People on board

CANNELL, George Robert

George Robert Cannell was born in 1900 in King’s Lynn, Norfolk to George Henry Cannell and Ellen Currey. He was the youngest of their three surviving children, two having died in infancy. In the 1891 census, when they were living in Norwich, George Henry gave his occupation as ‘Brushmaker Out of Work’, while Ellen was a Silk Weaver. By 1901 the family was in Checker Street in King’s Lynn and Ellen was a Charwoman. George Henry has not been located in that census. In 1911 the family was still in Checker Street, George Henry was a ‘Brewer’s Servant’ and his eldest son, William Henry aged sixteen, was an Errand Boy.

George Robert Cannell worked as an engineer at Cooper Roller Bearings in South Lynn before he enlisted in the Bedfordshire Regiment (Service Number 49379) in Norwich in 1918. He then transferred to the Essex Regiment. In October 1918 he was with the 1st/8th (Cyclist) Battalion which had moved to Ireland in February 1918 and was in Tulla and Naas in October. He was presumably returning home on leave when he travelled on RMS Leinster on the 10th of October. He did not survive the sinking nor was his body recovered.

His name is recorded on the Hollybrook Memorial in Southampton and on the King’s Lynn Roll of Honour (whose website provided some of the information above). He is also recorded on the Memorial Window in All Saints Church, South Lynn.