The Battle of Jutland - The Bravest 16-year-old

The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval battle of World War One, fought between 31 May and 1 June 1916. The battle is described as an ambush by the German High Seas Fleet on the British Royal Navy. During the incredibly bloody and catastrophic battle, Britain lost 14 ships and over 6000 men. The Germans lost 11 ships and over 2500 men. 

There have been commemorations yesterday and today to mark the centenary of the battle, and to remember those brave young men lost. 

For more information of the Battle of Jutland, and the Centenary Commemorations:
http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-was-the-battle-of-jutland
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-36390168
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/31/what-was-the-battle-of-jutland-why-was-it-so-important-to-the-fi/

After the battle, one particular sailor was remembered above the others. He became a sort of poster boy for the Navy and stood for stoic British spirit and determination. His name was Jack Cornwell. 

Jack was born John Travers Cornwell on 8 January 1900. He enlisted in the Royal Navy in October 1915, aged only fifteen, and was posted to HMS Chester the following year. 

On the first day of the Battle of Jutland, HMS Chester was sent to investigate gunfire. The ship came under rather intense and terrible gunfire itself, from four German cruisers. Jack was on the gun mounting with other men, and was the sole survivor after all the gun's crew were killed or fatally wounded. 

When medics got to the ship, they found Jack seriously injured, with shards of steel and shell piercing his body. He was still awaiting his orders. Clearly dying, he was sent to Grimsby General Hospital, where he died on 2 June 1916, before his mother arrived to see him. Jack Cornwell was only 16-years-old. 

Jack Cornwell was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration. 

To find out more about Boy Jack, please watch the video below, to discover his story as told by his family:

After his death, the "Jack Cornwell" Ward was set up at the Star and Garter Home, Richmond, to be reserved for disabled sailors. The ward needed money to work and operate, so the Navy League set up a system where every boy and girl attending school in Britain could pay 1d in support. In exchange, the child received a flag or stamp-sized badge of Jack. 

21 September 1916 was known as Jack Cornwell Day. September 1916 was also the launch month of the fundraising appeal. The total raised overall was £18,000 - an incredible amount, equal to around £1.5 million in today's money.

In the pages of my Great Auntie Nellie's birthday book, is a badge of Jack Cornwell, in aid of the ward named in his honour. It's unbelievable to think that my family were part of such a historic event.

From Auntie Nellie's birthday book.

Private Storey - ANZAC Day

In May 1916 my Great Grandfather, Robert Mavin Storey joined the 8th Field Ambulance, Australian Imperial Force. He enlisted at Teralba, NSW where he was working as a bricklayer at the time. The 8th Field Ambulance was only formed in January 1916 after the failed Gallipoli campaign. 

Private Storey.

On 29 March 1918, Robert was apparently "Acting in a manner prejudicial to good order & military discipline in that he created a disturbance." This just so happened to be Robert's thirty-first birthday. For this, he forfeited fourteen days pay. Throughout February and March of 1919 Robert was being transferred to and from different military hospitals, being treated with a "nasal obstruction." On 31 March 1919, he was discharged from hospital and granted furlough (or leave) and told to report back to Headquarters on 14 April. That date came and went and Robert was formerly declared A.W.L (Absent Without Leave), before he finally walked through the door on 23 April. He thus forfeited nine days pay.

Private Storey in
the 8th Field Ambulance, A.I.F.

On 11 September 1919, Robert married Minnie Metcalf at Morpeth, Northumberland. He married while on extended leave, which soon became an indefinite leave as he and his bride were awaiting a family ship to take them to Australia. In March 1920 Robert and Minnie boarded the Zealandic, where they would get off at Melbourne. Minnie was already pregnant with the couple's first child. 

From the Newcastle Sun on
3 June 1920.
Found on Trove.

Robert was formerly discharged from the A.I.F. on 22 July 1920. The couple lived in Weston, a small town in the Hunter Valley area of New South Wales where Robert returned to being a bricklayer.

Nine years later, Robert was looking into getting a refund on his fines he had paid during his service, as friends of his had been able to do the same. A rebate would be gladly welcomed as at the time he was out of work, and was the married with four young children.

In later years Robert, Minnie and their four children emigrated to England after learning that Minnie's mother was unwell. In 1951 Robert inherited a small café shop from his father which he opened and started up for one of his daughters. The café was renamed 'The ANZAC Café'. Robert truly loved Australia, and he returned there in 1953. In December of the same year, Robert died suddenly at Kurri Kurri Hospital after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage. Robert was cremated and his ashes were brought back to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland to be buried with his parents.

The Storey grave in March 2015.

Dear Nellie...

Another treasure belonging to Auntie Nellie I have, is a postcard sent to her near the end of World War One. 

The postcard was from a man named Ben, who was serving in France at the time. The postcard was dated 11 July 1918. He writes to tell Nellie that he is "still in the land of living" and he hoped the same of her. Apparently they were having some good weather over in France, but he wished it "would allways be the same." Ben did not like the idea of winter arriving again, and hoped the next would be the last.

