Edgar Thomas Cole
Regiment: Royal Navy
Rank and number: Stoker
Home address: The Workhouse Thornbury
Pre-war occupation: Royal Navy
Date of birth: 20/02/1884
Place of birth: Thornbury
Date of death: 20/09/1914
Buried/Commemorated at: Grave Island Cemetery, Zanzibar
Age: 30
Further information:
Edgar Thomas Cole born on 20th February 1884. In the 1891 census he was in the Thornbury Workhouse with a couple of other Coles who could be siblings. Edgar joined the Royal Navy on 23rd February 1903. He was working as a carter at that time and described as being 5ft 6 3/4 inches, brown hair, blue eyes and fresh complexion.
Edgar became a stoker. He served on several ships including Vivid II, Hannibal, New Zealand, Mars, Leviathan, and Indus. The 1911 Census shows him as a stoker on board the Indus. He was on the HMS Pegasus when she was involved with the German Cruiser, Konigsberg at the Battle of Zanzibar on 20th September 1914. The Pegasus was in harbour being repaired when she was attacked and sunk with 38 crewmen, including Edgar, dead. Edgar’s name does not appear on the war memorials in Thornbury although his naval service record shows Thornbury as his home town. Edgar was buried on Grave Island Cemetery in Zanzibar.
Edgar is not mentioned on any of the memorials in Thornbury although what records there are all show him to be a local lad, perhaps if he came from the Workhouse and went into the navy young, there was no one in Thornbury to morn him or put his name forward.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Thornbury Roots website