Ernest John Clarke

A Deck Hand with Trawler Ivy (Lowestoft), Arthur died on 17th of December 1914 at the age of 30. 

Ernest was born at Aylsham, Norfolk, in 1884, a son of John William and Mary Ann Clarke. He was baptised at Aylsham on 1 January 1885. In 1891 his family lived at The Gas Works, Aylsham. By 1901 Ernest's mother had died and the family had moved to Lowestoft and lived at 4 laundry Lane. In 1911 they were living at 2 Eden Street, Lowestoft, and Ernest was a fisherman. 

Ernest served as Deck Hand on the Ivy. An eye-witness, the Skipper of the trawler Sis, saw the Ivy about 52 miles east by north of Lowestoft when an explosion was heard and the smack was enveloped in smoke. The Sis sailed to the spot, but no wreckage was found, nor any sign of the five crew. It was supposed that the Ivy had struck a mine. 

Lowestoft – History of Lowestoft's Fishing Industry (wordpress.com)

Ernest's brother Bertie, and his family, were all killed in an air raid in 1941.