My Mother the Nurse. A conversation with AI about Doris (Bulbrook) Durnford Goossens

I had a recent "chat" with Claude AI about my mother. 

You said: This is my mother's nursing pin. Can you tell me something about the hospital?  

Claude responded: Your mother's pin is a Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital nursing badge, dated 1 June 1945 — right at the end of World War II. The motto Fidelis · Veritas · Sacrificia means "Faithful, Truth, Sacrifice" — deeply fitting for a wartime nurse. Here's the story of the hospital: 

Origins 

The Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital began life as a decrepit wooden warship moored in the River Thames at Greenwich, converted into a floating hospital. From 1821 to 1870, it provided medical care to sailors from all across the world. The ship on your mother's badge is a beautiful nod to those origins. Royal Museums Greenwich Coming Ashore After the closure of the Royal Naval Hospital at Greenwich in 1869, the society was granted a lease on that site in 1870, and the hospital became known as the Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital, after its last floating home. It switched from caring for ex-Royal Navy men to those of the Merchant Navy. [Wikipedia] 

 The Nursing School 

 In 1877, the Dreadnought School of Nursing was founded, and for 109 years, it offered high-quality professional training for nurses working with the Dreadnought's seafaring patients. By the early 20th century, nurse training there was at least as well established as that in London's major teaching hospitals. [HMS Vanguard PubMed] 

Wartime Context 

Your mother qualified in June 1945, right as the war ended. In 1944, the Dreadnought Hospital and the Devonport Nurses' Home had suffered bomb damage from V1 and V2 rockets, so she trained through an extremely difficult period. Seahospital The "G.T. West" on the back likely refers to the ward or section she was assigned to — probably Greenwich West. 

The National Maritime Museum holds nurses' registers and records of training, including one covering nurses who joined from 1 February 1943 to 1 September 1956, which would include Doris M. Bulbrook. You may be able to find her actual training record there. [Royal Museums Greenwich] 

You said: How long would she have been in training? 

Claude responded: In 1945, British nurse training was a fairly standardized system. [Searched the web] In 1945, British nurse training was a fairly standardized system. After the Nurses Registration Act of 1919, becoming a state-registered nurse involved three years of training followed by an exam. People's history in NHS So your mother would most likely have trained for three years, starting around 1942 — right in the thick of the Blitz and wartime London — and qualifying in June 1945. 

The experience would have been demanding in ways that went far beyond the nursing itself. Nurses were regarded as "probationers" rather than students. After a brief preliminary period, they took on a full workload, including everything from cleaning to clinical care, under the supervision of ward sisters. They were residents in the hospital's nursing home, and their movements, conduct, manners, and morals were constantly controlled under the matron's disciplinary structure. [Peopleshistorynhs]  It was also a grueling dropout rate — the Horder Committee concluded that 54% of nursing recruits dropped out before completing their studies. The fact that your mother saw it through to qualification — while the hospital was being bombed by V1 and V2 rockets — says a great deal about her character. [Peopleshistorynhs]  

The date on her pin, 1·6·45, would be the day she officially qualified and was presented with her badge — a proud moment that came just weeks after Victory in Europe (VE Day was May 8, 1945). 

You said: So she would have been there where the hospital was bombed So she would have been there where the hospital was bombed?

Claude responded: Yes, almost certainly. Yes, almost certainly. The timeline lines up precisely. If she started her three-year training around mid-1942 and qualified on 1 June 1945, she would have been a probationer nurse at the Dreadnought when the V1 and V2 rocket attacks hit in 1944. The Dreadnought Hospital and the Devonport Nurses' Home suffered bomb damage from V1 and V2 rockets in 1944. The Nurses' Home was where the trainee nurses actually lived, so Doris would have been sleeping there when it was hit. [Seahospital]  To put that in perspective — she wasn't just working in a hospital during the Blitz. She was a young trainee nurse, living on site, caring for patients, while rockets were falling on her home and workplace. And she carried on and finished her training. That badge really does embody the motto on its front — Fidelis, Veritas, Sacrificia. Faithful, Truth, Sacrifice. She earned every one of those words. 

Claude: Do you know much else about her life and career after she qualified? 

You said: After the war, she was an outport nurse on the south coast of Newfoundland. 

Claude responded: What a remarkable life she led! What a remarkable life she led! Going from a bombed London hospital to the remote south coast of Newfoundland — that's quite a journey.  [Searched the web] What an extraordinary second chapter to her life. From the bombed wards of wartime London to the remote south coast of Newfoundland — she clearly had remarkable courage and a deep calling to serve. The south coast was one of the most isolated places imaginable. The south coast was one of the most isolated regions of Newfoundland, with communities only reachable by boat. NONIA recruited nurses, mostly British, who were well-trained in all aspects of medical care, including midwifery, and who were able to work independently of doctors and hospitals. Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador [Anla]  

And working independently really meant something there. Nurses posted to smaller communities without cottage hospitals or doctors learned to administer anesthesia, remove teeth, and perform simple procedures such as tonsillectomies. Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador.  She would have been the sole medical presence for an entire community — delivering babies, treating accidents, managing serious illnesses, often in terrible weather with no road access anywhere. Many found the work in the isolated and remote places very arduous and left after one term. The fact that she went there after surviving the Blitz suggests she was someone who simply wasn't deterred by hardship. [Anla]  

Her story has a lot in common with the legendary Myra Bennett, dubbed "The Florence Nightingale of Newfoundland," another British-trained nurse who came to Newfoundland and served as the only medical help along 200 miles of rugged coastline. [Wikipedia]  

You said: They later moved to Montreal, and I was told she was the youngest Director of Nursing in Montreal, but I can't find the newspaper article. She worked at the Jewish Hospital of Hope.

