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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Kent => Topic started by: jax on Tuesday 05 June 12 20:34 BST (UK)
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Hi all
Does anybody know where the best place would be to find out any information on whether anybody died at the george hotel in king street margate. rumour has it that somebody died in the building during WW2 bombing (possibly the one that destroyed nearby church Holy Trinity) in June 1943
I live in Norfolk, so not able to get to library (although I could make a visit when I am on leave next).
I have access to ancestry and have been looking around on there all day, but not really found any info (very difficult without a name) - I was hoping for an address search to bring up occupants at that time. I did find an 'A P Gilbert in residence in 1938ish.... but that seems to be all the information I am able to get from online resoures unless anybody knows of any sites I may have missed?
would be very grateful for any feedback or advice.
jax
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Hi Jax
If you go to the website of Margate Civic Society, there is a list of all the civilians killed in Margate during WW11. They all appear on a memorial in the town of Margate
regards Teresa
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This website mentions a haunting of the pub by a woman who is thought to have died in the bombing on the pub.....
http://www.paranormaldatabase.com/kent/kentdata.php?pageNum_paradata=6&totalRows_paradata=173
Here is the Margate people list on line......
no mention of the George Hotel on it so possibly a visitor died in the bombing?
http://www.margatecivicsociety.org.uk/Margate%20War%20Memorial%20WWII%20Civilians%20Roll%20of%20Honour.pdf
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thank you for your reply The MC
I am aware of the hauntings.. my daughter and her partner currently run a resturant at the George Hotel and their staff have reported sightings, which is the reason for my research. They too had heard rumours of somebody being killed during ww11 bombing. However, the women seen is dressed in late 1800ss early 1900s clothing and so I believe that the bombing rumour is incorrect and am trying to prove it. (although there was damage to part of the Inn on 1st June 1943 from a bomb which hit nearby church Holy Trinity - but I cant find any deaths involed)
I did check out the civilian deaths and I too couldnt find anything relating to The George... so with a little more research I think that theory will be disproved - at least I hope I will..
Meanwhile, i have other leads, which I am following up....
I think that breweries keep records??? but am trying to find out where I can obtain copies.... Does anybody know???
the brewery was Cobb & Co, and I believe Whitbread took them over in the mid 1900s....
You never know what a weekend worth of research may reveal... :D
A big thank you again for your reply and big thank you to anybody else who has any information...
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There were a number of records for the COBB family of Margate at the East Kent Archives. These will have recently been relocated to the new Archives Centre at Maidstone http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=2006-cobb_2-3&cid=-1#-1
Casalguidi :)
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My 1st Cousin Stephen John Emptage was the Licensed Victualler at The George Inn 44 High Street at the time of his death in 1891. David Lindsey Emptage (Australia) 24/10/2012
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Also possibly worth a try:
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWCG) has an online roll of honour (at www.cwgc.org) that records every fatality (military and civilian) of WW2 raids on mainline Britain. But because of how the website's search facility works, you can't search by street and need the name of a possible victim.
However, someone has set up a search facility to get around this, so if you go to:
www.hut-six.co.uk/cgi-bin/search39-47.php
then type the street address (in this case, King Street Margate) into the 'include all words' field, it should show up any fatalities for that street.
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Hi Jax,
Were you ever able to find out any more information about The George? I see now that it has changed hands and is operating as a pub and hotel. The story about the female 1940's ghost is still being told but, like you, I've never found any information about a woman being killed during the bombing raid of 1943. The new owners are now calling the ghost 'Elizabeth' and I will be contacting them to ask where they got that information from. Did your daughter every see the ghost?
Apologies for all these questions, I am currently writing a book about the Ghosts of Thanet and hoping to be able to put together a more informed story of the ghost rather than copying what everyone else as written.
Thank you
Julie