War Refugees in Embsay 1914 – 1918

By Admin on May 6, 2022

Just over two months after the outbreak of the First World War, the Craven Herald newspaper reported, on the 23^rd of October, 1914, that at Embsay:

“On Wednesday evening a public meeting was held in the British School to decide what provision could be made for the reception and maintenance of a Belgian Refugee family in the village. … there were about sixty residents present … The request for subscriptions was met by a most hearty response, and in a few minutes a guaranteed weekly sum of £1 7s 4d was promised in addition to goods. A great quantity of furniture was also forthcoming, and it is presumed that the committee will have the house ready for occupation by the middle of next week.”

As many British people generously offer up space within their own homes for refugees fleeing the present war in Ukraine, it seems appropriate to look back to Embsay-with-Eastby’s response, just over a hundred years ago, to the refugees fleeing the German invasion of Belgium at the start of the First World War.

Within a few weeks, nearly a million-and-a-half Belgians (one-sixth of the country’s population) were displaced from their homes by the German invasion, some fleeing to France and the Netherlands, but the majority were heading to the greater safety of England. It is impossible to know the true scale of the influx of refugees, as the British government were unprepared for their arrival, and record-keeping was initially very poor. At first they were only interested in receiving wounded Belgian soldiers to recuperate at convalescent hospitals in Britain – they were a convenient propaganda tool – the “plucky” soldiers of a small country who had sacrificed themselves, now needing British aid. About 140,000 were treated in British hospitals. The government also used images of fleeing refugees as an army recruiting tool. But the War Office’s reply to early offers of help for refugees by local councils, illustrates the cautious response of the British government which initially stalled the process of accepting Belgians into Britain:

“It will be readily understood that some time must elapse before the necessary arrangements for taking advantage of these offers can be carried into practical effect. The details of these arrangements are now being worked out, and a further communication will shortly be addressed to you. J.S. Ross (For the Assistant Financial Secretary). “

Newspapers soon realised that the refugees provided a galvanising focus for civilians, who were desperate to make themselves useful and contribute to the war effort, and prove that England was the very opposite of the Germans, who were routinely portrayed in the press as “murderous Huns” and militaristic Prussians. They gave Britain a sense of moral purpose, and a channel for anti-German sentiment, essential in maintaining civilian support for the war. For pacifist opponents of the war, unwilling to engage with the jingoism of wartime Britain, the refugees provided a focal point for useful humanitarian work. The refugees were certainly met with a huge wave of sympathy and charity from the British people in 1914 and 1915. Estimates of the total number of Belgians who came to Britain during the Great War generally vary from 200,000 to 225,000.

But it was left to a voluntary body, the War Refugees Committee (WRC), to mobilise essential practical help, through a network of thousands of local committees. Most refugees were processed by the Committee through transit camps, such as Alexandra Palace and Earl’s Court in London, before being sent to new homes across England. The organisation was founded (within 24 hours of the declaration of war) and headed by the indomitable Lady Flora Lugard (already experienced in her work with Irish refugees). It was her undaunted determination, relentless pestering of the authorities, and administrative skills that launched the extraordinary work of the WRC, supported by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies and the Friends’ Emergency Committee (The Quakers) which were also quickly formed. However, Herbert Gladstone (son of the former Prime Minister, William Gladstone), took advantage of his wife’s position on Lady Lugard’s Committee to obtain the position of Treasurer for himself. He declared that the men should take charge over the administration of the complex national operation. The committee roles of the women members, including Lady Lugard, were pushed aside. He virtually wrote her out of his history of the WRC’s work. Nevertheless, she and her ladies continued the exhausting practical work of fund-raising, providing practical aid, clothing, feeding and seeking accommodation for the stream of new arrivals.

Many thousands of Belgian families and individuals processed by the WRC were “adopted” by towns and villages across the country, and initially welcomed with open arms, showered with gifts and practical help in the form of homes, furniture, and food parcels.

Almost immediately from the outbreak of the war, local communities across Craven were busy raising funds for a variety of war charities – ladies knitted ‘comforts’ (socks, balaclava helmets and body belts) for soldiers; girl guides collected money for war orphans; schoolchildren collected fresh eggs for soldiers and sailors; concerts were held to raise money for Red Cross parcels; pleas were made for donations to buy field ambulances, or to forward to the Prince of Wales’s National Fund (set up to relieve distress caused by unemployment or the loss of a male breadwinner). Many villages set up their own committees to co-ordinate fund-raising in anticipation that the war would cause widespread unemployment and poverty in families who had lost their main breadwinner. But very quickly, the relief of displaced Belgians became one of the most popular causes.

Lectures and concerts to raise funds in aid of Belgian refugees became a common occurrence across Craven. Typical was the lecture at Skipton Town Hall on November 12th 1914, entitled “Heroic Belgium” presented by Archdeacon Cook, who headed Skipton’s refugee committee. At Skipton’s livestock market, several animals were sold with the proceeds going to Belgian Refugee funds.

