DANIEL BURROWS
In a town like Portsmouth it's inevitable that sons will follow fathers into the navy, though in the case of Daniel Burrows the son didn't join until after the father had left.
The father in question was William Burrows, a native of Belfast. We first find him in 1881, as an Ordinary Seaman aboard HMS Duke of Wellington moored in Portsmouth Harbour. At some point he must have returned to Northern Ireland where he married Margaret from County Antrim and then brought her back to Portsmouth with him, as in the 1891 Census she appears at 33 Malta Road, Portsmouth with two sons William (b. 1885) and Francis (b. 1887).
By 1901 William had been discharged from the navy and he had become the landlord of the Red Lion Public House at 29 Havant Street, Portsea where he lived with his expanding family which now included Arthur (b. 1894), Daniel (b. 7th March 1895) and John (b. 1898). By 1911 the family had moved to 63 Union Street, Portsea.
At the outbreak of war in August 1914, Daniel Burrows joined the Royal Navy at Portsmouth. This would have been fairly unusual in that the navy was more or less fully manned at that time and took on relatively few recruits. Perhaps there was a demand for stokers, for that was his role aboard the first and only ship on which he sailed - HMS Amethyst. In March 1915 Daniel Burrows was killed in an accident on Amethyst in the Dardenelles.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission list Stoker 1st Class Daniel Burrows (K/20453), Royal Navy, serving on HMS Amethyst, died 14/03/1915. Son of William and Margaret J. Burrows, of 63, Union St., Portsea, Portsmouth. Remembered on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial (Panel 8).
Daniel Burrows is also remembered on the St. George's Church WW1 memorial and the Cenotaph.
He is listed in the 'National Roll of the Great War' Section X, p. 35 with the narrative "He volunteered in August 1914, and was posted to HMS Amethyst. He did valuable service in the Eastern Mediterranean and was unfortunately killed in the Dardenelles area while attempting to pick up a cable on February 14th 1915. He was entitled to the 1914-15 Star and the General Service and Victory medals. 63 Union Street"
Tim Backhouse
December 2013