Kathleen Saunders McParland was born in Kingston, Frontenac, Ontario, Canada, on the 12th July 1885, the daughter of James and Mary Ann Hammond (née Coleman). The family, who were of the Roman Catholic faith, resided in Kingston, where her father was a wholesale liquor merchant.
On the 30th September 1909, she married Frederick “Fred” Sydney Hammond, who was a stockbroker from Toronto, in Kingston, and three days before their wedding, her husband was baptised into the Roman Catholic faith. The couple established their home at 70. Lowther Avenue, Toronto.
On the 18th November 1910, Kathleen gave birth to their only child, a son they named Paul Carlyle Hammond. Unfortunately, she had a difficult pregnancy, and during the birth, her son suffered an injury and died the following day.
Fred Hammond had business interests in England, and in 1911, 1913, and 1914, he travelled there with his wife in pursuit of these interests.
Then, in the spring of 1915, her husband decided to travel to England to obtain a commission in the British Army. He had used his social contacts to this end, and had obtained a letter of introduction from the Duke of Connaught, who was acting as an aide-de-camp to the Lieutenant Governor of Canada, to assist him in obtaining a commission. His desire was to obtain a commission in a cavalry regiment; however, he was also considering the Grenadier Guards or the Rifle Brigade.
Having made his preparations to enlist in the British Army, and with Kathleen wishing to accompany him to England, Fred booked saloon passage through agents A. F. Webster & Son, of Toronto, for both of them to sail from New York to Liverpool on the
Lusitania on the morning of 1st May 1915.
Having left Toronto at the end of April, Mr. and Mrs. Hammond arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May 1915 and joined the liner there. Once on board, (with ticket number 46128), they were escorted to room B89, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward James Collins, who came from Formby in Lancashire, on the outskirts of Liverpool.
The liner’s sailing was delayed until the afternoon as she had to embark some passengers, crew and cargo from the S.S.
Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war service as a troop ship at the end of April. She finally left the port just after mid-day and just six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, twelve miles off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland, only hours away from her home port.
Unlike the majority of saloon passengers, Mrs. Hammond survived the sinking, possibly because she was able to get into a lifeboat, but her husband was killed. His body was never recovered and identified afterwards. As a result of her ordeal during the sinking and its aftermath, once she had been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, she was taken to hospital suffering from
nervous prostration and then transferred to Golding’s Nursing Home at 18, St. Patrick Place, in Cork city until she had recovered. It is presumed that after that, she was able to make her way to the British mainland and her eventual intended destination.
Bedroom Steward James Collins, who had looked after the Hammonds in room B89, also survived the sinking and eventually made it back to his home in Formby.
In May 1916, Kathleen Hammond was granted administration of her late husband’s estate in England, which amounted to some £2,000-0s-0d.
Kathleen Hammond remained in England until June 1919, when she returned to Canada on the
Melita. It is not known where she resided or whether or not she found work there.
On the 19th July 1919, she travelled to Saranac Lake, in the state of New York seeking medical treatment for tuberculosis, and she died there on the 22nd September 1919, aged 34 years.
She left an estate in England of £2,006-9s.-4d. (£2,006.46½p.) to one Harold de Pass, who was described as a merchant, but it is unknown what relationship he had with Mrs. Hammond.
Prior to her death, Kathleen Hammond had lodged a claim with the Canadian Commission seeking compensation for the loss of her personal effects in the sinking of the
Lusitania. In December 1926, the commission awarded her estate the sum of $3,800 in compensation, plus 5% interest from the date of the sinking.
Ontario Canada Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1760 – 1923, Ontario Canada Marriages 1826 – 1937, Ontario Canada Deaths and Overseas Deaths 1869 – 1947, New York Death Index 1852 – 1956, 1891 Census of Canada, 1901 Census of Canada, 1911 Census of Canada, 1911 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Canadian Claims Case No. 838, Probate Records, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/8-10, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.