Beatrice Maud Williams was born in Minmi, New South Wales, Australia, on the 23rd December 1891, the daughter of William and Gwenllian “Gwen” Williams (née Lewis).
Her father was a coal miner, and sometime after the birth of her brother, John, who was born in Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales, in 1885, the family emigrated from their native Wales to Minmi, New South Wales, where there was a thriving coal mining industry. Her brother, William Emlyn, was also born in Minmi in 1888.
Shortly after her birth, the family returned to Wales, arriving in Southampton, Hampshire, England, in May 1892. The family established their home at 'Preswylfa' 101, Ynyswen Road, Treherbert, Glamorgan, South Wales. In total, there were eight children in the family; however, two of her siblings died in infancy or childhood.
In the summer of 1910, Beatrice married David Jenkins and in early 1911, their son, William John, was born. Her husband was a colliery engineman in one of the local coal mines, and the couple, with their young son, lived with Beatrice’s parents.
By 1913, Beatrice’s marriage had broken down; however, it is not known if she was divorced from her husband or deserted her family, for in August 1913, she left Treherbert to go to the United States of America and settled at 2422. Seventh Avenue, Rock Island, Illinois, which was the home of her uncle, William H. Edward. By now she was using her maiden name of Beatrice Williams.
In the spring of 1915, however, she decided to return home on a visit to her parents as her father was ill and as a consequence, she booked second cabin passage on the Lusitania and having left Rock Island at the end of April 1915, she first went to visit a cousin in Scranton, Pennsylvania, before she travelled on to New York City where joined the vessel in time for her last ever sailing out of New York harbour just after mid-day on 1st May.
Six days later, after the vessel was torpedoed, she was able to survive, although she spent some time on a raft. By the late evening, she was eventually rescued from the sea by the Royal Naval patrol boat H.M.S. Bluebell and having been landed at Queenstown, she was taken to a hotel for the night.
The next day, she went shopping for new clothes, as Cunard had promised to underwrite the cost of whatever was needed. In their book The Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Adolf and Mary Hoehling described Miss Williams’ experience: -
In one general store, Beatrice Williams, who had been rescued by the Bluebell, recognized Captain Turner. He was wearing his full uniform except for his hat, which he was seeking to replace. It seemed to Beatrice, ..... that Turner was creating an unnecessary fuss.
"You should be worrying about a hat," the young woman berated him, "when so many of us have lost everything we own. Why, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!"
She eventually made it back to Treherbert, where she told her story to a reporter of The Western Mail a local newspaper and this was published in the edition of 10th May 1915. It said: -
Miss Beatrice Williams, ..... told a reporter that they were all having lunch when they heard the first torpedo strike the ship. “’My God, she’s struck,’ someone called out,” said Miss Williams, “ and we rushed up on deck somehow.
When we realised what had happened we ran down again and obtained some lifebelts. Somebody fitted the lifebelt on me and put me in a boat. The people were all very calm and collected. After being put in the boat, I was told to get out again and I did so, but the ship was now listing so heavily that I had to jump. Mr. Preston Smith jumped with me and I was picked up and put on a raft.”
Mr. Preston Smith was fellow second cabin passenger John Preston Smith who was a member of The Royal Gwent Glee Singers - a Welsh male voice choir. One contemporary account said that he apparently held hands with Beatrice Williams as they both jumped into the sea, after a count of three, but when he came to the surface, he had lost sight of her. He, too, survived the sinking.
However, it is possible that at the time, Miss Williams was John Preston Smith’s sweetheart, because after he was first rescued and landed at Kinsale, he gave an account of the sinking to a reporter of local newspaper The Cork Examiner, in which he said: -
I was dining at the time that the Lusitania was torpedoed and I don’t know how it happened. I seized my young sweetheart and procured lifebelts and put them on us, and then we rushed upstairs. At that time the ship was listing badly. There was perfect calm on board and no commotion, but of course there was excitement.
As the ship went down, I threw my girl over the side, but I am afraid that she must have struck the side of the ship, as when I went after her she had disappeared.
The relation ship with John Smith did not prospered, however, because Beatrice William returned to Rock Island, alone, in June 1916.
By 1920, Beatrice Williams had graduated as a nurse and had met Hobart Huron Harper, who was living in Akron, Ohio, and working in a local rubber factory. Their daughter, Gwendollan, was born in Chicago, Illinois, on the 11th July 1920, although they did not get married until the 29th September 1920 in Akron, Ohio!
For a number of years the family resided in Akron before moving to Cleveland, Ohio, where Hobart Harper worked in an auto parts factory.
It is not known if Beatrice Harper ever returned to Great Britain after 1916, or had anything to do with her son, William John Jenkins.
Beatrice Harper died in Cleveland, Ohio, on the 18th July 1974, aged 84 years. She was buried in Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, beside her husband, Hobart, who died in 1965.
Australia Birth Index 1788 – 1922, Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Summit County Ohio U.S. Marriage Records 1840 – 1980, Ohio Death Records 1938 – 2007, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, 1930 U.S. Federal Census, 1940 U.S. Federal Census, 1950 U.S. Federal Census, UK Incoming Passenger Lists 1878 – 1960, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, 1915 Rock Island Illinois City Directory, Cork Examiner, The Dispatch, Muscatine Journal, Rock Island Argus, Scranton Times, Western Mail, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.