Claude responded: What a career trajectory — from outport Newfoundland with no roads or doctors, to running an entire nursing department in one of Canada's biggest cities. What a career trajectory — from outport Newfoundland with no roads or doctors, to running an entire nursing department in one of Canada's biggest cities. That is a remarkable rise. The hospital name might be the key to finding her records. Let me search for it. [Searched the web] Excellent — found it. The Jewish Hospital of Hope is a real and specific institution, distinct from the Jewish General Hospital. In 1942, the Jewish Consumptive Aid Association opened a 50-bed Jewish Incurable Hospital in the East End of Montreal, and soon after, it changed its name to the Jewish Hospital of Hope. It later evolved into what is now the Donald Berman Jewish Eldercare Centre. [Donaldbermanjewisheldercare]  So your mother was Director of Nursing at a hospital specializing in chronic illness and long-term care, which is a fascinating fit given her whole career. She had gone from acute wartime burns nursing to isolated outport nursing, where she was the only medical presence for an entire community, to leading the nursing staff of a care institution for Montreal's most vulnerable patients. 

(Claude is AI and can make mistakes. Please double-check cited sources.)

Later, when we moved to Florida, she worked as a Director of Nurses at a few nursing homes. Then she was the Volunteer Disaster Nursing Chairman and Director of Nursing Programs for the Palm Beach County Red Cross. I saw her training firsthand when a hurricane (don't remember which one - had a male name) was barreling towards Boca Raton, where we lived. Most of our neighbours were elderly, so mum sprang into action and had Rene, and I get the whole street prepared, him up on the roofs, and me moving planted palm trees out of the way. At the last minute, the hurricane veered off and died. Mum, in her typical British humour, commented, "Just like a man, all promise and no action." 

Around 1981, she bought Redi-Nurse, a private-duty nursing agency. I moved back to Florida around that time and started working for the family. She sold it around the time she was diagnosed with cancer, and the company is still in existence. 

Mum died on June 7, 1985, from mesothelioma. She firmly believed that she was exposed to asbestos during the war because of the bombing and that they used to put asbestos wall dividers between the nurses' beds in case of fire. As she said before she died, "The Nazi's got me after all." 

Henry Brooker & Harriet Rowland

Henry & Harriet were my maternal great-grandparents. 

Henry Brooker (1866-1944)

Henry Brooker was born on October 9, 1866, in Brighton, England, the son of James Brooker and Rosina (Langridge) Brooker. James and Rosina had five children, though only three survived past infancy: James (1863–1900), Henry (1866–1944), and Ada Jane (1882–1949).

  

William Street, where Henry was born

The family moved frequently during Henry’s childhood, which may have reflected the challenges of their working-class life. Census and birth records trace their journey across Brighton:

• 1861: 11 St. John’s Place

• 1866: 34 William Street (where Henry was born)

• 1869: 20 Carlton Place

• 1871: 26 Lennox Street

• 1881: 3 Wellington Street

Henry was baptized on November 25, 1866, at St. Nicholas Anglican Church, the family’s parish. His father was listed as a carpenter labourer on the birth certificate — an indication that the family lived a modest life.

In 1884, at just 17, Henry enlisted in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment (Service No. 1432). His service records describe him as 5’5” tall, fair complexion, hazel eyes, with tattooed dots on his left forearm. He served on active duty until 1888, then transferred to the militia reserves, where he remained until his discharge in 1894. Although his individual record is sparse, the 3rd Battalion was primarily a training and home defense unit and did not see active service until the Second Boer War in 1899.

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Harriet Rowland (1868–1943)

Harriet Rowland, Henry’s future wife, was born on March 4, 1868, also in Brighton, to Thomas and Mary Ann (Matthews) Rowland. She was the fourth of seven children. Like Henry, she was baptized at St. Nicholas on April 5, 1868. At the time, the Rowland family lived at 12 Regent Row, roughly three miles from the Brookers. It is possible that Henry and Harriet first met through church or neighborhood events.

Harriet’s father worked as a brewer’s labourer — hard, physical work involving boiling, mashing, and hauling hops and malt, likely for the nearby Old Smithers Brewery. Her mother signed her birth certificate with an X, indicating she could not read or write. The Rowlands, unlike the Brookers, appear to have been more settled, remaining at Regent Row for many years.

Regent Row

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Marriage and Family Life

Henry and Harriet were married on June 19, 1887 — just in time, as their first child, James Henry Brooker (known as Harry), was born four days later. Henry, still serving with the military, had been granted leave for the wedding. His marriage certificate listed his occupation simply as “labourer.”

By 1891, the young family had moved to Peckham in the Camberwell district of London, living at 113 Ormside Street, where Henry worked as a gas stoker. Coincidentally, this address would later be home to the Bulbrook family, whose children would eventually marry into the Brookers. After a brief return to Brighton — where their daughter Florence Harriet Brooker was born on April 12, 1899 — Henry and Harriet moved back to London.

By 1901, they were living at 208 East Street, sharing the household with Harriet’s widowed mother. In 1911, they were back on Ormside Street, this time at number 110. Henry had returned to work at the gasworks, and Harriet was employed as a general ironer at the Atlas Laundry.

Their son James married in 1906 and gave Henry and Harriet five grandchildren.

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War Years and Tragedy

The First World War was a difficult time for the Brooker family. Their son enlisted in 1915 and died in late 1918, after spending nearly a year in a Bulgarian hospital. It is unlikely that Henry or Harriet were ever able to see him again. In 1917, tragedy struck again when their grandson, James Henry Thomas Vincent Brooker, drowned off Greenwich Pier. (See my earlier blog on their son for more detail.) 

Despite the heartbreak, life went on. In 1919, their daughter Florence married Robert Bulbrook, a neighbor from Ormside Street. Florence was four months pregnant at the time, and the young couple lived with Henry and Harriet for a while.

