Clifford Lockwood was born in Ravensthorpe, Yorkshire, England, on the 6th March 1904, the son of Dick and Florence “Florrie” Lockwood (née Robshaw). Both of his
parents worked in the local woollen mills.
On the 18th April 1906, his father boarded the s.s. Friesland at Liverpool, and on arrival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,, twelve days later, he stated that he was a miner, intending to travel to Altoona, Pennsylvania.
On the 19th July 1906, Clifford and his mother arrived in New York City on board the Teutonic, and travelled to Frugality, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, to be re-united with his father, however, the family soon moved on to Kearny, Hudson County, New Jersey, where his father found work as a machinist at a steel works. His mother had a brother, George Robshaw, and a niece, Edith Robshaw, also residing and working in New Jersey at this time. On the 6th March 1908, Clifford’s sister, Lillian, known as “Lily” was born.
In May 1911, his mother brought Clifford and his sister on a two-month holiday back to Yorkshire. When they were returning, early in the month of August, they were accompanied by Mrs. Beatrice Goodall, who was a niece of his father, and Beatrice’s husband and son – William and Leonard.
In the spring of 1915, his mother decided to return for another holiday to Yorkshire, accompanied by Clifford and his sister. Consequently, they booked as third class passengers on what proved to be the Lusitania's last ever trans-Atlantic crossing, which left New York just after mid-day on 1st May 1915. Accompanying them on the voyage was Clifford’s aunt, Edith Robshaw, as well as the Goodall’s, who by now had a second child, a boy named Jack.
Six days later, when the ship was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20, within sight of the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from her Liverpool destination, all eight of the party were killed.
Clifford Lockwood was aged only eleven years and although his sister’s body was recovered from the sea and buried at Queenstown, no trace of his or his mother’s body was ever found and identified.
After the war, George Robshaw, Clifford’s uncle, filed a claim for compensation for all of their deaths, on behalf of Clifford’s father. George, being a naturalized citizen of the United States, felt he had a better chance of succeeding in a claim, rather than Clifford’s father, who was still a British subject. The Mixed Claims Commission refused to make any award as George Robshaw was not dependant on the Lockwood’s or Edith Robshaw, and as Richard Lockwood was not an American citizen, he was not entitled to any compensation.
His father re-married in 1916, and fathered twin daughters, and resided for the remainder of his life in Kearny. He died in 1963.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, West Yorkshire Non-Conformist Records 1646 – 1985, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Pennsylvania Passenger Lists 1800 – 1962, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, UK Incoming Passenger Lists 1878 – 1960, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 2198 & 2202, PRO BT 100/345, Leeds Mercury, Yorkshire Observer, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.