People on board

COLE, George Frederick

George Frederick Cole was born in 1889 in Bethnal Green, London to George Alfred Cole and Eliza Parker. He was the second of their four children and the elder son. George Alfred was a Cabinet maker as his father had been before him. In 1891 the family was living in Abbey Street but by 1911 they had moved to the Waterlow Industrial Dwellings. These were built from 1863 by philanthropist Sir Sydney Waterlow to improve the living conditions of workers’ families in Bethnal Green.

In 1911 George Frederick, then aged twenty-one, was working as a Waiter while his older sister Florence was an ‘Envelope Cementer’ and his younger brother was a Clerk. In July 1916 George Frederick married Susan Hilda Standding, (sic) a Sewing Machinist, from Hoxton in London. Aged twenty-seven, he gave his occupation on the marriage certificate as Private, 1st London Regiment, Royal Fusiliers. There do not appear to have been any children born.

The limited military records available do not indicate when he had enlisted in the London Regiment or if he had been on active duty with them in France. Neither is it known when he transferred to the Royal Defence Corps but he was with the 462nd Protection Company in Ireland in October 1918. Presumably returning home on leave, 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.