Allen Donnellan Loney was born in New York City, N.Y. in the United States of America, on 20th October 1871, the son of William Amos and Alice Louisa Loney (née Allen). His father was a dry goods merchant, and Allen’s mother was his second wife. His father’s first wife died in 1853, leaving him with three children, and he married Alice Louisa Allen in 1863. Allen was the second of four children of his father’s second marriage.
Allen became a stockbroker, and on the 20th April 1895, he married Catherine Wolfe Brown in Manhattan, New York City, and they had one child, a daughter, Virginia Bruce, who was born in 1899, and was named after her maternal grandmother, who was born Virginia Marjesson.
The family home was in Northamptonshire, England, at Guilsborough House, Pytchley, where Mr. Loney became a prominent member of the foxhunting set. They leased the 17th century hall from its wealthy local owners, the Renton family, probably after the death of Colonel Renton in 1908. However, in September 1914, Catherine Loney became homesick for America and returned there with their daughter together with Mrs.
Loney’s French maid Elsie Bouteiller.
When the Great War broke out in August 1914, Allen Loney converted two of his motor cars into ambulances and gave them to the Red Cross Society, to help wounded soldiers at the front. For some time, he drove one of them and took his chauffeur out with him to drive the other! In April 1915, he had gone back to Manhattan, to bring his family back to England. His wife had undertaken the task of taking charge and managing a hospital for convalescing soldiers in England.
As a result, the three of them, along with Elsie Bouteiller, booked as saloon passengers on the Lusitania and joined the liner at Pier 54 in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for her delayed sailing which began just after mid-day. Once they had boarded, - with ticket number 46061 - Mr. and Mrs. Loney were allocated room B85 which was the responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward James Collins, who came from Formby near Liverpool in Lancashire. Virginia Loney was allocated room B87, which was also served by Collins. Elsie Bouteiller was not far away in room B81.
Six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, with the liner within sight of the coast of southern Ireland, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20, and began to sink quite rapidly. Virginia Loney was put into a lifeboat by the American millionaire Alfred Vanderbilt, who was a family friend, but the lifeboat tipped up and she was thrown into the sea.
The scene is described by Adolph and Mary Hoehling in their book The Last Voyage of the Lusitania: -
Virginia Bruce was a proficient swimmer. With fast graceful strokes she swam away from the listing ship. As she turned her head she saw her mother and father. They were standing by the rail, beside their friend, Alfred Vanderbilt, who had helped her into the lifeboat.
It hurt her deep inside with an unfathomable helplessness to look at them. She knew she would never see them again.
She never did see them again, alive or dead, and presumably they were both carried down and drowned when the ship sank. Miss Bouteiller was also lost.
When news of the sinking reached the family home at Guilsborough, the butler, a Mr. Habbatts, travelled to Queenstown in the hope of discovering any news concerning his master and mistress, and Miss Bouteiller, but no trace of any of them was ever found. Allen Loney was aged 43 years.
Bedroom Steward Collins, who looked after the Loney family in their saloon rooms did survive the sinking, however, and eventually returned safely to his Formby home.
On Friday 21st May 1915, a memorial service was held in Guilsborough Parish Church, only yards from Guilsborough House, where the family had lived. The chief mourner at this service was Virginia Loney. It was reported in the local newspaper The Northampton Mercury on 28th May 1915: -
Gathered in the church were many who had known and esteemed Mr and Mrs Loney in hunting and social circles in our county. There were also present many Guilsborough villagers, who had learned to love them for
their kindly interest in the welfare of their neighbours, not infrequently manifested in an open-hearted generosity. The service, as befitted its setting, was simple in the extreme, but there were few present not visibly affected by the deep solemnity of the occasion.
The chief figure of interest was Miss Virginia Loney, only child. She was accompanied by Mrs Sedgwick, an American lady now resident in England, who is an old friend of the Loney family.
Prominent in the church was a massive cross of flowers, inscribed "In fond and respectful memory of a kind master and mistress and friend, from the staff at Guilsborough House". It was made by Mr Dimes, head gardener. The service was followed by a muffled peal rung on the bells of the church by the Guilsborough ringers.
Allen Loney and his wife are commemorated on a memorial stone in Green-Wood Cemetery, in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.
The memorial is a large tablet of stone, laid flat, upon which is inscribed: -
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
ALLEN DONNELLAN LONEY
AND
CATHERINE WOLFE BROWN
HIS WIFE
WHO LOST THEIR LIVES ON THE
LUSITANIA MAY 7. 1915.
THEIR BODIES WERE NOT RECOVERED
On 21st February 1924, the Mixed Claims Commission decided on a claim filed by Virginia and the executors of her parents’ estates for personal injuries suffered by Virginia, the loss of her parents, and the loss of all their personal belongings. The Commission awarded Virginia the sum of $25,000.00 for her injuries and the loss of her parents, and a further $1,700.00 for the loss of her personal belongings. In addition, they awarded the executors of the estate of Catherine Wolfe Loney the sum of $15,450.00, and the executors of the estate of Allen D. Loney the sum of $1,235.00.
New York U.S. Extracted Marriage Index 1866 – 1937, 1875 New York State Census, 1880 U.S. Federal Census, 1892 New York State Census, 1900 U.S. Federal Census, 1911 Census of England & Wales, U.S. Passport Applications 1795 – 1925, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 466, Find A Grave, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Northampton Mercury, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Matthew Fatale, Kate Wills, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.