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Robert Henry Griffin

Commander Robert Henry Griffin OBE (28 March 1876 – 28 January 1951) was an Officer of the British Merchant Navy and the Royal Naval Reserve. He went to sea in a frigate at the age of thirteen, rose to Mate and Master, and was commissioned into the Royal Naval Reserve.

Most of Griffin’s career was with P & O. Apart from service with the Royal Navy in the First World War, for which he received the XXXX, he was appointed OBE for humanitarian services during an earthquake disaster at Yokohama in 1923.

• Born 28 March 1876: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14621438

• 20 April 1876, Baptized Newborough, Northampton, son of Robert Henry Griffin, Farmer, and Sarah Elizabeth Griffin, of Boro Fen [1]
• Ships 1889 to 1895: [2]

• In 1881 census, Griffin’s father is a widower and is farming 385 acres. Has two sons, John George, aged 6, and Robert Henry, 5, and a daughter Ethel Emily, plus a Housekeeper and two other female servants [3]
• 1 August 1895, Second Mate’s Certificate [4]
• Born at Boro Fen, Northamptonshire. In April 1897 permanent address Castle Hotel, Tamworth [5]

• Serving on HMS President (RNR drill ship), 1895, on Ares, 1895–1897, and on HMS President again, 1897

[6]

• Ships and promotions 1897–1899 [7]

• 8 April 1897: Certificate of Competency as First Mate of a Foreign-Going Ship

[8]

• 3 May 1900, acting Sub-Lieutenant, RNR, rank confirmed

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27350/page/5738/data.pdf

• 2 August 1901, Board of Trade Provisional Certificate as Master

[9]

[10]

• Height (in 1901) 5’ 5”, Dragon tattoo on arm [11] ; Light brown hair, grey eyes [12]

• Ships 1901 to 1902 [13]

• Ships to 1902 [14]

• 13 January 1903, Master’s Certificate [15]

• 1908, Marriage at Horncastle: “DAY Annie Mabel / Horncastle 7a 821” “GRIFFIN Robert Henry / Horncastle 7a 821“

• 28 December 1923, Commander Robert Henry Griffin was appointed OBE (The London Gazette, Issue 32892, 28 December 1923, p. 9105). He also received a Japanese decoration.

• Died 28 January 1951, probate to widow Annie Mabel “Griffin Robert Henry O.B.E. R.D” in Probate Index for England and Wales, 1951, accessed 11 May 2020]