place of birth: 1869 Beau Bassin, Mount Stewart, Mauritius
Date and place of death: 31 May 1934 Gretna, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Stuart is buried in Lockerbie Graveyard, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Nationality: British
Biography: Stuart’s mother died when he was a very young child. He was sent to boarding school in England, and appears in the 1881 census at a school in London.…
David Sim
Gretna Fire Brigade 1915 – 1925
Professional fire brigade members
Research Project led by Nigel Compton
Name David Sim DoB October 1889
Place of birth Kirkandrews, Cumberland
Parents David Humphrey and Ann (or Annie) (nee Moscrop)
Parental Home 4 Moat Place, Edinburgh – 10 Polworth Grove, Edinburgh
Siblings George (1888-) William (1891-1979), Mary (1893-1980), Arthur (1895-)
Annie (1897-1990), Violet (1899-1989), Leslie (1900-1901)
Spouse Margaret Atkinson
Date of Wedding February 14th 1918
Location Haltwhistle, Northumberland
Children Leslie Moscrop (22/08/18-00/02/90), David Humphrey (01/07/20-27/06/21)
Violet (19/05/21-15/07/01), Margaret (27/01/1923-30/05/89)
Marital home(s) U 7 West, Gretna – T 5 West, Gretna
Employment At time of marriage Feb 1918 was Fireman at Gretna Fire Station
1911 Census Not found
Date of death 4th March 1923 Location Lochmaben Hospital
Gretna details
Name David Sim Clock No
Date joining Possibly 1917 – Wedding certificate shows fireman FB on 14 February 1918
Date leaving By birth of daughter on 19th May 1921 had apparently left
Station Gretna
Addresses U 7 West, Gretna – T 5 West, Gretna
Rank on start Fireman
Promotion None found
Newspapers Only death notice in The Scotsman
Career after Railway clerk via valuation roll
Address after Gretna None found
Are Pictures available None found Possible relatives Yes
Additional information
Family legend is that David died of respiratory difficulties caused by firefighting although no
confirmed details have been found.…
Douglas Sommerville
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Douglas Ferguson Sommerville
Gender: Male
Date and Place of Birth: 9th April 1879. Hamilton, Lanackshire
Date and Place of Death: 27th August 1960. …
Dr Robert Wilson Christian Spence
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Dr Robert Christian Wilson Spence MD.
Gender: Male.
Date and Place of Birth: 16th August 1884. Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland.
Date and Place of Death: 8th August 1939.…
James Carter Spensley
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : James Carter Spensley. Reference 1
Gender: Male
Date and Place of Birth: 1866 Reference 1: 11 November 1886 Reference 2.…
Thomas Thompson Steel
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Thomas Thomson Steel
Gender: Male
Date and place of birth: 7th July 1864, Dornock, Scotland
Date and Place of Death: December 1923, Carlisle, Buried at Dornock
Nationality: Scottish
Childhood: 8th of 9 children
Parents: William and Elizabeth nee Thomson
Parents occupations: Sheep dealer
Schools / universities attended and years of attendance: N/K
Occupation: Railway porter
Place of residence at Gretna: Carlisle
Marital status: Married
Children: At least 4, 2 survived
Travels: N/K
Awards/recognitions: N/K
Positions held: N/K
Trivia / any other information:
http://www.longtown19.co.uk/index_htm_files/Rigg%20Cemetery,%20Gretna.pdf
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 Thomson Steel 1864-1923
Thomas Thomson Steel was born in Dornock village on 7th July 1864 to William and Elizabeth nee Thomson.…
A L Stenhouse
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by): Alexander Lees Stenhouse
Gender: Male
Date and Place of Birth: 10/03/1889 Linton, Roxburghshire
Date and Place of Death: 1967 Q3 Brechin
Nationality: Scottish
Biography
Childhood:
Parents: James and Mary Stenhouse
Parent’s occupations: Blacksmith (father)
Schools / universities attended and years of attendance: N/K
Occupation: Chemist and Optician
Place of residence at Gretna: N/K
Job title at Gretna: Chemist at Dornock
Marital status: Annie Smith Burrell in 1918 at St George
Children: N/K
Travels: To Columbo 1911
Awards/recognitions: N/K
Trivia / any other information:
Bibliography
- Books published (Title, year of publication, publisher): N/K
- Books written about the individual or mentioning the individual (Title, year of publication, publisher): N/K
References
- Blogs about the individual: N/K
- Websites about the individual: N/K
Further links, notes, and comments:
Dornock Souvenir address at Linton Downs Kelso Roxburghshire is parents address.…
Thomas Stevenson
Name Thomas STEVENSON
DoB 21st November 1889
Place of birth Gretna, Dumfriesshire
Parents Thomas & Elizabeth
Parental Home Sprinfield, Gretna
Siblings Isabella, John, Joseph, James, Margaret, David, George, Catherine,
Elizabeth, Mary, Arthur & Albert
Spouse Eva Mary Dixon
Date of Wedding 16 June 1911
Location Springfield, Gretna
Children Elizabeth Cartnor (19 April 1911), Jane McVitie (25 May 1913)
Isabella Jane and Joseph – twins- (28 March 1916), Ramsay (15 Feb 1920)
Marital home(s) Springfield, Gretna (see below for Gretna Addresses)
Employment Working at Moss Litter Factory
1911 Census Showed parents 25 years married, 13 children all still alive, males worked
at local Moss Litter site
Date of death 20 December 1957 Location Gretna
Buried 26 December 1957 – Rigg Cemetery
Gretna details
Name Thomas STEVENSON Clock No
Date joining
Date leaving
Station
Addresses 1920 – G East 3, 1925 – L West 9, 1930 – Union Road – all in Gretna
Additional information
Thomas is shown on 1916 birth cert for the twins as General Labourer, and on the valuation
rolls as ‘Fireman’.…
Bridget Sweeney
This is the birth certificate of Margaret, Bridget’s daughter, who was born in 1919. As you can see, Bridget was working as a cook in Newfoundland House, Eastriggs. This was one of the hostels for munitions workers at H. M. Factory Gretna. You can find out more about Bridget and Margaret’s birth here.…
Christina Muddie Thom
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : Christina Muddie Thom
Gender: Female
Date and place of birth: 21st June 1873 Elgin, Morayshire
Date and Place of Death: 8th January 1946 Nursing Home, Strathaven.
