British Widows of
the 1st World War
Andrea’s talk, taken from her book of the same title, is essential reading when researching the lives of our ancestors in the aftermath of the Great War. As well as being enlightening the talk was well delivered giving examples from Kent.
Starting with some statistics Andrea said that the official listings of British combatants’ deaths in World War I were over 750,000 and married men made up 28% of that figure. Half of those killed on the Western Front have no known grave. It was estimated there were over 230,000 British war widows in 1921.
There was no provision for pensions and allowances for war widows before the Boer War but in that war a small number of men were permitted to marry and the army kept records of their wives who were considered “on the strength” and would receive a small pension.
Before WWI most of the population considered soldiers as scum of the earth and they were banned from certain public places, Soldiers' wives and widows were also thought of as lesser beings. WWI significantly changed that.
Pensions were not generous and depended on rank. Due to the high numbers of widows in WWI the War Office were unable to cope with claims and had to rely on a mix of ministry and charities to fulfil their obligations. In 1915 the War Office had only 20 staff but by 1919 their staff numbered 4,000. Andrea showed a chart of British and Dominion Forces payment to widows in 1919. British Widows were the lowest paid at 16 shillings/6 pence a week whilst the highest, the Canadian widows, received more than double the payment of their British counterparts.
Widows had to apply for their pensions. Their husband’s death had to be entirely due to war service and his death occur within 7 years of his entirely war service injury. Applicants had to be married at the time of the injury and be deserving of the grant of a pension. They had to have a certificate signed by a magistrate and a police officer to demonstrate they were deserving. There was concern by the authorities that women could not manage money and soldiers’ wives were drunkards so any money they received would be used for drink. There was even an investigation into soldiers’ wives and drink in 1915. It was also thought by the authorities that women were getting married to soldiers just so they could have a chance to claim a pension if he died. Women had no vote at the time to contest these regulations. They needed to beware of “concerned citizens” with a grudge snitching on them. Even taking in a male lodger they might be seen as “taking up” with a man. They could be taken to court their pension suspended, paid in trust, or via coupons at a particular shop, or withdrawn completely.
At first widows of husbands who were “Shot at Dawn” could not claim a pension but later it was argued that a wife had no control over her husband’s behaviour and they were allowed a widow’s pension. It was somewhat back dated but not to the date of their husbands death.
Widows could take a job and as many women did at the time took on war work to release a man to fight. After the war was over women were laid off in favour of disabled ex-soldiers and sailors. But to work women often had to rely on an older child to babysit other children in the family. However, under the 1918 Education Act children of 12 and under were not legally allowed to work but must attend school. Andrea told of a Sittingbourne widow who lost her pension for not sending her child to school so they could look after their siblings whilst she worked. The Poor Law was operating at the time but no one wanted the stigma of the workhouse. Some comrades clubbed together to raise money for their dead comrades’ wives and families.
By 1927 war widows were being encouraged to remarry and given a lump sum to do so. Statistics show that 98,500 war widows remarried under the scheme. These remarriages can cause problems with family research and Andrea suggested checking CWGC for a wife’s name change. The Western Front Association hold pension record index cards which are quite helpful, the Association is only £29 to join. An example card was shown which gave names of children and their dates of birth and if a widow had remarried their new surname. Ancestry and Findmypast also have similar and varied records. The National Archives are helpful for providing documents on the decision making by the authorities at the time.
Report by Tricia Baxter - Speakers Secretary for Kent FHS