Updated 7th May 2004 email : [email protected]

STEPHEN CASTLE BIRCH Stephen married Mary Ann Tutt and they lived at Zulu Cottages Sellindge. He was an agricultural engine driver working for his father. Two daughters were born Ellen and Lydia. About 1882/3 Stephen decided to leave his fathers farm and set up a small farm of his own. Old Richard Henry was so upset by this that he gave him a cow and told him that this was his share of his inheritance and not to expect anything else. Stephen and Mary moved to Broad Street Monks Horton. where they had a small house ( on the left approaching the church) with a large garden, orchard and 3 fields. Besides the cow they had a donkey, pigs, chicken and a few sheep. They suffered a bad fire in 1894/95 when all the outbuildings were destroyed. Having added to their family with another six boys and three girls it was decided to move to Cheriton where they found a house in Ashley Avenue. Stephen worked as an engineer at a hotel in Folkestone, we think on the boilers. He emigrated to Canada with sons John (Jack) and Joseph (Joe), with the idea that they would work and save enough money to enable the rest of the family to join them. It is believed that this was under a scheme where land was given on the condition that it was worked for 6 months of the year. Photograph of Stephen Castle BIRCH taken in Canada. Note the mittens on his hands, it must have been too cold to take off the gloves for the camera. Unfortunately they were not out there long, when they all caught Typhoid fever, through contaminated water. The boys recovered but Stephen died. On the death certificate it states he was buried at Rainy River and the two undertakers were his two sons. From this we conclude that Jack and Joe buried their father. They all worked at the saw mill in Beaudette Minnesota just over the border in USA. After the tragedy Jack went away we think to Winnipeg looking for work and all contact was lost. The last contact the family have with him is a postcard sent from Rainy River, showing the station. Nobody ever discovered what happened to him, despite Joe looking for him and later Robert Birch (Bob ) one of his brothers employing a private investigator to look for him. Source Memories of Mary Elizabeth Birch - Patricia Searle

PATRICK ROCHE Though being born Patrick Roche at Drogheda Ireland on 14th March 1878, he used the name of John Patrick Roche in later life. It is believed that Patrick, was brought up by an aunt and uncle following the death of his parents. His army pay book shows reference to being employed as a Miner before joining the Army. Patrick left Ireland age 14 on a cattle boat bound for Stirling Scotland, where he enlisted in the Royal Scots as a Band Boy. Stirling was a Royal Scotts Depot at the time. Served in India and Burma until the regiment returned to the UK. Much of his time seems to have been involved with signals. Served in C Company 2nd battalion Royal Scots continuously for 22 years. He was discharged in 1917 with the rank of CSM, as the result the loss of and arm and other serious injuries. He lost his arm as a result of shrapnel wound received at the battle of St Eloi France. Amongst his medals were the Long Service Medal and Good Conduct awards. His army pay book and medals can be seen at the regimental museum at Edinburgh Castle. Performed the role of the Folkestone Leas Policeman in the 1920's. He volunteered again in 1939 and during the Second World War was employed at Egham and Broadstairs food offices, retiring from the latter in July 1948. On his death the cortege was draped with the Union Jack, and at his own request, his Glengarry cap, which he wore through the First World War, was buried with him. He never made contact with family in Ireland, despite one letter sent by a nephew Christopher Roche, who worked at the chemical factory in Drogheda. The letter referred to the gift of a knife and ball in his younger days, when he was believed to be in an orphanage. Source - Pat Searle - Memories Maurice Roche - Newspaper cuttings John Patrick Roche Born 14th March 1878   Charles Frederick Birch 1873 to 1909 (son Richard Henry BIRCH) Folkestone Hythe,Sangate & Cheriton Herald Feb 13th 1909 Fatal Cycling Accident An inquiry was held at Ashford Police Station last Saturday concerning the death of Charles Frederick Birch aged 32 years. Who died at the Ashford Cottage Hospital to which institution he was removed after a cycling accident at Westenhanger. According to the evidence, the deceased was descending a hill up which one of Messers Mackenson's carts was being driven by Alfred John Andrews. In endeavouring to avoid the vehicle he fell from his machine and received severe injuries to his liver, from which he succumbed. A verdict of Accidental Death was returned.   Percy George Birch 1894 to ? (son Castle Birch) He served in C coy 2 bat Royal Scots. Another family member Patrick Roche recommended he enlist in the Royal Scots where he was CSM. He is buried in plot 3 row C grave 22 in Coudry, British Cemetery France. Caudry is a large village 10Km east of Cambrai and on the south side of the village and a little south of the secondary road junction Caudry to Audencourt. He was reported missing to begin with. Then 8 years after the war finished his mother was informed that his body had been found when French people were cultivating ground on the edge of a wood. A mass grave was uncovered. His pay book was well preserved in his clothing and used as identification. All the bodies were re-interned in the above cemetery.   William Henry Stanford 1870 to 1900 (son Thomas Stanford) Served in Indian Army. Stayed extra time due to a campaign and then went to the reserve. Served as a Policeman. Reinlisted at start of Boer War with 2nd Batt Buffs. Killed in action on 10/3/1900 in the battle of Driefontein and buried in a mass grave on the adjoining farm of Boschrand where there is no memorial. As Private Stanford 3370 he achieved The Queens South Africa Medal with 3 clasps Relief of Kimberly ,Paardeberg and Driefontein Writer - Michael ROCHE

