Ellen Hughes was born in New Brighton, Cheshire, England, on the 11th October 1874, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Hughes (née Lineker). She was one of nine children, although by 1911, three of her siblings had died. Her father was a Liverpool Harbour pilot, and for many years, the family home was at 'Poplar Cottage', 37. Rowson Street, New Brighton Wallasey, Cheshire.
In late 1895, she gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, named Dora, and then on the 23rd May 1910, she married Herbert Bennett Finn in Liverpool. Their daughter, Rita Glynn Finn was born on the 17th September 1910.
It appears her marriage ended within a year, as by June 1911, Ellen had returned using her original family name and was back living with her parents in New Brighton, while her estranged husband retained custody of their daughter and resided in Liverpool. No
record of the couple divorcing has been found.
By 1912, Ellen Hughes was working as a stewardess on Cunard Steam Ship Company passenger liners. She served on the Saxonia and Carmania before joining the Lusitania.
She engaged as a stewardess in the Stewards' Department of the Lusitania in April 1915, at a monthly rate of pay of £4-0s.-0d. and joined the vessel on the morning of the 17th April before she left on her last ever voyage out of the River Mersey.
Having completed her voyage to New York without mishap, the Lusitania left that port on the afternoon of the 1st May 1915 for what became her last ever trans-Atlantic crossing. Six days later, on the afternoon of the 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk within sight of the southern Irish coast by the German submarine U-20, only hours away from her home port. Ellen Hughes was fortunate to survive this action, one of 9 out of 22 stewardesses on board who survived. She was aged 40 years, although when she signed on for the voyage, she stated that she was aged 34 years!
Having been rescued from the sea, she was landed at Queenstown, and from there eventually managed to return to her daughter in Wallasey.
Herbert Finn remarried in December 1916, describing himself as being widowed, and continued to retain custody of his daughter, Rita.
Ellen Hughes never remarried, and lived with her daughter, Dora, at 15. Sandfield Road, Wallasey, Cheshire, until she died, aged 46 years, in Birkenhead in November 1921 and she was buried in Rake Lane Cemetery.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919, Liverpool England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1813 – 1919, 1881 Census of England, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, 1921 Census of England, Liverpool England Crew Lists 1861 – 1919, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Wallasey News, UniLiv D92/2/374, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 351/1/66238, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 16th January 2024.