Ernest Harold Gentles was the son of Thomas and Jane Ann Gentles.

His father, Captain Thomas Gentles, was born in Arbroath, Scotland, and was a Master Mariner, shipowner and broker with Gentles, Thomas & Sons in King Street, South Shields, a company which also managed vessels on behalf of their owners.

Ernest joined the High Shool in 1885, and left in 1901 to join Rennoldson's shipyard.

He became an apprentice engineer with the Merchant Navy, and by 1906 was serving on board the ship Pomeranian as an engineer, rising to 3rd engineer.

In 1914, Ernest married Ellen Irvine in Scotland and enlisted with the Army Ordnance Corps in 1915 where he became an armament staff sergeant.

Ernest survived the war, and served as 3rd engineer on board the Elswick Tower in 1921, and on the Blue Star Line's Magicstar in 1923.

The Magicstar ran aground on 1-Aug-1923 while sailing on the Yangtze in China, but was refloated a few days later. It was only a week later that Ernest died whilst at sea, but it is not clear how.