Ellis Edward Sayer

Petty Officer 1st Class - Service No. J.7109 - Royal Navy

Ellis Edward Sayer, the illegitimate son of Mary Ann Sayer, was born on 30th January 1888 in Banham, Norfolk. Mary Ann was, in turn, the illegitimate daughter of Maria Ann Sayer, the daughter of Ishmael Sayer and his first wife Sophia (Sturman) of Bunwell, Norfolk. Ellis was brought up by his grandmother, Maria, who had, by now, married Edward James Hewett (a.k.a. Edward James Simons).

On 16th February 1904 Ellis joined the Royal Navy as a messenger boy. His Service No. was given as 362290 and he joined for "non continuous service - to age 23". On 30th January 1906 Ellis celebrated his 18th birthday by getting a tattoo on his left forearm comprising a flying dragon and a rose with the word "UNITY" and date "30.1.06" beneath. On 7th March 1907 he was discharged to shore as unfit. On 31st December 1907 he signed for Short Service of 5+7 years and received free clothing to the value of £4.6s.4d for so doing. He was now allocated service number SS.2202 to indicate his new status but he was still a messenger boy. From his service records it appears that he had gained 8 inches in height since joining the Navy four years earlier.

On 8th January 1910 his short service was converted to a continuous 12 years and he was allocated his final service number of J.7109. Able Seaman Sayer served on a variety of vessels but, at the outbreak of war in August 1914 he was serving on HMS Commonwealth, a King Edward VII class battleship of 15,500 tons and 777 crew. Unfortunately he suffered an accident while serving on board and, on 15th February 1917 he died at R.N Hospital, Chatham from injuries to his kidneys. Ellis was buried in Gillingham (Woodlands) Cemetery, Kent in Naval Plot, Row 26, Grave 1367. On 12th January 1918 he was awarded a promotion for which he had been proposed before his death.

His service records survive and we know he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. The relative informed of his death was "Mrs J Andrews, 7 West Street, Queen's Road, Norwich - Sister". This suggests that Mary Ann Sayer had at least one other child and probably died before her son but this has not been proven at present.

Return to WW1 1914-1918