The fine Northwest Coast of Ireland County Sligo Enniscrone 12 August 1909 loss of the fishing boat “Mary Jane” Sea Gallantry Medal in Bronze, Great War and long service group awarded to Boatman later Petty Officer W.J. Stickley, H.M. Coast Guard and Royal Navy. Originally from Poole, Dorset, he joined the Royal Navy in July 1889, and transferred to HM Coast Guard as a Boatman in September 1900. He then saw service in Ireland at Ballinacarrig followed by Greystones, followed by Inniscrone, also spelt Enniscrone from April 1908, this being in County Sligo. It was for an incident on 12 August 1909, that Stickley earned his Sea Gallantry Medal in Bronze, when the fishing boat Mary Jane, of Inniscrone, missed stays and got on the rocks. The Coastguard boat was launched but could not reach the fishing boat as no line was available. Commissioned Boatman William Stickley and Constable William Connolly, RIC, waded into the sea and threw a rope to the Coastguard boat. The rope fell short so Boatman Amos Bird sprang overboard and secured it. The rope was then used to tow the fishing boat off the rocks, and her crew of two were rescued. A heavy sea was breaking on the rocks during all this time and great danger was experienced by the men involved. Later in the Great War he returned to active service afloat with the minelayer Amphitrite, and was serving with this ship when he sustained a fractured skull in February 1918. As a result he was invalided from service in December 1918, but the effects of his injury were to prove fatal in 1925.
Group of 4: Sea Gallantry Medal in Bronze, 2nd issue, EVII bust; (WILLIAM J. STICKLEY. “MARY JANE” 12TH: AUGUST 1909.); British War Medal and Victory Medal; (149956 W.J. STICKLEY. P.O. R.N.); Royal Navy Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, EVII bust; (149956 W.J. STICKLEY, BOATN., H.M. COAST GUARD.)
Condition: latter with slightly correction to naming, first and last lightly polished, overall about Good Very Fine.
Provenance: ex Sotheby’s, 1 April 1981, lot 374.
William John Stickley was born on 20 June 1872 at Bond Store Yard, Poole, Dorset, William Stickley was a son of William Stickley (c.1847-c.1880) and his wife Mary (née Lacy: 1846-1892). They had married in 1866 and – apart from William – had at least five other children: Emily Susan (1866-aft.1891), Mary Elizabeth (1868-1869), Rosina (1869-aft.1891), Walter (1876-aft.1922), and Elizabeth (1879-aft.1901).
William was christened in St James’ Parish Church, Poole on 24 July 1872 and the family subsequently lived at Barbers Piles, Poole. His mother was originally from Wimborne and had worked as a general servant. His father, a quay labourer, died sometime around 1880 and by April 1881 William, his mother and siblings Rosina, Walter, and Elizabeth had been admitted to the Longfleet Union Workhouse in Poole. Theirs was not a brief stay: William’s mother, described as an ‘imbecile’ on the 1891 census, remained there until she died from epilepsy on 10 January 1892. His sister Elizabeth was in the workhouse until at least 1891, while Rosina got out when she was married on 23 September 1888, at the same time as her elder sister Emily (who was married six days later, on 29 September).n His younger brother Walter had joined the merchant navy by 1891, then worked as a labourer for a time, and in January 1896 joined the Royal Navy (ON 281582).
William Stickley himself apparently worked as a groom as a teenager, before joining the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class aboard HMS Boscawen on 24 July 1889 (ON 149946). In the RN a succession of ships followed for William Stickley, aboard which he was steadily promoted: Boy 1st Class on 26 July 1890; Ordinary Seaman on 14 June 1891; Able Seaman on 19 April 1894; Leading Seaman on 1 April 1898; Petty Officer 2nd Class on 8 December 1898; and Petty Officer 1st Class on 13 May 1899. Not long before that promotion he married Edith Emily Parker, the ceremony taking place in Hamworthy Parish Church, Dorset, on 20 March 1899. Then, on 20 September 1900, he transferred to HM Coastguard as a Boatman. Stationed in Ireland, initially at Ballinacarrig.
Stickley then moved to Greystones on 7 September 1902 and it was here that his daughter Mabel Elizabeth was born on 18 August 1907. A further child had died young. He then successively moved to Inniscrone, also spelt Enniscrone, on 4 April 1908. It was for an incident off Inniscrone, County Sligo, on 12 August 1909, that Stickley earned his Sea Gallantry Medal in Bronze.
The fishing boat Mary Jane, of Inniscrone, missed stays and got on the rocks off Inniscrone, County Sligo, on 12 August 1909. The Coastguard boat was launched but could not reach the fishing boat as no line was available. Commissioned Boatman William Stickley and Constable William Connolly, RIC, waded into the sea and threw a rope to the Coastguard boat. The rope fell short so Boatman Amos Bird sprang overboard and secured it. The rope was then used to tow the fishing boat off the rocks, and her crew of two were rescued. A heavy sea was breaking on the rocks during all this time and great danger was experienced by the men involved. In addition to the award of the Sea Gallantry Medal, the Board of Trade granted the three men a monetary award of £1 each.
The medals were ordered from the Royal Mint on 4 January 1910. In July 1910, Bird, Stickley, and Connolly travelled to London and on 21 July received their awards from King George V at Buckingham Palace.
Stickley was shortly afterward posted to Pullindeva on 30 November 1909, and then to Wicklow on 8 November 1912, Aranmore on 26 October 1915, and Burtonport on 1 October 1916. During this time promoted to Leading Boatman in April 1910 and Petty Officer (CG) on 7 December 1915. He was then promoted Petty Officer (telegraphist) on 1 April 1917 and posted as such to Porstmouth (HMS Vernon). Transferring to the neighbouring shore base, HMS Victory I, on 23 July 1917, he was finally sent to sea during the Great War aboard the minelayer HMS Amphitrite on 9 August 1917. While serving aboard that ship Stickley sustained a fractured skull in February 1918 and he transferred to HMS Victory I on 18 February 1918 for medical attention. He received the Silver War Badge (number RN38423) on 27 November and was invalided from the service on 25 December 1918. He was subsequently issued with the British War and Victory Medals for his service in the Great War.
The effects of his injury were to prove fatal: William Stickley died at his home at 14 Kingston Road, Poole, on 25 November 1925 from the effects of his fractured skull and related Jacksonian seizures. He left effects valued at £234, administration of which was granted to his widow Edith.
