William Field was born at Fulbar Street, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland, on the 26th February 1883, the son of Alexander and Elizabeth Field (née Waugh). His parents were Irish immigrants, and his father was a labourer. He was one of seven children, although by 1911, only three of his siblings were still alive.
His parents did not remain in Scotland for very long after his birth before they returned to their native Belfast, Antrim, Northern Ireland.
William became a labourer in the Belfast shipyards before he joined the Mercantile Marine to work as a trimmer in steam ships.
On the 11th November 1909, he married Catherine Doran in Belfast, and the couple lived at 38, Ship Street, Belfast. They had no children.
William Field signed on as a trimmer in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania for what would prove to be her final voyage and he was killed when she was sunk. He was aged 32 years.
His body was never recovered and identified after the disaster, and as he has no known grave, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
On the 1st October 1915, a report was published in the Northern Whig newspaper, where Catherine Field sought apportionment of £251-3s.-6d. (£251.17½p.) which had been lodged into a local Court by the Cunard Steam Ship Company Limited in respect of the death of her husband. On being satisfied that she was his sole dependant, the Court granted her payment of the full amount.
Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1901 Census of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Northern Whig, PRO BT 334, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 12th November 2023.