Eddy ‘Eddie’ Marlton Riley was born in Great Horton, Bradford, Yorkshire, England, on the 16th August 1884, the son of Sutcliffe and Martha Ann Riley (née Marlton). He was the younger of two children, having an older sister named Beatrice, and when his mother died in 1887, his father remarried the following year – his second wife also being called Martha Ann (née Dennett)! His father was an “overlooker” in a worsted weaving factory.
The entire family worked in woollen mills – his stepmother as a weaver, his sister as a spinner, and Eddie as a warehouse boy, and later a weaver. For a time, his father was a curator at a business premises but later returned to the woollen mills.
In July 1905, Eddie Riley crossed the Atlantic Ocean seeking work in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in the United States of America. He returned to Bradford in late 1908, and while there, became engaged to be married to Annie Taylor, who was also from
Bradford. Then, in February 1909, he returned to Bridgeport, accompanied by his father, to prepare for the arrival of his fiancée, who was to follow him a few months later.
On the 17th April his fiancée and stepmother arrived in the United States of America, and on the 30th April 1909, Eddie and Annie Taylor were married in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The couple settled in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, where both Eddie and Annie worked as weavers in a woollen mill.
The couple returned to Bradford, accompanied by Eddie’s father and stepmother in November 1910, as Annie was expecting their first child, and they wanted to have the child born in England. On the 17th February 1911, Annie Riley gave birth to twins – a girl named Ethel, and a boy named Sutcliffe.
In May 1911, Eddie Riley returned to the United States of America, settling in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and in October 1912, his wife and two children joined him..
Perhaps because of the war, in early 1915, they decided to return to Bradford, and leaving Lawrence via Boston, Massachusetts, they booked as third class passengers on what became the Lusitania's final voyage, which left New York just after mid-day on 1st May 1915.
The entire family was fortunate enough to survive the sinking, and after having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, they arrived at Holyhead on Sunday 9th May en route for Bradford. From there, Eddie Riley sent a telegram to his father-in-law, Mr. T. Taylor of 33 Ewart Street, Great Horton, Bradford announcing their safe arrival.
They eventually reached Great Horton on Monday 10th May, and as it was reported in The Bradford Daily Telegraph the same day: -
They went straight to the house of Mr. Timothy Taylor, the father of Mrs. Riley of 33, Ewart Street, Great Horton, and were quickly surrounded by relations and friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Riley are naturally suffering from the severe strain of their terrible experience and find it difficult to enter into any lengthy details as to their experience, their principal concern being that they have landed home safe and sound with their children.
Mr, Riley said that quite apart from the disaster the voyage was one long to be remembered. (sic) Both he and his wife have both several times previously crossed the Atlantic. Notwithstanding the fact that both passengers and crew did not believe the Germans capable of such felony, there was a lurking suspicion of mistrust, and they were constantly upon the look-out for eventualities.
When they were nearing the homeland, that suspicion began to disappear and the crew's company were in excellent spirits. The blow was all the more unexpected, and there was naturally great commotion when the first torpedo found the mark.
The men on board behaved promptly and with great courage. The crew were especially deserving of high praise for the gallant attempts they made to save the passengers, and he (Mr. Riley) fears that not many of them escaped with their lives after the attention they devoted to the passengers.
Mr and Mrs Riley’s good fortune lay in the fact that they were put into one of the Lusitania’s boats which took the water in perfect order, and remained afloat until other assistance arrived.
They will never forget the scenes they witnessed whilst in the boat. Women and children screamed for help and the whole sea seemed to be strewn with human beings and floating wreckage. Mr. Riley was able to render assistance to several persons in the water near their boat, but many went down before they could be reached. When they landed, they were shown every kindness by the willing helpers on shore.
Mr. Riley remarks that it feels grand this morning to be back home again and incidentally mentions that he has had no sleep for three nights.
What Eddie Riley did not mention in his account to The Bradford Daily Telegraph, was that he and Annie were separated from the twins when the liner was torpedoed and were really fortunate that they survived.
Friends Elizabeth Hampshire and Florence Whitehead from Glossop in Cheshire, who were travelling home from Boston, Massachusetts, as second cabin passengers, related their experiences of the sinking in The Cheshire Daily Echo on 10th May 1915. Part of their account stated: -
Rushing on deck, they found that already the boats were being lowered. Helped by members of the crew and some of the male passengers they obtained a place in a boat. Four children were thrown into their boat, two of them being twins whose parents they afterwards learned were picked up by another boat.
As the only young twins known to have been on board were the Riley twins, it must have been those to whom the friends were referring.
As far as is known, the Riley’s never returned to the United States of America again, and settled back in Bradford. They resided at 48. Old Road, Bradford.
Eddie Riley died in Bradford on the 30th November 1954, aged 70 years. His wife died in 1961.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Massachusetts U.S. Marriage Records 1840 – 1915, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, 1911 Census of England & Wales, 1939 Register, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, UK Incoming Passenger Lists 1878 – 1960, Cunard Records, Bradford Daily Telegraph, Cheshire Daily Echo, UniLiv D92/2/223, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.