First World War diaries launched on Armistice Day

Reginald was just 18 when he started his diaries but he kept them up to date for just about every day until the end of the war.

Along with the diaries which were started in 1918 there were school reports, family and military photos, army pay books, regimental orders, foreign coins brought back from the front, demob papers and even a notification from the DVLA on his failure of the driving test.

At the time of the discovery local papers reported the story and this attracted the attention of Reginald's family who were able to supply more material about his life.

They confirmed that Reginald's granddaughter, who had been employed at Palmers Green Library in the Bibliographical Unit, had donated the diaries to the Local Studies Library.

Reginald Francis Shipway was born in Upper Holloway on the 27th February 1899 to Frank and Beatrice Shipway. He was one of eight children, and the 1901 Census shows the family living at 71 Foxham Road in Islington.

He attended the Northern Polytechnic Day School in Holloway where he received fairly reasonable marks in most subjects.

In a December 1913 school report a teacher described Reginald as having:  "Worked well and steadily and deserves his high position - his conduct is very satisfactory".

Interestingly however there is some criticism by his teacher of his attempts at French, and in one of his diaries we can see Reginald attempting to improve his grasp of the language by writing down French verbs and phrases.

Local history manager, John Clark, says, "Whether Reginald picked these French phrases deliberately or just wrote them down by chance, they are very poignant and relevant to the sacrifices that he and his generation made during the war.

"On his return from France Reginald quickly settled back into his old life and after several north London moves settled down with his wife Ada and three daughters Ivy, Barbara and Hilda at 71 Firs Park Avenue in Winchmore Hill."

Cllr Bambos Charalambous, cabinet member for leisure, said, "In many ways these diaries record Reginald Shipway's daily life but he did not go into detail about the carnage of the Great War.

"What these diaries offer is a glimpse of life almost 100 years ago and together with photos and artefacts we can begin to see how people led their lives at the beginning of the last century. We can see the fashions and early photography, the old government documents and we can see how much has changed and often how much has been retained."

The diary is available on the Council Website: http://www.enfield.gov.uk/info/437/libraries-general_information/1225/armistice_day_celebrated_from_11_november_2010_view_reginald_shipways_world_war_i_diary_local_mans_diary_published_for_the_very_first_time