Stoker First Class, William Beattie

William Beattie

Identification:

There were 21 results for William Beattie on the CWGC database and 15 for W Beattie. I looked at the 'other information' on the CWGC to rule out men from other places then cross-referenced with the UK soldiers died in the great war and UK Royal Navy and Royal Marine War Graves Roll to identify men who were from Liverpool. This gave me 2 possibilities, one in the navy and one in the army.

Of these two men, one lived in the area of St James' church. I know this isn't a perfect identification but unless I find otherwise, here are his details:

Family Information

On his Naval Service Record William Beattie's date of birth is recorded as 3rd July 1889 in Liverpool, I haven't been able to find a corresponding record on the Births Index. 

Information added to his entry in Royal Naval Division Casualties of the Great War 1914-1924 (transcript below) shows that his father was John Beattie of 56c Northumberland St.


In the 1911 census, William was enumerated on the battleship "Mars" in Weymouth Bay.

Other information shows that in 1914 his next-of-kin was listed as Mrs Elizabeth Throwell, an aunt living at 33 Hughson St and she received William's 1914 Star in 1919.

Naval Service

On 25th September 1908 William signed up for the navy as a Special Service Rating [i.e. Short Service] he signed up for five years with the RN [Official No. SS107737] & seven years with the Royal Fleet Reserve [B/5376].

His record shows that William was born on 3 July 1889 in Liverpool, his occupation was Scaler and this was his first engagement. 

He was 5ft 3 1/2 inches tall with a 35 inch test. His hair was dark brown, eyes dark blue and complexion fresh. He had a scar on his right cheek.

William's service record show that his time with the Royal Navy was spent as follows:

Ship etc	Rating	Dates	Character
Vivid II	Stoker 2nd class	25/9/1908 – 19/2/09	V.G. 31.12.08
Isis		20 Feb 1909	V.G. 12.09.09 G
Isis	Stoker 1st class	25/9/09 – 03/10/10	V.G. 31.12.10 V.G.
Vivid II		04/10/10 – 11/01/11	V.G. 31.12.11 SAT
Mars		12/01/11 – 1/1/12	V.G. 31.12.12 SUP
Orion		02/01/12 – 13/09/13
Vivid II		14/09/13 – 20/09/13	V.G        SAT
If Discharged, whither and for what cause:   SHORE RFR
Transferred to RFR Devonport 5376 21 Sept 1913
Vivid II	Stoker 1	2/8/1914 – 14/9/14	V.G. 31.12.14
Victory IV (RND Howe)	Stoker 1	15/09/1914 – 03/6/15
If Discharged, whither and for what cause:   DD
N.P. 4982/15 & NP 5067/15 D.D. 4 June ‘15 Killed in action in Dardanelles (Howe Battalion)

"remarks" 
N.P. 31/6/15 Missing during operations in Dardanelles (Howe Battalion) Sept '15 ledger.
For service in R.N.Division see N.(?) 142/25

His discharge card for the Royal Fleet Reserve/Naval Division gives the following information:

1914 STAR                                       DISCHARGED DD WILLIAM BEATTIE                                                        B/5376 Number: DEV/SS/107737/RFR/5376   Branch of Service: R.F.R.
Rank or Rating: Sto.1st.cl.
Private address: (blank) G.C. Badges: 1 Class for Conduct: 1.    Religion R.C. Next of Kin: Aunt Name: Elizabeth Throwell Address: 33 Hughson St, Liverpool		15.9.14               A/194 Where Serving: Howe Battalion 19.6.15 (rep.rec) Missing D’nelles RND List No 147
6.8.15 9.8.15 11.8.15 14.9.15 14.9.15 20.9.15 29.9.15 9.10.15 29.9.15 29.10.15 20.7.15 29.9.15 7.10.16 11.2.19	Unofficially reported dead cabled R.O.64 for confirmation KPC 9766 read “nothing further reported enquiring” NOK informed Any further information to be sent to father also. Mr John Beattie, 56c Northumberland St, off Mill St, Liverpool. MFC 16310 Repts killed in action 4.6.15 RND List 338 NOK informed also father “D.D” List No 15 A.F.B. 2090a received (4.6.15 Killed in Action, Dardanelles) D.C. No 512 send to N.O.K. Copy to Aunt Mrs Throwell. A.F.B.103 received (4-6.6.15 missing Dardanelles, 4.6.15 killed in action, Dardanelles) Cable from D.H.C.) S.C. Conduct sheet and A.F.B.103 sent to Commodore R.N.D. Depot C.P. for notation service and completion of discharge certificate and return. Recd. D.O. 30, 7.7.15 missing 4-6.6.15 Recd. D.O. 47, 15.9.15 Killed in action 4.6.15. Previously reported missing S/C., C/S., recd. From S.C.O. Blandford. Forwarded to A.G.9 W.G. Form passed to A.G.9B Paid £5 Issued by A.G. 14a with 1914 star