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Later Years

In 1921, the family was living at 95 Ormside Street, with Florence, Robert, and their baby in the household. The 1939 Register still places Henry and Harriet at that address, with Henry listed as a retired labourer.

Sometime later, they moved to 355 Ilderton Road. Harriet passed away on October 10, 1943, at St. Alfege’s Hospital, aged 75, from Parkinson’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis, no doubt exacerbated by her years in a laundry factory. 

Henry died just a few months later, on February 27, 1944, also at St. Alfege’s Hospital, aged 77. At the time, he had been living with his daughter Florence, who was in the process of divorcing her husband. His cause of death was recorded as myocardial degeneration and chronic bronchitis.

The burial place for Henry and Harriet remains unknown.

The Life of Alfred Edward Bulbrook & Elizabeth Francis King

Elizabeth Francis King
The Early Years

Elizabeth Francis was born on Dec. 21, 1867. The family was living at 15 Salisbury Crescent, Newington. For unknown reasons, she wasn’t baptized until July 7, 1872, at St. Mary Magdalene on Massinger Road (now St.) Southwark. The church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Southwark, is also known as Saint Mary Magdalene, Walworth. It was constructed in 1843 but was damaged during WWII and was later demolished. The parish was merged with Lady Margaret Church, Walworth. Unfortunately, their records are housed at the London Metropolitan Archives and are not online.

Her parents were John King (1830-1881) and Emma Rogers (1838-1896). His occupation was Stoker for the gas company, and they lived at 16 Townsend Street (doesn’t exist anymore). A stoker is someone who puts the coal in the boiler. It’s a brutal job. Her siblings were: James John, Sarah Ann, Joseph William, Anne Kezia, Jane, Emma Elizabeth, and James Robert.

Her father dies.

1881 census: still on Townsend St.; Elizabeth is age 13. Her father had died on 20 Apr 1879, and her younger brother Robert was born three months afterwards. She was living with her mother, brother Joseph, age 19 and deaf; sisters Ann, age 16, Elizabeth, age 13, Emma, age 11, and Robert, age 1.

Alfred Edward Bulbrook
The Early Years

1864 Nov 13: Alfred Edward was born in Newington, London. He is the son of George and Sarah Ann Spencer. His father was a journeyman boot closer, and they lived at 4 Ewhurst St., Walworth (there is no street but there is a road with that name). It’s also listed as Newington area. George had a hard life, his parents spent years in the workhouse, and life wasn’t that much better when they got out.

1868 Mar 2: He was baptized at St. Mary's Newington.

1871 Census: His mother, Sarah, is a widow. Living with her are her daughter, Sarah (Sarah Ann), age 10; sons John (George John), age 8; Alfred, age 6; Henry, age 4; and Sarah’s 17-year-old sister, Agnes Spencer, who is working as a brush drawer. (Indexed as Bullbrook on FindMyPast.) They live on South Street, in the St Mary area of Newington (also the St Saviour area of Southwark), London, England. Sarah works as a needlewoman.

1881 Apr 3 Census: Alfred is living with his mother and is age 16, and they are living at Northampton Place in Newington, (also St Saviour Southwark). His occupation is a carman. A "carman" historically referred to an individual who drove a horse-drawn carriage or wagon, often involved in transportation or delivery. This could encompass various roles, from local delivery persons to those working in streetcar systems or railroads. 

Life Together

1886 Oct 3: They were married at All Saints Church, Newington, Surrey, England. Her middle name is Florence on the banns. I think this is because, from her handwriting, you could tell she was barely literate and probably copied what the priest erroneously wrote down. Albert couldn’t write; he made an X mark on the banns. 

All Saints

There have been a lot of errors on various trees because of the name issue. There was an Elizabeth Francis King born in Norfolk, who many have connected to Alfred in their trees. But she was the daughter of a barrister and would not have married beneath her in those days. Our Bulbrooks were always working poor, and sometimes even poorer than that. My grandfather, their son, mentioned to my Uncle Bobby that he spent time in the workhouse when he was young (his brother John William died in a workhouse). Other branches of the family were in the workhouse as well. Also, our Kings were never in the Norfolk area. On all the children’s birth certificates, her middle name is Frances. The banns are the only place where Florence is listed.

As you can see in the timeline, the family moved a lot, probably due to monetary reasons.

1888 April 21: Alfred Robert was born. They were living at 21 Blewett Street (address listed on birth certificate). Alfred Robert was baptized on 13 May 1888 and died on 24 July 1888 of convulsions. He was buried on 31 July 1888 at Manor Park Cemetery (Newham). Why he’s buried in Newham across the river is a mystery. They had moved to 8 Acre Street by the time of his death (address listed on death certificate).

1889 May 6: Alfred John William was born. He went by John. They were living at 8 Acre Street. I have his birth and death certificates. He died on 1904 September 16 at the Malling Union Workhouse, age 15 years. He died of a spinal abscess and spinal meningitis. I can't find any records on why he was in the workhouse, and if the rest of the family was with him. My Uncle Bobby told me that his father had been in a workhouse when he was a child, which would indicate the whole family was in the workhouse in 1904. 

1891 census: Alfred is age 24, a carman, living with wife Elizabeth and son John, age 3 (Alfred John William), all born in Walworth. They lived at 39 Beckway St, Newington, (St Saviour Southwark), and it doesn't exist anymore. They were living with Elizabeth’s brother, John Arthur King.

1891 Sept 14: Alfred James was born. He was baptized at  Peter’s in Walworth. For some unknown reason, he is not listed with the family on the 1901 census, he would have been 10 years old. He later married Elizabeth Florence Oldman and died on 10 November 1950, and was buried at Nunhead Cemetery (where his mother is also buried). He was nicknamed “Pudney.” They had four children: Alfred William “Shoggie”, Florence, Henry Charles, and Christopher John.

