Bridget “Delia” Wallace was born in Rusheen, Ballylongford, Co. Kerry, Ireland, on 21st August 1893, the daughter of William and Margaret Wallace (née Molyneaux). Her father was a farmer and Delia was the youngest of ten children. On the 21st August 1898, an elder sister, Margaret, boarded the S.S. Lucania at Queenstown and immigrated to New York in the United States of America where she found work as a housekeeper in New York City, residing at The Holley, 26. Washington Square. On the
20th September 1898, her brother, Michael, accidently drowned in Ballylongford.
On the 12th April 1912, Delia boarded the S.S. Celtic at Queenstown, and emigrated to the United States of America to join her sister, Margaret, known as “Maggie”.
In the spring of 1915, however, the sisters decided to return home together to Ireland and consequently booked second cabin accommodation for the journey home.
They joined the Lusitania at the Cunard berth in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for her sailing from there at 12.25 p.m.
Six days later, Delia Wallace was dead, killed after the liner had been torpedoed, and as no trace of her body was ever recovered afterwards, she has no known grave. She was aged 21 years. Her sister Margaret also perished in the sinking and her body was never recovered either.
In the early summer of 1915, her father, William, sought financial help from The Lusitania Relief Fund, which had been set up after the sinking by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool and other notable Merseyside business people, to provide financial assistance for survivors and relatives who had been adversely affected by the events of 7th May!
Mr. Wallace claimed that he was dependant on the income of his daughters, but the awards committee could not have been totally happy with his claim, for they only awarded him the initial sum of £3-0s-0d., and promised to make further enquiries on his behalf!
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1901 Census of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Liverpool Record Office, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/212, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.