Joan Kathleen Frith

1913 – 2002

✓ Validated against records · 2026-07-03

Joan Kathleen Frith was born on the 2nd of December 1913 at Marfleet, on Hull's eastern edge, the youngest of the three children of Samuel David Frith and his wife Lydia, née Wilson. The registrar's slip recording her birth — made out at Sculcoates five weeks later, and kept by the family for over a century — is on this page. She was three when her father was killed in France in 1917; in the family's own record, her early life "centred around" that loss. Her mother kept the three of them — George, Clara and Joan — on a corner shop in Ceylon Street that sold groceries and sweets.

The school she walked to was Marfleet Council School, and her report for the half-year to July 1922 survives: tenth in a class of forty-one, seven absences out of a possible two hundred and forty-two, "Excellent" for reading and for conduct, and against History and Geography the teacher's verdict — "Shews much intelligence". From school she went to work for Thornton Varley, the Hull drapers: first at their Abbey Street factory, then, after an interview, into the department store itself, starting in the "small ladies" department and working through every department in turn until she reached the Lingerie Section, where she served until retirement. The head of the firm called her his "Little Flapper".

On the 14th of October 1937 she married Samuel Edmund Brock — Eddie — at St Giles', Marfleet, the church of her home village, and they set up house at 8 Wharfedale Avenue; their first sons were born either side of the war's outbreak, Stuart in 1938 and Christopher in 1940. Then the war reached Hull. Eddie was called into the RAF as an aircraft fitter, and by the summer of 1941 — the city's worst raids just past — Joan had taken the boys across the country to Raikes Farm at Esprick, on the Lancashire Fylde. The Hull house was lent to an engaged couple bombed out of their own home; their grateful letter is on this page, alongside a censored air letter from Joan's brother George, serving at Basra in Iraq, who teased her as "a lucky one having your old man so near" and signed off "keep believing it won't be long now (we hope)".

John, their third son, was born in the summer of 1945, and the family came home to the East Riding — Cottingham for a time, then a house on Ellesmere Avenue off the Holderness Road, and at the last a flat on the coast at Bridlington, where Eddie died in 1981. Joan outlived him by twenty-one years. She died at Hull on the 23rd of June 2002, aged eighty-eight.

Composed from validated records · 2026-07-03

Birth: December 2nd, 1913, Marfleet, Hull
Marriage: October 14th 1937 to Samuel Edmond Brock in St Giles Church, Marfleet
Death: June 23rd 2002, Hull
Parents: Samuel David Frith and Lydia Wilson
Siblings: George Frith born 1907, Hull Clare Evelyn Wilson Frith born November 22nd 1911, Joan Kathleen Frith born December 2nd 1913, Marfleet
Early Life: Joan's early life centred around the death of her father, Samuel David Frith, in France in 1917. Her mother, Lydia ran a comer shop on Ceylon Street, Marfleet which sold groceries and sweets. Joan's first job was at the Abbey Street factory of Thornton Varley. She was then interviewed for a job at the Department Store and was placed first of all in the "small ladies" department. She then went through all the departments finishing with the Lingerie Section where she served until retirement. The head of Thornton Varley called her his "Little Flapper" Joan Frith
1937: Joan marries Samuel Edmond Brock in Marfleet

In your grandmother’s words · from her notebook

Family

Parents

SFFatherSamuel David Frith1884–1917 LWMotherLydia Wilson1882–1973

The children of Samuel David & Lydia

· · Joan Kathleen Frith b. 1913this page

Marriage

SBSpouseSamuel Edmund Brock1911–1981

Children

Photographs

3 photographs are with the family — family sign-in

Historical context

Marfleet — the village the docks reached

Marfleet was an old village on the flat Humber bank east of Hull — a parish church, farms and a lane of houses that had stood apart for centuries while the city grew towards it. In the last decades of the nineteenth century the docks arrived: Alexandra Dock opened on its doorstep in 1885, and streets of terraced houses — Ceylon Street among them — went up at the village's edge for the men who worked the ships and the railway sidings. Six months after Joan's birth the transformation was complete: in June 1914 King George V himself opened the vast new King George Dock immediately south of the village, and Marfleet — its parish church of St Giles now ringed by dockland — had become part of working east Hull. That is the Marfleet of this page: the corner shop, the council school, and the church where Joan was married.

