Pvt. George Ette RMLI
Service No. 45

A son of a single parent, Sarah Eytte, born in Great Doddington, Northamptonshire. His father, Samuel Chambers, a farmer, never took responsibility for the birth of his son and in fact avoided being served by the courts to take such responsibility.

Sarah eventually met, and married, a widower by the name of William George, with whom she had four more children who took their father's surname. However, George Ette retained his birth name otherwise he might have become George George.

Northamptonshire is known for its shoe making and like many others of the day George entered the trade. During this time, in his late teens, George joined the Northampton and Rutland Militia in which he served for one year. On the 29th of June, 1864 George then enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. He was nineteen years and two months old and stood five feet, six and one quarter inches tall. Eyes light blue and hair auburn in colour. His term of enlistment was for twelve years and he held the rank of Private. He must have re-enlisted as his records show that he served for a total of 21 years and 16 days, retiring from the Marines on the 14th of July, 1885. At some point in time he sailed to the Ascension Islands, with his wife, as his daughter Florence Rose Mary Ettie was born there in 1872. This was whilst aboard HMS Flora.

In all George served on four ships, They were HMS Cruiser, HMS Flora, the S.S. African and HMS Asia. This was the time during which the Royal Navy was converting from sail to steam power and from wooden to metal hulls but all of George's ships had sails.

HMS Asia and HMS Cruiser Some of George's enlistment records.

After his military service George settled in Gosport, Hampshire, England where he returned to his trade as a shoe maker. The 1901 census shows him as a Boot and Shoe maker on own account and working at home. It is interesting to note that when his son George was born his surname was mis-spelled on the birth register and his wife, Harriet Elizabeth Ette, who was illiterate did not notice this and signed the document with her mark. The new spelling has carried forward through the subsequent generations. George and Harriet lived at several addresses on Forton Road, Gosport and are believed to have carried on their business at a location that had once been a dairy. It is sad to note that Harriet outlived eight of her eleven children and George outlived seven of them.

Harriet Elizabeth Ettie (nee Clifton)	George is believed to have carried on business in the shop to the extreme right of this picture, on Forton Road, Gosport.