Minnie Hardcastle was born in Bolton, Lancashire, England, in 1883, the daughter of Albert and Jane Hardcastle (née Wilkinson), who lived, in 1915, at 28, Melbourne Road, Bolton. Her father was cotton spinner, and later an overlooker in a cotton mill.
Minnie was the second eldest of eight children, and after completing her education, she worked as a card room hand in a cotton mill.
On the 9th July 1910, she married William Smith, a coal miner who came from the Rumworth area of Bolton, and the couple lived at 73, Croston Street, Daubhill, Bolton.
In 1911, the couple immigrated to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where William Smith joined the local Police Force. Their home was at 476, Higham Street, North Hamilton. They had no children.
Wishing to return home to see her family in England, in the spring of 1915, Minnie Smith booked as a third class passenger on the May sailing of the Lusitania. Having travelled to New York, on the morning of 1st May 1915, she boarded the liner at the Cunard berth at Pier 54, in time for the liner’s scheduled 10 o’clock departure.
The liner’s departure for Liverpool 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 at the end of April. 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.
Minnie Smith was killed as a result of this action, but her body was recovered from the sea, and having been landed at Queenstown, it was given the reference number 110 in one of the temporary mortuaries set up there. Once it had been positively identified, it was buried on 10th May 1915, in The Old Church Cemetery, Queenstown, in Mass Grave C, 3rd Row, Lower Tier. It was on that day that most of the victims of the sinking were buried after a long funeral procession which began at the Cunard Office at Lynch’s Quay at the water’s edge.
William Smith was naturally enraged by his wife’s death and according to The Bolton Journal of 4th June 1915: -
Immediately on hearing that his wife was not amongst the survivors of the torpedoed vessel he left the police station and enlisted, declaring ; “The dirty hounds may get me, but I’ll wipe out my score first.” He is now a member of the 36th Overseas Battalion of the Canadian Army.
It was on the 14th May, William Smith enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in Hamilton.
Property found on Minnie Smith’s body was forwarded by Cunard, to Pte. W. Smith, 6964, 36th Batt. B Company, C.E.F. (Canadian Expeditionary Force) on 12th July, at 90,
Church Avenue, Bolton, Lancashire, which was the address of his parents. It consisted of two £5 Bank of England notes, one £1 note, one $10 bill, one $2 bill, several British silver and copper coins, a ring, a diamond brooch and a receipt for rent!
The 36th Infantry Battalion of the Canadian Army was raised in Hamilton, Ontario, and sailed for Great Britain on 19th June 1915, so William Smith must have arrived in England as an untrained soldier. While serving on the front line in France, he was severely wounded in June 1917, and spent the remainder of the war in various hospitals in England before being discharged in May 1918.
He returned to Canada, where he submitted a claim with the Canadian Commission, seeking compensation for the loss of his wife’s life in the sinking of the Lusitania, and also for the loss of the money and personal possessions she had with her on the voyage. In August 1926, the Commission awarded him $5,000 in compensation for the loss of his wife, and a further $1,100 for the loss of her personal possessions.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, England Select Marriages 1538 – 1973, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, Cunard Records, Canada World War I CEF Attestation Papers 1914 – 1918, Canadian Claims Case No. 829, Canadian Infantry Badges, Bolton Evening News, Bolton Journal, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/192, UniLiv. PR13/6, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.