Major Duncan Stubbs' diary entry for 1 October 1914

Thursday 1 October

… A letter from Lt Hughes’ father saying that his son had been called up to the enquiry at Chatham on the loss of the cruisers & would probably not be able to get to the service but he might come north on Friday.  I met Madge in the afternoon, she had enjoyed her stay at Alnmouth & was very unhappy at coming back here & very disappointed that Hughes cannot come.

Major Duncan Stubbs' diary entry for 30 September 1914

Wednesday 30 September
… Madge is coming back tomorrow [from Alnmouth] to see Lt Hughes who hopes to come here and go with me to the service on Friday.  It is most kind of him to come all this way and we are looking forward to seeing him immensely …

Major Duncan Stubbs' diary entry for 28 September 1914

Monday 28 Sept
I returned in the evening to Camp.  Mr Kitchen very kindly asked Madge to stay, which she was glad to do as she liked the place so much, so I left her there for a few days.  A memorial service is to be held at Ormesby on Friday at 5pm.

Major Duncan Stubbs' diary entry for 27 September 1914

Sunday 27 Sept 
A letter from Lieut Hughes, our dear boy behaved like a hero, going down below to wake a boy (Riley) who had not been wakened by the explosion, when the ship was

Memorial to Herbert Riley, RNC Dartmouth

heeling over and likely to go at any moment.  Lt Hughes spoke most highly of our boy and how he liked him, a delightful letter, but he could not give any definite news of the end.  It must be presumed without doubt that our boy could not hold out long enough.  They were rescued in that part about 2 hours after the Cressy sank.  Duncan got safely to the Cressy and was in her sick bay when she was struck, after that he was on a plank for a long time in the water but no one knows what happened at the end.  I got Mr Dixon, one of the masters at Peter’s school to make me a number of copies of the letter and sent it to my most intimate friends. 

Letters are pouring in, we have had over 100.  We talked to such a nice coastguard, he was once on the Cressy training.  Jock  came over from Darlington and Peter came to lunch and tea.

Herbert Riley did not survive the sinking of the Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy 

Jock Richardson (1895-1915) was Averil's eldest son.  He died of meningitis in camp a few months later.  He and Duncan are commemorated on a plaque in St Nicholas' Church, Guisborough

Major Duncan Stubbs' diary entry for 26 September 1914

Saturday 26 Sept 
Averil had to leave, Peggy being ill with a bad cold, Katharine and she went to Guisbro on Thursday.  Madge and I spent the day together.  She likes the place and is feeling better.  We went by train with Averil on her return journey to Warkworth and Madge and I walked back from there.  Miss de la Chemette [?] the Matron is most kind we had Peter to several meals during our stay, he is a dear little fellow.

Peggy Richardson was Averil's daughter. 
Katharine was the nine year old daughter of Major Stubbs and his wife Madge

Major Duncan Stubbs' diary entry for 25 September 1914

Friday 25 Sept 
Averil, Madge and I went to Alnmouth a delightful little place very small and pretty, and we spent the afternoon quietly there.

Major Duncan Stubbs' diary entry for 24 September 1914

Thursday 24 Sept 
Another terrible day.  I don’t know how we got through it.  Many letters from friends but awful.  We arranged to go to Alnmouth over the weekend, Averil doing this through the matron of Peter’s school there.

Peter Richardson (1903-52) was the son of Averil, Madge Stubbs' sister, and her husband Willie Richardson of Guisborough

Major Duncan Stubbs' diary entry for 23 September 1914

Wednesday 23rd September
I went up to the Camp and during the morning a telegram from the Admiralty announced that they deeply regretted our dear boy was not in the list of saved.  I returned and broke it to dear Madge and Katharine – I can hardly write of the next few days. 

I wired the Admiralty to ask Lieut Hughes the gunnery Lieutenant of whom Duncan had so often spoken to communicate with, I also wired Meakin, Willie and Dr Mackinlay asking him to tell them at Trafalgar Terrace, and I asked Averil to come, which she did at once and her presence helped poor Madge very greatly.  Everybody is most kind, the general telling me to take what leave I wanted.  Mrs Wilson wired her sympathy and that her boy was saved.

