Petty officer Frederick Barlow HMS Vanguard 1917

[Ron causton]

Hi, my great uncle was Frederick Barlow who was serving on HMS VANGUARD IN 1917 when it exploded and sank at Scraps Flow.

Does anyone have any photographs of him?

Thanks for your help.

 

Ron

 

[DavidOwen]

Ron

So far nothing found on FMP newspapers -  Sorry!

David

[Ron causton]

Thanks for your help David , I hope somebody else finds something.

Ron

 

[seaJane]

Someone a few years ago was collecting VANGUARD crew photographs and asked here for information. A forum search may yield results.

[PRC]

3 hours ago, Ron causton said:

Hi, my great uncle was Frederick Barlow who was serving on HMS VANGUARD IN 1917 when it exploded and sank at Scraps Flow.

None of the British armed forces routinely took pictures for identification puposes, so your best bet is likely to be if family \ friends \ workmates etc supplied one to a local newspaper. Of course they'd be likely to supply one to the newspapers they themselves read, and that would be more likely as well if the individual was well known in the area.

I see he is serving in the Royal Navy on the 1901 and 1911 Censuses of England & Wales, and was born in 1875, so looks like he had been away from where he grew up for some time. So unlikely he had much in the way of roots in any one community.

The 1911 Census of England & Wales has him recorded as the married head of the household at 99 Upper Milton Street, Gillingham, Kent. He lives there with his wife of 10 years, Kate, (aged 29, born Plymouth), and their four children:-

Gwendoline Kate, aged 8, born Plymouth, Devon.
Freda, aged 3, born Devonport, Devon
Walter, aged 2, born Portland, Dorset
Ellen Harriet, aged 3 months, born Gillingham, Kent

So from the childrens' birthplaces doesn't look like the family had put down much in the way of roots. However the person informed of his death was his wife and she still appears to have been living at the 99 Upper Milton Street address.

So may be worthwhile looking for newspaper titles that covered the Gillingham area. I know from my own experience in Norfolk that many newspaper titles have not yet been made available on line at all and others only go up to at best the first two years of the war. It may therefore be a question of visiting the County Archive and viewing what they have available on microfilm. Don't just limit yourself to a week or two after his death - a picture could have occurred at any time, (local men serving at outbreak of war \ reservist mobilised \ home on leave \ letter home \ anniversary of death, etc). Unfortunately that can mean reeling through miles of microfilm with no guarantee there is anything there to find - there may simply have never have been a picture of him. And I would be very surprised if anyone has indexed the microfilm copies.

But don't write off his parents, (if still alive) or for that matter hers. Again using the Norfolk example I've ended up with lots of pictures of men who were serving whose only connection to Norfolk comes through extended family. One of the staples is a family montage of a mother who is to be congratulated as she has (e.g.) 8 "sons" serving, but on inspection 4 turn out to be son-in-laws!

I believe this is the thread @seaJane is referring to and I see you have already posted there.

Good luck with your search,
Cheers,
Peter

[Ron causton]

Thanks Peter a great help. I have been in contact with family members I know and no luck. Family photos seem very scarce.

Ron

[Allan1892]

Had a good search for a photo but nothing found. Have you seen the attached snippet image of the Chatham Naval Memorial

[Ron causton]

Thanks, had not see this one