In the Skipton Gala parade, Belgium featured prominently. Christ Church Sunday School’s “striking tableaux” was considered the outstanding feature of the pageant – with “Justice” represented by Miss Giddings, holding the scales in one hand, and a child, Gladys Grace, clasped in her other hand. Five more children grouped around them represented Belgian refugees, while another little girl dressed in black, with two smaller children, represented a Belgian widow. Whist drives, dances, flag days, door-to-door collections, tea and supper gatherings, concerts, and appeals for donations of money, furniture and clothing were regular features of the local newspaper columns, especially from 1914 until late into 1916. Local businessmen, employee whip-rounds, schools, as well as individuals of all social standings, subscribed weekly to local relief funds. The Bradford “Pals” Battalion (16^th West Yorkshire Regiment) also gave a fund-raising concert, although the programme had to rearranged at the last-minute, partly due to illness of several performers, and also because “some of the items were of a questionable character.”

Refugees continued to arrive and be accommodated by volunteers and local committees across the Craven region throughout 1915. By spring all local refugee committees were being asked to submit regular reports and accounts to a central office in London. Throughout that year the plight of the Belgian refugees, as well as those civilians still trapped in occupied Belgium, remained the most popular charitable and newsworthy cause.

In Embsay-with-Eastby, the parish rallied together to form a committee dedicated to raising funds for the WRC, as well as supporting a family from Louvain who sought shelter in Craven. The committee was chaired by auctioneer and estate agent, Joseph Watson of Laurel Bank. The search for accommodation proved difficult at first – The Fold, in Pasture Road, was offered at a reduced rent but later withdrawn. An alternative cottage was found (sadly the records no longer exist to tell us where this was), and everyone pitched in to provide furniture and other household goods. Once furnished, the cottage was opened for all locals to inspect one Wednesday afternoon in early December. A regular subscription fund was set up into which many local people paid a few pence a week or month, to help feed and clothe the family, while others who could afford more, would pay in larger lump sums every now and then. A committee met regularly to ensure the fund was well-managed, and one of the Heron sisters of Eastby was appointed as “matron” to personally oversee their welfare. Mr. Elihu Wilkinson, of Sunny Bank, Eastby (a cotton manufacturer and leading Methodist in the area), was appointed the deputy chairman of the Belgian Refugees’ Welfare Committee. By this time 49 individuals or couples were regular subscribers to the fund, and 39 had donated furniture and household goods.

Edmund Heron, a clothes manufacturer, had brought his family – wife, Annie; daughters Kathleen and Winifred, and younger son, 22 year old Thomas – from Bradford, to live at Hawlands, in Eastby, in 1913. “Miss Heron” was a fluent French speaker, having been partly educated there, so was considered an excellent mediator between the family and the rest of the village. Unfortunately it is never made clear in the records which of the two Heron sisters was the one appointed to look after the Belgian family, as she is always referred to as “Miss Heron”. Winifred is more likely as she was 24 years old, while Kathleen was only 19. As matron, one of Miss Heron’s first duties, after heading the welcoming party and acting as interpreter, was to draw the committee’s attention to practical help such as the need for warm clothing for the Belgian family, who were only provided with summer garments on their arrival in England, “and seemed to feel the cold very much”. Within two weeks, Mrs Sugden had responded by sewing winter garments for all five of family.

(There were two ladies in Embsay called Mrs. Sugden at this time – it is not clear from the newspaper reports whether this was Sarah Alice (nee Greenwood), wife Edward Sugden, of Crag View Terrace (assistant Poor Law overseer and clerk to the parish council); or more likely, Sarah Ellen (nee Metcalfe), a professional dressmaker living at East View Terrace, the widow of Wignall Sugden, who had died in 1905).

In November 1914, the committee learnt that the Belgian family allocated to them by the authorities could only speak Flemish. However, there were other refugees already settled in Draughton who also spoke Flemish. In addition, there was a French-speaking family recently sent to Draughton. An exchange was duly arranged, and in December, the Slock family, having spent 5 days at Draughton, were welcomed by the newly formed Ladies’ Committee of the Embsay-with-Eastby War Distress Committee. Miss Heron, and Joseph Anderton, of Embsay Cottage (manufacturer of sparkling water, and a wine merchant) volunteered to drive over to Draughton and bring the Belgians, with their luggage, to Embsay.

The Craven Herald (14th November, 1914) reported: “Mr. J. Watson the chairman of the Distress Committee, welcomed them in a few well chosen words, in which he assured them that the inhabitants were delighted to have a family among them who represented such a brave and courageous nation, and to show how hearty that welcome was it was only necessary to say that the subscriptions for the Belgian fund, and the furniture for the house, were all promised in twenty minutes at an enthusiastic public meeting held the previous week.

