John Henry Hassall
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
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John Henry was the son of Joseph and Hannah Dawes Hassall. Joseph and Hannah (nee Driver) were married in 1875 (Oldham registration district) and were to have five children of whom four were still living at the time of the 1911 census; Hugh Bourne (b. 29 September 1882, Wellingborough), John Henry, Ruth Tilly (b. Nottingham - adopted) and Miriam (b. 10 May 1894, Mansfield). In 1881 Joseph (26, b. Cheshire) and Hannah (24 b. Chelveston, Northamptonshire) were living at 10 Tichborne Terrace, Wellingborough. Joseph was a railway engine driver. By 1891 they had moved to Nottingham and were living at 17 Ryland Crescent, Meadows, with their three children; Hugh (8), John (5) and Ruth (5). Ten years later in 1901 Joseph and Hannah were living on Bishop Street, Mansfield, with their three youngest children, John (15), Ruth (15) and Miriam (6). Hugh had joined the Royal Navy in 1899 and John was to join in 1904. Joseph and Hannah were still living at the same address in 1911 but Miriam was the only one of their four children still at home. Also living with the family was a widowed aunt, Ellen Jones (67), and a boarder, Raymond AO Heath (27) who was a Clerk in Holy Orders. John married Ada Rollings in 1909 and they lived at 5 Foster Street Littleworth, Mansfield. They may have had two children, Leslie, born 1912 and Miriam, born 1913. John's sister, Miriam, married Herbert Gascoyne in 1914 and died in 1972 aged 78 (death registered Mansfield). His mother, Hannah, died in 1915 aged 58 (death registered Mansfield). His brother, Hugh Bourne, who joined the Royal Navy on 15 September 1899 (206546) transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve on 12 July 1913. He was mobilized on 2 August 1914 and discharged on 4 June 1921. He died on 18 November 1931 age 49; probate was awarded to his widow, Annie Hassall, and his father, Joseph Hassall. John's father, Joseph Hassall, died on 6 November 1933 in Mansfield and District Hospital.
John Henry joined the Royal Navy in May 1904 and engaged for 12 years on 15 December 1904, his 18th birthday. He served in the following ships and shore establishments: Pembroke I 16 May 1904-7 July 1904 (Boy 2nd Class); HMS Northampton, 8 July 1904-14 September 1904 (Boy 1st Class); HMS Calliope 15 September 1904-17 November 1904; HMS Vivid 18 November 1904-20 February 1905 (Ordinary Seaman 15 December 1904); HMS Barfleur 21 February 1905-31 March 1905; HMS Vengeance 1 April 1905-27 August 1905; Vivid I 28 August 1905-23 October 1905; HMS Devonshire 24 October 1905-4 November 1907 (Able Seaman 27 July 1906); Vivid I 5 November 1907-3 June 1908; HMS Caesar 4 June 1908-14 May 1909; HMS Temeraire 15 May 1909-15 June 1910; HMS Cochrane 16 June 1910-8 April 1913; HMS Excellent 9 April 1913-3 September 1913; HMS Queen Mary 4 September 1913-31 May 1916. Record annotated ‘NP 3925/1916. DD 31st May 1916. Killed in action.' He was killed at the Battle of Jutland while serving in HMS Queen Mary. His body was not recovered for burial and he is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial. Battle of Jutland. HMS Queen Mary (Captain CI Prowse) put to sea with the Battlecruiser Fleet (Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty in HMS Lion) to intercept a sortie by the German High Seas Fleet into the North Sea. ‘As the Queen Mary fought back under the concentrated fire of Sydlitz and Derfflinger, observers saw three shells of a salvo of four strike home on her at 4.26, followed quickly by two more shells from the next salvo. As a tremendous flame of dark red burst from her and a pillar of smoke rose high into the air, she was rent apart by a shattering concussion as her magazines exploded … Her back broken, the gallant Queen Mary threw her stern into the air, her propellers still slowly revolving … then as further underwater explosions shook her, she plunged to the bottom.’ (‘Jutland’, Captain Donald MacIntyre RN, 1957) There were only a few survivors from a ship’s company of nearly 1300 men. The wreck was discovered in the North Sea in 1991; she is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
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