Herbert William Pearcy Minter

Bef 1884 - 1942  (~ 57 years)

• Name	Herbert William Pearcy Minter
  Birth	Bef 31 Aug 1884	Wandsworth, London   [1]
  Christening	31 Aug 1884	St Annes, Wandsworth, London   [2]
  Gender	Male
  _UID	97BB32A7257E4B2DAC8D187D171F21F05B6C
  Death	24 Jan 1942	Tulamben, Bali
  Burial	Manila American Cemetery, Phillipines
  Notes	Evidently served in the Royal Navy (National Archives Series Admiralty: Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services Piece 219501-220000). Gives date of birth as 8 August 1885. December 2011: email from Theo Minter: My father BMJ Minter had often mentioned my great uncles, Herbert William Pearcy Minter and Frederick Albert Minter. They left England for America before the First World War and spent some time unsuccessfully prospecting for gold. They both stayed out there for the rest of their lives, Fred moving to Canada, where at the outbreak of WW2, he put his age down and joined The Calgary Tank Regiment. He died in the Veterans hospital Victoria British Columbia, Canada July 10th 1949. Herbert apparently could not bring himself to personally take a human life, so joined the merchant navy to help his country. My father told me that Herbert had been murdered by natives somewhere near the Philippines after his ship ran aground. I did a little web digging and found a website for the American battle monument Commission, and found an entry for Herbert Minter, Merchant Seaman, died 24 Jan 1942. The dates match with what I believed, so does the burial place, Manila American Cemetery. It also states, "Entered service from Great Britain, so I'm pretty certain it's him. His service number was Z-068127. Once I had his date of death, I searched a list of American ships sunk during the Second World War, and found one that fits perfectly. Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry for that ship, The USAT Liberty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAT_Liberty On 11 January, Liberty was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-166 about 10 nautical miles (19 km) southwest of the Lombok Strait. U.S. destroyer Paul Jones and Dutch destroyer Van Ghent took the damaged ship in tow attempting to reach Singaraja, the Dutch port and administrative Centre for the Lesser Sunda Islands, on the north coast of Bali. However she was taking too much water and so was beached on the eastern shore of Bali at Tulamben so that the cargo and fittings could be salvaged. This fits with everything I know. Merchant ship, correct date, correct location, and correct situation, IE ship beached rather than sunk. No other merchant ship is listed as sinking in that theatre for a month either side of the death date.
  Person ID	I14	Ipswich, Suffolk
  Last Modified	8 Dec 2011

  
  

  Father	Herbert Minter,   b. 30 May 1857, Washbrook, Suffolk d. Jun 1936, Fulham RD (Age 79 years)
  Mother	Harriet PEARCY,   b. Abt 1857, Foxley, Northants d. Mar 1932, Fulham RD (Age ~ 75 years)
  Marriage	7 Feb 1882	St Pauls, St Mary Newington, London   [1]
  	Married after banns. Herbert Minter, 24, bachelor, collector of 28 Hampton Street, father William Minter, gentleman. Harriet Pearcy, 25, spinster of 28 Manor Road, father Joseph Pearcy (deceased), farmer. Both signed full names. Witnesses Mary Ann Pearcy, Albert Edward Minter.
  Family ID	F30	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - Bef 31 Aug 1884 - Wandsworth, London  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S3] BMD index. [S24] London Metropolitan Archives at Ancestry.co.uk, October 2009 and later.