Info: Australian? Allied Unit, James Thomas Pacey, (Cook) Fishing Vessel Fernbank (Aberdeen).

Any information would be appreciated.



Need assistance on Who/Where/What/How for this man who is on the Australian Commemorative Roll which is for those "Australians" who died in other Allied Services. If proved not to be "Australian" their names will not be removed from the Commemorative Roll however their details will be updated accordingly.

I have researched the Air Force members but there are many more Land and Sea deaths in a myriad of different forces.

There is not a lot of information on these people that can be accessed easily and I ask your assistance to fill in at least some of the gaps.

Hopefully some relatives may see this thread and add more.

I will make a different thread for each along the way as they may tend to get lost if clumped together.

In Memory of
Cook JAMES THOMAS PACEY

Fishing Vessel Fernbank (Aberdeen)., Fishing Fleet
who died age 50
on 16 November 1941
Son of James and Alice Pacey; husband of Margaret Pacey, of Bodangora, New South Wales, Australia.
Remembered with honour
TOWER HILL MEMORIAL

Commemorative Roll - J T Pacey

Unit: FV Fernbank
Service: Merchant Navy
Conflict: 1939-1945
Date of death: 16 November 1941





Pacey was on the FV Fernbank not the MS Fernbank!

From an Australian visitor to my website I've received the following (his sources: Lloyds War Losses published in 1989, and the Admiralty records of British and Foreign Merchant Ships sunk or damaged by enemy action):
"Fernbank, 4333 gross tons, on June 1st 1941 suffered an air attack whilst on voyage from Hull. Her engines and rudder had been damaged by near misses, and she was leaking, but proceeded to Aberdeen arriving on that day. She arrived in the Tyne on 13th June 1941 (one can assume that this would be for repair at a shipyard there)".
The same visitor has also told me that an Australian by the name of James Thomas Pacey is commemorated at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra (link below) and also at Tower Hill Memorial, London. A fishing vessel named Fernbank, 211 tons was attacked by an enemy bomber on Nov. 16-1941, 12 m northwest of Mygganes, Seydisfjord Fishing Grounds, voyage from Seydisfjord for Faroes fishing grounds. 5 were lost out of a crew of 10, J. T. Pacey being one of the casualties. She had on board 38 tons of fish. This ship is listed as Norwegian in some sources, but through misc. correspondence I've learnt that (according to Lloyd's register) this may have been a Scottish ship, ex River Annan, Ex Loch Kildonan, built in Oct.- 1907 by Hall Russel & Co., Aberdeen, owned by Stephen Fishing Co. Ltd., port of registry Aberdeen. If anyone has more details, please let me know - contact address at the bottom of this page (had she been Norwegian at some point, or is this just a mix-up?).

As mentioned, Fernbank proceeded to Tyne for repairs, arriving there on June 13, and did not leave again until Dec. 18, arriving Oban, via Methil, on Dec. 23 -

 

Hi Spidge! I'm a newcomer to this site. I believe that this person is my paternal Grandfather, killed during WW2 aboard the Fernbank. He was born in Aberdeen to James Thomas Pacey, and Alice Laing. He married my Grandmother, Annie Brown in 1921, and had a son and daughter. For reasons not known he abandoned the family in 1924, and at some point apparently married Margaret, about whom I know nothing. I have found that a Margaret Pacey emigrated from Aberdeen in 1949, bound for Sydney, with her two sons James Thomas Pacey, and William Pacey. Aberdeen Council holds a record of Aberdeen Registered ships, and your details regarding it being an Aberdeen trawler of 211 tons, formerly called 'Loch Kildonan' (1914), and 'River Annan' (1919-1920), are confirmed in that register.
Regards,
Gordon Pacey

 

Panel attached from Tower Hill Memorial

 

Just for info - sailing of Pacey's from UK to Australia:

Margaret Pacey
40 abt 1909 13 May 1949 Glasgow, Scotland Sydney, Australia

James Pacey
17 abt 1932 13 May 1949 Glasgow, Scotland Sydney, Australia

William Pacey
13 abt 1936 13 May 1949 Glasgow, Scotland Sydney, Australia


Name: Margaret Pacey
Gender: Female
Age: 40
Birth Date: abt 1909
Departure Date: 13 May 1949
Port of Departure: Glasgow, Scotland
Destination Port: Sydney, Australia
Ship Name: Empire Brent
Search Ship Database: Search for the Empire Brent in the 'Passenger Ships and Images' database
Shipping line: P and O
Official Number: 148847
Master: H Mclachlan

