Frederick George Lumsdaine, Robert Willis Lumsdaine and James Ashby
Margaret Ellen Lumsdaine (1875-1950) married Robert Willis (1877-1951) on December 23, 1900 at St. Margaret’s Church in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. Their children were Helen Rachel Lumsdaine (1897), Frederick George Lumsdaine (1898), Robert Willis Lumsdaine (1900), Joseph Willis (1903), Edward (1905), Jessie M E Willis (1906) and Mary Willis (1908). By the outbreak of World War I, the family was living at 194 Clapham Road in Lowestoft. Both Frederick George and Robert Willis were working aboard British fishing vessels when tragedy struck. Margaret Ellen Lumsdaine and Robert Willis were notified of the tragic loss of their eldest son Frederick, 18 years old and within three months received notice of the loss of their second son Robert Willis who was only 17 years old at the time of his death. For the fishermen of Lowestoft the Great War started on November 3rd 1914, when the steam drifter Fraternal struck a mine and sank with the loss of three of her cre...