Arthur Gadsden was born in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England, in 1873, the son of Joseph and Sarah Ann Gadsden (née Linnett). His father was an iron moulder, and the family home was at 18. Augustine Street, Northampton. Arthur was one of seven children; however, three of his siblings died at young ages.
He was educated at the Blue Coat School in Northampton, where he excelled at swimming and being a keen rugby football player, he was later a member of The Royal Oak Football Club, which was known locally as ‘The Ragged Fifteen’.
After leaving school, he also left Northampton to work at the Daimler Motor Works at Coventry, after which he worked for Messrs. Allchin and Lisnells, and at Mobbs of Guildhall Road, Coventry.
On the 28th December 1903, he married Elizabeth Frances Tilley at All Saint’s Church, Northampton, and the couple went on to have two children – Arthur Thomas, born in 1906, and Reginald Joseph, born in 1908. In 1915, the family home was at 7, Granville Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
Arthur Gadsden worked as a chauffeur to an American millionaire – a Mr. Frank Jay Mackay, originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, but also associated with Chicago, Illinois, who had founded
Household International, a financial company that was the first to offer instalment plans to repay loans. Mr. Mackay and his family resided for most of the year at Beauchamp Hall, Leamington Spa, and he was reputed to have been one of the wealthiest Americans living in Great Britain at that time.
From 1906, he had made almost annual trips to Chicago, Illinois, in the service of Mr. Mackay, and in September 1914, he had travelled across the Atlantic Ocean yet again in the service of his employer. For his return to England, he booked second cabin passage on what became the Lusitania's last ever voyage.
He joined the liner at the Cunard berth in New York harbour on the morning of 7th May 1915 in time for her delayed sailing in the early afternoon and on the way across the Atlantic Ocean, he befriended two other Warwickshire people, second cabin passengers, Miss Alice and Miss Kate Hopkins, who were sisters and came from Kenilworth. He also shared his accommodation, Room D80, with medical student Richard Preston Prichard, the son of Mr. and Mrs. G.S. Prichard of, Kent. Ramsgate. It was not his first voyage on the great Cunarder as he had crossed the Atlantic Ocean on her several times before.
When the ship was struck, just six days out of New York and within hours of her Liverpool destination, Gadsden had to jump into the water to escape the sinking ship. He was eventually rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown and having eventually made it to his mother’s home in Northampton, he was interviewed by a reporter from local newspaper The Northampton Mercury. His account of the events of the sinking was later published in the edition of Friday 14th May. It stated: -
We had just got up from lunch and were returning to our game of cards when we heard the crash. At the moment we were talking about reaching home and wondering whether we should be running up against one another in the world.
Immediately we heard the crash, we jumped. For the moment, we could not think what had happened, and it occurred to me it might be the engines suddenly reversed. But in a second, we realised what had happened for the ship staggered a little and there was a hammering noise that gave one a sensation of dread. The first shock over, we rushed upstairs. It was evident then that the great liner had been torpedoed, for there was a considerable list on the boat.
I went along the decks to see where she listed. The crew were already lowering the boats, and I helped to push them over. We managed to get the ropes released and filled up the boat with women and children. A most unfortunate accident at this point gave us some real sense of the horror of the situation. The boat, full of the terror-stricken and crying women and children, was being lowered, when one of the pulleys went wrong and let the end fall so that all of them were tipped into the sea.
This was almost certainly Lifeboat No 17 that Arthur Gadsden saw filled with over fifty women and children.
I realised that the best thing for me to do was to make sure of a lifebelt and I was going to the cabin to get one when there was another crash; another torpedo had discharged itself into the sinking ship.
Whatever another crash was at this stage of the sinking, it was certainly not a second torpedo and could
not have been the secondary explosion undoubtedly caused by the only one actually fired at the ship!
As it was now listing heavily, I did not venture down to the cabin. Having made one or two journeys on the Lusitania, I know my way about, and I turned back and broke into the state room. I found a lifebelt there, and having fitted it on, I went back on the deck and stood by, while the women and children were being helped into the boat.
The worst experience of all came just after I had jumped into the water. I had got clear of the boat in my jump, but in spite of my hard swimming, I found myself drifting back to it and I knew that any moment I might be drawn under. I struggled, but could not withstand the action of the sea in forcing me back; and then suddenly I saw the funnel of the ship falling over on to me. How I evaded death at this moment when it looked so certain, I can not tell, but the very next instant I found myself well away from the wreckage. The only way I can explain it is that the pressure from the funnel blew me from the boat and that must have been what made my face so black.
I just paddled round and then came across a chest floating to which a little boy was clinging. The little fellow looked frightened and when he saw me he called , ‘Do save me!’ I got hold of the chest and helped him to keep up, and we were hanging on to this till picked up and placed on a collapsible raft.
Later a Manx fishing smack picked us up. On the boat there were many ladies whose clothing had been torn from them in the wreck, and the men gave up most of their clothing for them. At seven o’clock in the evening a cruiser took us into Queenstown. Here we were shown great hospitality. I had landed wearing only my trousers, and I was provided with another suit.”
