Born on 20th June 1887 at West Ham, son of Samuel (Varnish Worker) and Louisa Farrow. 1891: With his family at 10 Railway Cottages, West Ham. 1901: His father having died in 1893, Frederick was living with his mother and siblings at 8 The Grove, Church Street, West Ham. He has not been accounted for in 1911, but on 12th March 1907 he had ceased to be a Chemical Works Labourer, and signed on in the Royal Navy for a 12 year engagement. He served in a number of ships including the “Ariadne”, “Duke of Edinburgh” and “Illustrious” He also fell foul of naval regulations resulting in some periods in cells, but his character was rated as good or very good. Being in service when war broke out he qualified for the 1914 Star.
In 1916 he married Anne Louise Page, and it was in their family home at 35 Ray Lodge Road, Snakes Lane, Woodford that she received the news of his death at the Battle of Jutland.
The Battlecruiser “Queen Mary” (which Frederick had joined on 16th April 1915), opened fire on the German ship “Seydlitz” at 15.50. Hits disabled one of the “Seydlitz’s” turrets, but the ship continued to engage with “Queen Mary.” During this engagement changing positions and visibility allowed an additional German ship, the “Derfflinger”, to begin attacking the “Queen Mary”.
At approximately 16.26 a shell from “Derfflinger” struck “Queen Mary” causing a massive explosion in the area of the forward magazines which broke the ship in two halves. A further shell may have hit the rear end which also suffered a large explosion before sinking. 20 men were saved but 1,266 including Frederick Farrow were lost in those few moments.
A review of the sinking initiated changes in the procedures for handling of cordite on ships, believing that this had been a contributing factor in the loss.
Research by Adrian Lee, Local Historian
Sources:
Ancestry.com