Percy Hubert SPARKMAN

by his son, Jack Sparkman, 1997

Born on 5th December 1881 at No 20 Caversham Road, Southsea, Portsmouth, England, he received his education at the Portsmouth Grammar School and after leaving school, he ,joined the British Postal Service in Portsmouth, and later was transferred to London where he worked until he resigned in order to take up a position with the Cape Government Postal Service, South Africa.

I can recall him telling me that part of his duties was to accompany the mails that were delivered to the Fleet and that, when some of the ships were anchored outside the Harbour, this was done by motor launch. I am sure that these visits influenced his love of the sea and ships, especially those of the Royal Navy of which he was very proud. I also remember him (and my, mother) speaking of Lieutenant Commander Holbrook, whom he knew at school. Holbrook later took his submarine through the Dardenelles into the harbour of Constantinople, where he torpedoed a Turkish battleship, for which brave deed (the first of it's kind) he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

About a year before my father sailed for the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, he witnessed on the 1st February 1901 a spectacle which impressed him greatly. He was in Portsmouth when the yacht “Alberta" brought the body of the late Queen Victoria from the Isle of Wight (where she died on the 22nd January 1901) to the mainland for conveyance to London by train. He often spoke of the magnificent playing of “The Dead March" in "Saul" by massed Naval and Military Bands.

On 8th February 1902 he sailed from Southampton in the Royal Mail Ship “KILDONAN CASTLE". This ship, built by Fairchilds in 1899, was 515 feet long overall with a beam of 59 feet. She had a tonnage of 9692, two funnels, three masts and quadruple expansion engines, giving a speed of 16 knots.

As I mentioned in the introduction, we regard this ship as the family ship, because my mother too voyaged in her at a later date when she came to live in South Africa.

While my father was in Cape Town, South Africa, he continued to indulge his interest in singing and participated in the first of a series of entertainments given during the winter in aid of St. George's Cathedral, Cape Town. The Press reported that " . . he is a tenor of no- ordinary merit and gave a delightful interpretation of “By the Fountain” by Adams.

He did not remain long in Cape Town, being transferred to Hutchinson Junction (about 13 km South East of Victoria West in the Cape Province of South Africa) and was stationed there from 1906 to 1907. He stated that he was one of seven men working there amongst the indigenous population. He tells the story of how he and a colleague were instrumental in preventing a collision between a heavily loaded coal train bound for Cape Town and the Cape Town to Johannesburg passenger train. Apparently, the Station Foreman, who was found to be drunk on duty, gave the driver of the coal train authority to proceed onto the line on which the upcoming passenger train was due on. The two postal clerks, who had gained a knowledge of train working through their mail duties ( the Post Office was located in the Station Building, realising that the passenger train would be due in Hutchinson shortly, rushed out and warned the driver of the coal train of the state of affairs and stopped the departure until the passenger train had arrived. Their reward was a severe reprimand for interfering in the workings of another Government Department

It was while he was stationed at Hutchinson Junction that my father returned to England to be married. I do not know the name of the ship he sailed in, nor when he commenced his voyage but estimate that it could not have been much later than the beginning of July 1907.

My mother, who was the youngest daughter of John Robert and Amelia Ann YOUNG (nee Welsteed), and my father were married on the 3rd September 1907 at St. Bartholomew's Church, Portsea, Portsmouth, England by the Reverend E J Kefford in the presence of Ralph Welsteed Young (her brother) and May Young (her sister)
As my grandmother (Amelia Ann Young - nee Welsteed) had suffered a stroke some years before, my mother did not accompany my father when he returned to South Africa (this date, nor the ship are unknown), but remained in England to care for her invalid mother. Why, in the circumstances, this could not have been done by relatives living in Portsmouth, I have never learned. However before her mother's death on the 6th November 1909, my mother apparently decided to join my father in South Africa and on either the 8th May 1909 or the 10th July 1909 she sailed from Southampton in the Royal Mail Ship "KILDONAN CASTLE", arriving at East London, South Africa, roadstead on the 29th May 1909 or 3lst July 1909 and proceed inland to King William's Town, to which my father had been transferred upon his return to South Africa.

Disembarking at East London my mother had her first experience of "The Basket". Owing to terrific swells in the roadstead it was not safe to transfer passengers from ship to the tender that had come alongside, by companion way. Therefore, passengers were obliged to enter the basket (cylindrical, about six feet in diameter and some nine feet high made in England of wickerwork, strongly reinforced with iron bands and chafing ropes), the gate of which was secured and the contraption hoisted outboard by ship's derrick and donkey engine, before being bounced onto the deck of the Company's tender, probably the "STORK".

On the 6th, 7th and 9th August 1909, my parents took part in the Gilbert and Sullivan Comic Opera "The Gondoliers", my mother in the Chorus of Contadine and my father in the principal role of Marco Palmieri. The Press reported that "Mr. Sparkman was splendid and showed familiarity on the stage that was pleasing, after the stiffness which some find hard to shake off'“.

Whilst in King William's Town my father played soccer for the Pioneers Association Football Club as goalkeeper. I remember in my youth seeing a group photograph but this is no longer in existence.

The Cape Mercury, King William's Town on the 25th August 1909 reporting on the King William's Town Choral Union Concert held in St. Andrew's Hall on Tuesday the 24th .August 1909, said that “Mr. P H Sparkman was in good voice in “The Last Watch” and responded with an encore”.

Before the end of 1909 my father was transferred to East London and resided, firstly, at No. 53 Caxton Street, secondly at No. 22a St. James' Road (where I was born) and thereafter at No. 43 St. James' Road (corner of Wynne Street) until some time in 1914 when he was transferred to Barkly East as Postmaster and remained there until shortly before the end of 1919.

In May 1911 my parents decided to visit my grandparents, probably to show them their first grandchild. We sailed from East London at 6 p.m. on Friday the 5th May 1911, in the intermediate steamer "GALEKA” under the command of Captain T H Wilford. She was a vessel of 6772 tons which entered the Company's service from the yards of Harland and Wolff, Ltd., Belfast and was the last vessel completed for the Union Line before amalgamation with the Castle Line. She was fitted with triple expansion engines which gave her a speed of 12 knots and had accommodation for 78 First Class, 118 Second Class and some Third Class passengers. During the First World War she was converted to a hospital ship but was sunk by a mine on the 28th October 1916 off Cape La Hogue, near Cherbourg.

The 1911 voyage mentioned lasted until 30 May when the vessel arrived at Southampton. The Daily Dispatch in East London South Africa of the 6th mentions amongst the passengers "Mr. and Mrs. P H Sparkman and infant”. We returned to East London per “GERMAN” ex Southampton on 14 July 1911, arriving Cape Town on 14 August 1911 and East London on 23 August 1911. The vessel was renamed “GLENGORM CASTLE” when World War 1 commenced on 4 August 1914. The GALEKA is also significant by virtue of my christening which took place on board during the voyage.

Jack Sparkman East London 1997