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 crew and ended with the sinking of the smack Francis Roberts on July 28th 1918. Lowestoft’s fishing community paid a heavy price with over a hundred and twenty-six men and boys killed. The youngest was thirteen-year-old Redan Sydney Jefferies, a cook on the Vanguard.  These men and boys were civilians and sailed under the red ensign, however, they found themselves in the frontline of an economic war prosecuted by Germany.

Frederick George Lumsdaine, 18 was serving as a deckhand aboard the “Chrysolite”, built in1905 for Albert E. Dexter of Lowestoft and registered as LT 635.  The boat was a British fishing vessel (smack) of 57 tons.  On July 4th, 1917, Chrysolite was sunk by a mine from the German submarine UC-4 (Oskar Steckelberg), 4 miles north from the Haisbro lightvessel (barrage 335). All 5 persons aboard were lost at sea.  Among those killed onboard the “Chrysolite” were:

Thomas J. Smith, Skipper.  His body was later recovered by the crew of the fishing vessel “Successor”.

Olley Rudd, 59, Mate, son of the late William and Mary Ann Rudd (formerly Goffin). Born At Blundeston, Suffolk, England.

James Alfred Ashby, 31, Third Hand, husband of Gertrude Eliza Cook and great grandfather of Susan Brown of this group.  James Ashby left behind his widow and three young children.  Doris Emma, 10; Ethel May, 8; and James Frederick, 6.  Gertrude later married Richard Howarth in 1929.

William Collins, 16, Cook, born in Lowestoft.

According to the testimony of the Skipper Dennis King of the “Success” (LT 1007) he stated that both vessels had been fishing at 7.00 p.m. on 3rd July they were eight miles north, northeast, of North Haisborough Light Vessel. They kept company during the night and about 5.00 a.m. King observed Chrysolite was hauling her gear. Suddenly Chrysolite blew up and when the smoke from the explosion cleared away deponent could see nothing of her but a little floating wreckage. Success was hauling her gear when the explosion took place and as soon as the gear was secured, she sailed to the spot, and was there in a quarter of an hour. The small boat was put out and rowed around for five minutes, afterwards the body of the skipper T.J. Smith was retrieved. No sign of any other members of the crew could be seen and at 6.30 a.m. deponent cleared out of the wreckage and sailed for Lowestoft.

During 1968 part of her transit rail was trawled up by a Boston trawler Wayfarer with the letters CHRYSO.

The crew of the “Chrysolite” are remembered on the Tower Hill Memorial at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Greater London, England as well as the Lowestoft Memorial




On October 7, 1917, 17-year old Robert Willis Lumsdaine was serving aboard the Steam Drifter “Reliance” out of Lowestoft.  He was the cook for the crew of the fishing vessel.  The Commonwealth War Graves Commission listed his death as drowned as the result of enemy action.


The steam drifter Reliance (LT 694) sailed from Lowestoft on the Saturday, her owner Frederick Ernest Beane, expected Reliance to fish somewhere between Winterton Ridge and Smiths Knoll. The vessel was due back in Lowestoft on the Monday. Several boats had seen Reliance riding to her nets outside Winterton Ridge on the evening of October 6th, by daylight she was gone! William Westmate of the drifter Lord Roberts said, ‘they had just hauled their nets and had been below for five minutes when a heavy explosion was heard.
The ten crewmembers who perished were:

Skipper, John Albert Sarbutt (age 35)

Mate, George Richard Alexander (age 36)

Alfred Charles Crowford (age 34)

William Boggis (age47)

Frederick George Cable, (age 37)

Henry Charles Day (age 15)

Henry Owen Dickerson (age 41)

William Gibbens (age 44)

James William Gower (age 27)

Cook, Robert Willis Lumsdaine (age 17)


GENEALOGY:  Robert Willis Lumsdaine and Frederick George Lumsdaine were the sons of Margaret Ellen Lumsdaine (1875-1950).  Margaret Ellen was the sister of Robert Douglas Sutherland Lumsdaine (1871-1914) whose son was Edwin Douglas Sutherland Lumsdaine (1898-1964) and his daughter was Joan Lilian Lumsdaine (1926-1995).  Joan  Lumsdaine was the wife of Alan Gilbert Mann (1922-1980) and he was the son of Gilbert Maurice Mann (1892-1952).  Gilbert Mann was my grandfather on my mother’s side.

GENEALOGY:  James Alfred Ashby (1884-1917) was the husband of Gertrude Eliza Cook (1886-1964) and her mother was Mina Forster (1862-1941) and her sister was Caroline Forster (1864-1906).  Caroline Forster is my maternal great grandmother.

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