Lieutenant John Bernard Hughes was the son of Canon Walter Octavius Marsh Hughes of Tarporley, Cheshire.  He was born in 1888 in Houghton-le-Spring; his father must have been clergyman there at the time.
 
Mr Meakin was headmaster of Pembroke Lodge, the school that Duncan and his brother Hugh had attended on the South Coast.
 
Willie Richardson was a solicitor in Guisborough, husband of Madge Stubbs' sister Averil
 
Dr Mackinlay, family friend (grandfather of the late J L Mackinlay of Pinchinthorpe Hall and Simonstone Hall, Hawes.)
 
Trafalgar Terrace was the home of Major Stubbs' parents
 
Alistair Wilson was one of the 4 midshipmen of the Aboukir to survive.  He was posted to HMS Vanguard a month later and was killed on 9 July 1917 when one of her magazines overheated and blew up.  His head, found miles from the scene, was the only identifiable body part of any crew member to be recovered.

Local solicitors and World War One

The Record of Service of Solicitors & Articled Clerks with His Majesty's Forces, 1914-9 contains a list of lawyers who served during the First World War.

It isn't complete.  This can be seen from the fact that it does not include George William Wynne Barnley of the Royal Garrison Artillery.  He was one of the local solicitors to win the Military Cross (four more are listed below).

George William Wynne Barnley was the son of George Edward Barnley, solicitor, and his wife Emily.  The elder Mr George Barnley was born in Teignmouth, Devon; the younger was born in Middlesbrough in 1883.  The 1911 Census finds the family living in Danby. 

Edinburgh Gazette, 26 September 1918
Capt. (A./Maj.) George William Wynne Barnley, M.C., R.G.A.
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in command of his battery.  By his untiring energy and skilful arrangements the battery occupied many positions during the retreat, and was brought out of very difficult situations without the loss of guns, stores or transport.  It never failed to answer all calls made for maintenance of fire in support of infantry.
(M.C. gazetted 3rd June, 1918) 

Northumbrian Heavy Battery RGA - GWW Barnley is 2nd from left

This story was told with great affection by those who knew him: 
George Barnley suffered from a slight stammer.  On one occasion he led his men forward with the cry, "F-f-follow m-me, men!" and disappeared into a water-filled crater, from where he could be heard to shout, "D-don't b-bloody well f-follow me here!"

The loss of HMS Aboukir, Hogue & Cressy

Major T D H Stubbs was stationed in Newcastle with his Battery, with his family in lodgings in Jesmond.

From his diary:

Tuesday 22nd September 1914

I had been out with the Battery on the moor, and I wrote several postcards, one to my mother another to Lucas I remember, in both of which I told how our little Duncan had been getting on.  Madge, Hugh, Peggy, Katharine came on to the moor while we were drilling, it was a lovely day and we were all so jolly and happy, little did we think that our dear Duncan had that morning given his life for his country when the Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue were torpedoed in the North Sea off Holland. 

I went down to 84 St Georges Square about 5pm to take Madge and Katharine out for a walk, as I entered the gate Mr Bell, the owner of the house, had a newspaper in his hand which he shewed to Mrs Grieg, he was very white and looked much distressed when he saw me.  I guessed in a moment, he asked me to go into the house and then asked the name of the ship our boy was on.  I told him.  He shewed me the paper in which the stop press news stated in a couple of lines that the Aboukir had been struck by a torpedo.  Nothing further.  I wired the Admiralty for news and he very kindly took the telegram.  I then went out having left Madge writing a letter without telling her until I could get more certain news. 

I met Grieg and we got another paper which published an official report that the three vessels had been struck and that a considerable number had been saved and lists would be published as soon as possible.  We arranged not to tell Madge anything about it for the moment and to keep newspapers from her.  I returned to camp and waited for news.  While in the Mess tent Mr Bell came to say that Madge had received a telegram from Averil asking whether we had news and consequently she knew that the Aboukir was lost.  I immediately returned to St Georges Terrace to be with her. 

I wired Mrs Wilson the mother of one of the other boys asking if she had news and stayed that night at St Georges Terrace.  Neither of us slept and the suspense was too terrible, Mrs Wilson wired about 1.30 am to say she had no news yet.

Madge was his wife.  Hugh and Katharine were his children, aged thirteen and nine.  Peggy Richardson of Guisborough was the eighteen-year-old daughter of Madge's sister Averil.  Lucas was a fellow solicitor in the firm of Lucas, Hutchinson & Meek.

