Stockwell War Memorial

Friends of Stockwell War Memorial & Gardens

1915

Herbert Carey

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H. Carey
Able Seaman (RFR/CH/B/5028), HMS India
Service no. 212125
Killed in action on 8 August 1915, aged 31
Remembered at Narvik Old Cemetery, Norway

Chris Burge writes:

Herbert Carey was born on 27 November 1883 in Holloway, north London, the third of Thomas George and Mary Carey’s five known children. Herbert was still living in Islington when he joined the Navy on his birthday in 1901. His occupation was recorded as ‘Engine Cleaner’ and Herbert was described as 5ft 11in tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion. Advancement in the Navy was slow and Herbert was not rated as AB seaman until 1903. He served on several ships with HMS Pembroke being the last before he was placed on fleet reserve and left the service on 6 April 1908.  

On 2 May 1909 Herbert Carey married Susan Ethel Parnell St Barnabas, South Lambeth. He gave his address as 43 Lansdowne Gardens, and described himself as a labourer. Susan Ethel was from Bristol but had lived in Lambeth for at least a decade before they married. 

In the 1911 census, Herbert and Ethel were living in just two rooms at 46 Priory Road off the Wandsworth Road.  Herbert worked as a printers warehouseman. Their daughter Irene Maud Carey was born at home on 12 May 1912. 

As a naval reservist, Herbert Carey was called up at the outbreak of war, serving on the old cruiser HMS Sutlej from 2 August 1914 until part of a draft of 88 men that joined the crew of the HMS India on 8 April 1915. The total crew numbered 32 officers and 270 men. The India was an Armed Merchant Cruiser, an ex-passenger ship, part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron Northern Patrol safeguarding shipping between Britain and Norway.  

Official reports stated: ‘While on duty intercepting and inspecting neutral shipping, HMS India was torpedoed by German submarine U22 near Helligvaer, Norway, on August 8, 1915. The ship broke in two and sank quickly.’

Some 160 men were lost, and those washed ashore were buried at Narvik Old Cemetery. 

After the war, Susan Ethel lived at 290 South Lambeth Road with her brother Frederick and his wife until just before she died in 1938, aged 53. Her daughter Irene, died aged 80 in 1992.  

William Bunyan

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W. Bunyan
Service no. 7848
Serjeant, York and Lancaster Regiment, 2nd Battalion
Killed in action age 34 on 20 July 1915
Son of the late William and Mary Elizabeth Bunyan; husband of Ellen Eliza Bunyan, of 8 Andalus Road, Landor Road, Stockwell, London. Native of Bengeo, Herts.
Remembered at New Irish Farm Cemetery, Ypres, Belgium and on the war shrine at St Michael’s Church, Stockwell Park Road, London 0DA.

British Army WWI Service Records 1914-1920

The file for WIlliam Bunyan is very damaged and therefore difficult to read.

William first joined the York and Lancasters in 1904. He gave his occupation as “groom”. At the time of joining he was about 23 and stood 5 feet 4¼ inches tall, weighed 120 pounds and was 36 inches around the chest (which he could expand by 2 inches). The Regiment carefully noted his progress after six months Army service and a “gymnastic course”. He had grown a triumphant 2/20ths of an inch, gained 3 pounds and increased his chest measurement by an inch. His eyes and hair were noted as brown. He bore a scar on his left wrist and had a “white patch” on his left breast. He was judged to be of “good character” and indeed during this period of service gained a good conduct badge.

After serving over 10 years (with some intervals) Bunyan was killed on 20 July 1915.

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 William Bunyan, then 27, was working as a miller’s labourer and living with his grandmother and sister in 4 rooms (including kitchen) at 12 Russell Street, Hertford. Mary Bunyan, 73, was a widow born in Wadesmill, Herfordshire. Florence Bunyan, 29, was working as a shop assistant for a confectioner (sweet shop). She, like William, was born in Bengeo, Herfordshire.

