Martha Hemphill was born on her family’s farm at Tartnakelly, Ballykelly, near Limavady, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, probably on the 5th July 1840, the daughter of William and Emma Jane Hemphill (née Thompson). She had at least one brother, named John.
On the 27th December 1872, she married William Moody in Limavady, County Londonderry, and the couple lived at Main Street, Limavady, where her husband was a merchant. They had five children – William Walker, born in 1874, Harriet Mary, born in 1875, John Hemphill, born in 1878, David Napier, born in 1880, and Martha
“Meta”, born in 1884. William Walker Moody lost his life in an accidental drowning accident in November 1897, aged 22 years.
Martha’s Husband, William, died in 1907, leaving Martha a widow. Her two daughters resided with her, until her daughter, Harriet, married in February 1914.
In June 1914, she and her daughter, Meta, boarded the Lusitania in Liverpool, and on disembarking in New York City, in the United States of America, they travelled overland to Los Gatos, California, spending three months visiting her brother, Rev. John Hemphill. They also visited San Francisco, where they resided at the Loring Apartments, 2400. Van Ness Avenue, and entertained extensively, Meta becoming a great favourite of the “smart set” in the area. For their return home to Ireland in the spring of 1915, they again booked second cabin passage to Liverpool via New York on the May sailing of the Lusitania.
Having left San Francisco some time at the end of April, daughter and mother boarded the vessel at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York port on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for her scheduled 10 o’clock sailing. This was then delayed until the early afternoon, so that she could take on board passengers, cargo and crew from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work as a troop ship. Then, six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland by the German submarine U-20, and sank just eighteen minutes later. At that stage of her voyage, she was only 250 miles from the safety of her home port.
Although Mrs. Moody was killed as a result of this enemy action, her daughter survived.
Having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, Meta was able to send a telegram to her brother John H. Moody, in Limavady, informing him of the situation and he hastened to Queenstown to help with the search for their mother.
Despite his efforts, however and the efforts of everyone else involved in the search for victims’ bodies, nothing more was ever learned about her or her fate!
On 8th June 1915, administration of Martha’s estate, amounting to £1,443-10s-3d, was granted to her son, John H. Moody.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1901 Census of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Belfast News-Letter, San Francisco Examiner, New York Times, Northern Whig, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.