Maurice John Bossence Blackford RN

Canvey Island Essex

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Generation One

1.  Maurice BLACKFORD, b. 1806 in Palgrove, Suffolk, d. Jun qtr 1874 in Truro District, Cornwall, resided 1841-1851 in Colewell, Freshwater, IOW, resided 1861 in Government Building No 5, Veryan, Cornwall, resided 1871 in Portloe, Veryan, COrnwall, occupation 1871 pensioner. He married Mary Ann ?, married c1837, b. 1817 in Penzance, Cornwall, resided 1881 in Milton in Gravesend, Kent, occupation 1881 Annuitant.

                             Children:

                      i.     Albert BLACKFORD, b. 1837 in Freshwater, IOW.

            2.      ii.    Richard BLACKFORD b. Sept qtr 1838.

                      iii.   Caroline BLACKFORD, b. Jun qtr 1844 in Freshwater, IOW.

                      iv.   Charles Henry BLACKFORD, b. Mar qtr 1848 in Freshwater, IOW.

                      v.    Maurice John BLACKFORD, b. Mar qtr 1851 in Freshwater, IOW, d. Sept qtr 1906 in Holborn, London. He married ?, married Dec qtr 1881 in Weymouth, Dorset.

                      vi.   Lavinia Eliza BLACKFORD, b. Sept qtr 1854 in Freshwater, IOW, baptized 21 Sep 1854 in Freshwater, IOW.

                      vii.  Patience Mary Amelia BLACKFORD, b. Dec qtr 1859 in Veryan, Cornwall, baptized 7 Nov 1858 in Veryan, Cornwall.

Generation Two

2.  Richard BLACKFORD, b. Sept qtr 1838 in Freshwater, IOW, resided 1841-1851 in Colewell, Freshwater, IOW, resided 1861 in at sea?, resided 1871 in 6 Range Road, Milton, Gravesend, Kent, resided 1891 in 10 Coastguard Buildings, Weymouth, Dorset, occupation 1871 Chief Quatermaster Commander in the Navy, occupation 1881 Naval Officer at sea, occupation 1891 Chief Officer of Coastguards. He married Charlotte Elizabeth GEE, married Dec qtr 1863 in Weymouth, Dorset, b. 1840 in Southampton, Hampshire, resided 1881 in 40 Peacock Street, Milton, Gravesend, Kent.

                             Children:

                      i.     Kate Mary Amelia BLACKFORD, b. Mar qtr 1865 in Weymouth, Dorset.

                      ii.    Alberta BLACKFORD, b. Sept qtr 1867 in Weymouth, Dorset.

                      iii.   Charles Maurice R BLACKFORD, b. Dec qtr 1869 in Poole Distric, Dorset, d. Sept qtr 1897 in East Stonehouse, Devon.

                      iv.   Maurice John Bossence BLACKFORD, b. Sept qtr 1873 in Gravesend District, Kent, d. 19 Nov 1933 in Rochford District, Essex, buried in St Katherine's Churchyard, Canvey Island, Essex.

                      v.    Arthur Edgar BLACKFORD, b. Dec qtr 1875 in Gravesend, Kent.

                      vi.   Rose Charlotte E BLACKFORD, also known as Rosa, b. Mar qtr 1879 in Gravesend, Kent.

                                 vii.       Alfred Ernest E BLACKFORD, b. Mar qtr 1883 in Weymouth, Dorset..

The ancestors of Maurice John Bossence Blackford RN 1873-1933

Maurice's grandfather, also called Maurice was born in Palgrave, Suffolk and served in the Coastguards from 1827 to 1866 serving in Freshwater in the Isle of Wight where Richard, Maurice jnr's father, was born in 1838. Richard served in the Royal Navy he was a Chief Quartermaster Commander in the 1871 census stationed in Gravesend. He was 'at sea' in the 1881 census and in the 1891 census he too was in the Coastguards.

Maurice, born in 1873 when his father was stationed in Gravesend, followed his father into the Navy. According to his Navy records he signed up in 1894 for twelve years. He was a short man standing only 5 feet 5 1/2 inches tall. His record states he had dark grey hair, hazel eyes and fair complexion. He had a tattoo on his left arm and a scar on his right hand.

Maurice served on several ships during his 16 years in the Navy and the most significant one I have found is HMS Orlando. The other ship he served on were HMS Royal Oak, Prince George, Revenge, Excellent, Pandora, Crescent, Psyche, Gibraltar and Victory.

At the beginning of the operations the Orlando had a complement of 486 officers and men, of whom 31 were sent to Peking, 112 to Tientsin, 104 accompanied Sir Edward Seymour, 99 took part in the capture of the Taku Forts, and 16 were absent in lighters, etc., in the river, leaving 124 on board. Yet, with all these men absent, the Orlando steamed 900 miles and brought the Chinese Regiment from Wei-Hai-iAfei. Captain Burke died on the passage home. Her casualties were 5 killed and 26 wounded."

HMS Orlando returned to Britain in 1902 and was sold in 1905.

As an ERAS (Engine Room Artificer) it is possible that Maurice was one of the 124 crew members who stayed onboard and steamed the 900 miles for reinforcements. His Navy records tell us he was aboard the Orlando from the 16 February 1899 until July 1902.

His last posting was on HMS Victory in Portsmouth before being transfered to the Royal Navy Hospital Haslar. He was invalided out of the Navy on January 7 1909.

At some point after 1909 he moved to Canvey perhaps because of the close proximity to the sea. He died in 1933 aged 60 and was buried in St Katherine's Churchyard.

A memorial to HMS Orlando can be found by clicking here Memorials and Monuments in Portsmouth City Centre (HMS Orlando)

HMS Orlando was a Royal Navy armoured cruiser built by Palmers at Jarrow. The ship was launched on the 3rd August 1886 being completed on June 1888. The ship's first tour of duty was the Australian station in 1890. The Orlando left to go to China where she took an active part under Captain J.H. Burke in suppressing the Chinese outbreak in 1899. The Orlando was the first to arrive on the scene when trouble arose, and it was her Naval Brigade which originally undertook the defence of Tientsin. Captain Burke's gallantry, and that of the brigade he commanded during the long and arduous fighting, which resulted in the capture of the city, formed the subject of a special dispatch.

HMS Orlando