Isaac Elger Clayson (1892 - abt. 1967)

Born 9 Jun 1892 in Mount Morgan, Queensland, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Cecilia Ruby Lila (Seckold) Clayson — married 29 May 1943 (to 1967) in New South Wales, Australia

Died about 22 Jun 1967 at about age 75 in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Isaac Clayson was born in the Colony of Queensland (1859-1900)

Isaac Clayson has English ancestors.

Isaac Clayson is an Anzac who served in World War One.

Seaman Isaac Clayson served in the Royal Australian Navy in World War I
Service started:
Unit(s): HMAS Australia (1911)
Service ended:

Isaac Elger Clayson was born on 9 Jun 1892 in Mount Morgan, Queensland, Australia. He was the son of Isaac Clayson and Harriet Derbin. ^{[1] [2]}

He served on the HMAS Australia in World War 1 and saw service in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. ^{[3] [2] [4]}

He married Cecilia (Seckold) Clayson on 29 May 1943 (to 1967) in New South Wales, Australia. ^[5]

He died on 22 Jun 1967 in Lilyfield, New South Wales, Australia. ^{[6] [7]}

World War 1 Service - HMAS Australia

SEAMAN I. CLAYSON.

Mrs. Clayson, 117 Derby Street, has received the following letter from her son, Seaman Isaac Clayson who is on board H.M.A.S. Australia, and dated the 11th of March:-

"I am writing this letter in the earnest hope that it will find you and all at home safe and well. I am as well as ever myself.

"I cannot exactly let you know where I am at present, as but it will suffice to say that we are all well in the fighting line. I hope there will be something doing shortly, as it is very slow at present.

"I have not received a letter from you since I left Melbourne to join this ship. I heard about a ship being sunk that had a lot of Australian mails on board, so very likely whatever letters there were for me were lost.

"I suppose you have heard of some of the exploits of our ship about sinking a German auxiliary ship in the Atlantic. It was a sight I shall never forget. We sighted her about four o'clock in the afternoon about twenty miles off. I happened to be down on watch at the time when the order came through 'full speed ahead' and off we went at about twenty two knots an hour. We soon gained on her, although she was a pretty fast boat. When we were about five miles off we fired a 12 in. shot, which struck the water about ten yards from her. That brought, her to. She was trying her hardest to get away from us, but we were too fast for her. It was about six o'clock when we caught her up, and the crew was transferred to our ship, which took about two hours. Then they put two 12 in. and four 4 in. shots into her. My word! It was a grand sight to see those shots exploding. The first one they put right through the boiler-room, which put all the lights out, and the next five simply tore her to pieces. In almost half-an-hour from that time down she went stern first. Her bows stood right up in the air, with our searchlights playing on her all the time. It made one of the grandest sights you could think of. There are a lot of incidents that I would like to tell you of, but I will tell you all when I come home, on leave, which I hope will not be very long now.

In a letter to his father, dated the 26th of April, Seaman Clayton says-' "I received your welcome letter the other day and was very glad indeed to get a letter from you. I have not received much news from home, since I joined this ship; so you can guess how pleased I was when I received your letter. It used to be so disappointing to me to see all my mess mates getting letters and things, and me getting none. "I am still alive and as well as ever.

I have not come across any Germans yet, although we have been near them at times. Only last week when we were out he German fleet was reported to be out, and there was great excitement on board. The ship was cleared for action, but nothing came of it. I can tell you we were very disappointed. But they are showing signs of activity now. I think that before long now you will hear of a big action. You know we have been disappointed so often about meeting the enemy that we treat it as a big joke about them coming out at all.

"We had a big chase in the Pacific after that fleet out there, and it was only our ship, that kept them away from Australian shores. It is estimated that we steamed 48,000 miles looking for them. After that bit of fighting at New Guinea you know, we went to Suva and the Fiji Islands. We hung round there for about a month going ont and coming in again, but we struck nothing. Then we went to an island called Fanning, having heard about the Nuremburg cutting the cable there. We struck nothing there either so we steered straight across the Pacific to a bay called Camelia Bay, off the Mexi-can coast. There we picked up with three Japanese ships. So we coaled ship and were off again, this time to Galipagos Island having heard that the Germans had been there. They had certainly been there about three weeks before, because they had sunk a collier there, and we could see the masts sticking out of the water. We were on their track all right. It was at the next place, Perlas Island, about sixty miles from Panama, that we got the news of the sinking of the German fleet by Admiral Sturdee's squadron off the Falkland Islands. From Perlas Island we tried to get through the Panama Canal, but the Yankees would not stand us for some reason or other. We had then to turn round and steam right down round South America, some thousands of miles. We called at a place called Callao in Peru, and the people there gave us a hearty reception. They came out in hundreds in all sorts of craft to greet us. You could see that they have not time for Germans. We were only allowed to stop there for twenty-four hours, and then we steered south once more. The next place we called at was Valparaiso, the capital of Chili. We coaled ship there and were off again. This was about Christmas time. I think we were two days out from Valparaiso on Christmas Day. I remember we had Christmas Dinner at sea. We came throught the Straits ot Magellan. This is one of the prettiest sights you could wish to see. The straits are only about two miles wide, and at the water's edge are high snow-covered mountains. It was a sight worth seeing.

I would like to tell you more but I have the dog watch, and I want to have a bit of sleep before I go down below, so I will tell you more another time.

Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1875 - 1929), Saturday 15 January 1916, page 25 ^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Queensland Birth registration: Isaac Elger Clayson Birth date: 09/06/1892 Mother's name: Harriet Derbin McSorley Father/parent's name: Isaac Queensland Birth Registration 1892/C/12398
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} CLAYSON ISAAC ELGAR: Service Number - 4: Date of birth - 09 Jun 1892: Place of birth - MOUNT MORGAN QLD: Place of enlistment - SYDNEY: Next of Kin - GENT MARGARET https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=4408549&isAv=N NAA record
3. ↑ https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-australia-i HMAS Australia History
4. ↑ https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/SeriesDetail.aspx?series_no=CP979/2&singleRecord=T
5. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index: (NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages: accessed 13 Sep 2022), Index entry for ISAAC EDGAR CLAYSON and CECILIA RUBY LILA SECKOLD; District: NEWTOWN; Registration Number: 11559/1943
6. ↑ New South Wales Death Registration: Name: CLAYSON ISAAC ELGAR Registration Number: 3059/1967 Father's Given Name(s): ISAAC Mother's Given Name(s): HARIOT District: SYDNEY NSW Death Registration 3059/1967
7. ↑ death of Issac Elger CLAYSON on 22-6-1967, late of Lilyfield NSW. published in Sydney Morning Herald on 234-6-1967
8. ↑ SEAMAN I. CLAYSON. (1916, January 15). The Capricornian (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1875 - 1929), p. 25. Retrieved September 13, 2022, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article69368007