Frederick Richard Pople was the second of three children – all sons – of Frederick and Emma Pople, born in 1887 in Street, Somerset.
He married Beatrice Cox in 1910 and, by the following year the newlyweds had moved to South Wales, when Frederick found work on the railways. The couple had one child, Frederick Alonzo Pople, who was born in 1912.
Sadly, Beatrice passed away a couple of years later; Frederick married again, to Beatrice Salmon, in November 1914; the couple had a son, Edward George Salmon Pople, who was born on Valentine’s Day 1918.
Frederick enlisted relatively late in the war – he was 30 when he signed up on 25th January 1918, and is likely to have missed the birth of his son.
He enrolled in the Royal Navy and his training took place at HMS Vivid II in Devonport. By March of that year, he was serving as a stoker on the HMS Attentive III, part of the Dover patrol.
Stoker Pople continued to work on the HMS Attentive after the conclusion of hostilities in November 1918. Sadly, he contracted pneumonia and passed away 11th February 1919, leaving Beatrice with a son of less than a year old.
Frederick Richard Pople is buried in the Cemetery of his home town, Glastonbury.
Frederick James Cheal was born in Reigate, Surrey in July 1880. One of six children, his father Francis was an agricultural labourer and cowman, while his mother Ann looked after their children.
While born in the landlocked Home Counties, Frederick appeared to be drawn to a life on the open seas. He enlisted in the Royal Navy on 26th October 1897, for a period of 12 years.
Stoker Cheal served his time on a number of vessels over that time, ships with names like Hannibal, Warrior and Furious. Having completed his service, Frederick was discharged on 28th October 1910.
Frederick’s wanderlust remained, though, and it appears that his discharge was more of transfer. He immediately enrolled in the fledgling Canadian Navy for a period of five years, dividing his time between land-based instruction and service on the HMS Niobe.
War broke out, and Stoker Cheal’s service was extended beyond the initial five-year term. Again, rather than his service coming to an end, he transferred back to the Royal Navy in August 1916.
Promoted, Petty Officer Stoker Cheal was assigned to the HMS Bacchante, an armoured cruiser that served as an escort to the British convoys off the African coast.
Frederick was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, Kent, in early 1919 with influenza and pneumonia. He passed away on 22nd February, aged 38.
He lies at rest in the graveyard of St Margaret’s Church in Rainham, Kent.
Here is where a mystery lies. There is no discernible link between Frederick Cheal and Rainham, other than that is where his widow lives.
A lot of Rose Anne Cheal’s life is sadly lost to time. There are no marriage records to link her to Frederick, and I have been unable to identify her maiden name or whether she was even English (the couple could easily have met during Frederick’s time in Canada).
From her later records, it is evident that she lived in Rainham, just around the corner from the church where her husband is buried. The 1939 register confirms that she was a couple of years older than Frederick; she was born on Christmas Eve 1878. The register also confirms that the couple had two children, Francis, who was born in 1914, and Kathleen, born two years later.
Some mysteries are not meant to be solved; Frederick lived a full life on the open seas, spending 22 years serving two navies. He died in the same way as many other returning soldiers and sailors, a victim of the Spanish Flu pandemic. He left a wife and two young children, a sad tale repeated countless times across the continent.
Wilfrid David Baker was born in 1889 in Upchurch, Kent. One of ten children, to Charles and Margaret Baker, he followed his father into the brickmaking industry.
When the Great War came, Wilfrid signed up, enlisting in the Royal Navy in March 1917, as Stoker 2nd Class. During his training in Woolwich, he was promoted to Stoker 1st Class, before being assigned to the HMS Columbine naval base in Scotland.
During his work there, Stoker Baker came down with influenza and was transferred to the HMHS Garth Castle hospital ship. Wilfrid’s illness developed into pneumonia, and he passed away on 20th October 1918. He was 29 years of age.
Stoker 1st Class Wilfrid Baker is buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin in his home village, Upchurch.
Stuart William Arthur Mercer was born in February 1890, one of seven children to William and Eliza Mercer. The family lived in the village of Upchurch, Kent, where William worked as an agricultural labourer.
Stuart followed in his father’s footsteps, and by the time of the 1911 census, he and his brother Bert were working as fruit plantation labourers with William.
He married the delightfully named Elsie Lily Singyard who was also from Upchurch, in 1914, but the couple didn’t have any children.
It was not until towards the end of the Great War that Stuart signed up for service. He enlisted in the Royal Navy on 27th September 1918, and was assigned to the HMS Pembroke II training base in Chatham.
Stoker Mercer’s service was short, however; he had contracted bronchial pneumonia within weeks of the war ending and was admitted to the Royal Navy Hospital in Chatham. He passed away there on 28th November 1918. He was 28 years old.
Stoker Stuart Mercer lies at rest in the St Mary the Virgin churchyard in his home village, Upchurch in Kent.
Death and Service 