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 Thanks goes to all our research volunteers!
For this week’s Worker of the Week, we are taking the time to remember Martha Hannah Beech, who sadly died as a result of an accident at the factory.
Early Life
On 14th May 1899, Martha Hannah Pigg was born in County Durham to William Charles and Margaret Jane nee Walker.
According to the 1901 census, Martha’s father, William is a steel moulder. At this point the family appear to still be living at Washington in Durham.
By the 1911 census, he is a deputy overman underground and Martha is the eldest of 10 children, 7 of which survived. The family were living at Seaham Harbour, Durham.
Marriage
In July 1915, Maratha Hannah Pigg married George Henry Beech. [3]
George Henry Beech was a soldier. We have found records, which suggest he was in Staffordshire Regiment living at Eden Hostel in 1917. [3]
They had one son in December 1915. Sadly it seems that their son may have died only a year later.
H.M. Factory Gretna
Photo source: https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7673298
During World War One, it seems that Martha worked at a munitions factory. We think this is highly likely to have been H.M. Factory Gretna, as the nine-mile rural site of the factory stretched from Longtown in England to Dornock in Scotland (with Eastriggs and Gretna townships being built to accommodate those who came to work there), especially she seems to have spent time in Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle after the accident, which wasn’t that far away from the H.M. Factory Gretna. [1]
On 25th May 1917, Martha died as a result of burns from an explosion in a munitions factory in Cumberland Infirmary, Carlisle. [1]
H.M. Factory Gretna did have its own hospitals and we don’t know why Martha was sent to the hospital in Carlisle instead one of these. Could it be due to the nature of Martha’s injuries, the proximity she was to the nearest hospital, because the Factory hospitals were full, or was it an attempt to reduce rumours around the Factory? What do you think?
Inside Gretna Works Hospital. Photo from The Devil’s Porridge Museum Archive.
This was not the first fatal explosion at H.M. Factory Gretna, only around two months before on the 27th March 1917, Roberta Robertson sadly died in an explosion.[2] So far we haven’t found any evidence to suggest that Martha’s death was reported as much in the local newspapers. This could be purely coincidental, but could it be a possibility that information about another fatal accident at the factory so soon after the first could have been seen as damaging to morale? What other reasons do you think could explain this?
Remembering Martha
There is a memorial to Maratha in Seaham Church and Seaham War Memorial where she once lived, prior to her time working at the Factory. [1]
The Imperial War Museum’s website also has a page remembering Maratha Hannah Beech, which can be found below.[1]
We’re proud to have been able to remember Maratha in this blog post and on our Miracle Workers Database.
Sources and Further Reading
Find Martha Hannah Beech’s Online Database entry 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>
