Daniel Taylor - A Saltcoats Hero

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Penny Tray
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Daniel Taylor - A Saltcoats Hero

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While preparing a future post about the WWI death of Gunner/Signaller JOHN MILLER, a former pupil of Saltcoats Public School, I came across the following remark attributed to an Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald which roused my curiosity – “…..DAN TAYLOR…..of the trawler PROVIDENT, who rendered such heroic service on the occasion of the sinking of HMS FORMIDABLE, is a brother of Signaller Miller.”

Gunner/Signaller JOHN MILLER’s mother, Agnes, married twice, accounting for him and his brother, DANIEL TAYLOR, having different surnames, and the family lived at 44 Raise Street, Saltcoats.

HMS FORMIDABLE was torpedoed in the English Channel on 31 December, 1914, with the loss of 547 men.

The following is a relevant newpaper report and it reveals quite a story in which Daniel Taylor was a key figure: -

BRIXHAM WESTERN GUARDIAN
7 JANUARY 1915


It was officially announced that the battleship FORMIDABLE was sunk on Friday morning in the Channel, whether by mine or submarine (German U-boat U24) was not certain. The Formidable was a twin screw battleship of the pre-Dreadnought class, of which there were eight in the Navy. She was 420 feet long, 75 feet beam, of 15,000 horse power, had a speed of 18 knots, and carried a complement of 760 men.

As far as could be ascertained the disaster to the Formidable occurred out of sight of land. The weather became very tempestuous and the waves were running high. At one moment the moon would be shining brightly; at the next dark clouds hid her light. There was no sign of the lurking enemy and it was not considered probable that there were mines so far down the Channel. Without the slightest warning however, there was an explosion on the starboard side of the Formidable, in such a spot that she was not only disabled but narrowly escaped the fate of her sistership, the Bulwark, the remarkable disaster to which had been witnessed by many of her crew. The ship took a list to starboard, but there was no panic. Officers and men manifested great coolness, boats, barges and woodwork were at once got over the starboard side, one of the barges being capsized and the occupants thrown into the raging sea.

It was not until a second explosion occurred on the port side of the battleship that it became evident that it was a case of every man for himself and that a great disaster was inevitable. Distress signals were sent up and it was more than an hour before the Formidable turned turtle and disappeared. Before that however, the other battleships had followed the instructions of the Admiralty following the North Sea disaster, and got clear away from the fatal spot.

SEVENTY SURVIVORS LANDED AT BRIXHAM.

After being in their open cutter for nearly 12 hours, two officers and 69 men of the battleship were rescued by the Brixham fishing smack PROVIDENT some 15 miles from Berry Head. When taken on board the trawler they were accommodated in the engine-room, cabin and fish-hold, but such a number was a big tax on the carrying capacity of the boat. They were in a pretty bad way for they were less than half-clad, indeed some of them were not covered by a shilling’s worth of Navy clothing, but remarkably cheerful despite their experiences. During the night it rained, hailed and blew, and they were very fortunate to reach safety, for every two or three minutes the cutter was washed by the waves, and it was only men with a superb constitution who would have come through such a terrible ordeal. “Quite sixty out of the seventy men took off their boots and used them as balers,” said one survivor. “We were baling all the time, and managed to keep the water under. We worked with a will, though we were very glad when the Provident, after grand seamanship, saved us all.”

WELCOME HOSPITALITY ON SEA AND LAND

The needs of the men were attended to on board the smack. All the Provident’s stock of food was fairly divided and all the cigarettes and tobacco the men possessed was used. Hot coffee was continuously made by little DAN TAYLOR, the cook, who was quite a hero. On nearing Brixham, the Provident fell in with the tug Dencade, which towed her in, and she was berthed at the pier. The rescued men who were in a pitiable condition gave a hearty British cheer – the like of which only British tars could give – and sang “Auld Lang Syne,” and then in batches of four and five wrapped in blankets, they were taken, by waiting cabs, to the Bolton Hotel, the Globe, the Cafe, the Sailors’ Institute and Doidge’s, these being the distributing centres. Here the men were provided with hot food and warm clothing and either went to bed at these places or went into private houses which were thrown open to them.

HEROIC BRIXHAM SKIPPER

William Pillar, owner and skipper of the trawler is quite a young married man, not much over 30 years of age and all the crew are young men. It appears that about 9 o’clock on Friday morning the Provident was racing through mountainous seas of the Channel before a south-west gale with the hope of making Brixham Harbour. The foam-capped waves were running mountains high, but the sturdy little craft was handled with fine seamanship for which Brixham is famed. Off the Start the trawler had to heave-to owing to the force of the wind, and just at that moment the vessel was struck with a particularly heavy sea. She had been running rigged with a reefed mainsail, a reefed foresail, and no jib.

