Person

Born on 1 June 1893 in South Shields, Harry was the son of joiner John Gordon and Elizabeth Mary Gordon. The couple also had one daughter, Lilian H A Gordon and one further child who was no longer alive in 1911.

In 1901 the Gordon family were living at Roseberry Terrace, Tyne Dock in South Shields. The family had moved to Wadham Terrace by the time Harry was admitted to Westoe School, South Shields in 1906. Harry remained at this school and became a pupil teacher in August 1909, at the age of 16. Harry’s older sister Lilian was a school teacher at both the time of the 1901 and 1911 census and studied (1902-1904) at Saint Hild’s College, the teacher training college for women in Durham.

The Gordon family remained in South Shields and it was here where Harry lived when he enrolled at Saint Bede College in Durham to study there between 1911 and 1913. Bede College was the Durham University teacher training college for male students. Bede College records describe him as being employed in “special munitions work” during the war. There would have been much secrecy surrounding this work, but Harry does give some insight into what it would have been like to be employed in this type of war service in an article he wrote for the June 1916 edition of Bede Magazine. This tells of the detrimental effects working with explosives could have for the workers and also the many precautions that were needed to prevent explosions happening at the factories.

Harry was awarded a medal for his bravery during an accident that occurred while he was researching into poison gas. It is unclear whether this medal was a ‘Medal of the Order of the British Empire’, later known as the British Empire Medal (BEM), or an OBE. In later records Harry has the initials OBE after his name, but a citation in the London Gazette from January 1919 lists him as receiving the BEM. The inscription for this reads “for great courage and resource. He remained in a building filled with poisonous fumes, to carry out a necessary operation at grave personal risk.” According to a family source, Harry’s hair turned white, he was temporarily blinded and his lungs were seriously damaged during this incident.

Sometime after the war, Harry went on to train as a doctor. It is unclear exactly when Harry began working as a physician, although in marriage banns in 1922 he is listed as a wholesale merchant. Medical records from 1930 list him as a police surgeon and he is reported in several newspaper articles as giving evidence on the health of suspects in court.

Harry had two marriages during his life, the first to Amy Richards in 1922 in Merthyr Tydfil. The couple had at least two children, Amy Elizabeth Rahel Rodica Gordon born in 1923 and Harry Gordon born in 1931. Following Amy’s death in 1935, Harry married Crissie Short in 1940.

A family sketch album contains a number of pictures which are attributed to people working at HM Factory, Avonmouth. These entries are dated 1919 and 1920. It would seem likely that these were Harry’s colleagues and that he too was working at HM Factory Avonmouth. Construction of this factory started in August 1916 and it was opened early in 1917. It appears that picric acid (an explosive) was the initial product, but that mustard gas was manufactured here from 1918. The production of this poisonous gas made conditions in the factory incredibly dangerous and the Medical Officer for the plant admitted that safety was secondary to the urgent need to produce chemicals (see BBC article). In the seven months June to December 1918, there were 5,600 attendances at the factory hospital from a workforce of 1,100.

Family sources tell us that Harry never lost his South Shields accent, in spite of living the latter part of his life in Surrey and having worked his way from working-class beginnings to a professional career as a doctor. At his funeral, a miner from the north east who had ended up living in the same part of Surrey told Harry’s son that Harry “were a grand bugger!”

BBC website article about HM Factory Avonmouth:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25053155

Flickr account about the Bristol area during the First World War, includes information on HM Factory Avonmouth:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brizzlebornandbred/albums/72157604873159584

Grace’s Guide website, page on HM Factories during First World War:
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/H._M._Explosive_Factories

“Historic England report, First World War National Factories: An archaeological, architectural and historical review” by David Kenyon (PDF):
https://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=6329%7CFirst%20World%20War%20National%20Factories:%20An%20Archaeological,%20Architectural%20and%20Historical%20review

The National Archives, link to catalogue description of “Historical record of HM Factory Avonmouth”:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2734793

The National Archives, link to catalogue description of “Mustard gas : manufacture medical report on plant workers”:
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2734789

Civil Parish: Durham St. Giles

Birth date: 01-Jun-1893

Death date: 11-Dec-1954

Armed force/civilian: Civilian

Residence: Roseberry Terrace, South Shields (1901 census)
Poplar Villa, 22 Wadham Terrace, South Shields (1906 School admission records, 1911 census, 1925 St Bede Records)
Summerfield, Broomhill, Sheffield (1919 OBE citation)
188 Oatlands Drive, Walton and Weybridge, Surrey (1939 register, Medical Registers 1935, 1940, 1942)

Education: Westoe School, South Shields 1906
St Bede College, Durham 1911-1913

Organisation membership: National Union of Teachers

Employment: Teacher (NUT register)
Wholesale Merchant (1922 banns of marriage)
Physician and Surgeon (1939 Register)

Family: John Gordon, Elizabeth Mary Gordon
Siblings: Lilian H A Gordon
Wife: 1) Amy Richards 2) Crissie Short
Children: Amy Elizabeth Rahel Rodica Gordon, Harry Gordon

Military service:

Special Munitions Work

Medal(s): Order of the British Empire

Gender: Male

Contributed by Fiona Johnson - Durham | Andrew Prendergast