Navy
Beaney, Charles Arthur
Charles Arthur Beaney
Rank: Petty Officer Stoker
Ship: HMS Falcon
Parents: Mr William Ford & Mrs Esther Beaney
Brother: Albert Edward Beaney
Address: 57 Norman Road, St Leonards
Other Info: An article published in the Hastings & St Leonards Observer on 31st October 1914 reports “The sad news has been received that Mr Charles Arthur Beaney, of 57 Norman Road, St Leonards, was killed on the ‘Falcon’ destroyer, during the recent bombardment of German forces by our Fleet. Mr Beaney was a single man, aged 38, and was a Petty Officer. What makes his death more distressing is that quite recently a married brother, a Postman between Battle and Westfield, was lost on the ‘Hogue’.
According to CWGC, Charles is buried at Hastings Cemetery, grave reference E.A.18X.
Published: October 1914
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Charles Arthur Beaney was born in St Leonards on Sea, Sussex on the 12 March 1876. In the 1881 census his family was living at 15 Shepherd Street, St Leonards. His father William Ford Beaney was a whitesmith. In the 1891 census they were living at nearby 15 Mercatoria. The father died in 1898, and in the 1901 census the family were at nearby 57 Norman Road, where mother Esther was a dressmaker, living with four children: two dressmakers, a cook, and a clerk.
In the 1911 census Charles was a Stoker Petty Officer on HMS Powerful, a cruiser which was the flagship on the Australia station.
His brother Albert Edward was also in the Royal Navy and as an able seaman died on the cruiser HMS Hogue when it was torpedoed and sunk off the Belgian coast on the 22 September 1914, in an action when two other old cruisers were sunk by the same U-boat. His body was not recovered. His widow Mary Jane was living in Battle at the time.
I cannot find Charles in the 1901 census or when he joined up; his Navy number was 282405. “Lives of the First World War 1914-1918” on the Find My Past database states, in Charles’ entry: “On 28 October 1914, while on anti-submarine patrol off the Belgian coast with HMS Syren she [the Falcon] came under heavy accurate artillery fire from the Westende battery. She remained on station and returned fire until hit by an 8-inch shell which killed 8 personnel including her commanding officer.” 15 others were wounded by that shell.
On the 27 January 1915 an administration was made of his estate of £124 to his mother Esther Beaney, when Charles was said to be of 57 Norman Road. Esther was listed as a voter on the 1918 electoral roll for that address, the first time she was allowed to vote. In the 1921 census she was at that 6-roomed house, aged 81, performing home duties, as was her daughter; they had four visitors as well.