Grave Stories - John Constantine, Skipper of the Perseus

Post date: Apr 10, 2018 9:53:18 PM

When the Perseus was lost with all hands on 24th July 1915, John Constantine left not only siblings, but also a daughter, who lost her father a week before her seventh birthday. Whilst her mother Emily appears to have remained in Grimsby until her death in 1950, Rosina found herself a servant in Derbyshire, almost suffered the same fate as her father in a canal but, perhaps inspired by her visit to the infirmary, went on to become a nurse, married twice and died as Rosina Constantine Keep in 1979 in Chesterfield.

As for the father she lost, the Hull Daily Mail on 26th July 1915 tells the story:

Grimsby Trawler Perseus Mined: Lost with Nine Hands.

“At five a.m. on Sunday the Grimsby trawler Lindum arrived at Grimsby with a sad story of another loss to the Grimsby Fishing Fleet. She had on board the dead bodies of Mr Constantine (skipper), Mr Nelson (second hand), and Mr Fielding (deckhand), all of them forming part of the crew of the Grimsby Trawler Perseus, belonging to the Grimsby and North Sea Steam Trawling Co. Ltd. The Perseus struck a German floating mine at 11am on Saturday when some 53 miles off the East Coast.

The skipper of the Lindum, which was fishing four miles away, says he saw the explosion. The Perseus was lifted right into the air, and literally blown to bits. The report of the explosion shook the bridge of the Lindum. He at once steamed to the scene, only to find a mass of wreckage, and amidst this he came across three bodies mentioned. The skipper of the Perseus was clearly alive when he entered the water, because he had a pound board under his arm and was clutching a fishing basket in his other hand, evidence that he had made an attempt to keep himself afloat. He was however, badly bruised, and he died from injuries. The bodies of the second hand and deck-hand were floating about, and as they were not grasping anything it would suggest they were dead before reaching the water. After getting the bodies on board, the skipper of the Lindum steamed about the vicinity for nearly an hour in the hope of picking up other members of the crew, but none were sighted, and it is practically certain that the other six must have been killed by the explosion.

Skipper George Staples of the Lindum (owned by Messrs Beeley and Sleight) and who resides in Highfield Avenue, in an interview states the Perseus only left Grimsby on Friday morning. When he first heard the report of the explosion his first thought was that the Lindum was being fired upon by a German submarine. He had, unfortunately, had some experience of hostile submarines, and he decided to cut away his gear and make a bolt for home. At the same time, he was scanning the sea, and he saw an immense column of smoke and water rise up at the place where he knew the Perseus was fishing, and he then saw the vessel had disappeared. He immediately hauled up his own gear and made full speed for the spot. The Grimsby trawler Ventnor had also heard the explosion and was hastening to the scene. When the Lindum and the Ventnor got to the wreckage, each of them launched their small boat and pulled in and around the wreckage.

There were no signs of life, but he came across the body of the skipper, Jack Constantine.  He was clutching a pound board and he had thrust his other hand through a fishing basket. He also saw the body of the mate and the two were then taken on to the Lindum.

The Ventnor found the body of the deckhand and as a matter of convenience it was transferred to the Lindum, so that the three bodies might be brought home together.   It was a very painful search, because he knew the deceased skipper well, and the scene of desolation was one he would not forget for some time. In his opinion, every one of the nine hands had been instantly killed by the explosion, whilst the Perseus had been literally blown to fragments.  

The Ventnor also picked up part of the wheelhouse top, upon which was the ship's bell with the name Perseus, so that this will provide definite evidence of the vessel's fate. There was nothing else worth picking up. Both vessels made a minute search and the fact that no other bodies were seen shows the other six victims must have been blown, like the trawler, to atoms.”

A later report in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer on 27th July reveals that the other two dead bodies were incorrectly identified and that Nelson and Fielding were in fact Pickett and Monkton.

Coroner's Tribute to Grimsby Fishermen

"It redounds greatly to the credit of our fishermen that, despite the risks attendant upon war conditions, they continue calmly to pursue their calling. The word danger has no place in their vocabulary", said the Grimsby Coroner last evening at an inquest held upon the bodies of John Constantine, master; William Edward Pickett, mate; and George Monkton, deckhand, three of the nine men who lost their lives when the steam trawler Perseus was blown up in the North Sea on Saturday. The jury found the deaths to be due to drowning following the explosion of a mine in war time. 

We now know something of the life of John Constantine, but what of his crew?

