Things I don't know about John Vincent.
Tracing people is hard.
I am lucky to have 'insider information' in family documents and memories, but even those can only take me so far.
It is coming upto nearly 2 years of researching him.
For nearly 2 years I have thought of almost nothing and no-one else.
Whilst I have answered a LOT of questions, and some of them were pretty huge- there is still a long list of questions I don't yet know how to answer.
So; things I don't know:
Where did he go to School.
What kind of Education did he have.
When he went to sea.
How he ended up in Hull.
How he met Alice.
When he changed his name.
What happened in Tenerife when the Endurance landed there?
What he did during WW1- between Endurance and joining the RNR
How and When did he meet Janet.
What shipping company he worked for in Fleetwood.
What happened to his medals etc?
I'm sure I'll be able to add to this list, but until then...
Answers on a postcard please!
Thursday, 20 July 2017
Sunday, 16 July 2017
William Stephenson.
William Stephenson was another sailor on the Endurance, who lived in Hull.
Not just Hull, according to Shackleton's payroll he lived on the very street where John Vincent, and Endurance 3rd Officer Alf Cheetham both lived.
Bean Street, Hull.
Now, Stephenson has always been an elusive figure in the world of Polar History.
Every biography you come across states he was born in 1889, and died in 1953, and had been in the Marines at some point.
Curious I was to read his Marine record, I searched for him, using a family history website.
Nothing.
Well, lots really, many Stephenson's, but nothing at all to suggest that any of them were OUR Stephenson.
Until I found a picture of him online.
The picture was taken after the Endurance, but Stephenson looked at least 10 years older then his birth date dictated.
So I searched again, using the birthdate of 1880.
First record that appears. The 1911 census.
11 De La Pole Terrace.
Bean Street.
Hull.
William, a wife called Edith, and a daughter called Doris, born in 1910.
There is now no doubt that this is OUR Stephenson, as the exact address matches that on Shackleton's payroll.
Turns out, Stephenson was born in 1877.
He and his wife Edith (nee Binks) had three daughters. Doris (b.1910) Nellie (b.1912) and Gladys (b.1915)
Glady's birth is probably the most intriguing. Stepenson left for Endurance around August 1914, so his wife would have only just been pregnant when he left.
Did he know? Maybe, it's difficult to say.
Gladys was born in February 1915, so she'd have been over a year old when her father saw her.
However, her birth certificate is rather charming:
After Stephenson returned from the Antarctic, he signed up for the Royal Naval Reserve, and eventually was demobilized in 1922.
In 1927, he was admitted to Hull Infirmary for an operation to remove gallstones. Sadly he died from complications on the 20th April 1927. Just a day after his 50th Birthday.
He is buried in Hull Western Cemetery.
His address is once again listed as 11 De La Pole Terrace.
Quite why Stephenson has never been thoroughly researched before is unclear, possibly because he was one of the one's who like John Vincent, didn't receive the Polar Medal.
However I do have another theory, that Stephenson is often quoted as being in the Royal Marines. I believe this to be incorrect. I have not found a shred of evidence to confirm this, apart from a not in Orde-lee's diary that states Stephenson had been in the Marines.
On many of Stephenson's documents it states that he was a Marine Engineer.
I think what probably has happened is that Orde-lee's misunderstood Stephenson's job title (even if he was't an engineer on the Endurance) and stated Stephenson was in the Marines.
This has now been taken by researchers as fact, and a Stephenson who fits the dates has been found and traced instead.
The William Stephenson who was in the Marines was actually in service while the expedition was at the South Pole!
Whilst this amused me greatly, it is also rather alarming how much information is taken as fact, when the researcher has simply found someone who 'almost' fit's the bill, without opening and reading the document correctly.
Unfortunately I often have the same problem with John Vincent.
When researching people, you have no choice BUT to be through, otherwise you could be doing almost irreversible damage to someone's legacy.
Not just Hull, according to Shackleton's payroll he lived on the very street where John Vincent, and Endurance 3rd Officer Alf Cheetham both lived.
Bean Street, Hull.
Now, Stephenson has always been an elusive figure in the world of Polar History.
Every biography you come across states he was born in 1889, and died in 1953, and had been in the Marines at some point.
Curious I was to read his Marine record, I searched for him, using a family history website.
Nothing.
Well, lots really, many Stephenson's, but nothing at all to suggest that any of them were OUR Stephenson.
Until I found a picture of him online.
The picture was taken after the Endurance, but Stephenson looked at least 10 years older then his birth date dictated.
So I searched again, using the birthdate of 1880.
First record that appears. The 1911 census.
11 De La Pole Terrace.
Bean Street.
Hull.
William, a wife called Edith, and a daughter called Doris, born in 1910.
There is now no doubt that this is OUR Stephenson, as the exact address matches that on Shackleton's payroll.
Turns out, Stephenson was born in 1877.
He and his wife Edith (nee Binks) had three daughters. Doris (b.1910) Nellie (b.1912) and Gladys (b.1915)
Glady's birth is probably the most intriguing. Stepenson left for Endurance around August 1914, so his wife would have only just been pregnant when he left.
Did he know? Maybe, it's difficult to say.
Gladys was born in February 1915, so she'd have been over a year old when her father saw her.
However, her birth certificate is rather charming:
In 1927, he was admitted to Hull Infirmary for an operation to remove gallstones. Sadly he died from complications on the 20th April 1927. Just a day after his 50th Birthday.
He is buried in Hull Western Cemetery.
His address is once again listed as 11 De La Pole Terrace.
Quite why Stephenson has never been thoroughly researched before is unclear, possibly because he was one of the one's who like John Vincent, didn't receive the Polar Medal.
However I do have another theory, that Stephenson is often quoted as being in the Royal Marines. I believe this to be incorrect. I have not found a shred of evidence to confirm this, apart from a not in Orde-lee's diary that states Stephenson had been in the Marines.
On many of Stephenson's documents it states that he was a Marine Engineer.
I think what probably has happened is that Orde-lee's misunderstood Stephenson's job title (even if he was't an engineer on the Endurance) and stated Stephenson was in the Marines.
This has now been taken by researchers as fact, and a Stephenson who fits the dates has been found and traced instead.
The William Stephenson who was in the Marines was actually in service while the expedition was at the South Pole!
Whilst this amused me greatly, it is also rather alarming how much information is taken as fact, when the researcher has simply found someone who 'almost' fit's the bill, without opening and reading the document correctly.
Unfortunately I often have the same problem with John Vincent.
When researching people, you have no choice BUT to be through, otherwise you could be doing almost irreversible damage to someone's legacy.
Starting up again
It's been a while since I posted, and it has been rather a year of up's and downs.
Most of it is because we moved house, in April 2017.
Pretty brilliant as John Vincent came from the Black Country. To be prescise, Staffordshire, exactly where my new home was to be.
Now we've moved and settled. Time to start blogging again.
Most of it is because we moved house, in April 2017.
Pretty brilliant as John Vincent came from the Black Country. To be prescise, Staffordshire, exactly where my new home was to be.
Now we've moved and settled. Time to start blogging again.
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