Lost with the Lusitania

The sinking of the Lusitania by marine artist Norman Wilkinson
Source: Wikimedia Commons

On 7 May 1915, the Cunard liner Lusitania, en route from New York to Liverpool was some 11 miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, when a lurking German U-Boat fired a torpedo that struck the ship just aft of the bridge on the starboard side. Shortly after the torpedo struck, a second explosion occurred inside the ship, dooming the vessel, which sank in only 18 minutes. There were only 763 survivors out of the 1,960 passengers and crew and about 128 of the dead were American citizens. The sinking of the Lusitania was widely condemned around the world and it became a contributing factor to America’s entry into the Great War in 1917. 

As had been the case with the Titanic five years earlier, there were several people aboard the doomed liner who hailed from the Potteries, though some of them had become naturalised American or Canadian citizens, who despite the increasing dangers posed by the war in Europe, were coming to Britain to visit relatives. Most of them perished in the disaster, but three survived and had dramatic but tragic tales to tell.

When the Lusitania was first struck by the torpedo, 39 year old Martha Baker, her nine year old daughter Winifred, with their friends Elizabeth Brammer aged 32 and her five year old daughter Edith, were sitting down to lunch in the second class saloon. They had all been born in the Potteries, Martha in Stoke, her daughter in Hanley, Elizabeth in Longton and her daughter in Stoke. However, they were now US citizens, their two families having emigrated to the States in 1909, setting up home in Trenton, New Jersey, where their husbands and fathers had found work in the local pottery industry. But the ties that bind were strong and in 1915, the four of them decided to take a trip back to Britain, Mrs Barker to visit her mother who was ill and the Brammers to see relatives. They were all aware of the dangers they faced in taking the trip; indeed the Germans had recently placed warning notices in many American papers – one was even placed next to the notice announcing Lusitania’s sailing – stating that all British ships were now subject to unrestricted submarine warfare and would be legitimate targets to attack. But the journey thus far had been uneventful and the women and girls were looking forward to arriving safely at Liverpool.

That happy prospect, though, was suddenly cut short, when at about 2.10 p.m., the torpedo slammed into the Lusitania. Mrs Barker recalled that the ship seemed to stop, almost dead, shuddered and began to list to starboard. Everyone knew what had happened and there followed a scramble to get out of the saloon, but in the confusion and crush to get up on to the deck, the Barkers and Brammers were separated from one another.

Mrs Brammer and Edith, got to the main deck where a fellow passenger, a clergyman from Queenstown, put life jackets on the two of them. Martha Barker had lost track of what was going on, but she and Winifred also made it to the boat deck, where a gentleman provided the young girl with a life jacket, though Martha never managed to get one. They both climbed into a nearby lifeboat, but on the captain’s orders they and other passengers were told to get out, which was fortunate as the boat was situated on the side that went down first. The occupants were told that everything was fine, the watertight doors were closed and that after the shock of the blast, the ship was slowly righting itself.

The ship was indeed settling back onto an even keel when the second explosion occurred deep within the hull, dooming the vessel. Martha Barker held Winifred’s right hand and with nothing else to do, they simply waited for the end. Despite the peril, the little girl showed great courage and said, “Don’t worry mother darling; we shall be saved.”

But as the ship rolled over, with hundreds of others they were plunged into the water and the suction quickly pulled them under. Mrs Barker remembered being pulled down and down before she lost consciousness. When she awoke some time later, she found herself on an upturned boat onto which she had been lifted by someone, but she was horrified to find that Winifred was no longer with her.

The Brammers too had gone down with the ship, but they must have held on tight to each other. Elizabeth Brammer also lost consciousness, but when she came to she found herself safe in a lifeboat with Edith by her side. Martha Barker, meantime, was picked up by one of the collapsible lifeboats, then a fishing boat came along and took her and others on board. Some time later, she was moved once again, this time to a steam tug which transported her to Queenstown harbour, where it seems she was reunited with the Brammers.

The survivors were taken to the Queen’s Hotel in Queenstown, arriving there at about 10 p.m., some seven or eight hours after the sinking. Here, the US Consul based in Cork, came to render assistance and Martha Barker and the Brammers, were overwhelmed by the kindness of the locals, who helped in every way they could. For Martha, though, it was a heart-wrenching time, and though she waited for several days, hoping against hope to hear something about her daughter, no news ever came. Brave little Winnie Barker, was never seen again, just one of the 1,197 people lost with the Lusitania.

Two of the locally born victims of the sinking

It soon became clear in the North Staffordshire press, that others from the Potteries had perished alongside her. Arthur John Wood, aged 39, had been born in Wolstanton, but grew up in Burslem and Tunstall. By 1915, he was a married man living in Goldenhill and he worked as a designer and representative of Messrs W. H. Grindley and Co., of Tunstall. He had been in the States on a business trip for his firm and having crossed safely on the Lusitania, he took the ship for the return, but was lost in the sinking. His body was later recovered and like many of the victims he was later buried in Queenstown.

William Henry Crutchley, aged 48, had been born in Hanley and worked in the pottery industry as a sanitary presser and caster. A married man with six surviving children, he had been in the States visiting his son who worked as a potter in East Liverpool, Ohio. William was travelling as a steerage (3rd class) passenger on the Lusitania, returning to Britain to see his wife and daughters. William was reportedly a good swimmer and his son in the States at first held out some hope that his father had survived the sinking, but William was never seen again.

