Person

John Barnes Berry was born in 1863 in South Shields into a seafaring family. His father was Scottish-born Thomas Berry (1863) a steamboat fireman. His mother was Catherine Barnes (1838-1909) from South Shields where his parents married in 1859. They had six children made up of three girls and three boys. John was the eldest son.

In 1871 the family lived in Laygate Court, South Shields. Ten years later in 1881 they were living at 4 Johnson’s Hill, Westoe. By the time of the 1891 census they were living in 74 Regent Street , Westoe. John married Elizabeth Posgate in South Shields in 1900. She was a local woman. Her father was an engine fitter and later her stepfather was a river pilot. In 1901 she was living in 4 Edith Street, South Shields while John was at sea. In 1911, while his family home was the same as ten years earlier, John is recorded on the census date as serving aboard the Steamer Mary Hough in North Salisbury Basin, Liverpool, Lancashire. By this time he and Elizabeth had been married for 11 years but had no children.

John was a member of the Mercantile Marine Reserve (MMR) which came into existence through wartime expediency. MMR men were civilian seaman taken up to serve on merchant ships on government service known as Mercantile Fleet Auxiliaries (MFAs). In this role men in the MMR served on ships that flew the White Ensign and were subject to the Naval Discipline Act.

John served as a fireman on HMS Viknor. Prior to the war SS Atrato was a passenger ship carrying up to 280 passengers used in service between England and the West Indies. Bought by Viking Cruising Co Ltd in 1912, she was renamed Viking. At the beginning of the First World War, she was requisitioned by the Admiralty, equipped with armament and renamed HMS Viknor. She was mainly used as a cruising patrol ship.

HMS Viknor signed on crew from the MMR, including John, at South Shields in December 1914. It was reported that 102 MMR men signed on to the crew complementing the 193 Royal Navy crew members. She left the Tyne on patrol on 28 December 1914. On 13 January 1915 she sank in heavy weather off the north coast of Ireland without any distress call. It was assumed that she was sunk by German mine. All 295 crew members including John were lost. As the crew had signed on in South Shields Viknor’s loss was felt very heavily by bereaved families on both sides of the Tyne.

Although a small number of bodies of the lost men came ashore in Ireland and Scotland after the sinking John’s body was not recovered for burial. He is honoured on the Plymouth Naval Memorial. He is remembered on his wife’s gravestone in the churchyard of Saint Aidan And Saint Stephen, South Shields.

Berry family headstone: http://www.newmp.org.uk/article.php?categoryid=99&articleid=1386&displayorder=19

Further details on the loss of John Barnes Berry on HMS Viknor: http://www.tynesidesilentcities.com/STEP%20Berry.htm

John Barnes Berry was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal for his service in World War One.

Civil Parish: South Shields

Birth date: 1863

Death date: 13-Jan-1915

Armed force/civilian: Navy

Residence: Laygate Court, South Shields (1871 census)
4 Johnson’s Hill, Westoe(1881 census)
74 Regent Street, Westoe (1891 census)
4 Edith Street, South Shields (1901 census)
Steamer Mary Hough, North Salisbury Basin, Liverpool, Lancashire (1911 census)

Employment: Seaman (1891 census)
Fireman on steamship (1911 census)

Family: Parents: Thomas Berry (1837), Catherine Berry nee Barnes (1838-1909)
Siblings: Mary Jane Berry (1860), Margaret Berry (1862), Ellen Berry (1867), Thomas Scott Berry (1869), William Robert Berry (1879)
Spouse: Elizabeth Berry nee Posgate (1869-1927)

Military service:

164213
Fireman
Mercantile Marine Reserve
HMS Viknor

Medal(s): 1914-15 Star
Victory Medal
British War Medal

Memorial(s): Berry family headstone, Saint Stephen and Saint Aidan Churchyard, South Shields
Plaque 1914-18, Saint Stephen and Saint Aidan, South Shields
Plymouth Naval Memorial

Gender: Male

Contributed by David D, Stanley, Co Durham