On the front of the postcard are a group of twelve soldiers posing for the photograph. Some are wearing slouch hats, and others service caps. I imagine Ben is one of the soldiers in the photograph, but have no idea which one. 

Ben? 

Auntie Nellie's birthday book possibly holds a clue about Ben. The entry for 27 March has B. Hoffman 2683 10th Batt. A.I.F.

A search for a man in the Australian Imperial Force with the number 2683 brings up records of a soldier named Carl Frederick Benno Hoffman of the 10th Battalion. Now the records don't say if Private Hoffman went by the name Ben, but due to him signing his name with the initial 'B', I can assume he did.

Nellie.

Only a page after that entry in my Auntie Nellie's birthday book is that of my Great Grandfather, Pte R. M. Storey 17834 A.I.F. A guess is that my Great Grandfather became friends with Private Hoffman and brought him up to Northumberland to show him where he was from. It's interesting to think that this also could have been the first time my Great Grandparent's met, in the Masons Arms pub, Morpeth.

The postcard is not stamped so Ben may have posted this to Auntie Nellie with an envelope, or perhaps he gave it to my Great Grandfather to pass on. 

Auntie Nellie's Birthday Book

Fairly recently I came across a Birthday Book which belonged to my 2x Great Aunt, Nellie Metcalf. Nellie and her husband were not able to have children, so when she died her belongings were shared amongst her three sisters and their children. 

Auntie Nellie Metcalf

On the very first page was written - To Nellie, from Tom. On her seventeenth birthday. 
So I know Nellie received this book on 10 February 1913. The following pages had the details and the address of a T. W. Weatherly who was in the Royal Marines. 

In 1913 the Metcalf family were living in Morpeth, possibly in the Masons Arms public house. Nellie's mother Ann was from Bedlington, Northumberland, while her father Joseph was from Stanley, Co. Durham where his family were still living. 

The Birthday Book is beautifully illustrated, along with poems at the start of every month and a small extract of one or more poems on every individual day. In the book I found the birthdays of Nellie's parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends, and noting down Nellie's relationship to everyone in the book became my goal.  

On the entry for April 23 I found Nellie's mother's birthday. In the book she was simply Mrs Metcalf - a sign of the formality of the times. Her father was under J. Metcalf. The only grandparent alive in 1913 was Nellie's paternal grandmother, Mary Ann Metcalf. On the entry for December 10, Grandmother Metcalf is written alongside it. 

Nellie's sisters Cassie and Lily's names were written down on their respective dates of birth but my Great Grandmother Minnie's entry was a little different. A small, aged feather was placed in between the pages along with Minnie Metcalf, written in Minnie's own handwriting. 

Like she did with her mother's entry, Nellie often recorded people in their titled form. So in the book you can find entries for Mrs Robinson, Nellie's maternal aunt and also Mrs Burrows, Mrs R. Logan, Mrs Harrison and Mrs Reed. Another of Nellie's aunts was written as Katherine Knox Keeley, so this could imply that she was closer to her than she was to 'Mrs Robinson', but I'm not really sure. It appears the names of the other ladies were the mothers of Nellie's friends.

I soon turned my attention to the man who gave Auntie Nellie the book. Tom W. Weatherly was born 30 July 1890, and his family lived in Choppington and later Bedlington. I was shocked to discover that poor Tom died on 24 June 1915 at Gallipoli, aged only 25. 

At the back of the birthday book are the names of two people along with their death dates. Mrs J. H. Harrison died on 26 October 1914, while Trooper A. White was killed in action on 20 February 1915. 

Auntie Nellie did not continue writing in the book, as the names of her husband and later nephews and nieces are not recorded. The last date I know she wrote in was February 1915, and I know Tom Weatherly was killed in June of the same year. A thought of mine is that Nellie possibly could not bring herself to use the book after Tom died. I'm not sure, but I wonder if Tom was a beau of Nellie's, but if that were the case I'd expect that she would have written his date of death down.

A Grand Old Man

Thus far, I haven't any famous people in my family history. No fantastic innovators or celebrities. The closest I have is my 2x great-grandfather, old Adam Storey of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. 

Adam Storey BEM
1853 - 1951

Adam Storey was born on 11 September 1853 at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland, England. His father was also named Adam who was originally from Cresswell, a seaside village farther up the coast, and his mother was Ann Renner, the daughter of a local fisherman and freeholder.

He had five siblings, John (who died in infancy), a second John, Ann Jane, Edward R., and Martha. In the year after Adam was born, his mother's brother, Edward Renner died, and in 1861 his only other maternal uncle, Johnny Renner drowned at sea, just off Newbiggin's Church Point.

Newbiggin's Church Point.

