Henry Hempstead Yates
He was a tobacco worker at John Player & Sons when he joined the Royal Navy in October 1916.
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
Henry Hempstead was the youngest son of Henry and Agnes Eva Yates (née Hemstead/Hempstead).
Henry snr. was born in Northamptonshire in 1859 (reg. Pottersbury) but had moved to Nottingham with his parents and siblings by 1881 when the family was living at 10 Shakewspeare Yard. Henry was a slaters' labourer. Agnes was born in Richmond, Surrey in 1855 but in 1881 was working as a nursemaid for the family of Thomas Weightman, a barrister at law, of All Saints Street, Nottingham.
Henry and Agnes were married at Radford All Saints on 27 August 1881, and had eight children, six of whom died in infancy or early childhood. Their surviving children were: Joseph William birth registered 1886 (JFM), Rose Ellen (Nellie) b. 1888, Agnes Phoebe birth registered 1890 (JFM), Florence (Florrie) Kate b. 1892, May Beatrice b. 1895 and Henry Hemstead b. 1898 (OND).
The family has not yet been traced on the 1891 Census, but in 1901 Henry (42), a brass bobbin hand, and Agnes (45) were living at 58 Lenton Street, Hyson Green, with their six children
Henry and Agnes had moved to 344 Alfreton Road, by 1911 but only four of their six children, Agnes, Florrie, May and Henry, were still living at home. Henry was probably still at school but his siblings' occupations were not recorded on the census return. .
Joseph, a lace machine builder, had married Annie Hill in 1909 and in 1911 they were living at 41 Bradgate Road, Nottingham. Rose Ellen (Nellie) had also married in 1909 (AMJ); she and her husband, Harold Harvey Daykin, a lace maker, and their daughter Phyllis (b. 1910) were living at 20 Harold Road, Radford. Another child had died in infancy.
Henry and Agnes were living at 5 Albert Avenue, Bobbers Mill, Nottingham, when their son Henry died in January 1917. Agnes died at Albert Avenue on 3 December 1918 aged 63.
Henry was still living at the same address, 5 Albert Avenue, in 1921. Also in the home were his two widowed daughters, Agnes Raynor and Florrie Jebb, both out of work hosiery machinists, and his granddaughter Gladys Florence Jebb (4).
Henry married Annice Richardson in 1922 (reg. AMJ). He died on 14 December 1926 at 84 Norton Street, Radford. Annice survived him.
Of Henry Hempstead's siblings:
Joseph, a lace machine builder (company/employer Sir E Jardine, Chelsea Street, Basford) his wife and their daughter Freda (b. 1911) were living on Windsor Terrace, Lenton Street, in 1921. Freda married Arthur H Twells, an HGV/PSV driver, in 1933 and in 1939 were living on Wilbert Road, Arnold, with their son Lawrence (b. 1939); the record of one other member of the household remains closed. Freda's mother, Annie Yates (b. 1887), occupation 'unpaid domestic duties', was living on Truman Street with her daughter Marjorie Yates (b. December 1922), a silk winder. Also in the home were Joan Talbot (b. 1897), a brushmaker ('blind'), and Gladys Talbot (b. 1929), a student. Joseph was living at 8 Windsor Terrace, Nottingham; although his occupation was still that of lace machine fitter the entry was annotated 'incapacitated'. Joseph died in hospital on 23 June 1943 aged 57.
Rose Ellen (Nellie), her husband Harold Daykin and their four children, Phyllis, Cyril (5), Constance (4) and Greville (2), were living at 20 Albert Road, Nottingham, in 1921. The couple had moved to 3 Gloucester Place, Ayr Street, by 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled; the record of one other member of the household remains closed. Harold Daykin died on 20 May 1949 at 3 Ayr Street, Forest Road. His widow Rose died in April 1966.
Agnes Phoebe married Horace William Raynor in 1913; he served in the Rifle Brigade (S/3191 Rifleman) and died of influenza on 26 November 1918 aged 27. Agnes married Alfred Smith in 1928 and died aged 75 in 1965.
