Oscar Kirk's 1919 Diary
January to July 1919
In this section you will find the transcribed diary entries of Oscar Kirk who was 14 when he started to work in the West and East India Docks in 1918 ferrying messages and mail between different docks and Port of London Authority offices.
Click here for today's entry
Who was Oscar Kirk?
Oscar was born in May 1904 in Poplar, London close to the West India Docks. At the age of 14, on the 23 October 1918, just a few days before the end of World War I, Oscar started to work for the Port of London Authority and began to keep a diary full of delightful and illuminating detail about the life of a young working man in East London at this time.
Oscar's diary for the first half of 1919 has survived and is currently part of the museum's collection. The diary is currently on display in the Sainsbury's Study Centre at the museum.
Oscar went on to become a Clerical Assistant in the West India Dock, took part in the General Strike in 1926 and by the time he retired in 1968 was a Senior Foreman at the North Quay Warehouse (where the Museum of London Docklands is now housed).
Oscar died in 1980.
Diary extracts and personal biographical details reproduced with the kind permission of Oscar's family.
The Diary
Alongside daily diary entries. Oscar recorded in his diary a list of books he had read (see the full list and further information on these titles here); listed the items that made up his uniform for work and how long they should last for (click here for further information) and accounted for the savings from his wages that he was providing to his father towards buying a bicycle. By the time the entries in the diary finish Oscar had given his father 1/6d (7.5p) towards the costs.
Oscar's diary also contained a page of important notes from the previous year. Oscar connsidered two things of paramount importance. The date he started work and the date World War I ended. As Oscar notes: "Armistice proclaimed on the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11 hour. (Bells pealed, hooters blowed and guns & maroons sounded)".
Notes on the transcription
Throughout the diary Oscar denoted the time, for example 2/30 for 2.30. For the sake of clarity the slash has been replaced with the conventional full stop.
The denotion of shillings and pence has been retained i.e. 2/- for two shillings (modern 10p) and 2/6d for two shillings and six pence (12.5p).
Exclusions: Very occasionally Oscar provides a list of staff on duty for the day or week. These names have been excluded from the transcript.
Check back here as Oscar's diary is updated day-by-day through to July 2010.
You can also follow Oscar on Twitter at http://twitter.com/OscarKirk1919