Ernest Alexander Kewley was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on the 10th July 1875, the son of Hugh Stowell and Helen Kewley (née Gerrie). He was one of five children, and his father was a clerk employed with the Mersey Dock and Harbour Board.
On completion of his education, he became a railway clerk. He married Edith Webb in Liverpool on the 19th September 1899, and the couple had six children, although one died in infancy. The family home was at 53, Cotswold Street, Edge Hill, Liverpool. At some point after his marriage, Ernest joined the Mercantile Marine as a steward on ocean liners.
He engaged as a first class waiter in the Steward's Department on the Lusitania at Liverpool on the 12th April 1915 at a monthly wage of £4-5s.-0d. (£4.25p.) and joined her at 7 a.m. on the 17th April 1915, before she sailed from the River Mersey for the last time. He had served on the vessel in the same capacity before.
Having crossed the Atlantic to New York without mishap, the Lusitania left there on the early afternoon of the 1st May 1915 to begin the return leg of her journey home. However, she never made it, for on the afternoon of the 7th May and within sight of The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. Waiter Kewley was killed as a result of this action. He was aged 39 years.
His body was recovered from the sea, however and before it was positively identified in one of Queenstown's temporary mortuaries, it was given the reference number 206 and described as: -
Supposed to be Ernest Kewley, Steward, 35 years 5’ 8” or 9” bald on top of
forehead, light black moustache long straight nose, thin features, navy blue clothes and brass buttons.
Once a positive identification had been made, however, it was buried in The Old Church Cemetery, Queenstown, on the 17th May 1915 in a private grave situated in Row 20, Grave 4. His remains still lie there today, although the reference number for the grave has been redesignated Grave 649.
There was no headstone on this grave, however, until 85 years after his death. Then, in the year 2000, following representations by the late Graham Maddocks to The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which was initially unaware that Waiter Kewley had a known burial site, the Commission erected a headstone over his final resting place. It follows the normal Commission pattern and in keeping with other stones in the cemetery, is made from grey marble. It bears, over a Christian cross, the inscription: -
E.A. KEWLEY
WAITER, MM.
S.S. “LUSITANIA”
7TH MAY 1915 AGE 38
Obviously after such a passage of time, it was not possible to add a private or family inscription beneath the cross. The M.M refers to Mercantile Marine.
Prior to Graham Maddocks’ information about Waiter Kewley’s grave location, the Commission had believed that he had no known grave and he was consequently commemorated on the London Tower Hill Memorial to the Missing of the Mercantile Marine. It has now amended his entry in the memorial register there, to show his actual burial place, and has stated that should it ever be necessary to re-cast the bronze panel on the memorial which bears his details, his name will be omitted from its replacement.
In August 1915, Edith Kewley was paid the balance of wages owing to her late husband in respect of his service on board the Lusitania, which was reckoned from the 17th April 1915, until the 8th May, 24 hours after the vessel had gone down! In addition, The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited granted Edith Kewley a yearly pension to compensate her for the loss of her husband. This amounted to £70-14s.-3d. (£70.71p.) which was payable at the rate of £8-17s.-11d. (£8.89½p.) per month.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919, Liverpool England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754 – 1935, 1881 Census of England, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, National School Admission Registers and Log Books 1870 – 1914, UniLiv.D92/1/8-11, UniLiv. PR 13/24, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 334, PRO BT 351/1/76591, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 8th February 2024.