Herbert Gladstone Colebrook was born in Guildford, Surrey, England, on the 26th June 1880, the third child of May and Mary Colebrook (née Gower). His father had seven children from an earlier marriage, and six, including Herbert, from his second marriage. Around the time of Herbert’s birth, his father was farming 180 acres of land, employing eight men, five boys and one woman on the farm. His father was also a butcher and fishmonger, employing nine men and three boys in his butchering business, and three men and three boys in his fishmongers shop.
On completing his education, Herbert became a furniture salesman in Guildford, before moving to London, where he became a carpet salesman. He resided at 22. Napier Avenue, Fulham.
On the 8th August 1906, he married Ann Gordon at All Saints Church, Fulham, London, and ten days later, on the 18th August, the newly married couple boarded the
St. Louis at Southampton, Hampshire, and crossed the Atlantic Ocean, arriving in New York City on the 25th August.
Herbert continued selling carpets in New York City, where the couple resided at 67. Guion Street, in the New Rochelle area of the city. The couple had two children, a son, named Herbert Gordon, who was born in 1908, and a daughter named Shirley M. who was born in 1909, but who sadly died the same year.
In 1911, the family moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where Herbert was employed by Robert Simpson & Co. Ltd., as a carpet salesman. The couple resided at 174. Geoffrey Street. Then, on the 17th February 1913, Ann Colebrook died as a result of septicaemia developed as a result of a throat infection.
By 1915, Herbert was a merchandise manager for Robert Simpson & Co. Ltd., and in the spring of that year, he decided to cross the Atlantic to England, either on business or to visit his family in Surrey, and having booked saloon passage on the
Lusitania via agents A. F. Webster & Son, of Toronto, he arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for the liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. departure.
Once on board - with ticket number 10866 - he was escorted to room B111, which was under the personal supervision of First Class Bedroom Steward Thomas Dawes, who came from Walton, a district of Liverpool.
The liner did not actually leave New York until just after mid-day, however, as she had to take on board passengers, cargo and some crew from the Anchor Liner, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work as a troop ship. Then, six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland by the German submarine
U-20, and sank two miles closer inland. At that stage of her voyage, she was only 250 miles from her home port of Liverpool.
Herbert Colebrook was one of only just over 100 saloon passengers to survive the sinking and having been rescued from the sea, he was landed at Queenstown, from where he eventually made it to the mainland. He was 34 years of age at the time.
He was still in Queenstown on 16th May when he was able to make a positive identification of the corpse of fellow saloon passenger Mrs. Agnes Rogers in one of the temporary mortuaries set up in the town. Agnes Rogers had been travelling with her husband Frank and they both lost their lives, as a result of the torpedoing. Frank Rogers’ corpse was never recovered from the sea and identified. Like Herbert Colebrook, they both lived in Toronto, so it is possible that they knew each other before they boarded the liner, or maybe had just met during the voyage and discovered their common connection.
Bedroom Steward Dawes, who had looked after Herbert Colebrook in room B111, also perished in the sinking, and never saw his Walton home again!
It would appear that Herbert Colebrook didn’t suffer any serious injury as a result of the sinking of the
Lusitania, for having continued on his journey to England, and having either conducted his business or visited his family, he boarded the
St. Paul at Liverpool on the 5th June 1915 for his journey home to his son. On the 4th September 1915, he married Mabel London in Toronto.
Herbert Colebrook submitted a claim for compensation for the loss of his personal effects in the sinking of the
Lusitania which was dealt with by the Canadian Commission established to deal with all such claims. Having given evidence before the Commission on the 9th October 1923, they awarded him the sum of $485.00, with interest at a rate of 5% per annum from the 10th January 1920 to the date of the settlement.
Herbert Colebrook became a director of Simpsons Limited, which owned a number of companies, including Robert Simpson & Co. Ltd., and in the 1930’s Herbert and his wife and son resided in England, before returning to Toronto, where on the 23rd May 1965, Herbert Colebrook died, aged 84 years. His remains are buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, London England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754 – 1932, Ontario Canada Marriages 1826 – 1936, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, 1921 Census of Canada, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Canada Ocean Arrivals 1919 – 1924, Border Crossings from U.S to Canada 1908 – 1935, Cunard Records, Canadian Claims Case No. 774, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.PR13/6, Graham Maddocks, Lawrence Evans, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.