Margaret Wilson was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, in 1856, the daughter of John and Christina Wilson (née Campbell). She was the second youngest of five known children in the family, and her father was a seaman. Her parents and two oldest siblings had been born in Scotland.
On the 5th April 1885, she married Thomas Hull, who was a steward in the Mercantile Marine, in Liverpool. The couple had no children, and in July 1891, Charles Hull died.
In April 1891, possibly because her husband was too ill to work at that time, she joined the Mercantile Marine as a stewardess on passenger ships. Her first voyage was on the Guion Lines s.s. Arizona, a passenger liner that operated on the Liverpool to New York trans-Atlantic route.
Thereafter, she worked on various vessels on the trans-Atlantic routes, and when she was not working, she resided with her niece, Mrs. Jessie Allerton, in Liverpool.
She engaged as a stewardess in the Stewards' Department of the Lusitania in April 1915, at a monthly rate of pay of £4-0s.-0d. and joined the vessel on the morning of the 17th April before she left on her last ever voyage out of the River Mersey.
Having completed her voyage to New York without mishap, the Lusitania left that port on the afternoon of the 1st May 1915 for what became her last ever trans-Atlantic crossing. Six days later, on the afternoon of the 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk within sight of the southern Irish coast by the German submarine U-20, only hours away from her home port. Margaret Hull was fortunate to survive this action, one of 9 out of 22 stewardesses on board who survived. She was aged 59 years at the time.
Having been rescued from the sea, she was landed at Queenstown, and from there eventually managed to return to her niece in Liverpool.
Margaret Hull continued to serve as a stewardess on trans-Atlantic liners until June 1925. To prolong her career, she lied about her age by as much as eight years when signing on for voyages.
Margaret Hull died at the home of her niece, Mrs. Jessie Allerton, at 19. Fernhill Road, Bootle, Liverpool, on the 5th December 1925, aged 69 years.
Births, Marriages, and Deaths, England Select Marriages 1538 – 1973, 1861 Census of England, 1871 Census of England, 1881 Census of England, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, 1921 Census of England, Liverpool England Crew Lists 1861 – 1919, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Massachusetts Passenger Lists 1820 – 1963, Cunard Records, Liverpool Echo, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 348, PRO BT 349, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 18th January 2024.