Joseph Ward was born in Staveley, Derbyshire, England, on the 6th December 1872, the son of John Edward and Ada Ellen Ward (née Dean). His father was a coal miner, and Joseph was one of twelve children.
He became a coal miner after completing his education and on the 12th September 1894 he married Hannah Watkinson at Bolsover Parish Church and the family home was at 36. Town End, Bolsover, in Derbyshire. They had one child – a son named Evan.
In January 1907, he had travelled to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to work in the local coalmines, and by 1910, he had applied to become a naturalized U.S. citizen and was residing at Hill Street, Olyphant, on the outskirts of Scranton.
At the end of April 1915, he left Olyphant, having decided to return to Derbyshire, perhaps because of the political situation in Europe and as a result, booked as a third class passenger on the Lusitania.
He was on board the vessel when she left Pier 54 in New York harbour just after mid-day on 1st May 1915, and six days later, he was dead - killed after the liner was
torpedoed and sunk off the Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland.
As his body was never found and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 42 years.
On 11th December 1915, administration of his estate was granted at London to his widow, Hannah, and his effects were valued at £152-6s-0d., (£152.30p.).
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Derbyshire England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754 – 1932, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Pennsylvania U.S. Federal Naturalization Records 1795 – 1931, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Probate Records, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/414, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.