William Samuel St John was my husband’s great-grandfather. He was born in Stoke Damerel (sometimes spelled Deveral), Devonshire on 1 Feb 1854. In 1870 he joined the Royal Navy. This information is from his service records.
His date of entry was 14 Jan 1870, for 10 years – as he was under 18 his father signed a consent form, declaring that William had his full consent, and that he had never had fits or been admitted to a reformatory.
Ranks Held
Boy 2nd Class 14 Jan 1870
Boy 1st Class 1 Jan 1871
Ordinary 2 Class 27 Feb 1872
Ordinary 1 Class 27 Aug 1872
AB 23 Sep 1874
Ships
Tamar – Troopship. She was launched in June 1863, and began her maiden voyage on 12 January 1864 as a troopship to the Cape and China. Commanded by Captain Francis William Sullivan, base ship
14 Jan 1870 to 31 Dec 1870 Boy 2nd Class
1 Jan 1871 to 23 May 1871 Boy 1st Class
Seringapatam – Commanded by Captain James Horsford Cockburn, receiving ship, Cape of Good Hope
24 May 1871 to 30 Jun 1871 Boy 1st Class Paid off
1 Jul 1871 to 15 Aug 1871 Boy 1st Class
Rattlesnake – flagship of Commodore John Edmund Commerell, Commander-in-chief, Cape of Good Hope and west coast of Africa
16 Aug 1871 to 5 Sep 1871 Boy 1st Class
6 Sep 1871 to 31 Jan 1872 Boy 1st Class
1 Feb 1872 to 26 Feb 1872 Boy 1st Class (18th birthday =1 Feb)
27 Feb 1872 to 26 Aug 1872 Ord 2C
27 Aug 1872 to 24 Nov 1872 Ordy
25 Nov 1872 to 31 Dec 1872 Ordy NS
1 Jan 1873 to 25 Mar 1874 Ord 1M Paid off
Naval Barracks
26 Mar 1874 Ord 1M
23 Sep 1874 to 31 Jul 1876 AB
Wolverene – Commanded (August 1876 – January 1877) by Captain Lindesay Brine, bring the ship out to Australia (to become commodores’ flagship). January 1877 – September 1878 commanded by Commodore Anthony Hiley Hoskins, Australia
1 Aug 1876 to 17 Dec 1878 AB
Sappho – left Australia station for England Aug 1878. Remained in England until 1881
18 Dec 1878 to 1 May 1879 AB
Naval Barracks
2 May 1878 to 10 Jul 1879 AB Shore by purchase
Paid £12 to buy himself out 10 Jul 1879
Ashanti Wars
While serving on the Rattlesnake, William and the rest of his crew were awarded the Ashanti Medal. You can read more about these wars here.
Later Life
The 1881 census shows him as a waiter in an inn in London. In 1884 he married Harriet Ann Fanny Roberts in St Saviours, London. Their daughter, Lilian St John, was my husband’s grandmother. William died in 1893, in Dartford, Kent, aged only 38.
Easter Family Genealogy 