Tags
Bushbury, Express & Star, Fordhouse Road, George Reynolds, HMS Hampshire, Lord Kitchener, Police, Royal Navy, Tipton
George Reynolds was born in Wolverhampton on 13 December 1889, the son of John G. and Elizabeth Reynolds. In 1901 they were living at 6 Fordhouse Road, Bushbury, along with George’s brothers, Tom, John and William, and sister Nellie. George became a police constable, and by 1911, he was living in Police accommodation in Tipton.
On 12 July 1913, he enlisted in the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class (number K19786). He served on 4 different boats, including the HMS Hampshire. On 5 June 1916, the Hampshire was destroyed by a German submarine, with the loss of most of her crew. As well as Lord Kitchener, who was on board at the time, amongst those killed was George Reynolds. He appeared in an article in the Express & Star on 14 June 1916, alongside two other Wolverhampton men who lost their lives on the Hampshire, George William Bowen and William C. Squire. George is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial, as well as the memorial in St Mary’s Church, Bushbury, and he may possibly appear on other memorials within the area.
He could possibly be the George Reynolds commemorated on the Queen Street Congregational Church roll of honour. The Reynolds family are not listed as members of the church, but neither are the families of some of the other men on the Roll. Some of the men were not from Wolverhampton area families and this could be the case with George Reynolds on the roll. However in the Church’s roll of men serving 1914-1915 (in the 1916 manual) a T Reynolds is listed and this George had a brother Tom. As young men they possibly attended the Young men’s Institute run by the Church?