CHARLES WILLIAM MARSHALL
In common with many members of the Royal Navy, Charles William Marshall's connection to Portsmouth would have only been occasional visits with his ship until that is he got married and set up home in the town.
He had been born in Horfield, Gloucestershire, near Bristol, in 1877, to parents Richard and Susan Marshall. He probably joined the navy soon after leaving school but details of his maritime career are largely unknown. In the 3rd quarter of 1910 he married Beatrice Maria Ellaway in Portsmouth. She was not a local woman having been born to parents James and Mary Ellaway at Lydney, also in Gloucestershire, in 1887. She was probably known to Charles William from his days at home, though being ten years younger than him they must have met on a visit to Gloucestershire some years after his entry to the navy.
It is possible that Beatrice was pregnant at the time of the marriage as she birth to a son, Donald, in the first quarter of 1911. The census a few months later recorded the family living at 152 Malins Road in Buckland.
At the outbreak of the Great War Charles William was serving aboard HMS Black Prince. The ship took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916 where she was sunk with the loss of all 857 members of her crew, including Charles William Marshall. Details of the action can be found on Wikipedia.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission list Stoker Petty Officer Charles William Marshall, (277140), Royal Navy, HMS Black Prince, died 31/05/1916. Has no known grave and is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial (Panel 16). Husband of Beatrice Maria Marshall, of 42, Langley Rd., Buckland, Portsmouth.
Charles Marshall may also be remembered on the Cenotaph (but only as Marshall C.) He is not listed in "The National Roll of the Great War", Section X.
Tim Backhouse
August 2014