Education & Career :

Mariner, Penryn, (1904).

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

Naval Campaign is defined as to include all sea operations where attrition rates are in ones and twos and which do not fall within specific naval battles such as Jutland, Coronel, Falklands etc. This includes Merchant Navy losses.

Detail :

Information from BRUNSWICK Lodge No 159 suggests that William Collings was in the Royal Navy, was Initiated 24th March 1904 by John Jeffrey and fell in action on 10th February 1917 at the age of 54. We have checked all combinations of COLLINGS/COLLINS against the CWGC data for both the Royal Navy and the Merchant Marine and nothing matches the date of death at any rank. Any further information would be gratefully received. Brunswick Lodge offers an insight into how freemasonry increased in popularity during and after the war. During the 10 years from 1915 to 1924 a total of 264 applicants were initiated into the Lodge, 40 in 1920 and 39 in 1919. The Lodge would Initiate, Passing and Raise candidates all on the same night, meeting 24 times a year. In 1924 the membership stood at 324 members, with over 30 Stewards listed. In 1921 our Grand daughter Lodge Victory No 4189 was Consecrated. Also this insight into supporting lodge brethren who were PoW's in Germany: The Lodge Minutes of December 5th, 1917 reference page 289, read. Proposed by W.Bro. J. Luscumbe seconded by W.Bro A.E. Crapper and supported by W.Bro J.T. Walk that we send a twelve shilling parcel each month to Bro G.W.N. Rowsell and Bro J.C. Bellingham while they are prisoners of war in Germany. (carried)

Masonic :

Discrepancies (Require checks, clarity or further research) :

The records at United Grand Lodge shows that William Collings was paid up with dues until 1919 and no recorded date of death. Also from the records it is suggested there is a father and two son combination at play. Requires further investigation.

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley