Beatrice Wilhemena Theodora La Touche was believed to have been born in London, England, on the 30th September 1890, although no record of her birth can be found. Her father was said to have been a man named James La Touche, of whom nothing is known, and her mother was Mary “May” Cummings. Her mother brought her to New York City, in the United States of America, sometime after her birth. Although her mother had been born in Ireland, her family had immigrated to the United States of America at some stage.
Sometime after returning to New York, her mother was said to have married a man who is only known as “F.C. Brown”. By 1900, her mother was described as a widow, but it would appear that following her mother’s marriage to Mr. Brown, Beatrice was being referred to as Beatrice Brown, and this was the name she used for the remainder of her life.
Beatrice became a stage actress, and on the 1st May 1910, she married Alfred Scott Witherbee, who was 21 years older than her, and they lived at 22, West 72nd Street, New York City, in the United States of America. On 27th June 1911, she gave birth to a son – Alfred Scott Jr.
In April 1915, Beatrice and her husband crossed the Atlantic Ocean and went to London, where they intended to take up permanent residence. Having found suitable accommodation, Beatrice returned to New York on board the Lusitania on the 24th April to gather up more of the family’s personal belongings, and also to bring her mother, Mrs. May C. Brown, and young son back to London with her.
On the morning of 1st May 1915, Mrs. Witherbee and her son, accompanied by her mother, joined the Lusitania at Pier 54 in New York harbour, to cross the Atlantic to England as saloon passengers. Once they had boarded the liner, (with ticket number 14311), all three were allocated room D52 which was the personal responsibility of First Class Bedroom Steward William Barnes, who came from Wallasey in Cheshire which was on the opposite bank of the River Mersey from Liverpool.
The liner finally left the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York port in the early afternoon of that day for a delayed departure caused because she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Lines vessel the Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for service as a troop ship at the end of April. Then, six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May 1915, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20 off the southern coast of Ireland. Although her son was killed, Beatrice Witherbee managed to survive and after being rescued from the sea, she was eventually landed at Queenstown, from where she was able to get to England.
Her little boy’s body was eventually recovered from the sea and buried in a private grave at Queenstown with the comment on his headstone: -
FOULLY MURDERED BY
GERMANY
Her mother Mrs. Brown was also killed in the sinking although Bedroom Steward Barnes, who had looked after the Witherbee family and Mrs. Brown in room D52 was saved and eventually made it back to his Wallasey home.
On 27th December 1915, Beatrice and her husband lodged a claim for substantial compensation for the loss of Mrs. Brown and Alfred Jr. in the sinking, with the U.S. State Department. This claim, like all other similar claims, was not considered until after the conclusion of the war.
Beatrice Witherbee was, understandably, deeply affected by the loss of her mother and only child, and required a lot of medical attention. Obviously, the strain on her marriage became too great, and while recuperating in Monte Carlo, her husband deserted her on the 15th April 1916. Beatrice divorced him in Philadelphia on 28th July 1919.
Alfred Witherbee, who had been married and divorced three times, died on 19th June 1922, aged 61 years. He left a daughter from his second marriage, Mrs. Mildred W. Eyssell, who was his only surviving child, and she took out letters of administration on his estate. In this capacity, she joined Beatrice Witherbee in the claim for compensation.
On 19th March 1925, the Mixed Claims Commission eventually decided the claim. By this time Beatrice had remarried – marrying Alfred Eugene Jolivet in New York City on the 25th November 1919. Alfred was a British subject, and by marrying him, Beatrice relinquished her American citizenship, which had a catastrophic effect on her claim.
The Commission ruled that as she was no longer a citizen of the United States, she was not entitled to continue with her claim, and therefore made no award to her for the loss of her mother, son, personal belongings, and the injuries sustained by her in the sinking. They did, however, award her step-daughter, who had also re-married since her father’s death, and was now Mrs. Mildred W. Grey, the sum of $3,560.00 in compensation for the loss of $2,060.00 in cash, and $1,500.00 in personal belongings, which Beatrice Witherbee was bringing over to London on behalf of her late husband.
Beatrice’s husband, Alfred E. Jolivet, was the brother of another Lusitania survivor, Rita Jolivet, the actress, and his sister Inez H. Vernon was married to a victim of the sinking, George Ley Vernon.
In fact, Both George and Inez Vernon are buried in the Old Church Cemetery in Cobh, (called Queenstown in 1915), directly above the grave of young Alfred Scott Witherbee. Although Inez Vernon was not on board the liner when she was sunk, unable to cope with life without her husband, she committed suicide in July 1915 and was later buried alongside him.
All these events must have brought the Witherbee and Jolivet families close together!
Beatrice and her husband lived for a time in Dieppe, France, where their only child, a son named Lawrence Charles La Touche Jolivet was born in 1920. They later moved to
London, where Alfred Jolivet was a merchant and stockbroker, and then immigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Beatrice Jolivet died in Vancouver on the 16th December 1977, aged 87 years. Her husband had died in 1958. Beatrice was residing at 1645. West 14th Street, Vancouver, at the time of her death.
New York Birth Index 1910 – 1965, New York Marriage License Index 1907 – 1995, British Columbia Canada Death Index 1872 – 1990, 1900 U.S. Federal Census, 1905 New York States Census, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, U.S. Passport Applications 1795 – 1925, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, California U.S. Passenger Lists 1882 – 1959, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 2050, Vancouver Sun, Tragedy of the Lusitania, PRO 22/71, 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.