Golding / Golden / Goulding et al Family History on Facebook
>> Thank you to Ally Dowd for sharing this story.
Cyril Clarence Golding was born in Gravesend, Kent, England in 1899. He enlisted as a Seaman in the Royal Navy in 1917. His number was J76570 344256. He was 5 foot 3 1/4 tall, had blonde hair and blue eyes and a 34 inch chest. He had a fresh complexion.
Cyril was born 7 Jun 1899 in Gravesend, Kent, England and died 28 Oct 1948 in Willesborough Hospital, Ashford, Kent. His parents were William Golding, 1869 – 1950, and Ellen Jane Manning, 1865 – 1940.
There is dispute about the grandparents of Cyril Clarence Golding. Two sets of possible grandparents are listed within different family genealogies:
- Possible grandparents: Richard Golding (1832-1914)and Olive Smith (1836-1919)
- Possible grandparents: Abraham Golding (1840-1892) and Hannah Naomi Nethercoat (1840-1923).
Prior to enlistment he was a Machine Hand at the Townsend Hook Paper Mill, Snodland, Kent. Cyril served at the HMS Pembroke I training establishment at the RN Barracks in Chatham as an Ordinary Seaman. Character: V good. Ability: Satisfactory.
He served on HMS Blanche, a minelayer. She made 16 mine laying trips and laid 1238 mines during World War I.
On 3 Sep 1917 Cyril encountered hostilities when 4 Gotha bomber aircraft crossed the English channel and bombed Thanet, then Sheerness dockyard and finally the drill hall at Chatham dockyard where Cyril was stationed. The local paper reported the death of 136 naval ratings in the incident, mostly from glass splinters at 11:12pm. Cyril survived. Cyril was awarded the British and the Victory Medals and the 1914/15 Star.
The glass windows above would later horribly kill most of those naval cadets that had assembled below when German Gotha bombers turned the glass into shrapnel.
Cyril Clarence Golding died in 1948 in the Willesborough Hospital, Ashford, Kent, England, a building converted from a Union Workhouse into an NHS hospital in 1948.
Learn more at http://www.workhouses.org.uk/EastAshford/
He is buried in Snodland Cemetery. Cyril left his wife, Mildred M Adkins, £445, 6s, 7d in his will.
You are welcome to add to or to correct this story by contacting: Bill Golden, Norfolk1956@gmail.com
BTW – I look forward to sharing your stories, photos and in-search-of quests. Contact me at the email address above.