Ida Exley was born in Saltaire, Bradford, Yorkshire, England, in 1896, the daughter of Joseph and Hannah Mary Exley (née Ambler). Her father was a wool sorter, and she had two older brothers – John and Walter. Her early years were spent at Springcliffe Street, Baildon, Yorkshire after which the family moved to 29. Crag Hill Road, Thackley, Shipley, Yorkshire. Whilst living there, Miss Exley attended the local council school.
In October 1909, Joseph Exley emigrated to the United States of America and found work in a woollen mill in Barre Plains, North Braintree, Massachusetts. He was joined there by his wife, his daughter Ida, and his son Walter, two months later.
Ida obviously retained links with people back in Thackley for she became engaged to a local man, Mr. Harry Taylor, of 425, Tong Street, Dudley Hill, Bradford, and decided to return home to marry him. A special licence was obtained and the wedding was scheduled to take place on Monday 10th May 1915.
Consequently, Miss Exley booked a second cabin passage on the Lusitania and having left Barre Plains at the end of April 1915, she travelled to New York, probably by rail, and boarded the liner on the morning of 1st May at the Cunard berth in the harbour, in time for her last ever sailing out of the port, which began just after mid-day.
It was to be a move of the worst possible consequence, however, as she was killed just six days later when the ship was torpedoed and sunk within sight of the coast of southern Ireland, by the German submarine U-20. No trace of her body was ever found and identified afterwards. She was aged 18 years.
No doubt with every happy expectation, her fiancé travelled to Liverpool to await the arrival of the ship, but was only met with the unfolding tragedy as the news of the sinking became known.
On October 2nd 1915, Ida Exley’s father wrote to Cunard at Queenstown enclosing a photograph of his late daughter in the hope that it would match one of those taken of the unidentified corpses washed up around the coast of southern Ireland. The letter stated: -
Dear Sirs,
I see in the Boston Post that you have some photos of persons found and not identified. My daughter was one that went down with the ship Lusitania. Her name is Ida Exley. She wore a gold watch with her initials, I.E. Enclosed you will find a photo when she was about 15 years of age. She was 19 when she went on the boat. This photo resembles her very much in her features, also on her forehead there is 3 marks left from having the chicken pox when a baby. Will you kindly look through those pictures and let me know as soon as you can as we are very much in trouble over the losing of her. It was an awful blow to us.
Oblige
Joseph Exley
Box 21
Barre Plains, Mass.
Despite this heart tugging plea, The Cunard Steam Ship Company could offer no comfort or help, in the rather terse reply sent to him 19 days later: -
We much regret being unable to establish any resemblance between the photographs of the unidentified victims and that enclosed, and we do not see any description which would in any way tally with that of the deceased.
At about the same time, her fiancé, Harry Taylor, who was a decorative painter and gilder of 425, Tong Street, Bradford, Yorkshire sought news of Ida Exley through Passenger Agents Dean and Dawson, Ltd., of 53 Market Street, Bradford. Presumably he was no more successful in his quest than her father had been!
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, Massachusetts Passenger Lists 1820 – 1963, Cunard Records, NGMM D/Lus/4/2 (photo), PRO BT 100/345, Shipley Times and Observer, The Family History Project, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.