Also born in Hanley was Edward Jones, sometimes referred to as Edward Carr-Jones. Aged 39, he was a pianist aboard the Lusitania. After a period working in the pottery industry, by 1911, he was listing himself in the census as a ‘professor of music’ and ‘Pianist Cunard Line.’ He had, in fact, been leading a very different life from most of the locals for several years and before going to sea he had spent several summers working in Barmouth as a member of a pierrot troupe, ‘The Royal Magnets’, wherein he played the flute. From 1912 onwards, he was working regularly on ships. Now styling himself Edward Carr-Jones (Carr was his mother’s maiden name) he had worked on the Carmania and Lusitania as a pianist. He too was lost in the sinking.

Also mentioned alongside these was Gertrude Walker, a Canadian citizen who had been born in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Aged 28 at the time of her death. She was the wife of John Walker, a native of Warwickshire, who had trained in the Potteries as a blacksmith and who later worked as a mechanical engineer for the Cobridge Sanitary Brick and Tile Works. The couple married in Newcastle in 1913 and emigrated to Canada soon after, settling in Toronto, where John found work as a fitter on the railways. In 1915, Gertrude got news that her father was ill, which prompted their journey back to Britain. Friends had tried to dissuade them from going, but to no avail, and both perished in the disaster that overtook the liner.

For the survivors, life went on, though not always in the happiest of ways. Martha Barker suffered the tragedy of losing her daughter alone at first, though she was soon joined in Liverpool by her husband Thomas and daughter Doris, and Elizabeth Brammer’s husband also came over. In July, they all returned safely to the United States aboard the American Line steamer New York. Not long after this, Thomas Barker died and Martha went on to marry one Michael Thomas Gretton. By 1940, she was a widow once more and eventually died in 1963, in Trenton, being listed as Martha Barker.

Her friend Elizabeth Brammer is something of an enigma after the sinking and her return home. It has been claimed that she died in 1983, but this has been disputed. Her daughter Edith, though, is easier to trace. She married one Arthur Fletcher in 1929, and the couple had a daughter. Edith Fletcher, born in Stoke-upon-Trent in 1907, died in Mercer County, New Jersey, in April 1985, aged 78.

Reference: Staffordshire Sentinel, 8 - 10 May 1915; Staffordshire Advertiser 15 May 1915, p.7. Peter Engberg-Klarström’s website ‘Peter’s Lusitania Page’ https://lusitaniapage.wordpress.com/ is an excellent online resource for those looking for more in-depth biographies of the passengers and crew of the Lusitania. I gratefully acknowledge his research here, notably into the life of bandsman Edward Jones. My thanks also to Ken Ray, for drawing my attention to the story

More Victims of Isandlwana

A panoramic view of the Isandlwana battlefield. The British camp was situated in the middle of the picture. The Zulu
attack came over the hill line in the distance. The white cairns in the near foreground are British burial pits.

Photo courtesy of Ken Ray

Following on from my earlier post on the local men who fought and fell at the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879, local historian and Zulu War researcher Mr Ken Ray very kindly contacted me with information on several other local soldiers I was not aware of who took part in the battle, to which I have added a little of my own subsequent research.

25B/589 Private Enoch Worthington 1/24th Foot

Enoch Worthington was born in Kidsgrove in 1855, the eldest of four children born to miner John Worthington and his wife Eliza nee Birks. According to the 1871 census the family lived at 65 Heathcote Street and it noted that 16 year old Enoch was employed as a miner. However on 25th April 1875, he enlisted in the army at Newcastle-under-Lyme aged 20 years and 2 months. He saw service in South Africa where Like most of the 1/24th he took part in the campaigns against the Gaika and Galeka tribes during 1877 and 1878 and marched into Zululand with the ill-fated centre column in 1879, being killed with most of his battalion at Isandlwana. Enoch's effects and South Africa Medal with the '1877-8-9' clasp was later claimed by his father.

375 Private Samuel Plant 1/24th Foot
'The mail which arrived at Southampton on Friday brought a letter from Mrs. Plant, who with her husband left England for South Africa twelve years ago. Her husband was in the brave 1st battalion 24th regiment. He was one of the brave but ill fated invaders of Cetewayo's country, who fell in the battle of lsandula.

Private Glass a Hanley man was also in the same battalion, but it is not yet known if he took part in the battle. The following men of the 24th regiment were also in the battle - Private Frederick Butler, Pte. John McNally, Pte. Keats, and Pte. William Henry Hickin.'  

- Staffordshire Sentinel, 3rd March 1879.

References in the local press offer the only clues that Private Plant hailed from the Potteries or North Staffordshire, as what military records survive are silent on his origins. It is known that he served with the 24th Foot from July 1859 and that his wife Mary was placed on the regiment's married establishment on 3rd July 1862. He was no angel and had a couple of runs in with the military courts, the first two days after this on 5th July 1862 at Portsmouth, where he was charged with desertion and loss of necessaries. Found guilty he was sentenced to 84 days 'HL & D' (hard labour & discipline?) plus stoppages.*  Seven years later at Preston on 14th May 1869, Plant and two others from the regiment were charged with desertion and re-enlisting. That he was sentenced to 168 days HL as opposed to the lesser sentences handed out to his fellows perhaps indicates that he was the chief troublemaker.**

During 1876 - 1877, Plant served in H Company 1/24th at St Helena, before crossing over to South Africa to play his part in the Kaffir and Zulu Wars. Like his fellows he was killed at Isandlwana and was posthumously awarded the South Africa 1877-8-9 medal, which with his personal effects was claimed by his widow.

