Thomas Edward Kelly was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on the 13th July 1894, the son of John and Sarah Kelly (née Doherty). He was the second youngest of four children in the family, and his father cared for horses in a livery stable until his death when Thomas was a young boy. His eldest brother, Stephen died in 1893, aged 3 years.
To support her young family, his mother worked as a fruit hawker, and as soon as he was able to leave school, Thomas found work as an errand boy with a bedding manufacturer before he joined the Mercantile Marine as a trimmer on steam ships.
He married Anne Harvey in Liverpool on the 9th November 1913, and they lived at 9, Torbock Street, off Soho Street, Vauxhall, Liverpool.
For some reason, he served under the name of John Manning and engaged as a trimmer in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool on the 12th April 1915, at a
monthly wage of £6-0s.-0d. He joined the vessel at 8 a.m., on the morning of the 17th April, before she left the River Mersey for the final time.
He was killed when she was sunk three weeks later on her return voyage to Liverpool, by the German submarine U-20. At that time, she was about twelve miles off the southern coast of Ireland and only hours away from home. His body was never recovered and identified. He was aged 20 years.
As he has no known grave, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, in London.
In August 1915, his widow Ann was paid the balance of wages still owed to him from his service on the Lusitania, which was reckoned from the 17th April until the 8th May 1915, 24 hours after the liner had been sunk.
In August 1915, the Cunard Steam Ship Company forwarded the balance of pay owing to Thomas Edward Kelly in respect of his sea service on the Lusitania to his widow. This was reckoned to be from the 17th April 1915, the day the vessel had left Liverpool, until the 8th May 1915, 24 hours after she had been sunk. In addition, The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited granted Anne Kelly a yearly pension to compensate her for the loss of her husband. This amounted to £36-3s.-1d. (£36.15½p.) which was payable at the rate of £3-3s.-8d. (£3.18½p.) per month.
By the time the Tower Hill Memorial was completed in 1928, his widow had married again, and as Ann Caldwell, she lived with her new husband at 39, Torbock Street, off Soho Street, Vauxhall, Liverpool, Lancashire.
The records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission state that Fireman Thomas Kelly, who also lost his life in the sinking, had been married to an Ann Kelly, (née Harvey) and the family home was at 39, Torbock Street. This was surely a transcribing error from the original records.
Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, Liverpool England Catholic Baptisms 1741 – 1919, Liverpool England Catholic Marriages 1754 – 1933, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, UniLiv. PR 13/24, PRO BT 100/345, 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 – 4th February 2024.