The Archive of Unmarked History: Two Sisters, Two Wrens

We are starting 'The Archive of Unmarked History' to remember local people whose lives, achievements and sacrifices deserve to be remembered, but who may never have a physical plaque or memorial of their own.

Real plaques are an important way of marking a place and remembering a person, but they are expensive, and funds cannot be found to put plaques everywhere they are deserved. There may also be other reasons why a physical plaque is not possible: a building may have disappeared, a location may have changed, permission may not be available, or there may simply be nowhere suitable for one.

But the absence of a physical plaque should not mean that the person and their story are forgotten.

A virtual plaque is better than no plaque at all.

Through this growing archive, the Grimsby & Cleethorpes Museum will create a permanent digital record of people whose stories might otherwise be overlooked. Each virtual plaque will tell their story and connect them with the places and communities where they lived and worked.

The Archive of Unmarked History does not replace real plaques. Where a physical plaque is possible, that is wonderful. But where it isn't, we can still remember.

Harriet Hawkesworth Drewry (1894–1918) and Dorothy Marjorie Drewry (1901–1920) were sisters from Grimsby who served as telephonists in the Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS).

The daughters of Joseph Clifton Drewry and Betsy Drewry, the sisters lived with their family at 49 Farebrother Street, Grimsby. Both joined the WRNS in April 1918, only three days apart, and both were posted as telephonists to HMS Wallington, the Royal Navy establishment associated with the Humber area. Their service numbers were G/2335 (Harriet) and G/2091 (Dorothy).

Harriet Hawkesworth Drewry was born in Grimsby on 2 July 1894. The 1911 census records her, aged 16, as a housekeeper in the household of the Simpson family at Port Walton, near Wakefield. She enrolled in the WRNS on 5 April 1918, aged 23. Harriet died at Grimsby on 31 October 1918, aged 24, and was buried in Scartho Road Cemetery, in grave 38.H.6.

Dorothy Marjorie Drewry, born in 1901, enrolled in the WRNS on 2 April 1918, aged 17. She died on 25 February 1920, aged 19, and was buried in the same grave as Harriet. The Commonwealth War Graves record for each sister specifically identifies the other as being buried with her.

According to the memorial dedicated to the sisters at St Augustine’s Church, Grimsby, Harriet died of influenza, while Dorothy died of consumption (tuberculosis). The church memorial forms part of the Stations of the Cross and provides an especially poignant local remembrance of the two sisters.

Their shared grave at Scartho Road Cemetery is marked by a Commonwealth War Graves headstone. Harriet is commemorated as a WRNS telephonist who died in 1918; Dorothy, although she survived the war, is also commemorated in the same grave.

The story of Harriet and Dorothy is remarkable for its intimacy: two sisters from the same Grimsby home, both serving as WRNS telephonists, both connected with HMS Wallington, and ultimately laid to rest together.

Their names deserve to be remembered.

Two Sisters. Two Wrens. One Home. One Shared Grave.