Goldeanna Amler was born in in Russia, around 1839. Nothing is known of her parents or family, or what part of Russia she came from.
It is believed she had been married and widowed before she met a widower, Moses “Max” Samuel Morell, who was a successful merchant, and the couple married on the 4th November 1886.
It is likely that they married shortly before, or after, they immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Between them, they had nine known children, and when her husband died in 1892, he left Goldeanna, who was known as “Georgina” extremely wealthy. Her home, by 1915, was at 73. Kendal Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.
In the spring of 1915, no doubt because she wished to be closer to her son and grandson, who were both serving with the British forces, and her daughter, who was serving as a Red Cross nurse, she booked a return saloon class ticket through agents Robert Reford and Company of Toronto, from New York to Liverpool on the May sailing of the Lusitania, for herself and her companion, Mrs. Ellen Chapman. The liner was scheduled to leave the port on the morning of 1st May 1915.
Having left Toronto at the end of April, Mrs. Morell and Mrs. Chapman arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York on that morning in time for the liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. departure. Having boarded with ticket number 6924, she was escorted to her accommodation in room B32, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward James Grant who came from West Derby, a district of Liverpool. Also with her in room B32 was Mrs. Chapman.
Both women then had to wait until the early afternoon before the liner actually left New York. This was because she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war service as a troop ship, at the end of April. Then, just six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland, only about 250 miles hours away from the safety of her home port.
At the time of the explosion of the torpedo, Mrs. Morell was taking her customary nap in her cabin and she was woken from her sleep by Ellen Chapman, who insisted that she put on a life jacket over her nightdress as there was no time for her to get dressed first. This action may have saved Georgina Morell’s life; both she and Mrs. Chapman were able to survive the sinking, possibly because they were able to get into one of the few lifeboats which were successfully launched.
Nevertheless, having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, she needed to be taken to the local hospital to recover from her ordeal. It is presumed that she and Ellen Chapman eventually completed their journey safely to the mainland, after her release. It is known that she had a daughter living in London who probably came to Queenstown to take her back to the metropolis. As far as may be ascertained, her son and grandson both survived the war.
Bedroom Steward Grant who had looked after Mrs. Morell and Mrs Chapman in room B32 also survived the sinking and eventually got back to his West Derby home.
In early June 1915 a letter was received at the Cunard office in Liverpool from a Captain Harry Morell, Royal Army Medical Corps, writing from The Duchess of
Connaught’s Canadian Red Cross Hospital at Cliveden Taplow, in Buckinghamshire, in which he enquired about the possibility of compensation for Mrs. Morell and Mrs. Chapman: -
..... as both had lost everything!
It is not known whether Captain Morell was Georgina Morell’s son or grandson, or what Cunard’s reply to his letter was.
Georgina Morell remained in England until September 1916 when she returned to Canada on the Kroonland, accompanied by her daughter, Rose.
Rose Morell lodged a claim with the Canadian Commission, seeking compensation of $900 for the loss of her mother’s personal belongings in the sinking. In addition, Rose Morell sought $25, being the cost of her return journey from London to Queenstown to attend to her mother, and a further $25 for expenses incurred in Queenstown, and finally she claimed $7,800 for five years of nursing fees, at the rate of $30 per week.
Georgina Morell died suddenly at her home on the 30th May 1920, aged 80 years. She was buried beside her husband in Holy Blossom Cemetery, Pape Avenue, Toronto.
The Canadian Commission heard Rose Morell’s evidence in support of her claim in October 1923. They allowed all of her claim, with the exception of the $25 she sought for her return travel expenses from London to Queenstown, and in total, awarded her $8,725.
It is likely that at age 75 years when the Lusitania was sunk, she was the oldest saloon passenger on board.
Ontario Canada Deaths and Deaths Overseas 1869 – 1948, 1871 Census of Canada, 1881 Census of Canada, 1891 Census of Canada, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Canadian Claims Case No. 781, Seven Days to Disaster, PRO 22/71, UniLiv.D92/1/1, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.