The Manx fishing smack was almost certainly the lugger Wanderer, which just happened to be fishing in the area where the
Lusitania sank and was responsible for rescuing many people. It is not known what ship the
cruiser was which took them into Queenstown, as there was no Royal Naval vessel of cruiser size sent to rescue survivors, because of the threat of any large craft also being sunk by U-Boat attack. It is possible that it was H.M.S.
Stormcock; however, as this 580 ton tug is known to have taken on board some survivors from the overcrowded fishing lugger.
Asked if there was any panic on board, Mr. Gadsden replied, “None whatsoever. When the boat was struck, the command came from the bridge that there was no danger, and there were no boats launched until the ship was struck a second time. The women and children were then hurried into the boats, and I can say I never saw one man or anyone attempt to rush into a boat. Their conduct was admirable. But the shrieks of the women and children as the ship went down and as they struggled in the water - well, I could not tell you what it was like. One could see women struggling together and clinging to one another as they drowned.”
The Hopkins sisters did not survive the sinking, however, despite the fact that Arthur Gadsden had found lifebelts for both of them and helped them to put them on. Once back home in Leamington, one of his least enviable tasks was the duty of visiting the sisters' bereaved parents at Kenilworth.
Gadsden’s cabin mate Richard Preston Prichard was also lost and despite the fact that the Prichard family scoured the mortuaries in Queenstown and then wrote over 140 letters to known survivors, including one to Arthur Gadsden, nothing was ever seen or heard of him again!
Arthur Gadsden replied to two letters he received from Mrs. Prichard. In the first he wrote: -
10th 6th 1915
7 Granville St
Leamington Spa
Dear Mrs. Prichard
I now take the pleasure of answering your letter regarding your son who was travelling with me on the Lusitania & I feel very sorry both for you and also your son in not being among the survivors but under the conditions, the time before the ship sunk it is a miracle that any one was saved. I was a companion of your son on the boat as I made is (sic.) acquaintance the morning we started from New York as he was in the same cabin as myself as we both had upper bearths (sic.) & I was very frequently with him on the decks during the voyage & we passed many an enjoyable hour together in coming over & he was the last person I spoke to before the boat was torpedoed as after we had lunch I went down to my cabin to pack my trunk before landing & I found that your son was doing the same thing so I left him & said I would come later when he had finished packing & I went up on deck & as soon as I got up on deck we were struck by the submarine & I stayed on deck as it would have been sudden death if one attempted to have reached the cabin & I think your son never had a chance to save his life as I should think by what I could see that anybody down below would be drowned before they had time to get on deck & I remained on deck ‘til the boat went down & then I had to swim for it as I was in the water myself for two hours before being picked up. I think this is all I can tell you & hoping you will have some news. I remain
Yours sincerely
A. Gadsden
Obviously, on receipt of his letter, Mrs. Prichard wrote back to him, asking a number of questions. Arthur Gadsden replied: -
4th July 1915
7 Granville St
Leamington Spa
Mrs. Prichard
Just a few lines in reference to your letter asking me for information of your son. I can quite understand your feelings about him & that you feel anxious to get all the news you possibly can concerning him but I am afraid I cannot give you much more information than I did in my last letter but as regards his travelling cases, I think he had three grips. I do not know if you know what a grip means but they are what we call portmanteaus in this country & the clothes he wore on deck were navy blue serge & I can assure you he was most anxious to be home again & was counting the time when he would arrive as regards the Danger Zone your son was quite aware we were in the danger zone because we were taking about submarines & wondering if we should see one at all never having the least fear but that we should get away from them but it was bad luck for us as we did not see the submarine at all but after she was struck we thought we could get to land as we were in sight of land all the morning but we were struck so fatally it was impossible to reach land as she sank so quickly as regards your son being able to reach the main deck I cannot say for sure but if the people could reach the deck from the main dining room I think he would have had a chance as we were on the dining room deck & our berth was only about 30 yards away & there were plenty of life belts in the cabin as when we went aboard it was the first thing I look (sic.) for & we found four in the cabin & we tried them on so you can rest assured that he had a life belt on him. I am sorry to say that I do not know of anyone that was saved as you could write to as most of my acquaintances were all drowned when the boat went down & how I survived is a mystery to me & only hold it to God’s providence in company were hundreds were drowned. I hope I have given you all the information you require. I remain
Yours sincerely
A. Gadsden
Arthur Gadsden died on the 6th April 1930 at the General Hospital, Birmingham, Warwickshire, aged 57 years. He left an estate of £659-12s.-5d. (£659.62p.) to his wife, Elizabeth.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Northamptonshire England Church of England Marriages 1754 – 1912, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895 – 1960, Cunard Records, IWM GB62, Northampton Chronicle and Echo, Northampton Mercury, Coventry Evening Telegraph, Probate Records, UniLiv. PR13/6, Graham Maddocks, Kate Wills, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.