How can I find out more about where my relatives worked?
QI have three blockages in my ancestry research. First, my grandfather, Patrick Joseph Percival, was a tram driver with the Glasgow Corporation in the 1920s and 1930s. I am trying to find his employment records as a tram driver, but have no idea which depots he worked with. Second, my other grandfather, Walter Brooks Mallinson, was a grocery manager with St George’s Cross Co-operative Society in Glasgow – I would like to get his employment records, too. Finally, I have been unable to trace the Second World War record of my mother, Mary (Maisie) Strachan Mallinson. I know that she drove vehicles, although she never held a driving licence.
Douglas Percival
AGlasgow Corporation records are held at Glasgow City Archives ( glasgowlife. org.uk/libraries/glasgow-city-archives), but for tram workers they do not include records of service as such. An archivist told me that the closest thing to personnel files would be the superannuation records of the Glasgow Corporation Transport Department from 1923 to 1975 – essentially, records of pension contributions.
Additional sources to help with Patrick’s location for this period include the Glasgow
Post Office Directories – for Glasgow, these are available up to the 1940s, and
can be found at archive.org/details/ scottishdirectories. The British Newspaper Archive ( britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
may also help, as might the Glasgow Herald,
available on Google News from January 1806 to February 1990 ( news.google. com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC).
For Walter, many records from the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society are also held at Glasgow City Archives, covering 1826 to 1980, and for many branches across Scotland. For St George’s (Glasgow) Co-operative Society Ltd in particular, the records are extant for 1870 to 1966. Again, the Post Office Directories, which are available up to the 1940s for Glasgow, and historical newspapers might be useful.
Finally, Mary’s record will depend on the service she drove for. She may have been a member of the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps, or an ambulance driver for the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. A useful guide is Mary Ingham’s Tracing Your Service Women
Ancestors (Pen & Sword, 2012). Chris Paton