William T. Kerley

[Lorraine Keys]

Dear All,
I was overwhelmed to find all this information here about W.T.Kerley who was my great great uncle. I have been researching the family history and had heard about "Uncle Tom", as he was referred to by my grandmother, many years ago. She had told me about how the family had a piece of his life belt but didn't know what had happened to it. My great uncle, nephew of Tom, told me about the ship that had picked up his body and how someone had returned his personal items to the family. I was wondering if Marie you could tell me more about the items you have and maybe even send a photo? In August I went to Dorset and looked around the area where the family lived and was able to go inside the Baptist chapel in Bowerchalke where the memorial service was held.A very kind lady had the key and also took us to Woodminton Cottages as My Mum has a photo of Granny Kerely standing outside. They are still there and recognisable from the photo.Also still lived in by a farm labourer who works on the farm there.
looking forward to hearing from someone,

Lorraine Keys

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Hallo, Lorraine, and welcome. Thanks for an interesting first posting. Marie is not a regular visitor to the forum so she may not see your posted message. If you click on her name in the left-hand column this will open her profile page, which contains a link for sending a private message to her email address.

 

[Marie barker]

My Gosh, I haven't logged on in ages, as my Titanic hobby has been on the back burner for a while.

I do hope Lorraine sees this,and gets my message,how exciting, she may even have a decent photo of him.

 

[Lora198721]

Hi there, I hope someone is still in this thread . I can confirm that William Thomas kerley is my great great uncle. If anyone has any pictures of the items that Marie speaks about I would be grateful. And Lorraine, we must be related? if anyone has email addresses for Lorraine and Marie I would be extremely grateful

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Click on their names in the left-hand column, then for each select 'private message' from the small menu box that appears. That should work if they haven't changed their email addresses.

 

[Lucy Speed]

Hello, no idea if people are still on this thread, Ive been told that I am related to William Kerley. Kerley is my mums maiden name. Our Kerleys lived in Wiltshire, and are still there now. I would love to know more about William to see if I am related and how. I was told he might have been cousins with my great grandfather. My email is lucy_speed@Hotmail.com - I would love to hear from you and maybe see a picture? Thank you, Lucy

 

[Mark Baber]

William Thomas Kerley : Titanic Victim

 

[Irupt]

I too am a great nephew of WK kerley and have his trunk at home and would love to see these artifacts does anyone know where they are now

 

[Ames]

hi all, I’m hoping somebody can help me out. There are stories in my family that go something like this...a male relative of my grandmother was supposed to sail on board Titanic working in the kitchen. However on the day, he overslept and didn’t make the sailing. (My grandmother tells us that he had scarlet fever and was too unwell to sail, my Great Aunt Joan tells us he was out drinking all night and was sleeping off a hangover!) my grandmother and her siblings have since passed away and I can’t remember this persons name. My grandmothers family name is CURLEY, they lived in Southampton and generations of family men have worked on ships from Southampton docks - mainly as chef’s. I’ve looked through endless lists of crew and passengers and have found a William T Kerley on board Titanic working as kitchen staff, and listed amongst the dead. There are no other Curley’s (or variants) listed. This completely contradicts what my grandmother was so sure about.
Within the family we have lots of Cunard and White Star Line memorabilia, so I find it hard to believe my grandmother could get something so wrong.
Is there anybody who can shed some light on this or point me in the right direction for further research?
Many thanks

 

[Dave Gittins]

There is a good deal about Kerley here. William Thomas Kerley : Titanic Victim

There is a list of a dozen or so crewmen who failed to join the ship after signing on earlier. There is no Curley or Kerley among them. I'm afraid you have yet another family legend that is just not true.

 

[Lorraine Keys]

I too am a great nephew of WK kerley and have his trunk at home and would love to see these artifacts does anyone know where they are now

Hello,
I'm Lorraine Keys and haven't logged in for a very long time. I have just found your message and would love to know how you are related to WTK. I have photos of the artefacts that are kept in the Maritime museum in Greenwich. If you would like copies please get in touch by email, my address is lorrainekeys1204@gmail.com

Lorraine

 

[Lorraine Keys]

Hello, no idea if people are still on this thread, Ive been told that I am related to William Kerley. Kerley is my mums maiden name. Our Kerleys lived in Wiltshire, and are still there now. I would love to know more about William to see if I am related and how. I was told he might have been cousins with my great grandfather. My email is lucy_speed@Hotmail.com - I would love to hear from you and maybe see a picture? Thank you, Lucy

I will email you Lucy

 

[Lorraine Keys]

I have continued to research my great great uncle William Thomas Kerley. I found him on the 1911 census at Farnborough Hall near Banbury as a footman. The tenant at that time was a man named Joshua Fielden. His wife’s name was Dora and she was the sister of Bruce Ismay. I wonder how Tom decided to sign on for Titanic?