Category Archives: Kent

Able Seaman, accident, Boatswain, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Kent, Leading Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Navy, story, suicide, war

Boatswain James Kirby

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Boatswain James Kirby

James Kirby’s life is one of intrigue and speculation. Born in Laytown, Ireland on 30th August 1867, the earliest documents relating to him are his Royal Naval Service Records.

He enlisted on 1st March 1883, while just fifteen years old, and was assigned the rank of Boy 2nd Class. Over the next couple of years, he served on two ships – HMS Lion and HMS Briton – and was promoted to Boy 1st Class.

On 30th August 1885, James came of age, and was formally enrolled in the Royal Navy. He enlisted for ten years’ service, and his records show that he stood 5ft 3ins (1.60m) tall, had brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was also noted as having a tattoo of an anchor on the back of his left hand.

Over the next ten years, Ordinary Seaman Kirby served on nine different vessels, and was obviously committed to his work. He rose through the ranks, making Able Seaman in January 1886, Leading Seaman (1889), Petty Officer (also 1889) and Chief Petty Officer (1895).

When his initial contract ended, he voluntarily continued with the Royal Navy, although his service record ends on 14th June 1896, at the point that he was promoted to Acting Boatswain.

A second service record picks up James’ details from 5th December 1902. Still serving as a Boatswain, he was assigned to the cruiser HMS Lancaster. His health, by this point, was beginning to suffer, and, it seems, his life was beginning to unravel.

In August 1904, he was injured in an accident involving a “hook rope” and “slightly amoral judgement”. Over the next couple of years his behaviour became increasingly erratic.

In December 1910, he was admitted to Shotley Hospital near Durham, suffering from acute mania and gonorrhoea, and was not be be fit for duty for a few weeks.

Just before Christmas that year, Boatswain Kirby was again admitted to hospital, this time in Chatham, Kent, remaining there for a number of months. He was deemed unfit for further service in March 1911, and was medically discharged with neurasthenia.

However, when war broke three years later, James volunteered his services once more, and was again employed by the Royal Navy. Tragically, this was a decision that would prove to be fatal.

The extraordinary death of a naval boatswain names James Kirby, aged 47, was the subject of an inquest at the Royal Naval Hospital, Chatham… Deceased, whose home was at Dublin, had retired, but had volunteered for service and was anxious to go to sea. On Friday evening [28th August 1914] he was watching a game of billiards in the warrant officers’ mess at the Royal Naval Barracks, Chatham, and appeared perfectly rational and sober. Suddenly he was observed to disappear through an open window beneath which he had been sitting. He went down, as one witness stated “with a smile on his face,” and called out “Good-bye.” A crash of glass below indicated that he struck the dining room window as he fell.

Kent Messenger & Gravesend Telegraph: Saturday 5th September 1914

The article gave further information about the injury James sustained previously: “It transpired that deceased fell out of a window at the Hospital eight years ago through walking in his sleep. He was then suffering from neurasthenia and had delusions.“

The inquest concluded that Boatswain James Kirby had committed suicide during temporary insanity. He was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, not far from the dockyard at which he was based.

James Kirby’s grave is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on behalf of the Royal Navy Admiralty. However, as the naval authorities did not confirm Boatswain Kirby was a war casualty – possibly because of the nature of his death – he was never formally commemorated with a Commonwealth War Grave. However, I have included his story as it remains as pertinent as those of his contemporaries.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Naval Reserve, Stoker, story, war, Yorkshire

Stoker Peter Higgins

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Stoker Peter Higgins

Peter Higgins was born in Thornaby, North Yorkshire, on 23rd January 1887. His parents were William and Catherine (Kate) Higgins, but of them there is very little information.

What seems likely that Peter would have had some experience with boats as, on 26th May 1909, he enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve. His service records show that he was 5ft 7ins (1.70m) tall and was described as having blue eyes and a pale complexion. He was also noted as having a scar over his left eye and another on his left thigh.

When war broke out, Peter was officially called for duty and, over the next couple of years, he served as a Stoker on the battleship HMS St Vincent. The ship patrolled the North Sea, and would later be involved in the Battle of Jutland.

Stoker Higgins, however, was back on dry land by that point, having been assigned to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. Peter had fallen ill with a gastric ulcer, and tragically, this was to prove fatal. He passed away on 16th February 1916, at the age of just 29 years old.

Peter Higgins was laid to rest in the naval section of Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the dockyard that was to prove his last posting.

Bedfordshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Nottinghamshire, photography, Private, Royal Marines, story, war

Private William Jackson

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Private William Jackson

Little concrete documentation remains about the life of William Henry Jackson. He was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire, on 6th February 1872, although it is not possible to identify who his parents were.

