| Our Ettie story begins around 1800 in the towns and villages of
Northamptonshire including Northampton, Wellingborough, Great
Doddington, Grendon, Higham Ferrers, Aldwincle, Benefield,
Brigstock and Rushden. The name is recorded under a wide variety
of spellings including Ettie, Ette, Eytte, Eyte, Eite, Eeet, and
Eete. A descendant of James Eytte stated that his grandfather told
him that two brothers from Denmark were the first to bring our
name to England. The grand daughter of William Ettie had her DNA
tested and it suggested that she was part Scandinavian which lends
credence to this story.
This left Sarah in some difficulty. She, her sister and mother are recorded as being members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints from which Sarah was excommunicated for adultery, presumably as a result of the foregoing.
Sarah's son George grew up in Great Doddington and, like many men and women of the Northampton area, was employed in shoe making. On 29 June, 1864, at the age of 18, he joined the Royal Marine Light Infantry (RMLI).
George's first ship was HMS Cruiser. His Royal Marine headquarters was Portsmouth which is how subsequent generations got to call Gosport, Hampshire their home. After his military service George returned to his trade of shoemaking. The Etties lived at several locations on Forton Road, Gosport one of which may be pictured above. The building on the extreme right showing as the Forton Dairy is said to have later become a cobbler's shop. This is in the approximate location where George lived when he returned to his trade.
George married Harriet Elizabeth Clifton on 24 Dec 1865 in Alverstoke, Hampshire, England where they raised their family. Florence Rosemary M. Ette, the second child of George and Harriet, was born on the Isle of Ascension while all of her eight siblings were born in England. George's two surviving sons, George (2) and Oliver, were born in Alverstoke/Gosport, Hampshire and followed him into the RMLI. George (2) then transferred to the Royal Navy while Oliver, nicknamed "Jumbo", stayed in the Marines. George (2) became a ship's cook.
powered HMS Active and Iris to the purely steam powered HMS Latona.
Oliver was a Bugler on board the cruiser HMS Orlando, during the "Boxer Rebellion", when it dispatched its marines and sailors to relieve the besieged city of Peking. For his part in this action Oliver was awarded the China Medal and bar for the relief of Peking. Sadly, having survived this conflict, Oliver was shot and killed by a fellow Marine who accidentally discharged his gun while cleaning it.
On 25 December 1905 George (2) married Amy Louise Hall in St. Andrew and St. Philips Church, N. Kensington, London, England. Witnesses to the marriage were Amy's brother Harry Frank Hall, who died at sea in the "Great War", and her sister Laura Kate Hall, better known in later years as "Aunt Queen".
They had six children, three boys and three girls. Near the end of his life George (2) left the navy and worked in a bakery in Gosport but missing the life at sea re-enlisted after about 18 months on shore. On his first trip after returning to the navy he was hospitalized with Malaria in Capetown, South Africa where he died at age 43. He is buried in Woltemade Cemetery, Capetown. His last child, Kate, was only six months old when he died.
Woltemade Cemetery official entry of death. Cause is shown as Cerebral Malaria. Amy Louise's relatives also saw service in the Royal Navy. Her brother Harry Frank Hall died in the North Sea when his ship, the cruiser HMS Hogue, was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U9 and her nephew Sidney Alfred Charles Hall served on board the battleship HMS Commonwealth.
Unable to raise six children on a widow's income Amy was forced to place her three boys, George (3), William and Patrick, in various institutions. She had the choice of placing them in care of the Free Masons or with the Royal Hospital School, Greenwich and upon the advice of others she enrolled them in the Greenwich school.
Admission requirements for the school were clearly defined including the fact that, upon graduation at age fifteen, they would be sent to sea if positions could be found for them. In other words upon enrollment their fates were sealed i.e. they were essentially commencing a career in the Royal Navy as early as age nine. In school they wore naval uniforms (above, see Bill aged 13) and upon graduation were assessed for their suitability for naval service.
From the Royal Hospital School they went to a shore based training establishment, HMS Ganges, for basic training and after what appears to be one year there they were posted to their first ship. George went to the battleship HMS Emperor of India, Bill to battleship HMS Rodney and Pat to cruiser HMS Danae. George trained as a Submarine Detector, Bill a Purser and Pat a Gunner.
All three saw action in WWll and survived. George, while on board the newly commissioned cruiser HMS Belfast, witnessed the sinking of the battleship HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow and later had his own ship, HMS Belfast, seriously damaged when it activated a magnetic mine in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. He was then hand picked to run the maintenance and training at the new, and secret, antisubmarine base, HMCS Avalon, in St. Johns, Newfoundland for which he was awarded the British Empire Medal.
William (Bill) was on board the cruiser HMS Cairo, during "Operation Pedestal", while escorting a convoy to relieve the besieged island of Malta when it had it's stern blown off by a torpedo from the Italian submarine Axum. Patrick (Pat) also had his ship, the battleship HMS Nelson, damaged by a mine in Scotland then later, while serving on the battleship HMS King George V, participated in the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. George was selected to serve on the new cruiser HMS Belfast and was sent to Belfast, Northern Ireland where it was under construction. He was on board during her sea trials and was billeted in Belfast where he met his future wife. Similarly Pat was stationed in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with the new battleship HMS King George V, where he met his future wives. George, Bill and Pat's military careers have been outlined here:- George , Bill, and Pat . After at least three generations of Etties in military service the next generation opted out. Most stayed in England and Northern Ireland while several moved to Canada where they produced a further generation or two. |