Birch Family Submarine Disaster Incident Submarine A8 Stephen Aaron Birch 1882 - 1905 was the son of Stephen Castle Birch 1854 and Mary Ann Tutt 1855. He enlisted in the Royal Navy and then volunteered for the newly formed submarine service. At this time the navy had a number of submarines either Holland class (5) (developed by the American inventor and funded by the Fenian United Brotherhood (forerunner of the IRA)), A class 14 (modified Holland built by Vickers) or B Class (a further extension of the Holland). The A class was driven by a 12 cylinder petrol engine which operated with a snorkel when submerged or accumulators. Her speed was 7 to 11 knots dependent on surface conditions or submerged. Dimensions in feet 100 X 11.5 X 11.5. Armament 2 bow tubes. Time submerged 3 Hours. The A8 was lost on 8 June 1905 whilst submerging in Plymouth Sound. The official report attributes the loss to a wave inundating the submarine by either flooding via the engine ventilators of passing over a canvas wind dodger that protected the open hatch whilst steaming partly submerged. At the time the A8 was presumed to be exceeding its critical speed of 5 Knots. Of the crew on board, 15 perished and are buried together in the cemetery at Pennycomequick Plymouth. The survivors were LT H.C Candy (Captain), Petty Officer Waller (Cox) and 2 others. The A8 was later raised and the body of Stephen Aaron Birch was identified by a Devenport Dockyard Policeman, Richard James Thomas Stanford (Dick) 1869 - 1951. He was the son of Ann Birch 1843 - 1906 (First child of Richard Henry Birch 1821 -1904) and Thomas Stanford 1840. After Dick had retired and his wife died, he lived with my grandparents Patrick Roche 1878 - 1950 and Edith Mary Roche (Birch) 1887 - 1957 There was a lot in the newspapers about the loss of the A8, as it was the first serious naval submarine disaster. The submarine service started in the Navy in 1900 with the building of 5 boats (Hollands) the first launched on 2 October 1901. As a result of the loss of the A8 (it was later raised and put back into service) all submarines were fitted with lifting eyes for salvage. Often pictures of early submarines are shown aground. These were infact being creened at low tide and not as a result of a disaster. A copy of the national newspaper article covering the disaster showing photographs of all the crew hung in my grandmothers front room for many years. This was in the form of a picture that was donated to the Naval Submarine Museum at Gosport. Sources Newspaper cuttings (Donated by Patricia Searl to HMS Dolphin Gosport Submarine Museum) A History of Submarine Disasters By Edwin Gray Submarine Boats By Richard Compton Hall http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/Bunker/4556/ The Worlds Great Submarines by Antony Preston Janes Fighting Ships 1905 Family Memories Edith Mary Roche (Birch) 1888 - 1957 Family Memories Particia Searl (Roche) Michael Roche Roche Family Loss of the Cunard Lancastria 1940 (June 17, 1940) The Cunard White Star passenger liner Lancastria (16,243 tons) was bombed and sunk off St. Nazaire, France. While lying at anchor, five enemy Dornier Do17 planes dive bombed the ship which sank in twenty minutes taking the lives of nearly 3,000 troops and over 1,000 civilians. The Lancastria had been converted into a troopship and set sail from Liverpool on June 14th. to assist in the evacuation of British troops and refugees (Operation Aerial). Her captain was instructed to take on board as many troops and refugees as possible. She was about to sail to England after loading on board soldiers and RAF personnel of the British Expeditionary Force, plus hundreds of civilian refugees. One bomb exploded in the Number 2 hold where around 800 RAF personnel had been placed. About 1,400 tons of fuel oil spilled from the stricken vessel as the Dornier's dropped incendiaries in an attempt to set the oil on fire. The 2,477 survivors were picked up by HMS Havelock and other ships. The bomb which actually sank the Lancastria went straight down the funnel. The site of the sinking is now an official War Grave. The loss of the Lancastria was the fourth largest maritime disaster of the war. The loss was kept secret from the British public and all survivors were sworn to secrecy under Kings Regulations. Churchill placed a 50 year D notice on the incident and it only came to light on 26th July 1940 after reports in a New York newspaper. My father Maurice Patrick St Eloi Roche was one of the lucky survivors. He was picked up by