He married a woman called Edith in 1903, and the couple settled in her home town of Beeston, Nottinghamshire. By the time of the 1911 census, he was recorded working as an electrician’s labourer at the local telephone works, while Edith, who was five years his senior, earned extra money as a blouse finisher.

Information about William’s wartime efforts are also limited. He enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, and was assigned to the Chatham Division. He was given the rank of Private and based at the Royal Naval Dockyard in the Kent town.

The only other information available for Private Jackson is that he died on 16th September 1916, having contracted a combination of pneumonia and tuberculosis. He was 44 years of age.

William Henry Jackson was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, not far from the dockyard in which he had served. His headstone gives the initial H, rather than W, although no documents suggest he went by any name other than William.

Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, India, Kent, photography, Royal Navy, Signalman, story, war

Signalman Albert Chevalier

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Signalman Albert Chevalier

Albert Patrick Michael Chevalier was born in India on 16th June 1893. There is little definitive information about his early life, although his mother was called Georgina, and the family may have moved back to England when Albert was just a child.

When he left school, Albert found work as an errand boy in an office. But he wanted bigger and better things and, on 4th May 1909, aged just fifteen years old, he enlisted in the Royal Navy. Because of his age, he was given the rank of Boy 2nd Class, and for the first eighteen months, he was assigned to training bases – HMS Ganges and HMS Impregnable.

After only a few months, Albert was promoted to Boy 1st Class and, after a month at HMS Pembroke – the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent – he was given his first sea-going appointment on board the cruiser HMS Minerva.

Albert spent eighteen months on Minerva, during which time he came of age. He seems to have had an understanding of basic technology, as he was given the rank of Ordinary Signalman. After some more time in Chatham, Albert went to sea again, this time on board another cruiser, HMS Cressy. At the start of 1913 he was promoted again, and given the rank of full Signalman.

Signalman Chevalier went on to serve on a number of different vessels, primarily the battleship HMS Swiftsure, where he served for nearly three years, plying the waters between Britain and India. By the spring of 1916 he was back in Chatham, however, and it was here that things took a turn for the worse.

Albert was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in the town, suffering from pleurisy. Sadly, the condition was to get the better of him and he passed away the hospital on 28th September 1916, at the age of just 23 years of age.

Albert Patrick Michael Chevalier’s body was laid to rest in Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham, not far from the dockyard from which he had made so many of his voyages.

Albert’s mother Georgina had not settled in England for long. The army pension record gives her as Albert’s beneficiary, but notes her address as Victoria Street, Daylesford, Victoria, Australia.

Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Kent, London, Major, Middlesex, New Zealand, photography, story, war

Major George Hannan

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Major George Hannan

George Madder Hannan was born in Dublin in 1861, the son of banker Benjamin Hannan. There is little concrete information about his early life, but what can be pieced together produces the story of a well-travelled man.

On 22nd January 1896, George was initiated into the Lodge of Otago, a freemason’s collective in Dunedin, New Zealand. He is listed as being a Master Mariner.

George’s marriage certificate records that he wed Mary Carlisle on 27th October 1898. The wedding took place at St Jude’s Church in Kensington, London, and the groom was listed as a Gentleman. Mary was the daughter of a paper manufacturer, and had been born in Lancashire.

The next document for George is the 1911 census. This notes that he ad Mary were still living in Kensington, along with their only child – daughter Grace, who had been born in 1900 – and two servants. This time he is listed as being an army major, a special reserve officer.

Moving forward a few years, the next record for George is the notice of his funeral, in October 1915:

We regret to announce the death of Major Madder-Hannan, which occurred at May Bank on Wednesday morning. Major Madder-Hannan, who had only resided in the village [of Bearsted, Kent] for the past few months, held his commission in the 9th Service Battalion Cameronians. He had been an invalid since taking up his residence here.

Kent Messenger & Gravesend Telegraph: Saturday 16th October 1915

Sadly, no documentation remains about George’s time with the Cameronians. He passed away, presumably through illness, on 13th October 1915, at the age of 54 years of age.

Unusually, given the main family home was in Kensington, George Madder Hannan was buried in the village where he died. He was laid to rest in Holy Cross Churchyard, Bearsted.

Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, history, Kent, Lance Corporal, Malta, photography, Scotland, Second Lieutenant, Sergeant, story, unknown, war

Lieutenant Thomas Denny

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Lieutenant Thomas Denny

Thomas David William Denny was born on 26th December 1890 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire. There is little information on his early life, other than that his parents were Thomas and Annie Denny.