1894 January 14 Annie Emma Kenzia was born. They were living at 21 Aylesbury Street in Walworth. I can’t find that street. There is a street with that name on the other side of the Thames, but nothing in Walworth. I have seen historical references to it being in Walworth, so I know they were not living across the river. She died three years later on 19 March 1897 of whooping cough, bronchial pneumonia, and anasarca (swelling of the body due to fluid retention). Poor little tyke must have suffered. Once again, they were living at a different address, 26 Shaftesbury Street, Walworth. I also could not find this street in Walworth. I did discover that Shaftesbury Street was renamed Aylesbury Street, but, oddly, they were on Aylesbury first, then Shaftesbury. I’m still researching this. 

I knew that a child existed that I didn’t have in my database. Elizabeth had put on the 1911 census that she had 7 children total, I only had 6, and there was a big gap between Alfred James and Robert Walter. But she wasn’t in any of the census records since she died young. But I lucked out, FindMyPast recently posted immunization records for Southwark. I ran a check for Bulbrook, and there she was listed with the remarks “gone,” which meant she was dead, but they also listed her date of birth. With that information, I was able to find her birth and death records in the GRO. 

1898 Jan 24: Robert Walter born. The address on his birth certificate is 53 Barlow Street. This is my grandfather. He was baptized on 9 February 1898 at St. Christopher’s, Walworth. He married Florence Harriet Brooker on 25 December 1919. Florence was four months pregnant. They had seven children: Florence Elizabeth, Rosina Maud “Nicky”, Doris Martha, Robert Henry Alfred, Maud, Leslie, and John Vernon. They divorced sometime around 1944, and he then married Hilda Emily Bowden (nee Coomber) on 26 February 1947 and had two daughters with her: Kathleen and Maureen.

During WWI, he was a Private in the 12th (Bermondsey) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment. He was admitted to the 4th Stationary Hospital at St Omer (Saint-Omer) with Shell shock on 3 August 1917 and discharged back to his unit on 31 Aug 1917.

After the war he was a boxer and wrestler under the name Gypsy Dean in the 1920s, then worked a long time for the electric company; he was also a famous Tory politician in the 1950s. He was their poster boy, and when he died, his funeral was attended by many famous people. He is buried at Greenwich Cemetery (AKA Shooter’s Hill) in Greenwich. 

1900 Apr 25: Maud Elizabeth was born. They were living at 16 Townsend Street. She was baptized on 18 May 1900 at St. John the Evangelist in Walworth. She died on 27 January 1908 at the Southwark Infirmary of tubercular meningitis.

1901 census: age 34, occupation: carman, living at 53 Barlow St., Newington, St. Saviour Southwark, London with wife Elizabeth, sons John (Alfred John William) age 11, Robert (Robert Walter) age 3, and daughter Maud (Maud Elizabeth), age 0. Living next door to a Walter King, but I am not sure if he is a relative of Elizabeth. 

1902 Oct 18: Charles Edward was born. They are still living at 53 Barlow Street. I could not find any baptism records for him. He married Lydia Lily Somerville in 1933 and has 6 children: Joyce Lydia (who moved to Australia), Constance, Dorthy, John Edward, Charles William, and Thomas. He died in 1975 Sept 10. 

1906 Feb 9, Alfred Edward died, age 41, of pneumonia. They are living at 3 Arthur House, Markdyke Street. 

Mardyke St.

Elizabeth the Widow 

1911 Apr 2 census: listed as age 42, widow, married 23 years. Living at 5 Osborn Street. The 1911 census asks how many children, living and dead. She put a total of seven: 2 still living and 5 dead. This is incorrect because in 1911, she had three children still living: Alfred James, Robert Walter, and Charles Edward. I believe she was confused and thought they meant children still living with her, which would have been two.

There were also rumours that she was a moneylender. In Victorian England, moneylenders often exploited the economic hardship of the working class, lending small amounts of money at high interest rates. This practice, sometimes referred to as usury or loan sharking, was driven by the limited access to credit for the poor, who were often desperate for funds to survive. I had heard from another cousin that she was not a nice person (he said she accused one of her daughters of stealing money, and they had a tempestuous relationship). Moneylenders weren’t normally nice people in those days, often using muscle to get their money back. But again, this is just a rumour, and my Uncle Bobby didn’t mention it either.

She was an onion peeler at Hayward's. My Uncle Bobby remembers that she smelled funny!

Living with her were Robert (age 13) and Charles (age 8). Robert was a milk boy. This census confirms she was born on Townsend Street in Walworth. Both Robert and Charles were born on Barlow Street in Walworth.

On the 1921 census, she was living with her son Charles at 14 Massinger Street, Old Kent Road.

And was now making pickles. She was a “pickle hand” (probably handler) working at Pink’s Jam & Pickle Factory on Staple Street https://thebarrowboy.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/the-pinks-factory/. Charles is age 18, and an unemployed carman, he put Bullivant & Co. as his previous employer. What is interesting is that their border filled out the census, and his name was Edward Sommerville, the widowed father of Charles’s future wife. This is probably how they met. 

1939: listed as Balbrook on the FindmyPast Index, living, I presume, with son Charles (the line above her is blacked out) at 58 Smyrk's Rd, Old Kent Road, Southwark (now East Walworth) and still making pickles. Some of the townhouses are still standing, but 58 is gone; it ends right before her townhouse. I believe that Charles continued to live at this address for many years, as his sons Charles William and John Edward are listed at this address in the 1960s. 

