William George Beamer and Elsie May Carver

HMS Impregnable in the Hamoaze off Devonport Dockyard

William George Beamer (b. 4 Jan 1886 in East Stonehouse), son of Alfred Beamer and Mary Ann White, married Elsie May Carver (b. 22 Nov 1894, bap. 16 Dec 1894 at Holy Trinity Church), daughter of Charles Frederick Carver from Clerkenwell, London and Frances Rundle, native of Plymouth, at the Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity, which church was located in Southside Street/Friars Lane, Barbican, Plymouth, on 17 May 1916. (This church no longer exists because it was was destroyed in the Second World War.)

At 16, in 1901, William George Beamer had been a member of the crew of HMS Impregnable 1st Rate (Training Ship For Boys), in the Hamoaze, Devonport off Maker, St Germans, Cornwall. (HMS Impregnable became the Royal Navy's second boys' training ship at Devonport in 1862.)

Having signed up for a further 12 years in the Royal Navy, on 4 Feb 1903, William was discharged, invalided, on 8 Jun 1905. Then on 9 Sep 1905, he enlisted in the British Army in the Devonshire Regiment. One wonders what condition was classed as invalid for the Navy, but still fit for the Army.

Next we find William George Beamer (26), in 1911, with the 2nd Battalion Devonshire Regiment, stationed at Saint Georges Barracks, Malta. (Part of the Pembroke Army Garrison, at Pembroke, Malta, near St. Julian's.)

William George Beamer was the recipient of a Silver War Badge, having been discharged from the Machine Gun Corps on 30 Mar 1917, under King's Regulation 392 (xvi) “No longer physically fit for war service". "He has a Ministry of Pensions record card which shows him as 22105 MG, residing at 13 Walsdon Rd, Plymouth. He was discharged on 30.3.17. Cause - deafness. He was entitled to the Silver War Badge number 197170." (The Silver War Badge was designed to be worn on civilian clothes after early discharge from the army. The accompanying certificate will have read, "Served with honour and was disabled in the Great War. Honourably discharged on ...")

Elsie's younger brother, Charles Frederick Carver (b. 1898), 5th (Prince of Wales's) Battalion (Territorials), Devonshire Regiment, son of Charles F. and Frances Carver, of 5, Artizan's Dwellings, Notte St., Plymouth, was killed in action on 20 Jul 1918 and is buried at Marfaux British Cemetery, France.

In 1921, William George Beamer (35) General Labourer for the Admiralty, and Elsie M Beamer (25) were living at 13, Wolsdon Street, Plymouth.

In 1939, William G Beamer, Skilled Labourer HM Dockyard, wife Elsie M Beamer and John F Carver (b. 1902), Road Repair Labourer (Elsie's brother), were still living at 5 Artizans Dwellings, Notte Street, Plymouth - buildings in that street were destroyed in the Second World War and demolished.

William George Beamer, of 5 Artizans Dwellings, Notte Street, died on 1 Jan 1956 (1956 M Quarter in PLYMOUTH Volume 07A Page 834).

Elsie May Beamer died in the 4th quarter of 1973, aged 79.

James Wevell and Martha Wilton

Gill Street, Charters Towers, Australia - circa 1910 (Via)

James Wevell (b. 1861 M Quarter in BODMIN Volume 05C Page 92), son of William Wevell and Mary Searle, married Martha Wilton, daughter of Ann Wilton, at St George's Church, Wells Way, Camberwell, on 17 May 1884. As had her brother, Martha listed her father as an 'invented' John Wilton.

On 8 Oct 1884, James Wevell (23) and Martha Wevell (24) embarked on the SS Duke of Westminster at Gravesend, under Queensland Assisted Immigration, arriving in Brisbane on 8 Dec 1884. 

This very fulsome report in the Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton), dated Wed 10 Dec 1884, under Vessels in Harbour, details the whole voyage: 

"The Duke of Westminster, under the command of Captain D C Long, left London on the 7th October, on her third voyage to Queensland, embarked her passengers at Gravesend next day and proceeded on her voyage the same night. On the following day, at noon when abreast the Isle of Wight she encountered a strong gale from the south west, which continued until she was nearly through the Bay of Biscay; passed through the Straights of Gibraltar at 7 am on the 14th; arrived at Malta at daylight on the 19th, where she coaled and took in fresh provisions, leaving at 5 pm the same day. 

Throughout the Mediterranean she experienced fine weather, with light wind and pleasant temperature; arrived in Port Said on October 22nd at noon, and commenced coaling immediately; she also took on board sixty tons of cargo for Queensland ports; entered the Canal on the following morning; had a successful passage through, arriving at Suez on the 24th at 1 pm, the passage through the Red Sea was hot and sultry, with light following breezes; arrived at Aden on the 31st October at 10 am, leaving same evening at 7 o'clock; arrived at Colombo on the 8th November at noon; filled up with coals, discharged and took in cargo, leaving the next morning at daylight; throughout the Indian Ocean had thick cloudy weather, accompanied by a considerable amount of rain, and experienced a continuance of contrary currents; arrived at Batavia [present-day Jakarta, Indonesia] on November 17th at 8 am, discharged 200 tons cargo; left again at dawn on the 18th; passed through Sunda Straights at 8 pm on the 20th, and arrived at Thursday Island on November 21st at 8 am; left again in the afternoon after discharging cargo into the hulk. 

She arrived in Cooktown November 30th, at noon; Townsville December 2nd, at daybreak; Bowen on the 4th, at 6 am; Mackay same day at 9 pm; left at midnight, and anchored in Port Alma at 6:30 pm on the 5th. The Duke of Westminster has had an exceedingly successful voyage from England and the health of the passengers has been exceptionally good. She had on board altogether 456 passengers for the Queensland Ports, and 3000 tons of cargo. She landed 67 passengers, and 400 tons of cargo for Rockhampton, and left at 5 am on the 7th for Brisbane." 

James and Martha had a son, John Henry Wevell, born in Queensland on 20 Apr 1885, so Martha was 2-3 months pregnant at the start of the voyage.

However, Martha Wevell died on 5 Oct 1885, from Typhoid. She is buried at the Charters Towers Pioneer Cemetery, Charters Towers, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia, Section 5, Grave 1409. John Henry Wevell died, at 8 months, on 25 Dec 1885, from Gastric Fever, and was also buried at Charters Towers Pioneer Cemetery, Section 5, Grave 1482. 

The town of Charters Towers was founded in the 1870s when gold was discovered by chance at Towers Hill on Christmas Eve 1871, so we can assume that James and Martha went there looking for gold and no surprise whatsoever to find a Cornishman in a mining town on the other side of the world. It looks like James Wevell returned to the UK and remarried, but astonishingly, there's more than one James Wevell in Cornwall, of his age, so further investigation is needed to untangle the records. One in particular however, later travels to South Africa, where he died in 1950.