I’ll be working on the history of the Hunnisett and Honeysett family members that died in military service during the WW1, so check back to look for new links to their stories. If you know more, please get in touch
A great way to show you recognise them is to visit their record on Lives of the First World War, and then click remember. This site will be updateable to March 2019
A HONEYSETT, d. 1917, France
Albert Arthur HONEYSETT, b. Plumstead, London, d. 07 Nov 1918, 153870
Alfred HONEYSETT,b. Polegate, Sussex, d. 16 Oct 1917, France, G/27678*
Alfred HONEYSETT, Borden, Kent, 14 Mar 1916, G/4876
Bertram Thomas HONEYSETT, b. East Dulwich, Surrey, d. 08 Sep 1918, France, 27316*
Cecil HONEYSETT, b. Brightling, Sussex, d. 30 Jun 1916, France, SD/2706
C H HUNNISETT, d. 1917, France
Charles Vincent HUNNISETT, b. Hanover Square, London, d. 11 Sep 1916, France, 1578 OR 1518*
Recent research has discovered an ancestor who was one of the survivors of the Polish November Uprising of 1830-1.
How over 200 young Polish servicemen came to England, were welcomed by the people of Portsmouth and one of them surprisingly ended up in the direct line of ancestry of my own East Sussex Hunnisett family line (by marriage) is explored further here.
The November Uprising
The Cadet Revolution or November Uprising of 1831 started when young Polish officers from the Military Academy revolted against Tsarist Russia, the overlord of a partitioned Poland. It started well, with the army rallying to the cause and other outlying areas of the Russian Empire joining in. Eventually local support fell away and the uprising was crushed by the Imperial Russian Army. Tsar Nicholas I closed the University of Warsaw and took Poland completely within the Russian Empire. When the end came, rather than surrender to the Russians, over 20,000 men crossed the border into Prussia and surrendered there on the 5th October 1831. This gave the Prussians a real problem, Russia lent on them to send the men back and promised no reprisals. Some went, with disastrous results. Others left Prussia in bands of between fifty and a hundred, and travelled towards France through the various German principalities and were greeted with enthusiasm by the local populations.The Prussians made it very uncomfortable for the remaining Poles by putting them to work with convicted criminals on the roads. A different solution needed to be found; eventually in 1834, 3 ships set off for America with the reluctant remnants of the Polish Army – mainly “other ranks”.
They didn’t make it to America, the weather in the English Channel was very bad and the ships made land where they could. The Elizabeth landed at Le Havre, where the men were welcomed by the French and stayed in France. This was seen as the very best option as Polish-French relations were very good. The Union landed in Harwich, on the east coast of England. They eventually left again to go to Africa, this might seem like a strange change of direction but they were to join the French Foreign Legion and become French that way.
The 3rd ship, the Marianne , landed at Portsmouth where 212 young men (plus one wife) got off the ship and peaceably refused to get back on. This is a transcription of the letter the Poles wrote to Captain of the Marianne about their decision to stay in England.
We, the undersigned Polish refugees, shipped by the Prussian Government, at Danzig, aboard the Mariane, bound to the United States of North America, and driven into this port, by stress of weather, and determined not to proceed to America, but to unite with our countrymen and warriors, who are in France, in order to be nearer to our own country, and not to seek our fortune in another hemisphere, having remained three months on board the Mariane, and the captain being obliged to prosecute his intended voyage we have decided not to prevent any longer the ship proceeding to sea, but land here, and now think it a duty we owe to Capt. Claasen of the Mariane, before he leaves us, on his intended journey, to declare, that during the whole of the voyage, we have received the provisions and comforts allowed us by the Prussian Government by his hands, in every accordance with Justice; and, that Captain Claasen has, with every humanity towards us, done his duty to the Prussian Government as likewise to his owner, for which we beg he will accept our most cordial thanks.
Signed by the 211 Polish Officers and Men who were embarked in the above ship. Portsmouth Feb 16 1834
The government were unprepared for this and did not offer any support or encouragement. However the local population in Portsmouth rallied round, raised money and helped the young men with food and accommodation . ” The non-commissioned officers of the 12th regiment contributed £7 and the 77th Depot gave £12, while a concert at the Green Row Rooms brought in £60”(Wikepedia)
What’s the connection?
Arthur James Hunnisett b. 1884 in St Leonard’s Hastings married Fanny Elizabeth Mary May in Hastings in 1910. Arthur’s family line goes back to the mid 1500’s all in East Sussex. However Fanny’s family turned out to be a little bit different. Her father was George M W Way and her mother was Fanny KISIELEWSKI, both born and then married in Portsea,Hampshire (the naval area of Portsmouth).
Finding Michel Kisielewski
Fanny senior is found on the 1901 census in Portsea, living at home with her parents Michael and Mary Ann Kisheliski, Michael’s birth place is stated as Poland and he was a tailor. Michael KISIELEWSKI married Mary Ann Ross in Portsea in 1838. They are on the 1841 census, having started their family of eventually 7 children. Many of his compatriots are in the Polish Refugee Hospital, also in Portsea and in the 1841 census. Michael and Mary Ann stay in Portsea for the rest of their lives, their surname spelt in many weird ways in each record. Their four daughters all marry but their sons do not, so this branch of the KISIELEWSKI name does not continue.