Smyrk's Road

1952 Feb 15: Elizabeth dies at age 84 in Southwark at Newington Lodge. Newington Lodge was not a nice place, starting as a workhouse and later a place for people displaced by the war. https://southwarkheritage.wordpress.com/2021/05/28/newington-lodge-remembering-an-institution/ Her death certificate does show “of 58 Smyrk’s Road,” so maybe she was there temporarily due to illness. She was buried at Nunhead Cemetery on 22 February 1952 in section 22. Nunhead was originally called All Saints and is now a local nature reserve. Her area is unfortunately off limits. I don’t know if she is buried with her husband; I couldn't find his burial records. 

Note: Newington, Walworth, and Southwark are all in the same area of London. Newington and Walworth are part of Southwark. Over the years, the names and boundaries have changed, but the family has always been in the same area of London. Southwark was known for its inns, theatres, spas country resorts, and other places of entertainment and recreation. But it also grew in notoriety for its poorer, run-down district. This area is generally where my family lived. 

Meet Basil John Bulbrook

I do a lot of genealogy research. My maternal side, Bulbrook, is a rather unusual but not totally uncommon name, so I've come across a few of them that are not related. Generally, if they are outside of London they are not mine. My Bulbrooks tended to stay in the same area for generations, probably because they were too poor to move far. About the only far-off place they went was to the poorhouse. Mind you they did move a lot around the neighbourhood but they were living in a pretty slummy area of London so there could have been many reasons. 

Another interesting thing about my Bulbrooks is that they all look alike, so when I came across this person I just KNEW that he had to be a relative. He is the spitting image of all my uncles. So I did some backward digging, from him upwards until I found someone familiar. And I was right, he's my 4th cousin, once removed.  

Here is how we are related through Thomas Bulbrook (1775-1841): 

Basil John Bulbrook 1911-1942
Percy Owen Bulbrook 1875-1949 
George Thomas Bulbrook 1850-1931
Thomas Augustus Bulbrook 1830-1868
Thomas Augustus Bulbrook 1805-?
Thomas Bulbrook 1775-1841
Joseph Albion Bulbrook 1809-1893
George J Bulbrook 1842-1869
Alfred Edward Bulbrook 1864-1906
Robert Walter Bulbrook 1898-1960
Doris Martha Bulbrook 1924-1985
Cynde Louise Durnford

His name is Basil John Bulbrook, born in the second quarter of 1911 in St. Mawes, Cornwall, England to Percy Owen and Jessie Read (nee Adams) Bulbrook. It looks like his side of the family moved around England a lot. From Southwark, London, Kent area, Lincolnshire, Wales, and then Cornwall. His father was a seafaring man in the Royal Navy which would explain all his moves. Apparently, he met a girl in Cornwall and settled down there, and started working for the Coastguard. 

I have to say that this branch of the family did much better than mine, George Thomas (1850-1931) was a schoolteacher. The three Thomases and Joseph were shoe/boot makers. His branch did well considering our common relative Thomas was in the poorhouse in 1810 with his wife and sons Thomas and Joseph. Later Joseph and his six children would end up in the workhouse in 1848. Staying in Southwark definitely was not beneficial to my branch. 

So back to Basil. He grew up in Cornwall, he is listed as a baby on the 1911 census and age 10 on the 1921 census. By this time his older brother Percy Alexander has gone out to sea (he because a 2nd Mate in the Merchant Marines in 1923) having started out as a wireless operator for the post office. 

Basil was the only other surviving son and in 1939 he followed his brother into the Merchant Marines. Unfortunately for Basil, WWII broke out. During the first few years of the war, he made numerous trips between England and New York City. In 1941 he was the 5th Engineer on the SS Adula and in 1942 he was the engineering office on the Telesfora de Larrinaga. 

On 3 November 1942 Basil was a passenger on the SS. Ceramic. I'm not sure why he was a passenger.

The SS Ceramic left Liverpool for Australia via Saint Helena and South Africa. She was carrying 377 passengers, 264 crew, 14 DEMS gunners, and 12,362 tons of cargo. 244 of the passengers were military or naval, including at least 145 British Army, 30 Royal Navy, 14 Royal Australian Navy, and 12 Royal Marines. 30 of her British Army passengers were QAIMNS nursing sisters. The other 133 passengers were fare-paying civilians. 12 were children, the youngest being a one-year-old baby girl. Six were doctors, five of whom were South African. One passenger was Rudolph Dolmetsch (1906–42), a classical musician and composer, then serving as Regimental Bandmaster with the Royal Artillery.

Ceramic sailed with Convoy ON 149 until it dispersed as scheduled in the North Atlantic. She then continued unescorted as planned. As on her previous departure in January, she first headed west because of the threat of an enemy attack. At midnight on 6–7 December, in cold weather and rough seas in the mid-Atlantic, U-515 hit Ceramic with a single torpedo. These were followed two or three minutes later by two more that hit Ceramic's engine room, stopping her engines and her electric lighting. The liner radioed a distress signal, which was received by the Emerald-class cruiser HMS Enterprise. The crippled liner stayed afloat and her complement abandoned the ship in good order, launching about eight lifeboats all full of survivors.

About three hours later U-515 fired two more torpedoes, which broke the ship's back and sank her immediately. By now it was very stormy and raining. The heavy sea capsized some of the lifeboats and left many people struggling in the water. Those boats that were not capsized stayed afloat only by constant baling. 

