James ‘Boy’ Dunsmuir was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, on the 28th January 1894, the younger son (of ten children) of the Honourable James and Laura Miller Dunsmuir, (née Surles). His mother was American and came from North Carolina and his father's family were exceedingly rich from the profits of mining Vancouver Island coal. Until 1908, the family home was at Craigdarroch Castle, set in nearly 30 acres of land, in Victoria, which was built by James Dunsmuir's grandfather, Robert, who had originally come to Canada from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, in Scotland.
On the 2nd January 1915, James Dunsmuir had been commissioned as a Lieutenant in the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles, but eager to get to the fighting in Europe, he resigned his commission on the 16th April, with the intention of travelling to England, to join the British army.
At the end of April 1915, he left Victoria by rail, to travel to Toronto Ontario, on the first part of a journey to Great Britain to enlist, having first booked his ticket with A. F. Webster & Son, of Toronto.
From there, he travelled to New York, where he joined the Lusitania at Pier 54 as a saloon passenger, for her sailing on 1st May 1915. Once on board, (with ticket number 10868), he was allocated room D1, which was under the personal supervision of First Class Bedroom Steward, William McLeod, who came from Bebington, Birkenhead, Cheshire, on the opposite side of the River Mersey from Liverpool.
The wealthy Victorian was killed, six days later, after the vessel was torpedoed and as no trace of his body was ever discovered afterwards, he has no known grave.
Bedroom Steward McLeod, who had looked after James Dunsmuir in room D1, also perished during the course of the sinking.
1901 Census of Canada, 1911 Census of Canada, Canada WW1 CEF Attestation Papers 1914 – 1918, Cunard Records, Craigdarroch Castle Society, The Province, Victoria Daily Times, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Margaret Brandon, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.