1939 REGISTER
A register was taken of all households in England and Wales in September 1939. This was to help with the introduction of National Identity Cards and it was used later for ration books and the NHS. It was not as detailed as the census but it is very useful because the 1931 census was destroyed in the war and there was no census in 1941.
The enumerator for Trunch was Philip Andrew Pike and he recorded 413 people living in 119 households. There are a few closed records where the people are thought to be still alive or under 100 years old - these will be released when death is notified or 100 years after their birth date. There are a few errors in the Ancestry transcript but I have corrected those by looking at the original sheets.
A sample from the register
1 New Inn Royal William A Jul-19 1864 W Publican
1 New Inn Royal William W J Sep-01 1898 M Postman
1 New Inn Royal Dorothy H Apr-16 1901 M Unpaid home duties
1 New Inn Clarke Robert Nov-04 1899 M Shop assistant (fish & fruit)
1 New Inn Clarke Annie E Jun-27 1906 M Unpaid home duties
1 New Inn Royal William A Jul-19 1864 W Publican
1 New Inn Royal William W J Sep-01 1898 M Postman
1 New Inn Royal Dorothy H Apr-16 1901 M Unpaid home duties
1 New Inn Clarke Robert Nov-04 1899 M Shop assistant (fish & fruit)
1 New Inn Clarke Annie E Jun-27 1906 M Unpaid home duties
One of the notable features of the register is that very few of the married women had paid jobs, but were listed as working in the home as housewives. Exceptions were those helping husbands in businesses where they lived, and Lilian Tyler, a barmaid and Madeline Tyler who was a sweet packer in Maynards factory. (I think this was in Haringay so she may have been visiting) The Tylers all lived in the Hall on Bradfield Road with Mr & Mrs Van Strassburger. A few of the unmarried women were working in domestic service and Patricia Roberts was the library van driver.
The vast majority of men in the village were still employed in agriculture and the farmers at that time were George Hicks at Brick Kiln Farm, Walter Gibbons in Chapel Road, Arthur May in the White House, Victor Larke at Millers Farm, Albert Cragg at Hall Farm, Edith Allen at Park Farm, Anna Riches at Dairy Farm, George Knights at the Tee and Alexander Clark at Manor Farm. In addition Fred Woods was the baliff of Dudley Farm and there were 2 market gardens. The farms at that time still used horses and cattle were still kept.
Eleven men were employed in the brewery and 4 in well-sinking. Among the other crafts still taking place in the village were boot repairing by Alfred Mason, brick making by Charles Mileham, carpentry by James Rumsby, and Albert Sutton was the blacksmith and Fred Gibbons the builder. There were also several shops in the village at that time. The more unusual occupations recorded were Roland Fuller as a scavenger, Ambose Reynolds as a stoker at the Mundesley Sanitorium and Ivan Sutton as a telegrams messenger.
Another feature of the register is the age of residents in Trunch. There were only 3 people over 80 - all women, which must be quite a contrast to today. 7 people were described as invalids or incapacitated.
Eleven men were employed in the brewery and 4 in well-sinking. Among the other crafts still taking place in the village were boot repairing by Alfred Mason, brick making by Charles Mileham, carpentry by James Rumsby, and Albert Sutton was the blacksmith and Fred Gibbons the builder. There were also several shops in the village at that time. The more unusual occupations recorded were Roland Fuller as a scavenger, Ambose Reynolds as a stoker at the Mundesley Sanitorium and Ivan Sutton as a telegrams messenger.
Another feature of the register is the age of residents in Trunch. There were only 3 people over 80 - all women, which must be quite a contrast to today. 7 people were described as invalids or incapacitated.
The register also recorded people with special duties which might have been relevant to the War. Alfred Mason, Jack Bullen, Sidney Humphreys and George Hicks were special constables; Harold Hedge, Arthur May, Albert Cragg, Harold Burnett, William Dixon, Philip Pike, Charles Holdstock, Arthur Coleman, Thomas Jones, Alexander Clark, Lieutenant Van Strassburger and his wife were all Air Raid Precautions volunteers and Horace Bullen, Cyril Amis and Harold Burnett were in the voluntary fire service.
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