George Henry Claricoates
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
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The identification of this man has been the subject of extensive research and the discrepancy between his first name on the memorial at Coddington, 'Henry', and that on official records, 'George Henry', is one of the reasons for a probable identification rather than a positive identification. An anomaly in the 1901 census record ('born Coddington') listed in the family history has been noted and judged to be an error either by the compiler of the record or the informant. No clear connection has been found for George's inclusion on the Coddington memorial; he was born and lived his younger life in Lincolnshire and seems to have worked in Hawton a few years before joining the Royal Navy in 1904 when he then either spent his time at sea or in the marital home in Portsmouth. George Henry was probably known as 'Henry' or 'Harry', perhaps to distinguish him from an older sibling of the same name (George) who died in childhood. George was the son of James and Elizabeth Claricoates. James and Elizabeth (nee Sawyer) were married in 1864 and had at least nine children; Hannah, Thomas, Lizzie, James, George (b.1876, d. 1884 age 8), Mark, Alice Eleanor, Rose and George Henry. Elizabeth died aged 46 in 1889 (death registered Lincoln July/Aug/Sep) and James died aged 48 in 1889 (death registered Oct/Nov/Dec). James was an agricultural worker and in 1881 he and his wife were living in Dunholme, Lincolnshire, with their seven children; Hannah (13), Thomas Sawyer (11), Lizzie (9), James Lawson (7), George (5), Mark (2, b. 1878) and Alice Eleanor (no age given). Rose and George Henry were born after the 1881 Census and by the time of the next census in 1891 the children had been dispersed after the death of both their parents in 1889. Rose (8) and George Henry (6) were living in Dunholme with their older sisters, Lizzie (19) and Alice (10). The details on the census are unclear but it is possible that they were living with the family of Mary Ann Carline, a 45 year old widow who was a charwoman and had three children living at home; Mary (18, dressmaker), George (16, agricultural labourer), Emma (11); Lizzie's occupation was given as housekeeper The same year their sister, Hannah, who was married, was living in Walkeringham with her husband, Willie Wood; her brother Mark (12) was living with them. (Mark died in 1929 age 51, death registered Sheffield.) Their eldest brother, Thomas (21), was living with an aunt and uncle, Thomas and Annie Sawyer. (There is a suggestion that, as a married man, Thomas emigrated to Canada in 1913.) It is possible that at the same time their brother James, who would have been about 17 years old (b. 1874)and therefore at work was living in lodgings as ten years later in 1901 he is recorded living as a boarder in Leicester. The census of 1901 records a Harry Claricoates, b. 1885, living in Hawton, near Newark, in the ecclesiastical parish of All Saints. He was one of two farm servants to brothers Joseph and Mark Bailey, farmers, whose sisters Mary and Rebecca, were listed in the household as housekeeper and assistant. The census records that Harry was born in Coddington and this is the anomaly referred to in the introduction to this family history. However, his age and rural occupation link with other details in his records. George joined the Royal Navy in 1904 and in 1911 he was serving as a Stoker 1st Class onboard the battleship HMS Superb (Home Fleet) which was alongside in Portsmouth Harbour. George married Ethel nee Lloyd in Portsmouth in 1912 (Oct/Nov/Dec) and her address is given on the CWGC record as 78 Havant Road, North End, Portsmouth. Ethel married George Hurd in Portsmouth in 1923. She died on 18 December 1963 aged 80 and her address on the Probate record was given as 78 Havant Road, North End, Portsmouth.
From the Register of Seamen’s Services we find details listed for George Henry Clarricoates as:- Gender: Male Birth Date: 17 Feb 1885 Birth Place: Lincoln Service number: 306293 First Service Date: 11 Apr 1904 First Ship Served On: Nelson Last Service Date: 1 Nov 1914 Last Ship Served On: Good Hope Occupation: Miller’s carter Engagement: 11 April 1904 – 12 years Ships and shore establishments: HMS Nelson, 11 April 1904-9 September 1904 (Stoker 2nd Class); Fire Queen II, 10 September-1 November 1904; Fire Queen I, 2 November 1904-31 March 1905; Victory I, 1 April 1905-19 September 1905 (Stoker, 1 June 1905); HMS Jupiter, 20 September 1905-26 November 1907 (Stoker 1st Class, 1 July 1906); Victory II, 27 November 1907-17 February 1908); Victory II, 25 March 1908-9 May 1908; HMS Enchantress, 10 May 1908-19 October 1909; HMS Blenheim, 20 October 1909-7 December 1909; Victory II, 8 December 199-10 January 1910; HMS Melpomene, 11 January 1910-9 February 1910; Victory II, 10 February 1910-18 March 1910; HMS Superb 19 March 1910-29 May 1911 (Acting Leading Stoker 25 January 1911); Victory II, 30 May 1911-11 August 1911; HMS Fisgard, 12 August 1911-30 November 1911 (Leading Stoker, 23 November 1911); Victory II, 1 December 1911-25 March 1912; HMS Sentinel, 26 March 1912-9 July 1912; Victory II, 10 July 1912-30 July 1912; HMS Sentinel, 31 July 1912-25 August 1912; Victory II, 26 August 1912-25 November 1912; HMS Southampton, 26 November 1912-6 March 1914 (Stoker Petty Officer, 1 March 1914); Victory II, 7 March 1914-27 March 1914; HMS Good Hope, 28 March 1914-1 November 1914. Documents noted, ‘Discharged Dead. Lost when HMS Good Hope was sunk in action off Chilean Coast.’ George's body was not recovered for burial and he is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.
Variations in spelling of surname: 'Clarricoates'. Battle of Coronel HMS Good Hope was the flagship of Rear Admiral Sir Christopher George Cradock of the 4th Cruiser Squadron. On 1 November 1914 HMS Good Hope in company with HMS Monmouth, HMS Glasgow and Otranto, encountered Vice Admiral Von Spee’s East Asiatic Cruiser Squadron, which included the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, forty five miles off the Chilean port of Coronel. The German ships were faster and more heavily armed than Cradock’s fleet. The sun set at 18:50 on November 1st 1914, which silhouetted the British ships against the light sky while the German ships became indistinguishable from the shoreline behind them. Spee immediately turned to close and signalled his ships to open fire at 19:04 when the range closed to 12,300 yards. Spee's flagship, Scharnhorst, engaged Good Hope while Gneisenau fired at Monmouth. Cradock's flagship was hit on the Scharnhorst's third salvo, when shells knocked out her forward 9.2-inch turret and set her forecastle on fire. Cradock, knowing his only chance was to close the range, continued to do so despite the battering that Spee's ships inflicted. By 19:23 the range was almost half of that when the battle began and the British ships bore onwards. Spee tried to open the range, fearing a torpedo attack, but the British were only 5,500 yards away at 19:35. Seven minutes later, Good Hope charged directly at the German ships, although they manoeuvred to avoid her. Spee ordered his armoured cruisers to concentrate their fire on the British flagship which had drifted to a halt with her topsides ablaze. At 19:50 her forward magazine exploded, severing the bow from the rest of the ship, and she later sank in the darkness. Spee estimated that his flagship had made 35 hits on Good Hope, suffering only two hits in return that did no significant damage and failed even to wound one crewman. Good Hope was sunk with all hands, a total of 919 officers and men.
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