* WO86/12 Judge Advocate General's Office: District Courts Martial Registers, Home and Abroad (1861-1862)
** WO86/18 Judge Advocate General's Office: District Courts Martial Registers, Home and Abroad  (1869- 1870)


25B/586 Private Samuel Poole, 2/24th Foot
There were three, possibly four Samuel Pooles born in or around the Potteries in the years 1853 and 1854, which seems to have been the approximate time of his birth. In fact there is no indication that he was actually born in the area, merely that he enlisted in Hanley on 27th April 1875 aged 21 years. Records state that he served in G Company 2/24th and his South Africa Medal 1877-8-9 shows that he served in the Kaffir and Zulu Wars, being killed at Isandlwana. His medal and effects were claimed by his brothers.

1576 Private David Pritchard 2/24th Foot
Pritchard is said to have been born in Stoke-upon-Trent, in about 1844-45, though no one of that name is noted in the civil records, so that may not have been his real name. He attested for the army in Hanley on 11th January 1865 aged 20 and saw service with the battalion in its numerous postings. In 1872 he was in India, where he got into trouble. On 13th March 1872 he stood trial at Secunderabad charged with 'receiving money from a prisoner charged with stealing money'. He was sentenced to 14 days hard labour.* Nearly three years later, now back in Britain, Pritchard absconded off furlough on 14 December 1874 and found himself being listed as a deserter in the Police Gazette. Interestingly, this gives us a description of the man, noting his birthplace as Stoke-upon-Trent it stated that he had formerly been employed as a forgeman. He was 29 years old, 5' 8¾" high, had dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a dark complexion and was last seen at Aldershot wearing his regimentals.**

It is unclear when Pritchard was caught or returned to the Colours, but he was posthumously granted the South Africa 1877-8-9 campaign medal for his service against the Gaikas and Galekas and his brief involvement in the Zulu War, yet another casualty of the battle of Isandlwana. Records indicate that Private Pritchard served in B Company, though that was the company posted at Rorke's Drift, which indicates that he had switched to Pope's G Company at some point.

* WO86/21 Judge Advocate General's Office: District Courts Martial Registers, Home and Abroad  
** Police Gazette, 1st June 1875

* * * *

Though not related to the photograph at the head of this post, the following notes written up by Ken make a good guess at the distribution of the locally born soldiers involved in the battle of Isandlwana and speculates at where their remains might now be interred.

'Update on local men K.I.A Battle of Isandhlawana

It is impossible to locate graves/cairns of our local soldiers on the battlefield as sadly the graves are not named as several, or more soldiers remains are buried there. But due to my research I have a good idea where some of them would have fought and died.

I have marked in red on photo where the six British Infantry Company's were positioned at the time of the battle. Shown left to right the first five company's were men of the 1st 24th foot. The sixth Company nearest the track were men of the 2nd 24th foot under the command of Lieut. Pope. Three members of this company were born ,or lived in Stoke on Trent. They were - Pte Samuel Poole, Sergeant William Shaw and Pte David Pritchard, all died fighting the Zulu Ngobamkhosi Regiment, and it is said that this company with our three local men was amongst the last British company to hold out until the end?

A corporal and private of the 24th Foot in
1879. In reality their campaign dress would
have been much more rough and ready.

It is very possible that these three local men's remains are buried near the track or further up the hill? The other four local men's remains from the 1st 24th foot would be almost impossible to locate Pte's Glass, Hicken, Plant and Worthington. They would have all first fought around the perimeter of the camp, but could have died and been buried where they stood, or died escaping through the camp or further on towards the Buffalo river?

NOTE — About four months after the battle the soldiers remains were more or less buried intact but over the years due to soil erosion, bad weather, wind and rain etc some of the bones have come to the surface would have got scattered about possibly by wild animals and later buried again with other men's remains.

The reason why Lieut. Pope's G did not leave the Isandhlawana camp with the other five companies of the 2nd 24th was that at the time they were out on outpost duty. The other 2nd 24th company was the famous one stationed at Rorke's Drift.

Ken Ray 2019.'

A Titanic Engineer

Stoke-on-Trent's best known connection with the Titanic disaster is of course the ship's venerable skipper, Captain E. J. Smith, but a less well-known Potteries-born sailor who also perished in the Titanic disaster was Senior Fourth Engineer Leonard Hodgkinson. At the time of his death he was 46 years old, and like Captain Smith had spent most of his adult life at sea, albeit in a far different environment to that of his much more famous shipmate. As a member of the ship’s engineering staff, his working life was one spent for the most part in noisy, hot engine rooms, with little view of sea or sky save when he was off duty.

