George Sidwell was born in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England, in June 1866, the son of Joseph and Caroline Sidwell (née Pearson). His father was a storekeeper in a tannery, and George’s mother died in December 1870, when he was aged only four years. He began his working life as a messenger boy, before managing a refreshment house, and then becoming a carpenter.
On the 25th December 1888, he married Mary Ellen Jennings at St. Andrew’s Church, Derby, Derbyshire. George became an insurance agent, and the couple had seven children before the entire family immigrated to Canada in 1905. The family settled at 92. West Avenue South, Hamilton, Ontario, and George found work as a carpenter in a local chair manufacturing factory. The couple had four more children after arriving in Hamilton.
George Sidwell was also a church organist, music teacher, and composer, and around 1911, he had given up his position as a carpenter to devote himself to music. He was a member of the Young Loyalists’ League, and published loyalist patriotic music, mostly of his own composition. Sometime after 1911, he took on a management role for the Empire Music Publishing Company, and in early 1915, he sold one of his patriotic songs to a company in England for a reputed £2,000. He decided to travel to England to personally deliver the composition and booked third cabin passage on the May sailing of the Lusitania from New York to Liverpool.
He travelled to New York City, in the United States of America, where he boarded the vessel at Pier 54 in New York harbour, on the morning of 1st May. The liner’s departure was delayed until the early afternoon to embark crew, passengers and cargo from the requisitioned liner Cameronia and just before 12.30 p.m. she slipped into the North River and out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Six days later the liner was torpedoed and sunk by Kapitänleutnant Schwieger’s submarine U-20, within sight of the southern Irish coast and only hours away from her Liverpool destination.
George Sidwell was killed as a result of the sinking, and as his body was never recovered and identified after the sinking, he has no known grave. He was aged 48 years.
A report in the 12th May 1915 edition of the Hamilton Daily Times stated: -
… According to latest cables received Mr. Sidwell was seen on an upper deck, as the boat was listing heavily, unfastening from himself, a life preserver, and placing it on a young girl. He has not been heard of since. ...
It is not known who witnessed this act of bravery and was responsible for sending the cables.
George Sidwell’s two eldest sons – Thomas and George served with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces during the War, one serving on the Western Front and the other in Greece. Both survived the War.
Sometime after George Sidwell’s death, two separate claims were lodged with the Canadian Commission, seeking compensation. The first, from a man named Hugh H. Nelson, stated that George Sidwell borrowed $400 from him on Christmas Eve 1913, and agreed to pay back this sum, plus half of the net profits derived from the publication and sale of his compositions and songs, but as a result of George Sidwell’s death, he had received nothing. The Commission dismissed his claim.
The second claim was submitted by George Sidwell’s widow, Mary, on behalf of herself and her children. The Commission decided that the four eldest children were earning enough to keep themselves at the time of their father’s death and therefore made no award in respect of them. The Commission did, however, award his widow, Mary, the sum of $8,000, and awarded each of his youngest seven children $1,000 each. Evidence was given that George Sidwell’s youngest child, Marian, was aged only 10 weeks at the time of his death.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Staffordshire England Church of England Births and Baptisms 1813 – 1900, Derbyshire England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754 – 1932, 1871 Census of England & Wales, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of Canada, Cunard Records, Canadian Claims Case No. 796 & 830, Hamilton Daily Times, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.