George Christopher Monkton, of Marsh View, Strand Street, Grimsby, was buried at Scartho Road Cemetery on 28th July 1915. Born in Barking in 1861, by the age of 10 he was helping his widowed mother Jane to make sacks, whilst his three older brothers, aged 12 to 18 were also employed, the two younger ones in a jute factory.

On 12th October 1874, at the age of 13¾, George was indentured in the Merchant Navy, signing up for a period of 7¼ years with W.H. Salsbury, Grimsby on the vessel Breeze. This was cancelled in 1876, with the remainder of the indenture transferred to J. Setchell.  

William Edward Pickett (42), of 37 Convamore Road, Grimsby, was laid to rest at the same cemetery the following day. Born in Islington, the son of John and Rosanna Pickett, he was the husband of Florence May (nee Lyon, born Greenwich in 1881), who he married in Grimsby in 1903. By 1911, they were living at 5 Duke Street, Grimsby, with their three children, Florence (6), Edward (4) and Lilian (1), although William was away at sea at the time of the census, working as First Mate on the Caspian. Another daughter, Doris, was born in 1915, a few months before her father died.

The other members of the crew of the Perseus are remembered on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill. They are:

William Henry Webster (30), Third hand, born in Walsall on 22nd December 1884, the son of William and Jane Webster. By 1901, he was a fishing apprentice living at the Fisherlads Home. His address at time of death is given as 35 Peckham Street, Grimsby (Pelham?).

Andrew Ward (15), Apprentice. No information is given about Andrew in the CWGC records, but British Armed Forces and overseas deaths and burials records, at least give his age, place of birth (Retford) and address at the time of death – Humber Street, Grimsby. Given that he was born in Retford, he was most likely the son of Ann Ward (b 1863), a charwoman, who was widowed by 1911 and had given birth to twelve children, ten of whom were still living. His father Andrew was a labourer. Given the family circumstances, it is not difficult to see why Andrew signed up as a fishing apprentice on 11 May 1914.

Walter Harvey (38), Steward, of 87 Duncombe Street, Grimsby. Walter was born in Grimsby on 15th February 1877, the son of Charles, a carpenter, and Eliza Harvey, who in 1891 lived in Annesley Street. He attended South Parade Boys School.

Ernest Edmund Higgins (16), Apprentice. Like Andrew Ward, there is little information about him in the official records, but like his fellow apprentice the overseas death records reveal a little useful information. He was born in Great Marlow, Buckinghamshire and in 1901 he was living with his grandparents. However, by the time he was 12, both grandparents had died. He was apprenticed on 30th December 1913. At the time of his death he was also living in Humber Street.

James Richardson Mackrill (33), Second Engineer, of 90 Crow Hill Avenue, Cleethorpes. James was the son of John, a fish merchant, and Polly Mackrill. On 5th June 1910, he married Florence Bamber at All Saints, Grimsby, and after they first married they lived with her parents at 15 Patrick Street, Grimsby. James attended Matthew Humberstone School.

Henry Thomas Waugh Ramshaw (39), First Engineer, of 112 Tunnard Street, Grimsby. Born in South Shields on 12th May 1876, the son of Robert and Ann Ramshaw, he married Alice in 1894 and had two sons with her, his namesake, born 1896, and Robert, born 1895. He appears to have married again, around 1905, as by 1911, his son Thomas was living in Fleetwood with step-mother Sarah Bartle Ramshaw, who had given birth to four children in six years, only two of whom, namely Jasper and Edith, were still living.

George Watson (20), Deck Hand, of Jackson’s Lodging House, King Edward Street, Grimsby. Depending on which record you believe, George was either born in Grimsby or Selston, Nottinghamshire.

George Christopher Monckton has also been included on the memorial, but in error because the memorial is for those with no burial place and he has a grave at Scartho Cemetery. This is perhaps because his name has been misspelt.

By a cruel twist of fate, whilst the Lindum returned to port safely with its sad cargo of bodies, the Ventnor, which had also taken part in the search, sailed away and was never seen again. Two months after its encounter with the Lindum and the wreck of the Perseus, it was officially declared lost with all hands by its owners, the Consolidated Steam Fishing and Ice Company.  Its crew’s date of death is listed on Tower Hill memorial as 24th July, the same as the crew of the Perseus, but as a newspaper report comments “her disappearance is still one more unsolved mystery of the present war”.  No-one was there to see or hear what happened to the Ventnor and whilst it is assumed that she was sunk by either a mine or a submarine, her final resting place is not known. What is known is the names of her crew, who lost their lives:

Ernest William Darwood (29), Skipper, of 127 Patrick Street, Grimsby. Ernest was born in Grimsby, the son of Arthur, himself a steam trawler skipper, and Sarah Darwood of 77 Nelson Street, Grimsby. Born in 1885, he was the eldest of eleven children. In 1906, he married Maud Baker in Grimsby.  By 1911, they had two children, Cyril (3) and Harold (9 months) and were living at 148 Willingham Street. Maud junior was born shortly afterwards.

