Kennedy Campbell was born in Rathfriland, County Down, Northern Ireland, on the 20th February 1896, the son of James and Mary Ann Campbell (née Mawhinney). His father was a shoemaker, and Kennedy was one of eleven children, but in 1911, only ten of the children were alive.
On the 22nd March 1913, one of his older sisters, Minnie, and their cousin, Sarah Campbell, who lived close to them, boarded the
S.S. Scotian at Londonderry, Ireland, and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States of America, on the 3rd April. They were going to one of their aunts – Mrs. H. Mawhinney, who resided at 10. Homer Street, Brookline, Massachusetts.
Having secured work as domestic servants, both girls sent money back to Ireland to pay for fares for two of their respective siblings to join them. Consequently, Kennedy Campbell, accompanied by his cousin, Mary Campbell, boarded the
S.S. Arabic on the 20th October 1914 at Liverpool. They arrived in Boston on the 29th October, and made their way to the home of his cousin - Mary’s sister, Sarah Campbell, who by this time was residing in the Chestnut Hill area of Boston.
In the spring of 1915, perhaps because of the war in Europe, Kennedy Campbell decided to return home. Thus, sometime in April 1915, he left Boston, having booked a second cabin passage on the May sailing of the
Lusitania and on the morning of 1st May 1915, having arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour in time for the liner’s scheduled 10 o’clock sailing he had to wait until just after mid-day until the liner actually left port.
This was because she had to wait to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the liner
Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop ship at the end of April.
Then, six days out of New York on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania
was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, within sight of the coast of southern Ireland. At that stage of her voyage, she was only about 250 miles away from her Liverpool destination and home port.
Kennedy Campbell was killed as a result of this action and as his body was never found and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 19 years at the time of his death.
Ireland Civil Registration Births Index 1864 – 1958, Index to Boston Passenger Lists 1899 – 1940, Cunard Records, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/355, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Maureen Ervine, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.