John White Henderson was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on the 28th September 1883, the son of Francis Marmion and Alice Maud Henderson (née Cheers). His father was a mariner and the family resided at 73. Boswell Street, Liverpool. His mother died in 1886, leaving John’s father to raise their five children.
John became a clerk after leaving school, and then followed his father to sea by first of all enlisting in the Royal Navy in 1904, and after completing his service, joining the Mercantile Marine as a waiter on trans-Atlantic liners sailing out of Liverpool.
In early 1909, he married Beatrice Thomas (née Brittain), a widow, in Liverpool. They resided at 4. Rosslyn Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool, with Beatrice’s children from her first marriage, and their son, George Frederick, known as “Fred”, who was born in August 1909.
He engaged as a first class waiter in the Stewards’ Department on the Lusitania, at Liverpool, on the 12th April 1915 at a monthly rate of £4-5s.-0d. (£4.25p.). He joined the ship on the morning of the 17th April before she left the River Mersey for the very last time.
Having completed her voyage to New York, he survived her sinking three weeks later on the early afternoon of the 7th May, when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland - only hours away from her home port on her return crossing.
Having been rescued from the sea, and landed at Queenstown, he eventually made it back to his home. On arrival at Liverpool, he was officially discharged from the Lusitania’s final voyage, at the Cunard offices ,and paid the balance of wages owing to him. These were in respect of his sea service from the 17th April 1915 until 24 hours after the liner had gone down.
John Henderson continued to serve as a waiter on trans-Atlantic liners until illness preventing him from working and he died in Liverpool on the 26th September 1930, aged 46 years. He was buried in the same grave as his mother in Toxteth Cemetery, Liverpool.
Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919, England & Scotland Select Cemetery Registers 1800 – 2022, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, 1921 Census of England, Cunard Records, PRO BT 350, PRO BT 351/1/61388, Graham Maddocks, David Hambley, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 6th January 2024.