Link to William's entry in the CWGC database (opens in new window)
His entry in Great Britian, Royal Naval Division Casualties of the Great War 1914-1924 gives the information:

Name:	William Beattie
Service Branch:	Royal Navy
Unit:	Howe Bn.
Rank:	Stoker 1st Class
Death Date:	4 Jun 1915
Cause of Death:	Missing, later reported killed in action
Burial:	Helles Memorial (MR 4)
Service History:	Enlisted 25/9/1908 ; Enrolled RFR 21/9/1913 ; Howe Bn. A/194 15/9/14-4/6/15 DD.
Service Number:	Dev/SS/107737(RFR/B/5376)
Notes:	CWGC = Hawke Bn. ; Born July 3rd 1889, in Liverpool, Lancashire, the son of John Beattie of 56c, Northumberland Street, off Mill Street, Liverpool. He was unmarried and was employed as a scaler in civil life. ; Nephew of Elizabeth Throwell, of 33 Hughson St., Liverpool (listed as Next-of-Kin in 1914). ; 1914 Star issued to Legatee, Mrs. E. Thornewell, 31/3/19.

Source: Ancestry.co.uk

Commemoration

William has no known grave and is commemorated on the Helles Memorial (Turkey) you can find out more about this cemetery and memorial here on the CWGC website.

Helles Memorial (copyright CWGC)

William's entry on the CWGC website has the incorrect information of Hawke Battalion instead of Howe Battalion. 

Liverpool Echo Family Notices 3rd June 1916

Roll of Honour

BEATTIE - In loving memory of William, killed in action in the Dardanelles, June 4 1915. (never forgotten by his Aunt E Throwell. Rest in peace)

Liverpool Town Hall, Hall of Remembrance

There are two entries for W Beattie on the Roll of Honour in the Hall of Remembrance, one of them has the regiment "Royal Naval Brigade" and the other "Howe Battery, HMS Reliance"  These entries were submitted by family members who were often unsure of exact regiments etc and as far as I know "Howe Battery" did not exist and is probably a mistake for Howe Battalion, HMS Reliance was a repair ship which was in the Dardanelles in 1915. It is possible that either, or both of these entries are for William Beattie.

Leading Seaman Matthew Chisam

Identification

There was only one Matthew Chisam in the CWGC records. 

Family Information

Born 31st May 1872 in Workington, Cumberland, the son of John and Margaret Chisam.

The 1881 census shows that John was employed as a commercial clerk at an Iron works and Matthew had a younger brother Joseph. They all lived at 10 Southey Street, Workington. 

The 1891 census shows that Matthew was a sailor, his brother Joseph was a fitters apprentice at an iron works and their father John was still employed as an ironworks clerk. Matthew's grandmother (maternal) Elizabeth Ellwood was with them - a widow living on her own means. Their address was 17 Marsh Side, Workington.

Matthew's father, John Chisam, died on 12th February 1897 in Marsh-side, Cumberland, the probate record shows that he left £90 to his widow. 

In 1902 Matthew Chisam married Agnes Singers Meneely in Magherafelt, Ireland. 

The 1911 census shows Matthew and Agnes living at 3 Emerson Street, Liverpool. Matthew's occupation is Mariner with a note added to say 'Merchant services' Matthew was actually away at sea at the time of the census. Further details on the census show that they had 5 children, 2 of whom have died. The 3 surviving children on the census are James Singers Chisam, born in Workington 1903. Isabella Maneely Chisam born in Magherafelt, Ireland, in 1904 and Agnes Chisam, 5, born in Liverpool. These births show us how the family had moved around, probably with Matthew's occupation as a merchant seaman. 