Leonard was born at 20 North Street, Stoke-upon-Trent, on 20 February 1866, the second son and fifth child of potter’s presser John Hodgkinson and his wife Caroline nee Steele. Educated at St Thomas’ School, Stoke, before the age of 15, Leonard was apprenticed as an engine fitter with Messrs Hartley, Arnoux and Fanning, in Stoke. Once his apprenticeship was done, Leonard left the Potteries sometime in the 1880’s and took up a position with Messrs Lairds of Birkenhead, lodging with his elder sister Rose, her husband Henry Mulligan and their children, who had settled in Liverpool sometime after their marriage in 1877. It was in Liverpool that Leonard met his wife-to-be, Sarah Clarke. The couple were married in West Derby, Liverpool on 14 February 1891 and within a few years the couple had three children.

North Street, Stoke

Leonard was now a seagoing marine engineer. He served for five years with the Beaver Line, whose ships sailed from Liverpool to Quebec and Montreal. In 1894, though, the Beaver Line went into liquidation and it may have been at this point that Leonard left and joined Rankin, Gilmour and Co., Ltd, which firm he also served with for five years, earning his first class certificate in the process. He may also have served with the Saint Line of ships which were owned by Rankin and Co., most of which carried the ‘Saint -’ title. Leonard’s final position with the company was as chief engineer aboard a ship with just such a title, the Saint Jerome.

For a few years between 1901 and 1905, Leonard quit the sea and set himself up in business ashore as a mechanical engineer, but in May 1905, he returned to his old line of work, joining the White Star Line, serving first as assistant engineer on the Celtic, later earning promotion to fourth and then third engineer.

According to family lore, Leonard Hodgkinson was keen to serve on as many vessels as possible before retirement, so was doubtless pleased after what appears to have been a six year stint aboard the Celtic, to be transferred over to the glamorous new Olympic (the Titanic's elder sister) when that ship came on-line in June 1911. Here he was briefly bumped back down to assistant engineer, but soon earned promotion to fourth engineer once again. Perhaps more troublesome for him and his family was the fact that the Olympic was to sail from Southampton. There is no indication that the whole Hodgkinson family moved to Southampton at this time, though it is a possibility, but if not, then Leonard had to put up at lodgings in between journeys and perhaps only got to see his family on a few occasions when he could make the journey back to Liverpool.

It was in early 1912, that Leonard travelled to Belfast where he joined the staff under Chief Engineer Joseph Bell, who were involved in getting the Olympic’s younger sister Titanic up and running. On 2 April he was signed onto the ship’s books for the delivery trip from Belfast to Southampton and on 6 April he was signed on once again in Southampton, now as senior fourth engineer.

A White Star engineer

As senior fourth engineer, Leonard Hodgkinson was the highest ranking of the five fourth engineers aboard the Titanic, one of whom was a specialist in charge of the ship’s refrigeration equipment. Whilst at sea their duties involved checking that the adjustments and routine maintenance of the ship’s machinery were carried out. They dealt with any minor problems as they arose, answered any orders rung down via the ship’s telegraphs and ensured that everything ran as smoothly as possible. As officers it was also their duty to supervise the firemen, trimmers and greasers who worked with them down in the bowels of the ship.

How Leonard’s days passed aboard the Titanic prior to its fateful collision is unknown, as too are his deeds on the night in question, as no accounts seem to exist noting him. If the story is to be believed, though, his fate and that of the 1500 other people who perished on the Titanic was foreseen by one of his relatives back in the Potteries, none of whom had any idea that Leonard was aboard the Titanic. According to the story she later told, two days before the disaster, Leonard’s 14 year old niece, Rose May Timmis, the daughter of Leonard’s elder sister Agnes, was sleeping in the same bed as her grandmother Caroline Hodgkinson (Leonard’s mother) when she had a nightmare. Rose dreamt that she was standing by a road in Trentham Park looking out over the lake, when a large ship steamed into sight. Suddenly the ship went down at one end and she could hear screams. Rose herself woke up with a yell that frightened her grandmother awake. When the frightened girl related her dream her grandmother snapped, “No more suppers for you, lady; dreams are a pack of daft.”

After a while, Rose drifted back to sleep once more, only to find herself dreaming the same scene and as before when she heard the people screaming she did the same. She recalled that her grandmother was furious with her this time. A few days later, though, the news of the disaster broke and the family learnt that Leonard had been aboard the Titanic and that he and the other 34 engineering officers aboard had perished with the ship. Though several bodies from the engineering department were recovered in the following weeks, Leonard’s was not one of them.

Though Leonard’s body was never found, he is remembered in several memorials, most notably on the Engineers Memorial, East Park, Southampton, the Titanic and Engineers memorial, Liverpool; the Glasgow Institute of Marine Engineers memorial; and the Institute of Marine Engineers Memorial in London. There is also a brass memorial plaque in the church of St Faithful, in Crosby, Liverpool, dedicated to the memory of the Chief Engineer and his Engine Room staff.

The Titanic Engineers Memorial, Southampton

Leonard Hodgkinson was not the only member of his family to go to sea. His son Leonard Stanley also became a marine engineer with White Star and later Cunard.  He served on the transatlantic run most of his career, mainly on RMS Majestic before the war and later on the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth.

Website: Encyclopedia Titanica

The Sneyd Colliery Disaster

The memorial to the men lost in the disaster.

