Oliver was born on 14th April 1899 in Leeds, Yorkshire to parents James and Eliza and baptised on 11th June 1902 in the Holy Trinity church in Ripon. Oliver was the youngest of four children listed during the 1901 census, living with their parents at Canal Mills Yard, Armley Road, Wortley, Leeds, James supporting his family as a factory engineer. By the 1911 census Oliver had gained another two younger brothers but the family had remained at the same address; he attended school with a younger sibling while his older three siblings had various jobs to help support the household.
Oliver left his job as a cloth finisher before joining the Navy for training on 30/1/1915 as a Boy 2nd Class at HMS GANGES
He left the Suffolk base on 12/05/1915 after rising to Boy 1st Class on the day he departed.
Oliver was briefly attached to HMS PEMBROKE I on 13/05/1915 before being transferred to his one and only ship posting aboard HMS VANGUARD from 14/05/1915 to 09/07/1917. He rose to Ordinary Seaman on 14/04/1917, his 18th birthday, and also participated on the dreadnought during the Battle of Jutland.
He was recorded as 5' tall, with brown hair and brown eyes - his body never recovered, Oliver is remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial and locally on the family headstone in New Wortley Cemetery, Leeds. He received the Star, Victory and British war medals following his death.
(#98 - 241/843)
Sources:
England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 Free BMD
West Yorkshire, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1910 West Yorkshire Archive Service; Wakefield, Yorkshire, England; Yorkshire Parish Records; New Reference Number: RDP80/29
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: 717
CWGC Register
UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current
Naval Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1972 Class: ADM 171; Piece: 100
UK, Royal Navy and Royal Marine War Graves Roll, 1914-1919 TNA Series: ADM 242/8; Scan Number: 0123
Photo sources - LOFWW