Martha Pinder Waites, always known as ‘Mattie’, was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on the 13th November 1875, the daughter of William Shaw and Frances Eliza Waites (née Austin). At the time of her birth, the family resided at 28. Queen Street East, Toronto. Her father was a house painter and Mattie was the second eldest of eight known children in the family.
On completing her education, she became a maidservant to Mrs. Josephine Burnside of Toronto, whose husband; Henry Burnside, was a successful engineer.
The Burnsides originally came from Ballymena in Northern Ireland and in the spring of 1915, Mrs. Burnside decided to return there for a holiday with her daughter Iris, who was aged 20 years. Naturally, Mattie Waites accompanied them.
They joined the Lusitania in New York before she sailed, just after mid-day on 1st May 1915 and Miss Waites, (with ticket number 13063), was allocated room B80, next-door-but-one to Josephine and Iris Burnside, who were in room B76. Both rooms were the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward Arthur Clegg, who came from Aintree, on the outskirts of Liverpool.
When the liner was torpedoed and sunk, six weeks out of New York, both Iris Burnside and Mattie Waites were killed. Only Josephine Burnside survived out of the party of three.
Mattie Waites was aged 39 years and as her body was never found and identified afterwards, she has no known grave, although her name is recorded on her family grave in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.
Bedroom Steward Arthur Clegg did not survive the sinking either, and never saw his Aintree home again.
Mattie’s mother filed a claim with the Canadian Commission seeking compensation for Mattie’s loss in the sinking. She stated that she was somewhat financially dependent on Mattie, who would send her between $20 to $25 every month. In 1924, the Commission awarded her $3,000 in compensation.
Ontario Canada Births 1832 – 1916, 1881 Census of Canada, 1891 Census of Canada, 1901 Census of Canada, 1911 Census of Canada, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Canadian Claims Case No. 789, Irish News, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.