People on board

DEAN, Albert Sidney

Albert Sidney Dean and his twin brother Ernest were born on 19 November 1899 in Cambridge. Their parents, Albert James Dean and Rose Agger had an older daughter and five further children. In the 1901 census they were living with Albert James’ father, also Albert, and his older sister in Benson Street, close to the University. Albert Snr. gave his occupation as ‘Tailor’, while his son was a ‘Barman’. In 1911, his father having died, Albert James and Rose were living in Histon Road with their family, in the same district, and Albert then described himself as a ‘Journeyman Tailor’.

In December 1915 Albert James enlisted in the R.A.M.C. at the age of forty-six and worked as a Medical Orderly in Cambridge. The military records do not show when his son, Albert Sidney, enlisted in the Essex Regiment where he was assigned to the 8th (Cyclist) Battalion. This Battalion was responsible for the defence of part of the low-lying Essex coast, and they were especially important in reporting the approach of enemy aircraft towards London. At the time a bicycle was the most efficient means of getting this information to the nearest telephone or telegraph.

It is not known why Albert Sidney Dean was in Ireland and returning to England on RMS Leinster on 10 October 1918. Aged only nineteen, he did not survive the sinking, but his body was recovered and he was given a military funeral and interred in Grangegorman Military Cemetery in Dublin.