James William Holden was born in Kimbolton, Herefordshire, England, in 1864, the son of James William and Ellen Holden (née Hyett). James was the youngest of four children, and his father, who was a policeman, died in 1866. His mother later married a man named Thomas Davies.
After completing his education, he found work as a “boots” in a hotel in Hereford,
Herefordshire, before moving to Liverpool, Lancashire, where he worked as a porter.
James married Emily Lewis Haines in Liverpool on the 22nd October 1884, and by 1911, they lived at the family home, 67, Vine Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, with their six children, Edith, Lillian (Lily), William James, Frederick, Albert Edward, and Dorothy (Dora) Beatrice. Their eldest child, Emily Ellen, had died in 1903, aged 18 years.
Sometime after his marriage, James Holden joined the Mercantile Marine as a ship’s waiter on passenger liners. He signed on as a first class waiter in the Stewards' Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool, on the 12th April 1915 at a monthly rate of pay of £4-5s.-0d. (£4.25p.), and embarked for New York on the Cunarder, at 7 a.m. on the 17th April, the last time she left the River Mersey.
According to a saloon class passenger list in the Public Record Office in Kew, Surrey, his personal responsibility on board ship was for rooms B23 to B31 in the saloon class accommodation, which would tend to indicate that he was serving as a first class bedroom steward, not a waiter, on the liner’s final voyage.
He was killed when the liner was sunk on the 7th May, aged 49 years.
His body was not found and identified afterwards and as he has no known grave, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
In keeping with all crew members, Cunard paid James Holden up until the 8th May, 24 hours after the sinking and eventually, the balance of wages owing to him was forwarded to his widow, Emily. The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited also granted a yearly pension to Emily Holden to compensate her for the loss of her husband which amounted to £39-10s.-5d. (£39.52p.) which was payable at the rate of £3-5s.-11d. (£3.29½p.) per month.
She was also granted administration of his effects, on the 6th July 1915. These amounted to £95-7s.-11d. (£95.40p), quite a large sum of money for a seaman in those days and representing the wages that he could have earned in two years full and continuous employment.
In November 1915, his son, Albert Edward, who was an accountant, enlisted in the British Army, and as 4930 Private A.E. Holden, he served with the 1/6th (Rifle) Bn. of the Kings Liverpool Regiment, before transferring as 28935 Lance Corporal A.E. Holden, to the King’s Own Royal Lancashire Regiment. He served on the Western Front and survived the war.
His son, Frederick, also went to sea as a steward, obviously undeterred by his father’s fate.
Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Marriages, and Banns 1754 – 1935, 1871 Census of England, 1881 Census of England, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Liverpool England Crew Lists 1861 – 1919, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Probate Records, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv. PR 13/24, PRO BT 334, PRO BT 351/1/63990, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Joan Davies, Edith Easdown, David Irving, Robert O'Brien, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 11th January 2024.