§ MR. JOYCE (Limerick)To ask the Secretary to the Admiralty whether his attention has been called to the fact that a widowed woman named Mary Sheppard, of 12, Windmill Street, Limerick, made application for the discharge of her son, Henry Sheppard, from the Royal Navy, the said son being an A. B. on board of H.M.S. "Aboukir"; that she grounds her claim on the Widows' Act, that her husband died on 23rd September, 1907, that her son is her only means of support, and that his late father's employers have kept his position open for his son pending his discharge from the Navy; and whether under these circumstances the claim of this woman will be favourably considered, and her son discharged.
(Answered by Mr. Edmund Robertson.) In reply to an inquiry made on 19th December, Mrs. Sheppard was informed that her son's application for discharge should be made through the commanding officer. Nothing further is known of the case, but inquiry is being made. Discharge on foreign stations is only allowed in special circumstances, the decision resting with the Commander-in-Chief.