John William Hemingway was born in Batley, Yorkshire, England, on the 2nd February 1888, the son of Joseph and Mary Hemingway (née Goodall), of 4, Trairs Street, Bridlington, Yorkshire, England. His father was a member of the Bridlington Municipal Orchestra and his uncle Mark Hemingway also played the cornet and the trumpet in the same orchestra.
Having also become a professional musician, John Hemingway decided to use his talents on board ship and joined the White Star Liner
Republic. On 23rd January 1909, this vessel was struck in heavy fog, by the Lloyd Italiano Liner
Florida, off Nantucket, 175 miles from Ambrose Light, on a voyage from New York to Naples. The
Republic eventually sank with the loss of four lives, but Hemingway survived what was to be his first shipwreck!
After this ordeal, he engaged for the first time as a bandsman in the orchestra on board the
Lusitania and continued to play on board thereafter, until the vessel’s final voyage. When the liner left New York for the last time just after noon on 1st May 1915, the orchestra consisted of five musicians. Apart from Bandsman Hemingway, the others were, Bandmaster C. Cameron, Bandsman E. Carr-Jones, Bandsman G. Drakefold and Bandsman J. W. Hawkins.
When the liner was sunk by the German submarine U-20 on the afternoon of 7th May 1915, off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland, only Hemingway, Drakeford and Hawkins survived the sinking, the other two were killed.
On 10th May 1915 The Yorkshire Observer reported: -
His parents received a telegram from him at midnight on Friday saying he was all right. He has been a member of the orchestra of the Lusitania for several years. It was his second experience of shipwreck.
Having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, John Hemingway eventually made it back to Bridlington where he gave an interview to a reporter of
The Driffield Times, which was published in its edition of 15th May 1915. In it, the report stated: -
Mr. Hemingway stated to a Press representative that the band had just concluded the afternoon programme with “Tipperary” when the torpedo struck the ship. The vessel shook like a leaf, and at once listed to starboard. There was a rush on to the decks and when he got up the seas were sweeping down the companionway like a waterfall, and the deck was awash on the starboard side. The decks were becoming crowded.
Lifebelts were handed out and he and others went below for belts, many of the passengers not caring to do so. There was much crying and anxiety, but not much to indicate a panic.
He slipped down a rope into the sea, a minute before the great ship went down and seemed to be not more than a dozen yards from her when she disappeared. He and seventeen others managed to clamber on to an upturned collapsible boat, which was tied up and for a while they remained there, partially submerged.
Their craft capsized several times and when Mr. Hemingway was rescued at five minutes to six by a destroyer, the eighteen had dwindled down to five including himself. He and his companions were in an exhausted state, and had arrived at the stage at which they were indifferent as to whether they were saved or not!
Asked what was the outstanding feature in the tragedy he said it was the seeing of the drowning women and children, and his utter inability to answer their appeals in voice and eyes to give them help. The women who had little children with them had fastened them to their waists by ropes or scarves, and all around the ship, the women and children dead and dying were to be seen.
In the sea and later on in the mortuary he saw a lady with two children about two years fastened to her waist. They were pretty twin children.
There is no conclusive evidence which identifies the two children about two years,
as the only twin children known to have been killed as a result of the Lusitania
sinking were infants Frederick and Henry Webster, sons of Frederick G. and Margaret Webster, who were travelling from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They and their mother were both lost in the sinking.
However, they were not two years old at the time, in fact they were both under one, and their bodies were not recovered from the sea and identified later, so Hemingway could not have seen them in one of Queenstown’s temporary mortuaries.
It is possible that he did see them floating in the sea, however and it is equally possible that if he did see a mother and children in the mortuary, the children may not have been twins at all and thus maybe not the Webster’s! It is not difficult to see that the events surrounding the sinking could have confused any
survivor!
Despite the fact that John Hemingway was officially employed by The Cunard Steam Ship Company, he was not recognised as a crew member by the Board of Trade and when he had joined the liner at Liverpool on 17th April 1915, he was allocated second cabin passenger accommodation.
Thus, although he was officially listed as a crew survivor in a list of those on board issued by Cunard in March 1916, this was a mistake which was officially rectified by the company in a new list which was compiled in February 1917.
Undaunted, John Hemingway continued to play in ships orchestras for many years, primarily on the White Star Lines,
Olympic.
He died at 19. Wolesley Road, Bilston, Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, on the 5th January 1949, aged 61 years.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, West Yorkshire England Church of England Births and Baptisms 1813 – 1910, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Driffield Times, Leeds Mercury, Yorkshire Observer , PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Peter Threlfall, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.