On Chatham Naval Memorial is the name of 1615/DA Deck Hand Charles Marshall Proffit serving on H.M. Trawler Saxon Prince with the Royal Naval Reserve who died 28/03/1916.

Colin Boyd has provided the following:

Charles was born on 4th September 1875 in North Shields the son of William Thomas Proffit, a mason, and his wife Hannah.  In 1881 he was living with his parents, three brothers and three sisters at 195, Linskill Street, North Shields.

In 1900 Charles married Margaret Alice Moore in North Shields.  At the time of the 1901 Census Charles was serving as cook on board the steam trawler “Lucania”.

In 1911 Charles was still a fisherman and was living with Margaret and their three young children at 193, Linskill Street, North Shields.

Charles enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve on 7th August 1914 when he was described as being 5 feet 5 inches tall with blue eyes and a fresh complexion. He was posted to HMS Halcyon, the command and depot ship based at Yarmouth where he served on coastal craft and minesweepers.

Charles was lost on 28th March 1916 when HM Trawler Saxon Prince foundered off Dover in a blizzard with the loss of all hands. His widow, Margaret is listed on various records at different house numbers in Linskill Street, North Shields.

(Note: on some records, Charles’s middle name is given as Merschell)

Charles Marshall Proffit  is remembered at North Shields on N34.77, at Tynemouth in T36.14  page 22 and in our List of Ships’ Crews.