The Tragic Loss of 'Will and Maggie'

 

Memorial in London for those lost at sea

 on the sinking of the fishing vessel 

WILL AND MAGGIE

 

Harry Flowers (1866-1914) was born on August 14, 1866, in Kirkley, Suffolk County, England to William Flowers (1828-1921) and Emily Moir (1828-1915). He was the fifth child of six born into the family, but not the first of his namesake.  An older brother named Harry was born in 1858, but died in 1864 before he was six years old.  Harry’s oldest sibling was a girl named Louisa, but the next five children born to Emily were all boys. 

Harry Flowers was the son of an agricultural labourer, but Harry grew up with a desire to be a fisherman. Perhaps this desire was fueled by older brother George working as a quay labourer on the docks or his brother William who was working as a fisherman at age 18 or perhaps just the proximity to the sea calling him to a new adventure.

On January 4, 1891, Harry married Sophia Rebecca Pitcher in Carlton-Colville, Suffolk, England.  Their children were:

Kathleen May Flowers (1892-1917)

Sophia Rebecca Flowers (1897-1986)

Harry Edward Flowers (1898-1966)

Wilfred Sidney Flowers (1907-1983)

Alfred John Frederick Flowers (1910-1989)

By 1914, Harry was working as a fisherman aboard the fishing vessel WILL AND MAGGIE.  By the time World War I began in Europe on August 4, 1914, Germany began laying mines around the coast of England.  Sadly, on November 3rd, 1914, the trawler WILL AND MAGGIE (100 GRT) was mined and sunk 17 miles E by N from Lowestoft. 6 lives were lost, 4 survived. Harry Flowers was among those killed.

Frank Edward Newrick (1897-1914) was born in July 1897, in Carlton Colville, Suffolk County, England to George Newrick (1850-1906) and Griselda Goldsmith (Goldspink) (1857-1926). He was the twelfth child of thirteen born into the family.  Frank Newrick was only 17 and serving as a fisherman on the Will and Maggie when it was sunk after striking a German mine in 1914.  His life is also commemorated on the Tower Hill Memorial in London.

People on board the fishing vessel WILL AND MAGGIE:

1. FLOWERS, HARRY (47), Fisherman, FV Will And Maggie, Mercantile Marine, †03/11/1914, Son of William and Emily Flowers; husband of Sophia Rebecca Flowers (nee Pitcher), of 84, Morton Rd., South Lowestoft. Born at Kirkley, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial

2. GOWER, GEORGE ALFRED, Skipper, FV Will And Maggie, Mercantile Marine, †03/11/1914, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial

3. GOWER, WILFRED (17), Fisherman, FV Will And Maggie, Mercantile Marine, †03/11/1914, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial

4. MOWER, WILLIAM HENRY (23), Deckhand, FV Will And Maggie, Mercantile Marine, †03/11/1914, Son of Horace and Elizabeth Ann Mower; husband of Agnes Elizabeth Mower (nee Block), of Olive Cottages, Beccles Rd., Carlton Colville, Suffolk. Born at Carlton Colville, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial

5. NEWRICK, FRANK EDWARD (17), Fisherman, FV Will And Maggie, Mercantile Marine, †03/11/1914, Son of the late George and Griselda Newrick, of 25, South Elm Lane Terrace, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, Memorial: Tower Hill Memorial

6. STEEL, FREDERICK (32), Engine Driver, FV Will And Maggie, Mercantile Marine, †03/11/1914, Son of William Steel and the late Jemima Steel; husband of Ellen Maud Steel, of 67, Suffield Rd., Gorleston. Born at Acle, Suffolk, Memorial: Tower Hill

Genealogy:  Harry Flowers (1866-1914) was the husband of Sophia Rebecca Pitcher and father of Kathleen May Flowers and Sophia Rebecca Flowers.   Kathleen May Flowers married William Adams (1889-1948) in 1912 and after her death in 1917, her younger sister married William Adams (1889-1948) in 1925.  William Adams was the younger brother of George "Pikey" William Welch-Adams (1867-1940).

Genealogy:  Frank Edward Newrick (1897-1914) was the younger brother of Ethel May Newrick (1886-1960).  Ethel's son was Arthur Jellicoe Bunn. (1919-1997) husband of Evelyn May Gilbert (1919-2005),  Evelyn Gilbert was the daughter of Edith Mary Bullard (1884-1971), grandaughter of Lydia Ann Thacker (1849-1917), great-grandaughter of Sarah Ann Cole (1827-1903).  Sarah Ann Cole was the daughter of Lydia Cotton (1794-1876), grandaughter of John Cotton (1766-1832) and great-grandaughter of Elizabeth Foster (1732-1780).   Elizabeth Foster was the sister of Samuel Forster (1740-1815) who was the great- great- grandfather of Caroline Forster (1864-1906).  Caroline Forster was the wife of George "Pikey" William Welch-Adams.




Memorial gravestone for Harry Flowers and burial plot for his wife and daughter.



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