Composed for this site from published local history — the family’s world, not one of Mum’s records.

Life

Confirmed — anchored to a recordEstimated — inferred

1913

Born

2 December 1913 at Marfleet

I, the undersigned, Do hereby certify that the Birth of Joan Kathleen Frith, born on the 2nd day of
December One thousand nine hundred and thirteen, has been duly registered by me at Entry No. 258 of my Register Book No. 11. Witness my hand, this 6th day of Jan 1914 — Wm Johnson, Registrar of Births and Deaths. District: Sculcoates. Sub-District: Drypool.
— Certificate of registry of birth (1914) — the family's original

Joan K Frith — birth registered in the January–March quarter of 1914, Sculcoates district; mother's maiden name Wilson. (Volume 9D, page 363.)— Birth registration — GRO index (Q1 1914)

The record image is with the family — family sign-in

Confirmed in index record Evidence

Found in an index or transcript — the original page not yet read:

Certificate of registry of birth (1914) — the family's original — The registrar's own certificate of registry, issued to the informant under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1874 — the slip the family was handed when the birth was registered, and kept for over a century; photographed by Janet for her archive. Note the timing: born 2 December 1913, registered 6 January 1914 — so her civil registration falls in the March quarter of 1914. from Mum’s research
Birth registration — GRO index (Q1 1914) — England & Wales civil birth index (findmypast BMD/B/1914/1/AZ/000527/113). The index confirms the certificate exactly — March quarter 1914, Sculcoates — and carries the mother's maiden name, Wilson. index entry — original not yet seen

1913

Baptised

21 December 1913

Joan Kathleen Frith, born December 2nd 1913, Hull — baptised December 21st 1913, St. Giles, Marfleet.— Baptism — St Giles', Marfleet (1913)

Mum’s record Evidence

From Janet Brock’s research, cited — not yet re-verified at the image:

Baptism — St Giles', Marfleet (1913) — Janet's record, from her notes on Joan's father's page: "baptised December 21st 1913, St. Giles, Marfleet" — nineteen days old, in the village church where she would later marry. The St Giles register itself is at Hull History Centre and not online — see the research note. from Mum’s research

1922

Marfleet Council School — “Shews much intelligence”

14 July 1922

Marfleet Council School — Report for half-year ending 14th
July 1922. Name: Joan Frith. Class II. Number in class 41; position in class 10. Possible attendance 242; times absent 7. Arithmetic: Very good. Reading: Excellent. Composition: Writes a very good composition. Recitation: Very good indeed. History, Geography: Shews much intelligence. Drawing: Very fair. Phys. Ex.: Good. Writing: Has improved a little. Conduct: Excellent. — C. Dalton, Class Teacher; A. T. Spink, Head Teacher.
— Marfleet Council School — the half-year report (1922)

The record image is with the family — family sign-in

Mum’s record Evidence

From Janet Brock’s research, cited — not yet re-verified at the image:

Marfleet Council School — the half-year report (1922) — The original report, kept with Joan's papers and photographed by Janet. Forty-one children in Class II; Joan, aged eight, placed tenth. from Mum’s research

1937

Married Samuel Edmund Brock

14 October 1937 at St Gile's church

Samuel E Brock married Joan K Frith — registered October–December 1937, Hull district. (Volume 9D, page 575.)— Marriage registration — GRO index (Q4 1937)

Marriages registered October–December 1937: BROCK, Samuel E. = FRITH — Hull — vol. 9D, page 575.— GRO Marriage Index