Florence Kate (Florrie) married George Edward Jebb in 1914 (OND); they had a daughter Gladys Florence (b. July 1916). George died on 29 October 1920 (see 'Extra information') and in 1921 Florence and her daughter were living with her widowed father. Florence married William J Robinson in 1922 (OND); she died on 2 October 1925. Her daughter Gladys married Arthur Jesse Miller, a railway employee, at Sneinton St Stephen in August 1937.
May Beatrice married Albert James Laws in 1914 and in 1921 they and their son Albert Henry (b. 1917) were living at 32 Albert Avenue. The family was recorded on the 1939 England & Wales Register at 82 Norwood Road, Nottingham; Albert was a press tool maker and May a shopkeeper. Albert died in 1962; the probate record named a widow, Lily (m. Laws/Riley 1946 AMJ Ilkeston). May (Laws) had married Horace E Smith in 1946 (JFM), so she and her husband had divorced sometime after 1939. Horace Smith died on 12 December 1948 at 219 Alfred Street Central, and May married Horace Guy Hill in 1949 (OND). May died aged 73 on 1 February 1969, buried 6 February, Nottingham Church (Rock) Cemetery. Her husband died in 1977 (Probate, 93 Rothesay Avenue, Lenton).
RN records: Henry Hempstead Yates
Henry joined the Royal Navy on 15 October 1916 on a 12 year engagement (5 years RN, 7 years Royal Fleet Reserve).
He was attached Victory I from 15 October until 29 January 1917 and then drafted to HMS Vanguard until 9 July 1917 when the ship sank following an explosion at Scapa Flow. All but two of her ship's company were lost.
His body was not recovered for burial and he is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
HMS Vanguard was a St. Vincent-class ‘Dreadnought’ type battleship built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness. She was designed and built during the Anglo-German naval race and spent her life in the British Home Fleet. HMS Vanguard saw action at Jutland and returned undamaged from the battle. On the afternoon of 9 July 1917, the ship was destroyed by a spontaneous cordite explosion at Scapa Flow while her crew was practising the drill to abandon ship. It is likely that an undetected adjacent coal bunker fire caused the explosive to become dangerously over-heated. Only two of Vanguard’s crew of around 900 survived the disaster.
HMS Vanguard lies 111 feet down off the north shore of the Isle of Flotta and is a war grave; divers regularly replace a White Ensign on the wreck. A wreath was laid over the wreck and commemorations held in Lyness and in St Magnus’ Cathedral, Kirwall, on the centenary of the loss of the ship.
Henry's brother, Joseph William, a goods porter, attested in Leicester on 11 December 1915 (possibly resident Leicester with his wife); later address 3 Edward Avenue, Bobbers Mill, Nottingham. Edward was transferred to the Army Reserve the following day. He was mobilised on 31 October 1916 and posted to the Kings Own Scottish Borderers (T214688 Private) but transferred to the KOSB Labour Corps on 13 June 1917. In May 1919 he was transferred to the Royal Engineers, 356th E&M Company (363265 Sapper). Joseph was demobilised on 5 December 1919 and transferred to Class 'Z', Army Reserve. Home address 5 Albert Avenue, Bobbers Mill. Service: Home 31 Oct 1916-13 June 1917 BEF 14 July 1917-6 November 1919. Home 7 November 1919-5 Dec 1919. Total days served: 3y 36d.
Three of Henry's brothers-in-law served in the war:
Harold Harvey Daykin, Rose Ellen's husband, had previously served for two years in the Robin Hood Rifles (Militia) and attested on 1 September 1914 on a Territorial Force engagement (4 years service in the UK). He transferred to embodied service on 24 September and was posted to the 7th Battalion Sherwood Foresters (2839 Private) and later to the 2/7th Battalion. He was discharged from the Army on 16 July 1915 (K.R. Para 392, xvi). Service: Home 24 Sept 1914-16 July 1915 (296 days).
