George Bates was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on the 14th February 1898, the son of William Henry and Catherine Bates (née Cassidy). His father was a painter and decorator, and George was the eldest of five children.
His father had previously been married, his first wife dying in 1895, and George had two stepbrothers and a stepsister as a result of this marriage. The family lived in Flintshire, Wales, and Chester, Cheshire, at various times as George’s father found work. By 1915, the family home was at 128, Sandy Road, Seaforth, Lancashire
After leaving school, George was employed as a Stewards' Boy in the Stewards' Department on board the Lusitania.
He was on board when the liner departed from Liverpool for New York on the 17th April 1915, and he was serving in the same capacity on the return voyage which left New York on Saturday, the 1st May.
On the 7th May, as the great liner passed by the Old Head of Kinsale, a torpedo launched by the German submarine, U-20, struck the Lusitania on her starboard side which resulted in her sinking within eighteen minutes. George Bates lost his life as a result, and if his remains were ever recovered, they were never identified.
As he has no known grave, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London. He was aged 17 years.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, UK Campaign Medals Awarded to World War I Merchant Seamen 1914 – 1925, PRO BT 334, PRO BT 351/1/8229, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 12th December 2022.