Royal Navy

Matthew Chisam's Royal Naval Reserve record is available  via National Archives online - the following information is taken from there.

Date of enrolment: 4th November 1898 number D 2062
He had 15 years 7months previous service in reserve.

Matthew was 5ft 4inches tall with a fair complexion, a 39inch chest measurement and grey eyes. He had tattoos of a woman and flag on his right arm, a sailor with two flags and a rose on his left arm. It also says 'bracelets' with a mark that could be a cross or a star.

His address was 21 Tarbet St.

He died in Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, on the 24th Sept 1918 from pneumonia - it is likely that he was one of the many deaths from the Spanish Flu pandemic.

UK, Royal Navy and Royal Marine War Graves Roll, 1914-1919 about Matthew Chisam

Name: Matthew Chisam Rank: Act Ldg Smn Birth Date: 31 May 1872 Birth Place: Workington, Cumberland, England Branch of Service: Royal Naval Reserve Cause of Death: Died from disease Official Number Port Division: 2062.D. Death Date: 24 Sep 1918 Ship or Unit: HMS President III Location of Grave: D (Naval Area) 105 Name and Address of Cemetery: City Cemetery Glenalina Extension, Belfast, County Antrim Relatives Notified and Address: Widow: Mrs, Agnes, Chisam, 19 Tarbet Street Liverpool

Death and Commemoration
Mathew Chisam was buried in Belfast City Cemetery, his widow Agnes requested that his headstone bear the words "Thy Will Oh Lord, Not Mine, Be Done." 

Click here to go to the CWGC entry for Mathew Chisam.

Family Notices, Local Newspapers 1914-1918

It's been a while since I had any new information to add to the blog so I am pleased to announce that I am updating several entries with information from family notices placed in the Liverpool Echo 1914-1918.  To avoid duplicate entries I will be adding transcripts of the notices to the original posts for the following men: (if you would like an image of the newspaper notice please get in touch)

Arthur P Beattie
William Beattie
William Bolton
Thomas H Bramwell

Norman Bracher
Edward Burston

Henry Percy Clarke

Robert D Corran

Allan Dawson
Hugh S Elliott
William H Elliott

George J Harker
Percy Harwood
Richard H Jaques

Herbert W.R. Jeffes
Matthew Jones

Herbert Ledger and his brother David Ledger
James Llewellin

Richard W Longmaid
Hugh Loughlin
George Mackarell
Marcus McLean

Thomas J Prichard

Thomas S Reay

Charles Schonewald

Roderic D Sharpe

John Simpson
Alfred J Trafford

James D Wilding

Soldiers' Wills

You may have seen the news story a month or so ago about soldiers wills - read about it on the bbc website

Basically 230,000 wills and final letters were retained by the MOD, presumably because they contained sensitive information. Those wills have been digitised and put online at https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/
It's free to search for a soldier but £6 per will to access them.

I put in the 47 soldiers names and found 9 names, of course it will cost £54 to view them so I will be adding this to the wishlist for my grant application.

Breakthrough!

Yesterday I was at the King's Regiment Family History Day at the Museum of Liverpool, I had a great day, met some relatives of men from my memorial and helped a few people with their enquiries (but wasn't very good at getting contact details so please do get in touch if I gave you my card!)

The breakthrough came about thanks to the amazing work done by Kathy D, she has spent I don't know how many hours indexing wounded and casualty lists and digging up resources from all over the place to collate a huge amount of information in her databases. Without her hard work and the amazing database she is creating, the following connection couldn't have been made...

The only name on my memorial that I had drawn a complete blank with was Thomas Girvin. There just wasn't anyone of that name in the area, Kathy had a look in her database and found Thomas Lindburg who died of wounds, and his mother was listed as Girvin. Could it be my man? Kathy searched about a bit more for me and found that in the 1911 census Thomas Lindburg lived practically over the road from St James Church with his mother Harriet Girvin and her husband. I'm still searching about to figure out the strange dynamics of this family but I am confident that this is the right soldier. The 1911 census claims Harriet was married the year after Thomas was born, so it is conceivable that he was known as Thomas Girvin but his family used his official name on forms and he used it to enlist in the army.

There is a link to Kathy's website "Liverpool Soldiers" on the Links and Resources page.