Description:The Belgian Refugee War Register is one of a series of documents associated with the Belgian War Relief Fund that was established during World War One to support the thousands of Belgian refugees who fled their country due to the German invasion. The Birmingham branch of the Association processed over 4,000 Belgian refugees during the war.<small><sup>1</sup></small> The register is a unique document, recording the names and addresses of refugees, their occupations, the areas where they were billeted and the companies in Birmingham that employed them. Anecdotal information on refugees was also recorded. The register was very much a working file recording the status of the refugees, there are many examples where residential information is crossed out due to individuals or families either moving on or returning to Belgium. The register shows us that the majority of refugees were billeted within the Birmingham area, but some are relocated within the wider region or further field.
One entry records the Van Dressel family from Wespelaar, a town in the province of Haacht in Belgium. The family arrived in Birmingham in stages, ten of the children, aged between less than a year old and thirteen arrived with their aunt in October 1914, while their father and mother came to Birmingham later via London. The record also accounts for two additional sisters, Marie and Stephanie, who arrived in the city after their siblings and parents. The family was billeted under the care of Mr Achibald of Higgins Farm in Selly Oak. Marie and Stephanie, who were sixteen and fifteen, were employed by Cadbury. In October 1914, members of the Girls Works Committee at the Bournville Works, led by a Forewoman of the company, arranged for the accommodation of the De Hass family in a house in Cotteridge. Members of the Committee successfully negotiated a reduction in the rent and furnished the house with the help of Mrs Barrow Cadbury who donated bed linen. The De Hass’s daughters, as with the Van Dressel’s were employed by Cadbury.<small><sup>2</sup></small> Although these two examples site Cadbury’s as an employer, this is a rare example - the Austin Motor Company in Longbridge was one of the key employers of refugee workers.
<font color="#666633"><small><sup>1</sup> Belgian Refugee Register: War Refugee Committee, 44 Islington Row, Birmingham [BA&H: 302724]
<sup>2</sup> Bournville Works Magazine (December 1914), no.12, vol.12, p.358; Bournville Works and the War: 1914-1919 (Bournville, 1920), p.13 [BA&H: LP 66.53 CAD]</small></font>