Fannie Maud Goldsbrough was born in Lambeth, Surrey, England, on the 24th June 1882, one of five children born to Dr. Giles Forward and Frances Sarah Goldsbrough (née Latham). Her father was an eminent physician of the day, and the family home was at Church Side, Herne Hill, Camberwell, Dulwich, on the outskirts of London. She was a music artiste by profession.
In the summer of 1914, Fannie married Wilfrid Keeble, who was an advertising agent, and who worked between England and Canada, and in January 1915, Wilfrid and Fannie embarked on a honeymoon trip to Ontario, Canada.
For their return to London, they booked saloon passage on the May sailing of the
Lusitania with agents A. F. Webster & Son, of Toronto, and having travelled, probably by rail, to New York City, they boarded the liner on the morning of 1st May 1915, (with ticket number 10864) at her berth at Pier 54 on the west side of New York City. Once on board, they were escorted to room A7, which was in the care of First Class Bedroom Steward Charles Randall, who came from Gateacre, a suburb of Liverpool.
Despite being on time for the liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. sailing, her departure was actually delayed until the early afternoon, so that she could take on board passengers, cargo and some crew from the Anchor Liner
Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty at the end of April for war work as a troop ship. Then, six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, the
Lusitania was torpedoed twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland by the German submarine
U-20, and sank two miles closer inland. At that stage of her voyage, she was only about fourteen hours away from the safety of her home port.
Both Fannie and Wilfrid Keeble were lucky enough to survive this action and having been rescued from the sea, they were landed at Queenstown, from where they eventually made it to their home in London.
Bedroom Steward Randall, who had looked after Fannie and Wilfred Keeble in room A7, also survived the sinking and eventually made it back to his home in Gateacre.
Fannie and Wilfrid lived for the remainder of their lives in the London area of England and had three children. They were very much involved in amateur dramatics and often appeared in local plays. Fannie Keeble died in Maidstone, Kent, on the 16th January 1957, aged 74 years. Her husband, Wilfrid, died within a few weeks of her on the 6th February 1957.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, 1939 Register, New York Passenger Lists 1825 – 1957, U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895 – 1960, Cunard Records, Ottawa Citizen, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.