Stories from the Station: Newman Benson, Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve

 

Newman Benson (NRNR)

Newman Benson

Photo Accessed at Anscestry.ca

 

Date of Birth: 20 March 1897

Place of Birth: Grates Cove, NL

Date of Death: 15 March 1981, Pittsburgh USA

Burial Place: Jefferson Memorial Park - Pleasant Hills, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA

 

NRNR ID: 2150x

Enlistment Date: 1 September 1916

Served at HM Wireless Station: August 9th to October 6th, 1918 and January 11th to April 2nd, 1919

Position: Telegraphist/Engine Artificer/Stoker

 

Appearance (as described in Service Record). 

Height: 5’ 7” 

Hair: Black

Eyes: Brown

Complexion: Fresh

Early Life

Newman Benson was born in Grates Cove on July 28th, 1897, to Simeon and Mathilda Benson. His parents wed on June 10th, 1894. His mother and father had 5 children: Elsie Ann (b. 1893), Virtue (b.1897), Amelia Jane (b.1899), Violet Liza (b. 1902), and Albert (b.1916). In 1916 Newman’s mother passed away due to complications during childbirth. His father remarried on September 19th, 1918, in Old Perlican to Rachel Cooper. In 1922, his step-mother gave birth to his youngest sibling, Jeanie (b. 1922). 

Naval Life

Service Record: Newman Benson, Provincial Archives of Newfoundland, and Labrador, GN 182.13, Reel 1

Image courtesy of the Rooms Provincial Archives

Newman enlisted in the Newfoundland Royal Naval Reserve on September 1st, 1916, at the height of the First World War. He trained for two months on the H.M.S. Briton under the command of Lieutenant Commander Anthony McDermott, in St. John’s, Newfoundland. In November of the same year, the navy reassigned Newman to H.M.S. Vivid, an onshore naval facility in Chatham, England where he received another month of intensive training.

H.M.S Vivid 

Image accessed at olddevonport.uk

Following his training, Newman worked on the R.M.S. Victorian. On the Victorian he worked as a stoker from December 12th, 1916, until April 19th, 1917. Newman then served with H.M.S. Vivid from June 21st, 1917, to August 8th, 1918 and October 7th, 1918 to January 10th, 1919. Here he worked as an engine room artificer (engine mechanic), maintaining the communications equipment for the naval base.

H.M. Wireless Station

Newman served twice at the H.M. Wireless Station. His first time serving in Mount Pearl was from August 9th, 1918 until October 6th 1918. His second was from January 11th, 1919 to April 2nd, 1919. While at the wireless station, Newman worked as an engine room artificer (engine mechanic) and telegraph operator under the command of Lieutenant Commander Anthony MacDermott and Lieutenant Commander Cyril Duncan Fenn. Newman was demobilized in April of 1919.

Personal Life

On May 25th, 1920, Newman married Elizabeth Whelan in Carbonear. Newman and Elizabeth had 7 children: Ward Benson (1921 to 1992), Raymond Benson (1928 to 2016) James Carl Benson (1930 to 2012), Ralph Benson (1934 to 2021), and Beatty Benson (1940 to 2020). Of their 7 children, Newman and Elizabeth lost two during childhood, their son John Benson (1927 to 1927) and their daughter Gertrude Benson (1932 to 1932).

In 1920, Newman and his family moved to Saint John, New Brunswick. After their arrival in New Brunswick, there is very little knowledge known about his life until 1925 when he appeared on immigration records from the State of New York. According to this record, Newman arrived on Ellis Island on May 9th, 1925 on the S.S. Silvia which sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia to the United States. Newman later settled in Pennsylvania and became a naturalized citizen of the United States on January 26th, 1934. 

Newman Benson’s Certificate of Citizenship issued 1934

Image Accessed from Ancestry.ca

Career

Newman Benson’s Draft Registration Card

Image Accessed at Anscestry.ca

Following his arrival in America, Newman began work as a baker, but did not stay in that profession for very long. He later started working as a labourer for the Schenley Construction Company located in Oakland Pennsylvania. He earned his living as a construction worker until he retired in 1962.

Death

The grave of Newman and Elizabeth (Whelan) Benson

Image Accessed at Ancestry.ca

Family Tree

Parents 

1. Simeon Benson (b 17 Sept 1868 to d.~ 1935)

2. Mathilda Baker (b.~1875 to d.~ 1916 )

3. Rachel Cooper (b.  To d.) 

Siblings 

4. Elsie Ann Benson (b.1893)

5. Virtue Benson (b. 1897)

6. Ameila Jane Benson (b.1899)

7. Violet Liza Benson (b. 1902)

8. Albert Benson (b. 1916)

9. Jeanie Benson (b. 1922)

     Spouse 

10. Elizabeth Whelan (b. 1897 to d. 1982)

Children 

11. Ward Benson (b. 1921)

12. John Benson (b. 1927) 

13. Raymond Benson (b. 1928)

14. James Carl Benson (b. 1930)

15. Gertrude Benson (b. 1932)

16. Ralph Benson (b. 1934)

17. Beatty Benson (b. 1940)

Reference List 

1. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.

2. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

3. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

4. Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1967 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

5. Pennsylvania, U.S., Federal Naturalization Records, 1795-1931 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

6. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

7. “Newfoundland 1911 Census (Port de Grave Index).” Accessed July 8, 2021. http://ngb.chebucto.org/C1911/01-car-bdv-idx.shtml.

8. “1935 CENSUS - GRATE’S COVE, CARBONEAR - BAY de VERDE DISTRICT.” Accessed July 8, 2021.http://ngb.chebucto.org/C1935/35-grates- cv-car.shtml.

9. Newfoundland, Canada, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1850-1949 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.

10. Canada, Border Crossings from U.S. to Canada, 1908-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008.

11. Service Record: Newman Benson, Provincial Archives of Newfoundland, and Labrador, GN 182.13, Reel 1

12. Service Record: Newman Benson, Provincial Archives of Newfoundland, and Labrador, GN 182.13, Reel 3

13. Pennsylvania, Find A Grave Index, 1682-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.