John Melia was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, circa. 1865, the son of Patrick and Margaret Melia. Due to his name being so common, it has not been possible to determine anything about his family or early life.
He was married to Mary Anne Martin, in 1903, and in 1915, they lived at 4, Argo Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, Lancashire. Mary Anne was a widow, having previously been married to a man named Thomas Faulkner, with whom she had three children. John and Mary Anne had one child, a daughter named Agnes Josephine, who was born in 1906.
John Melia was a professional sailor in the British Mercantile Marine and on the 12th April 1915, he engaged at Liverpool, as a greaser in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania, at a monthly rate of pay of £7-0s.-0d., £1-0s-0d. of which he was advanced at the time. He reported for duty on board the liner at Princes Landing Stage on the morning of the 17th April, before she left the River Mersey for the last time, bound for New York. It was not the first time that he had served on the liner.
Having completed her west to east trans-Atlantic crossing without mishap, the liner left the Cunard berth at Pier 54, in New York, for her return to Liverpool, just after mid-day on the 1st May 1915, after a delayed start. This was caused because she had to embark passengers, cargo and some crew from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which the British admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop ship, at the end of April.
Then six days later, on the afternoon of the 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk within sight of the coast of southern Ireland by the German submarine, U-20 - only about fourteen hours steaming time away from the safety of her home port.
Greaser Melia was killed as a result of this action - one of 18 greasers who lost their lives out a total of 21 who were serving on board - and as his body was not recovered and identified afterwards, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, in London. He was stated to have been aged 50 years at the time.
In August 1915, his widow, Mary, was sent the residue of pay owed to him in respect of the Lusitania’s final voyage, and this was reckoned from the 17th April to the 8th May 1915, 24 hours after the great liner had foundered. In addition, The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited granted his widow a yearly pension to compensate her for the loss of her husband which amounted to £31-14s.-2d. (£31.71p.) which was payable at the rate of £2-12s-11d. (£2.64½p.) per month.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1861 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Liverpool England Crew Lists 1861 – 1919, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, UniLiv D92/2/335, UniLiv. PR 13/24, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 334, PRO BT 351/1/96289, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 8th January 2025.