Herbert Barks was born in Winchester, Hampshire, England, on the 2nd May 1883, the son of Thomas and Rosina Barks (née Light). He was brought up in Southampton, Hampshire, and his father was a maltster (a person who produces malt). Herbert was the third eldest of six known children.
On completion of his education, Herbert went to London where he worked as a clerk, before becoming a professional stage actor and emigrating to Canada, where he lived in Hamilton, Ontario, for a number of years before moving on to New York City in the United States of America. He adopted his mother’s maiden name of Light as his stage name.
In 1915 he had been working in Camden, New Jersey, for the O.B. Weed Stock Company at the Broadway Theatre. He lodged at the home of a Mrs. E. Rhinehousen on Spruce Street, near Broadway.
On 30th April 1915, he received news from England that his mother was seriously ill and he having immediately obtained permission to return home, he set out for New York, having booked as a third class passenger on the Lusitania.
Having boarded the liner for her scheduled 10.00 a.m. sailing, he then had to wait until the early afternoon before she sailed, because she had to take on board passengers and crew from Anchor Liner the S.S. Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned as a troop ship. Tragically, just one hour after the liner had left New York for the last time, a telegram was received at the Broadway Theatre to inform him that his mother had died!
Although he was unaware of this at the time, his misfortune did not end there, as six days out of New York, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20, twelve miles off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland and sank only eighteen minutes later. At that stage of her voyage, she was a mere twelve or fourteen hours away from her Liverpool destination.
Herbert Light was one of just over 130 third class passengers who survived this action - over 240 perished - and after being rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, he was taken to hospital because he must have been injured or made ill by his ordeal. There he remained for several days before he was fit enough to be discharged, on 10th May. It is presumed that he eventually reached his original intended destination on the British mainland after this, but he would almost certainly have been too late to attend his mother‘s funeral.
He was aged 32 years at the time of the sinking.
Herbert Light later returned to the United States of America, where he continued his acting career. On being interviewed by a reporter from the Trenton Sunday Times-Advertiser prior to appearing in a stage production in that city, he recounted his experiences during the sinking of the Lusitania. This account appeared in the 21st May 1922 edition of the newspaper: -
He was in the lounge of the great ship when the German torpedo struck the side of the boat and shook it for several minutes. The quivering stopped and the craft began to sink, and within twenty minutes time the Lusitania was completely submerged, he declared.
Unable to swim at that time, he held to the rail of the ship, which came loose. He was soon unconscious and remembered nothing until he was picked up by a sailor manning a life boat. He was taken ashore after much difficulty and rushed to a Queenstown hospital, where he remained for five days.
Although the Lusitania went down more than seven years ago, on May 7, 1915, Light asserted he recalled the experience as though it happened yesterday. He recounted the pitiable cries of the women and children who sought in vain to be saved. He said it was only through unusual luck that he was spared from their sad fate.
Herbert Light continued to work as an actor, moving to Blythe, Riverside, California, and at various times styled his name as Light, Barks, and even Light-Barks. He travelled extensively to Hawaii and other places by liner, making his final visit to England in 1954, when he sailed on the Cunarder, Queen Elizabeth.
Herbert Light Barks never married and died in Blythe, Riverside, California, on the 15th October 1959, aged 76 years.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, California U.S. Death Index 1940 – 1997, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of Canada, 1920 U.S. Federal Census, 1930 U.S. Federal Census, California Passenger Lists 1882 – 1959, Cunard Records, U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards 1917 – 1918, U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards 1942, Philadelphia Public Ledger, Trenton Sunday Times – Advertiser, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/8-10, Graham Maddocks, Peter Threlfall, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.