Heroes and Rebels in the Family Tree- George Strowger, Alonzo Gouldby Strowger and Herbert Alonzo Strowger
Heroes
and Rebels in the Family Tree- George Strowger, Alonzo Gouldby Strowger and
Herbert Alonzo Strowger
1. George Strowger 1827–1906
2. James Henry Gouldby 1830–1924
3. Mary Ann Gouldby 1832–1908
4. Edward Gouldby 1835–1910
George Strowger
George married Sarah Ann Elliot on June 16, 1848 in the
parish church of Kessingland. George
Strowger and his wife Sarah Ann Elliot had twelve children. They were:
1. Robert Strowger 1848–1922
2. George Strowger 1850–1916
3. William Strowger 1853–1945
4. Edward Gouldby Strowger 1855–1856
5. Mary Ann Strowger 1857–1940
6. Frederick George Strowger 1859–1946
7. Frederick George Strowger 1859–1922
8. Anna Maria Strowger 1862–1950
9. Alonzo Gouldby Strowger 1864–1916
10. Elizabeth Sarah Strowger 1866–1947
11. Lewis Strowger 1869–1955
12. Catherine "Katie" Sarah Strowger 1871–1947
For
28 years, from approximately 1867 until 1895, George Strowger was coxswain of
the Kessingland lifeboats and helped to rescue over 100 lives. In 1883, he received the second of 2 silver
medals granted to him by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in
acknowledgment of his long and gallant services as coxswain of the Kessingland
life boat. His first award was presented
to him in 1883.
Alonzo
Gouldby Strowger
Alonzo Gouldby Strowger was the ninth child of 12 born to
George Strowger 1827-1906 and Sarah Ann Ellliot 1828-1906. Alonzo was born on April 19, 1864 in
Kessingland and baptised in the Kessingland parish church on May 15, 1864.
On
July 23, 1896, Alonzo Gouldby Strowger married Priscilla Jane Haylett.
Alonzo and Priscilla had the following children:
1. Winifred Kate Strowger 1897–1958
2. Herbert Alonzo Strowger 1899–1963
3. Doris Haylett Strowger 1904–1974
4. Vera Haylett Strowger 1907–1983
Alonzo Gouldby Strowger was rated a Skipper on June 10, 1910
and joined the Royal Naval Reserve on January 11, 1915 and was place in command
of the drifter “Clover Bank”. Alonzo
Gouldby Strowger, had the pleasure of receiving the King on his Drifter at
Dover in 1915 to congratulate him on sinking a German submarine.
The following year on April 25th Skipper Strowger lost his
life with the rest of his crew when the “Clover Bank” struck a mine and was
blown up off the Belgian coast.
Herbert Alonzo Strowger was born on October 17, 1899 in
Kessingland and was baptised in the parish church there on February 4,
1900. Herbert was born in Kessingland in
1899 but moved to Caister in 1924 soon after his July marriage to Madge Kate
Read. Madge Kate Read was born in
December 1900 as the daughter of William Read and Emily Norton of Caister. They had two children—Fiona Madge and Alan.
Herbert Alonzo Strowger of Caister, Chief Officer of the
tanker SHIRVAN received a King's Bronze Medal at Buckingham Palace in February
1927.
The medal was awarded for his part in the gallant rescue of
the crew of the S. S. LALEHAM on March 31, 1926 having received an S.O.S at 1pm
from the Steam Ship bound from Chile to Ipswich with a cargo of barley.
A succession of gales 600 miles southeast of Halifax Nova
Scotia disabled the LALEHAM a ship of 4020 tons. Given the distress call, the SHIRVAN at once changed
her course to the position and arrived at 5.15pm.
The MAURITANIA also received the distress call but arrived
too late but wirelessed "Bravo SHIRVAN".
The LALEHAM had an extremely heavy list to starboard, her
boats washed away, broken Davits empty, derricks gone and deck house battered. The Lifeboat was sent from the SHIRVAN in
charge of Chief Officer Strowger but he dare not approach too near for fear of
the boat being stove in. The disabled
and waterlogged ship rolled heavily with the 37 crew gathered on the post side,
high out of the water.
Communication was established by a line on which a lifebuoy
was attached. Each man had to jump in
turn from a Jacob's ladder over the side of the LALEHAM with the Lifebuoy round
him, hauled into the boat, through the water after which the rope was hauled
back.
Each boatload of men were taken back to the SHIRVAN and
boarded by the same lengthy process. Darkness
was now a further danger but they returned to the vessel by sight of by barrels
blazing on her deck. The remainder of
the crew were saved with Captain Johnson the last to leave.
Chief Officer Strowger was thrown out of the boat but made
his way back to complete all rescues. At the age of 27 a remarkable feat for
him, second in command for only a year having qualified at 23 years old.
His boat owners and the Insurers gave him monetary rewards
for his plucky services.
A set of Binoculars inscribed "presented to Herbert
Alonzo Strowger in acknowledgement of his seamanship and skill in rescuing the
shipwrecked crew of the S.S. LALEHAM of London in distress in the North
Atlantic Ocean on March 31sr 1926"
Footnote:
The Strowger family has a long association with the local
fishing industry.
Genealogy:
Alonzo Gouldby Strowger 1864-1916 was the son of George Strowger
1827-1906 and his son was William Strowger 1853-1945 and his wife was Charlotte
Blowers 1856-1944 and her father was Joseph Blowers 1813-1897 and his mother
was Mary Sallows 1787-1833 and her mother was Mary Wilson Cullingham 1744-1823
and her mother was Alice Wilson 1702-1790 and her father was John Wilson
1687-1738 and his mother was Elizabeth Mones 1665-1716 and her father was
Philip Mewse 1629-1673 and his father was John Mewse (Fisherman) 1592-1667 and
his son was Simon Mewse (butcher) 1641-1719 and his son was Simon Mewse
(butcher) 1672-1741 and his son was Simon Mewse 1683-1736 and his daughter was
Mary Mewse 1727-1797 and her daughter was Elizabeth Curtis 1756-1831 and her
son was John Curtis Adams 1797-1873 and his son was William Frederick Adams
1848-1907 and his son was George "Pikey" William Welch-Adams
1867-1940.
Below is the article from the Yarmouth Independent newspaper acrchives:
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