George Albert Powell was born in Wellesley, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada, on the 5th April 1858, the son of John R. and Eliza Powell (née Sheils). His parents were Irish immigrant farmers.
He worked as a salesman, and on Christmas Day, 1878, he married Mary Harriet Myers in Stratford, Perth County, Ontario, and the couple had three daughters. He eventually became a buyer for T. Eaton and Company of Toronto, and the family resided at 47. Warren Road, Toronto.
In the spring of 1915, his profession took him across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe and as a consequence, he booked a return saloon class ticket from Toronto to Liverpool through New York agents T. Eaton and Company of 45, East 17th. Street, on the May sailing of the Lusitania, which was scheduled to leave New York at 10.00 a.m. on 1st May.
Having arrived in New York in time to board the vessel on that morning, with ticket number 13064, he was escorted to his accommodation in room D50, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward William Barnes who came from New Brighton, Wallasey, Cheshire, which was on the opposite bank of the River Mersey from Liverpool.
The Lusitania did not leave on time; however, as she had to take on board passengers, cargo and some of the crew from Anchor Liner Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned as a troop ship at the end of April. She finally left her berth at Pier 54 on the west side of the city, just after mid-day and six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20. At this stage in her voyage, she was only twelve miles off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland and she sank within 18 minutes - within about fourteen hours of reaching the safety of her Liverpool home port.
George Powell was one nearly 180 saloon passengers who perished as a result of this action and as his body was never recovered from the sea and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 57 years at the time of his death, although his age on the passenger manifest was recorded as being 46 years!
Bedroom Steward Barnes who had looked after him in room D50, survived the sinking, however and eventually returned home to New Brighton.
His name is commemorated on a tablet in Forest Lawn Mausoleum, Toronto.
His widow, and one of his sisters, Miss Mary Jane Powell, filed a claim with the Canadian Commission, seeking compensation after his loss. His wife sought $100,000 in compensation for the loss of his life, and $1,245 for the loss of his personal effects, while his unmarried sister filed a claim for an annuity of $300, which she claimed her brother paid to her annually to support her.
Evidence was heard in Toronto on the 11th October 1923, but by then, his sister had died, and the Commission awarded her estate the sum of $1,675, which they calculated she would have received from her brother, had he lived, up until the time of her death. In the case of his widow, Mary, the Commission awarded her $25,000 as compensation for the loss of his life, and her full claim of $1,245 for the loss of his personal effects in the sinking.
The Commission heard that George Powell earned, on average, $8,000 per annum, and his widow had received $37,000 as a result of accident and life insurance policies on his death, and that he had left an estate, valued at $73,778, which was a considerable sum at that time.
Ontario Canada Marriages 1826 – 1936, 1871 Census of Canada, 1881 Census of Canada, 1891 Census of Canada, 1901 Census of Canada, 1911 Census of Canada, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Canadian Claims Case No. 784, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/34, UniLiv D92/2/185, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.