William Henry Baster

A Chief Petty Officer with H.M.S. Ark Royal, William died on 4th of September 1918 aged 49. 

William was born at Gravesend, Kent, on 25 November 1868, a son of George Frederick and Mary Anne Baster. He was baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Milton-next-Gravesend, on 6 January 1869. In 1871 his family lived at Clarence Street, Milton. By 1881 they had moved to Mundesley, Norfolk, where his father was a Coast Guard. 

William joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class on 29 May 1884. In 1902 he was awarded the Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. He was discharged to a pension on 3 December 1906 and on 3 August 1907 William joined the Royal Fleet Reserve (number RFR/CHA/1105).

By 1906 William's home was at Lowestoft. He married Eva Susannah Booker, of Oxted, Surrey, at Saint Mary's Church, Oxted, on 19 January 1906. They lived at 10 Burton Street, Lowestoft.

On 2 August 1914 he was mobilized and served with H.M.S. Columbine before joining the minesweeper Plethos on 1 April 1916. He was with H.M.S. Pembroke I from 31 May 1917, Ganges from 23 June 1917, Pembroke I from 15 September 1917 and H.M.S. Ark Royal from 12 October 1917. William died from malignant endocarditis. 

William's son Brian served in the Royal Navy and died in 1943.