On a Memorial Wall, Darlington West Cemetery is the name of Chief Engineer Officer William Sharp Jeffrey, O.B.E., serving on S.S. Samdauntless with the Merchant Navy  who died 20/06/1946 and was cremated at Darlington Crematorium.

He was the son of William and Margaret Jeffrey and the husband of Dorothea Elizabeth Jeffrey, of Middlesbrough.

William Sharp Jeffrey was born in Edinburgh on 15th May 1892, the oldest son of William and Margaret (nee Laverock) , his brothers were Robert (b.1894) and Herbert (b.1896).

By 1912 he had qualified as an engineer and was living with his parents on Murchiston Crescent, Edinburgh.  He served in the Merchant Navy in WW1 and was awarded the Mercantile Marine Medal and Clasp.

It is not known when William married his wife Dorothea.

He was awarded the Pacific Star and Atlantic Star, alongside the 1939-45 Star and War Medal in WW2, having latterly served on the S.S. Samdauntless as Chief Engineer. This was a  Liberty Ship, built in the USA  and launched on 3rd April 1944, she was delivered to the Ministry of War Transport under the Lend Lease Programme and used by the Merchant Navy.

William Sharp Jeffrey was awarded the O.B.E. in the New Year’s Honours List for 1946.

He died at home, 22 Lewis Road, in Middlesbrough from heart failure on 20th June 1946.

William Sharp Jeffrey is remembered at Darlington on D40.064 and on our List of Ships’ Crews.