Henry Wilkinson Brown 1893-1915

Henry Brown from the Barnsley Chronicle 29 January 1916
(with thanks to Barnsley Archives)

Born:
5 June 1893
Baptised 25 June 1893 at St John's, Barnsley

Son of:
Samuel Brown b.1867 Leeds d.1921 Darley Inn, Worsborough Dale
1911: Innkeeper Carter's Arms, 83 Sheffield Road
married at St John's, Barnsley on 18 August 1892
Ada Wilkinson b.1871 d. between 1895 and 1899?

Samuel remarried to Emily Bennett (b.1877 d.1924 Darley Inn, Worsborough Dale) in the June Q of 1899 in Barnsley.

Position in family: The eldest of 2 children and 3 half siblings
1. Henry Wilkinson Brown b.1893
2. Ethel Brown b.1895 d.1895 aged 4 months

1. Rose Isobel Brown b.1903 d.1903 aged 1month
2. John Brown b.1904 d.1936 Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery
3. Samuel Brown b.1906 m. Evelyn Hilton in 1929

Home address, age and occupation:
1893 (at baptism): 115 Cemetery Road, Barnsley
1901: 83 Sheffield Road, aged 7
1911: in the Navy aged 17

Marriage: 
He was married
to Elsie White at Dodworth Church on 31 December 1914 
His occupation was Signalman, Royal Navy and his home address was given as the Darley Inn, Worbro' Dale, Barnsley

Children:
1. Henry W Brown b.1916

Military Service:
Service Number: J7134
From: 2 February 1910 aged 17 on the HMS Ganges, as Boy II
From: 5 June 1911 for 12 years aged 18, on HMS Defence, as Signalman
Also served on the Vivid, Dolphin, Maidstone, Adamant (E20)
Awards: 1914 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Personal information:   5" 4.5' tall (age 17), 34" chest, dark brown hair, brown eyes, fresh complexion, birthmark on back of left hand.

Death:     5 November 1915 when Submarine E20 was sunk
CWGC Remembered: Plymouth Naval Memorial

Information from Commonwealth War Graves Commission:
Husband of Elsie Briggs (formerly Brown), of 5, Thornley Terrace, Peel St., Barnsley, Yorks.

Remembered:
Worsbrough Combined Memorial, St Thomas And St James Church, Worsborough Dale
On his family gravestone in Barnsley Cemetery  
Dodworth War Memorial

Notes:
Henry's story is also told on the IWM's Lives of the First World War website.

The Barnsley Chronicle printed a report on his death on 22 January 1916 and his photo appeared on the front page of the newspaper the following week.

Lost With the E20 - A Worsbro' Dale's Man's Fate
After an anxious wait of over a couple of months, Mr and Mrs Samuel Brown of the Darley Inn, Worsbro' Dale, have learned with feelings of deep sorrow of the fate of their son, Henry Wilkinson Brown, who was one the crew of H.M. Submarine E20 which was sunk by the enemy in the Sea of Marmora early in November. Under the date January 18th, the bereaved parents received the following from the Admiralty: "With reference to the loss of H.M. Submarine E20 in the Sea of Marmora at the beginning of November last, I regret to have to inform you that the name of Henry Wilkinson Brown, signal man, does not appear in the complete list of survivors which has now been received by the American Ambassador in Constantinople. In these circumstances it is feared that he must be regarded as having lost his life when the Submarine sunk. Yours, etc., H. Beborall." The letter is accompanied by the following: "The King commands me to assure you of the true sympathy of His Majesty and the Queen in your sorrow. Arthur James Balfour." We join in the many expressions of sympathy which have been extended to the deceased's parents who have for a number of years been highly-esteemed residents of Worsbro' Dale.  Barnsley Chronicle 22 Jan 1916
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Henry is remembered on his grandparent's gravestone in Barnsley Cemetery along with his cousin Francis (Frank) Henry Laister who was killed in 1917.

Elsie remarried to Frederick Briggs in 1920 at Dodworth Church.  They went on to have two children together.

Henry's father dies in 1921, still at the Darley Inn, Worsbro' Dale and is buried in Barnsley Cemetery (H 363), the same plot as his second wife Emily who dies in 1924 and his children, Ethel and Rose Isobel who died young.

John Brown, Henry's younger half-brother is also buried in the family plot - he was killed in the Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery disaster on 6 August 1936 along with 57 other men.

I have been unable to find the death or burial of Ada Brown, Henry's mother, which logically must have occurred between 1895 and 1899.  Maybe she did not die in Barnsley?