At 7.50 am, on 1 January 1942,  a devastating explosion took place 800 yards below ground at No 4 pit of Sneyd Colliery, Smallthorne. In normal times the pit would not have been working on New Years Day, the miners considering it unlucky, but because of the demand for coal during the war, work had gone on as normal and a full shift was on duty at the mine when the explosion occurred. The blast was contained to one coalface in the 7-foot Banbury Seam of No. 4 pit. All other workings were unaffected by the explosion, but the thump was felt throughout the mine, some men in the pit noted that the flow of air changed direction, while on the surface people felt a bump and all the lights flickered. Everyone knew something major had happened and when a frantic telephone call from the pit bottom informed them that an explosion had occurred, for the safety of all, work was stopped and the miners were quickly evacuated from the unaffected parts of No. 4 pit as well as from the neighbouring No. 2 pit.

The Sneyd Mines Rescue Team sprang into action immediately after the blast and venturing down they rescued a handful of men from the pit bottom, but also found the first bodies. Teams were soon arriving from other local collieries including Chatterley Whitfield, Black Bull, Hanley Deep and Shelton; in total nine local mines rescue teams became involved in what soon turned from a rescue to a recovery effort. Beyond the mine, news of the explosion soon spread by word of mouth through the local community. Families and friends horrified by the reports they were hearing dashed up to the colliery to wait at the Hot Lane gate for news of their loved ones, but for many it would be the worst news. The bodies of 16 men were brought out that first day, but the rescue operations had to be postponed due to the presence of afterdamp and it was announced at that point that there was now no hope of finding anyone else alive. Up top, everyone came in to help, first aid staff were on duty at the ambulance room, the mine managers directed the rescue operation and the Inspectorate of Mines soon had staff on site to help out and assess the damage. Other staff did their bit too, the pit’s chief telephonist Mabel Caine was reported to have stayed at her post almost continuously for five days and nights, fielding thousands of phone calls and refusing all attempts to get her to take a long break.

On 5 January even before all the bodies had been recovered, nearly 80% of the workforce got back to work, but it was not until 10 January that the last bodies were recovered. The list of the dead was sobering, as of the 61 men and boys working on the face that morning, 57 had lost their lives in the blast, most being killed in the initial explosion, while two later died in hospital. The two youngest, David George Briggs from Stanfields and Albert James from Burslem were both aged 15, while the oldest Hamlett Gibson, from Cobridge was 65. There were many sad stories to be told of those who were lost. A Mrs Bennett of Moorland Road, Burslem, suffered a double bereavement, losing her 41 year old husband James and 17 year old son Robert, both of whom had been working on haulage; the family had only recently moved down from Scotland. Mr and Mrs W. F. Harrison of Cobridge lost two teenage sons, Frank aged 18 and Alexander Charles aged 17. Joseph Sherratt aged 38 from Porthill was one of two firemen who were missing. Married with two children and a third on the way, only hours before he had been enjoying a party with his children and some of their friends and had laid on a puppet show of ‘Sinbad the Sailor’ to amuse them. He had not been superstitious about working on New Year, but his wife had and handed him a silver three penny piece for luck. Another haulage worker from Burslem, William Docksey aged 27, had been at the pit for 10 years, He had a brother working elsewhere in the mine who immediately joined the rescue team in an effort to find William. And David Briggs one of the youngsters mentioned earlier, had enjoyed a brief moment of local fame only a short while before, when he was photographed with the Minister of Food, Lord Woolton, eating one of the first sandwiches to be served by the new central depot for providing sandwiches for the miners of North Staffordshire.

 

 Three survivors had been pulled out of the pit, who by sheer luck or their more sheltered position in the mine, had escaped serious injury or death. One was Ernest Stone of Burslem in charge of the telephone at the pit bottom, whose call had alerted those up top to what had happened. He had been seated in a recessed area off the main road when the explosion occurred and thus avoided the worst of the blast. When the first rescuers arrived, though very dazed, he stayed at his post for three hours refusing to go up until he was finally overcome with dizziness. Another equally lucky was George Read of Burslem, the chief hooker in charge of loading and unloading tubs into the cages at the pit bottom. Like Mr Stone he was in an area off the main roadway and likewise escaped the worst of the blast. After a day at home getting over the shock of what had happened, he returned to the pit to help in the recovery effort. Thomas Gibbons from Burslem aged 64, was not so lucky. He was working near to the pit bottom operating a compressed air machine that drew tubs from the Banbury seam when the explosion occurred. Hit by a tremendous blast of hot air, he was hurled against a wall and fainted. Coming to a short while later in complete darkness and covered in dust only his intimate knowledge of the mine saved him. Working out where he was, Thomas crawled along the passage to where it branched off from the Bambury seam to the return of the Holly Lane branch. After crawling along for another 200 yards he was discovered by some Holly Lane miners who gave him some water and got him transported to the surface, from where he went to hospital. A fourth ‘survivor’ had not actually been in that part of the pit, but had initially been listed with the missing. Mr J. Bailey from Hanley, had only started at the pit the day before and swapped his heavy hand lamp for a helmet lamp with another man that morning. This was later discovered by the rescue teams who presumed Mr Bailey was a victim, though he had already been evacuated from the mine with the other 600 men. The mix-up was only discovered when he later wandered into the Burslem Miner’s Hall to correct the mistake after finding that he had been listed as a victim.

