William Louis Cross, Royal Navy in ww1

[2ron2]

Good morning, I hope this is a place to start as I have no background location on my ancestor. But his Navy history may mean looking in London.Admiralty?

William Louis Cross b May 1893 by family stories ran away from home (Norwood Ontario, Canada) and joined the navy at age 12! He surfaces in 1921 back in his home town, visiting and marries. His marriage registration says he is a widower and it has been confirmed in the family. He apparently had a son with his first wife (name unknown) in England  and nothing more is known of the child. While he is visiting his parents at this time a newspaper report in the local news mentions he had served in the Royal Navy in ww1, Of special interest is the fact he survived THREE ship sinkings: "Mr Cross sailed the seas for several years and during the war with the Royal Navy. Three of the vessels upon which he sailed were torpedoed and each time he had a narrow escape form the fishes - once near Gibraltor and twice in the Mediterranean."

I would assume he was a recipient of medals and may have received some special recommendation for his survivals, but I can find no information to that effect. Websites I have accessed to date for military/naval records have drawn a blank. Hoping I can get some assistance to find out more about this ancestors unique past, ships he served on, etc.

[J.J.]

The freeBMD shows another William Louis Cros born Wantage 1897  http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl
Here is his stint in the Royal Navy which unfortunately may also have been the source of fame of which you speak...
unless of course they gave his Canadian background in the publication...
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?queryType=1&resultcount=1&Edoc_Id=7151362

Being that your ancestors are placed nicely visible in both censuses, except for your Wm in 1911, I think you need to rephrase your request. BY "I have no background location on my ancestor" I presume you mean during his stint in the Navy? as it sounds as though you might not know know his past...
Perhaps a request to be moved to the forces board might drum up help...although I saw nothing else under any other versions of his name either...J.J.

[J.J.]

There are several border crossings for a William L. Cross...port landings in Maine U.S....and an entry England to Canada...on *A* although it looks as though the latter says born England...
Perhaps someone can do lookups for these entries / if any born Ontario, Peterborough / Norwood to find a clue as to his title of service, etc.. J.J.
Looking at other sites where you have requests, after the marriage to Eva Killingbeck he uses the middle name as his forename...name Lewis W Cross....

[J.J.]

and maybe you can research these vessels further:
1. April 25 1918 -  TB90, British, Torpedo Boat - capsized in bad weather off Gibraltar.
2. November 9, 1918 - Britannia, British, King Edward VII call Pre-Dreadnought Battleship
Torpedoed by German submarine UB50 near Cape Trafalgar on the way to Gibraltar.  She was hit by two torpedoes and took nearly three hours to sink and 50 crew were lost.
3.  November 1,1915 - TB96, British, Torpedo Boat Collision with troopship Tringa off Gibraltar.
http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/sunk.html

 

[2ron2]

Thanks for your information. I know he was born in Norwood On on May 6,  1893 to robert Jones Cross and Adelia woods.  So the Wm Louis Cross of 1897 in England may just be a coincidence.  Your suggestion of placing info on the Armed forces site might help. It's odd that if he was in fact on three ships that there doesn't appear to be any record. Someone suggested he might have been in the merchant marine but I've had no success there either.

[jorose]

Merchant navy is more difficult to trace, unfortunately, and difficult to do online:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/RdLeaflet.asp?sLeafletID=128

Or if he was registered in Canada:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-913.006-e.html

looking at freebmd, marriages of William L. Cross:
 1912, to Alice H Radmall, not him, this family were still having children into the late 1920s.
 1913, to Constance A Downing  -found one likely child, but was a daughter, no early death for Constance.
 1917, to Emma B Bradbury - at least one likely child, a daughter, no early death for Emma B.
 1918, to Edith E Walters, in Sculcoates - there is a son, Frank L, b. Sculcoates in 1919. Didn't find a death for Edith, either, but who knows.

The 1918 one looks the most likely, but that combination of names doesn't seem to be rare enough to pin them down if they moved out of the area after 1919.

[J.J.]

There is now a Death March quarter 1922 for an
Edith E Cross age 28 / Burnley vol. 8e  p.445

[2ron2]

Thanks jorose and jj

Your information is narrowing the search.

Unfortunately everything is just off enough to not "fit: William married Eva Killingbeck in Norwood in May, 1921 (I have the marriage registration and the newspaper notice). The likely candidate of Edith E dying in 1922 as the first wife is off by over a year. Unless of course he wasn't a widower at the time time of his second marriage as he stated.

Yet, the information that he was widowed and there was a son does make Edith E Walters a likely candidate, and Frank L is the "missing and unknown" son.. As of yet I have had no luck tracing down service records etc.......

[J.J.]

There is the possibility that he also may have been married as "William" no middle name...of which there are tons...
It's odd that there is no record for him...He is a war veteran, so you'd think someone might have a record of his war service...Was there nothing in his obit? J.J.