Louis Sidney Amedee Morel

Louis was the son of the Henri Louis Morel and Sarah Elizabeth Morel nee Munson. Henri was born in France, the son of Francois Amedee Morel; his wife was born in London in 1863 (A/M/J Lambeth). They were married in 1883 (A/M/J Nottingham) and had three children, two of whom survived. Henri applied successfully for British Citizenship in March 1889 when he and his wife and their two children, Louis and Henriette Lisette (b. 1886 (O/N/D Nottingham), were living at 31 Bentinck Road, Nottingham. In 1891 Henri (32), a photographer, and Sarah (27) were still living at 31 Bentinck Road, Nottingham, with their two children, Louis (6) and Henriette (4). The family has not yet been traced on the 1901 Census, but in July 1902 Louis joined the Royal Navy. By 1911 Henri (53) and Sarah (47) were living at 126 Welbeck Street, Mansfield Road, Nottingam, with their daughter Henriette (24). Henri was still working as a photographer ('photographic artist') and both his wife and daughter were employed in his business, as a receptionist and assistant respectively. Also in the household was Maud Marion Buckland (15), a general servant. Louis' father, Henri, died on 31 July 1917, just over a year after the death of his son. He was 59 years old. Sarah Morel died in 1951 (Dec Nottingham) at the age of 88 and Henriette Morel died in 1958 (Jun Nottingham).

He attended High Pavement School. He was a photographer when he joined the Royal Navy in July 1902

Louis joined the Royal Navy on 21 January 1902 when he was 17 years old and entered on a 12 year engagement on 1 July 1902, his eighteenth birthday. He served in the following ships and shore establishments: HMS Northampton, 21 January 1902-25 April 1902 (Boy 2nd Class, Boy 1st Class 22 April 1902); HMS Calliope, 26 April 1902-30 June 1902; Pembroke I, 1 July 1902-31 August 1902 (Able Seaman, 31 July 1902); HMS Galatea, 1 September 1902-19 February 1903; (Cells 3 days); HMS Dido, 23 February 1903-31 May 1904 (Able Seaman, March 1904); Pembroke 1-June 1904-1 December 1904; (Cells 3 days); Pembroke, 5 December 1904-22 January 1905; (Cells 14 days); Pembroke, 6 February 1905-7 February 1905; HMS Wildfire, 8 February 1905-30 June 1905; HMS Endymion, 1 July 1905-16 July 1906; Pembroke, 17 July 1906-20 July 1906; HMS Terrible, 21 July 1906-18 September 1906; HMS Astroea, 19 September 1906-7 September 1908; HMS Charybdis, 8 September 1908-22 October 1908; Pembroke, 23 October 1908-15 December 1908; HMS Irresistible, 15 December 1908-9 May 1910; Pembroke I, 10 May 1910-24 June 1910; HMS Dominion, 25 June 1910-18 June 1914; Pembroke, 19 June 1914-3 July 1914. It appears from his service record that he applied for a discharge by purchase in March 1904 while serving in HMS Dido, but this was refused. He was discharged shore, CS expired, and enrolled in the RFR (Ch. B/10801) on 4 July 1914. He was mobilised shortly before war was declared and served in HMS Bacchante 2 August 1914-10 February 1916; Pembroke I, 11 February 1916-28 April 1916; HMS Dido (Turbulent) 29 April 1916-1 June 1916. His service record was annotated, ‘NP 4308/1916. DD 1st June 1916, killed in action’ Louis was killed in action during the Battle of Jutland (31 May 1916-1 June 1916). H.M.S. Turbulent, a destroyer commissioned for the Ottoman Navy, was sunk with the loss of 90 of her crew. His body was not recovered for burial and his name is commemorated on Chatham Naval Memorial.

UK Naturalisation Certificate & Declarations: Louis Sidney Amidee Morel father Certificate date 20 March 1889 (London England). ‘Alien now residing at 31 Bentinck Road, Nottingham … alleges that he is a native of Boulogne sur Mer, France, and is the son of the late Francois Amedee Morel, a native of Boulogne sur Mer, France, and Sophie Lucy Morel a native of London and of the age of thirty two years and a photographer, is married and has two children under age residing with him viz: Louis Sidney Amidee Morel aged 4 years and Henrietta Lisette Morel age 2 years.’ Obituary published 31st August 1916 in the Nottingham Evening Post :- “MOREL. - Killed in action, May 31st, North Sea battle, Louis Sidney Amedee Morel, aged 31, gunner of H.M.S. Turbulent. Nobly he lived, nobly he died. - From his sorrowing mother, father, and sister.” In memoriam notice published 31st May 1919 Nottingham Evening Post :- “MOREL. – In loving memory of Louis Sidney Amedee Morel, Gunner, Jutland Battle. Ever in our thoughts. – Mother and sister. Also of Henri Louis Morel, July 31st, 1917. – Wife and daughter.” Above obituary and in memoriam are courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918. Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 31 May 1917: ‘Morel. In loving memory of Louis Sidney Amedee Morel, aged 31, gunner of HM TBD Turbulent, killed in action, Jutland Battle, May 31st, 1916. Nobly he lived, nobly he died. From his sorrowing mother, father, and sister.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) A.B. Louis Sidney Amedee Morel, R.N., H.M.S. Bacchante, whose French-born father, Henri, had served in the “Marine Infanterie,” described some of his experiences of the first months of the war in an article published on 11th February 1915. in the Nottingham Daily Express . “LIVELY TIMES. “Nottingham Gunner who is on H.M.S. Bacchante. “There can be but few families able to boast of having had the father in the navy of one country and the son in that of another, yet such is the case in a Nottingham household. When a young man, Mr. H. L. Morel, a well-known local photographer living on Mansfield-road, served in the naval forces of the country of his birth, France, and during the period of his service attained the rank of corporal in the 2nd Regiment of Marine Infanterie, whose headquarters were at Brest, Finnisterre. In civil life he became a photographer, and came to live in England, establishing himself in Nottingham in the year 1882. Mr. Morel became a naturalised Englishman in 1889. Marrying an English lady, he has seen his son, Mr. L. S. A. Morel, join the English Navy. “Gunner Morel is now serving on H.M.S. Bacchante, on which he was in the light cruiers action in the Bight of Heligoland on August 28th. “The vessel, it may be recollected, was afterwards mentioned in despatches for the skill with which she eluded the enemy's destroyers and submarines, returning safely with the dead and wounded from some of the smaller craft engaged at the close of the action. “Gunner Morel had just completed 12 years in the service, and had passed into the reserve before the outbreak of war. He had not been home for more than a couple of months before he was called up again. He was formerly on H.M.S. Dominion. “Writing to his parents recently, he says: “You have not heard much of our ship, but we are ere, there, and everywhere, keeping the imports and exports on the move, together with the protection of the Isles. It is very lively here, and when spiced by submarines and mines it is still much livelier. Before receiving the life-saving collar, I had been using the inner tube of a cycle instead, which I found a very good idea, and many of my shipmates followed my example.” Above article is courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918. Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 2 August 1917: ‘Morel. On July 31st, Henri Louis Morel, of 2, Welbeck-street, aged 59, in hospital after a very long illness patiently borne. At rest.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)