James Clarkson Beattie was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, in 1890, the son of James and Miriam Beattie (née Higginson). His father was a railway porter and James was the middle child of five children in the family. In 1898, when James was aged 8 years, his mother died, leaving his father to raise the family on his own. By
1915, the family were lodging at 35, Collins Street, Liverpool.
On completing his education, James Beattie became a labourer and later joined the Mercantile Marine as a fireman on steam ships.
James Beattie reported as a fireman in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania on the 17th April 1915, and after an uneventful voyage to New York, he was still on board in the same capacity when the liner left there on Saturday, the 1st May. Six days later, on the 7th May, when the Lusitania sank after being struck by a torpedo launched at it by the German submarine, U-20, James Beattie was not listed amongst the survivors. He was aged 24 years.
His body was not recovered and identified afterwards, and as a consequence, his name is embossed on the Mercantile Marine War Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, PRO BT 334, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated - 13th December 2022.