By the time of the 1911 census, Thomas Jr was serving as a Lance Corporal in the 2nd Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, and was based at the Verdola Barracks in Malta.

When war broke out, the battalion was called back to mainland Europe. By 19th December 1914, Thomas found himself in France; two years later, he was in Salonika, Greece.

Thomas’ bravery was not in doubt. While serving in France, he received the Military Medal for conspicuous gallantry. This went hand in hand with a promotion to Sergeant. In 1917, he received a commission as Second Lieutenant and was moved to the regiment’s 3rd Battalion.

In the spring of 1918, Second Lieutenant Denny married Elsie, a woman from Bearsted, near Maidstone in Kent. Sadly, little else is known of her, and even a later newspaper report only referred to her as “a Bearsted lady” [East Kent Gazette: Saturday 15th March 1919].

By early 1919, Thomas was back in Britain. Whether he had been demobbed is unclear, but is seems more likely that he had returned home for medical treatment. On 6th March, he passed away in Maidstone. He was just 28 years of age.

Thomas David William Denny was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Cross Church in Bearsted close to where the now-widowed Elsie must have lived.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, London, London Regiment, photography, Private, story, war

Private Thomas Rice

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Private Thomas Rice

Thomas Merrall Rice was born on 4th January 1894, one of thirteen children to William and Martha. William was from Northamptonshire, but it was in Bearsted, near Martha’s home town of Maidstone, where the couple raised their family.

Little detail of Thomas’ early life remains. What is clear is that, by the summer of 1916, he was living in Plumstead, South East London and was working as a valet. He had met Annie Jane Rix by this point, and the couple married on 17th June 1916 at All Saints Church in Plumstead.

Thomas was called up for military duty not long after this and, on 1st November 1916, he enlisted in the 14th Battalion of the London Regiment, also known as the London Scottish. His service records show very specifically (although seemingly incorrectly) that he was 25 years and 300 days old. It was also noted that he stood 5ft 5.5ins (1.64m) tall and was, by this time, employed as an explosives worker at Woolwich Arsenal.

After his initial training, Private Rice was sent to France at the end of May 1917. His service overseas was not to be a long one, as, within a couple of months, his battalion had been the victims of a gas attack. Thomas was admitted to a field hospital but quickly developed pleurisy and tuberculosis, and was medically evacuated back to Britain in August, and discharged from the army as no longer fit for active duty just a couple of months later.

His failing health meant that Thomas was not able to actively work, and it seems that he had moved out of London and back to his family’s home on the outskirts of Maidstone. It is unclear whether Annie went with him, but, as they had a son, Albert, who had been born shortly before he was sent to France, it seems likely that they would have moved as a family unit.

William, Thomas’ father, died in the summer of 1919, and was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Cross Church, Bearsted. Sadly, Thomas was to follow him, passing away on 15th January 1920, a victim of the lung conditions that had dogged him since France. He had just turned 26 years of age.

Thomas Merrall Rice was laid to rest alongside his father in the quiet Holy Cross Churchyard.

Private Thomas Rice
(from findagrave.com)
Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Leading Seaman, Ordinary Seaman, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Navy, Scotland, story, war

Petty Officer Albert Smith

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Petty Officer Albert Smith

Albert Septamus Smith was born in Maidstone, Kent, on 12th January 1881. The oldest of three children to George and Frances Ditcher, he may has been born before the couple married, and seems to have retained his mother’s maiden name throughout his life.

When he left school, Albert sought a life at sea, joining the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class on 12th January 1898, when he was just fifteen. Albert’s naval career was a long and varied one which began on board HMS Impregnable, a training ship. After a month’s training, he was assigned to HMS Lion, where he spent more than a year, gaining a promotion to Boy 1st Class in the process.

In October 1897, Albert transferred to HMS Pembroke, the Royal Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. In the four months that he spent on shore, he turned seventeen and, as a result, came of legal age to formally be enlisted in the navy. Ordinary Seaman Smith signed up for a period of twelve years, and his service records showed that he was 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, had brown hair, brown eyes and a dark complexion. He was also noted to have a scar on his right wrist, and a tattoo of a flower and bracelet on the same wrist.

Ordinary Seaman Smith was dedicated to his career. Over the next twelve years he served on board nine different vessels, and rose through the ranks, gaining promotion to Able Seaman (in May 1899), Leading Seaman (January 1903), and Petty Officer 2nd Class (September 1903). He returned to the rank of Leading Seaman, doing so in August 1906, but this seems to have been a deliberate choice, as his service record appears unblemished.

