In Lanchester Parish Churchyard is a headstone which reads:-
In
Loving Memory of
Robert
The beloved husband of
Mary A. Farbridge
Who died 12 May 1921 aged 63 years
Also of Mary their daughter
Who died 13 December 1904 aged 4 years
Also of Robert Bullerwell their son
Who was lost at sea on
12 Jan. 1918 aged 25 years
Also Mary Anne wife of the above
(Rest below ground)
Robert Bullerwell born 26th December 1892 at Kimblesworth was the son of Robert and Mary Ann nee Bullerwell Farbridge. Robert was a Coal Miner. In 1901 the family were living at Middlewood Farm, Lanchester. The children were Elizabeth (1891 Plawsworth), Robert, Margaret (1896 Middlewood) and Mary (1901 Middlewood).
In 1911 they were at Ford Road Lanchester. Robert Bullerwell was a Colliery Putter and Margaret a dressmaker's apprentice. John (born 1905) was a patient at Langley Park Infectious Disease Hospital. Elizabeth had married in 1910. A headstone at Lanchester Parish Church reveals that Mary died 13th December 1904 aged 4 years.
In 1917 Robert enlisted into the Royal Navy and served first on the Victory July 3rd 1917 till October 31st and he then transferred to the Narbrough as a Stoker 2nd Class. On 12 January 1918, HMS Narbrough and her sister ship, HMS Opal, were wrecked on the cliffs at Hesta Rock, just to the north of Windwick Bay, South Ronaldsay. Only one sailor survived; all 77 crewmen from the Narbrough were lost. Most of the casualties were never found and are commemorated on the Portsmouth Memorial.
By this time his parents were living at 20 Langley Terrace, Burnhope.
Awards: British War Medal; Victory Medal.
Robert Farbridge died at Burnhope 12th May 1921 and was buried at Lanchester Parish churchyard. Mary Anne Farbridge in 1939 was living at Stella House, Durham Road, Lanchester with John born 1905 and Margaret born 1896.
Acknowledgements: Dorothy Hall, Barney Rice.
Robert Bullerwell Farbridge is remembered in Burnhope on B153.01 and B153.03 in Lanchester on L62.01, L62.02 and L62.04 and on our List of Ships’ crews
