Eliza Houghton was born in Barnton, Cheshire, England, in 1884, the daughter of George and Sarah Ellen Houghton (née Sharp). She was an only child, and her father, who was a flatman – working flat-bottomed boats on the canal, died in 1888, aged 24 years. In 1890, her mother married John Rathbone, who died in 1893, and then she married John Rathbone’s younger brother, Isaac, in 1895. By 1911, they resided at 97, Cholmondley Street, Widnes, Cheshire.
In the summer of 1908, she married John Bowen Spillman and they lived at 56. Townfield Lane, Barnton. Then, in 1913, the couple immigrated to Wyandotte, Michigan, where an uncle of John Spillman lived, and the couple set up their home at 70. Maple Street, Wyandotte.
In early 1915, John Spillman spent nine weeks in hospital with typhoid fever, and following is recovery, he and his wife decided to return to England for a holiday and visit relatives. Consequently, they booked as second cabin passengers on the May sailing of the Lusitania.
Having left Wyandotte at the end of April, the couple joined the Lusitania at Pier 54 in New York port, on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for her scheduled 10.00 a.m. departure. The liner’s sailing was delayed until the afternoon as she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work at the end of April. The Lusitania finally left the port just after mid-day and just six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May; she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. At that point, she was twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland and only 250 miles away from her home port and destination.
Both John and Elizabeth Spillman were killed as a result of this action - united in death as they had been in life. John Spillman was aged 33 years, and his wife, 30 years.
John Spillman's corpse was recovered from the sea and landed at Queenstown where it was eventually identified by his father-in-law, Mr. Rathbone who was called to Queenstown to effect a positive identification.
No sign of Eliza Spillman, alive or dead was ever found.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Lancashire England Church of England Births and Baptisms 1813 – 1911, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895 – 1960, Cunard Records, Runcorn Guardian, Runcorn Weekly News, Widnes Weekly News, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/67, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.