In 1910, Albert’s initial period of service came to an end and he chose not to renew his contract. He had married Ellen Miles on 6th October 1900, and, with four young children, it appears that family had become more important to him. Returning to Maidstone, he found work on the railways, joining the South East and Chatham company as a platelayer. The family home was in Bearsted, a village to the east of Maidstone, now part of its suburbs, and they shared is with Ellen’s sister, Dorothy.

Life was going well for the Smith family, but war was coming to Europe and, with his previous naval experience, Albert was to be called upon again. He was called out of reserve on 2nd August 1914 and, after an initial couple of weeks at HMS Pembroke, Leading Seaman Smith was soon back at sea.

After a couple of years on board the seaplane tenders HMS Engadine and Campania, Albert was promoted to Petty Officer again, and assigned to HMS Sandhurst, a fleet repair ship based at Scapa Flow. He was on board when an explosion in the boiler room killed seventeen seamen on 27th February 1917, although he was not hurt.

It was while Petty Officer Smith was on board HMS Sandhurst that he contracted tuberculosis. He returned to Chatham Dockyard, but the condition was severe enough for him to be medically discharged from active service in February 1918.

Albert returned to civilian life again, and his trail goes cold for a couple of years. His lung complaint continued to haunt him, however, and he passed away from tuberculosis on 4th March 1921. He was 40 years of age.

Albert Septamus Smith was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Cross Church in Bearsted, not far from his family home.

Petty Officer Albert Smith
(from ancestry.co.uk)
Air Mechanic, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Middlesex, photography, Royal Air Force, story, Sussex, war

Air Mechanic 1st Class Harold Weston

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Air Mechanic 1st Class Harold Weston

Harold Stanley Weston’s early life is destined to remain a mystery. He was born, according to his Royal Air Force service records, in Southgate, Middlesex in 1887 and, before war broke our, was working as a waiter before enlisting.

On 3rd August 1915, he married a woman called Gertrude in Hastings, Eat Sussex, and it appears that this is where the couple set up home. Harold has initially enlisted in the army, but transferred across to the Royal Flying Corps on 28th October 1915. Air Mechanic 2nd Class Weston’s service records show that he stood just 5ft 2.5ins (1.59m) tall.

Over the next three years, Harold rose through the ranks to Air Mechanic 1st Class, and served in France for nine months during 1916. He then returned to England, and was based at an airfield near Detling, Kent. When the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service merged in April 1918, he transferred across to the newly-formed Royal Air Force, and was attached to 27 Squadron.

In November that year, Harold was admitted to the Military Hospital in Maidstone, also in Kent, having contracted influenza and pneumonia. Sadly, the lung conditions were to get the better of him, and he passed away on 1st November 1918, at the age of just 31 years old.

Air Mechanic 1st Class Harold Stanley Weston’s body was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Martin’s Church in Detling, not far from the base at which he served. Gertrude posted her thanks to “all [their] friends for their kindness and sympathy shown to her in her sad bereavement, more especially Captain Saunders, RAF, Major Chapman, KCC [Kent County Council?], Sergeant Fowle, KCC, and Sergeant Weller, RAMC [Royal Army Medical Corps]” [Maidstone Telegraph: Saturday 9th November 1918]

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, Lieutenant, London Regiment, Middlesex, photography, Royal Air Force, story, war

Lieutenant Noel Perris

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Lieutenant Noel Perris

Noel Felix Perris was born early in 1894 in Chiswick, London and was the oldest of three children to George and Mary Perris. George was from Liverpool, and he and Yorkshire-born Mary made the move to south in the late 1880s.

Noel went on to study science at school, but when war broke out, he clearly felt a duty to play his part. George used his writing skills to become a war correspondent with the French army, while his son joined the 2nd London Regiment.

Quickly promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, Noel served in France and Egypt. In 1916, he was badly injured at Hébuterne, to the south of Arras, and returned to England to recuperate. When he had recovered, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, subsequently gaining his wings in the newly-formed Royal Air Force.

Lieutenant Perris was based in Kent as part of 143 Squadron. On the morning of 20th July 1918, he took off from Detling Airfield as part of a normal patrol flight. His aircraft – a single-seater RAF SE5a – collided with another plane, piloted by Lieutenant Thomas Wright, and both crashed to the ground in flames. Both piloted were killed on impact.

An inquest found that the cause of the pilots demise was accidental death. Lieutenant Perris was just 24 years old.

Thomas Wright’s body was taken home to Fleetwood, Lancashire, for burial. Noel Felix Perris was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Martin’s Church in Detling, not far from the base.

Lieutenant Noel Perris
(from findagrave.com)

The epitaph on Noel’s headstone comes from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale.

He was a verray parfit gentil knight

A modern day translation might be “He was a true, perfect knight of noble character.”