George Edward Latham was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, in 1885, the son of Charles Edward and Isabella Armstrong Latham (née Anderson), who resided at 172, Tollemarche Road, Bidston, Birkenhead, Cheshire. He was one of three children, and his father was a warehouse manager and bookkeeper.
By the time he was aged 15 years, George Latham was working as an errand boy in the port of Liverpool before he qualified as an electrician and joined the Mercantile Marine to serve on steam ships.
He was married to Jessie May Kathleen Smith in Birkenhead in 1912, and they lived at 40, Magazine Lane, New Brighton, Cheshire. It is believed that they had no children. George Latham was popular with his colleagues and well known in the New Brighton area, particularly for his musical and artistic talents.
He engaged as Second Electrician in the Engineering Department of the Lusitania at Liverpool on the 12th April 1915, and he joined the vessel on the morning of the 17th April before she sailed out of the River Mersey for the last time.
Three weeks later, he was killed when the ship was sunk, six days out of New York and only hours away from her home port. He was aged 29 years.
His body was never found and identified afterwards and as a consequence, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
His family was renowned for its connections with the Cunard Steam Ship Company and his uncle was Staff Captain James Clarke Anderson, who also perished in the disaster - which made the sinking a double blow for his family!
In an article published in The Liverpool Echo on the 12th May 1915, it was said of him: -
Mr. Latham was a fine fellow, also popular with his shipmates. When last seen he was swimming strongly, and the lack of news concerning his fate is a great source of grief to his family.
Jessie Latham received £300-0s.-0d. in compensation under the Workman’s Compensation Scheme for the loss of her husband, and an annual pension of £48-11s.-8d. (£48.58½p.) from The London and Liverpool War Risks Insurance Association.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Kilmarnock Standard, Liverpool Echo, Wallasey News, Wallasey & Wirral Journal. UniLiv D92/11, PRO BT 334, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 18th February 2024.