Amelia Bishop was born in Denbighshire, Wales, on the 4th January 1856, the daughter of Thomas and Margaret Bishop (née Phillips). Her father worked in the coal mines as a pit sinker. Nothing is known about her early life, but at some time she had gone to live in the United States of America. She was a professional actress and used the stage name Amelia Herbert.
On 22nd July 1908, she married Henry D. Macdona, an American national, who was practising law, and the family home was at 250, West 104th Street, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y. It was the second marriage for both of them; the details of Amelia’s first marriage being unknown, except that her husband had been a Mr. Herbert, but it is known that she never had children. Henry Macdona had fathered a son, Henry Russell Macdona, born in 1885, as a result of his first marriage. On the 25th April 1909, Henry D. Macdona had died and had been interred at Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, New York City.
She was one of the first actresses to be managed by the theatrical impresario, Charles Frohman, and in the spring of 1915, she decided to travel to Europe with him and as a consequence, booked as a saloon passenger on the May sailing of the Lusitania. The liner was scheduled to leave New York for Liverpool on the morning of 1st May 1915, and Amelia Macdona arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour on that morning, in time for her scheduled 10 o’clock sailing. She boarded the liner with ticket number 13047 and was then escorted to her saloon room, E45, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward Vincent Settle, who came from Anfield, a district of Liverpool.
The liner’s 10.00 a.m. sailing was delayed until just before 12.30. p.m., as she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Liner the S.S. Cameronia, which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for service as a troop ship. Almost exactly six days later, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by a single torpedo fired by the German submarine U-20, under the command of Kapitänleutnant W. Schwieger. At that time she was struck, she was twelve miles off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland and only about 250 miles from her destination.
Amelia Macdona actually survived the sinking and having been rescued from the sea, she was landed at Queenstown. Cunard records show, however, that: -
Mrs. Amelia McDona (sic) died at Hennesy (sic), Queenstown.
so presumably she must have been seriously injured as a result of the torpedoing, or perhaps suffered exhaustion or hypothermia which must have resulted in her death. Hennesy, was Hennessey’s Hotel, East Beach, Queenstown.
Her body was then taken to the temporary mortuary set up in the yard of Cunard’s office at Lynch’s Quay and given the reference number 63, although its identity was obviously known. It was then embalmed, like the bodies of all American saloon passengers, and on 26th May, was put on board the American liner S.S. Philadelphia,
bound for New York. It arrived there on 3rd June 1915, whereupon it was sent to 202, Columbus Avenue, which may have been the address of an undertaker.
The following day, after a funeral service held at St. Stephen’s Chapel on West 69th Street between Broadway and Columbus Avenue, it was buried next to her second husband, Henry D. Macdona, in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx County, New York, where it lies to this day.
Property recovered from it had been handed over to a Mr. Allan, of Queenstown, on 20th May. He was a solicitor who had been retained by Mrs. Macdona’s relatives to look after their interests.
Bedroom Steward Settle, who had looked after Mrs. Macdona in room E45 did survive the sinking, however and eventually made it back home to Liverpool.
Amelia left a will, naming the Guaranty Trust Company of New York as executor, and her estate appears to have been quiet substantial. Under the terms of the will, her estate was to be divided into three equal parts, with one-third bequeathed to John B. Coleman, who was a former associate of Henry Macdona in their legal practise, and the remainder being divided equally between her step-son, Henry Russell Macdona, and his son, Henry Harding Macdona.
The executors of her will also filed a claim for compensation with the Mixed Claims Commission, but due to the fact that she had already provided adequately for those who might have benefited from the claim, and in fact benefited earlier than they would have expected, due to her sudden and untimely death, the Commission made no award in her case.
Denbighshire Wales Anglican Baptisms Marriages and Burials 1538 – 1994, New York U.S. County Marriage Records 1907 – 1936, 1861 Census of England & Wales, U.S. Passport Applications 1795 – 1925, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 2485, New York Times, New York U.S. Wills and Probate Records 1659 – 1999, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv.D92/1/8-10, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.