George France Davies was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, in 1872, the son of John and Catherine Davies. His father was a joiner, and the family home was at 5. Lewis Street, Newport. George was one of the youngest of a large family.
On completion of his formal education, George became an apprentice pattern maker before becoming an insurance agent. He was ha a great love of music.
He lived at ‘Brynhfryd’ Beaufort Road, Ebbw Vale, Monmouthshire, with his wife
In 1898, he married Sarah Eleanor Jones in Newport, and in 1907, their daughter, and only child, Elsie Doreen, was born. The family resided for a time at 3. Coltra Road, before moving to 13. Rugby Road, both in Newport.
George became the conductor of the Royal Gwent Male Voice Choir, also known as the Royal Gwent Glee Singers, and in October 1912 the group embarked on a short tour of the United States of America. So successful were they that they decided to return in October 1913 for a longer tour. In fact, they were still touring North America and Canada in the spring of 1915 when a number of them decided to return to their homes in South Wales.
For their return home to South Wales, the choir had originally booked passage on the Anchor Lines vessel
Transylvania which was due to leave New York in the first week of May 1915. When they arrived in the city, however, they discovered that the
Lusitania was about to sail and would get them back home at least one week earlier. Furthermore, the
Lusitania was a much more luxurious vessel and was thought to be so fast that she would be impervious to U-Boat attack! Consequently, nine of the fourteen choristers transferred to her as second cabin passengers.
George Davies was one of these, the others being, S. Hill, D.T. Hopkins, I.T. Jones, W.G. Jones, G.B. Lane, D. Michael, J.P. Smith and T. Williams.
As the Lusitania sailed out of the port for the last time, just after mid-day on 1st May 1915, after a delayed departure, the choir sang the United States National Anthem -
The Star Spangled Banner, and thereafter had given a concert every night, in each saloon on board the vessel, in aid of seamen‘s charities in Liverpool.
The Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk on the afternoon of 7th May 1915, by the German submarine
U-20, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Walther Schwieger, whilst steaming past The Old Head of Kinsale off the southern Irish coast. George Davies was a victim of this action as were two other members of the choir, D.T. Hopkins and I.T. Jones, and as his body was never recovered and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 42 years.
One of the choir’s survivors, manager Dewi Michael, gave an account of the sinking in the newspaper
The Western Mail, on his return home to Cardiff, which praised George Davies especially. It was printed in the edition of Monday 10th May 1915 and also described what he had seen and done after having been landed at Queenstown: -
Here I witnessed as sad a sight as ever man could behold. I went to the mortuary to see if some of our lost friends were there. There, were stretched out men, women and children - some tiny little tots and one woman with her babe on her breast. It was so heartbreaking.
We were looking for our conductor, Mr. G.F. Davies. He was so, loved by us and nobody had seen him. There is no doubt that the poor fellow is gone. Strangely enough, the last song that he sang was ‘Down with the Salamander’. This was at the concert we had on the ship the previous evening. It is a strange coincidence that he should have been singing that song so near to the time when he himself would be going down. He sang it well, too. I fancy I can hear his beautiful base voice now.
Some time after the sinking, a pocket book was recovered from the sea and handed in at the Cunard office at Queenstown. It was described at the time as: -
Presumed to belong to George F. Davies. S/C, leader of Welsh Choir.
Property. Pocket book bearing cards with above name. Photo of Mr. G.S.
(sic) Davies. Letter and papers. Receipt for $60 in payment of account to Messrs George F. Matthews & Co. 93 Water St. New York & c. & c. Draft on Union Bank of Canada for $86.02.
It was then forwarded to his widow Sarah on 19th August 1915.
She also later successfully applied for financial help for herself and her daughter Elsie, from The Lusitania Relief Fund, which was administered by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool and had been set up after the sinking to give financial aid to those second and third class passengers or the relatives of those killed, who had fallen on hard times as a result of the disaster. She was granted an allowance of £0-10s-0d., (£0.50p.), for herself and £0-2s-6d., (£0.12½p.), in respect of Elsie.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, Cunard Records, Liverpool Record Office, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/8-10, UniLiv D92/2/314, Western Mail, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.