Horace William Raynor, his sister Agnes's husband, served in the war with the Rifle Brigade (Prince of Consort's Own), S3191 Rifleman. He died from influenza on 26 November 1918 and was buried in France. (See record on this Roll of Honour)
George Edward Jebb, who married Florence Kate (Florrie) in 1914, served with the Royal Field Artillery (134675 Private). He died on 29 October 1920.
Nottingham Evening Post, 29 October 1920: ‘Nottingham Tobacco Cutter Found Dead. George Edward Jebb, 28, tobacco cutter, an ex-soldier, living at 32 Albert-avenue, Hyson Green, was this morning found dead over a gas ring. Life had apparently been extinct for some hours.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 2 November 1920: ‘Jebb. On October 29th, at 32 Albert-avenue, Bobbers Mill, George Edward, beloved husband of Florence Jebb aged 27. Rest in peace. Funeral Wednesday 2.30, General Cemetery, top end.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Nottingham General Cemetery, family grave, headstone inscription: 'In loving memory of Agnes Eva the beloved wife of Henry Yates, who died Dec. 3rd. 1918 aged 63 Also of Henry Hemstead the beloved son of the above who was drowned on HMS Vanguard July 9th 1917. aged 19 years. Also of the above Henry Yates who died Dec. 14th. 1926 aged 67 years. Also Joseph, son of the above (-) June 23rd 1943 aged 57 years.
Nottingham Evening Post, 'Roll of Honour', 16 July 1917: 'Yates. Lost in HMS Vanguard, July 9th, Henry Hempstead Yates, youngest son of Agnes and Henry Yates, 5 Albert Avenue, Bobbersmill, in his 19th year, mother, father, sisters, brothers.'
Nottingham Evening Post, 'Roll of Honour', 21 July 1917 (abridged): 'Hy. Hampstead Yates, 5 Albert Avenue, Bobbersmill, lost in HMS Vanguard, July 9th.'
Nottingham Evening Post,'In Memoriam', 9 July 1918: 'Yates. In loving memory of Henry Hemstead Yates, who lost his life July 9th, 1917. We think we see his smiling face, as he bade his last good-bye, and left his home for ever, in a distant land to die; we think of him in silence, and his name we often call, but there's nothing left to answer, but his photo on the wall. – From loving mother, father, sisters, and brothers.'
Above courtesy Jim Grundy facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 10 December 1918: ‘Yates. On the 3rd. inst., at Albert-avenue, Bobbers Mill, Agnes Eva Yates, the beloved wife of Henry Yates, who passed peacefully away after a long and painful illness. Deeply mourned by sorrowing husband and children. Funeral General Cemetery, Thursday, Dec. 12, 11.30am.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 2 October 1926: ‘Robinson (née-sic Jebb). Loving remembrance of Florence Kate, passed away October 2nd, 1925. Until the day break and shadows flee away. From Father, sisters, and brother.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 16 December 1926: ‘Yates. On December 14th, at 84 Norton-street, beloved husband of Annice Yates. Faithful servant for 43 years of Messrs. Jardine and Co. Funeral General Cemetery, Saturday, 11.30.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’. 14 December 1927: ‘Yates. Loving memory of father, died December 14th, 1926; also mother, December 3rd, 1918. Till we meet again. Loving children.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 25 June 1943: ‘Yates. June 23rd, at City Hospital, Joseph William, aged 58, after much suffering patiently borne, dearly beloved father of Freda [Twells], father-in-law of Arthur, grandfather of Norman and Lawrence.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Notingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 24 June 1943: ‘Yates. On June 23rd. Joseph William beloved father of Freda, and brother, Nellie [Rose Ellen], Agnes and May, passed away at City Hospital, after much sufering. Some day we’ll understand. Funeral Friday, General Cemetery, 3.15.’(www.britisnewspaperarchive.com.uk)
Additional research/record revised, RF (March 2026)
Henry Hempstead Yates
Nottingham General Cemetery, family grave, headstone commemoration Henry. Photograph Gary Crosby, 30 January 2026.
Photo of Henry Hemstead Yates
Commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial (www.cwgc.org)