Was Michal part of the November Revolution?
In 2004 the Polish population in Portsmouth raised money to finish a memorial for the survivors of the November Revolution who came to Portsmouth in 1834. The memorial contains a list of the 213 people who landed, with their name and rank and tells a bit of the story, and there on the list is Michal KISIELEWSKI, He left Poland when he was about 23 and lived the rest of his life in Portsmouth
What brought the May family to St Leonards?
George May was career Navy, as was his father before him. In 1881, the census shows him still in the Royal Navy and living in Portsmouth. However in the 1891 census, the family had moved to Hastings (including their daughter Fanny) and George was an instructor in the Royal Navy Artillery Volunteer School. This was a government backed relatively new endeavour and provided training for any young man, of the professional and commercial classes, who wished to be in the naval reserve and had no background in the navy. George would have run training in Boat skills, General fitness and Weapons handling, “The drills will comprise those for great guns, rifle, pistol, and cutlass”.
How did George & Fanny get to Hastings, East Sussex?
By the time of the next census in 1901, George had changed roles and was the Superintendent of the White Rock Baths in Hastings This was an underground complex built on land reclaimed from the sea, when George was in charge there were both gentlemens and ladies baths and also a fashionable turkish bath. According to the newspaper reports it was always teetering on the bring of bankruptcy so it can’t have been a very settled existence.
There is a photograph in the Hastings & St Leonards Pictorial Advertiser, showing George & Fanny’s sons in their WW1 uniforms, along with their son in law, A Hunnisett. This last was Arthur Hunnisett who had married Fanny May in 1910. The photo was taken in early 1917 and by then George was the manager of the local Masonic Hall, presumably a bit less precarious an occupation than managing the White Rock Baths.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_Uprising
THE ORGANISATION OF THE ROYAL NAVAL ARTILLERY VOLUNTEERS EXPLAINED BY
THOMAS BRASSEY, M.P, 1874
Sergeant Mechanic Edwin Edward Hunnisett was the observer in a two seater DeHavilland biplane, piloted by Clifford James Moir, when it was shot down by Hans Goerth, a famous German pilot, over Mariakerker in Belgium on 30th June 1918. He is commemorated on the Arras Flying Services Memorial, Fauberg d’Amiens, Pas de Calais, France.This is a memorial for those with no known grave.
DeHaviland Airco DH 4. Courtesy of www.wikidata.org
How did a 21 year old provisions assistant from Newhaven, Sussex come to be a founder member of the Royal Air Force ?
Services Record
Edwin joined the Royal Navy in 1916 and seems to have immediately joined the Royal Naval Air Service, training at their landbase HMS President. Edwin belonged to the 17th Squadron, which served in France. He also spent some time at their Eastchurch base; this was a flying club on the Isle of Sheppey given to the RNAS in 1910 and by mid 1917 it opened as a Naval Seaplane Training School.
During the Great War, the Royal Navy was growing its own air arm,originally for reconnaissance and then later for bombing. This was in addition to the Royal Flying Corps, which was attached to the army. On 01 April 1918, both were amalgamated into the brand new Royal Air Force, and Edwin’s 17th Squadron became the 217 Squadron. He was based in Dunkirk at the time of the transfer.
On the 30th June 2018, Edwin and Clifford Moir (a Canadian member of the RAF), flew on a mission in Belgium. Unfortunately they encountered Hans Goerth, and became the first of his seven recorded kills, thereby making themselves a place in the record books.
Family background
According to his Naval record Edwin Edward was born on 20 October 1895 in Newhaven, Sussex to Benjamin and Harriett (nee Daniels). However he was registered and baptised in 1896 as Edmund Edwin, his baptism at St Michael’s church in Newhaven was on 15 Nov 1896, so it appears that the Navy was a year out as all the other records tally.
His father, Benjamin, was a labourer, originally from Westham, Sussex and worked as a stevedore on the quay at Newhaven and then by 1911 on the railway. He and Harriet had seven children living in 1911. They had married in the Eastbourne district (Westham is in this district) between Sept- Dec 1891 and their first child, also Benjamin, was baptised on 13 December 1891 in Newhaven. Edmund/Edwin was still living at home in 1911.
He put his mother as his next of kin and his father received his war gratuity in 1919.
Brother Benjamin
Edmund’s older brother Benjamin, born 1891, was living at home in 1911, his occupation listed as ship’s steward.
Records for the London Brighton & South Coast Railway, show he then worked for them as a ganger. He was a Reservist and left for war on 09 October 1914. By the time he was demobilised in February 1919 and returned to the railway, he had married and started a family.
He married Elizabeth May Tubbs in the Newhaven district between January & March 1916. Both their sons unfortunately died in their first year, Benjamin S in 1918, and Edmund W in 1924. Their daughter May Dorine, born in 1917, married William J Gerard in 1934 and were both found in the 1939 Register, with a son William J, living in Newhaven.