THE DISTRESS SIGNAL

Hardly had the decision to heave-to been arrived at when the third hand, John Clarke, noticed a boat being tossed about like a cork on the waves some little distance off. He shouted to the captain and the mate to jump up, saying, “Here’s a sight under our lee!” They were amazed to see a small open boat drifting amid the mountainous seas, with a boat hook hoisted as a staff, from which was flying a sailor’s black scarf. One moment the boat would appear on the crest of a wave high up, and then it would be lost to sight for several minutes. With hardly a thought of the colossal risk the captain and crew at once set about rescuing the men in the boat. After a great struggle they managed to haul down the second reef of the mainsail and set the storm jib. The cutter, which had been riding at a sea-anchor rigged by the men, drifted towards the Provident, but in the mountainous seas they missed each other, and the naval boat passed out of sight of the men on the smack. For the moment they thought she was lost.

A GREAT FEAT OF SEAMANSHIP

Clarke climbed the rigging, and presently discovered the cutter making heavy weather of it just to leeward. Captain Pillar jibbed his vessel a very dangerous undertaking in such weather since the mast was liable to give way. Four times did the gallant smacksmen seek to get a rope to the cutter. Each effort was more difficult than the last, and it was only after between two and three hours’ hard fight with the seas and after four attempts, that the Provident obtained a good berth on the port tack, and a small warp was thrown and caught by the naval men. When made fast, the warp was coiled around the Provident’s steam capstan, and with great skill the cutter was hauled to a good berth astern. Then the warp was passed around the lee side, and the cutter was drawn up under the lee quarter.

JUMPING ON THE SMACK

The bluejackets at once commenced jumping from the boat to the smack, and although this was a hazardous task, in the heavy seas that were running 30 feet high, they accomplished it successfully in true navy fashion. All were rescued by one o’clock and a course was then shaped for Brixham. Of the small number of lifeboats to survive the launch, one, with some 70 men on board, drifted in the Channel for hours the next day, hoping for rescue. There was plenty of shipping about but mountainous seas meant that no-one spotted the little boat bobbing up and down in the waves. Then, as night drew on once more, a young women walking with her parents on the sea shore at Lyme Regis, glimpsed the outline of a small boat and raised the alarm. Of the men on this boat, 14 had died out in the Channel while waiting rescue and had been buried at sea, 6 were found dead on arrival and a further 3 died after landing at Lyme Regis. Different sources give the number of crew on board HMS Formidable as being between 750 and 780. Of these men, 547 were to lose their lives, many of them in the ship's boats which were smashed or swamped as they were lowered into the stormy waters.”


All four members of the crew were presented with the Albert Medal for their gallantry by King George V in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. They also received Gold medals by the Shipwrecked Mariners Benevolent Society together with awards from The Admiralty - "£250 for the Skipper, £100 for each of the crew and £50 for the young boy.

Leonard Pillar, William's 9 year old nephew was also on board on the day of the rescue acting as "cabin boy" but was regarded as "a child" and an unofficial crew member so he received no official recognition for the part he played.


Daniel features on the extreme right in the following Pathe News item: -

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wellparkno9
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Re: Daniel Taylor - A Saltcoats Hero

Post by wellparkno9 »

Dan was no relation to my family,but he must have been a very brave man.
Margaret F Burns
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Re: Daniel Taylor - A Saltcoats Hero

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John Miller, who is one of the two J Millers on the Saltcoats War Memorial, was my Great Uncle and Daniel Ferguson a.k.a. Taylor (who was actually born in Kilwinning, not Saltcoats) was my Grandfather. I put together much of this history in several places once I had discovered that John Miller existed, after research I did following the unveiling of an English Heritage Blue Plaque in Brixham to commemorate the rescue of some of the sailors from HMS Formidable in the English Channel - Daniel who was known in Brixham as Dan Taylor was the boy, aged 16 though he looked about 12) on the fishing smack Provident BM291 (manned by 3 men and a boy) and they had been unaware that he was Scottish until that time - he took his own name Ferguson back when he got married.

John Miller, whose father was not named on his birth certificate and who retained his mother's surname, was Daniel's half brother. Their mother was Agnes McMillan Miller from a weaving family at 44 Raise Street (she herself was born there and was a Handloom Weaver). John had several other half brothers and sisters - Daniel's brother and sister, Robert Miller Ferguson (a.k.a. Taylor) and Helen Ferguson (a.k.a. Taylor). His mother married for a second time after the death of her first husband, also named Daniel Ferguson (he was nursed and died at 44 Raise Street). Her new husband was James Taylor and they had six children James (Jimmy) Miller Taylor, Margaret (Peggy) Cairns Taylor, Annie Sim Taylor, Thomas (Tommy) Taylor, Jean (Jeanie) Montgomery Taylor and Martha Cairns Taylor - so more half brothers and sisters; also a step-sister Agnes Orr Taylor from James Taylor's first marriage. Daniel, Robert and Helen were given their stepfather James Taylor's surname while growing up; John kept his mother's name maybe because he was a little older or maybe lived with his grandparents (?) - in any case this made finding him very difficult, since I had to look for John Miller, Ferguson or Taylor.

