Guy Winstanley Peathing Chambers was born in Seaforth, Lancashire, England, on the 16th February 1879, the son of Francis Henry and Anne Chambers (née Winstanley). His father was a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army and Guy was the second of four children.
Guy became a marine engineer on completion of his education, and served for a time on vessels sailing out of Liverpool, before he went to settle in New York City in the United States of America. He arrived in New York on the 10th June 1907 on board the
Etruria, and immediately made an application to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, although it would appear that he never completed the process. He initially resided at 7. Hamilton Avenue, Brooklyn, New York City.
The circumstances of when or where he met Ethel Paul Williams, who was from the Isle of Man, are unknown, but on the 31st May 1910, Ethel Williams embarked on the
Caronia at Liverpool, and disembarked in New York City on the 7th June. The couple got married in New York City the following day! They established their home at 435 East 70th Street, New York City, where Guy was residing at this time.
Then in 1914, the couple relocated to 15. May Street, East Braintree, Massachusetts, however; in the spring of 1915, they decided to return permanently to England, and as a consequence, they booked as second cabin passengers on the May sailing of the
Lusitania.
Having left Boston sometime in April, they arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York port on the morning of 1st May 1915 in time to board the liner for her scheduled 10 o’clock departure. This was then delayed until the afternoon as 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.
The Lusitania finally left 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 off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland and only 250 miles hours away from her Liverpool home port and destination.
Although Ethel Chambers perished as a result of this action, Guy Chambers survived, and having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, he eventually managed to get back to Liverpool. Although his wife’s body was recovered from the sea shortly after the sinking, it was not identified by Guy Chambers until after it had been buried, which had taken place on 14th May. He was able to make his identification from a photograph taken of her corpse and also from property recovered from her body.
As it was necessary to bury all the recovered bodies as soon as possible, because they could not be hygienically stored in the increasing heat of May, they were all photographed in the temporary mortuaries in Queenstown before being buried as soon as was practicable. Anxious friends and relatives of those missing were then invited to identify their loved ones through these photographs. This was difficult in certain cases because of injuries they had received as a consequence of the sinking or because immersion in sea water had disfigured their features.
On 3rd June 1915, Guy Chambers took possession of the recovered property, at 5. Hyde Road, Waterloo, Liverpool. Four days later, administration of her estate was also granted to him at London. Her effects amounted to £193-6s-8d (£193.34p).
A list of passengers published by the Cunard Steam Ship Company in March 1916 shows him as Guy Chalmers, but this is clearly a spelling error.
Guy Chambers married Agnes M Davy in Chorlton, Lancashire, in 1920, and he is also recorded as having married her again in 1933! No explanation has been found for this.
Guy Chambers never returned to the United States of America, and by 1939, he was residing with his wife at 75. Lodge Avenue, Urmston, Lancashire.
Guy Chambers died on the 23rd February 1958, a week after his 79th birthday, at Urmston, Lancashire.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1939 Register, Liverpool England Crew Lists 1861 – 1919, New York State and Federal Naturalization Records 1794 – 1940, New York New York Marriage License Indexes 1907 – 2018, New York New York Extracted Marriage Index 1866 – 1937, England United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers 1751 – 1921, Cunard Records, Probate Records, Boston Globe, UniLiv.D92/1/8-10, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.