Georges Polydore Léon Auguste Joseph Tiberghien was born in Tourcoing, Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France, on the 18th December 1883, the son of Charles Augustin Louis Joseph and Marie Louise Lievine Joseph Tiberghien (née van den Bergh). He was one of eleven known children in the family and his father was described as the owner of an industrial mill.
On the 9th January 1907, he married Marie Louise Irma Henriette Francoise Joseph Motte in Pas-de-Calais, France, and the couple had two children – Marie, born in 1908, and Georges, born in 1909.
From about 1894, he had travelled regularly to the United States of America where, in 1906, his father had established Charles Tiberghien et Fils, one of the independent
French and Belgian companies that made up the French Worsted Company. The companies were concentrated around Woonsocket, Rhode Island.
Charles Tiberghien et Fils manufactured yarn, and employed 400 people in Woonsocket. The company also had facilities in Austria and Czechoslovakia. In the spring of 1915, Charles had been in Woonsocket when he decided to return to his native land to enlist in the French Army. Consequently, he booked a saloon passage (ticket number 46108), from New York to Liverpool on the May sailing of the Lusitania, through The French Worsted Company, presumably of New York.
Having arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour on 1st May 1915, he boarded the steamer and was escorted to his accommodation, room D24, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward William Fletcher who came from Wallasey in Cheshire, on the opposite bank of the River Mersey from Liverpool.
The liner’s sailing was then delayed until the early afternoon as she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work at the end of April. The Lusitania finally left the port just after mid-day. Just six days later, Georges Tiberghien was killed after the liner was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, on the afternoon of 7th May. At that time, she was twelve miles off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland and only hours away from her destination. Monsieur Tiberghien was aged 31 years.
His body was recovered from the sea, however and landed at Queenstown where it was taken to one of the temporary mortuaries there, given the reference number 191 and described as: -
Georges Tiberghien, Saloon. Aged 42 years, 5’ 8” clean shaven round face, stout make.
Property. 5 1$ Bills, 1 Austrian sovereign, 6 half sovereigns, 1 half-dollar, 12/6 silver, 10 pence, 5 1 dime pieces, 7 foreign pieces, i gold watch and chain with pendant and pencil attached, 2 gold rings (one a heavy one) 2 gold studs, 2 gold sleeve links, one pair of spectacles, 1 Alien Restriction Order, 2 beads, 1 pencil, 1 knife, i fountain pen, 1 memorandum book, 1 pipe and case, 2 leather purses, 8 small keys, documents and correspondence, 60 francs in bills, 15 francs in silver, £11 in sovereigns gold, 15 francs gold, 1 cigarette case.
On 16th May 1915, it was buried in Mass Grave B, 6th Row, Lower Tier, but shortly afterwards, his brother Charles Tiberghien arrived at Queenstown, from Calais, France to claim it!
It was then disinterred and eventually taken back to France for re-burial. Even though, as the body of a saloon passenger, it was probably embalmed before its first burial, the task of disinterment can not have been a pleasant one as it was on the bottom tier of three in the mass grave!
The property taken from it, as described above, and probably helped in its in its initial identification, was hande
His address at that time was shown as 2, Avenue de la Gare, Berk Plage, Pas-de-Calais, France.
Bedroom Steward Fletcher, who had looked after Georges Tiberghien in room D24, survived the sinking and eventually made it back to his Wallasey home.
Two of Georges Tiberghien’s brothers – Henri and Jules, where killed during the War while serving with the French Army.
New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/8-11, UniLiv D92/2/382, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.