Josephine Smith Eaton was born on 4th December 1865 in St. Marys, Perth, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Timothy Eaton and his wife, Margaret Wilson (née Beattie). At the time of her birth, her father owned a dry goods store in St. Marys, but in 1869, he bought a dry goods and haberdashery store at 178. Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, and developed this into the world famous T. Eaton & Co. Ltd., which became Canada’s largest department store chain.
Having lived a privileged childhood, which included foreign travel, Josephine met Thomas David Meldrum Burnside, a Scotsman, whose family had emigrated to Toronto when he was a child, and who had started his working life as a bank clerk in Orangeville, Ontario, before moving to London, England, as manager of a paper mill. On the 12th September 1893, the couple married in Toronto, and set up home at “Irisdene”, Haslemere Road, Crouch End, London.
On the 14th June 1894, their first child, a daughter named Margaret Allan Iris, who would always be known as Iris, was born in Islington, London, their second child, a son, named Allan Eaton Meldrum, was born on the 27th January 1898.
The marriage between Thomas and Josephine deteriorated as the years went on, and in 1901, Josephine filed a petition for a legal separation in the London Divorce Courts. Josephine claimed that she had been subjected to mental and verbal abuse for a number of years in her petition, and she was granted a legal separation, but the couple never filed for divorce.
In 1907, Josephine’s father died and her youngest brother became president of T. Eaton & Co. Ltd.. Josephine and all her siblings were directors of the company, which gave her an income which was independent of her estranged husband.
Josephine and her children travelled frequently to Canada, remaining there for a number of months on each occasion. On the 31st October 1914, Josephine and her daughter, Iris, arrived in Canada. They decided to return to England in the spring of 1915.
As a consequence, Josephine booked saloon passage for her daughter and herself, and also for her maid, Miss Mattie Waites, on the
Lusitania, departing from New York on 1st May 1915. On arriving at Pier 54 in New York harbour on the morning of Saturday, 1st May, Josephine and Iris were allocated room B76, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward Arthur Clegg, who came from Aintree, on the outskirts of Liverpool. Mattie Waites was next door but one, in room B80.
When the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk, six days later only Josephine Burnside from the party of three survived - her daughter and maid were both killed. Josephine was aged 49 years at the time of the sinking.
Neither of the bodies of Iris or Mattie Waites were ever recovered and identified.
In a copy of The Crosby and District Herald for 21st May 1915, it is stated that: -
Mrs McLean ..... has received word that her husband died through helping others. He was the means of saving Mrs. Burnside, sister of the head of his firm, who has sent a most sympathetic telegram to Mrs. McLean.
Walter McLean was a 38 year old Scotsman, travelling as a saloon passenger for his firm, Eaton’s of Toronto.
Walter McLean perished in the disaster as did Bedroom Steward Arthur Clegg who never saw his Aintree home again.
Josephine Burnside continued to make frequent trans-Atlantic crossings between England and Canada for many years before finally deciding to settle back in her native Canada.
On the 28th August 1937, her son, Allan, died in Paris, France, where he was resident, and a few weeks later, on the 1st October 1937, her estranged husband, Thomas, died in London, England.
Josephine Burnside’s final residence was at 126. Dunvegan Road, Toronto, Ontario, and it was here that she died of heart disease on the 10th December 1943, a week after her 78th birthday. She was interred in the Eaton family mausoleum at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.
1871 Census of Canada, 1881 Census of Canada, 1891 Census of Canada, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Canadian passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826 – 1936, Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Overseas Deaths 1869 – 1946, Cunard Records, Probate Records, Edmonton Journal, Irish News, Irish Post and Weekly Telegraph, Winnipeg Tribune, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/106, Graham Maddocks, Lawrence Evans, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.