His maternal grandmother, Martha Renner, was no stranger to the dangers of the sea. Her own family, the Robinsons had suffered in a fishing disaster in 1808, in which Martha's father and brother died. Martha's first husband, John Armstrong, also died at sea a few years later.

The Renners were a wealthy family for the time with Adam's grandfather, John Renner owning a piece of land in the east of the village. Due to the loss of the Renner heirs, this land was inherited by the Storeys who later built and lived in what became known as Storeys Buildings.

Adam's father went to Australia for a short time in 1862, with a local member of the gentry, William John Pearson Watson of North Seaton Hall. They went in search of gold, it is believed. If this was the case, they certainly didn't hit the jackpot, as when Adam's father died in 1876, he left "under £200".

As a young man, Adam aspired to become a solicitor, and it was only when his intended office closed, that he went off and followed in the footsteps as his ancestors, and became a fisherman. When the fishing trade worsened, he became a coal miner for some time. 

It was around this time that Adam met and married Jane Mavin, at St Mary's Church, Woodhorn. Jane was from Widdrington, but her family had recently moved to Newbiggin. 

St Mary's Church, Woodhorn.

Adam and Jane's first child, Jane Ann, sadly died aged only two days old. They went on to have six more children; Margaret Ann (Meggie), Adam (Eddie), Robert Mavin, Mary (May) Gladstone Renner and lastly Eva Jane.

Adam's mother Ann died in 1885, and for a while, he and his siblings attempted to rent out their mother's home, Sandridge House. Adam's elder brother John later moved into the house. In 1890, Adam's sister Ann Jane died. In her will, she left him their late mother's china tea set.

Adam did return to the fishing trade, and around the turn of the century he went into partnership with Dick Oram and became a fish auctioneer on Newbiggin sands. His son Gladstone would often help at the auctions. Around this time, Storeys Buildings formerly became known as Sandridge.

In 1911, Eddie went off to Canada and from there travelled to the USA, to visit some of his maternal cousins. Eddie soon returned but then went off to Australia in 1913, this time with his younger brother Robert in tow. 

During the First World War, Eddie and Robert enlisted in the Australia Imperial Force. Gladstone, on the other hand, joined the Royal Naval Division. Unfortunately, Gladstone was shot and injured at Gallipoli, but thankfully the three brothers survived the war. Eddie and Robert both returned to Newbiggin when the war had ended.

Eddie and Robert returned to Australia in 1920, now accompanied with their new wives. They were soon followed by their youngest sister, Eva who migrated along with her husband, a footballer named Ralph Shields. Meggie, May and Gladstone remained in Newbiggin, where the latter went on to open a bakery with his wife, Louisa. The bakery was originally on one side of Front Street, but later moved to White House Corner, which for some time was known as Storey's Bakery.

Adam felt great sorrow in 1931 when his beloved wife, Jane Mavin passed away.

In 1934, Adam's son Robert and his family returned to Newbiggin from Australia. Robert, a master bricklayer soon got to work and set up his own business. The following year he built four houses opposite Adam's home at Sandridge - naming them New Sandridge.

As well as being a fisherman, coal miner and fish auctioneer, Adam also acted as signaller for eighteen years at Newbiggin's branch of the R.N.L.I., and for over thirty years he served as secretary to the Newbiggin Freeholders. He was first initiated into the Freeholders at the age of twenty-one, and in total attended seventy-five ceremonies of the Riding of the Bounds. He missed only one in the 1880s, when he was out fishing at sea.

Adam was a life-long Wesleyan Methodist and brought up his family in the same faith. He donated both time and money to his local chapel, and was honoured with a window being named after him there. 

When a new street was built in Newbiggin, Adam was again commemorated when the street was named 'Storey Crescent' after him. Also in his diary, was the Keswick Convention which he attended every year, and he was also a superintendent of the Juvenile Order of the Rechabites. Adam regularly attended Northumberland Sea Fisheries Board meetings. Amidst all of this, Adam was a member of the Newbiggin Co-operative Management Committee for many years. 

Adam had a number of great friends, including Lord Runciman and Councillor Robert Wilkinson, the latter of which was a former Mayor of Morpeth. Before emigrating to Canada, Cllr. Wilkinson entrusted his sword and muzzle-loading rifle to Adam.

Due to his advanced age, and generosity he showed to others, Adam was awarded the title of Grand Old Man of Newbiggin, by the people and media of the area. Although his hoped to reach his hundredth birthday, Adam Storey died on 30 May 1951, aged 97-years-old. 

The Storey family grave.

A week following his death, Adam's named appeared in the Birthday Honours List, having been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for his longtime support of the R.N.L.I., and in recognition of his work with the Northumberland Fisheries Board.

Old Adam was a very well-liked figure, and particularly took an interest in the lives of the youth in both his family and wider community. He would often be seen walking down Newbiggin Front Street, accompanied by his faithful dog, his walking stick and his usual peaked cap and reefer.