Edward Kennedy was born in Dublin in 1884. In 1901 he was living with his grandparents, Charles and Ann Ellis, in Binsted. It is most likely that his mother was Eliza, Charles and Ann’s daughter.
In June 1914 Edward Kennedy married Florence M. Munday who was the daughter of Annie Munday, a harness maker in Alton.
At the time he enlisted with the Royal Marines Artillery (in Alton in 1902) he was working as a groom.
In 1917 he was on HMS Laurentic which was sailing from Liverpool to New York, carrying gold bullion for the war effort. RMA/10168 Gunner Kennedy H/Q Eastney was one of more than 350 men lost on 25th January when the ship hit two mines off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland.
He was awarded the 1914-15 Star and the British War and Victory Medals, and his name is listed on Portsmouth Naval Memorial (Panel 26).
Source: “The Remembered Ones of the Great War”, 2014, The Alton and Villages Local History Forum (with permission)
DONATE TO OUR CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Your donation supports projects like this one, which educate and involve future generations in remembering those who fell in the two world wars. Your support helps us keep their stories alive. Thank you.
