Who lived in South Leigh in 1947-1949 when Dylan and Caitlin were there? And what were their ages and their occupations, who were their children?

One way of answering these questions is to examine the 1939 War Register. It's only a guide, of course, not least because a substantial number of South Leigh names have been redacted in the Register, mostly children who might possibly still be alive today. There will also have been deaths between 1939 and 1947, including the five South Leigh men who died in the 1939-1945 war with Germany, as well as people who moved in and out of the village.

It appears from the 1939 Register that there were some 350 people living in South Leigh in 1939, counting both open and redacted entries. Click on the link below to see all the Register's pages for South Leigh:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12OnUiR3SSnR52WtjXy3dqeDUNVjL1TkP?usp=sharing

*Be careful with pages 7 and 8; they are not entirely duplicates. Page 8 has entries not on page 7. For example, p8 has the Simmonds family at Tar Barn Farm, but page 7 has not. Page 7 has an entry for a Fritz Kanstein, a farm worker and refugee. But he's not on p8.

Page 9 is also of uncertain reliability because its open entries are repeats of entries from previous pages; some, or even all, of the redacted entries might also be repeats. If page 9 is excluded, then the village's population number will be nearer 300.

Occupations

South Leigh was, of course, primarily a farming community. It boasted seven farmers (two retired), together with some twelve cowmen, two dairymaids, two horsemen, a shepherd, a pigman, and twenty-one general farm workers. But South Leigh also had a handful of residents who worked in the blanket factories in Witney, the motor trade and on the railways. There were a couple of skilled mechanics, and a few lorry drivers, clerks and secretaries. There were several residents of private means, as well as a vicar, company director, chartered accountant and aeronautical engineer.

The 1939 Register also tells us about the people who kept the community functioning smoothly: a wheelwright and carpenter, an electrician, a postmaster, postman, milkman, grocer, baker’s errand boy, publican and station porter, who was also the paperman. South Leigh had no policeman, but it did have a gamekeeper, the aptly named Mr Hunt.

Also in the village, but perhaps not quite part of it, was The College, with its Director, several tutors, butler/chauffeur, house parlour man, assistant matron and kitchen boy.

There were some 110 women in South Leigh on the 1939 Register, most of whom were described as carrying out unpaid domestic duties and/or unpaid farm work. Of the others, five were said to have private means, and twenty-five were in paid employment, as follows: domestic service (11), secretarial (5), woollen factory (3), dairymaids (2), nursing (2), shop assistant (1) and one whose occupation was not legible on the Register.[i]

[i] The total of 110 women does not include any who were redacted. The term “in paid employment” includes a small number of women who had retired from their job. The term “domestic service” includes descriptions such as domestic servant, domestic charwoman, housekeeper, ladies maid and companion helper.