Private. Royal Defence Corps. Service number 49777.
Craven was born at Sladen Bridge near Haworth on September 19, 1876 with his birth registered in Keighley in the last quarter of the year. His parents were John and Mary Harling.
He was baptised in the Stanbury Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on August 12, 1877 along with his elder sister Emma. The family were still resident at Sladen Bridge at the time.
By 1881 he had moved to 150, Lidget in Oakworth with his father and sister Emma. His father John was an agricultural labourer and Emma was a worsted spinner. His mother was
still alive, but not present at this address during the census.
In 1891 he was fourteen years old and living at 86, Lidget in Oakworth with his parents and sister Emma. By 1901 just Emma and Craven were living at 69, Lidget in Oakworth. Emma was thirty-five and a housekeeper. Craven was twenty-four and working as an office clerk in a worsted mill.
Craven married Lucy Jane Driver in 1903, registered in Keighley in the last quarter of the year and by 1911 they had moved to 88, Albert Road Blackpool where they were running a boarding house. Both Craven and Lucy were working as the housekeepers and Lucy’s brother Bancroft was a chauffer.
After the outbreak of war, Craven enlisted in Blackpool in October 1915 with the Manchester Regiment (service number 39339) then he was transferred to the Royal Defence Corps and was posted to Ireland in May 1918. He was coming home on leave on 10th October 1918 and was drowned when RMS Leinster was sunk by a torpedo from the German U-boat UB-123.
RMS Leinster was an Irish ship operated by the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company.
She served as the Kingstown to Holyhead mailboat until she was torpedoed and sunk on 10 October 1918, while bound for Holyhead.
She went down just outside Dublin Bay at a point 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) east of the Kish light. Over 550 people died during her sinking and it is believed to be the largest loss of life in the Irish Sea.
Keighley News October 19, 1918:
OAKWORTH AND BRAITHWAITE. OAKWORTH MAN ON THE LEINSTER.
Private Craven Harling, 42 years of age, of the Royal Defence Corps, formerly of Oakworth, who was stationed at the Buttevant Barracks, County Cork, was returning to England on leave on the Leinster, when it was torpedoed. He enlisted in Blackpool in October, 1915, and was sent to Ireland in May this year. Before joining the army he kept a lodging house at 88, Albert Road, Blackpool. His wife, who is now residing at 17, Johnson Street, Bingley, sent a telegram to the barracks on Saturday morning to inquire if he had set sail on the Leinster, and had received a reply the same evening to say that he had.
Later in the week she received information that he was officially presumed to be drowned.
Post war:
Craven is remembered on the Hollybrook Memorial in Southampton, Oakworth war memorial in
Holden Park, Oakworth, and the Oakworth Wesleyan roll of honour in Oakworth Methodist Church.
