William Rowland Harrison

 


The following text is from Anne Jones, he served with her father in Law on HMS Bergamot.

 

After a lot of research for this sailor in Sheffield, I started to look further abroad. I have now found this seaman, his details are on UK, Royal Navy registers of Seaman's services, 1900-1928 on ancestry.co.uk, and also UK census forms.
He was born William Rowland Harrison at Dagmire Rd, Windsor, Berks. on 14th March 1890. Father Rowland Harrison b. 1858 in Ellcesall Bierlow, Yorkshire, Mother Florence Gray b. c 1866 Blandford Mans. Marylebone. London .Father was a Storm Trooper in the 1st Life Guards. In 1891 they had moved to Ecclesall Bierlow, Yorks.
1901 Rowland Harrison was a Caretaker now living in sheffield.

1908 William Rowland Harrison in joined the Royal Navy in Devonport, I believe his service number was 235899, he started training as a Signalman, served on many well known war ships, including the Q ship HMS Bergamot which was commissioned in July 1917 and sunk by a German Uboat on 13th August the same year. At the time of his demob in 1927, he had become Petty Officer. Senior Yeoman Signalman.

William R. Harrison married Emma Maria Spears 1900-1923, she came from Cornwall. (could be St. Ives.)
One of William Rowlands sisters Florence Josephine Harrison met and married Bertram Warton a furnaceman in the Steel Industry from sheffield. Florence was working as a Printer's Assist. They settled in Sheffield.
BMD's shows that Florence Josephine Warton died in Sheffield in 1924.

William R. Harrison moved to Auckland, New Zealand sometime after and died there on 25th November 1952 aged 62yrs.

I hope this is of some interest to you and your researchers, I found it interesting as nobody seemed to know much about this Seaman.
There is a small amount of information on the Q ship HMS Bergamot site, some of the other seamen that were aboard at the time she sank can be found on the Wikpedia Site, names of those that died are listed, but I gather they are still looking for some sailors that survived. The paperwork to many sailors was lost when a bomb fell on the storage depot.

Richard Jones is researching this Q ship and it's crew, he would be keen to hear from anyone who has information on this ship or her 1917 surviving crew.

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