HMS Aboukir was hit by a torpedo fired by the U9 submarine under the command of Otto Weddigen at 6.20 am on 22 September 1914.  HMS Hogue was hit at 6.55am and HMS Cressy at 7.20am.

Duncan was fifteen years old.  He was senior midshipman on board HMS Aboukir and when the ship began to sink he went below to rouse another midshipman who had not been awakened by the explosion.  He and the other boys swam from the Aboukir and while in the water he and Midshipman Kit Wykeham-Musgrave tried to save a drowning marine, holding him up for a considerable time.  They reached the Cressy and got on board.  They were swaddled in blankets and drinking cocoa when she was hit.  They took to the water again.  Duncan was a strong swimmer.  He was last seen with another boy taking the oar to which they were clinging to go to the help of a seaman who was beginning to sink.  They were drawn under with the drowning man.
 
The loss of the cruisers is being remembered today at the Historic Dockyard Chatham.  Of the men and boys who lost their lives 1,264 were from the Chatham Port Division.

When the Last Post is played by buglers of the Royal Marines 1,459 poppy petals will fall, each petal commemorating a life lost.

For more, see the website of the Live Bait Squadron

John Macfarlan Charlton, 21st Northumberland Fusiliers

John Macfarlan Charlton 1891-1916

Jack Charlton was the son of the artist John Charlton (1849-1917) and his wife Catherine Jane Macfarlane (known to family and friends as Kate).

John Charlton senior was born at Bamburgh, and was a celebrated painter of historical and battle scenes.

Kate died in 1893 at the age of 31 leaving two little boys.  She had grown up at Gunnergate Hall and Ugthorpe Lodge – she was the daughter of Catherine Jane Macfarlane (1839-1903) and Thomas Vaughan (1834-1900), the less successful son of ironmaster John Vaughan.

John Macfarlan Charlton was killed on his 25th birthday.  His brother Hugh Vaughan Charlton had been killed the week before.  Their names are recorded on their mother's grave in Marton-in-Cleveland and at Lanercost, where their afflicted father died the following year.

The 'Recent Wills' notice published in the Yorkshire Post on 10 November 1916 noted that John was "an enthusiastic naturalist [and] had written and illustrated several short works on ornithology".

This card is from the postcard album of Elizabeth Grace Ellis Macfarlane (always known as Ellis), the wife of John Richard Stubbs.  Kate Vaughan, the young officer's grandmother, was Ellis's cousin.

Joseph Beresford Shields 1879-1918

I don't know how these papers came to survive in a Deed Box from Meek, Stubbs & Barnley, solicitors, Middlesbrough.

A small envelope contains a letter from Joe Shields to his mother, his birth certificate and a letter from his mother to Mrs (or Miss) Wilson, his friend.  Joe's letter is dated 17 August 1916 and is sent from B Company, 9th Bedfordshire Regiment, stationed at Sittingbourne, and it's about the food he is looking forward to enjoying on a short leave:

His mother was Emily Julia Shields, née Mullen, and Joe was born in Stockton:

In July 1918 Mrs Shields wrote to a Mrs (or Miss, the title is altered in pencil) Wilson at Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.  The letter was forwarded to the Victoria Naval Hospital, Southend:

Joe has been reported missing, although his mother is still hoping for good news.  Her letter shows no address but one has been written in pencil on the reverse:

Sadly, there was to be no good news.  Joseph was killed in action on 24 May 1918; his grave is at Pozieres Memorial Cemetery.

It seems likely that the Mrs or Miss Wilson to whom Mrs Shields wrote this touching letter is the Miss Elizabeth Ann Wilson named as an executor of his Will.  She kept the boarding house in which he lived in Leigh-on-Sea.

His last address as a civilian (and the address given in the National Probate Calendar) was 19 Southend Southsea Avenue, Leigh-on-Sea.  He was living there at the time of the 1911 Census, which shows that the boardinghouse keeper was Mrs Elizabeth Ann Wilson, aged 46 and born in Boosbeck, Cleveland, and that Joseph was then 31 years old, unmarried and a draughtsman at the Marine Engine Works.

