Emily Robinson was born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, on the 9th November 1876, the daughter of Thomas and Ann Robinson. She was one of eight children, and her father worked as a pattern maker.
While she was still a child, her family moved to London, and on leaving school, she entered domestic service as a maid.
In November 1914, she travelled to New York City on board the Franconia, and shortly afterwards was employed as a maid by Miss Theodate Pope, an architect of Farmington, Connecticut.
In the spring of 1915, Miss Pope, who was very interested in psychic research decided to travel to London to attend a spiritualist meeting there. As a consequence, she booked saloon passage across the Atlantic on the Lusitania, for herself and Emily Robinson and travelling from Washington, D.C., at the end of April, they arrived in New York and booked in at The Renaissance Hotel, at 512, 12th. Avenue. Also accompanying Theodate Pope was a fellow spiritualist from Farmington, Edwin Friend.
Emily Robinson followed her mistress on board the liner on the morning of 1st May at the Cunard berth in New York harbour. Once on the ship, (with ticket number 46015), they were escorted to room D54, which was under the personal supervision of First Class Bedroom Steward William Barnes, who came from Wallasey, on the opposite bank of the River Mersey from Liverpool.
Throughout the week after the liner had left New York, Theodate Pope and Edwin Friend were constant companions and they were together, having just finished lunch, on the early afternoon of 7th May, when the U-20’s torpedo struck. According to the authors Adolf and Mary Hoehling in their book The Last Voyage of the Lusitania: -
Half-way around the corner of the promenade deck outside the smoking-room Theodate Pope and Edwin Friend paused, looked at each other. The sound of the explosion had been clear and unmistakable. When the water and timbers “flew” past the deck, Friend struck his fist in his hand and exclaimed: “By Jove, they’ve got us!”
Just as the two rushed into a small corridor, the ship listed so heavily that both were thrown against a wall. But they missed the shower of soot which cascaded to the deck. They recovered their balance and started towards the boat deck, where they had previously arranged with others to met in the event of an emergency.
Realising that the ship was inevitably going to sink, both knew that their best chance of survival was to get into a lifeboat, but Miss Pope refused to enter one without Edwin Friend and he in turn would not set foot in one when there were still woman left on deck! By this time, Emily Robinson must have joined them, if she wasn’t with them already.
Making their way towards the stern, as the bow was obviously sinking, Friend managed to secure lifebelts for himself, Miss Pope, and Miss Robinson. The Hoehlings describe what happened next: -
Friend tied the belts on the women and they stood by the ropes on the outer side of the deck in the place one of the boats had occupied. They looked up at the leaning funnels and could see the ship move. “She was going rapidly.”
Now they could see the grey hull, once hidden, where the water-line began. It looked like the underbelly of a great whale. It was time to jump. “You go first,” Theodate said.
Friend stepped over the ropes, slipped down one of the uprights, and reached the rail of B Deck, next lower. Then he jumped. The two women waited for Friend to come up. In a few seconds they were relieved to see his head bobbing in the foamy water, then he smiled to encourage them.
“Come, Robinson,” Theodate said and stepped over the ropes as Edwin Friend had before her. She slipped a short distance, found a foothold on a roll of canvas used for deck shields, then jumped. She feared that her maid would not follow her.
It is not known whether or not Emily Robinson did follow her or not, for no sign of her, either alive or dead, was ever seen or heard again! She was aged 38 years.
Despite being seen alive in the water, Edwin Friend also perished, although Emily Robinson’s mistress, Theodate Pope, was eventually rescued from the sea, albeit unconscious, and landed at Queenstown.
Although it was stated in official Cunard records that Emily Robinson was a U.S. citizen, this was not the case, and she was most definitely a British subject.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Essex England Church of England Births and Baptisms 1813 – 1918, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Hartford Courant, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Seven Days to Disaster, PRO 22/7, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.