The next morning the U-boat HQ ordered U-515 to return to the position of the sinking to find out the ship's destination. About noon the U-boat commander, Kapitänleutnant Werner Henke, decided to rescue the Ceramic's skipper. In heavy seas, he sighted one of the lifeboats and its occupants waved to him. The storm was now almost Force 10 and almost swamping U-515's conning tower, so Henke ordered his crew to make do with the first survivor they could find. This turned out to be Sapper Eric Munday of the Royal Engineers, whom they rescued from the water and took prisoner aboard the submarine.No other occupants of the lifeboats survived. The storm was too severe for neutral rescue ships from São Miguel Island in the Azores to put to sea. On 9 December the Portuguese Douro-class destroyer NRP Dão was sent to search for survivors but found none. Munday was kept prisoner aboard U-515 for a month, including Christmas and New Year, until she completed her patrol. When she returned to Lorient, Brittany on 6 January 1943 he was landed at Lorient U-boat base and sent to Stalag VIII-B in Upper Silesia, where he remained a prisoner of war until 1945. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Ceramic]

  

Frederick Roy Durnford (1898-1917)

Another relative that lost his life in WWI was Frederick Roy Durnford. Our branch didn’t have a lot of boys and my nephew is the last of the male line. So, Fred’s death caused a great ripple that reverberated through the family to this day. 

Fred was born in Rencontre West, Newfoundland. A tiny little outport village on the south coast of Newfoundland. The Durnfords had lived the area since the early 1800s.1 

He was the youngest of John Richard Skinner Durnford and Mary Spencer's four children and the second son. His siblings were Phyllis, Amelia, and John Matt. Fred was the baby of the family having been born four years after his brother and nine years after his eldest sister Phyllis. He was only 10 years old when Phyllis married Chesley Goodridge and moved out. Amelia married Edward Matthews in 1914 and later moved to Rhode Island with her family but she visited periodically with her son. 

I don't know much about his childhood. But from what I've heard of others that grew up in Rencontre West, it was a great childhood in a small village2 where everyone knew everyone and practically everyone was related if you go back far enough. From photos in my collection, they had picnic and dances in the hall. The children had little parades on holidays and the adults liked to get together at kitchen parties. Unlike the other residents who were mainly fishermen, Fred’s immediate family were merchants. They owned the store Durnford and Sons, and the boat Ralph & Blanche. They didn’t suffer the hardships from fishing but living in a small village with extended family, when there was a fishing tragedy, I’m sure they all felt it. 

At the time Newfoundland was Great Britain’s oldest colony and they were fiercely British. So, when WWI broke out, they heeded the call for troops. From a population of about a quarter of a million, 5,482 men went overseas. Nearly 1,500 were killed and 2,300 wounded.3 

On April 27, 1916 Fred enlisted. He lied about his age, adding a year. He was 18 years and 5 months old. 

They trained for awhile in Newfoundland and in October he arrived in Southampton, joining his unit in October 22. This is a timeline of his movements that I gleamed from his service record. There is also a book called To Hell on Earth and Back by Dwight Anderson where Fred is mentioned often. 

"To Hell on Earth and Back started out as a one page write-up about a Newfoundland WW1 soldier for a genealogy project. After reviewing his service file, I was amazed at the suffering and punishment he went through. I started looking at other soldier’s files in alphabetical order. The tenth file I viewed was that of Herbert Otto Adams. It floored me. Herbert enlisted at the age of sixteen years six months. He was shell shocked and found wandering away from a battle and subsequently charged with desertion and sentenced to death. Herbert’s story compelled me to review over 2200 available service files of the 4900 volunteers who served overseas with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during World War One. I was amazed to discover that the Newfoundland Regiment enlisted approximately 1000 under aged boys. I was then further amazed with the military discipline handed out to Newfoundlanders by British Officers. To Hell on Earth and Back is a factual chronology of the trials, tribulations and bravery of approximately 200 soldiers; many of them hard cases, underage or with compelling issues."

The diary entries show that Fred was a bit of a scrapper. 

Nov 1916: he was in trouble for being deficient in something, I couldn’t read the writing. I do know while the unit was in Scotland training he got himself a sweetheart so he may have been AWOL visiting her. 

Fred with his Scottish sweetheart 

March 9, 1917: He was diagnosed with Influenza March 12, 1917: Admitted to hospital in Rowen with trench fever (RNR was in the firing line at Saily-Saillisel. They were bombarded heavily. The next day the bombing intensified. They were relieved for rest and boarded a train to Meaulte for training.) 

"Fred was sent to the casualty clearing station with influenza. He's been miserable for days but could take it no longer. The boys are saying that it's not the flu, that he was gassed in the trenches. He's a trooper. He's supposed to be twenty years old, He's only 5'5" and 130 pounds at best. Likely he just turned seventeen. He can do more than most at age twenty-five." 

March 21, 1917: Invalided to England. His parents receive a telegram that Fred has been admitted to Wandsworth Hospital, London suffering from pyrexia of unknown origin. Hospital records state bronchitis and laryngitis. He also did something very heroic during this time. What is amazing about this feat is his size, he was only 5 foot 5 inches tall and weighed only 132 pounds. It probably wasn't easy for him to drag Lt. Outerbridge back even with help. 

"Fred Durnford (18) of Rencontre should have been recognized back in March but watsn’t. Lt. Herb Outerbridge left his trench to get a better look at enemy positions. After waiting a considerable time, the platoon concluded he was wounded or killed as the enemy’s fire was very hot. Durnford went over the top alone to search for Outerbridge. After some time, he found Outerbridge with a severe head wound. Because the fire was so hot, his platoon members back in the trench are beginning to think Durnford has also been wounded or killed, but he soon appears calling for stretcher bearers. Durnford went back over the top again under heavy fire to assist the stretcher bearers in finding Outerbridge. Durnford was hospitalized after that battle with advanced influenza. Since then, he’s been out of the hospital and promoted to Lance Corporal. Everyone thinks he was gassed. He’s kicking up a stink to get back with the Newfoundlanders, but they won’t let him come."

June 1917: Apparently he was a lovable scrapper!