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster a fund was set up to which many members of the public, collieries and companies gave money, while the proceeds of many local performances were also donated and money came in from abroad, even from as far away as soldiers serving in Iceland; over £17.000 was eventually collected and shared out amongst those who had lost a relative, the shares being determined by how many dependents the victims left behind. Families had been devastated by the disaster, many losing their main or only breadwinner. The disaster left 32 widows and 35 fatherless children, while of the 24 unmarried men 13 left grieving mothers and fathers and 8 left mothers who were already widowed. 

The question everyone wanted answered, was what had caused this appalling accident? The subsequent inquiry headed by Sir Henry Walker, concluded that the most likely cause was that tubs used to move the coal out of the mine had derailed and damaged an electric cable. Sparks from the cable had then ignited coal dust in the air and caused an explosion. Some writers have since disagreed with this explanation, and have advanced other perfectly valid theories, though after all this time any kind of definitive explanation of what happened is not possible as the mine is no more and all the witnesses are long dead.

Sneyd Colliery continued working through the war, but from the late 1950s onwards it was slowly swallowed up by a larger neighbour. Major reconstruction work at Wolstanton Colliery saw an underground connection made to Sneyd and from that point on coal gradually started being brought to the surface at Wolstanton. Coal ceased being raised at Sneyd in July 1962 and though for a time the shafts there were still used for sending miners down, eventually all the men were transferred to Wolstanton Colliery. The No. 4 shaft, however, remained open as a spare entry for the northern area of the expanded colliery until the final closure of Wolstanton in 1985. 

The Sneyd Colliery explosion has the dubious honour of being the last major pit disaster in the Potteries and it cast a long shadow in the city’s collective memory. A memorial comprising a pit wheel set in bricks was unveiled in Burslem town centre in 2007. It lists all 57 names of the dead on a plaque and carries another praising the mines rescue teams that worked so hard to bring out the bodies.

Reference: Evening Sentinel, 1 January 1942, p. 1; 2 January, p.1; 5 January, p.1; 10 January, p.1.

Captain Smith Tells a Tale

Hanley-born Commander Edward John Smith is best remembered as the captain of the ill-fated White Star Line steamer RMS Titanic, which sank on its maiden transatlantic voyage after colliding with an iceberg in 1912. In many ways the image of Smith presented in the disaster has coloured how we see the man, to some he is the villain of the piece, to others a tragic figure. The few earlier glimpses that exist though, paint Captain Smith in a far different light. For instance in 1911 following the successful maiden voyage of Titanic's elder sister Olympic, Smith comes across as something of a raconteur, playfully spinning a yarn to deflect over- eager reporters.

Captain E. J. Smith
Author's Collection

'Captain Smith of the Olympic was questioned in New York about the coal consumption of the world's biggest liner on her first voyage. But Captain Smith shook his head and said:

"That is a coal story I am not privileged to speak about. I'll tell you another coal story, though, if you'd care to hear it?"

"I'd be delighted," said the reporter. "Well," said Captain Smith, "It's a story about a poor sailor. He was taken down with fever on a brigantine. and, though the mate and captain dosed him well, he died. They buried him at sea. "They buried him with the usual impressive sea rites. He was sewed in a sail round which a flag was draped, and, to make him sink, the sail was weighted with a number of big lumps of coal. "A landlubber of a passenger participated in the services. He watched the well weighted corpse slip into the water. It disappeared at once, and the landlubber shook his head and said: " 'Well, I've seen many a man go below, but this is the first one I've seen taking his own coal down with him.' "

San Francisco Call, 29 August 1911 

Last Stand at Isandlwana

The Battle of Isandhlwana by Charles Edwin Fripp

On 22 January 1879, a British force of over 1,300 men, mostly from the 24th Regiment of Foot, was surprised and destroyed by a massive Zulu army at the Battle of Isandlwana ('Isandula' in some early accounts) in present-day South Africa. It seems that at least three local men, Private William Henry Hickin from Hanley, Private George Glass from Shelton and Sergeant William Shaw from Tunstall  were killed in the battle. 

For more local victims of the battle click here.

Private McNally's Letter

Another local man, Private John McNally of C Company 2/24th Foot was part of a detached force that returned to the deserted battlefield that evening and he later penned a letter to his parents in Hanley describing the scene that met their eyes.

                                                                                                  'Rorke's Drift, February 2nd 1879.'

'Dear Father and Mother,

I received your last letter all right, and was sorry to hear how things were going on at home. I should have written before but we have been so put about that we could not get any writing paper, having been continually on the march. We have had a great drawback since we came in Zululand. On the 22nd of January, while we were out searching for the Zulus, our camp was attacked, and the 1st battalion 24th regiment were all slaughtered, except about six, who escaped. We* lost 134 men, our colours, and our kits. Our tents were destroyed, our ammunition stolen, our rifles broken and taken off. Our hospital waggons were torn to pieces, the sick killed, the medicine bottles all broken, bags of flour and meal - in fact, everything - destroyed. It was a horrid sight for us. When we returned at night in the dark, we had to charge our way to camp with our bayonets. We were falling in holes and over anthills, and in camp we were falling over the dead bodies of our comrades, who had been killed, and awful as it is to relate, it is true - they were cut right down the chest and across their bellies, their bowels coming out. Some had their toes, some their ears, others their arms cut off, and some in fact - dear mother and father, I cannot describe the horrible treatment they had to suffer. The little band boys were tied to a waggon and their flesh stripped off them. We had our company, B. Co., staying here** to guard our stores. The Zulus came upon them and tried to take possession of our stores, but they were repulsed, our side losing about 12 men, the enemy about 900 or a thousand. We numbered about 100; the enemy numbered about 5,000 or 6,000. But although we have suffered this loss, we hope, please God, to have our revenge when we get some more troops out from England. We have been twelve days and have never taken our boots off, always watching day and night for the enemy making an attack, which they generally do at night. Tell McDermott that lives in Weaver-street, to write to his brother in Wolverhampton, and tell him that his son James has been killed. He went sick the morning our camp was attacked. If McDermott likes he can write to the commanding officer of his regiment, and he will give him every satisfaction respecting him.'

