John. Henry Reid was born in Rowley Regis, Staffordshire, England, on the 20th December 1864, the son of Thomas and Emma Reid (née Russon). His father was a coal miner, and John was the youngest of ten known children in the family.
After completing his education, John became an engine fitter, and later a chain maker. His working life was in iron foundries, and in 1885, he married Ruth Annie Street in Dudley, Staffordshire. The couple had five children – John Henry, Lillian Fanny, Daisy, Laura May, and a fifth child who died in infancy..
John Reid travelled to Trenton, New Jersey, in the United States of America, in 1907, and remained there for about a year, before returning home to his family. While he was there, his son travelled to Trenton, where he found work and decided to settle there.
In March 1909, John returned to Trenton with his wife and three daughters with the intention of settling there permanently. The family resided at 648. Grand Street, Trenton, and John found work as a machinist and fitter. Then, on the 1st June 1913, his wife died and was buried in Riverview cemetery, Trenton. By 1915, John Reid was residing at 512. Genesee Street, Trenton.
Because of the war raging in Europe, in the spring of 1915, he decided to return to Great Britain, and having obtained a job in the manufacture of artillery at the Woolwich Arsenal in London, he booked third class passage on the May sailing of the Lusitania from New York to Liverpool, on the first stage of his journey there. His ticket was numbered 36468.
Having arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 on the west side of the city on the morning of 1st of May in time for the liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. sailing, he had to wait until the early afternoon before the vessel actually left port. This was because she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Lines vessel the Cameronia, which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop ship at the end of April.
Then, on 7th May 1915, six days out of New York and within sight of the coast of
southern Ireland, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. At that time, she was only hours away from the safety of her home port. John Reid was killed as a result of this action. He was aged 50 years.
As no sign of his body was ever discovered and identified afterwards, he has no known grave, although his name is inscribed on the headstone over his wife’s grave in Riverview Cemetery, Trenton.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1871 Census of England & Wales, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Pennsylvania Passenger Lists 1800 – 1962, Cunard Records, Trenton City Directory 1915, New York Times, Trenton Evening Times, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Lawrence Evans, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.