Biography
Alfred was born in 1925. He was the son of Henry Webster and Amelia Clark. His birth was registered[1] in the district of St Olave Bermondsey.
During his childhood and teenage years Alfred and his family regularly went hopping Space:Hop_Picking_in_Kent_in_the_1930s in Kent like many other families in Rotherhithe and Bermondsey. The women and children would have stayed in huts on the farm and earned money by havesting the hops which were later made into beer. Men of the family would travel down at the weekend to join them. Alfred wrote about his memories of hopping.
Alfred also wrote about his memories of the Blitz in World War 11 when he was a teenager in London during World War 11. In 1940 he was 15 and experienced first hand the bombing of the Surrey Dock area. In 1941 the family went on their annual trip to Kent to pick hops and there he saw many planes crossing Kent on their way to london. See his own account in the space page Space:Memories of the Blitz in Rotherhithe.
According to his account he first tried to join the army in July 1941 but was rejected because he was under age. Instead he joined the Home Guard until he could enlist when he was 18. During military service he went to India and Malaya. He returned home from Malaya to Southampton on the ship Dunera[2]on 26 May 1948. He gave his occupation as a police officer and his address in England as 34 Hythe Buildings, Rotherhithe.
In 1949 he emigrated to New Zealand. He was a passenger[3] on the ship Atlantis which departed Southampton on the 29 Jul 1949, destination Wellington, New Zealand. He gave his address as 54 Hythe Bldgs, Rotherhithe and his occupation as a butcher.
Sources
- ↑ Birth Registration for son Alfred Reginald Webster
General Register office for England and Wales [1] GRO Reference: 1925, D Quarter in St Olave (Bermondsey) Volume 1D; page;270. Mother's maiden name Clark. Viewd Jul 2023 - ↑ Return from Malaya <br/ UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, Ancestry.com online database with image Ancestry Record 1518 #23821129citing:The National Archives in Washington, DC; London, England, UK; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Inwards Passenger Lists; Class: Bt26; Piece: 1240; Item: 33. Viewed Jul 2023
- ↑ Emigration to New Zealand
UK and Ireland, Outward passenger Lists, 1890-1960. Ancestry.com online database with image Ancestry Record 2997 #145116646 citing:The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; BT27 Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Outwards Passenger Lists; Reference Number: Series BT27-135497. Viewed Jul 2023
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