§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Monaghan, N.)I beg to ask the First Lord of the Admiralty whether the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have received a memorial on behalf of Mary Morgan, aged fifty-seven, widow of Andrew Morgan, late coastguard in charge of Millisle Station, praying for pension or other assistance to enable her to support herself and two helpless children, now in a destitute condition; and whether, considering that Mrs. Morgan's claim has been supported by the Inspecting Commander of Donaghadee Coastguard Division and the Captain of H.M.S. Belleisle, and that Morgan entered the Navy in 1852, served at Sebastopol, and was awarded medals for bravery in battle, and for life saving and good conduct in the Coastguard Service, and would have been entitled under the Rules of the Service to a pension of £62 per annum and a good conduct gratuity of £20 had he lived six months longer, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty will favourably consider the claim of this woman, and grant her such remuneration as will enable her to support herself and her children without having recourse to the workhouse?
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY (Lord G. HAMILTON,) Middlesex, EalingMrs. Morgan's application for assistance has been considered by the Admiralty, but, so far as I know, no pension or gratuity can be granted out of Naval or Greenwich Hospital funds to her. The widows and children of seamen and marines are not entitled to receive any such assistance, unless the husband or father is killed on duty or dies from the direct effects of extraordinary exposure or exertion on service. The late Andrew Morgan's death was due to natural causes, and the Admiralty have so far been unable to accede to the widow's petition for direct assistance.