Roll of Honour

Hartlepool seafarers lost at sea

Hatch, William

Rank(s) : Fireman

Address : 4, Alma Street

Town/Country of birth : East Hartlepool

Date of birth : 1891

Date of death : 16/1/1915

Lost on the steam tug HMS Char (ex-Stranton).

The following information has been compiled by 'Heroism & Heartbreak' Project Volunteer Susan Scott:
William Hatch was born about 1891 in Hartlepool. He was the son of Robert Hatch, a boiler smith striker at the engine works, from Sunderland, and Mary Ann Hatch nee Armstrong also from Sunderland.

On the 1911 census he is listed as a tug boat assistant living at 27, Mill Street, Hartlepool, with his parents. He was one of eighteen children born to his parents but twelve had died in infancy and only six were left, so it must have been devastating to lose another child in this way for his parents.

William’s family also suffered another tragedy as his brother Robert’s wife died at only 24 years of age, leaving him as a widower at twenty seven with three young children. William lived at 4 Alma Street when he died.