Elizabeth ‘Bessie’ Smith was the infant daughter of Mr. Alfred Francis and Elizabeth Smith (née Jones). She was almost certainly born in Ellwood, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, in November 1914, although Cunard records state that she was British! Her parents were British, having been born in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales.
Her father emigrated from Wales in 1908, followed by her mother and older sister, Helen, in 1909. He father worked for The Shelby Tube Works as an electrician.
In the spring of 1915, perhaps because of the war, the family decided to return to England and consequently booked as second cabin passengers on the Lusitania, which left New York just after mid-day on 1st May 1915. Along with the four of them was Elizabeth’s aunt, Mrs. Owens, and her two cousins, Reginald and Ronald, who, having also emigrated to Ellwood, were returning to Swansea for a holiday.
After the ship was torpedoed, just six days later and within hours of her Liverpool destination, Bessie and her mother and father were killed, only Helen surviving. Bessie was only six months old. No sign of her body or that of her parents was ever found and identified.
Her two cousins also perished, although her aunt survived, and having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, she eventually made it to Swansea, where she related her ordeal to a reporter of the local newspaper The Cambria Leader. The account, which refers to her as Mrs. Owen and also calls her son Ronald, Hubert, was published on Tuesday 11th May 1915 and states: -
The party were (sic) travelling second class and their cabins were opposite each other. On Friday afternoon, Hubert and Reginald and Helen Smith were playing on deck and having a glorious time. Everybody on board was anticipating the end of the voyage and none had the slightest idea that a catastrophe was near.
Mrs. Owen, leaving the children at play, telling them to come down in half an hour, went below to pack and dress in anticipation of landing. Mr and Mrs. Smith were in their own cabin with the five months’ old child. They had not been below five minutes when the crash came.
The first care was, of course, for the children and while Mrs. Owen dashed up in search of her boys, she assumed that Mr. and Mrs. Smith tried to find Helen. Mrs. Owen did not see a single of the little party again, neither did little Helen till she recognised her auntie in a Queenstown hotel some hours after. .....
Mrs. Owen viewed the dead bodies brought ashore without finding any of the party, ..... .
Cunard Records, Cambria Leader, Cheshire Daily Echo, Western Mail, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Seven Days to Disaster, Liverpool Record Office, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.