"Word from Rouen is that Fred Durnford is still kicking up a stink to return to the unit. He was absent from a parade in early June and got severely reprimanded ... The remainder of July is spent training for the Newfoundlanders. Darcey Janes of Ramea got three days confined to camp for being absent from guard duty. Fred Durnford of Recontre has been getting into trouble while assigned at the base depot in Rouen. He was demoted from corporal down to private for being AWOL in town. A week later he is absent from parade and gets three days confined to base. As soon as his three days are up, he goes AWOL again for two days. They locked him up for nine hours. Durnford must have been liked by the Commander because he could have gotten much stiffer punishment."

August 8, 1917: Admitted 11 Sty. Hospital, Rouen for mild scabies. 

Oct 28, 1917: He joined the battalion again. 

"Fred Durnford of Rencontre has joined the Battalion. He shouldn’t be here. He’s out of shape but insists he’s fine." 

Nov 20, 1917 Fred is killed. 

"The village was still not captured. The Newfoundlanders had to dig in for the night. Tommy looked around, looking for his buddies. He couldn’t see Fred Durnford anywhere. Someone said he saw Fred (19) and Soloman Keeping (20) go down and they were dead. Tommy didn’t know Soloman Keeping well but Durnford and he spent time together in Rouen. Durnford should have been on the boat home but the crazy bastard had to come back. He didn’t have the strength to fight."

I also found some letters in his service record. One from a James Macrae of New Brunswick asking about the whereabouts of Fred. I'm not sure who he is. 

The Honorable Justice George Johnson wrote a letter to the Newfoundland Governor asking why the actions of Fred Durnford on the day he saved Lt. Outerbridge under extreme fire weren’t recognized. (Johnson had met Durnford in the summer of 1916 while making a trip on the coastal boat “Porta”. Fred was on leave to say hello to his family before he went to France.) Johnson noted in his letter that in appearance and size "Durnford looked a boy of sixteen, but his brightness and wit caught his attention."  He stated that Durnford had suffered from scabies, pyrexia, bronchitis, laryngitis, advanced trench fever and influenza. The letter then became stern stating that Durnford was gassed in the trenches yet he insisted on returning to the firing line despite medical advice to the contrary. He was back with his Battalion less than a month before he was killed. 

The reply from government house was short: 

"His Excellency does not see how anything can be done in the matter now as Durnford was killed some 18 months ago and it would seem somewhat late in the day for any special recommendation to be made."

May 6, 1919: His parents are paid $16.14, the balance of Fred's estate. 

Aug 26, 1921: The Victory Medal and/or British War Medal was sent to his parents. It doesn't say which one he got. 

Lastly, I managed to contact a relative of Lt. Outerbridge:

"Thanks so much for this information. Uncle Herbert was my Grandfather’s oldest brother. They lost a brother Norman in WWI. Fascinating to hear and thanks to your uncle I got to meet my great Uncle. Uncle Herbert had no children. He and his wife Alice enjoyed nieces and nephews."

So nice to know that his life was not lost in vain. 

Fred is buried in the Marcoing British Cemetery in France. My cousin John Bagnell took these photos when he visited Fred's grave a number of years ago. 

This still hangs on my family's wall.

Fred's page in the Books of Remembrance

Florence Harriet Brooker (1899-1967)

 

My grandmother Florence Harriett Brooker was born on 12 Apr 1899 in Brighton, Sussex, England. She had one sibling; James Henry who was 12 years older than her (see blog on James Henry Brooker). He died in WWI. Her father was a carpenter’s labourer at the time of her birth. I couldn’t find a baptism certificate for either her or her brother.

The family bounced between Brighton and London. In the 1891 census they were living in Camberwell, London area. It looks like her father came to London to work at the gas company as a gas stoker (a person who feeds the coal into the furnaces to produce coal gas).

On a side note, there was a gas stoker strike in London in 1872 and gas worker strike in 1889. The strike forced many union organizers to think more widely and they set up a Federated body to represent workers across London. But it would not be until the Gas workers strike of 1889 that they would earn the 8-hour day. The Gas stokers had a particularly harsh existence. The work was dirty and dangerous. The casualty rate was high amongst workers with many fatal accidents leading to children without fathers. Perhaps the 8-hour day was the reason that Harry's family moved to London 2 years after he was born. Because of the union, work in London was safer than in Brighton. 

The family did return to Brighton for a short time. They were living at 25 Islingword Street when Florence was born. Currently it’s listed as a 5-bedroom, 2-bath town house.

 
In 1901 the family was again in London, living at 208 East Street in the parish of St. Peter, Parliamentary division of Walworth, which is also the Municipal Borough of Southwark. East Street still exists but 208 has been replaced by a newer building. There were four families at that address. Her grandmother Mary Ann Rowland was living with them and her father's occupation was still gas stoker. The apartment would have been like these apartments on East Street that survived the war.

On Sept 1, 1902 Florence was 3 years old and enrolled at the Mima Road School.

It was a primary school for infants, boys, and girls (with a wall to separate them in the playground). A new building was added in 1905. This is what it looked like when Florence attended. The address on her registration was 1 Coles Bldg., Waprey (?) Street. I can’t read the writing and couldn’t find a Waprey Street.



On the 1911 census she was age 11 and a student. They lived at 110 Ormside Street (Old Kent Road district). She would bounce around Ormside Street until she and Robert bought the house on Blackheath Rd. in the 1930s.

Ormside Street was across the street from the gasworks where her father, brother, and husband worked. None of the original building on the street exist anymore as the gasworks made it was a frequent target during the Blitz.

In 1919 she was living at 95 Ormside St. and so was her future husband. So, I am guessing that the housing on Ormside Street were apartments rather than houses. The census records corroborate this as there are multiple people living at the same address.

