Editor: These documents are to accompany Daphne Rowbotham’s comments which can be found below the article: Laindon High Road Shops and Public Buildings.
My early memory of Identity Cards is that they were probably almost totally ineffective. They were presumably initiated as an early wartime measure to ferret out out undesirables or even spies. I think they were to be carried at all times but, to my knowledge, never were. There was no accompanying photo so any description was largely meaningless. Perhaps they did serve a limited purpose if one worked at a war related factory or Hornchurch aerodrome for example. Presumably identification might have been necessary for employees to gain admittance. I think, as the war dragged on, they came to be regarded as unnecessary. My youngest brother, born in 1944, never had an ID card so somewhere along the line they were discontinued.
By Alan Davies (12/05/2016)
I am puzzled by the identification number shown on the ID card of Daphne’s mother. The ID number appears to be DPED:160:3. My understanding has always been that the last digit showed one’s position in the family. My ID card showed the number DBCB:295:3. My father ‘s card was DBCB:295:1. My mother’s was DBCB:295:2. My younger brother DBCB:295:4. I would have expected Daphne’s mothers card to be DBED:160:2. What am I missing?
By Alan Davies (04/05/2016)
I don’t really know the answer, I had no idea what these numbers meant, but could it be that it was originally issued before she married in 1940? Before that she was the eldest child in the family, ie number 3?
Still wondering what Marine Stores sold.
By Daphne Rowbotham (Churms) (04/05/2016)
This interests me, as one of my ancestors was described as a ‘Marine Store Dealer’ most of his life and later ‘General Dealer’. I have researched this and come to the conclusion that originally a ‘Marine Store’ either supplied items to mariners or dealt with scrap from ships, the proprietor of the store being called a ‘Marine Store Dealer’. However, this evolved to becoming a general store, selling a variety of things including crockery, general hardwear, second hand items and also dealing with scrap items such as iron and rags. There is some information to be found on the internet. http://www.themeister.co.uk/hindley/marine_store_dealers.htm
By Nina Humphrey(née Burton) (04/05/2016)
Thanks Nina. My Dad’s sister did say my dad had a hardware shop, but he never mentioned it to us, which I find very odd as we currently own an ironmongers up here in Yorkshire, and he often visited us before he died.
Given that, I suspect he just lived there, but didn’t work in the shop. However my Grandad Reginald Thomas Western, who lived in the flat above Lloyds Bank, did, at one time have something to do with a junk shop, so maybe that was Marine Stores. He liked nothing better than a good rummage if he saw anything interesting that others had discarded. We had a lot of things in our house that ‘Grandad brought home!’
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My early memory of Identity Cards is that they were probably almost totally ineffective. They were presumably initiated as an early wartime measure to ferret out out undesirables or even spies. I think they were to be carried at all times but, to my knowledge, never were. There was no accompanying photo so any description was largely meaningless. Perhaps they did serve a limited purpose if one worked at a war related factory or Hornchurch aerodrome for example. Presumably identification might have been necessary for employees to gain admittance. I think, as the war dragged on, they came to be regarded as unnecessary. My youngest brother, born in 1944, never had an ID card so somewhere along the line they were discontinued.
I am puzzled by the identification number shown on the ID card of Daphne’s mother. The ID number appears to be DPED:160:3. My understanding has always been that the last digit showed one’s position in the family. My ID card showed the number DBCB:295:3. My father ‘s card was DBCB:295:1. My mother’s was DBCB:295:2. My younger brother DBCB:295:4. I would have expected Daphne’s mothers card to be DBED:160:2. What am I missing?
I don’t really know the answer, I had no idea what these numbers meant, but could it be that it was originally issued before she married in 1940? Before that she was the eldest child in the family, ie number 3?
Still wondering what Marine Stores sold.
This interests me, as one of my ancestors was described as a ‘Marine Store Dealer’ most of his life and later ‘General Dealer’. I have researched this and come to the conclusion that originally a ‘Marine Store’ either supplied items to mariners or dealt with scrap from ships, the proprietor of the store being called a ‘Marine Store Dealer’. However, this evolved to becoming a general store, selling a variety of things including crockery, general hardwear, second hand items and also dealing with scrap items such as iron and rags. There is some information to be found on the internet. http://www.themeister.co.uk/hindley/marine_store_dealers.htm
Thanks Nina. My Dad’s sister did say my dad had a hardware shop, but he never mentioned it to us, which I find very odd as we currently own an ironmongers up here in Yorkshire, and he often visited us before he died.
Given that, I suspect he just lived there, but didn’t work in the shop. However my Grandad Reginald Thomas Western, who lived in the flat above Lloyds Bank, did, at one time have something to do with a junk shop, so maybe that was Marine Stores. He liked nothing better than a good rummage if he saw anything interesting that others had discarded. We had a lot of things in our house that ‘Grandad brought home!’
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