Daniel Lee was born in County Westmeath, Ireland, between 1856 and 1861, the son of Mr. And Mrs. Richard Lee. Nothing is known of his family or childhood; however, at some stage he immigrated to Liverpool, Lancashire, England.
He married to Bridget Bracken in Liverpool on the 15th January 1880 and they lived at 101, Gildarts Gardens, Liverpool, Lancashire. The couple had two children; however, one of them died in infancy.
He served as a fireman in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania and was killed when she was sunk. He was aged between 54 and 59 years, although he stated that his age was 50 years when he signed on for the voyage.
His body was actually recovered from the sea, and before his identity was established, it was given the reference number 219 in one of the Queenstown mortuaries. This number was also chalked on the lid of his coffin.
Once a positive identification had been made, it was buried in The Old Church Cemetery, Queenstown, on the 10th May 1915, in Mass Grave A, 5th Row, Lower Tier. No personal property was found on his body.
Despite his having an identified grave, the records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission record that his body was never recovered from the sea and as a consequence he is also commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London. After the late Graham Maddocks submitted positive information about his burial to the Commission, it agreed to amend its records to show his true burial place.
The Commission has further stated that should the bronze panel which contains his name at Tower Hill need to be renewed in the future; his details will be removed from it.
In August 1915, Bridget Lee was given the balance of wages owed to her husband in respect of his service before the vessel sank. This was reckoned from the 17th April until the 8th May 1915, 24 hours after the Lusitania had gone down. In addition, The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited granted her an annual pension to compensate her for the loss of her husband. This amounted to £15-0s.-5d. (£15.02p.) which was payable at the rate of £1-5s.-1d. (£1.25½p.) per month.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Catholic Marriages 1754 – 1933, 1881 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Liverpool England Crew Lists 1861 – 1919, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, UniLiv. PR 13/24, PRO BT 334, PRO BT 351/1/80876, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 2nd March 2024.