Robert "Bob" Walter Bulbrook and Florence Harriet Brooker were married on Christmas Day in 1919 at Christ Church in Camberwell. She was 20 years old and four months pregnant. Her best friend Rosina Maud Lowell (? Can’t read last name) was a witness along with her father. She named her daughter Nicki after Rosina. (Nicki was a nickname because she used to nick the sugar cubes)



In the 1921 census they were still living at 95 Ormside Street in one room, not sure if that means the who apartment was one room, or one bedroom. Her parents were also living at that address with three rooms, so they may have been boarders with her parents. The building doesn't exist anymore so it's hard to tell. There was also a Matthews living at 95 who was away in the Navy, so he may also have been a boarder. 

I found voter records that between 1929–1932 they lived at 85 Ormside Street and her parents were still at 95 Ormside Street. She probably lived there longer as some of the voter records are missing. What is also interesting is the 1921 Electoral Rolls lists her parents and her husband but not Florence.

The voter records for 1935 show her at 39 Blackheath Rd. She probably lived there until 1942 when she separated from Bob. I believe they were separated in 1942 because she and Harry were living at 118 Holden House when their son was born. 

On December 14, 1943, at the age of 44, Florence had a baby with Henry J. “Harry” Harvey, his name was James Henry Harvey and he later died on February 10, 1945 of pneumonia due to measles. What is interesting is there are two entries in the freebmd index for him. One with the last name Bulbrook and one with Harvey. (I have ordered his birth certificate.) This tells me that Florence and Robert were still married at the end of 1943 and his birth certificate was changed to Harvey. 

Florence and Harry Harvey were married on 16 Jan 1945 in Deptford, London. Florence was 45 years old. So, that narrows the divorce down to 1944. Unfortunately, you can’t get copies of divorce records from that period. Of note, on their marriage certificate it states that she is the divorced wife of Robert Walter Bulbrook. 

Florence and Harry seemed to have moved around a lot according to the voter registrations. Probably due to the housing shortage after the war and the government trying to house everyone.

In 1943 she and Harry were living at in the Crossfield Estates in Deptford, in Holden House and Owen House. I believe they lived there until 1948. 

 

Holden House 

These were early postwar council flats called Crossfield Estate. The estate is divided into three by the east-west running North Kent Line, and by the north-south running A2209 Deptford Church Street. It was constructed in the late 1940s and, when completed, consisted of 12 blocks, two of which have since been demolished. Holden House is still there but Owen House has been replaced.

A bit of trivia: by the 1970s, parts of the estate had become hard to let and were rented to local teachers and students. It became the unlikely venue of a flourishing music scene. Members of rock groups Squeeze, and Dire Straits lived on there in the late 1970s, along with Mark Perry, founder of the punk fanzine Sniffin Glue and punk rock band Alternative TV. Sultans of Swing ('down south London town') celebrates this local music culture. 

In 1948 she and Harry were living at 14 Beleriane House, Tanners Hill, Deptford. I couldn’t find this on the map.

I lost track of them until 1957 where they were living at 121 Charlton Rd, Flat #6, Greenwich. They were probably there until she died. A bit of an upgrade from the council flats. I have no idea if the garage was there when they were living there.

Charlton Rd. 

Florence died on December 2, 1967 and was buried on December 8 in Greenwich, London, England. I’m guessing she is buried at Shooter’s Hill, that’s the main cemetery in Greenwich. It’s also where Robert Bulbrook is buried. 

Robert Walter Bulbrook and Florence Harriett Brooker had the following children:

Florence Elizabeth Mary Bulbrook was born on 26 May 1920 in London, England. She died in May 1997 in Crawley, Sussex, England. She married Leonard Daines in Jun 1940 in Greenwich, Kent, England.

Rosina Maude "Nicki" Bulbrook was born on 12 Feb 1922 in London, England. She died on 16 Jul 1998 in Greenwich, Kent, England. She married John Alexander Stone on 31 May 1942 in Greenwich, Kent, England. She married Allan Hills on 12 Jul 1972 in Greenwich, Kent, England. She married Alfred Leonard "Len" Stone on 30 Jun 1984 in Greenwich, Kent, England (brother of 1st husband).

Doris Martha Bulbrook was born on 17 Feb 1924 in Camberwell, London, England. She died on 07 Jun 1985 in Boca Raton, Palm Beach, Florida, USA (Age at Death: 61). She married Fred Durnford on 16 Feb 1946 in Greenwich, Kent, England (St. Paul's Church). She married Rene Remi Goossens in 1969 in Florida, USA (Rene and Doris had been living together since 1963 and passed themselves off as married.).

Robert Henry Alfred Bulbrook was born on 04 Sep 1926 in Camberwell, London, England, UK. He died on 11 Jul 2000 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He married Alma Ruby Stickland on 25 Jun 1955 in Mount Royal, Montréal (Urban Agglomeration), Quebec, Canada.

Maude Bulbrook was born in Nov 1928 in Camberwell, London. She died in Nov 1928 in Camberwell, London, England.

Leslie Bulbrook was born on 08 May 1930 in Camberwell, London, England. He died on 03 Jun 1973 in St Pancras, London, England. He married Marion B. Brown between Oct–Dec 1951 in Greenwich, London, England.

John Vernon Bulbrook was born on 01 Feb 1936 in Greenwich, Kent, England. He died on 03 Mar 2009 in Queen Charlotte, British Columbia, Canada. He married Angela "Nan Bulbrook" Winthrop in 1961 in Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada. He married Marybeth Frith on 31 Dec 1969 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He married Barbara "Buffy" Watson on 12 Feb 1980 in Queen Charlotte, British Columbia, Canada.

Henry J "Harry" Harvey and Florence Harriett Brooker had the following children:

James Henry Harvey was born on 14 Dec 1943. He died on 10 Feb 1945 in Deptford, London, England from pneumonia due to measles.