So it seems probable that Mrs Shields is addressing this Elizabeth Ann Wilson when she writes

I always felt my Dear Son had a good friend in you which I can assure you has taken a load off my mind.  I shall always count you as one of my dearest friends always write to me dear it will be such a consolation to me 

If there are any members of Joe's family out there who would like this letter, do please contact me ...

Update to Christmas Greeting 1914

I've just added a transcription of the names of the men listed in the Roll of Honour in the Christmas Card from the Heaton Road Baptist Church - to make the post easier to find for anybody who might be out there searching for information on a particular name.

Concert troupe in the First World War

These photographs are from a concert troupe called The Headlights.

"The Headlights on Demobilization"

On the left (seated) is Private Henry (Harry) Storey.  At the outbreak of war he was living with his family in the road where he was born, Felton Street in Byker.  He must have been seventeen or barely eighteen when he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps (Territorials) in Newcastle.  According to family tradition he was a bugler – each Field Ambulance had a bugler. By the end of the War he was in the Army Service Corps.

Henriette Vienne & Harry Storey

This photograph is signed "Meilleur souvenir, H. Vienne" and "Sincerely yours, Harry Storey".

"Avec mon meilleur souvenir de la troupe Headlights, Henriette Vienne"

The Band

This must be the band that played for the Headlights troupe.  On the reverse is written "Sincerely yours" followed by two signatures:

Ted C. Chopping
George Howarth

Harry Storey's family had a great love of theatre. His father, John Henry Brett Storey, worked on the railways but his heart was given to drama and music and in his evenings he worked backstage.  Harry himself, after several years of great enjoyment as an amateur actor during the War, was very close to taking to the stage as a professional after 1919 – his sister Nancy was to be a Gaiety Girl.  Marriage in 1921 and a growing family must have played a part in his decision to take less risky employment. He set up his own successful building company in Newcastle and, after growing bored with retirement, was involved in the printing business of Hindsons, which was later bought up by Jordisons.

If anyone recognises any of the other men in the photo – or knows anything about Henriette Vienne – do please let me know!

(Harry Storey was my grandfather, btw)

Christmas Greeting 1914

A Christmas card was sent in 1914 by the Heaton Road Baptist Church in Newcastle upon Tyne to the young men of the congregation who had joined the armed forces.  This particular card was sent to 18 year old Private Harry Storey of the R.A.M.C.  He lived with his family at 40 Felton Street, Byker.

The minister wrote that

I am desired by your many friends in the Church and Sunday School to convey to you our united wishes for your welfare, our earnest prayer for your safety in the hour of peril, and our strong hope that amidst the temptations and difficulties that beset your path, you will remain true to the ideals taught you by loving hearts, in the days that are past.

The recipients are listed in the Roll of Honour:

 but one of them already would not be coming home.  William Stanley Green had died in the sinking of HMS Aboukir.

The names listed in the Roll of Honour are:

Pte. H. Armstrong, Com. Battalion
*Pte. Norman Ayre, R.M.
*Pte. William Aitkin, R.M.
Pte. C. E. Bennison, R.A.M.C.
*Pte. T. Burdon, R.N. Brigade
Gunner J. Calff, R.E.
2nd-Cpl. H. Campbell, R.E.
Sapper J. Campbell, R.E.
Pte. W. Catto, London Scottish
A. Youll Catto, R.N., H.M.S. Assistance
Pte. F. Crosier, Com. Battalion
Pte. O. Y. Charlton, R.A.M.C.
Pte. Harry Dodds, R.A.M.C.
Pte. G. Daley, Com. Battalion
Pte. R. Dixon, Com. Battalion
Pte. T. Galdrath, Com. Battalion
Pte. J. Glass, 6th N.F.
Lc-Cpl. J. Gow, 11th N.F.
Sidney Green, H.M.S. Lancaster
Stanley Green, H.M.S. Aboukir
Driver S. Harris, R.F.A.
Pte. A. Hargreaves, Com. Battalion
Pte. J. Hall, Com. Battalion
Pte. E. Hutson, Com. Battalion
*Pte. W. G. Innis, R.M.
*Pte. G. W. Jobes, R.N. Reserve
Cpl. J. Murray, R.E.
Drill Instructor Linton, Gordon Highlanders (Canada)
Pte. J. A. Mitchell, 5th N.F.
Pte. J. Morrison, Com. Battalion
Pte. T. Morrison, Com. Battalion
Pte. J. McCutcheon, R. Marines
*Pte. J. McFarland, R. Marines
Pte. J. Lambert, R.E.
Pte. J. Locke, Com. Battalion
*Pte. A. Nutt, 6th N.F.
Sgt. J. Proudman, R.F.A.
Bugler R. Pritchard, R.F.A.
Pte. T. Ridley, A.S.C.
Lc.-Cpl. F. Reeves, 6th N.F.
Pte. J. Swift, Com. Battalion
*Pte. Harry Storey, R.A.M.C.
*Fred Taylor, H.M.S. Black Watch
Petty Officer T. G. Thompson, H.M.S. Mohawk
Cpl. Miles Veary, R.E.
Pte. Tom Wilkinson, Nth. Cycl.
*Pte. E. Wraith, R.A.M.C.
Pte. R. Walker, R.E.
Pte. A. S. Watson, A.S.C.
Pte. W. Whitmore, 6th N.F.
Pte. E. Yeoman, Com. Battalion
Pte. S. Yeoman, Nth. Cyclists

