James Henry Tubb and Susannah Bussey

HMNB Portsmouth and HMS Victory
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © David Dixon - geograph.org.uk/p/4091430

James Henry Tubb (b. 1 Apr 1834), son of William Tubb and Sarah Ruff, married Susannah Bussey, daughter of Benjamin Bussey and Elizabeth Bowen, on 10 Nov 1857, at the second, St. Mary's Church, Portsea.

James and Susannah had six children:

1. Sarah Elizabeth Tubb b. 1858 S Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Volume 02B Page 337, bap. 6 Feb 1859 at St Mary's Church, Portsea. 
2. James Alfred Tubb b. 24 Dec 1861 (1862 M Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Vol 02B Page 424), bap. 23 Feb 1862 at St Mary's, Portsea. 
3. William Henry Tubb b. 1863 D Quarter in SOUTHAMPTON Volume 02C Page 8, bap. 1 Jan 1865 at All Saints' Church, Southampton (regularly attended by author Jane Austen while she lived in Southampton and Pre-Raphaelite painter Sir John Everett Millais was baptised there.) 
4. George Ernest Tubb b. 1866 J Qtr in SOUTH STONEHAM Vol 02C 65, bap. 8 Jul 1866, as George Emett Tubb, in Freemantle. 
5. Nelly Tubb b. 1868 M Quarter in PORTSEA ISLAND Vol 02B Page 471. 
6. Minnie Beatrice Tubb b. 1877 in Australia. 

James Tubb, from Landport, Hants, born 1 Apr 1834, 5ft 8in tall, with fair complexion, brown hair and grey eyes, had enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Boy First Class at 16, in 1850. James Tubb (16), Sailor was listed on the 1851 census in his parent's house, in Marylebone Street, Portsea.

James Henry Tubb's Naval Career:

• HMS Victory - 15 Mar 1850 to 21 Jun 1851. Not the obsolete ship, but the Shore Establishment that was given her name.
• HMS Retribution (1844) - 22 Jun 1851 to 14 Dec 1851. A a wooden paddle frigate. [Naval Database] 21 Jun 1851 Orders received to prepare to take troops to the Cape of Good Hope with HMS Sidon (1846). 30 Aug 1851 Cape of Good Hope.

The Russian (Crimean War) War of 1854 - 1856:

• HMS Britannia (1820) - 15 Dec 1851 to 13 Mar 1855. Oct 1853 Circa. At the Dardanelles 970 men, Vice-Admiral J. W. D. Dundas. Captain T. W. Carter, with rest of Mediterranean Fleet. 17 Oct 1854 1st Bombardment / Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855)
• HMS Nile (1839) - 14 Mar 1855 to 20 Apr 1857. [Naval Database] Crimean War in the Baltic: On 18 September 1855, Nile's boats boarded and burnt some Russian vessels, reportedly near Hammeliski (possibly Humaliski on the island of Björkö, now called Primorsk, Leningrad Oblast) 20 Sep 1855 Nile and 3 gunboats detained the vessels Victoria and the Ottawa. 4 Feb 1856 Devonport. In Harbour. 24 Feb 1856 Devonport. 26 Feb 1856 arrived at Spithead from Plymouth to join the Baltic Fleet. 23 Apr 1856, Present at Fleet Review, Spithead; under Captain Mundy

This is the second of my relatives to have served in the Baltic during the Crimean War and also the second to have taken part in the 1856 Royal Fleet Review, Spithead. At the review, HMS Duke of Wellington was at the head of the Port line, while, according to the report in the The Illustrated London News, 26 April 1856, "Abreast of the Port line the Royal George led the Starboard [...] Then came the Nile ..." So not only were both sides of my family represented at the 1856 Royal Fleet Review, they were on both sides of the line and their ships were almost side-by-side. Incredible.

• Still with HMS Nile until 20 Apr 1857, on the North America and West Indies Station. 29 Jan 1857 arrived Havana (Cuba) from Port Royal (Jamaica). 3 Feb 1857 departed Havana for Bermuda.
• On 21 Apr 1857 until 8 Feb 1858, James was assigned to HMS Excellent (shore establishment), the "stone frigate", sited on Whale Island near Portsmouth. (Again, not the only family member to have spent time at HMS Excellent.) It was while he was stationed here that James Henry Tubb had married Susannah Bussey.

HMS Marlborough in Valletta harbour, sometime between 1858 and 1864.

• From 9 Feb 1858 until 22 Mar 1861, HMS Marlborough (1855) which will have taken him back to the Mediterranean. Feb 1858 Commissioned, Delayed sailing 128 days due to a lack of men. 1860 Flag Ship, Mediterranean. 22 Mar 1861 Paid off.

