Thomas Evans

134: Thomas Evans Basic Information [as recorded on local memorial or by CWGC] Name as recorded on local memorial or by CWGC: Thomas Evans Rank: Able Seaman Battalion / Regiment: Mercantile Marine S.S. "Lusitania" (Liverpool) Service Number: ? Date of Death: 07 May 1915 Age at Death: 49 Buried / Commemorated at: Tower Hill Memorial, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Greater London Additional information given by CWGC: The son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Evans and husband of Alice Evans (née Roberts), of Pensby Lane, Barnston, Cheshire. Born at Parkgate Personal correspondence with Peter Kelly, an Irish researcher who has researched the lives of all those on board the final voyage of the Lusitania, together with information at the Liverpool Maritime Museum, has provided much detailed information on Thomas Evans and this is contained in the text and text boxes later in this section. Thomas was the fifth child to survive (two younger children had died) of Parkgate fisherman Samuel Morris Evans and Jane. Samuel married Jane Mealor of Neston at Our Lady & St Nicholas & St Anne, the Liverpool Parish Church in late 1851 and Richard, their first child, was born in April 1852. In the 1871 census the family was living in Parkgate where Samuel was a fisherman, an occupation he maintained through his life: 1871 census (extract) – Parkgate Samuel Evans 40 fisherman born Neston Jane 36 born Neston Richard 18 fisherman born Neston Hannah 16 born Neston Samuel 9 born Neston Lemuel 7 born Neston Thomas 5 born Neston George 3 born Neston Mary J. 1 born Neston Thomas was born on 3 January 1866 and was baptised at Neston Parish Church on 2 February when Samuel was recorded as a fisherman of Parkgate. The family was still living in Parkgate at the time of the 1881 census – there were then still seven children living at home with Betsy and Martha having been born since the 1871 census and Richard and Hannah having both married. Page | 1449 1881 census (extract) – Parkgate Samuel Evans 48 fisherman born Parkgate Jane 48 born Ness Samuel 18 fisherman born Parkgate Lemuel 16 fisherman born Parkgate Thomas 14 born Parkgate George 12 born Parkgate Mary J. 10 born Parkgate Betsy 8 born Parkgate Martha 6 born Parkgate The details known for the children of Samuel and Jane Evans (all the children were baptised at Neston Parish Church) are: Richard Thomas bpt 2 May 1852 Richard (20, fisherman) married widow Ann Rodgers (25, of Neston) at the Parish Church on 24 June 1872 (Ann was recorded as being illegitimate and both made their X mark on the register). Richard was a sea fisherman for all his life and the family lived at Leighton, Parkgate. However, by 1911, Richard and Ann were living at Station Cottages, Heswall where he was recorded to have been married for 39 years with 13 children, four of whom had died. Richard was then 59 and Ann was 68. Richard died in late 1931 aged 79 but at least one son, John, had followed him in the fishing trade. Hannah bpt 2 July 1854 Hannah Evans may have married a William Teague (but not at Neston) in mid-1873. Nothing further is known. Mary bpt 29 February 1856, buried 17 November 1858 aged 3. Samuel bpt 11 June 1858, buried 28 April 1859 aged 11 months. Samuel bpt 6 September 1861 Samuel had married by the time of the 1891 census when he was recorded as a fisherman, aged 28, living in Heswall with his wife Margaret (25, born Flint) and two small children. In the 1911 census, aged 48, he was still a fisherman and was living at 9 Station Cottages, Heswall, with Margaret (45, born Chirk) and eight of their children (all born Heswall). Margaret was recorded as being employed in ‘fishing and shrimping’ and a son, Samuel (17) was working as a fisherman with his father. Samuel and Margaret had thirteen children of whom, in 1911, ten had survived. Lemuel bpt 2 February 1866 The baptismal register records born & privately baptised two years before. Lemuel married Ellen (sometimes Eleanor) Pritchard of Little Neston in Liverpool in July / September 1883. Lemuel was also a fisherman and although their first child, Eleanor, was born in Parkgate the family moved to Liscard, to Heswall and (by 1898) to near Mostyn. Lemuel Evans remained a fisherman and in 1901 and Page | 1450 1911 was living in Mostyn with his wife, Ellen / Eleanor. In 1911 two of his six children still at home were fishermen – Morris (17) and Joseph (15) – and Lemuel and Ellen had had nine children of whom the six still at home were the only survivors. Thomas born on 3 January 1866, bpt 2 February 1866 Thomas is the subject of this account. George bpt 15 May 1868 George married Sarah Ann Price of Heswall in Liverpool in late 