Thomas Edmund Harrison (1879 - 1914)

Born 1879 in Sheerness, Kent, England

Ancestors

Husband of Maud Winifred (Godman) Harrison — married 26 Jun 1907 in Horsham, Sussex, England, United Kingdom

Died 22 Sep 1914 at about age 35 in HMS Aboukir, North Sea

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Biography

Early Years

Thomas was born in 1879^[1] to parents Commander Matthew Harrison, RN and Lucy Wedgwood. His father retired from the Royal Navy when he was 3 after a career of 18 years. Highlights of his career included exploration of Easter Islands and the discovery of the huge stone moai there and later the beautiful Crawford Bay area of British Columbia where he later emigrated to^[2]. No doubt his stories of maritime adventures fired the imagination of his children, especially Thomas who subsequently chose a career in Royal Navy.

Family

Thomas married Maud Winifred Godman on 26 Jun 1907 in Horsham, Sussex^[3]. The couple had three children:

Geoffrey Wedgwood Harrison (1908 - 1990)

Isabel Mary Harrison (1911 - 2002)

Sophie Maud Harrison (1914 - 1991)

Naval Career

On 15 Jul 1892 Thomas enlisted the Royal Navy as a Naval Cadet aged 13 years^[4][5]. His service records note that he was 'A clever young officer - first in his class' He became a Midshipman on 15 Dec 1894, Sub Lieutenant on 1 Jul 1899 and Lieutenant on 16 Oct 1899. In this time he served on several ships and qualified as a Torpedo Lieutenant 2nd Class. On 16 Oct 1907 Harrison was promoted Lieutenant Commander.

Lt Cdr Harrison gained a reputation from successive senior officers as an energetic and capable officer of very good habits. However in 1909 he fell foul of a Rear Admiral Morgan who recorded that he had twice warned him of drinking excessive wine. No doubt this was the result of an unfortunate incident or a clash of personalities with a senior officer, because the following entry in his service record took pains to trivialise the incident and stress that his further promotion should not be effected. In 1910 Vice Admiral Neville recorded his performance as 'magnificent', which no doubt served to balance the books. This was followed in 1911 by a strong recommendation by Captain Foot observing that he was '..likely to do well in higher ranks.' Further recommendations for promotion were recorded by Vice Admiral Hamilton in June and Dec 1912.

In Jan 1914 he was given leave for 'private affairs and subsequently placed on the Retired List at his own request.

He was recalled to service with the outbreak of WW1 and on 1 Aug 1914 was posted to Aboukir. The Aboukir was a Cressey Class armoured cruiser built around 1900. She was assigned to the 7th Cruiser Squadron along with two sister ships in August 1914 tasked with patrolling the North Sea in support of a force of destroyers and submarines protecting the eastern end of the English Channel from German warships attempting to attack the supply route between England and France.

Killed In Action

On the 21 Sep 1914 the three cruisers were separated from their destroyer cover, having been forced to seek shelter from bad weather. On the morning of 22 Sep 1915, before her escorting destroyers could rejoin her, the Aboukir was torpedoed by German submarine U-9. Lt Cdr Harrison was among the 527 men lost in the sinking. ^[6]. Lt Cdr Harrison's sacrifice is recorded in the Chatham Naval Memorial in Kent^[7].

A more personal family entry was made in the memorial register for the Coldharbour Monumental Inscriptions^[8]. This entry also attested to the death of Thomas' brother, Lt Cdr George Basil Harrison who was killed on 30 Dec 1915 when his ship, HMS Natal was lost due to an internal explosion.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=o2pD82yiYCEA5JMz%2F7E%2Biw&scan=1
2. ↑ (https://www.jjhc.info/harrisonmathew1926) HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHIES: ANCESTORS, RELATIVES & PEOPLE OF INTEREST TO JJ HEATH-CALDWELL , database online (accessed 1 Mar 2018).
3. ↑ https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=l0jA3kyRlzBB4Iztb97rTg&scan=1
4. ↑ The National Archives, Admiralty Records ADM 196/44 Executive Officer's Services, Harrison, Thomas Edmund Date of Birth: 16th April 1879 Rank: Lieutenant Commander (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7603196) Accessed 14 Apr 2022
5. ↑ The National Archives, Admiralty Records ADM 196/142 Summaries of Confidential Reports, Harrison, Thomas Edmund Date of Birth: 16th April 1879 Rank: Lieutenant Commander (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8121323) Accessed 14 Apr 2022
6. ↑ Probate: "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995"
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 1904 #191596 (accessed 14 April 2022)
   Thomas Edmund Harrison probate on 16 Dec 1914 in London, England. Died 22 Sep 1914 in Sussex, England.
7. ↑ * UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 and 1939-1947: "UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 and 1939-1947"
   1914-1921 > Memorial Register > Chatham Memorial Part 1 > image 56 of 126
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Image (accessed 14 April 2022)
   Thomas Edmund Harrison
8. ↑ * Coldharbour, Monumental Inscriptions: "Kent, England, Tyler Index to Parish Registers, 1538-1874"
   Coldharbour, Monumental Inscriptions > image 26 of 152
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Image (accessed 15 April 2022)
   Thomas Edmund Harrison

• "England and Wales Census, 1881," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q27Q-SM8Y : 8 December 2017), Thos E Harrison in household of Matthew J Harrison, Minster In Sheppey, Kent, England; from "1881 England, Scotland and Wales Census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing p. 47, Piece/Folio 979/107, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey; FHL microfilm 101,774,215.
• "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:4DNN-D6Z : 11 December 2017), Thomas E Harrison in household of Matthew J Harrison, Itchingfield, Sussex, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Sussex county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
• CWGC Casualty Details for Harrison, Thomas Edmund