Thomas Richard Lewis was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, in 1889, the son of Thomas Richard and Mary Lewis (née Kelly). His father was a bricklayer, and as far as can be ascertained, Thomas was an only child.
He was married to Maria Lewis, (née Kennedy) in Liverpool on the 9th July 1912, and they lived at 8, Rose Square, Rose Hill, Liverpool, with their daughter, Mary Catherine, who was born in December 1913.
He was employed as a fireman in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania and was killed when she was sunk. His body was not recovered and identified after the sinking. He was aged 25 years.
As he has no known grave, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London. He is also commemorated on the Roll of Honour in the basement of the
town hall in the City of Liverpool.
A list of crew members compiled by The Cunard Steamship Company in March 1916 shows him as F. Lewis, which is almost certainly a mistake, especially so as he is shown as T.R. Lewis in Liverpool Town Hall.
In August 1915, Maria Lewis was given the balance of wages owed to her husband in respect of his service before the vessel sank. This was reckoned from the 17th April until the 8th May, 1915, 24 hours after the Lusitania had gone down. In addition, The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited granted her an annual pension to compensate her for the loss of her husband. This amounted to £37-11s.-0d. (£37.55p.) which was payable at the rate of £3-2s.-7d. (£3.13p.) per month.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Catholic Marriages 1754 – 1933, 1901 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, UniLiv. PR 13/24, PRO BT 334, PRO BT 351/1/82125, 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 March 2024.