Isabelle “Isa” Shaw Muirhead was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, on the 17th February 1859, the daughter of John and Janet Muirhead (née Gilchrist). Her father stone mason and bricklayer, and the family home was at Hardhill Road, Bathgate, before the family later moved to the nearby village of Armadale.
On the 7th February 1879, she married John Hamilton in Armadale, and the couple established their home at McLaughlan’s Cottage, Armadale, before later moving to New Monkland, near Airdrie, Lanarkshire. The couple had eight children between 1880 and 1895.
In 1909, John Hamilton emigrated to the United States of America in search of work, and settled in New Haven, Connecticut. In August 1913, Isa and two of her sons crossed the Atlantic Ocean to join him. She quickly settled into her new life and secured a job as a housekeeper to supplement the family income.
On the 25th April 1915, Isa’s fourth eldest child, 8729 Acting Sergeant James Hamilton, 2nd Bn. Seaforth Highlanders, was killed in action near Ypres, Belgium.
Whether she had planned to return to Scotland for a holiday, or perhaps because of the news of the death of her son, Isa Hamilton booked second cabin passage on the S.S
Cameronia, sailing from New York to Glasgow.
However, at the end of April the British Admiralty had requisitioned that vessel for war service as a troop ship and the passengers, some of the crew not needed for her new purpose, and most of her cargo were instead transferred to the
Lusitania, which was scheduled to leave the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York port, on the morning of 1st May 1915. This sailing was then delayed until just after noon, to accommodate her extra cargo and personnel and Isa Hamilton was allocated a room in the second cabin section of the ship.
Then, six days out of New York, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania
was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, within sight of The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland, At that time, she was only about fourteen hours steaming time away from her destination and home port.
Isa Hamilton lost her life as a result of this assault and as her body was never recovered from the sea and identified afterwards, she has no known grave. She was aged 56 years at the time of her death.
Her husband, John, became a naturalized citizen of the United states on 30th December 1915, but this came to late for his claim for compensation for the death of his wife. The Mixed Claims Commission ruled that as both he and his wife were citizens of Great Britain at the time of the sinking of the Lusitania, no American citizen suffered damages, and therefore the Commission was not obliged to make any award to him.
Scotland Select Births and Baptisms 1564 – 1950, 1861 Census of Scotland, 1871 Census of Scotland, 1881 Census of Scotland, 1891 Census of Scotland, 1901 Census of Scotland, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 2052, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 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.