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The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Able Seaman Ernest Sillett from West Brom


rmtruby

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Does anyone have any information on Able Seaman Ernest Sillett from West Bromwich, who served on HMS Cressy?

Thanks,

Ray

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Have you got his service papers from the PRO/NA?

Naval papers are essentially complete and his ADM188 should be available and cheap for a researcher to get.

Cressey was a reactivated vessel, manned with a mix of regulars and reservists, which served in the Channel Squadron in 1914.

If his service number has a J prefix it shows he was a regular (at least at some point) and joined after 1907, otherwise he could have a SS prefix for Short Service (12 years and less) or just a plain number if he joined prior to this date.

If he was a reservist his papers will also be available, but you might need to inform researcher in case he never actually served in regular RN.

Also, have you looked on the CWGC to ascertain death details (I presume he was a casualty, but if you cannot find him under Sillett you may need to omit one or more of the letters, e.g. Sillet, Silett, since they do make mistakes with uncommon surnames), and the 1901 Census on-line to find out about his family - can't be too many Sillett's spelt this or any other way.

Richard

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sillett ernest h, A.B. 173052 HMS CRESSY lost at sea 1914

west brom book of rem.

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks.

Ray

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  • 15 years later...

Just to confirm, the man in question is Able Seaman Ernest Henry Sillett 173052, born in Ipswich, Suffolk on 11 February 1878.  He is on a West Bromwich war memorial because he had moved there before his death, his next of kin being listed as his wife, Florence Sillett of 54 Roebuck Road, West Brom.  He had joined the Navy in 1893 and had purchased his way out of the service in 1902, joining the Royal Fleet Reserve.  He was called up and joined H.M.S. CRESSY on 2 August 1914, and was lost with her on 22 September 1914.

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Yes, he is.  Naval casualties are commemorated on one of the three large memorials at Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth/Devonport.  CRESSY was a Chatham ship, thus AB Sillett is commemorated there.  I have no specialist knowledge of the war memorial in West Bromwich, but it will have been erected by local initiative, and all of the people on it will also be commemorated on grave stones or memorials erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

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Presumably the letter that was sent to confirm his death is lost. And I assume such things would not be in any archives ?

I don’t think the other Sillett is related. But thanks for sharing the info 

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Able Seaman Harry Sillett 186985 was born in Cliffe, Kent on 6 September 1878, so he cannot have been a brother.  He was, in any event, not on H.M.S. CRESSY, but her sister, H.M.S. HOGUE, which was sunk in the same action.

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21 minutes ago, Malcolm12hl said:

Able Seaman Harry Sillett 186985 was born in Cliffe, Kent on 6 September 1878, so he cannot have been a brother.  He was, in any event, not on H.M.S. CRESSY, but her sister, H.M.S. HOGUE, which was sunk in the same action.

 Thanks for clearing that up Malcolm...I spent two hours looking for him this morning...I'd missed the Hogue caption!!

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1 hour ago, Puyjapin said:

Although saying that on family search I can only go as far back as Ernest on the male line. So possibly he did have a brother...

 

   Just a suggestion...the truth is you can't get far with the genealogy without having to pay....if you don't want to spend a fortune but want to make some progress ....sign up just for a month on Ancestry or Findmypast...quite a lot of info readily available. If you do, cancel before the end of the month or they will auto renew at the end of the period.

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2 hours ago, Puyjapin said:

I’ve seen some poor reviews with ancestry. Might try the other one.  I don’t mind paying a monthly subscription if I can get some interesting info 👍🏼

   I'm not going to knock Ancestry, I've read some of the reviews and a large percentage of those seem to be from folk who've done the DNA test and are disappointed that their family history is not laid out before them...the ads do give that impression though tbf. There is no one site that has everything, and some of the most important records you can only find by visiting archives or ordering BMD certs from the GRO. Ancestry can be useful for a quick fix, if you find a tree on there similar to yours... you're sorted, the only thing to remember is that people often get them wrong so you need to do your own verification.

  Findmypast has a real edge in some areas though and Freebmd is also really useful....plus Wikitree. Even Google and DuckDuckGo, comes up trumps sometimes

  If you're interested in giving it a go send me a pm...I've got a bit of a guide for newbies( part written) that you're more than welcome to.

Edited by sadbrewer
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I will have to join to have a look. Sorry to sound naive but what sort of information does the link on ancestry have about him that I May not already know ? Cheers. 

 

And thanks sadbrewer I may drop you a line 

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