Gladys Elizabeth Robert was born in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales, in 1884, the daughter of Edward and Selina Robert (née Hedges), later of 176, Cathay Terrace, Cardiff. Her father was a railway traffic inspector, and Gladys was one of eight children
After finishing her secondary education, she began her working life as a shop assistant before training and qualifying as a ward nurse, and by 1911, she was working at The Royal Southern Hospital in Liverpool.
It is not known when or where she met her future husband, but in 1912, she married Albert Robert Smith in Cardiff, and shortly afterwards, the couple left for New York City, in the United States of America.
Her husband was an agent and picture salesman for the London fine art dealers, Messrs. Ackerman & Son, and from 1910, was working in their New York City branch. In August 1914, a daughter, whom they named Dorothy, was born to them there.
By the spring of 1915, however, Gladys Smith had developed a medical condition which necessitated her returning to Great Britain and as a result, her husband booked second cabin passage for the family from New York to Liverpool on the Lusitania, so that they could return to her parents in Cardiff.
They joined the liner in time to catch her last ever sailing across the Atlantic which began just after mid-day on 1st May 1915 and a mere six days later, they were all dead - killed after she was torpedoed off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland, by the German submarine U-20! At that point, the Lusitania was only hours away from her home port.
None of their bodies were ever found and identified afterwards so none has a known grave. Gladys Smith was aged 30 years!
On 27th May 1915, Cunard’s Chicago office received a letter concerning the family which they copied and sent to Queenstown on 7th June 1915. It stated: -
If bodies identified communicate with Mr. Edward Roberts 176 Cathays (sic) Terrace, Cardiff Glam. (who is father of Mrs. Smith) relative of the passengers Mr. Westmacott of Montague, Mich who made enquiry
Prior to sailing on the Lusitania, Gladys and her husband had vacated the apartment they had been renting at Brandt Place, Bronx, New York City, and put their furniture into storage, thus indicating that they intended remaining in the United Kingdom for a considerable period. Following their deaths, as neither Albert of Gladys had made wills, a Court in New York City had their possessions sold at auction and the proceeds, as well as a number of insurance policies that Albert had taken out, were later distributed amongst Alfred’s surviving siblings and one of his nephews.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Western Mail PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv. PR13/6, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.