In 1861, James Tubb (27) Seaman RN, was listed as living in Landport View, Portsea, with wife Susan Tubb (26) and daughter, Sarah Tubb (2).

• From 23 Mar 1861 to 14 Apr 1862 back at HMS Excellent.
• From 15 Apr 1862 through to 7 Aug 1866, James was with HMS Boscawen (1844), which from Feb/Mar of 1862 had been hulked as a Boys training ship in Southampton Water. (This explains son William Henry Tubb's baptism taking place in Southampton, in 1865.)
• A third stint at HMS Excellent from 8 Aug 1866 to 5 Oct 1867.

Taken at Williamstown, Victoria,
between 1870 and 1879.
Port broadside view of the wooden
steam battleship HMVS Nelson.

Then from 6 Oct 1867 to 14 Feb 1868, James was with HMS Nelson (1814). Given his history, I'd first thought they'd mean the shore establishment of the same name, but it was, in fact, an actual ship. Nelson was given to the colony of Victoria, and sailed for Australia in October 1867, thus James was on that handover voyage. Clearly, this also gave him the opportunity to see that part of Australia that the family would later make their home.

Back in Portsmouth between 15 Feb 1868 and 1 Mar 1869, James was, once more, assigned to HMS Victory shore establishment. 

James' final assignment, from 2 Mar 1869 until his retirement from the Royal Navy on 31 Dec 1870, was with HMS Duke of Wellington (1852), at which time she replaced HMS Victory as flagship of the Port Admiral at Portsmouth (with Victory becoming her tender), her duties consisting of firing salutes to passing dignitaries, such as Queen Victoria on her way to Osborne House. As a Gunner's Mate since 6 Sep 1860, James may even have helped fire those salutes.

In 1871, Susan Tubb (37) Seaman's wife, was living at 11 Besant Terrace, Portsea with Sarah (12), James (9), William (7), Ernest (5) and 'Millie' (Nelly) (3).

''Queen of Nations'' by Richard Ball Spencer

On 19 Mar 1873, Susan Tubb (38), Sarah E (14), James A (10), Wm Hy (9), George E (6) and Nelly (4), departed from Plymouth, Devon, England, on the clipper, Queen of Nations. They arrived in Melbourne after a journey of around 140 days. (I've [so far] not seen a record of how James Henry got back to Australia, but I wouldn't mind betting he worked his passage.)

Susan Tubb (née Bussey) died on 20 Aug 1912 and is buried in Williamstown Cemetery, Williamstown, Victoria, Australia. She will have been 80.

James Henry Tubb died on 8 Nov 1922, and is also buried in Williamstown Cemetery, Williamstown, Victoria, Australia. He will have been 88.

The Family Grave of J H Tubb at Williamstown Cemetery, Victoria, Australia Photo: Suzy & Rob

• Sarah Elizabeth Tubb married Alfred Burgess Tregurtha on 12 Feb 1883. Sarah died on 25 Feb 1946. Both are buried at Williamstown Cemetery.
• James Alfred Tubb married Evelyn Winch. James Alfred Tubb died on 23 Nov 1918 (aged 56) and is buried at Williamstown Cemetery, Williamstown, Victoria, Australia.
• George Ernest Tubb married Margaret Curtis, in Victoria, Australia in 1891. George Ernest Tubb, son of James Henry and Susan Tubb, died in Rylstone, New South Wales, in 1938.
• Nelly Tubb married Walter Beverley Wood in Victoria, Australia, in 1890. Nelly Wood died, aged 25-26, on 12 Apr 1895.
• Minnie Beatrice Tubb married Henry John Manderson. Minnie died on 6 Jul 1967 in Hawthorn, Boroondara City, Victoria, Australia.

William Ebenezer Eastabrook and Mary Connolly

Victorian villa, Marionville Road
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © kim traynor - geograph.org.uk/p/1606980
The house stands in the grounds of St. Ninian's and Triduana R.C. Church.

William Ebenezer Eastabrook, second son of Samuel Ebenezer Derry Eastabrook and Eliza Back married Mary Connolly, in 1909. Listed in Scotland Roman Catholic Parish Marriages in Edinburgh, Restalrig, Midlothian, this is likely to have taken place at Ss Ninian & Triduana R C Church. 

