Richard Howard, father of JRH, listed as a cook on Birkenhead

I've often wondered why John's father wasn't listed on the rolls of honor that have been published for the Birkenhead. Recently, I've come across a few reports that there was a Richard Howard listed as the gun room cook on the Birkenhead (http://www.hermanus.co.za/accom/template/auto_guestentries.htm).

Previously I had entertained three other ideas regarding Richard Howard. First, I thought his name may have been listed incorrectly as the John Howard that we see on the lists. Second, I thought that maybe we had the wrong name for JRH's father, that maybe his name was really John and not Richard. Third, because the muster rolls went down with the ship, maybe his name was lost.

It would make sense to me that Richard was a cook on the ship or had some other fairly permanent role on the ship. The John Howard on the rolls is listed as an infantryman and I can't imagine taking a 10 year old boy to the front lines of the war. If JRH's father was a cook on the ship, however, it would make sense that he could make the round trip from England to South Africa with his father without too much trouble.