On Chatham Naval Memorial Kent is the name of 8369S Stoker James Robson Sweeney serving on H.M.S. Queen Mary with the Royal Naval Reserve who died 31/05/1916.
David Thompson has submitted the following:-
James Robson Swinney was born on 30 April, 1897, the second son of Thomas Swinney, a Colliery Mason, and his wife, Isabella.
The 1911 Census records two sons and three younger daughters. The oldest son, Robert (15), was employed as a Pit Pony Driver while all of the other children were still at school.
Isabella and all of the children had been born at Alnwick, Northumberland but, in 1911, the family lived at 16, Fern Avenue, South Moor, Stanley, County Durham.
The UK, Royal Navy and Royal Marine War Graves Roll, 1914-1919 (available via Ancestry.co.uk) records Swinney’s mother as Mrs. Isabella Stephenson, of 4, Lennox Terrace, Newsham, Near Blyth, Northumberland.
James was killed in action at the Battle of Jutland. As such, his body was not recovered for burial.
HMS Queen Mary was the last battlecruiser built by the Royal Navy before the First World War. The sole member of her class, Queen Mary shared many features with the Lion-class battlecruisers, including her eight 13.5-inch (343 mm) guns. She was completed in 1913 and participated in the 1914 Battle of Heligoland Bight as part of the Grand Fleet.
Like most of the modern British battlecruisers, she never left the North Sea during the war. As part of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, she attempted to intercept a German force that bombarded the North Sea coast of England in December 1914 but was unsuccessful.
She was refitting in early 1915 and missed the Battle of Dogger Bank in January but participated in the largest fleet action of the war, the Battle of Jutland, in mid-1916.
She was hit twice by the German battlecruiser Derfflinger during the early part of the battle and her magazines exploded shortly afterwards, sinking the ship.
Her wreck was discovered in 1991 and rests in pieces, some of which are upside down, on the floor of the North Sea. HMS Queen Mary is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 as it is the grave of 1,266 officers and men.
Colin Boyd has provided the following :
James was born on 30th April 1897 in Alnwick, Northumberland to Thomas Swinney, a stone mason and his wife Isabel.
Four years later he was living with his parents, two sisters and a brother on Alnwick Moor.
Ten years later the family, now with an additional daughter was living at 16, Fern Avenue, South Moor, Stanley, County Durham.
James enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve on 18th August 1915 when he was described as being 5 feet 7 inches tall with brown eyes and a pale complexion. His home address was shown as 1, Liddle Street, Bedlington Station. His father Thomas had died in December 1913 and the family had moved back to Northumberland.
James was posted to HMS Queen Mary and was lost when that vessel exploded and sank on 31st May 1916 during the opening stages of the Battle of Jutland with the loss of 1266 officers and ratings.
His next of kin was shown as his mother who had re-married in October 1914 and was now Mrs. I. Stephenson of 4, Lennox Terrace, Newsham, Blyth.
James Robson Swinney is remembered at Alnwick on A11.16 and in our List of Ships’ Crews.
