Mary Docherty was born in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1888, the daughter of John and Elizabeth Docherty. Her father was a labourer, and the family resided at 15. Seabank Street, Saltcoats.
On the 29th December 1905, she married Daniel Lambie, who also came from Saltcoats, and they had a daughter named Elizabeth, who was born in 1906.
In 1909, Daniel Lambie emigrated to the United States of America, and settled in Roslyn, Washington, where he found work in his trade as a slater. In May 1911, Mary and their daughter, Elizabeth, joined him. On the 27th June 1912, Mary gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Mary Dorothy.
By 1915, however, Mary Lambie had fallen on poor health and decided to return to Scotland with her two children. As a consequence, she booked second cabin passage for the three of them on the Lusitania, and having left Roslyn by rail at the end of April, they joined the vessel at her berth in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for her afternoon sailing. She was escorted on her journey by Henry Birchall, who was also working in Roslyn, and must have been known to the Lambie family. He was also returning to England on the Lusitania.
When the ship was sunk six days later, by the German submarine U-20, within sight of the coast of Ireland and only hours away from her Liverpool destination, she and her children were killed and none of their bodies were ever recovered and identified afterwards. As a consequence, her grave is the sea. Henry Birchall, however, did survive.
When the news of the sinking reached her family in Scotland, one of her brothers was mistakenly informed that his sister had survived and had been taken to a hospital in Southampton, in Hampshire. Having travelled there via London on 9th May to seek news of her, he tragically discovered that his information had been false.
On 19th May 1915 a cable sent from Boston and no doubt instigated by Donald Lambie arrived at the Cunard offices in Queenstown which stated: -
MARY LAMBIE SECOND CABIN AGE 27 FAIR BLUE EYES HAIR LIGHT 5FT 8 INS SLIGHT BUILD, THREE FALSE UPPER FRONT TEETH BRIDGED ENAMEL FRONTS
GOLD BACK. MOLE BACK SHOULDERS FOUR RINGS STOP. DAUGHTER ELIZABETH AGE 10 MARY AGE 3 BOTH FAIR HAIR BROWN EYES.
Nevertheless, no sign of any of them was discovered!
Daniel Lambie, having stayed behind in Washington, must have received the news of the loss of his family very badly and on 24th May 1915, he boarded the liner Tuscania to return to Scotland, where he enlisted in the British Army, no doubt seeking revenge for their deaths.
Imperial Germany also had a similar fate in store for him; however, for almost two years after the great Cunarder had gone down, on 24th April 1917, whilst serving as 13802 Lance Sergeant D. Lambie of the 14th Battalion, The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, he was killed in action in northern France. He is buried in Gouzeaucourt New British Cemetery.
1891 Census of Scotland, 1901 Census of Scotland, Massachusetts Passenger Lists 1820 – 1963, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald, Kilmarnock Standard, San Francisco Chronicle, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/49, UniLiv PR13/6, Graham Maddocks, Nyle Monday, Steve McGreal, Roy Makinson, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.