William Arthur Fisher Vassar was born in Marylebone, London, England, in 1871, he son of John Fisher and Emma Vassar (née Glover). His father was a labourer, and William appears to have been an only child.
On completing his education, he became a tailor and later a commercial traveller for a tailoring company.
In 1900, he married Eliza Martha Roberts, and they had one child, a daughter named Grace Louisa, born in 1901. By 1911, the family lived at 43, Sumatra Road, West Hampstead, London.
In the spring of 1915, he had been in the United States of America working for his firm. For his return to England, he booked a saloon passage on the Lusitania and having travelled to New York to join her, he stayed at The Biltmore Hotel, before boarding the liner (with ticket No. 46070), on the morning of 1st May 1915. At that time, the liner was berthed at the Cunard wharf, Pier 54, in New York harbour. Mr. Vassar was escorted to his room, B55, which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward Walter Wood who came from Seaforth on the outskirts of Liverpool.
The liner left New York for the last time just after mid-day and six days out of New York, on the afternoon of 7th May, when she was only twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from her Liverpool destination, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20.
William Vassar survived the sinking and although he was several hours in the water before being rescued, he was eventually landed at Queenstown.
From there, in due course, he made it back to his Hampstead home. Bedroom Steward Walter Wood who had looked after him in room B55 also survived the sinking and
eventually made it back to his home in Seaforth.
Although in 1929, William Vassar was still listed as residing at Sumatra Road, he also had interests in Paris, France. He had addresses at 1. Boulevard Thiers, Argenteuil, and 10. Rue Tronchet, Paris, but whether he resided at either of these addresses, or whether they were business addresses used by him or the company he worked for, is unknown.
He died at a hospital at 9. Rue de Turin, Paris, on the 20th October 1930, aged 59 years. Administration of his estate was granted to his widow in London on the 23rd July 1931, and he left an estate of £798-12s.-6d. (£798.62½p.).
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1871 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Hampstead & Highgate Express, Probate Records, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/1/3, UniLiv D92/2/154, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.