HMS King George v. On returning to England he sent a letter to his mother Edith Mary Roche (Birch) 1887 - 1957 stating I am safe and well in the next field to the one I left ie I am at Didcott safe and well after the fall of France He later joined the Kent County Constabulary and was a member of their Life Saving team, however he was never able to dive in water again, as he said it reminded him of the sinking and it seemed such a long way down when he dived off the Lancastria.. Despite many attempts by his fellow Life Saving team members, including tying his legs together with a towel, he was only ever able to jump into water. When I was a boy we were all clustered around the television watching a program on undersea wreck exploration. Some footage of the Lancastria on the sea bed was shown and on seeing the first of these, he crushed the glass he was holding in his hand. He would never talk about the sinking and it is only as I have grown older and talked to other family members and done my own research, I have learned more. Sources Memories Maurice Patrick St Eloi Roche Memories Patrica Searl (Roche) The Lancastria Association http://homepages.tesco.net/~colin.clarke/lanweb7.htm The Worst British Maritime Loss ever HMT Lancastria http://www.geocities.com/shipwrecks_magazine/lancastria.htm Operation Aerial http://www.geocities.com/shipwrecks_magazine/aerial.htm Michael Roche

Dan Davison a story of perseverence and strength My Grandfather was James Daniel McCarthy and he was born in about 1872, probably in Killarney, County Kerry. He was also known as James Daniel McCarthy, I have him as Daniel on my fathers birth certificate and Jeremiah on his and my grandmothers death certificates! He was an Officers Mess Waiter during WW2 at Shorncliffe Barracks Folkestone. We think that he left Ireland at around 1895 and went to the Yukon Territories to be a gold miner. He ended up at Nome in Alaska where he met and married his wife. She is thought to be an Inuit (Eskimo) possibly from the Northern Territories or a fur trappers daughter as my fathers army pay book says she is Canadian. Her name was Mary Ann Jones but we think this was an Anglicised name, I have no idea what her Inuit name was. She is described as very short with dark skin and hair with slit eyes. (not very complimentary) That is about all I know at present as it is proving very difficult to trace their marriage. Very little detail remains about either of them and McCarthy is a very common name in Ireland. I have tried to find information in Alaska but as yet have got nowhere. I tried the PRO to see if she needed naturalisation papers but as Canada was part of the empire and no passports existed before 1914 there was no requirement for any formalities. I will keep trying though as it is very mysterious. With regard to me the story is as follows, my birth mother Kathleen Gladys McCarthy nee Tutt was married in 1940 to Peter Charles Curran and had a daughter Diana. After about 2 years they separated. Meanwhile my birth father Charles McCarthy married Patricia Philpott in 1939 and had two daughters Lesley and Jennifer. Patricia died in 1958 however Charles and Kathleen were having an affair which resulted in my birth in 1955 in Tunbridge Wells. This was kept secret from almost all of their families and I was subsequently adopted at 6 weeks old through The National Childrens Adoption Society in Knightsbridge. They had another child, Andrew who she eventually kept. After Kath got a divorce she and Charles married in 1959. My adoptive parents were Philip and Betty Davison and I also have a younger brother Peter and younger sister Carol, both also adopted. I was adopted on 9/11/55 at Kingston County Court, Surrey. I was baptised at Puttenham, Surrey on 1/1/56. In about 1982 I decided to try to find out about my real family and obtained my original birth certificate which showed my name as Peter Charles Curran (my mothers married name) and an address in Hawkinge. About 4 years later I decided to follow up this information and went to Hawkinge. After some detective work I found out where my mother lived and spoke to her. She confirmed that Charles was indeed my real father however things never went any further than that at that time. We only ever exchanged Xmas cards until in 1990 I received a letter telling me Charles had died which was actually from my sister Diana although neither of us knew who the other was. I went to the funeral and was recognised by my Uncle Jim Tutt who spoke to me and told me more of my life story however I still did not meet any of the rest of my family as I was still a secret. Jim died in 1998 and his last wish was that his sisters Molly and Rusty Tutt should tell the rest of the family about me which they did since at this time my mother was becoming ill and was unaware of developments. I then met my brother Andrew and half sister Diana and also my other two half sisters Jennie and Lesley. My mother died in 1990 but I keep in close touch with all my real family. It is amazing how alike Andrew and I are despite being brought up completely separately. That's about it then, I don't find it painful at all, more a happy ending really. Feel free to use this however you wish, I hope it may be an example to others not to give up looking. Dan and Jan Davison