George Harborow INKSON b. 29 September 1873 Burnham, Norfolk
George Harborow was the eleventh child [eighth to survive to adulthood] of Thomas Harborow b. 16 Dec 1834 and Martha née Garner. At the time of his birth, his father was the station master at Burnham Sutton, a post that he held for many years thereafter. His date of birth is known from family records.
George Harborow went to sea at the age of 16 in 1889, working for what was then the Castle Line. His first ship was the Norham Castle and he sailed as Saloon Boy. The family still have the full set of his discharge papers so we are able to set out that service in full. The full story is set out in a separate part of the domain - The Union Castle Connection [the Castle Line having merged with the Union Line].
Bridget Mary Keating had been to work as a Nanny in South Africa [for the Cullinan family of diamond fame]. She must have come home in 1907 or 1908 because George Harborow first courted her on board a Union Castle boat and married her in October 1908.[His pattern of sailing changed when he left the Cape mail run in February 1908 and joined a Mediterranean cruise until that July. He did not return to sea until February 1909, again on the Cape mail run.]
They initially lived in Norfolk but had moved to Lewisham [greater London] by 1911 and then moved to Southampton in 1922. This pattern matched the port of sailing for GHI. Their daughter was born in Norfolk and the eldest son in Lewisham but the two younger sons were born in Monkstown, Dublin where BMI's family still lived.
The family lived at 320 Bitterne Rd from the beginning of its stay in Southampton, a house which stayed in the family until after James died in the mid 1990's. St Mary's College, a few hundred yards from the house, was a natural choice for the boys' schooling.
George Harborow came ashore in early 1928 as a result of illness. He spent 103 days in the Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital, Greenwich [London] but was then discharged to go home, essentially to die. He eventually died in late 1929 aged 56.
