Trafford

Born at Altrincham - probably at 1 Park Lea where the family resided before
moving to Stockport c1890.  Born during the March quarter 1886 in the
Altrincham R.D. - ref: 8a/183, the son of John & Hannah Hulme

The family must have moved from Altrincham to Stockport around 1890, as all
their six children were born at Altrincham.

1891 Census - 12 Green Street, Stockport.   Son - aged: 5 - born:
Altrincham.  Head of household - John Hulme - Married - aged: 40 - occ:
Joiner - born: Bramhall, Cheshire.   Also - Hannah Hulme - Wife - aged: 40
- born: Macclesfield, Cheshire.  Plus 5 siblings, all born at Altrincham.

His father - John Hulme died during the December quarter 1900 in the
Stockport R.D. - ref: 8a/51 - aged: 50.

1901 Census - 32 Warren Road, Stockport.   Son - aged: 15 - occ: Proofer at
Hat Works - born: Altrincham.   Head of household - Hannah Hulme - Widow -
aged: 53 - born: Macclesfield.  Plus 5 siblings.

Soon after this he enlisted in the Royal Navy, but was Discharged by
Purchase on the 9th May 1908.

1911 Census - No Trace.   His widowed mother and 4 siblings were residing
at 84 Lowfield Road, Stockport.

Sidney became a member of the Stockport Borough Police.


Served in the Royal Marine Artillery and was iInvolved in the Battle of
Coronel.

  H.M. Ships Good Hope, Glasgow, Monmouth and Ortanto were off Coronel on
the Chilean coast searching for the German East Asia Squadron which was
attempting to return to Germany via Cape Horn.  On the evening of the 1st
November 1914 the two Squadrons met.   Initially the British had the
advantage as the Germans were silhouetted against the setting sun, but the
Germans used their superior speed to avoid action until after the sun had
set which illuminated in the afterglow. The British were also hampered by
the bad weather which meant that their lower casement guns could not be
worked.  Another factor in favour of the Germans was that they had well
trained regular crews whereas the British ships had only recently
commisioned with crews made up of reservists.  Firing began at 19.00hrs and
by 19.52hrs "Good Hope" had been battered to a wreck by the German ships
Scharnhorst & Gneisenau there was a final large explosion and then she
sank.  900 crew died there were no survivors.    H.M.S. Monmouth suffered a
similar fate soon afterwards again with the loss of 900 crew.



He is commemorated on the Stockport 1914-1918 website and John Hartley has
kindly allowed me to use his information.   "The Hulme family came from
Altrincham and Sidney and his five brothers and sisters had all been born
there. By the time of the 1901 Census, his father, John, had died and his
mother and the children were living at 32 Warren Road, Cale Green,
Stockport. Sidney, then aged 15, was working in one of the local hatworks.


Shortly after this, he joined the Marines. By 1914, he had completed his
contracted time and returned to Stockport where he had joined the town’s
police force. However, he was still on the naval reserve and was, perhaps,
unfortunate to have been undertaking his regular training when War was
declared in August 1914.

HMS Good Hope was an armoured cruiser built in 1901 but was quickly
becoming obsolete. She was transferred to the Reserve Fleet in 1913 but
with War imminent, a crew was hurriedly put together of cadets and
reservists like Sidney. She sailed from Portsmouth on 2 August, two days
before the official declaration of War and was attached to a cruiser
squadron patrolling the South Atlantic around the Falkland Islands.

A German cruiser squadron was also patrolling in the area. All five ships
were modern and better equipped by the British and the commander of the
British squadron, Admiral Cradock, had hoped for reinforcements before
trying to engage the enemy. The forthcoming engagement would become known
as the Battle of Coronel, after the Chilean city to the east.

On 31 October, a radio signal was intercepted which gave the approximate
location of one of the German ships. Cradock ordered his whole squadron
north in an attempt to cut it off and destroy it. Instead, he found himself
confronting the entire German squadron during the following afternoon.

The German ships had the greater range and the third salvo fired by the
Scharnhorst at about 19.00 hrs crippled the Good Hope. Further salvoes were
fired and the ship finally sank at 19.57 hrs with the loss of all hands.
Another ship, Monmouth, was sunk a few minutes later. The other two British
ships managed to escape.  It was Britain’s first naval defeat since
1810."

Commemorated in De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour 1914-1918.