Staffordshire Sentinel, 26 March 1879.

*   McNally's own battalion the 2/24th.
** Rorke's Drift, McNally refers here to the famous battle depicted in the film Zulu.

747 Private William Henry Hickin, 1/24th

The memorial window to Private Hickin
in St Johns Church, Hanley.

William Henry Hickin was born in Hanley in early 1854, the eldest child and only son of Henry Hickin and his wife Hannah nee Dobson. William had an elder sister named Prudence and two younger sisters Annie Elizabeth and Mary. His father Henry came originally from Macclesfield in Cheshire, but having moved to the Potteries early in his life on 12 November 1849 he married Hannah Dobson in Wolstanton and worked locally as a locksmith and bell hanger. In 1861 he and his family lived at 13 Windmill Street and 7 year old William and his sisters are listed as 'scholars'. Ten years later the family had moved to 8 High Street, Hanley and 17 year old William worked as a 'Writing Clerk'. It seems, though that William wanted more excitement in his life and on 5 January 1876, he enlisted in the 1st Battalion 24th Regiment of Foot as Private 25B/747. 

Perhaps for William Hickin, the prospect of all-male company offered by the army had been a major factor in him joining up, as in late September 1876, Private W. Hicken (sic) 24th Foot, appeared before a court martial at Dover accused of being drunk and committing an ’Unnatural offence’. The next day one Private Thomas Dickinson also of the 24th Foot was accused of ‘Drunk. Permitting Pte. to commit unnatural offence on him.’* At a time when homosexual acts could get men sentenced to life imprisonment, the court’s sentence of 7 days hard labour for both of them seems extremely lenient, even more unusual is that the sentence was later remitted. Perhaps the court decided that the evidence was weak, or if not that rather than impose a severe sentence, they would give both of them a warning shot across the bow to prevent any future incidents. Or maybe they simply considered that the two soldiers had been so drunk they didn’t know what they were doing. Whatever the case that seems to have been the end of the matter. 

*WO86/25 Judge Advocate General’s Office, Courts Martial Registers pp.307-308.

Over a year and a half of training and home duty passed before Hickin went to join the 1/24th in South Africa on 22 August 1877. He was immediately engaged in the Kaffir War against the Gaikas, Galekas and other tribes during 1877 and 1878. Then in 1879 like the rest of the 24th Foot he was engaged in the opening moves of the Zulu War. Advancing into Zululand with the central column he was one of the soldiers who fought and were killed at Isandlwana on 22 January 1879.

His remains like those of the rest of the regiment were buried on the battlefield some months later and his effects and campaign medal were passed on to his father. Back in Hanley William Henry Hickin was not forgotten. He was commemorated on his grandfather's gravestone in Hanley Cemetery and his family had a memorial window installed in St John's Church, Hanley.

'HANLEY.'

'MEMORIAL WINDOW.- A few days ago a handsome stained window was placed near the south door in the Old Church, in memory of William Henry Hickin, a private in the 24th Regiment, who was killed in the now famous battle of Isandula. The deceased was twenty-five years of age at the time of his death, and when in this district was in the habit of regularly attending the services at St. John's Church; his father Mr. H. Hickin having been a churchwarden for several years past. The expense incurred has been defrayed by subscriptions raised amongst the congregation. The subject dealt with is a very artistic treatment of the legend of St. George and the Dragon. The inscription is as follows:- “To the glory of God, and in memory of William Henry Hickin, of the 24th Regiment, who fell in the Zulu war, at the battle of Isandula, in South Africa."'

                       

Staffordshire Sentinel 11 December 1880


According to local Zulu War researcher Ken Ray, Private Hickin was the only 'other ranks' casualty of the battle of Isandlwana to be commemorated with a stained glass window. He also informs me that Hickin's campaign medal which was for many years held by a collector outside of the area is now in the hands of a local medal collector.

  

408 Private George Glass, 1/24th

'Death on the Battle Field. - The following names appear in the official list of those who fell at lsandula: Private Plant, Shelton, of the 1st battalion of the 24th Regiment; Private W. Glass, 1-24th Regiment, of Cauldon-place, formerly schoolmaster of the Hanley and Shelton Free Night School; and Private Hickin, 1-24th Regiment, son of Mr. Hickin, locksmith, High-street.'

Staffordshire Sentinel and Commercial & General Advertiser - Saturday 08 March 1879, p.5

George Glass was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire in 1856, the youngest son and penultimate child of William and Martha Glass. His family had strong military ties in that his father William, hailed from Armagh, Northern Ireland and in 1822 had joined the ranks of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of Foot, serving 22 years with the regiment. William married whilst in the army, his wife, George's mother Martha came originally from Scotland. Together they had nine children, the eldest born in Ireland, but most were born in the Potteries or Newcastle after the couple had moved there in the 1840s when William Glass left the army. Here in both 1851 and 1861 he listed his employment as as a 'Staff Sergeant of Pensioners (Chelsea Pensioners)'.

