Andrew Ephire King and Annie Jones

The former St. Luke's church
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Jonathan Thacker - geograph.org.uk/p/5436811

Annie Jones, only daughter of Nicholas Jones and Ellen White, married Andrew Ephire King, Chief Yeoman, United States Navy, son of Joseph Damos King and Josephine Martel, at St Luke's Church, Cork, Ireland on 18 Aug 1919. Witnesses were Frederick Joseph Lee and Nelly Jones.

Andrew Ephire King, b. 10 Nov 1894, in 1910, was in Dover, New Hampshire, with parents Joseph D King (39), Josephine (35) both Canadian, Andrew (15), Dina (13), Wilfred (12), Victor (10), Lena (9), Philip (4) and Amelia (2).

The couple met in 1917, wrote their daughter, Margery, "... when Dad was on one of the destroyers sent by the US Navy to patrol the south coast of Ireland and convoy supply and troop ships to English and French ports."

Later, "When Cork became "out of bounds" to the crews of the US Fleet when the Sinn Féiners attacked them, Dad asked Mum to come down to Rushbrooke / Queenstown to visit him. In this way, Dad became acquainted with Nellie and the rest of her family, often going to Rushbrooke for tea when he had a few hours liberty when his ship was in port." One entry from Andrew's diary:

April 24, 1918: "Liberty was granted today. I went ashore at 4:30 p.m. and went to see Nellie Jones. Today was her 24th birthday. She had made a chocolate cake and some cookies so we had a quite nice little tea party. I gave her a gold pendant for a gift. Novak came up about 7:30 with a fruit cake that his sister in Portland, Oregon had sent him. We had cocoa and some of the cake. Returned to the ship at 10:30 p.m."

After they married, Annie King applied for permission to depart for the United States, expecting to sail on USS President Grant on 6 Sep 1919, giving her future address in the US as 31 Chapel Street, Dover, New Hampshire.

Andrew and Annie had three children:

1. Douglas Andrew King born 23 Mar 1921 in Norfolk, Virginia
2. Edith M King born 22 Feb 1923 in Brooklyn, New York
3. Margery Ellen King born 6 Apr 1927 in Cork, Ireland

In 1920, Andrew King (25) and Annie King (29), were living in Duval, Florida.

In 1921, Annie King applied for a US Passport for herself, accompanied by her minor child, Douglas Andrew King.

In 1930, in Norfolk, Virginia, were Andrew E King (36), Annie King (40), Douglas A King (9), Edith M King (7) and Margery E King (3). In 1935, they lived in Portsmouth, Virginia. 

A record shows that on 7 Jul 1935, Douglas Andrew King (14) travelled from Cobh (Queenstown), on the RMS Laconia, arriving in Boston in 14 Jul 1935. Margery remembered them visiting the family in Rushbrooke in the 1930's.

And by 1940, they had moved out to San Diego, California, with Andrew E King (45), Annie King (49), Edith M King (17) and Marjory E King (12).

Andrew Ephire King sailed from Pearl Harbor on 7 Aug 1942, on USS Henderson, while she did service as a transport between California and Hawaii during World War II, arriving in San Francisco, California on 15 Aug 1942. He was still serving in WWII. Was he in Pearl Harbour the year before?

On 5 Apr 1945, Douglas Andrew King (24) married Daisy Mae Hadlock (19), daughter of Ivan Hadlock and Esther Smith, in Hampton, Virginia.

Margery and her mother travelled to Ireland and England, visiting Dave and Kitty in Rushbrooke, Queenie and Alice in Cork City, my grandparents in Birmingham and stayed with Marcella in Portsmouth, in 1946. Margery wrote that, "My mother had kept in touch with her cousins all through WWII while we were in the USA and was anxious to see them all again."

A licence had been applied for, for the marriage of Margery Ellen King to a ;Donald William Gemmel in January 1950, but this marriage never took place. Margery never mentioned this. No surprise. I always knew her as Mrs Margery Hamilton, but haven't been able to find any record of a marriage for her.

In 1950, Edith King married Kenneth Crawford, in Cork. Her parents went to Ireland for a couple of months for the wedding, and returned on RMS Franconia, leaving Liverpool on 21 Sep 1950, arriving in Quebec on 29 Sep 1950. The Crawfords had at least one son (name and birth date unknown, but thought to be still living in Ireland), as Margery often mentioned her nephew - who now has possession of Andrew Ephire King's detailed diaries.