The speech was interpreted by Miss Heron, who has so ably assisted the committee as interpreter during the negotiations, and to whom thanks are due for consenting to undertake the duties of matron to the family.

Miss Martin acted as hostess for the afternoon and dispensed tea, coffee, and refreshments in a manner worthy of the occasion.”

(Mary Hannah Martin was a 49 year old spinster who lived at The Fold in Pasture Road. She also headed the team of 21 ladies who were busy knitting balaclava helmets, gloves and socks for soldiers at the front)

The Slock Family

Oscar Slock (44), his second wife Catherine Elodie Degauw (Oscar was a widower when he married Catherine in 1906), and the children by his first marriage: Urbain Honore (16), Rosalie (or Rosa) Josephine Celina (13), and Louis Charles (12), were welcomed to Embsay in November 1914.

Oscar was a saw-mill foreman, who spoke both French and Flemish. The family had fled from Louvain to Ghent, but the German advance, and the loss of all their savings (£50 spent on accommodation), forced them to travel to Folkestone, England. After 5 days in London, and over two weeks in Colne, they were allocated to Draughton with several other families. They were finally sent to Embsay, and the village turned out to greet them with a tea party.

Arrangements were made to send the three children to the grammar schools in Skipton:

“Mr. Anderton reported that the governors of the Skipton Grammar Schools had agreed to admit the Belgian boys and girl, free of cost, and also to provide them with dinners. The matron (Miss Heron) also reported that Mrs. Sugden had voluntarily made the necessary garments for the Belgian refugees. – The secretary reported that Mr. Lewis Phillip and Mr. J.W. Phillip were arranging a concert, the proceeds to be devoted to the Belgian Refugee Fund.” (Craven Herald, 4^th December, 1914)

The Slock family settled in well – often taking part in village social events. Mr. Slock proved to be an amusing entertainer with his comic sketch, an “interpretation of ‘Umbrella Courtship’”.:

“A concert … in aid of the Embsay distress fund, was given in the Wesleyan Schoolroom …. Mr. Slock and Masters Slock (Belgian refugees) also contributed to the evening’s entertainment. … Mr. Slock entertained the audience with a song about an umbrella, in his own language, his gestures being more expressive than his words to those present. The Masters Slock sang the Belgian, French and British National Anthems, and also joined in the chorus of “It’s a long way to Tipperary,” sung by Miss Conway.” (West Yorkshire Pioneer and East Lancashire News, 11^th December, 1914)

A fortnight later Mr Slock, and all 3 children again took to the stage, alongside several other local people, to entertain an audience of about 150 people in a concert, followed by dancing, at the National School, in aid of the local War Distress Funds.

In July 1915, Oscar may have been the “Belgian gardener” at Embsay Kirk, mentioned (but un-named) as helping a child who had been hit by a motor car on Kirk Lane, carrying her to a nearby house and calling for a doctor. This same Belgian gardener also grew his own vegetables on one of the Embsay allotments.

The children attended Ermysted’s and Skipton Girls’ High, with both schools agreeing to waive the fees. Schoolmaster, Mr. Powell, of Ermysted’s also provided free school meals for the boys, and headmistress Miss Jessie Beryl Broadbent paid for the girl’s school dinners. Rosa Slock appears to have had difficulty settling in and was allowed to leave as soon as she was old enough. Her older brother, Urbain, as soon as he was old enough, , returned to Belgium to join the army – his eventual fate, and of the rest of the family, is unknown as the survival of wartime records in Belgium is understandably very patchy.

By the beginning of 1916, the leading charitable cause in the Craven area was still the Belgian Relief Fund, but the offers to house more refugees had almost completely dried up. The local newspapers contained very few references to Belgian refugees during the second half of the war. By the beginning of 1917, as the refugee crisis faded, the attention of charity fund-raisers was being diverted to a wide range of other competing causes, such as orphanages and wounded soldiers. Some refugees returned to Belgium after a year or so, while many others remained in Britain until the Armistice of 1918. In the end, 90% were repatriated. Others sought more attractive employment opportunities in urban areas.

But some were never able to return, such as Leopold Joseph van Duyboden.

The Belgian Refugee at the Sanatorium

Leopold Joseph Van Duyvenboden was a young Belgian refugee who had been “adopted” by the Wesleyan congregation at Walton-le-Dale, near Preston. He was a medical student, and he may have come to Embsay to help out in the Sanatorium at Eastby. Or, he may have come as a patient – he died at the Sanatorium in November 1917, from tuberculosis, with which he had suffered for 2½ years. He was just 21 or 22 years old.

Burial Register entry for Leopold Van Duyvenboden – (St Mary the Virgin Church, Embsay-with-Eastby)

Leopold was buried in the churchyard at St. Mary’s, Embsay, where his little gravestone is inscribed:

“To the memory of Leopold Joseph Van Duy Venboden died November 28th 1917 aged 22 years. Belgian refugee since February 1915 late guest of the Walton le Dale Wesleyan Congregation.”