Sidney Alfred Bunker

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S. A. Bunker
Service no. G/8995
Private, Middlesex Regiment, 11th Battalion
Killed in action at about age 21 on 18 October 1915
Remembered at Loos Memorial, Pas de Calais, France

Information from the 1911 census

The Bunker family lived at 4 Richmond Street, Kennington, Lambeth (the street has now disappeared). Henry Bunker, 51, was a widower from Shepherds Bush, west London, who worked as ox tongue curer. Three sons (all born in Lambeth) lived at home:
Charles Bunker, 19, a warehouseman
Sidney Bunker, 17, a press boy in the printing industry
Rodney Bunker, 14, an errand boy
Henry Bunker, 28, Beatrice Bunker, 26 and Ada Bunker, 23 (all named in the 1901 census) appear to have been living elsewhere.

Information from the 1901 census

In 1901 the Bunker family lived at 36 Richmond Street. Sidney’s mother, Mary, 41, was born in Camberwell. Henry Bunker, 18, was working as a carman; Beatrice Bunker, 16, was a “boot socker”; Ada Bunker, 13, Charles Bunker, 9, Sidney, 7, and Rodney, 4, were all at school.

Percy Bigg

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P. Bigg
Service no. CH/17624
Private, Royal Marine Light Infantry, H.M.S. “Formidable”
Died age 19 on 1 January 1915
Son of Alfred Bigg, of 12, Thorparch Road, Wandsworth. Born at Lambeth.
Remembered at Chatham Naval Memorial and at Stockwell War Memorial, London SW9

Private Bigg died after H. M. S. “Formidable” was torpedoed by a German sub and sank off Portland Bill. 547 crew (35 officers and 512 men) out of total of 782 died, including the captain (Captain Loxley). The wreck site is protected under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
MaritimeQuest has a list of all lost on the Formidable.

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 the Bigg family lived in 6 rooms at 4 Victoria Place, Priory Grove. Alfred Bigg, 44, was a carman for a laundry. He was born in Hertfordshire. Ellen Bigg, 44, was born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset. There were 7 surviving children (of 11):
George Alfred Bigg, 22, a carman, born in Kennington
Rose Bigg, 20, a shell box maker, born in Kennington
Bertram James Bigg, 19, a painter, born in Kennington
Percy Bigg, 15, a porter, born in Battersea
Sidney Bigg, 9, born in Battersea
Arthur Bigg, 8, born in Lambeth
Albert Thomas Bigg, 3, born in Lambeth

Leslie Frank Bailey

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L. F. Bailey
Midshipman, Royal Naval Reserve, H.M.S. “Bayano”
Died on 11 March 1915, aged 19
Son of Frederick Harvey Bailey and Maria Bailey, of 11 Belle Vue Gardens, Clapham Road, London. Served on H.T. “Huanchaco” on which he continued to serve when it was taken over as an Admiralty Transport in the first months of the war. Native of Brixton, London.
Remembered at Portsmouth Naval Memorial, Hampshire, at Putney Vale cemetery, and at Stockwell War Memorial, London SW9

Midshipman Leslie Frank Bailey (HU 113154) CWGC family information: Son of Frederick Harvey Bailey and Maria Bailey, of 11, Belle Vue Gardens, Clapham Rd., London. Served on H.T. ‘Huanchaco’ on which he continued to serve when it was taken over as an Admiralty Transport in the first months of the war. Native of Brixton, London. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205289913

Information from the 1911 census

In 1911 Leslie Frank Bailey was 15 and at school. He lived in 5 rooms at 363 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton with his mother, Maria Bailey, 59, born in Croydon and sister, Edith Mary Bailey, 34, a fruiterer’s assistant born in Dalston, London. Frank was one of 5 children. He was born in Lambeth.

Information from the 1901 census

In 1901 Leslie Bailey was 5 and living at 50 Solon Road, Brixton, with his mother, then 49, a florist; sister, Nettie F. Bailey, 26, a florist; sister Edith F. M. Bailey, 24, a commercial clerk. Both sisters were born in Dalston. Visiting on the night of the census were Ellen R. Laurence, 41, married and born in Croydon, and Harold R. Laurence, 6, born in Long Acre, Covent Garden and presumably Ellen’s son.

Frederick Harvey Bailey, cited by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, was mentioned in neither the 1911 nor the 1901 census returns for this household.