Samuel Edmond Brock, aged 26, bachelor, Clerk, of 38 Savery Street, Hull, and Joan Kathleen Frith, aged 23, spinster, of 1055 Hedon Road, Marfleet, were married on the 14th
October 1937, in the presence of Harold H. Brock and Clara Ounsworth. Fathers: William Edmond Brock, Packer; Samuel Frith, Clerk (deceased).
— Marriage certificate — St Giles’, Marfleet, 14 October 1937

Confirmed in index record Evidence

Found in an index or transcript — the original page not yet read:

Marriage registration — GRO index (Q4 1937) — England & Wales civil marriage index (findmypast BMD/M/1937/4/AZ/000143/082), Samuel E Brock and Joan K Frith cross-referenced on the same volume and page. The family record gives the day and the church — 14 October 1937, St Giles', Marfleet; the parish register entry itself, with the fathers' names and witnesses, is at Hull History Centre (see the research note). index entry — original not yet seen
GRO Marriage Index — England & Wales Marriages 1937 Q4 (Oct–Dec). findmypast BMD/M/1937/4/AZ/000143/082. The MarriageFinder cross-reference gives Joan K Frith on the same volume and page — the index pair matching Mum’s date exactly. index entry — original not yet seen
Marriage certificate — St Giles’, Marfleet, 14 October 1937 — The original certificate is held in the family archive and photographed on Mum’s page (it appears in the gallery below, beside the wedding photograph and the honeymoon hotel bill — two nights at the Lincoln Hall Hotel, London). This is her transcription of it. The witnesses are his brother Harold and Joan’s sister Clara; Joan’s father Samuel is “deceased” — he had fallen at Oppy Wood twenty years before. from Mum’s research

1939

The 1939 Register — 8 Wharfedale Avenue

1939

8 Wharfedale Avenue, Kingston upon Hull — Samuel E Brock, born 21 April 1911, Clerk / Education Officer; Joan K Brock, born 2 December 1914 [recte 1913].— The 1939 Register — 8 Wharfedale Avenue

Confirmed in index record Evidence

Found in an index or transcript — the original page not yet read:

The 1939 Register — 8 Wharfedale Avenue — The National Archives R39/3170/3170B, schedule 378 (findmypast TNA/R39/3170/3170B/006/32); taken 29 September 1939. The register clerk wrote Joan's birth year as 1914 — her own certificate, made out five weeks after the birth, and the civil indexes at both ends of her life all say 2 December 1913. One line of the schedule remains officially closed: the infant Stuart. index entry — original not yet seen

1941

The house lent to a bombed-out couple

2 August 1941

28, Downing Grove, Preston Road, Hull. 2/8/41. Dear Mrs Brock, Amy has sent round to tell us that you are letting us live in your house, it is very good of you and we are both grateful as the only reason we have not been able to get married is that we had nowhere to live as mother's house is only habitable downstairs. Please don't worry about any of your things in the house as we shall only use the furniture. I have my own pots, linen and cutlery… We are quite willing to pay the rent, when would you like us to start paying it as we shall be getting married as soon as arrangements have been made. I do hope your children and yourself are keeping well it certainly must be grand living on a farm especially at a time like this. Thanking you once more, I remain, yours faithfully, M. Jowsey.
— “It is very good of you” — the tenants' letter (1941)

The record image is with the family — family sign-in

Mum’s record Evidence

From Janet Brock’s research, cited — not yet re-verified at the image:

“It is very good of you” — the tenants' letter (1941) — Original letter kept with Joan's papers, photographed by Janet. Written twelve weeks after the May 1941 raids that destroyed much of Hull's housing: the Brocks, away at the farm, lent their house to an engaged couple whose own home was half-ruined. The writer's address, Downing Grove, is off Preston Road, a short walk from Marfleet. from Mum’s research

