Locating my maternal grandparents in the first month of World War II

I told in my last post about my grandfather David Scott Ritchie taking his family to England when he travelled on business in 1939. They sailed into Southhampton in July. Then England declared war on Germany on 3 September. I can only imagine their horror at the thought of what this might mean and how they were going to get back to Cape Town.

Since Grandad had meetings to attend in London, however, they could not depart immediately. They stuck to their plans for a holiday in the country and went camping and fossil-collecting instead. We know this because their names appear on the 1939 Register for Seadown Camp , Bridport Road, Dorset. This was another of the records found for me by Judy Lester.

According to the National Archives website, the 1939 Register was taken on 29 September that year. This surprised me as I thought it was taken much earlier in 1939, before war even seemed likely. Swift organisation and hard work must have accompanied the staging of the event and the nation is to be credited for pulling it off in such uncertain times. As for the information gathered, it was used to "produce identity cards and, once rationing was introduced in January 1940, to issue ration books. Information in the Register was also used to administer conscription and the direction of labour, and to monitor and control the movement of the population caused by military mobilisation and mass evacuation."

So to the register entries themselves. Grandad gives his name as David S. Ritchie, his date of birth as 31 March 1902 [the same date that appears on the statutory declaration made in 1918 by his mother Maude], and his occupation as "Electrical Engineer Accountant Machinery". Grandma gives her name as Florence M Ritchie, her date of birth as 28 Dec 1904, and her occupation as "Unpaid Domestic Duties". There are two redacted entries which presumably relate to Auntie Gill and my mother Wendy, aged 7 and 4 respectively.

Although David and Florence were not residents of Bridport Road, it is interesting to note the most common occupations of residents in that area. Men were typically retirees, farm labourers, gardeners, dairy owners, cowmen, general labourers, carters or carpenters. Women were typically involved in unpaid domestic duties, living by their own means, working as housekeepers, school teachers, cooks or house maids, incapacitated or retired. Clearly, this was where folks went to get away from the big smoke.

I'm pleased to see that Seadown Holiday Park is still going strong. According to write-ups and reviews, it offers families a simple, fuss-free holiday a stone's throw from the beach. Dogs are welcome so it could be a nice destination for me and my guide dog Tango when I visit the UK with my sister! Being there will allow us to vividly picture the family in their caravan listening to reports of the war on the radio. Also, to contextualise some oft-repeated stories featuring the campsite that have been handed down to us, but more about those in another post. For now, I'm just chewing on the fact that Mom and Gill were there when war broke out, rather than in far-off Fishhoek. How anxious Grandma must have felt, and how innocent the girls must have seemed as they hunted for shells, built sandcastles and scattered breadcrumbs for the visiting birds.

Photo credit: "West Bay, Bridport [Dorset]" by Michael Day.