A Concrete Approach

I mustn't forget to be systematic in my research. That's a lesson I have learnt already in the last few weeks of blogging this ghost-journal.

There are so many resources that will be useful but often, I am asking such wild questions, sometimes stupid questions (I don't mind that they seem stupid) because it means I'm not making too many assumptions - it means, I can be wide-eyed and amazed when I get a good answer.

Some of the issues that I've already raised - like the gap between flights and voucher validation - I think may have been answered by the Hansard site and it's enitrely possible to have had possession of the Ministry of Labour Voucher, entered the UK and then had the voucher stamped before the validity ran out. I think that is plausible.

The other part of being systematic - is making sure I can validate all the primary sources I have in my possession. It's all well and good having the original airline tickets with dates but don't mean a thing unless I can check them against a passenger manifesto or have some other official corroboration in writing that it actually took place. So, that's the approach...

Have a primary source, check that is genuined, validate it and then contextualise it - in terms of the historic and emotional backdrop. Let's not forget, the systematuc indexing of each source - I have created an authority file of data items to use for my catalogue and I am keeping it simple:

What is the source?
Format of source?
Individual Family member to which it relates
Date of source
Type
Primary or Secondary source
Validated
Documentation of validation.

I have another piece of Oral information from my mum. She recalls that on first arrival, dad did stay in London and then went to Birmingham after the initial six months to work in a woollen mill. There is no documented source in my files to corroborate this so, how does anyone go about looking for a place of work where someone may or may not have been employed when they don't know the name of the factory, the dates of employment or any other facts which have not been determined from someone's (not always reliable) personal memory?

A discussion also arose about immunisations of new entrants into the UK - I have not found any reliable information about health and travel for that period - specificially related to migrants from South Asia. Although, migrants would not have been able to refuse a medical examination by an immigration officer at their port of entry. This does not mean that all migrants actually received a medical exam. It would be interesting to know what the procedure involved - what was checked and what criteria was used to refuse entry.

In the last couple of days, I have had a chance to both reflect on some of the information I have found as well as to make new ties with old acquaintances and family friends and am pleased to say may have inspired similar personal investigations into their pasts. I really hope some lines of enquiry cross and that our mutual interests will lead to finding out other truths and maybe in sharing them, we will arrive, like our fathers did and just as they dreamt of a new world, our world will be changed and made concrete beneath us. Isn't that how the tarmac must have felt when they first came here?

Mind the London Gap

A strange gap in the dates leads me to wonder what happened between dad's flight from Bangladesh in Apr 1963 to his Minisitry of Labour Voucher's date of entry to the UK in November 1963. Would he have had a stop-over in Karachi? I don't think so as the outbound ticket lists multiple changes for the same date.

So, what happened for seven months?

Aside from this anomaly, I have found his residential address up to May 1964 based on his NHS Medical Card which was 24 Offord Road, London, N1, not very far from Camden and Kentish Towns and is 2 minutes walk from Caledonian Road Station (British Rail overground). The next question has to be, why there? What secret lair of our mythical meanderers existed here? Was there a job here? A lodging, paid for by an employer? Who else lived here? Questions, questions. His GP was a Dr K. Bhattarcharya, who is more than likely a late Bhattacharya by now.

Below, is the Google Map with satellite image overlayed of Offord Road as it is now.
From what I can tell, there were terraces with gardens - relatively long - probably about 60 feet. The street outside the terraced houses looks narrow - and is likely quite overcrowded with cars but would have been fairly empty in 1964.

What I like about this image is that from a bird's eye view it is the same as it was 46 years ago, nothing much has changed except maybe the trees will be taller and some of the roofs will have been retiles, reimagined or houses slightly renovated and extended but generally, the spirit of Offord Road is the same. Isn't it?


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