Margaret Ferguson Burns
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Re: Daniel Taylor - A Saltcoats Hero

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Margaret,

Firstly, thanks for responding; it’s great to hear from a descendant of Daniel’s family.

Secondly, I now understand that Daniel’s mother (Agnes Miller) and father (Daniel Ferguson, senior) married at 44 Raise Street, Saltcoats, and although Daniel Ferguson, junior, was born at Kilwinning, I think I’m correct in believing that the family returned to stay at 44 Raise Street thereafter, and at which address, Daniel, senior, died.

Agnes Miller Ferguson, again at 44 Raise Street, then married James Taylor, resulting from which young Daniel adopted the surname TAYLOR, by which he was known at the time of his heroic involvement in the rescue of 71 of HMS FORMIDABLE’s crew.

I think I’ve got it :lol:

With regard to Daniel, junior, being born in Kilwinning, so were many Threetowners (at Buckreddan Maternity Hospital) but we’re still proud to lay claim to them, and Daniel, junior certainly falls into this category.

I’m sure too, although I don’t know for certain, that he would spend his formative years in Saltcoats and go to school there, but how did he come to be working on a trawler at 16 years of age, and sailing out of Brixham on the south coast of England?

I'm sure you will have seen it before, but for the benefit of others there's a tremendous photograph of the PROVIDENT's crew in the following link: -
https://sites.google.com/site/familygem ... iam-pillar

As an aside, along with a photograph, I’ll post immediately below the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald’s account of the death of Daniel’s half-brother, including the comment which roused my interest in Daniel himself. You may have seen these too, but no harm done.

“Word has been received that signaller John Miller, Royal Artillery, died of wounds on 24th September. He was a native of Saltcoats, and was educated at the Public School.

After undergoing six months’ training he was sent to the front nine weeks ago, and died the same day as he was wounded.

Before enlisting he was working at a munitions factory in Birmingham, in which city his widow is at present residing.

Signaller Miller’s mother formerly resided at Raise Street, Saltcoats, but is now at 83 Corsehill, Kilwinning. His uncle, Robert Miller, mason, Saltcoats, was in the Army, but is now discharged. Dan Taylor, cabin boy of the trawler PROVIDENT, who rendered such heroic service on the occasion of the sinking of HMS FORMIDABLE, is a brother of signaller Miller.”
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MILLER John (RHA).JPG
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Margaret F Burns
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Re: Daniel Taylor - A Saltcoats Hero

Post by Margaret F Burns »

The Two Brothers: Daniel Ferguson (aka Taylor) and John Miller

Daniel was given his Stepfather's name Taylor while growing up - and reverted to his birth name Ferguson when he got married. John Miller's father is unrecorded on his birth record and this remains unknown.

I am familiar with all the films, photographs above - and documents, and much more, including a chapter in a children's book about Daniel (see Flickr album link below).

In September 2018, I travelled to Brie, Somme on the 100th Anniversary of John Miller's death - to visit his grave at the Commonwealth War Grave Cemetary there, to let him know that I had found him (just a couple of years previously), and to sing and leave a wreath; also the composite photograph of John and his half-brother Daniel in their uniforms.

I had also travelled to Brixham, Devon for the unveiling of the Blue Plaque commemorating the rescue which Daniel was involved in as the Boy, aged 16, on the Fishing Smack Trawler Provident BM291 (crewed by 3 Men and a Boy) - on which he had an Apprenticeship, also acting as Cook - and went down again two years later when a new play and painting were being shown and unveiled. I met with the playwright and local people again, and was invited to the artist Peter Archer's home to see the painting before it was unveiled - I had been in touch with the organising group as I had noticed that the registration number on the boat was not correct on the painting when I was sent a preview (just in time for it to be changed). It was Daniel who spotted the sailors in distress on the pinnace from HMS Formidable which had been sunk (as recorded in the newspapers at the time of the incident by the youngest sailor on board) - and the skill of the Skipper and crew brought them to safety in treacherous conditions.

Daniel's Stepfather John Taylor was a widower born in Saltcoats, though the family lived in Stevenson where Daniel would have been at school. And Daniel was on the West Coast from the age of 13.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/43675100@ ... 3151281109

Margaret Ferguson Burns
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Re: Daniel Taylor - A Saltcoats Hero

Post by Penny Tray »

Margaret,

Thanks for this update. It remains a tremendous story of which your family should be immensely proud.
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