Howard Walter Tijou was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the 4th July 1904, the son of Walter Edgar and Carrie Maud Tijou (née Malpass). His father was a publisher, and the family maintained homes in Toronto and England.
Howard’s father frequently travelled throughout the North American continent in the course of his business, often bringing Howard along with him.
In 1915, the family was living at “Ashtabula”, 18, Wendover Road, Bromley, Kent, England, but Howard and his father were in Toronto until the spring of that year, when his father decided that they should return to England.
Consequently, having booked as second cabin passengers, at the end of April, they both set off from Toronto for the United States of America and arrived in New York in time to board the Lusitania at Pier 54 in the harbour there, on the morning of 1st May 1915.
The liner’s departure was delayed until the early afternoon, because some crew, all the passengers and the cargo from the Anchor Liner Cameronia had to be embarked, as the latter vessel was requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war service, at the end of April.
Six days later, in the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, when twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from her Liverpool home port.
Young Howard Tijou was killed as a result of this torpedoing and he was only ten years old at the time. As his body was never recovered and identified afterwards, he has no known grave, although his name is inscribed on the headstone of his younger brother, Raymond Trevor, in Southport Cemetery, Southport. Raymond was born in 1916 and died in 1918.
Howard’s father managed to survive the sinking and return to Howard’s mother and sister in Kent.
Ontario Canada Births 1832 – 1916, 1911 Census of England & Wales, UK Incoming Passenger Lists 1878 – 1960, Cunard Records, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.