Henry Johnson Tregillis was born on Christmas Day 1890 and was one of six children to Edward and Emma. Edward was a journeyman baker from Westminster, Middlesex, but the family were raised in Woolwich, Kent.

When Henry finished his schooling, he found work as a general labourer, but as he got older, he sought a more reliable trade. On 15th September 1909 he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class. His service papers show that he was 5ft 9ins (1.65m) tall, with light brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a number of tattoos: a soldier and rifle on his left forearm, a girl on his left upper arm, Buffalo Bill on his right upper arm, the words In loving memory of my dear father and his mother’s name, Emma, on his right forearm.

Stoker Tregillis was sent to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, for his induction. In March 1910 he was assigned to the battleship HMS Lord Nelson. He would spend the next five years attached to Lord Nelson and, while he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class, his time on board was not without incident. He spent two separate periods in the cells – totally 21 days – for unrecorded demeanours.

Henry left HMS Lord Nelson in July 1915, and over the next couple of years he served on two more ships, before becoming shore based – first at HMS Victory, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Portsmouth, Hampshire, then back at HMS Pembroke again. His annual review were mediocre, ranging from fair to very good, and he spend three more periods of time in the brig: 7 days in October 1915, 28 days in April/May 1916 and 14 days in June 1916.

By the start of 1918, Stoker 1st Class Tregillis had been at Chatham Dockyard for six months. That winter he came down with pleurisy, and was admitted to the town’s Royal Naval Hospital. The condition would prove fatal, and he breathed his last on 29th January 1918: he was 27 years of age.

The body of Henry Johnson Tregillis was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, walking distance from the dockyard that had become home.

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