TD

 

James Thomas Pacey in the UK, Shipping and Seamen WWI and WWII Rolls of Honour, 1914-1945


Name: James Thomas Pacey
Death Date: 16 Nov 1941

Copy of BT 339: Shipping and Seamen Rolls of Honour WWI and WWII/Piece 1 (1939 - 1951)


TD

 

Hi Gordon, don't know where you are based but I'm attaching what I could find on the Pacey name on the website Scotlandspeople.gov.uk

It's an unusual name so not too many entries (in the marriage section there are only 3 entries when you search the name James)

James's mother Alice appears on the 1930 Valuation Roll collection that was just released 3rd March 2016.

There is also a Will for a James Thomas Pacey from 1919 (died 30 March 1919). I'm assuming this is James's father. He appears to have been the Skipper of H.M.D. Cawdor Castle.

Link to the Britishnewspaper archive using the advances search and name James Pacey (same articles can be read at findmypast - you can get 14 day free trial there)

http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results/1900-01-01/1949-12-31?basicsearch=%22james%20pacey%22&phrasesearch=james%20pacey&exactsearch=true&sortorder=score&newspapertitle=aberdeen%2bjournal

 

Hello Gordon,

Glad to see that these threads still draw attention and provide great information even after four years.

These names on the Australian Commemorative Roll were put forward by family and possibly therefore by Margaret even though your Grandfather was not an Australian or had been living in Australia before or during the war years.

The lads have provided some further pertinent information which I hope is useful to you.

Cheers

Geoff

 

Hi Geoff

A couple of questions raise their heads:

1. When was the memorial in Australia created? - presumably after 1949

2. What were the criteria to have a name placed on that memorial? - "Ah Mrs Pacey, you are Australian now, where is your husband? - Oh he died in WW2 then he needs to go on the memorial" - simplistic I know but a conversation (or meeting) must have taken place and documents filled in after questions had been asked.

TD

 

Hi Geoff, Tricky Dicky, and Amberdog 45.

Thanks for the response. I'm based in York, England. I lived in Aberdeen for about 12 years, which is where I started (pre-computer) to research my family history. I've recently obtained a copy J.T.Pacey's birth certificate (my Father has the original, but had forgotten that he had it).

J.T.Pacey was born on 9th December 1889 in Aberdeen. His Father was also J.T.Pacey ,Seaman. His Father was the skipper of the' Cawdor Castle' when he died on 30th March 1919, and is buried in Allenvale Cemetery in Aberdeen.
Regards,
Gordon Pacey

 

Hi Tricky Dicky,

Missed this - Sorry.

1981.

https://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/commemorative_roll/introduction/

He does not meet all of the criteria: Born/lived in Australia!!

I have come across a few of these and it is good to sort them out. I would hazard a guess that Margaret or one of her children may have put his name forward.

Cheers

Geoff

 

Hi Gordon,
James Thomas Pacey of the Fernbank is also my paternal grand father, My father being James Pacey who moved to Australia with William Pacey (brother) and their mother Margaret (my grandmother).
I would like to get in touch with you if possible as I am researching my Grandfather also.
Thanks
Jason Pacey
Australia

 

Hi Jason,

Good to see this being picked up by the search engines.

Cheers

 

Hi Jason

Welcome

You need to be made aware that Gordon was last on here March 26th (as his post above) - hopefully he is still receiving notifications

TD

 

Hi Jason,
I'll be happy to help with any information I can provide. I received your message yesterday, but I'm going to Scotland (tomorrow) for a week, so I probably can't give specific information until I get back home.
Regards,
Gordon.

 

Hello Gordon
I've only just had sight of the above emails after getting an email from Ancestry.today but I can add to the family history. My maternal grandmother was Blanche Pacey, twin sister to Hanorah Pacey, with several siblings including a Margaret. Their father and mother were James Pacey and Alice (nee Lang). Gramma Carr married George Carr and the extended family moved from Aberdeen to Battle Creek, Michigan, USA around 1926 when Mum was 7. Sadly, the marriage ended with Gramma Carr bringing the 3 children, Blanche, Jim and Margaret (my mother) back to Aberdeen 7 years later.. Mum died in February 2018 at the age of 98. We've being doing a bit of research and wonder if you know of some interesting history my mother told me about relating to the two elder brothers in the Pacey family. A public forum is perhaps not the place for this so you might like to get in touch with me at svcracker@hotmail.com. Kind regards, Pamela

 

Okay Pamela - Will Do.

Gordon.