Nationality: Scottish
Childhood : Large family, death, illness and emigration of siblings
Parents : John Thom and Annie nee Fisher
Parents occupations : Commercial traveller-cloth/net manufacturer
Schools / universities attended and years of attendance: West End School, Elgin- left summer 1890. …
John Thomas Tuddenham
JOHN THOMAS TUDDENHAM
Date and place of birth : 8 June 1885 Dornock, Dumfriesshire
Date and place of Death : 1976 Registration District of Northumberland NF
Nationality: British
Biography: John grew up with his siblings:
Parents: Thomas Tuddenham married Agnes Brunskill in Longtown District 1881
Parents occupation : Thomas was a Gamekeeper
Schools Universities attended and years of attendance –Not known
Place of residence at Gretna: Foulsyke House, Eastriggs
Job at Gretna: Not known
Before the war John was a Rabbit Catcher, but after the war he worked as a Gamekeeper.…
Margaret Jane Tuke
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) :
Margaret ( Madge ) Jane Easterbroook nee Tuke. Sister of Evelyn Tuke who also worked at H M Factory Gretna
Gender: Female
Date and place of birth
5th March 1889 Hamilton, Scotland
Date and Place of Death: 5th January 1925 Maryport, Cumbria
Nationality: English
Childhood: Moved around a lot – her father worked on the Ayrshire, Yorkshire and Cumberland coal fields
Parents: John Henry Tuke and Mary Helena nee Wills
Parents occupations: Coal miner
Schools / universities attended and years of attendance: None known
Occupation: Munitionette
Place of residence at Gretna: Not known
Marital status: Married
Children: 5 boys .…
Evan Tweddie
EVAN TWEEDIE
Date and place of birth: 1872 St. George, Edinburgh, Scotland
Date and place of death: 1928 Annan, Dumfriesshire
Nationality: Scottish
Biography: Evan was the eldest in the large Tweedie Family. His siblings included:
John McKnight Tweedie 1874
Jane I Tweedie 1876
George McKnight Tweedie 1878
Mary W Tweedie 1880
James I Tweedie 1881
Annie Tweedie 1901
Cunningham M Tweedie 1903
William Tweedie 1908
Alexander Tweedie 1908
Parents: Alexander Tweedie married Susan R McKnight 1871 Blythwood, Scotland
Parents occupation:
Alexander was a Master Joiner employing 13 men and 15 lads in 1881 census
Schools Universities attended and years of attendance: Annan Academy
Occupation: Evan was an Architect, at Gretna he was recorded as the town manager’s assistant and later the townships supervisor.…
Frederick Thomas Walker
FREDERIC THOMAS WALKER
Thanks to Frederic’s son Gordon Walker with the help of his sisters, for all the information noted about their father herein.
Date and place of birth: 26 April 1895 in Marseille, France
Date and place of Death: 6 December 1972 in Edinburgh
Nationality:British
Biography: Frederic spent the earliest years of his life in France until his family moved back to Guildford, Surrey in England.…
William Fergus Wardrope
Full name of worker at H.M. Factory Gretna (and any other names they are known by) : William Fergus Wardrope
Gender: Male.
Date and Place of Birth: 15th April 1887 at Hoddom, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Date and Place of Death: 1947 at Hoddom, Dumfriesshire, Scotland.
Nationality: Scottish.
Childhood: On 5 Apr 1891 he was living at Kirksyke, Hoddam, Hoddom, Dumfriesshire and aged 3 years old.…
