Listed in the 1892 January to March birth index
Augusta Barbara Symondson, Brentford district, Middlesex volume 3a page 41
Parish records Holy Trinity, Hounslow, Baptism
Augusta Barbara Symondson, January 1, 1892, parents Sydney Frederick and Wilhelmina Symondson, abode Grove Road, father’s occupation clerk.
In the 1901 census living at 58 Warleigh Road Civil Parish Preston, Ecclesiastical parish of St Saviour, Brighton Sussex. Registration District Steyning, Sub registration district Shoreham.
Sydney F. Symondson age 38, born at Hounslow, Middlesex occupation coal merchant (employer).
Wife Wilhelmina age 36, born at Bedford Square, London.
Daughter Gertrude age 15, born at Hounslow, Middlesex,
son Sidney age 13, born at Hounslow,
daughter Wilhelmina age 12 born at Hounslow,
son Henry age 11 born at Hounslow,
daughter
Barbara age 9 born at Hounslow,
son Robert age 7 born at Hounslow,
son Victor age 4 born at Hounslow,
son Lionel age 2 born at Brighton, Sussex.
They have 1 domestic servant. Visiting with them are his father Henry Symondson, mother Barbara Symondson, his brother Herbert and his family.
In the 1911 census 7 Giltspur Street, London City, St. Sepulchre and All Hallows parish.
Servant
Barbara Symondson, single, age 18, restaurant barmaid, born Hounslow, Middlesex.
The head is Sydney Gerhard, married, age 35, Licensed victualler and caretaker, born City of London. also there is his wife Maude, 2 boarders and 5 other servants.
In the 1913 April to June marriage index,
Augusta B. Symondson and
Cecil F. Smith, Wandsworth, Greater London, Surrey, volume 1d, page 769
Parish Records St. Mark, Battersea Rise
Marriage April 26, 1913
Cecil Frederick Smith, 23, Bachelor, Traveller, 118 Plough Road, father Henry Richard Smith, deceased, Engineer
Augusta Barbara Symondson, 21, Spinster, 27 Geraldine Road, Wandsworth, father Sydney Frederick Symondson, Musical Conductor
In the presence of S. F. Symondson and B. L. Smith
London Electoral Registers 1924
3 Gladstone Park Gardens, Willesden
Barbara Augusta SmithCecil Frederick SmithLondon Electoral Registers 1928
47 The Drive (Hale Lane), Hendon
Barbara Augusta SmithCecil Frederick SmithLondon Electoral Registers 1939
47 The Drive (Hale Lane), Hendon
Barbara Augusta SmithCecil Frederick SmithNorman Cecile Smith
In the 1939 England and Wales Register
47 The Drive, Hendon, Middlesex
1.
Barbara A. Smith, born October 17 1891, married, unpaid domestic duties
2.
Cecil F. Smith, born September 29 1889, married, traveler (textile)
3. Norman C. Smith, born September 11 1913, single, salesman, wholesale textile
4. Betty Smith, born November 6 1919, single, actress (theatrical)
5. Patricia B. Smith, born March 24 1932
In the June 1941 death index
Barbara A. Smith, age 48, Hendon, Middlesex, volume 3a, page 914. [The first and second names are reversed (assuming A is for Augusta), the area of London is a match, but the age is out by 2 years.]
From Alina D’Wonnik
On May 10, 1941, [
Cecil and Augusta Smith] were killed by a bomb dropped by a German plane during the London Blitz on his way back to Germany. It hit the front of the house as [Cecil] was leaving for work at the factory. Both of them were killed instantly. [A daughter who] was 9 years old and upstairs at the time but was physically unscathed
from Laughter in the Air by Georgina Morgan (nee Symondson)
One night during the London Blitz, the house of another sister of my father [Augusta Barbara] received a direct hit. For safety, the three youngest children still living at home - Garnet, Ernest and Patrica - had been placed underneath the stairs and were unharmed. But the rest of the house was destroyed, and the bodies of my aunt and uncle were blown to bits. The following morning, Ernest, aged about twelve or thirteen discovered his father’s leg in the rubble. The older sister was in Canada, and their older brother, who was also called Norman, was abroad in ther army. Recalled on compassionate leave, he was at a loss to know what to do with the three orphaned children. Auntie Connie offered to look after them and they moved into her house on Vicarage Road [Willesden]
National Probate Calendar
Barbara Augusta Smith of 47 the Drive Edgeware Middlesex widow died 11 May 1941 at Bexhill County Hospital Administration Llandudno 8 April 1942 to Betty Smith [daughter] spinster and Percy Augustus James Clark retired linen agent. Effects 3052 pounds
from
https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/online-exhib...tz-the-hardest-night/
The Blitz – The Hardest Night
10/11 May 1941, 11:02pm – 05:57am
The most devastating raid on London took place on the night of 10/11 May 1941.
The moon was full and the Thames had a very low ebb tide. These two combined with a maximum effort by the Germans, before they moved east to attack the Soviet Union, to produce one of the most devastating raids on the capital.
It is impossible to provide comprehensive detail of the night’s many actions but a number of highlights might give a little idea:
571 sorties flown by German bombers – some crews flying two and even three missions.
711 tons of high explosive bombs (167 were recorded as unexploded the next day) and 86,173 incendiaries dropped
London Fire Brigade recorded at least 2136 fires, 9 of ‘conflagration’ level, 8 ‘major’ outbreaks (rating over 30 pumps), 43 serious (up to 30 pumps), 280 medium (up to 10 pumps) and at least 1796 small.
Approx 1436 people killed and 1800 seriously injured.
The fires resulted in 700 acres of destruction – about double that of the Great Fire of London.
Final costs of damage in 1941 values – £20,000,000 – about double that of Great Fire.
Anti aircraft guns expended 4510 rounds – 2 bombers claimed destroyed
Fighter Command in total dispatched 325 aircraft (not all over London). They claimed 28 enemy aircraft. One Hurricane was destroyed and another Hurricane and a Beaufighter were badly damaged.
Luftwaffe actually lost twelve aircraft that night
– 10 x He 111
– 1 x Ju 88
– 1 x Bf 110*
* 24 long-range fighters were deployed over London but they suffered no losses. This aircraft crashed at Floors Farm, Bonnyton Moor, Glasgow at 2305. It was flown from Augsburg by German Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess on an ill conceived peace mission.