Annie King of 28 Oceana Avenue, Ocean Park, Maine (wife of Andrew Ephire King, Retired Lieutenant Commander U.S.N.), died on 21 Dec 1950, at the Trull Hospital, Biddeford, Maine, aged 60, leaving her effects to her husband. Annie King is buried at, New Town Cemetery, Rollinsford, New Hampshire.

On 26 Sep 1953, Margery King left Cobh on the MV Britannic, presumably for her father's marriage, on 24 Oct 1953, at the Methodist Church, Plymouth, New Hampshire, to divorcee, Elma Marguerite Wyman (née Dunphy).

Andrew Ephire King, who died on 1 July 1983, Lieutenant commander United States Navy Mexican Border, WWI & WWII, is also buried in the family plot at New Town Cemetery, Rollinsford, New Hampshire.

Douglas Andrew King died on 13 Mar 2002.

We visited Margery in Ireland in 2014. Her sister, Edith, had died not long before. Margery must have died in 2016, which, sadly, we only discovered when the Post Office returned my correspondence. Her contribution to this research has been invaluable: even when the family stories she was told weren't quite true, they've provided valuable clues that I'll continue to pursue.

See also:

• The Queenstown Patrol – the US navy in Cork Harbour in WWI
• Passport photos of women who left Cork for the US
• Ireland’s US Navy ‘war brides’
• The US Navy at Queenstown

Frederick Thomas Stone and Kathleen Mullarkey

St Paul Street, Plymouth
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Derek Harper - geograph.org.uk/p/2333440

Frederick Thomas Stone, Leading Signalman, H.M.S. Sandhurst, of 9 St Paul's Street, East Stonehouse, Plymouth, second son of Tom Stone and Margaret Knapman, married Kathleen Mullarkey, tailoress, of 8 Admiralty Street, East Stonehouse, Plymouth, only daughter of Anthony Mullarkey and Maria Gloyne, at the King Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, on 4 Aug 1923. 

Witnesses to the marriage were the bridegroom's first cousin, Charley Stone (best man); Rosina Kathleen Stone, the bridegroom's younger sister (bridesmaid perhaps), and Anthony Charles Mullarkey, the bride's brother who probably gave her away. The bridegroom's father, Tom Stone, and the bride's father, Anthony Mullarkey (both deceased), had been Royal Marines, as were Charley Stone and Anthony Charles Mullarkey. 

Frederick and Kathleen had two sons: 

1. Frederick Anthony Stone born 25 July 1924
2. Douglas John Stone born 27 Sep 1927

Frederick Thomas Stone had enlisted in the Royal Navy as a boy of 15, on 6 Jul 1907 and served until 31 March 1924. He then re-entered on 30 May 1932 as a Signalman. As he was still living in Royal Naval Shore Signal Station Cottages in 1957, I think it safe to deduce that he served through both World Wars.

His naval record lists among his tattoos: an anchor on his right forearm; two female figures and a bird on his right forearm; Eagle, snake, Ensign, rose and thistle. Clasped hands and heart and 8 dots on left forearm. 

Royal Hospital School Bell Tower
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Roger Jones - geograph.org.uk/p/2513717

In 1939, Frederick A Stone was a boarder at the Royal Hospital School (usually shortened as "RHS" and historically nicknamed "The Cradle of the Navy"). I've been unable to locate Frederick Thomas, Kathleen or son Douglas in 1939.

On 11 Aug 1943, Douglas J Stone appears on a "List or Manifest of Aliens Employed on the Vessel as Members of the Crew" of the Marquesa, as an apprentice on his 1st trip to New York. He was 16, 5' 4" and 123lbs.

Part of the old Buckland Hospital, Coombe Valley Road
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Baker - geograph.org.uk/p/5105714

Frederick Thomas Stone of 5 Royal Naval Shore Signal Station Cottages, Old Folkstone Road, Dover, died on 11 Nov 1957, aged 65, at Buckland Hospital, Dover, leaving effects of £960 12s 5d to Frederick Anthony Stone, Chief Electrician R.N. and Douglas John Stone, Laboratory Assistant. As she isn't a beneficiary, Kathleen had presumably pre-deceased her husband, but I've [so far] been unable to identify the relevant record of her death.

Douglas John Stone died in 1985 in Kingsbridge, Devon, at 58.

Frederick Anthony Stone died, also in 1985, on 19 Mar, in Newport, Wales. He will have been 60. There is a record of a marriage of a Frederick A Stone in Newport, in 1950, which might explain his presence there.