Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Tower Hill Memorial | London | |
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.120 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 14B GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Early Life :
The majority of this legend is courtesy of Geoff Cuthill of the Province of West Lancashire, to whom the project is grateful.Samuel was born on 20 March 1879 at Douglas in the Isle of Mann, to John Henry Craig and Jane Maria Craig (nee Mylechreest), who had married on 16 June 1872 at Bradden, Isle of Man. By the time of the 1881 census the family have moved to 20 Mountjoy Street, Everton, Liverpool and John Henry is away at sea but his mother Jane is there with Samuel aged 2, and his two elder siblings, John Thomas age 8, born at Douglas, and Margaret Jane age 5. The following census of 1891 has the family at 32 Tintern Street, Kirkdale, showing 43 year old John Henry at home, his occupation ship’s cook, and there is another child 8 year old Elizabeth. Both John and Samuel have dropped the use of their first name and are recorded as Henry.
Samuel cannot be found in the next census of 1901, but his mother now aged 49 and his 18 year old sister Elizabeth are at 69 Makin Street, Walton. Samuel is not on the census as he is at sea with the White Star Line, aboard Campania having served previous for quite some time. onboard the Lucania.
Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: SS Princess Royal |
| Action : Naval Campaign |
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 :
At the age of 23 Samuel married Ellen Fay aged 21 on 4 February 1903, at Walton on the Hill, his father given as John Henry Craig, and Ellen’s’ as David Fay. The 1911 census finds Samuels’s wife Ellen staying at the home of her sister and brother in law Charles and Elizabeth Strother at 28 Willmer Road, Birkenhead, Ellen is given as age 29, born 1882 and married for eight years. It is thought Samuel and Ellen had a son the following year, 1912, born at Birkenhead who they named Harry.
Samuel met his death while sailing as a Purser on a vessel owned by the Liverpool Company of M Langlands & Sons, the "SS Princess Royal", due to drowning, following a torpedo attack by the German submarine, U101, a patrol vessel built in 1917, which carried a crew of 39.
His ship, the “SS Princess Royal”, pictured here at anchor in Oban Bay, Scotland, was registered in Glasgow, and built in 1912 by the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company of Dundee. A defensively armed merchantman she was on a voyage from Swansea, South Wales, to Le Havre, France, with general cargo when she was hit and sank in the English Channel 3 miles off St Agnes Head. Samuel, with eighteen fellow crew, lost their lives on this day, Sunday 26 May 1918.
The index for wills and probate has Craig, Samuel Henry of 37 Brattan Road, Birkenhead, mariner in the merchant service died 26th May 1918 at sea. Administration Chester 2nd December 1918 to Ellen Craig widow. Effects £305.2s.3d. Ellen would later move to 459 Woodchurch Road, Prenton, Birkenhead.
Samuel is commemorated on the Liverpool Masonic Hall Memorial, in Hope Street, the Tower Hill Memorial, London, the Scroll of Honour within Freemasons’ Hall, London, and on page 26 of the Masonic Roll of Honour published by United Grand Lodge in 1921 which has Craig, Samuel Henry, Eng.-Lieut. R.N.R.
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Everton No. 823 E.C. | West Lancashire |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
7th May 1911 | 20th September 1911 | 20th December 1911 |
Samuel was initiated into Everton Lodge No 823 on 17 May 1911, age 32, occupation given as a Chief Steward residing at 28 Willmer Road, Birkenhead. He was passed to the second or fellow-craft degree on 20 September and raised in the third as a master mason on 20 December 1916. His Grand Lodge certificate was issued on 30 December 1911.
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