Harry GATES
The circumstances of this marriage is one of the most interesting.
It was established from
William Gates' birth certificate that his father was Harry Gates, a Royal Marine Sergeant, and that his mother was Elizabeth Langrish Gates, formerly Howe. At that time they lived at 10 Moreland Road, Forton, in the Gosport area of the County of Southampton.
A search of the 1891 census found the family living in the Royal Marine Barracks at Forton. William was 3 years old and has a younger sister, Amy.
A search back from William's birth found the marriage of his parents nine months previously. Harry Gates had married Elizabeth Langrish Howe on Valentine's Day, 14th February, 1887, at St. James' Church, Portsea. The witnesses were William Gates (probably his brother) and Eliza Marchant.
Harry Gates was then 27 which, along with the 1891 census entry, placed his year of birth as 1860. He was the son of a Royal Marine, another William Gates. Elizabeth married at the age of 21 and was the daughter of a clerk, George Valentine Howe.
The next logical step would be to locate the family in the 1881 census. Neither were found, for reasons which would later become apparent.
A search in the years around 1860 found two Harry Gates, both the sons of William Gates. Only one William, however, was a Royal Marine.
Harry was born on 9th May, 1860, at 11 Albert Street, Forton. His father was William John Gates, then a Royal Marine Sergeant and his mother was Rachel Gates, formerly Harding.
The family were found in the 1861 census at Albert Street. This entry was invaluable as it shows that he had 3 older siblings - 'Veo' Ann (later identified as Rachel), Eliza Ann and William G Gates. Also present was a "visitor", Jane Harding, who would appear to be Rachel's sister.
With Harry's date of birth, it was possible to locate his Royal Marine service records, which are held in the Public Records Office at Kew.
Military Service.
These show that Harry enlisted in the Royal Marines, at Forton, at 10:45 am on 3rd June, 1875, by Sgt. Major Gibbs. He was aged 15 years and one month. He was 4'11" in height, of freckled complexion, and had grey eyes and auburn hair. He enlisted for 14 years and 11 months (the 11 months relating to the period up to his 16th birthday) and, for the first 3 years was a Bugler. He became a private shortly after his 18th birthday.
His records show how he progressed through the ranks reaching the rank of Sergeant in 1881, then aged only 21. He served as Colour Sergeant for 8 months, probably in an acting capacity.
He served aboard four ships - St. Vincent, Hibernia, Orontes and Urgent.
St.Vincent was a historical ship. Built in 1828 and first commissioned in 1831, she took part in the war in the Baltic in 1854. It was her last active engagement before she became a training ship for boys and was given a permanent mooring off the entrance to Haslar Creek. It was as a boy that Harry was stationed on her. She was taken out of service in 1879 and was broken up at Falmouth in 1906.
Having left St.Vincent in 1879, Harry's next ship was the Hibernia. She was the Flagship of Admiral Superintendent of Dockyard at Malta, a base for the Mediterranean Fleet, and Harry swerved there for almost 3 years.
It was during this time that instability in Egypt has placed great importance on he fleet particularly in respect of the
Bombardment of Alexandria.
Harry Gates' other ship postings, Orontes and Urgent, were both iron steam troopships and undoubtedly served to transport him to foreign postings.
Harry Gates left the Royal Marines on 12th January, 1898, having served 22 years and 222 days, and was recommended for a gratuity of £15. He was then aged 37 and had grown to 5'6". His discharge papers show that he had a tattooed heart on his right hand and that he intended to reside at 36 Moreland Road, Forton. Interestingly his son, William, had been born at 36 Moreland Road, so these may have been Naval houses.
It is not known at this time what happened to Harry thereafter.
Also see Role of the Royal Marines in the early 19th Century
Elizabeth Langrish HOWE
William Gates' mother, Elizabeth Langrish Howe, was born on 24th June, 1866, at 40 Victoria Street, Portsea, the daughter of George Valentine HOWE, a dockyard rigger, and Sarah Howe, formerly Rudland.
Having been born in 1866, the 1871 census was searched. The family was found at 90 Church Path, Portsea and the entry contained some interesting information. Sure enough, George, the dockyard rigger was there, as was Elizabeth, then aged 4 years. George's wife, however, was not Sarah, but Rachel Howe. Also present are George's step-sons, Harry and John Gates!
It was apparent that Rachel Gates had married George Howe. Subsequent research found that Harry's father, William John Gates, had died on 16th June, 1862, at the Royal Naval Hospital 'Haslar', at Portsmouth. George's wife, Sarah, had died in 1868, aged 30.
The important marriage was then found;
On the 14th August, 1870, at St. James' Church, Poole, George Valentine Howe, widower, had married Rachel Gates, widow.
In essence, therefore, in the early 1860s two families were living in the same area of Portsea; William and Rachel Gates, with their 5 children, and George and Sarah Howe, with their 4 children. Rachel Gates was widowed whilst in her early thirties with two very young children and, 6 years later, George Howe found himself in the same position. Within two years Rachel married George and the two families joined as one.
Between them, Rachel and George now had 9 children, although the 3 older Gates children had left home. It is likely that they sought employment or apprenticeships at an early age as Rachel is unlikely to have been able to support them on her own. Rachel and George had one further child of their own, Marion.
It is interesting that when Rachel married George, Harry was 10 years old and Elizabeth, his new step-sister was almost 4. Almost 17 years later they married!
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