1. My maternal great grandfather, William George Latham

William George Latham was born on 22 October 1870. According to the 1881 Census his father was William Latham and his mother Margaret. At the age of 10 he lived at 167 Leyden Street, Kirkdale and had, at that stage, four sisters and two brothers:

I never met William George Latham.

He was my mother's grandmother's husband and was in the Merchant Navy all his working life. What has come down to me are documents relating to his career at sea during the years 1892 - 1920, as a firemen, trimmer and greaser on a large number of merchant vessels sailing out of Liverpool at the height of that city's prosperity and wealth as an international port.

I'll make use of those documents here to try to retrace some of his life.

The first document is his "Continuous Record of Discharge" issued by the Board of Trade, which gives details of all his voyages from 21 August 1909 to 29 July 1920. Most of these voyages were between Liverpool and the Americas, in particular the ports of South America.

It appears from his signature on the front page (marked with a cross) that he may well have been illiterate, extremely common amongst working class people for the time, as even the beginnings of state education did not begin to appear until the Forster Education Act of 1870, the year of William George Latham's birth..

However illiterate he may have been, the record shows that his conduct on board ship was exemplary:

The other important document I have is a collection of Individual Certificates of Discharge for voyages he made between 1892 until 1900, like the one below:

Using these remaining documents, a picture emerges of a life spent at sea, crossing and re-crossing the Atlantic on a range of merchant vessels, sailing with the Mercantile Marine during the First World War, returning home periodically to spend time with his wife, my great grandmother, Mary Emma, and their three daughters, Mary, Georgina and Lizzie. My mum, his first grand-daughter, remembers as a young girl (in the 20s) being taken out for the day to New Brighton, desperate to baggsy the upstairs single seat on the "car" or tram.

My mum is now the only person alive who remembers her grandfather George, but maybe this small web presence will do a little to preserve some of his life.

The vessels he sailed on, and the voyages he made on each ship, include:

Name of vessel	Destination	Voyages documented	Image (Click to enlarge)	Links
Aquitania	see here for details	1915 (voyage abandoned)		link link
Bavarian	Mediterranean	1913	built 1895 scrapped 1928	-
Bothnia	Cuba	1899		-
Britannic	New York	1896 (2)		link link
Calderon	Brazils/New York	1910, 1911	no info.	-
Camoens	Brazils/R. Plate	1912	built 1900 scrapped 1924	link
Canning	Brazil	1909	no info.	-
Canova	Chile	1911	no info.	-
Cavour	Brazils/New York	1911	built 1905	link
Cymric	New York	1899, 1900		link link link link
Darro	Brazil/R. Plate mail	1916(6) 1917, 1918, 1919(2)	built 1912 scrapped 1933	-
Deseado	Buenos Aires	1915(2), 1917(2), 1918(2), 1920	built 1911 scrapped 1934	link
Desna	Brazil/R. Plate	1914(4), 1915, 1919(2), 1920	built 1912 scrapped 1933	link
El Paraguayo	R. Plate	1912(2), 1913	built 1912	-
El Uruguayo	R. Plate	1913	built 1911	-
Halwyth(?)	Brazils	1897	no info.	-
Homer	Brazils & New York, Antwerp, R. Plate	1898(2), 1900	built 1895	-
Germanic	New York	1894		link
Indore	Baltimore	1899(2)	built 1885	-
La Negra	R. Plate	1914	built 1913 sunk 1917	-
Lucania	New York	1896(3), 1897(2)		link link
Majestic	New York	1894(3), 1896(2), 1897		link link
Mentmore	Antwerp	1893	built 1882 sank 1900	link
Michigan (formerly Surrey)	Boston	1892(2)	built 1881 sunk 1918	link link
Mongolian	1893	Canada	built 1882 sold 1915	link link
Oceanic	New York	1900(2)		link
Orbita	West coast S. America	1920		link link link link link
Plantain	Mediterranean	1899	-	-
Ptarmigan	Lisbon/Oporto	1893	-	-
Romney	R. Plate	1909	-	-
Sagamore	Boston	1893(2)	sunk 1917	-
Sallust	Callao, Peru	1910	-	-
Teutonic	New York	1895(7), 1896(3)		link link link link link link

During the First World War, the Mercantile Marine Medal was awarded to those with sea service of not less than six months between 4 August 1914 and 11 November 1918, and who served at sea on at least one voyage through a danger zone. The British War Medal was instituted to record the successful conclusion of the First World War. Here's an image of George's medals. On the left is the British War Medal and on the right the Mercantile Marine Medal.

George's name is engraved on the rim of each.

Site created 6 February 2005
Last update to this page 18 March 2005

Copyright © Dave Evans 2005
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