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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => London and Middlesex => Topic started by: Plummiegirl on Tuesday 16 March 10 15:50 GMT (UK)
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My gran was a waitress at the Union Jack Club in the 1920's. The old Edwardian building was demolished in the 1970's and a new larger builiding is now on the site (still U.J.S).
I have contacted both the Union Jack Club & the London Metropolitan Archives and neither has any of their old records.
Any idea where to go now? Does anyone out there know of anyone who has researched this place or is the official archivist?
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Hi
I think I remember staying overnight at a hotel of the same name.
It was owned and run by the M.O.D. and provided cheap accomadation for servicemen passing through London.
Sorry if I have the wrong place - memory not what it used to be.
bigjon
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Hi
I have my Grandad's WWI diary and he stayed overnight at the Union Jack Club on 6th April 1918 on his way back home on a leave period from being in Salonika whilst on his way to Gloucestershire.
A day or so later he learnt that his mother had died whilst he'd been away on service and it was his lowest point in the whole diary.
Claire
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I would suggest that the Old records for the Union Jack Club are probally in the national archive.
Have you done a check with them yet?
http://www.ujclub.co.uk/history.asp
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Thank you all for your replies. Will try Kew (never thought of there. senior moment!!)
The new building still does the same work as always providing cheap clean accomodation for servicemen & their families when in London.
I remember the old building which was lovely, but had limited accomodation (I grew up not far from there) & the new
building looks rather like a tall office block.
UPDATE: Have looked at the records kept at Kew online and they all appear to be about many of the clubs overseas, with the exception of a group of photographs taken by Harry Lloyd (?) in the 1920's. My thought horrifying as it may seem is that when the old building was demolished in the 1970's that all the old records, fixtures & fittings etc., were just thrown out.
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Just viewed your e-mails and I too have been looking without success for records on Union Jack Club. My dad trained as a butcher at the club in the 1930's. He came from Lancashire. Still will keep looking
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Hi
If you look at history of the Union Jack Club on the Wikipedia site, there is an old picture of the club prior to demolition.
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Years ago when I was a member of the Library Association (now the Chartered Institute of Librarians & Information Professionals) we got preferential rates to stay at the Union Jack Club, but I never took advantage of it.
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I remember staying at the Union Jack Club as a child in the late 1950's. It was a family holiday to London, our first visit to the capital. My father had served in the forces in WW2, so we benefitted from the cheap but clean and suitable accommodation. Without access to the club my parents would not have been able to afford to take us to London ( from Yorkshire).
I can't recall much about it except my dad's usual careful examination of the fire-escapes etc.- he was a part-time fireman so every place we stayed at was subject to his expert scrutiny- we were then shown the escape routes.
It is a habit which has stayed with me - I always check when in a hotel and always look out of the windows too - though quite how I imagine I'd escape from the 4th floor I'm not sure!!
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hi there,
as it seems that your original question has been revitalised would it be worth trying the british legion for info?
tony
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Thank you all for your suggestions.
To anpefa1 - have you Reilly ancesters? My father who worked at the Union Jack Club was O'reilly and my greatgrand father came from Dun Laoghaire Ireland. Any clues as how to find info on them? Have visited there this year and Dublin Records for church but not birth registration without much success.
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hi kk,
yes i am a reilly (no "o" in the family)
my research area is dublin (my home town and where my da was born) paternal side of the family probably from meath but still looking.
tony
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hi again kk,
sorry i forgot to address the latter part of your post.
familysearch.org (the free website of the church of latterday saints, the mormon's with the vast record collection in salt lake city utah usa) is a good site.
they have microfilm records of the irish bmd's and 1901 & 1911 census on line (the census is also accessible free online through national archives.ie)
their site here in london is currently temporarily closed with access available at the national archives in surrey.
depending on the dates and bmd information you have essentially you could obtain the reference numbers required to order certificates from the record office in dublin or get photocopies (which is cheaper) if you go in person (or someone goes for you).
i shall be returning to dublin soon so if you have a request let me know.
tony
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Thanks for the info about Dublin and obtaining BMD info. I am learning almost daily. Another trip to Ireland will be planned next year and then I will be able to go further with my searching. The ancesters do come up O'reilly, Reilly, Riley etc. so this is where I think I need to really identify who they are.
Kath
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When I was in the Navy I used to stay at weekends at the UJC (Union Jack Club) as it was called then.
There were dormitories with lines of beds and metal lockers for your personnal effects, this was the economy class accommodation for single men. I were there during mid 1960s and early 70s before it closed down. Photographs, etc was available on the internet, but appears to have been removed.
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I stayed at the UJC a number of times when I was an apprentice at RAF Halton(210entry).Apprentices got a reduced rate and were also give a single room.My parents and sister stayed in the families accomodation when they came down to London to attend my passing out parade in 1969.If my memory serves me correctly the families block was around the corner in a side street.