George's mother Martha died in 1862, which doubtless prompted his father to find a job and by 1871 William Glass was working as a bookkeeper. He had moved the family to Hanley and had remarried, this time to a woman named Susannah from Newport, Salop. At 14 years of age his son George was now old enough to go to work and was employed as a potter. There is no further local documentation about George and though it is not impossible that he worked as a school teacher as noted in brief notification in the Sentinel, it seems more likely that the reporter was actually confusing George with his father. Not only is the dead soldier mistakenly listed as 'W. Glass' in the paper, but in the 1881 census William Glass describes himself as a former school master.

George had joined the army in Liverpool on 28 July 1874 becoming 25B/408 Private George Glass of the 1st battalion 24th Regiment of Foot, aged 18 years 4 months. Like most of the 1/24th he took part in the campaigns against the Gaika and Galeka tribes during 1877 and 1878 and marched into Zululand with the ill-fated centre column in 1879, being killed with most of his battalion at Isandlwana. George's effects and South Africa Medal were later claimed by his father.

Reference: Norman Holme, The Silver Wreath, p.26

2236 Sergeant William Shaw, 2/24th

Staffordshire Sentinel and Commercial & General Advertiser - Saturday 8 March 1879, p.5

William Shaw was born in Tunstall in 1846, the son of potter Aaron Shaw and Sarah nee Hicks. He appears from the 1841 census to have had an elder sister named Elizabeth while other documents reveal a younger sister named Mary Ann, but fuller details of William's family are complicated by the apparent lack of an entry in the 1851 census that may have revealed more siblings. By the time of the 1861 census, William's father was dead and his mother had remarried, this time to collier John Whalley and William and his sister Mary Ann are listed as his step children at his home in Watergate Street, Tunstall. William was 15 years old at the time and his profession was given as an 'apprentice potter'.

We next hear of William Shaw five years later at his wedding after banns to local farmer's daughter Emma Worrall at Christ Church, Tunstall on 18th June 1866. Both were 20 years old. William worked as a potter, but signed his name with a fairly practised hand, revealing at least a basic education, while his bride had to sign her mark.

What prompted William to join the army is unknown, but from the available evidence he appears to have enlisted in the spring of 1870 along with a number of Potteries youths if the newspaper report above is to be believed. His service number is given as 2-24/2336 in some muster rolls but was actually 2-24/2236. He was posted to the 2/24th in Secunderabad, India on 28th December 1870. He was promoted to Corporal on 22nd January 1873 and Sergeant on 8th April 1877. However, two years prior to this last promotion the Judge Advocate General's Office: District Courts Martial Registers (1875-1876) have a Sergeant William Shaw, 24th tried by court-martial 20 October, 1875 at Dover.  He was charged with “Theft” and sentenced to 84 days imprisonment with hard labour, and to be “Reduced.”  A notation shows that the sentence was “Not Confirmed.”

Certainly during the early part of his career, William Shaw was separated from his family and in 1871, his wife Emma and their two eldest children Mary Ann and William Henry Shaw aged 2 and 1 years respectively, were lodging with William's mother and step father at their home in King Street, Tunstall. Only a limited number of wives and children were allowed to accompany battalions when they went abroad and it seems that rank finally told and having raised himself to sergeant, William got permission for his wife and children to join him, first at Aldershot where a third child Sarah was born on 1875 and two years later a last child for the couple, John, was born in Kent in 1877, shortly before the battalion was posted to the Cape. In South Africa as the newspaper report on his death indicates, the family were based in King William's Town, Cape Colony.

Sergeant Shaw saw service against the Galeka tribe in 1878 and at the opening of the campaign against the Zulus in 1879 he was listed as serving in H Company 2/24th, however accounts of the battle have him variously serving in C Company (which apart from a few men left in camp, did not take part in the battle) or G Company. Though entitled to the South Africa Medal and Clasp ‘1877-8-9’, a notation on the medal roll says that there was “no trace of issue” of his medal.

According to the notebook of Corporal John Bassage 2/24th, now held at the Royal Welsh regimental museum, who was part of the force come to bury the dead in June 1879, the remains of Sergeant Shaw and three private soldiers were found together in a heap on the battlefield. The men seem to have formed a small group in a last desperate attempt to try and fend off the Zulus in front of them. All four appeared to have been stabbed to death with assegais. 

Following the death of her husband, Emma Shaw returned to Britain with her children. Due to the family's now straightened circumstances, the three older children Mary Ann, William and Sarah were sent to the respective Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylums for Boys and Girls in Wandsworth, the two institutions having been set up to cater for the orphans of soldiers and sailors. The youngest child John, possibly stayed with his mother and may have been joined by William in 1881 when the Boy's Asylum closed down. There is some evidence that the family later got back together, William and Sarah appearing as witnesses at the marriage of their mother to joiner John Burnett in Manchester in 1896.

Reference: Norman Holme, The Silver Wreath, p.39; Norman Holme, The Noble 24th, p.261;  www.1879zuluwar.com.

Family and background information courtesy of Alan Rouse