Edward Negus was born in Rickling, Essex, England, on the 3rd January 1888, the son of Thomas and Eliza Negus (née Bell). His father was an agricultural labourer and Edward was the youngest of nine known children.
On completing his education, Edward became a chauffeur, and then in 1914, he left Liverpool on board the Cunarder Campania bound for New York in the United States of America, arriving there on 12th September. His destination was to one of his married sisters, Mrs. P. Gillis, 168. East 81st Street, New York City.
Presumably he found work in New York City, but with war raging in Europe, he decided to return to England to enlist in the British Army in the spring of 1915. Consequently, he booked second cabin passage on the May sailing of the Lusitania from New York to Liverpool and joined the liner at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 on the west side of the city on the morning of 1st May 1915 in time for her scheduled 10.00 a.m. departure.
The liner’s departure for Liverpool was then delayed until the early afternoon, so that she could take on board passengers, cargo and crew from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work as a troop ship. Six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland by the German submarine U-20, and sank just eighteen minutes later. At that stage of her voyage, she was only 250 miles from the safety of her home port.
Edward Negus managed to survive this action, however, and an account of his survival was published in The Manchester Guardian, three days after the sinking and stated: -
Mr. Negus ..... is sure that two torpedoes were fired. The first one, he said, "hit the ship with a bang, and she twisted right over." A lot of boats were lowered at once and then "a second torpedo came and settled it."
A curious statement was made by Mr. Negus to the effect that the second torpedo was fired after the Lusitania had heeled right over on her side, and he thinks it must have smashed into the deck of the ship which was then exposed broadside on to the sea. He was clinging on to the rail on the side which was high out of the water, and losing his grip, he fell into the sea.
Just at that moment, the ship plunged and one of the lifeboats which seems to have remained hanging from the davits, still unlaunched, fell into the water next to Negus. The only person in the boat was a steward who pulled him in. The two men rowed about, pulling more men out of the water, until they had saved fifty passengers.
They passed two upturned boats with passengers clinging to them. On one, a dead woman was lying. The men in Negus's boat lashed the two upturned boats together to prevent them from drifting apart.
Negus, like many other members of the passengers and crew, was convinced that there were two torpedoes fired - probably because two distinct explosions were heard. This is despite the fact that the commander of the U-20, Kapitänleutnant Walter Schwieger stated almost immediately afterwards, that he had fired only one!
After being rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, Edward Negus made it back to his home in Rickling. He was aged 27 years at the time of the sinking.
It appears that any injuries that he suffered during his ordeal were very minor, for on the 25th May 1915, he enlisted in the British Army at Grove Park, Lewisham, London. As M2/100493 Private Edward Negus, he served in the Army Service Corps, and was sent to France in September 1915, serving for the duration of the war as a lorry driver.
He was highly commended on many occasions by his superiors, and was honourably discharged in June 1919, at which time he returned to his home in Rickling.
On the 3rd April 1920, he married Hettie May Turner at the Church of St. Simon & St. Jude, Quendon, Essex. There were no children from the marriage.
The couple owned and operated Belle Vue Filling Station at Old North Road, Kneesworth, Bassingbourn, South Cambridgeshire, for many years, and they were living there on the 28th April 1953, when Edward Negus died at The Royston and District Hospital, Royston, Hertfordshire, aged 65 years. He left his estate of £7,664-17s.-6d. (£7,664.87½p.) to his widow, Hettie.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Essex England Church of England Marriages 1754 – 1935, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, 1939 Register, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, UK British Army World War I Service Records 1914 – 1920, Manchester Guardian, Probate Records, PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.