George was born on 14th September 1897 in Rochester, Kent to parents George and Alice. On the 1901 census he was aged 3, the eldest of 3 children who lived with their parents and a sixteen year old lodger at 23 Five Bells Lane in Rochester. His father George worked as a bargeman on the local rivers.
By the time the 1911 census was taken George was 13 and attending school, the eldest of seven children. His young uncles (George Snr’s brothers) Wallace and Stanley, were also recorded at the address, 66 John Street, Rochester, but that was probably as a temporary address as they were both seamen.
George worked as a barge boy before approaching the Navy, his records stated him at 4'11" tall, with fair hair and blue eyes, with scars on his right eye and right elbow.
He joined on the 2nd April 1913 as a Boy 2nd Class, being posted to the Suffolk coast for training - his service records follows:
HMS GANGES - 02/04/1913 - 25/09/1913, rising to Boy 1st Class on the day of departure
HMS GRAFTON - 26/09/1913 - 14/01/1914
HMS PEMBROKE I - 15/01/1914 - 30/03/1914
HMS VANGUARD - 31/03/1914 - 09/07/1917, serving on the dreadnought during the Battle of Jutland. He was killed aged just 19.
His pension was awarded to his mother following his death, his Star, Victory Medal, British War Medals were claimed by his father.
(#16 - 154/843)
Sources:
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 Free BMD
1901 & 1911 England Census
Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services, 1848-1939 National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services; Class: ADM 188; Piece: 696
British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960 National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Admiralty: Naval Casualties, Indexes, War Grave Rolls and Statistics Book, First World War.; Class: ADM 242; Piece: 007 (1914 - 1919)
British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960 National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Admiralty and predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and predecessors: Service Registers and Registers of Deaths and Injuries. Registers of Reports of Deaths
CWGC Register
Royal Navy and Royal Marine War Graves Roll, 1914-1919 TNA Series: ADM 242/7; Scan Number: 0716
Naval Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1972 Class: ADM 171; Piece: 98
Photos - The Orcadian