William and Mary Eastabrook had four children:

1. Mary Magdalen Eastabrook b. 1910 J Q in MEDWAY Vol 02A Page 771
2. Eliza Winifred May Eastabrook b. 1911 J Q in MEDWAY Vol 02A 782
3. William Ebenezer Eastabrook b. 13 Jan 1913 in MEDWAY Vol 02A 1452
4. Thomas James Eastabrook b. 1917 J Quarter in MEDWAY Volume 02A Page 1178. Died 25 Jun 1917 J Quarter in MEDWAY Volume 02A Page 999 and is buried at Grange Road Cemetery, Gillingham.

In 1911, William Eastabrook (29) Plumber Royal Navy, was living in Gillingham, Kent, with Mary Eastabrook (25) from Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, and Mary Eastabrook (0), born in Gillingham, Kent. 

(The only birth of a Mary Connoly (sic) - other records use Conley and even Connoloy - is in 1882 D Quarter in BERWICK Volume 10B Page 374, which does compute with age given at death, with mother's maiden name of MORAN. Although, I haven't [yet] found a corresponding family.)

William Ebenezer Eastabrook, born 28 Mar 1882, from Devonport, Devon, naval record shows that he enlisted in the Royal Navy on 20 Nov 1906, as a Plumber and served for 22 years, until 19 Nov 1928. Although there has to be an earlier record, as he was already with the Royal Navy At Sea and in Ports Abroad, Ships and Overseas Establishments, at 18, at the time of the Census of 1901. Notably during his career, he was assigned to HMS Falmouth (1910) from 23 May 1914 and from 24 Feb 1915 to 26 Aug 1916. HMS Falmouth was heavily engaged during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May - 1 Jun 1916, survived that, but sank off Flamborough Head, after being damaged during the Action of 19 August 1916. William was then assigned to HMS Pembroke (Royal Naval Barracks, Chatham) on 27 Aug 1916.

In 1921, William Eastabrook (40) Plumber Royal Navy was living at 19 Christmas Place, Gillingham, Kent with Mary Eastabrook (37), Mary Eastabrook (11), Winnie Eastabrook (10), William Eastabrook (8), Sarah McCrudden (15) Boarder and Bernard Marren (2) 'Nursing Child'.

However, Mary Eastabrook died, at 40, on 27 Mar 1923 M Quarter in MEDWAY Volume 02A Page 902 and was buried, curiously, as Mary Ann Eastabrook, on 31 Mar 1923 at Grange Road Cemetery, Gillingham. 

William E Eastabrook remarried in 1933 to a May Cheeseman. They had a daughter, Rita Nancy Eastabrook, born in 1933, with the mother's maiden name of Yalden. Born May Yalden in 1893 in Medway, as Mary Yalden, she had married Henry Cheeseman in 1915. May had five children, born between 1913 and 1927, from her first marriage. Henry Cheeseman, born 1880, had died on 31 Dec 1930 and was buried at Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham.

In 1939, William E Eastabrook and May Eastabrook were living at 147 Railway St, Gillingham.

William Ebenezer Eastabrook died, aged 78, on 15 Jul 1960 and is buried at Grange Road Cemetery, Gillingham. 

May Eastabrook, born 28 Jun 1893, died, also aged 78, on 29 Sep 1971. She is buried at Woodlands Cemetery, Gillingham.

1. Mary Magdalen Eastabrook married Henry J Cox, in Medway, in 1929. Mary Magdalen Cox died in Q1/1986 in CHILTERN AND BEACONSFIELD (3252) Volume 19 Page 1374.
2. Eliza Winifred May Eastabrook, listed as Winnie, living with the family in 1921. Winifred Easterbrook (40) sailed to New York from Southampton on the Queen Elizabeth on 15 Jun 1951. Winifred Eastabrook, born 11 May 1911, died at 84, in 1995 in Sutton, Surrey.
3. In 1928, William Ebenezer Eastabrook, born 13 Jan 1913, from Gillingham Kent, was a Greenwich School Boy (Royal Naval College, Greenwich). He transferred to the Royal Navy on 1 Jan 1929 and signed up for another 12 years from 13 Jan 1931, advancing to Yeo Sigs (Yeoman of signals), being re-instated in 1943 and again in 1944. William E Eastabrook married, in 1946, in the New Forest, Hampshire. In late 1946 and 1947, as William Ernest Eastabroook, with 17 years experience at sea with the Royal Navy, he was QM (Quartermaster) on the RMS Queen Elizabeth luxury liner service between Southampton in the United Kingdom and New York City in the United States. Also listed as William Ernest Eastabrook, but birth date of 13 Jan 1913 agrees, he died, aged 62, in Southampton, Hampshire in 1975.