STARK Alfred John
Additional details concerning John Alfred STARK
Reseached by Alun Bevan
Alfred John STARK appears in all the censuses from 1871 to 1911.
He was a seaman in the Royal Navy in 1891, before transferring to the coastguard and moving to Gower.
He married Brenda Elizabeth HULLIN in Sept qtr. 1896 Gower [11a 1424]
They had a daughter Mona Amanda on 27 May 1897, in Oystermouth.
Brenda STARK, née Hullin, baptised 27 November 1879, is the elder sister of the casualty John HULLIN >
In 1901 they were living in Rhossili, so he would have taken part in rescues of distressed ships off the Rhossili coast using the Rocket Life Saving Apparatus (LSA) which was set up there in 1876.
By 1911 they had moved back to the Mumbles.
When the First World War started, he would have been 46 but must have returned to the Royal Navy to serve his country aboard HMS Laurentic, a White Star Line Steamship, converted to armed cruiser on the outbreak of the war.
Wikipedia quotes the surviving Captain Norton as saying "all the men got safely into the boats”
Most of the deaths were from hypothermia during the bitterly cold, -13 C, experienced during the night of 25th Jan 1917.
Alfred’s widow Brenda did not remarry but died in Swansea Sep qtr 1943 aged 65.
His daughter Mona married another HULLIN, this time William Henry in Sep qtr 1920 Gower [11a 3003] but they do not seem to have had any children.
She died in Swansea in December qtr 1981 Swansea [27 2573] aged 84.