Georgina Abigail Vernon was born in Ontario, Canada, on the 1st July 1858, the daughter of Elias and Abigail Vernon (née Willoughby). Her father was a physician and Georgina was the eldest of four known children in the family. The family home was in Hamilton, Ontario.
On the 27th September 1880, she married James Mason Young, who, with his younger brother, Hamilton Young, was the co-founder of the Hamilton Cotton Company. The family home was at 301. J
four children. As their children grew older, Georgina frequently accompanied her husband on business trips to the United States of America, South America, and Europe.
On the 25th April 1915, the couple’s youngest son, Lieutenant James Vernon Young, serving with the Canadian Field Artillery on the Western Front, was wounded in the thigh and sent to Miss Pollock’s Hospital for Officers, 50. Weymouth Street, London, to recuperate. On learning of this James and Georgina Young decided to travel to London to visit him.
Consequently, her husband booked saloon passage through local travel agents McIlroys (ticket number 866) on the May sailing of the Lusitania, which was scheduled to leave New York on the morning of 1st May 1915. Having travelled from Hamilton at the end of April, the couple boarded the liner on that morning and were escorted to their accommodation in saloon room B53, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward Walter Wood, who came from Seaforth in Lancashire, on the outskirts of Liverpool.
The liner’s sailing was then delayed until the afternoon as she had to embark passengers, some crew and cargo from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work as a troop ship, at the end of April. The Lusitania finally left the port at 12.27 p.m. and just six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. At that point, she was within sight of the coast of southern Ireland and only 250 miles away from her Liverpool home port and destination.
Both Georgina and James Young died as a result of this action and although James Young’s body was never taken from the sea and identified, hers was. She was aged 56 years.
Once recovered, it was landed at Queenstown and taken to one of the temporary mortuaries set up there, where it was given the reference number 159. There, it was described as: -
Female, 43 years, Mrs. G.A. Young, Saloon passenger, 5’5”, brown hair, strong build, strong coarse face, black satin dress, artificial hair held on by wire, freckled strong coarse face, good set of natural teeth in both jaws. Wearing silks and stylishly dressed.
This largely unflattering description not withstanding, on 21st May 1915, it was handed over to a representative of The Canadian Pacific Railway Company, for shipment back to her Hamilton home, for burial.
Property recovered from it, which no doubt aided its identification, was forwarded to her sister-in-law, Mrs. A.J. Storer, c/o a Mr. Archibald Murray, of Portland, Limerick, on 7th June 1915. This consisted of four gold jewelled rings taken from her left hand, a gold watch and expanding bracelet taken from her left wrist - the watch had the initials G.A.Y. inscribed on it, two valuable gold rings taken from her wedding finger, an oval gold bracelet, a long light gold chain taken from around her neck, a gold clasp pin and a gold safety pin, also taken from her neck area and a small white handkerchief bearing the initials G.Y..
Bedroom Steward Walter Wood, who had looked after the couple in room B53 did survive, the sinking, however and eventually made it back to his Seaforth home.
Georgina Young’s remains were buried in Hamilton Cemetery, Hamilton, and both she and her husband are remembered on her gravestone.
James Vernon Young survived the War, and took up a position in the Hamilton Cotton Company, along with other members of his family. He served as Master-General of Ordnance for the Canadian Army during WWII and retired from military life with the rank of Major-General.
U.S. Presbyterian Church Records 1701 – 1970, 1871 Census of Canada, 1881 Census of Canada, 1891 Census of Canada, 1901 Census of Canada, 1911 Census of Canada, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Calgary Daily Herald, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/8-10, UniLiv D92/2/258, UniLiv D92/2/441, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.