Florence “Florrie” Bull was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, on the 30th April 1876, one of three daughters of John Henry Bull and his wife Elizabeth (née Farrar). Her parents ran a fruit stall in Ashton Market. On completing her education, she worked in her parents shop.
She met a local machinist, Reuben Burley, and the couple became engaged to be married. However, her fiancé decided their future would be better in Canada, and in May 1904, he emigrated. When he had found work and suitable accommodation for them, he sent for her, and she left Liverpool on board the Tunisian and arrived in Montreal, Quebec, on the 16th September 1904. The couple married in Hamilton, Ontario, on the 19th September.
The couple settled at 126. Frederick Arcade, Hamilton, and on the 12th January 1906, their first child – Doris Farrar Burley was born. On the 15th January 1912, their second child – Reginald was born.
In 1911, Florence’s parents, John Henry and Elizabeth Bull emigrated from England to be closer to Florence and her children.
In 1914, her father, John Henry Bull, died, and in the spring of 1915, her mother decided to return to England. The Burley family decided to join her on the journey and take a holiday in Ashton
Consequently, they all booked second cabin passage on the Lusitania and joined her at Pier 54 in New York, on 1st May 1915, before she sailed on her final trans-Atlantic voyage.
Six days later, the whole family was dead, including Mrs. Bull, after the liner was torpedoed and sunk. Florence Burley was aged 38 years.
Only the body of Elizabeth Bull was recovered and identified later, none of the bodies of the Burley family was ever recovered and identified.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538 – 1975, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801 – 1926, 1911 Census of Canada, Ontario, Canada Births, 1858 – 1913, Cunard Records, Stalybridge Reporter, Sheffield Daily Telegraph, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/95, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Lawrence Evans, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.