The Hartlepool war hero who was feared lost at sea - until he returned home to his loving family

Albert Edward Reece, who was nicknamed Cockie, was born in West Hartlepool and was a father of four by the time he served as a stoker on HMS Warspite.

HMS Warspite was a battleship which served in the British Grand Fleet during the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 which involved 103 German ships, 151 British ships and more than 100,000 men.

His great granddaughter Jackie Hurman has shared his story and told how his family thought he had been killed.

But, as Jackie, told us, he ‘survived, returning home to his children and mother in law unexpectedly as he was understood to have been lost at sea.’

Cockie was a Royal Naval Reserve who saw action from 1915 to 1919. He eventually died in 1941 aged 68.

Jackie said: “My grandmother, his daughter, came to London to find work and the family ties unravelled over the new generations."

She hoped an article in the Hartlepool Mail would help ‘with the intention of reuniting his descendants’.

Cockie was born in 1872 and married Lilly Rebecca Marshall who was two years younger than him. Their four children were Arthur, Ellen, Ada and Martha.

Jackie added: “Martha was my paternal grandmother. Sadly, Lily died young in 1909.”

Cockie survied his wife by 32 years and his death notice in the Northern Daily Mail described him as the ‘beloved husband of the late Lily’.

Jackie told us more about her grandmother – Cockie’s daughter Martha who seemed to prefer the name Ethel.

“She moved to London in her early twenties, presumably for work: She worked as a between maid at Dick Turpin's old house in Epping Forest and for a Mr Geddis, who owned chemist shops, at Oak Hill, where she enjoyed sliding down the bannister!

"She met Walter Hurman and they married. Their children were Tony, my Dad, and Evon.”

Jackie said the two sides of the family in the North East and South East had lost touch with each other and she added: “I would dearly love to reconnect us all.”

Her hope is that, once the coronavirus is under control, ‘we can all get together’.

Does Cockie’s story seem familiar with your own family history? If so, get in touch with [email protected] and outline your connection to Albert Edward Reece.

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