We are grateful to findmypast.co.uk for the following information and data about Henham civilians at the outbreak of World War 2.

In December 1938 it was announced in the House of Commons that in the event of war, a National Register would be taken that listed the personal details of every civilian (aged over 15yrs.) in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This Register was to be a critical tool in coordinating the war effort at home. It would be used to issue identity cards, organise rationing and more.

On September 1st, 1939 Germany invaded Poland, putting the wheels in motion for Britain to declare war on the 3rd. On September 5th, the National Registration Act received royal assent and Registrar General Sir Sylvanus Vivian announced that National Registration Day would be September 29th.

Having issued forms to more than 41 million people, the enumerators were charged with the task of visiting every household in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to collect the names, addresses, marital statuses and other key details of every civilian in the country, issuing identity cards on the spot.

The identity cards issued were essential items from the point the Register was taken right up until 1952, when the legal requirement to carry them ceased. Until that point, every member of the civilian population had to be able to present their card upon request by an official (children’s cards were looked after by parents), or bring them to a police station within 48 hours. The reasons were numerous – it was essential to know who everyone was, of course, and to track their movements as they moved house, as well as to keep track of the population as babies were born and people passed away.

The 1939 Register, then, represents one of the most important documents in 20th century Britain. The information it contains not only helped toward the war effort, it was also used in the founding of the National Health Service.

The 1931 census was destroyed during an air raid on London and the 1941 census was never taken. The 1939 Register, released online by Findmypast in partnership with The National Archives, is therefore the only surviving overview of the civil population of England and Wales spanning the period 1921-1951. It bridges a census gap that risked losing an entire generation, and is a fascinating resource for anyone interested in understanding 20th century Britain and its people.

Open records of the 1939 Register for England and Wales are available online at findmypast.co.uk where you can search by name or address, or browse by place or street. It is free to search for these records, but there is a charge to view full transcriptions and download documents. This service is pay per view only at present. However, you can view these records online free of charge at The National Archives in Kew. The Register contains details of 40 million individuals. For each individual the following details are included: address, schedule number, sub number, surname, first name(s), role (for institutions only – for example, Officer, Visitor, Servant, Patient, Inmate), gender, date of birth, marital status and occupation.

Below are the 'free details' from findmypast.co.uk for those civilians named Gaubert, including mis-spellings, andthose members of the Maas and Murray families to whom I am connected.

 

First name(s) Surname Born Address Comment
Alfred F. Gaubert but shown as
Gawbert
1895 3rd Mar 23, Seager Rd., Sheerness, Kent widowed, chargeman electrical fitter and Jean Edwards b. 24th Oct 1921 unpaid domestic duties
         
Anne Gaubert 1933 15th May 21, Liscard Crescent, Wallasey C.B. Cheshire at the home of Percy Allen and 3 other people. b. 1933, dau.of Frank Walter Benbow GAUBERT & Beatrice ALLEN, d. Jun 1943 in Basingstoke
         
Arthur W Gaubert 1867 6th. Aug 49, South View Rd. Hornsey Middx widowed, retired
Frank Gaubert 1905 16th Dec 49, South View Rd.Hornsey, Middx single, engineer's clerk (HBC)
         
Beatrice Gaubert 1908 14th Oct 103, Shooters Hill Road, Greenwich married, unpaid domestic duties
Frank W B Gaubert 1908 10th Jan 103, Shooters Hill Road, Greenwich married, ships clerk docks
         
Bessie E Gaubert 1892 12th May 80, Bell Rd., Sittingbourne & Milton, Kent unpaid domestic duties, and Edward and 3 other people
Edward Gaubert 1892 14th Feb 80, Bell Rd., Sittingbourne & Milton, Kent inspector elect fitters HM Dockyard, Sheerness and Bessie E. and 3 other people
         
Clara Gaubert 1856 24th May 40, The Little House, Water Edge, Cookham, Berks private means, and 7 other people
         