1943

A letter from Basra

4 February 1943

Dear Joan, Many thanks for airgraph received today it came as quite a shock I can assure you, so thought I had better write by return. Thanks for the congrats but of course it's not me it's Mu who wants them. Well I suppose we can share them. Would have liked a girl but still one can't always have what one likes. Yes you are a lucky one having your old man so near. Still some have to stop & what's more I think we've got the old hun groggy now he's certainly been knocked for six just lately & that's nothing to what he's going to get… I see mother is now back at Clara's. I guess it must be quite lonely there… Hope you had a fairly decent Xmas under the circumstances… Have been back in this dump since the 5th of Jan & if any one mentions sand or dates to me in the future look out! It was quite a nice change in Alex it was a treat to be back in civilisation if only for a couple of months. Well all the best. Keep believing it won't be long now (we hope). Your loving bro, Geo.
— A letter from Basra (1943)

The record image is with the family — family sign-in

Read at the image record Evidence

Confirmed against the original record, read at the image:

A letter from Basra (1943) — Forces air letter, passed by the unit censor, franked 4 February 1943 (the family caption says the 14th; the frank stamp reads the 4th). The address panel — “Mrs E. S. Brock, Raikes Farm, Esprick, Kirkham, Lancs” — is what places Joan and the boys on the Lancashire Fylde in the war years. George was serving at Basra, Britain's great supply base in Iraq, and had lately been in Alexandria; his thanks “for the congrats” point to a child newly born in his own family. “Mu” — the name is not quite clear in his hand — appears to be his wife. read at the image

2002

Died

23 June 2002 at Hull

Joan Kathleen Brock, female, born 2 December 1913 — death registered June 2002, Hull district. (Register B74A, entry 251.)— Death registration (2002)

Confirmed in index record Evidence

Found in an index or transcript — the original page not yet read:

Death registration (2002) — England & Wales civil death index (findmypast BMD/D/2002/6/84823626); registered June 2002, Hull district. The modern computerised index carries her full date of birth — 2 December 1913 — the state's last record agreeing with her first. index entry — original not yet seen

Our research

The Ceylon Street years — and the 1921 census

Open research · Marfleet & Hull

The 1921 census is waiting. findmypast indexes Joan Kathleen Frith in the East Riding in 1921 — almost certainly the widowed household on Ceylon Street, four years after her father's death: Lydia and the three children, the shop years caught in a single document. 1921 images are pay-per-view, so it stays unopened until we choose to buy the view. To do: open the 1921 household record.
St Giles', Marfleet registers. Her baptism (~1913–14) and the marriage register entry of 14 October 1937 — with the fathers' names, occupations and witnesses — are in the parish records at Hull History Centre; neither is online. To do: read both at Hull History Centre.
Her brother and sister are unbuilt. George Henry Frith (birth registered January–March 1907, Hull district) was at Basra in Iraq when he wrote to Joan in February 1943 — his letter's thanks "for the congrats" points to a child born in his own family that winter, untraced; his service, marriage and later life are open. Clara (registered Clara E W Frith, January–March 1912, Sculcoates; born 22 November 1911) was housing their mother in 1943 — "I see mother is now back at Clara's" — and her married life is untraced.
Which Fylde station was Eddie at? George's tease — "a lucky one having your old man so near" — puts Eddie close to Esprick; RAF Weeton and RAF Kirkham, the two great technical-training camps, both lie within about three miles of Raikes Farm, and Eddie was an RAF fitter. His service record would name the station and date the family's Lancashire years. To do: RAF service record (with his 1944 diary and the aircraft-maintenance logbook thread on his own page).
Thornton Varley. The family record preserves her whole working life with the Hull drapers — factory to "small ladies" to the Lingerie Section. Kelly's Hull directories would date the Abbey Street factory and the store. To do: directories at Hull History Centre.
Marfleet Council School log books survive at Hull History Centre — the Class II of forty-one children, and the teachers C. Dalton and A. T. Spink, are findable. To do: pass-2 colour if wanted.