Francis Bonser (1881-1952)

Post date: Dec 06, 2015 3:19:49 PM

Francis Richard Thomas Henry Bonser (his full name or full initials were often used despite their length!) was born on 8th March 1881 in Shoeburyness, Essex to Thomas and Mary Bonser. Thomas was a gunner in the Royal Artillery. By 1901 Francis was a footman at the house of a solicitor in Richmond but he enlisted shortly afterwards, in 1903, in the navy. He was about 5ft. 4 inches tall, had light brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion with a small scar over his left eye and a scar on the 2nd finger of his left hand. He obviously got enough shore leave or service to meet Bessie Smith from Wateringbury who he married on 1st January 1907 in Wateringbury Church.

Bessie, born in Wateringbury, was 3 years younger than Francis, the daughter of Walter and Alice Smith who in 1891 were living in Pond Villa by the Telegraph in Wateringbury. Walter was a Coachman and Bessie probably attended Wateringbury School. Walter died young and by 1901 Alice had moved with to Mill Cottages with her 4 sons but Bessie, aged 17 had already left home. By 1911 Alice was living in Upper Mill.

Because of the connection to Bessie, Francis Bonser is listed by the vicar as a Wateringbury man serving in the armed forces during WW1, and the connection to the village was evidently strong as they had their daughter, Dorothy Bessie, baptised in Wateringbury Church on 2nd July 1915, and their son, Richard Walter, on 6th March 1917.

Francis' time in the navy saw many different assignments but from 3rd July 1913 to 6th January 1916 he was serving on H.M.S. King Edward VII as gunroom steward. H.M.S. King Edward VII was a pre-dreadnought battleship of 16,350 tonnes with 4X 12 inch guns, commissioned in 1905, one of a group of 8 battleships of the King Edward VII class. On 6 January 1916, King Edward VII departed Scapa Flow on a voyage around the northern coast of Scotland to Belfast, where she was scheduled to undergo a refit. At 10:47, she struck a mine that had been laid by the German auxiliary cruiser SMS Möwe off Cape Wrath. She sank after 9 hours but all the crew of 777 with one exception were taken off safely.

After periods of shore service Francis served amongst other ships on the Royal Oak (28 April 1916-16 August 1917), the Royal Sovereign (27 September 1917-28 August 1918). He left the navy in 1922.