* Byker Baptist Mission

Arthur John Richardson of Guisborough 1895-1915

This verse was found by the late Miss Grace Dixon among the Chaloner papers, according to a note in my files.

It relates to "Jock" Richardson of Miltoun House, Guisborough.  He was in barracks in Newcastle, training for the Front, when he died of meningitis a few weeks before his twentieth birthday.

The lines, written by his great-uncle George Buchannan of Whitby, must echo the feelings of many families whose loved ones died in uniform, but not in action:

2nd Lieut. A. J. B. (Jock) Richardson

Obt. Jan. 4th, 1915

Not on the battle field, yet none the less

He died for England: in her hour of stress

And peril, his young life he freely gave,

And rests with honour in his quiet grave.

Charles William Southeran 1875-1916

I post here a piece sent to me by John Nichols with the story of his grandfather.  The jolly photograph seems particularly poignant:

The face behind a name on the Hutton Rudby War Memorial

“Private Charles William Southeran, 5705. 6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry, formerly 28674 Yorkshire Regiment. Killed 5 November 1916.
Born Stokesley (Yorks), Enlisted Stokesley, Resided Hutton Rudby RSO
Buried WARLENCOURT BRITISH CEMETERY”

Charles William Southeran 1875-1916

Charles William (centre) was my maternal grandfather. He was born in Stokesley in 1875 so the time of Attestation on the 16th December 1915 he was 39 years and six months old.

In 1881 He was living at Enterpen but by 1891 he was at Hill House, Middleton on Leven where he was farming with his father Robert. It appears he was one of seven children, one of whom, Robert Wetherill, is shown at right. Charles’ father Robert (Snr) was married to Isabella, née Wetherill.

In 1908 Charles William married Mary (Polly) Bellerby who had moved to Hutton Rudby from Seaham Harbour sometime after 1901.

In 1911 they were living at North Side, Hutton Rudby and they went on to have three girls:
Mary (who married John Henry (Jack) Bainbridge from Hutton), Emily (who married Arthur Henry Wilson and farmed at Tanton) and my mother Dorothy born in, 1914, (who married Arthur Norman Nichols from Seamer).

Charles was Mobilised on 13th June 1916, Posted on 14th June when he had a medical at Richmond. He was age 40, stood 5ft 4in high and weighed 10 stone. He was posted to the 3rd Btn Yorkshire Regiment on 28th August 1916.

His short career went as follows: Posted 10th October 1916, transferred to 7 6th Dirham Light Infantry on 18th October and Killed in Action 5th November 1916.

Brother Robert Attested 12th November 1914 aged 35yrs nine months. He and his wife Mary Jane lived on Rudby Hill, Hutton Rudby. He survived service with the Bedford Regiment in 1915, the Essex regiment in 1916 and the Northumberland Fusiliers from May 1917. It is believed he served in Mesopotamia and is recorded as embarking for UK from India in June 1919 and being Demobilised in August 1919. He was awarded a 5% disablement allowance due to “Nervous debility” due to service in Mesopotamia.