Edith E M Gaubert 1869 23rd Mar 36, Wilson Ave., Rochester, Kent married, unpaid domestic duties, and Edward W
Edward W Gaubert 1869 7th Aug 36, Wilson Ave., Rochester, Kent married, Foreman of Works, Admiralty, retired and Edith E M
         
Elise Gaubert 1898 15th Feb Bullridge House., South Str., Wilton, Wiltshire single, parlour maid
       
Elizabeth M Gaubert 1910 31st Jul 5, Sandy Meade, Prestwich, Lancs. unpaid domestic duties, and Peter
Peter Gaubert 1914 20th. Sep 5, Sandy Meade, Prestwich, Lancs. research chemist, dyestuffs and Elizabeth M
         
Esther Gaubert 1901 15th Oct 65, Evesham Rd., Southgate, Middlx single, dental nurse, and James & Annie Dove and Irene Jennings
         
Evelyn I Gaubert 1885 13th Feb 51, Carshalton Rd., Carshalton, Surrey single, shorthand typist retired and 3 more people
         
Irene L Gaubert 1907 10th Mar 51, South View Rd., Hornsey, Middlx unpaid household duties, married and George Fardell and his wife Lilian 
         
Lillian Gaubert 1872 25th Aug Blighmore Nursing Home, Waterhouse lane, Southampton, Hants. visitor, widowed, unpaid household duties
       
Romanie M Gaubert 1892 12th Apr Corpus Domini Convent, Guildford, Surrey single, occ.= religious and not connected to our family
       
William E Gaubert 1904 4th Feb 115, Apple Grove, Enfield, Middlx married, setter and carpenter and joiner, and Eva K Harrison, married, unpaid domestic duties
         
Winifred A. Gaubert 1893 6th Aug 40, Worple Road, Wimbledon, Surrey guest house proprietess, divorced
         
Tatiana M Chocker,
should be
Crocker
(nee Gaubert)
1919 24th Sep 4, Brackley Road, Beckenham, Kent single, clerk in Westminster and Olga De Loutsky
         
Clara Gaubert
(nee Benjamin)
1870 16th Jul 210, shop Roman Road, Poplar, Ldn and Isaac Benjamin and 4 more people
         
Emily Beatrice Gaubert
(nee Dove)
1905 7th Jun 108, North View Rd., Hornsey, Middlx photographer, single and William Dove & Emily E. Dove
         
Catherine Maas 1864 9th Oct 69, Glenparke Rd, Forest Gate, Ldn.E7 old age pensioner, widowed plus Lilian C (Elizabeth) Murray  and 1 more person
Lillian C (Elizabeth) Murray 1892 24th Aug 69, Glenparke Rd, Forest Gate, Ldn.E7 unpaid domestic duties, married plus Catherine Maas and Eileen L. Gaubert nee Murray  
Percival H Murray 1891 26th Jul 29, Anglesea Rd., Ipswich, Suffolk clerk grocery distributor, husband of Lillian Murray above, he was my maternal grandfather
Eileen L. Gaubert 1919 31st Jul 69, Glenparke Rd, Forest Gate, Ldn.E7 my mother
       
Kathleen B Hawes 1919 9th Sep Holfield Grange, Coggeshall, Essex daughter of Rose E. Hawes, bakers shop assistant, cook in private service
Rose E Hawes 1895 21st Jul Holfield Grange, Coggeshall, Essex nee Phipps, nee Gaubert, my paternal grandmother, married, unpaid domestic duties
Tony (Anthony Gaubert) Gambert 1927 28th Jun inmate at 1, St. Joseph's Franciscan Convent, East Str., Littlehampton, Sussex son of Rose Hawes (nee Gaubert and nee Phipps) and Benjamin Hawes. Tony was my father's stepbrother
Eileen M. Hunt nee
Gaubert
1916 17th Oct Holfield Grange, Coggeshall, Essex my father's sister, dairy shop assistant, housemaid

 

THE LONDON BLITZ - See Bombsite.org for more details

MAP OF THE LONDON BLITZ BOMBING DURING 7th Oct 1940 to 6th June 1941 SHOWING THE FOREST GATE AREA - bomb mapping.