John Brennan was born in Bootle, Lancashire, England, on the 6th November 1896 the son of Jeremiah and Mary Brennan (née Gore). The family home was at 17, Johnstone Street, Bootle, and John was one of ten children.
John Brennan was described as being a quiet man, and extremely kind and patient. His father was a fireman on steam ships and a member of the British Mercantile Marine and after leaving school, John followed in his footsteps.
He signed on as a trimmer in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool, on the 12th April 1915 for what would be the liner’s last ever voyage to America and reported for duty at 8 a.m. on the 17th April, the day she left the River Mersey. As a trimmer, his monthly rate of pay was £6-0s-0d. It was not his first voyage on the Lusitania.
He survived the sinking, and having been landed at Queenstown, was eventually repatriated to England.
In common with all the Lusitania’s crew, survivors or killed, Trimmer Brennan was paid up until the 8th May 1915, 24 hours after the liner went down. The balance owing to him, which he collected at Liverpool, was £5-6s-2d., (£5.31p.).
On the 1st November 1919, he married Mary Elizabeth Deaves and together they had nine children, Mary, John, Elizabeth, William, Margaret, Esther, Joan, Ann, and Florence. They began their married life residing at 7. Howe Street, Bootle, Liverpool.
He would rarely speak about his experiences on the Lusitania, not even to his children, but his daughter Florence Bocking, in a letter to Graham Maddocks, written in 1998, remembers that he used to advise them all that it they were ever in trouble on a ship, they should climb to the highest point and then jump off. It is possible from this advice, that he had done this himself to effect his escape from the sinking liner.
In one of the rare occasions when he did speak of his survival, however, he mentioned
helping to save an American family and pulling a young child out of the sea. He had also said that there was a high born American lady in the same lifeboat as he, so he must have been able to get into a lifeboat, which may well have saved his life.
John Brennan died in a Liverpool Hospital on the 14th May 1973, aged 76 years. His home at the time of his death was 108. Altmoor Road, Huyton, Liverpool.
Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, 1921 Census of England, 1939 Register, Cunard Records, Liverpool Echo, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 350, Graham Maddocks, Lawrence Evans, Florence Bocking, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 19th December 2022.