Arthur Hugh Ford was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on the 19th October 1878, the son of Charles Clarke and Rose Hannah Ford (née Hardy), who lived at 83, Brook Street, Bootle, Lancashire. Arthur and his twin sister, Rose Hannah, were the youngest of six known children in the family. Charles Clarke Ford worked as a gardener.
On the 7th December 1906, he married Flora McDonald in Liverpool and they lived at 'Glenaber', 42, Alexandra Drive, Orrell Park, Liverpool, Lancashire. They had a child, Arthur Leslie Ford, who died aged only two months, in September 1908, and a daughter, Dorothy, born in 1911. Arthur Hugh Ford was well known in the local district and was an active Freemason, being a member of Bootle Lodge No.1473.
He joined the Cunard Steam Ship Company in the mid 1890’s and had reached the rank of Chief Steward by the time he joined the Lusitania. Before this, he had served in a
similar capacity on board the Carmania, the Ivernia and the Saxonia.
He engaged as an extra chief steward on the Lusitania at Liverpool, on the 17th April 1915, the morning she left Liverpool for what would be her final voyage. As Extra Chief Steward, his monthly rate of pay was stated in the Cunard ledger Particulars of Engagement as being only one shilling. Presumably this was merely a token to be varied later, as he had engaged so late before the ship’s sailing. His previous ship had been the Ivernia.
His late engagement was a tragic decision for him for even though the liner’s voyage to New York was uneventful, he was killed when the Lusitania was sunk by the German submarine U-20, three weeks later, when she was on her way back to Liverpool. At that stage, she was steaming near The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland and was only hours away from the safety of her home port! Arthur Ford was aged 36 years, although he had given his age as 34, upon engagement.
His body was recovered from the sea, however, and landed at Queenstown, where it was given the reference number 58 in one of the temporary mortuaries there. This must have been the one situated at the Cunard offices at Lynch’s Quay, because in The Cork Examiner for the 10th May 1915, an article about the tragedy stated: -
In the morgue on Lynch's Quay the chief steward lies and also the second steward. They are both fine types of men, and apparently suffered little in meeting death.
As Chief Steward Frederick Jones and Second Steward Robert Chisholm both survived, one of the two corpses must have been that of Extra Chief Steward Ford but the identity of the other is uncertain.
After Ford's body was positively identified, it was sent, on the 12th May 1915, to Messrs. John Waugh and Sons, Funeral Directors of Liverpool, for burial.
This took place at 10.30 a.m., on the 14th May, in Everton Cemetery, Aintree, in Non-Conformist Section 4, Grave 176, which was the family grave. The ceremony was conducted by The Reverend James McMurchy, of the Trinity Presbyterian Church, Orrell Lane, Walton, who would officiate, the next day, at the funeral of another Lusitania crew member, Fifth Engineer William Anderson. There is no memorial stone of any kind on Chief Steward Ford's grave.
Despite the recovery of his body and its subsequent burial, the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission list him as being missing and his name is correspondingly recorded on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London. The Commission's records make no mention of his home address or his widow, either and give his age at death as 34 years, which has obviously been taken from Cunard’s official records. This conflicts with the burial records for Everton Cemetery which show his age to have been 40 years!
Similarly, despite his Masonic connections, he is not commemorated on the memorial to all the Liverpool and district Freemasons who lost their lives in the Great War, in the Masonic Hall in Hope Street, Liverpool, although his name is inscribed on the Scroll of Honour in Freemasons Hall in Great Queens Street, London.
His personal belongings were handed over to his widow, Flora, at the Aintree address,
on the 8th June 1915 and consisted of two $10 bills, two $2 bills, one $1 bill, £4-2s.-6d. (£4.12½p.), in British coinage, one child’s ring, a purse, a bunch of keys and a wristwatch. She was also granted administration of his estate, which amounted to £477-13s.-5d. (£477.66p.), at Liverpool on the 25th July 1915. In August of the same year, she was also given the balance of wages owing to him for his service on the Lusitania’s final voyage.
The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited also granted a yearly pension to Flora Ford to compensate her for the loss of her husband. This amounted to £201-13s.-4d. (£201.66p.) which was payable at the rate of £16-16s.-2d. (£16.81p.) per month.
In July 1915, Liverpool solicitors Hill, Dickinson approached Cunard in Liverpool for a copy of the Coroner’s verdict on Arthur Ford’s death, which was required by The Scottish Insurance Company Limited. Ford’s family also intended to sue Cunard for compensation. The Company was unable to provide this and steered the solicitors towards the appropriate authority.
Flora Ford, Arthur’s widow died in October 1941, aged 65 years, and is buried in the same grave as her husband and infant son.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919, England Select Marriages 1538 – 1973, 1881 Census of England, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Liverpool England Crew Lists 1861 – 1919, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Bootle Times, Crosby Herald, Probate Records, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 334, UniLiv.D92/1/1, UniLiv. PR 13/24, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Cuthill, David Irving, Jim Kontzle, Tom McDonough, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 23rd November 2023.