The Live Bait Squadron: 99 years ago

On this day in 1914, three British cruisers were sunk in the North Sea, torpedoed by a solitary German submarine.  The Hogue, Aboukir and Cressy were lost with the lives of 1,459 men and boys.

John Duncan Stubbs 1899-1914

Amongst them was John Duncan Stubbs, always known as Duncan.  He was born in Coatham, attended Coatham School, and lived in Nunthorpe. 

Men from Whitby were among the 837 lucky survivors.

If you are related to anybody from the cruisers, visit the Live Bait Squadron website and make contact with Henk van der Linden.

He is preparing for a centenary commemoration next year and wants to hear from you.

The Live Bait Squadron 1914 - survivors from Whitby

This photograph was printed in the All Our Yesteryears section of the Whitby Gazette on 31 August 2001.  It had been brought in by John Hartley of Hinderwell, who hoped to find out more about the men pictured.  I am posting it here because I don't think this report, or the photograph, are available online.

According to the Whitby Gazette:

On 2 August 1914, a great send-off was given to the men at Whitby and news that some of them were missing plunged the fishing community and the town into grief.

A number of Naval Reservists had left town to join the Navy and 28 were believed to be on the cruisers torpedoed by submarines.

James Hall was one local man saved from the Aboukir and other men rescued were brothers Thomas, George, Harry and James Murfield, William, George and Matthew Winspear, James Wood and Thomas Dryden. 

Four brothers from one family and three from another escaped the sinking.

Mr Hall said afterwards: "I saw a lot of the Whitby lads when I was in the water and they were all right.  We were floating for about six hours but I'm no worse and I thank God for it.  We will be ready for the Germans again shortly and they will get hit back."

The following week, All Our Yesteryears was able to publish the names of the men in the picture, identified by Syd Barnett, Whitby Museum's head librarian.

From left: back, TB White, JW Hill, G Walker, G Gash, J Murfield and JR Hind; middle, G Winspear, J Hall G Murfield, W Winspear, J Wood, S Eglon, W Dryden, T Murfield; front, J Elders, H Murfield, W Hodgson, R Ventris, H Harrison and W Hall.
Matthew Winspear, another survivor, was in hospital at the time of the photograph.

I understand that reservists, including some of the Whitby men, who were posted to Chatham at the outbreak of War were followed by their wives and families, who moved to the town to be able to see more of their men when they were not at sea.  The women were able to get well-paid (though dangerous) work in the munitions factories there - this was to prove of enormous value to those who found themselves widowed and struggling to bring up their families alone.

The Live Bait Squadron, 1914

Midshipman Duncan Stubbs

Major Stubbs' fifteen-year-old son Duncan died on 22 September 1914.  There is a brass tablet in his memory in St Cuthbert's, Ormesby, and he is commemorated on the Nunthorpe War Memorial.

Duncan and fellow naval cadets had been taken out of Dartmouth Naval College at the outbreak of war and posted to armoured cruisers patrolling the area of the North Sea known as the Broad Fourteens.  When HMS Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy were torpedoed by a German submarine in an action which lasted only 75 minutes, 13 of the 28 cadets lost their lives.

Survivors from the cruisers were picked up by Dutch and British trawlers - 837 were rescued, but 1,459 died.

Many of the men who died that day were reservists, who left young widows struggling to bring up small children.  Their families were to feel their loss for many years; indeed, in some cases the difficult circumstances they suffered left effects that are still felt today.

The wreck sites of the three cruisers are now highly valued, not only by the families, maritime archaeologists and historians but also by divers and ecologists, as they provide a vital habitat for sea life.

There was great concern recently when it was realised that the wrecks were under threat from salvage companies, sparking outrage and a protest campaign from the public in Holland and Britain.

The wrecks are also vulnerable to the debris left by fishing, and divers working with the Dive The North Sea Clean project regularly visit the wreck sites to rescue crabs, lobsters and fish trapped by fishing lines and nets.  A film showing their work can be seen here.

In September this year, Dutch author Henk van der Linden's excellent new book on the disaster Live Bait Squadron: Three Mass Graves off the Dutch coast was published in English and the book launch was held at Chatham, following a memorial service in Rochester Cathedral.  A very moving occasion.

And now a documentary film is being made about the wrecks, their history and their ecological importance today - visit the facebook page for details!