Samuel Robert Graham was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1895. He was one of six children to Samuel and Alice Graham. Samuel was a postman from Liverpool, while Alice had been born in St Helier, Jersey.

Information about Samuel Jr’s early life is scarce: the 1901 census found Alice and the children visiting her mother in Jersey, while he husband is missing from census records. The next return in 1911 recorded Samuel Sr, Alice and three of their children living in the Trinity area of Jersey, but Samuel Jr is missing.

On 9th September 1913, Samuel Jr enlisted in the Royal Navy. He had been working as a blacksmith, and sought a career at sea. His service records show that he was 5ft 5ins (1,65m) tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion.

Stoker 2nd Class Graham signed up for a period of twelve years’ service. Based at HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, his first formal posting was on board the cruiser HMS Bristol. He remained on board for nearly two years, and was promoted to Stoker 1st Class in the process.

During the First World War, Samuel served on two more ships and, by the end of the conflict, he was based at HMS Columbine, the naval base at Port Edgar on the Firth of Forth, Scotland. He fell ill while barracked there, and was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in nearby Queensferry. Whatever Stoker 1st Class Graham’s condition, it was to prove too severe: he passed away on 1st December 1918, at the age of 23 years old.

Samuel Robert Graham’s body was taken back to Jersey for burial. He was laid to rest in Trinity Churchyard, not far from where his family still lived.

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