People on board

WATKINS, Frederick

Frederick Watkins was born in 1899 in Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire, Wales to Job Watkins and Jane Jones. He was the eighth of their nine children, all of whom were alive in 1911, and the youngest of four sons. Job Watkins was an Agricultural Labourer, later becoming a Domestic Gardener. In the 1911 census he was in the household of his employer, Major John Meredith, rather than at home though both were in the parish of Llansantffraid Pool. The third son, Alfred, then aged twenty was also a Domestic Gardener.

Frederick’s eldest brother Richard enlisted in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in 1915 but it was probably towards the end of the war that Frederick himself enlisted in the Royal Engineers. In October 1918 he was a Sapper in the Bedford “A” Signal Depot, the Recruit Depot, but it is not known why he was in Ireland. Returning on the 10th he travelled on RMS Leinster but did not survive the sinking. However his body was recovered and he was buried in Grangegorman Military Cemetery. His name is recorded on the War Memorial in Llanfechain Parish Church.