GEORGE RICHARD WADHAM
Officer of the Crown
George was one of six children born to Henry and Elizabeth Wadham. The family lived in West Street near Gifford Court. George attended Bridport General School and the Scientific & Literary Institute Bridport and obtained civil engineering qualifications.
When George was ten years old, his father died and Elizabeth took the family north, to Eccles in Lancashire . When they lived there George’s older siblings Caroline and William worked in the cotton mills – weaving and winding and George began working as a chain maker.
His mother died in 1892 and George travelled south, moving to Willesden, Middlesex where he boarded in the home of Ann Doggrell. It was during this time that his career in the Railways started.
He returned to the North of England, working on railway construction and in 1903 he married Amy Spiller – their first son, George Richard jnr. being born the following year.
In 1905 the family moved to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) where George, now a Home Office employee, was in charge of constructing railways. The family continued to grow, with the birth of Gladys, Lilian and Henry.
With the outbreak of War in 1914, the family returned to England and took up residence at South View, South Street, in Bridport . Two more children – Phillip and Dorothy ( Soxie) were born there.
George continued working abroad for the Home Office, and during the war he was operating along the Gold Coast of Africa. In October 1918, he was granted home leave and left Accra, bound for Liverpool on board HMS Burutu.
On the voyage home, HMS Burutu was attacked by a German U-boat, but the crew fought off the assault and the ship continued on its journey.
As the vessel rounded the Welsh coast to enter the Mersey, she collided with another ship – HMS City of Calcutta. The vessels pulled apart but Burutu listed heavily making it difficult to launch the lifeboats successfully. Only one got away safely before the ship sank beneath the water. Out of a complement of 198 people only 50 survived.
George’s body was washed up three weeks later on the Welsh coast and he was identified by a tattoo on the inside of his wrist which read ‘ G.R.Wadham – Bridport.’ It was believed that being a good swimmer, George had dived overboard in an attempt to distance himself from the sinking ship but had struck debris in the water. He was wearing his underpants and a leather belt containing eight sovereigns. The only mark on his body was a bruise on his head.
His body was brought back to Bridport by rail and was met at East Street Halt by his widow, Amy and his two eldest children. The coffin was then pushed on a bier to the Unitarian Chapel, East Street, where the funeral was held the following day.
George is buried in Bridport Cemetery and is remembered on a memorial plaque in Bridport Unitarian Church.