United Kingdom - Northern Ireland, Portaferry, Down
Died During Service
Yes
Service Details
Service
RN - Royal Navy
Date of Entry
1903-01-24
Rank
Leading Seaman
Official Number
215447
Discharged Date
1910-07-14
Discharge Type
DD - Discharged Dead
Discharge Notes
Discharged Dead at St Joseph Hospital Auburn
Service Period
1903-1910
Service Record
Yes
Ship
Refer Service Record see Sources
Cemetery Details
Cemetery Name
Rookwood Cemetery, Rookwood NSW 2141
Cemetery Address
Rookwood, NSW
Demonination/Area
Catholic Mortuary 1
Section
TT (Naval)
Row
1
Grave Number
5
Notes
Leading Seaman Roddy was the fifth burial in the Catholic Naval Section. Research led to communication with the family of this sailor in the UK and found that the name George on the headstone is incorrect, Joseph is the correct first name as per the RN Records. Our research as found numerous discrepancies between official records making the correct identification of the sailor often very complex and difficult.
Joseph Roddy was born 24 Jan 1885 at Portaferry, County down, Ireland. He joined the navy 10 May 1901 as a Boy Seaman at age 17 years old, his occupation is listed at Labourer and on joining he was described at 5ft 4 with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh completion, on his 18th birthday he had grown to be 5ft 6. He was sent to HMS Black Prince (sister ship to HMS Warrior which can be visited at the Portsmouth Historic dockyard) a 40-gun steam powered armoured frigate then serving as a static training ship. He was posted to another training ship ex armoured frigate HMS Minotaur in May of 1902 and in Oct 1902 to HMS Agincourt another Minotaur Class armoured frigate at Portland. From there he joined the Admiral Class Battleship HMS Benbow, his first ship designed without sail power in mind on 14 Nov 1902, where on 24 Jan 1903 he was promoted to Ordinary Seaman. He was to serve on nine other ships and depots before joining HMS Penguin in Sydney on 1 May 1910. His record shows he was promoted Able Seaman on HMS Arrogant 8 Jul 1904 and to Leading Seaman on HMS Diana 16 Aug 1906.
Joseph died at St Joseph’s Hospital, Auburn on the 14 Jul 1910 from a haemorrhage of the brain (stroke). During our research on Joseph Roddy contact was made with family members in the UK and a special visit and photos of his grave were taken.
(Service record in name of Joseph Roddy with death date 14 July 1910 from stroke at St Josephs Hospital Auburn. Find a Grave ..flowers and Irish flag left as memorial have written to author requesting further data Jan 2022 MF Julie Adams reports this is Joseph Roddy and confirmed dates etc as a family member. Death registed as Joseph Roddy 9347/1910 with age of 25)
Location https://what3words.com/ship.vocab.slice
Sources
UK National Archives ADM 188-377-2154
The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (Parramatta, NSW:1888-1950) Wed 17 Jul 1901 Page 2 A Naval Funeral.
The Australia Station, John Bach, NSW University Press, 1986
Australian Colonial Navies, Colin Jones, Australian War memorial 1986
