Person

William Albert Harris was born on 12 March 1878 in Trimdon Grange. His father Joseph Harris (1854-1899) was originally from Cornwall. He married Elizabeth (1855-) originally from Bewdley, Worcestershire, though the date and place of their wedding are not known.

The Harris family appear to have travelled a lot in their early married life. Joseph was described as a grocer’s assistant in 1871, a licensed hawker in 1881 and a merchant in 1891. The couple had 6 sons of which William Albert was the third. Perhaps his father’s trade explains why the eldest was born in Burnley, Lancashire in 1875, the next son in Wingate, Durham in 1877 and William in Trimdon Grange, Durham in 1877. At the 1881 census the family were living in Lower Lux Street, Liskeard, Cornwall where they seem to have settled and where three further sons were born.

In 1891, William lived with his family in Castle Street Lane, Liskeard, Cornwall and he is described as being employed as an errand boy. He joined the Royal Navy as a 3rd class domestic on 16 May 1896 at the age of 18, at which time, his civilian occupation was recorded as being a page boy. This term was probably a fairly general term for a young man in domestic service at the time. William advanced to 2nd class domestic after almost a year’s service. After a further year he seems to have been paid off for a short period when his services were no longer required.

On 12 January 1899 William signed on for 12 years service in the Royal Navy. He was given the position of Acting 2nd cook’s mate. At the time of the 1901 census he was on board HMS Prince George in the Bay of Gibraltar as a cook’s mate. William worked his way through the ranks on various ships and shore based establishments becoming a cook’s mate in 1899, acting ship’s cook in 1908 and chief ship’s cook in 1911.

In 1901 William married Emma Jane Harris nee Congdon (1878-) in Devonport, Devon where she was working in domestic service as a cook. They had a family of five children, three girls and two boys, all born in Devonport between 1904 and 1909. On 8 December 1910, having served his 12 years service , William re-enlisted for a further ten years on completion of which he would have earned a pension.

On 17 June 1913 William joined HMS Indefatigable as chief ship’s cook. Indefatigable was a battlecruiser that spent two years in the Mediterranean and carried out the first British attack on the Dardanelles following the commencement of hostilities between Ottoman Turkey and Russia. The ship returned to England in February 1915 and conducted uneventful patrols of the North Sea for the next year and a half.

Indefatigable was sunk on 31 May 1916 during the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of the war. She was hit several times in the first minutes of the opening phase of the battlecruiser action. Shells from the German battlecruiser Von der Tann caused one explosion that ripped a hole in her hull while a second explosion hurled large pieces of the ship in the air. William died along with 1,017 crewmates.

William’s body was not recovered for burial and he is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial. He was awarded the Star, the Victory Medal and the British War medal for his service in World War One.

Civil Parish: Trimdon

Birth date: 12-Mar-1878

Death date: 31-May-1916

Armed force/civilian: Navy

Residence: Trimdon Grange, Durham (1878 birth)
Lower Lux Street, Liskeard, Cornwall (1881 census)
Castle Street Lane, Liskeard, Cornwall (1891 census)
HMS Prince George, Bay of Gibraltar, Mediterranean Sea (1901 census)
Heathlands Lane, Liskeard, Cornwall (family’ address at 1911 census)
4 Turret Grove, Mutley, Plymouth, Devon (1916 CWGC record)

Employment: Errand boy (1891 census)
Page boy (1896 Royal Navy service record)
Chief ship’s cook (Royal Navy record)

Family: Parents: Joseph Harris (1854-1899), Elizabeth Harris (1855-)
Siblings: John Henry Harris (1875), Joseph James Harris (1877), A Peter Harris (1881), Frederick C Harris (1887), Leonard Richard Harris (1890)
Children: Lily Emma Elizabeth Harris (1902), William Albert Harris (1904), Minotaur Beatrix Pheobe Harris (1907), Leonard Frederick Harris (1908), Gwendoline Edith Annie Harris (1909)

Military service:

354734
3rd class domestic, 16 May 1896
2nd class domestic, 26 January 1897
2nd cook's mate, 12 January 1899
Cook's mate, 12 May 1899
Ship's cook, 6 March 1911
Chief ship's cook, 27 November 1911
HMS Hermione, 1896-1898
HMS Prince George, 1899-1901
HMS Hannibal, 1906-1909
HMS Indefatigable, 1913-1916

Medal(s): Star
Victory Medal
British War Medal

Memorial(s): Plymouth Naval Memorial

Gender: Male

Contributed by David D, Stanley, Co Durham