| Last updated: Thu, 08 Jan 2026 |
| PRENTICE, Percy George |
Family Historian Individual Narrative
Percy George PRENTICE, son of Charles Garnham PRENTICE (c. 1850- ) and Mary Ann BRADSTREET (c. 1853- ), was born on 17 February 1895 in South Lopham, Norfolk. He was baptised on 5 May 1895 in South Lopham, the ceremony was conducted by Rev. J F BATEMAN, Rector - parents Charles (labourer) and Mary Ann.
At the time of the 1901 Census, Percy was living at The Street in South Lopham - 6, scholar, living with parents Charles (51, stockman on farm) and Mary A (48), and siblings Charles (15, yard..... View full FH text (See notes below) |
| Birth: | 17.02.1895 : South Lopham, Norfolk : 1895 Q2 Guiltcross Norfolk Vol 4B Page 259 |
| Baptism: | 05.05.1895 : South Lopham, Norfolk |
| 1901 Census: | South Lopham, Norfolk : 6, scholar, living with parents Charles (51, stockman on farm) and Mary A (48), and siblings Charles (15, yard boy on farm), Ethel (13) and Jessie (10, scholar) (RG13 Piece 1866 Folio 20 Page 4 Schedule 30) |
| 1911 Census: | South Lopham, Norfolk : 16, carpenter, living with parents Charles (62, cowman on farm) and Mary Ann (59, house duties), and brother Fred (38, woodman) (RG14 PN11746 RD239 SD2 ED19 SN52) |
| Death: | 13.08.1915 : In the Mediterranean Sea |
| Memorial: | Turkey : Helles Memorial |
| Military: | The Commonwealth War Graves Commission grave registration entry for Percy was “PRENTICE, Pte., Percy George, 20673. 1st Bn. Essex Regt. 13th Aug., 1915.” (No full army service record has been found for Alan.) |
| Newspaper: | Diss Express and Norfolk and Suffolk Journal, 11 Aug 1916
DEATHS.
KILLED IN ACTION.
In loving memory of Percy Prentice, 1st Battalion Essex Regiment, youngest son of Charles and Mary Prentice, of North Lopham, drowned by the sinking of "The Royal Edward," August 13th, 1915.
'Tis hard to watch the parting breath, to soothe the heaving breast,
And gaze on those we fondly love, as they calmly sink to rest;
But, ah! 'tis harder far to see the loved ones leave the shore,
To be dashed within an ocean grave, to meet on earth no more.
This is the fate of him beloved, his memory is held dear,
No spot to mark where he repose, or shed on his grave a tear;
The tangled sea-weed is his shroud, it clings around his form,
Calmly he rests in his ocear bed, unmindful of the storm.
The storm king on him has no power; wild waves your revels keep,
You cannot break his rest, it is his last eternal sleep.
But we hope to meet him once again, where we shall happy be,
And praise our God unitedly, to all eternity.
From father and mother, brothers and sisters |
| Notes: | Percy was ‘lost at sea’ but was a soldier. He was being transported to Gallipoli as part of reinforcements, made up of British and Canadian soldiers, and medical staff. |
| Notes: | On the morning of 13 August 1915, in the Aegean Sea, the H.M.T. Royal Edward passed the British hospital ship H.M.H.S. Soudan, heading in the opposite direction. The German submarine UB-14 was off the island of Kandeloussa and saw both ships. The Soudan was allowed to pass unmolested, and attention was focussed on the unescorted Royal Edward. One of the of UB-14 's two torpedoes was fired from about one mile away and hit Royal Edward in the stern. She sank by the stern within six minutes. Different sources reported different numbers of casualties, as many as 1,386, Percy George being one of them. (Also lost in the same incident was another Lopham man, Herbert Sidney EMMS.) |
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