Gertrude “Gertie” Thursfield was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, on the 2nd March 1887, the daughter of Alfred and Martha Thursfield (née Hargreaves). Her father was a potter’s turner in one of the local potteries, and Gertie was one of eleven known children in the family. The family resided at Albert Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme.
In early 1913, she married John Walker, who was a blacksmith at a local brick works, and shortly after their wedding, in April 1913, the couple immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where her husband found work as a fitter with the Grand Trunk Railway and Gertie worked as a dress finisher. The couple lived at 177, University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.
By early 1915, Gertie, who was expecting her first child, learned that her father was unwell and the couple decided to return to England, either to see Gertie’s father or to move home permanently, and consequently, in April they left Toronto and travelled to New York City where they had booked second cabin passage from New York to Liverpool on the Lusitania. They joined the vessel at Pier 54 in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May, occupying cabin D76.
The liner left the harbour at 12.25 p.m. that day and six days later both Gertie and John Walker were killed, after she was torpedoed and sunk off the Old Head of Kinsale in
southern Ireland and only hours away from her destination.
As her body was not recovered and identified after the sinking, she has no known grave. She was aged 28 years. Her husband's body was never found and identified, either!
Her brother, Harry Thursfield, who was living in Canada, filed a claim for compensation with the Canadian Commission for the loss of his sister and his father, who died in 1916, allegedly from the shock of Gertie’s death. As he was not dependent on Gertie, the Commission refused to make any award to him; however, they stated that if he, or any other qualified person, take out administration of Gertie’s estate, they would recommend making a payment to her estate of $1,000 in compensation for the loss of her personal effects and money as a result of the sinking of the Lusitania. It is not known if this occurred.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Staffordshire Baptisms, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Canadian Commission Case No. 831, Staffordshire Advertiser, Staffordshire Sentinel, Probate Records, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/108, UniLiv D92/2/265, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.