Eleanor Charles was born in late 1884 or early 1885 in Matakana, New Zealand.
On the 23rd August 1901, she arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on board the
Zealandia and commenced training as a nurse at the Vancouver General Hospital. She was awarded a gold medal for heading the list for her final examination. Having qualified as a nurse, she went to Fort George, British Columbia, where she ran a small hospital.
In late October 1914, she decided to move to New York City to gain experience in bigger hospitals, and while here it was stated that she became engaged to a doctor.
In the spring of 1915, however; she decided to go to England and offer her services tending to wounded servicemen. Consequently, she booked as a second cabin passenger on the May sailing of the
Lusitania and boarded the liner at the Cunard berth at pier 54 on the west side of the city on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for her scheduled 10.00 a.m. sailing.
She then had to wait until just after mid-day to have what was, in actuality, her last sight of her adopted country as the liner’s departure was delayed until then. This was because she had to wait to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the liner
Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop ship at the end of April.
Then, after a fairly uneventful voyage, six days out of New York on the afternoon of 7th May, and within sight of the coast of southern Ireland, the
Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. At that time, she was only about 250 miles away from her Liverpool destination.
Eleanor Charles was killed as a result of this action. She was aged 30 years at the time of death and as no trace of her body was ever recovered and identified afterwards, she has no known grave.
In July 1915, Lt. H. Grey, R.A.M.C, Tweseldown Camp, Farnham, Surrey, wrote to the Cunard Steamship Company enquiring about Eleanor Charles. Perhaps he was a friend or relative that she was coming to England to meet up with, or perhaps she was taking up a position at the camp.
U.S. Records of Aliens Pre-Examined in Canada 1904 – 1954, U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895 – 1960, Cunard Records, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/285, The Sydney Morning Herald, Alexandra Herald and Otago Gazette, Auckland Star, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.