1898 and in 1901 they were living on Riverbank Road, Heswall. George, a fisherman living on his own account, was 33 and Sarah was 22. By 1911 they had moved to Llanerchymor near Holywell where George, now 43, was a fisherman on his own account. George and Sarah had been married for 13 years but had no children. However, in the household, was Thomas Price (18, born Pensby), a fisherman, who is recorded as an adopted son. It is possible that Thomas was a brother of Sarah. Mary Jane bpt 25 March 1870 Nothing further is known. Martha bpt 7 November 1875 Nothing further is known. By the time of the 1891 census Samuel Evans snr, still a fisherman, had moved his family to Wallasey although the reason for this move is unknown: 1891 census (extract) – 6 String Hey Road, Liscard, Wallasey Samuel Evans 61 fisherman born Neston Jane 56 born Neston Thomas 25 fisherman born Neston George 23 fisherman born Neston Elizabeth 17 born Neston Martha 15 born Neston Although Thomas Evans was recorded in the census as being at home, with his parents, he was also recorded, as a ‘visitor’, in the home of farmer Joseph Roberts, and his sister Alice, in Thurstaston: 1891 census (extract) – Thurstaston Joseph Roberts 29 farmer born Thurstaston Alice Roberts 25 sister born Thurstaston Thomas Evans 25 visitor, fisherman born Parkgate Page | 1451 Thomas married Alice Roberts on 30 March 1892 at St Bartholomew’s Church, Thurstaston; Alice was the daughter of Barnston stonemason Edward and Alice Roberts, and at the time of the 1901 census Thomas and Alice were living in Pensby with their two children: 1901 census (extract) – Pensby Thomas Evans 35 A.B. Seaman R.N.R. Navyman born Parkgate Alice 35 born Thurstaston Thomas 6 born Pensby Alfred E. 5 born Pensby Arthur R. 3 born Pensby Thomas Evans was recorded as an Able Seaman with the Royal Naval Reserves. Wikipedia records that: The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) has its origins in the Register of Seamen, established in 1835 to identify men for naval service in the event of war, but just 400 volunteered for duty in the Crimean War in 1854 out of 250,000 on the Register. This led to a Royal Commission on Manning the Navy in 1858, which in turn led to the Naval Reserve Act of 1859. This established the RNR as a reserve of professional seamen from the British Merchant Navy and fishing fleets, who could be called upon during times of war to serve in the regular Royal Navy. The RNR was originally a reserve of seamen only, but in 1862 this was extended to include the recruitment and training of reserve officers. A number of drill-ships were established at the main seaports around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland, and seamen left their vessels to undertake gunnery training in a drill-ship for one month every year. After initial shore training, officers embarked in larger ships of the Royal Navy's fleet (usually battleships or battle cruisers) for one year, to familiarise themselves with gunnery and naval practice. Although under the operational authority of the Admiral Commanding Reserves, the RNR was administered jointly by the Admiralty and the Registrar General of Shipping and Seamen at the Board of Trade throughout its separate existence. In 1910, the RNR (Trawler Section) was formed to recruit and train fishermen for wartime service in minesweepers and other small warships. Officers and men of the RNR soon gained the respect of their naval counterparts with their professional skills in navigation and seamanship and served with distinction in a number of conflicts, including the Boer War and the Boxer Rebellion. Prior to the First World War, one hundred RNR officers were transferred to permanent careers in the regular navy—forever after referred to as "the hungry hundred". In their professional careers, many RNR officers went on to command the largest passenger liners of the day and some also held senior positions in the shipping industry and the government. On mobilisation in 1914, the RNR consisted of 30,000 officers and men. In the 1911 census Thomas Evans was ‘away from home’, presumably at sea: Page | 1452 1911 census – Pensby Lane, Barnston Husband away from home Alice Evans 46 born Thurstaston Thomas 16 errand boy, grocer’s born Pensby Alfred 14 born Pensby Arthur 13 born Pensby George 9 born Pensby Hugh 6 born Pensby Thomas and Alice had been married for 19 years and all five children had survived. Thomas Evans signed on at Liverpool on 12 April 1915. When the RMS Lusitania left New York for Liverpool on what would be her final voyage on 1 May 1915, she carried a crew of 696 and 1266 passengers, many being American.

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