When Ernest died, he left effects of £179 14s 5d. Maud, a widow at 27 years of age, never remarried and was living at 15 Imperial Avenue, Cleethorpes, when she died in 1957.

Arthur John Duffield (42), Mate, of 27 Hope Street Grimsby. Born in Yarmouth in 1873, he was the son of Alfred and Harriet Duffield and married to Henrietta (nee Scott). Prior to the war, Arthur was Second Hand on a number of J.D. Marsden’s vessels, including the Falmouth, King Canute, Bradford  and Boreas.

Herbert Hartley (47), Chief Engineer, of 2 Isaacs Hill, Cleethorpes. Born in Grimsby, he was the son of Charles Hartley, a waterman, and Frances. He was apprenticed to T Seabrook at the age of 16 on 25th October 1881 and by 1901 he was First Engineer on the steam trawler King Henry.  He was the husband of Mary Bright, marrying her at St John’s Church, New Clee, on 19th November 1893. At the time of the marriage they were living in Bedford Street. They had children Eva (b 1899), Ernest (b. 1901), Alfred Edward (b 1904), Elsie (b 1906) and Rosie (b 1908). In 1901, the family were living at 12 Montague Street, Cleethorpes, but by 1911 they were at 27 Blundell Avenue, having lived prior to that at number 41.

Robert Mynott  (35), Second Engineer, of 59 Rutland Street, Grimsby. Born in London, he was the son of Edward Mynott, a bricklayer. He married fisherman’s daughter Beatrice Sarah Greensides at St Andrew’s Church, Grimsby on 10th June 1907. At the time they were living at 47 Orwell Street. By 1911, the family were at 57 Rutland Street. Robert was away at sea, leaving Sarah to look after children Robert George (3), Beatrice Eliza (2) and William Edwin (1). Three other children followed, Eva (b 1912), John T (b 1913) and Harry (b 1914)

Beatrice Sarah remarried two years after Robert’s death, her new husband George Kennington. By 1939, she was widowed again and working as a cook at the Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen. She died in her nineties in 1981.

Henry Millins (50), Third Hand, of 229 Welholme Road, Grimsby. Born in Boston, he was the husband of Elizabeth. Before the war, Henry was third/fourth hand on a number of Grant’s vessels, including the Gadra, Gabir and Russell.

George Robert Nash (20), Deck Hand, of 173 Weelsby Street, Grimsby. Born in West Hartlepool on 1st July 1895, he was the son of William and Alice Nash. George was one of eleven children and birth details on the 1911 census show that the family moved to Grimsby in around 1905. At the age of 15, George was living with his family at 140 Stanley Street and working in a fish curing house. He had been living with his mother at 173 Weelsby Street prior to his death.

Joseph Albert Evans (50), Deck Hand, of 18 Rowlandson Street, Grimsby. Records show he was born on 7th January 1864 in New Zealand, the birth being registered in Auckland. It’s possible that Joseph and his younger brother Frank were born there because their father was in the armed forces and posted there during the New Zealand Wars, which lasted from 1845-1872 and were fought between the New Zealand government and the Maori people.

Joseph and his brothers Benjamin and Frank had returned to England by 1871, where they boarded in Woolwich. He was apprenticed into the fishing industry at the age of 13 on 13th July 1876 at Yarmouth. He was the son of the late Joseph Evans and husband of Hannah Maria (nee Banham), who he married on 4th April 1890 in Mutford, Suffolk. They had three children. Times were sometimes hard and Joseph found himself in the workhouse in Boston at the time of the 1901 census.

Harry Labon (53), Trimmer, of 119 Cleethorpe Road, Grimsby. Born in Lowestoft, the son of Henry and Mary Ann Labon, both of whom were originally from Lincolnshire. He had at least six brothers and sisters. In 1901, the was living with widowed Mary Ann in Kirkley, Lowestoft, and working as a smacksman.

Leonard Sanderson (25), Steward, of 196 Barcroft Street, Cleethorpes. Born in Blyth in 1889, Northumberland he was the son of assistant ironmonger William and his wife Elizabeth Ann and seems to have spent much of his life in his home county. In 1911, he was a maker of bread and lodging in Cowpen. Death records state that he was the husband of Nance              .