Source: Michael Doyle Their Name Liveth For Evermore: The Great War Roll of Honour for Leicestershire and Rutland.
He was the son of John Jarram, a labourer, born 1841 in Leics., and his wife Eliza Jarram (nee Oldham, married q4 1864 in the Loughborough, leics. district.), born 1842 in Leics. Ernest was born on the 10th March 1885 in Loughborough, Leics., his siblings were, John, an iron foundry pipe maker, born 1868 and Lizzie, a schoolgirl, born 1881, both his siblings were born in Loughborough, Leics., in April 1891 the family home was at Sparrow Hill, Loughborough, Leics. In the 1st quarter of 1894 Ernest’s father died age 53 in the Loughborough, Leics., deaths registration district. In the 2nd quarter of 1899 Ernest’s mother died age 57 in the Loughborough, Leics., deaths registration district. In March 1901 Ernest was employed as an apprentice engineer and was residing at 95, Station Street, Loughborough, Leics., this being the family home of his brother John, an iron moulder and his wife Kate, born 1874 in Fradley, Staffs., and their daughter Florence Lizzie, born 1897 in Loughborough, Leics., also residing with his brother’s family was their sister, Lizzie, a silk trade winder. In April 1911 Ernest was serving as an Ordinary Seaman in the Royal Navy and was residing at 172 – 174, Commercial Road, Portsmouth, Hants. Ernest enlisted into the Royal Navy to serve a 12 year engagement on the 10th August 1901, his reckonable service to commence on the 10th March 1903, he was allocated the service number 216322 in Portsmouth, Hants. His medical examination recorded that he was 5 foot 2¾ inches in height, his hair colour was brown and his eyes were bluish grey, his complexion was described as fresh, he gave his trade or calling as fitter’s boy. On attaining 18 years of age his medical re-examination recorded that he was 5 foot 4 inches in height. His record of service began when he joined HMS Ganges as a Boy 2nd Class on the 10/8/01 – 30/4/02, when he was promoted to Boy 1st Class. HMS Ganges, 1/5/02 – 17/7/02. HMS Minotaur, 18/7/02 – 3/2/03. HMS Agincourt, 4/2/03 – 9/3/03, when he was promoted to Ordinary Seaman. HMS Agincourt, 10/3/03 – 13/3/03. HMS Duke of Wellington I, 14/3/03 – 23/5/03. HMS Excellent, 24/5/03 – 2/11/03. HMS Centurion, 3/11/03 – 3/8/04, when he was promoted to Able Bodied Seaman. HMS Centurion, 4/8/04 – 25/8/05. HMS Victory I, 26/8/05 – 31/12/05. HMS Fisgard, 1/1/06 – 24/11/06. HMS Victory I, 25/11/06 – 23/2/07. HMS Excellent, 24/2/07 – 3/7/07. HMS Victory, 4/7/07 – 15/7/07. HMS Terrible, 16/7/07 – 14/10/07. HMS Renown, 15/10/07 – 12/12/07. HMS Terrible, 13/12/07 – 4/5/08. HMS Vengeance, 5/5/08 – 12/10/08. HMS Britannia, 13/10/08 – 28/10/10. HMS Excellent, 29/10/10 – 14/11/10. HMS Victory, 15/11/10 – 19/11/10. HMS Seahorse, 20/11/10 – 1/4/11. HMS Victory I, 2/4/11 – 3/4/11. HMS Hampshire, 4/4/11 – 4/12/11. HMS Victory I, 5/12/11 – 6/1/12. HMS Excellent, 7/1/12 – 26/4/12. HMS Monarch, 27/4/12 – 6/4/14. HMS Good Hope, 7/4/14 – 1/11/14, when he was lost when HMS Good Hope was sunk in action off the Chilean coast. The background leading to the circumstances in which Ernest lost his life is as follows. HMS Good Hope rendezvoused with the rest of the squadron at Vallenar Roads in the remote Chonos Archipelago of Chile on 27th October to re-coal. They departed two days later, just as HMS Canopus arrived, Cradock ordering the battleship to follow as soon as possible. He sent the light cruiser HMS Glasgow to scout ahead and to enter Coronel, Chile to pick up any messages from the Admiralty and acquire intelligence regarding German activities. The cruiser began to pick up German radio signals from the light cruiser SMS Leipzig on the afternoon of 29th October, and delayed entering Coronel for two days with Cradock’s permission to avoid being trapped by the fast German ships. A German supply ship was already there and radioed Spee that Glasgow had entered the harbour around twilight. The cruiser departed on the morning of 1st November, but Spee had already made plans to catch her when informed of her presence the previous evening. HMS Glasgow departed Coronel at 9.15 am after having picked up the squadron's mail and rendezvoused with the rest of the squadron four hours later. Cradock ordered his ships to form line abreast with a distance of 15 nautical miles (17 miles) between ships to maximize visibility at 1.50 pm, and steered north at a speed of 10 knots (12 mph). At 4.17 pm SMS Leipzig spotted Glasgow, the easternmost British ship, to its west and she spotted SMS Leipzig’s funnel smoke three minutes later. At 5.10 pm Cradock ordered his ships to head for HMS Glasgow, the closest ship to the Germans. Once gathered together, he formed them into line astern, with HMS Good Hope in the lead, steering southeasterly at 16 knots (18 mph) at 6.18 pm. As the sixteen 8.3 inch guns aboard the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were only matched by the two 9.2 inch guns on his flagship, he needed to close the range to bring his more numerous 6 inch guns to bear. The Force 7 winds and high seas, however, prevented the use of half of those guns as they were too close to the water. He also wanted to use the setting sun to his advantage so that its light would blind the German gunners. Spee was well aware of the British advantages and refused to allow Cradock to close the range. His ships were faster than the British, slowed by the 16 knot maximum speed of the armed merchant cruiser Otranto, and he opened up the range to 18,000 yards until conditions changed to suit him. The sun set at 6.50 pm, which silhouetted the British ships against the light sky while the German ships became indistinguishable from the shoreline behind them. Spee immediately turned to close and signaled his ships to open fire at 7.04 pm when the range closed to 12,300 yards. Spee’s flagship, Scharnhorst, engaged HMS Good Hope while Gneisenau fired at HMS Monmouth. Cradock’s flagship was hit on the Scharnhorst’s third salvo, when shells knocked out her forward 9.2 inch turret and set her forecastle on fire. Cradock, knowing his only chance was to close the range, continued to do so despite the battering that Spee’s ships inflicted. By 7.23 pm the range was almost half of that when the battle began and the British ships bore onwards. Spee tried to open the range, fearing a torpedo attack, but the British were only 5,500 yards away at 7.35 pm. Seven minutes later, HMS Good Hope charged directly at the German ships, although they dodged out of her way. Spee ordered his armoured cruisers to concentrate their fire on the British flagship and drifted to a halt with her topsides all aflame. At 7.50 pm her forward magazine exploded, severing the bow from the rest of the ship, and she later sank in the darkness. Spee estimated that his flagship had made 35 hits on HMS Good Hope, suffering only two hits in return that did no significant damage and failed even to wound one crewman. HMS Good Hope was sunk with all hands, a total of 919 officers and enlisted men. Four of the midshipmen aboard the ship were the first casualties of the newly formed Royal Canadian Navy.