Is this your family? Please get in touch if it is!
Edmund’s ancestor
I have traced Edmund’s family back to Peter Hennesit, born about 1550 in Sussex.
The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, England; Kew, Surrey, England; Air Ministry: Air Member for Personnel and Predecessors: Airmen’s Records; Series Number: AIR 79
www.findagrave.com
Royal Navy Registers of Seamen’s Services. ADM 188, 362 and 363. The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, England.
The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; Collection: London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company: Records; Class: RAIL414; Piece: 791
www.freeBMD.co.uk
Ancestry.co.uk and findmypast.co.uk for censuses and military records
The Mary Rose left Norway on 16th October 1917, one of two British destroyers escorting 12 unarmed steamers laden with coal – 5 Norwegian, 1 Danish & 3 Swedish. Next morning when they were about 70 miles off Lerwick (Shetland Isles). they spotted two British warships coming towards them and signalled for recognition. They did not receive a reply because the ships were actually German Cruisers, modified to have a British “outline”. Frederick Honeysett was a stoker in the engine room. The German ships closed to 2,700m (3,000 yds)and then opened fire, firstly on the other destroyer, HMS Stongbow, which was disabled. They then turned their attention to the Mary Rose, hitting the engine room immediately so the ship sat like a log in the water . All of the guns, except one, were disabled. Two of the crew, French and Bailey, continued to fire until the order was given to scuttle the ship and abandon it.
Few Survived
Only two officers and eight enlisted men survived so about 70 of the crew of the Mary Rose died,including Fred Honeysett. The crew of the Strongbow were lost and nine of the defenceless merchant ships were also sunk, killing around 250 men in total.
The Navy was criticised not only about the loss but also because the German ships got away. The response was that the only radios were on the two escorts and these were destroyed before any message was sent. A courtmartial was announced, a method of determining what happened. The court acquitted all the survivors but further details were not published in case they helped the enemy.
We’re not done yet!
Although the first reports in the newspapers were full of shock, distress and criticism of the Navy, later they were given an “official version” which described“plucky” Mary Rose taking on the German warships singlehanded, fighting to the last gun whilst declaiming cheerily “we’re not done yet”.
Who was Frederick Honeysett?
Frederick John Honeysett joined the Royal Navy on 11 August 1910, enlisting for 12 years,and had worked his way up from a Stoker, 2nd class to Acting Petty Officer.
He was born on 06 Feb 1892 to John Frederick & Sarah Ann (nee West) in Yalding, near Maidstone. His father John, was a foreman on the roads. He had two siblings; Isa Dorothy born in 1894 and Russell George, born in 1897 in Mereworth, Kent.
Frederick married Alice Maude Crowhurst in late 1914. She received his widow’s pension but didn’t claim for any children.
Frederick is remembered on the Chatham Naval Memorial, for those lost at sea. He is also on the World War I memorial at St Lawrence’s, Mereworth, Kent. The 100th year anniversary of the loss of the Mary Rose was commemorated in 2017, and in a Facebook group, the HMS Mary Rose & HMS Strongbow Memorial Group.
Do you have them in your family tree?
I have traced Frederick’s ancestors back to John Honeysett & Sarah Bailey (married 1773) in the Headcorn area of Kent.
Russell Honeysett
Russell is also listed on the memorial in Mereworth.
Mereworth WW1 memorial. Courtesy of Gravestone Photographic Resource, whose volunteers own the copyright
He had joined the Royal West Kent Regiment, but then was transferred to the South Irish Horse, 7th Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment. Originally a mounted regiment, the South Irish Horse were retrained as Infantry in September 1917.
On 21 March 1918, the Germans launched the “Kaiserschlacht” (Kaiser’s Battle) a decisive attack planned to destroy the British Army across a wide area of the Somme. The tactics were to “punch a hole and things would develop”. The whole area had been devastated in previous battles and the British lines were in a poor state of repair and easily overrun.
The official regimental history shows that 2 companies of the 7th Battalion were posted in forward zones on the Somme. “They suffered terribly, not a man succeeded in escaping”. Russell died on 23 March 1918, aged 20.
No grave has been found for him but his memorial is at Pozieres, panel 30/31. Pozieres commemorates 14,657 British and South African soldiers who died between March and August 1918.
Russell’s names were reversed in his military records, where he is George R Honeysett. As a member of an Irish Regiment, he is also recorded in the Irish records.
A common story of the times, but John & Ann lost their two sons within 5 months of each other and both disappeared without trace.
Is this your family?
The surviving child, Isa Dorothy, married Frederick D Burbridge in Q4 1916. They appear in the 1939 register living in Gillingham,Kent.
The German ships closed to 2,700m (3,000 yds)and then opened fire, firstly on the other destroyer, HMS Stongbow, which was disabled. They then turned their attention to the Mary Rose, hitting the engine room immediately so the ship sat like a log in the water . All of the guns, except one, were disabled. Two of the crew, French and Bailey, continued to fire until the order was given to scuttle the ship and abandon it.