Alice Ann Kay was born in Clitheroe, Lancashire, England, on the 5th October 1885, the daughter of John William and Betty Kay (née Pilling). Her father, at various times, was a cotton loom jobber and a horse slaughter man, while her mother was a cotton weaver. Alice was the eldest child, but it is not known exactly how many siblings she had
On completing her education, Alice worked as a cotton weaver, and in 1904, she married Arthur Scott, who was also a cotton weaver from Nelson, Lancashire. The
couple had two children – Arthur Kay, who was born in 1907, and a second child about whom nothing is known except they died in infancy or early childhood.
The family lived in Barrowford, Lancashire for many years, and later at Mosley Street, Nelson. Alice was not a large woman, standing only about 5’ 2“ tall.
In August 1914, her husband went to the United States of America, and settled in North Adams, Massachusetts, and in November 1914, Alice Scott and young Arthur followed him.
During the voyage to America, Alice Scott contracted a chill and on her arrival at North Adams, this turned to rheumatic fever which decided her to return to Nelson at the earliest opportunity.
Consequently, she and Arthur junior booked as third class passengers on the Lusitania, leaving New York on 1st May 1915 and Arthur Scott senior wrote to his mother, who lived in 10, Appleby Street, Nelson, to expect his wife and son at Liverpool on 8th May.
Once she had joined the vessel, Alice Scott found she was sharing a cabin with Mrs. Elizabeth Duckworth, who came from Blackburn, also in Lancashire and the three of then struck up a friendship - albeit brief. In fact, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Scotts and Elizabeth Duckworth were on the deck together, having just finished lunch, when the liner was struck by a single torpedo, fired by the German submarine U-20. At that stage of her voyage, the Lusitania was within sight of the coast of southern Ireland and only about 250 miles away from the safety of her home port.
Immediately consumed by panic the three of them ran to the foremast and rapidly began to climb up the rigging, only being persuaded down by a ship’s officer with the promise of places in one of the lifeboats. Arthur Scott was duly placed in one of the boats about to be launched, but there was not enough room for his mother or Elizabeth Duckworth, so they had to seek places in another. Having finally both got into one, the sailors trying to lower it into the sea seemed to be having so much difficulty that Mrs. Duckworth decided to get out again and take her chances elsewhere.
As the lifeboat was finally launched, it tipped, throwing its occupants, including Alice Scott, into the sea. Elizabeth Duckworth watched helplessly as her cabin-mate disappeared beneath the foaming waves, never to emerge again! She was aged 29 years.
Arthur junior did survive, however, and was eventually landed at Queenstown, his grandmother receiving a pathetic cable from him on the morning of 8th May, which simply stated: -
AM SAVED; HOPE MOTHER IS - ARTHUR SCOTT.
Alice Scott’s body was recovered from the sea, however, and until it was positively identified, it was given the reference number 50, in one of the temporary mortuaries set up in Queenstown. This number indicates that it must have been one of the first to be recovered and it was probably taken to the mortuary in the yard of Cunard‘s office at Lynch‘s Quay. Once it was identified, however, apparently by friends on 8th May, it was buried on 13th May 1915, in The Old Church Cemetery, Queenstown, in Mass Grave B, 6th Row, Upper Tier, where it lies today.
Confusion, natural enough given the circumstances, nevertheless surrounded the recovery and burial of Alice Scott’s body, for on Monday 10th May, her mother-in-law at 10, Appleby Street, Nelson, received a telegram from The Westbourne Hotel,
Queenstown, where young Arthur was recovering, which stated: -
ALICE ANN’S BODY COMING HOME TUESDAY AFTERNOON. BOY SAFE, COMING HOME SAME TIME.
Either this was a mistake or a change of mind was made, allowing the body to be buried at Queenstown. Nevertheless, on 18th May, Cunard received a cable from New York, which stated: -
ALICE SCOTT, THIRD, NOTIFY MRS. SCOTT 10 APPLEBY NELSON LANCS.
Presumably this cable had been re-routed from Liverpool, by which time Alice Scott’s body had already been buried and her son was safely back home.
Arthur Scott senior was later to claim in a letter written to Cunard on 10th June 1915, that having received the news of the sinking and the tragedy to his family, he went to Cunard’s New York office on 8th May and having learned that the body of his wife had been recovered from the sea, he instructed Cunard to send it to Nelson for burial. He further claimed that Cunard had promised to accede to his request. He then caught the next available steamer from New York to England, to be with his young son. On his return, he learned that his wife’s body had been buried on 13th May! The New York office was to deny at a later date that it ever received instructions from Arthur Scott to have the body sent to Nelson, but in view of the confusing telegrams received at Nelson, it would appear that the New York office might have been at fault!
By the time, Arthur Scott senior arrived in Nelson and his son had been safely delivered to Appleby Street, by a Christian missionary, specially appointed for the task. Property recovered from Alice Scott’s body was given in Queenstown to Elizabeth Duckworth on behalf of young Arthur and as Mrs. Duckworth’s home in Blackburn was about fifteen miles from Nelson, she presumably handed it over personally, after her own return to Lancashire.
The Westbourne Hotel in Queenstown, (now renamed Cobh), still exists today, but is now a night club known as The Cellar.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, England Select Births and Christenings 1538 – 1975, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Burnley News, Burnley Express, Lancashire Daily Post, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, White Star Journal, Liverpool Record Office, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/1, UniLiv D92/2/448, UniLiv. PR 13/6, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.