Farnsworth, James Arthur

BORN HULL 1889. SON OF JAMES FARNSWORTH & MARY ADA (LINDO). GRANDFATHER ARTHUR LIVED AT 204 BEAN STREET. FISHERMAN. MARRIED 1915. HIS WIFE MARY ANN (GRABY) LIVED AT THIS CWGC ADDRESS. HE WAS LOST AT SEA, ON THE STEAM TRAWLER ‘SHAKESPEARE’, 7TH FEBRUARY 1917, AGED 28.
‘SHAKESPEARE (H994) Built for Hellyer Bros. (Hellyer Steam Fishing Co. Ltd.) Hull; Yard No 548; Launch Date 31/08/1908; Vessel torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat UB-22. The UB-22 sunk two ships on this day, the SS BOYNE CASTLE was sunk by gunfire and all the crew set adrift in a lifeboat. The SHAKESPEARE was torpedoed, which is unusual for such a small ship, the U-boat skipper claims he thought it was a bigger ship, but another report states the SHAKESPEARE tried to escape and outrun the U-boat.
It is recorded in a biographical lexicon of Icelandic Skippers and Mates that the steam trawler , owned by Hellyer, was sunk on February 7 1917 by a U-boat attack. Skipper Arnie Byron (real name Arni Eyjólfsson) tried to escape, but the ship was sunk. There were some survivors.
CREW LOST ON SHAKESPEARE (H994), enemy action in the Firth of Forth, 7th February, 1917.
BRYON, Arnie, (-), 346 St. George’s Road, Hull. Skipper
FARNSWORTH, James (28), 26 Brighton St, Hull. 3rd/Hand
HARRISON, James (40), 13 Flinton St, Hull. Mate
HUTCHINSON, John (30), Calthorpe-gdns, Newington St, Hull. Chief Engineer
LAWRENCE, Charles (31), 8a Bedford-Place, Boston. 2nd/Engineer
LEE, Joseph (26), 95 St. Pauls St, Hull. Deckhand
NORTON, Albert (25), 5 Pretoria-ave, Flinton St, Hull. Sparehand
WESTGATE, Albert (27), 44 Division Road, Hull. Sparehand
WILLIAMS, Ernest (32), 2 Princes-Avenue, West Dock St, Hull. Bosun