Florence Miriam Collett was born in Cardiff, Glamorganshire, Wales, in 1879, the daughter of Aubrey Alexander and Mary Jane Collett (née Morgan). She was the eldest of nine children, and her father was a railway telegraph clerk.
Because of her father’s occupation, the family moved around the country quite often, before eventually settling in Aston, Birmingham, Warwickshire, and it was here, at Christ Church, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, that she married Edgar Vincent Herbert on the 21st February 1906. There were no children as a result of the marriage, and they resided at 74. Osborn Road, Sparkbrook.
Her husband was working as a postman when they married, but he had previously served for eight years, between 1895 and 1903, in the Rifle Brigade in the British Army, serving with his regiment in South Africa during the Boer War, and he was also a professional cook.
In 1913, her husband had immigrated to Canada, and having secured a job as a waiter at the Wellington Hotel, Guelph, Ontario, he sent for Florence, who quickly joined him, and she also secured a position in the hotel.
On the outbreak of the First World War, Edgar Herbert immediately enlisted in the Canadian Army, being assigned to the 18th Battalion, which was billeted in the nearby town of London, so Florence resigned her position in the hotel to also move to the town and thus be near her husband.
Edgar had enlisted on the 1st November 1914, and within a few weeks had been promoted to the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major, no doubt because of having experienced combat in South Africa, and his eight years of military service with the Rifle Brigade. While serving with the Rifle Brigade, he had been a Drill Sergeant.
In the middle of April 1915, Edgar Herbert and his battalion left for England, for further training before being sent to the Western Front, arriving in England on the 29th April. His wife decided to follow him to England with the intention of remaining there for the duration of the war, and consequently, she booked second cabin passage on the May sailing of the
Lusitania from New York to Liverpool.
It would appear, however, that Florence Herbert ‘missed the boat’, for although her name appeared on the second class passenger list, nobody remembered encountering her on the voyage.
Six days out of New York, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania
was torpedoed by the German submarine U-20 twelve miles off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland, and sank within 18 minutes. At that stage of her voyage, she was only about fourteen hours steaming time away from her home port and ultimate destination.
Florence Herbert’s name did not appear among the names of survivors, and one of her sisters, Mrs. L. Rose, of 104. Grove Lane, Handsworth, Birmingham, wrote to the Cunard Steam Ship Company seeking any information about her sister, but they were unable to give her any assistance, except to state that it was doubtful she had boarded the liner.
RSM Edgar Herbert, and the 18th Battalion of the Canadian Army, arrived in France in September 1915, and even though it was reported in the
London Advertiser, the local paper in London, Ontario, that he had been killed in action in November 1915, this proved erroneous.
On Easter Monday, the 9th April 1917, Edgar Herbert married Lillian E. Fuhrberg in Folkestone, Kent, so either Edgar and Florence had divorced, or else he was unaware that she hadn’t lost her life in the sinking of the
Lusitania!
He survived the war, and returned to Canada where he was demobilised. His second wife, Lillian, accompanied him to Canada; however, they didn’t remain there for long, as after being demobilized, the couple moved across Lake Erie, and settled in Lorain, Ohio, where Edgar secured a position as a supervisor in a shipyard.
Before he left Canada, Edgar Herbert submitted a claim to the Canadian Commission, seeking compensation for the loss of his wife, and the loss of her personal possessions, in the sinking of the Lusitania. In February 1927, his claim was disallowed because he had not submitted proof of his marriage to Florence, and it is possible they were having difficulty locating him as he was at that stage residing in the United States of America.
Nevertheless, it would appear Florence had returned to Birmingham, where she married Arthur C. Partridge in 1926. Nothing is known about her later life except that when her father died in 1947, she inherited his estate, and at that time was described as Mrs. Florence Miriam Herbert, married woman!
She died at the Eye Hospital, Birmingham, on the 26th February 1965, aged 85 years. Her address at the time of her death was 62. Barton Lodge Road, Birmingham.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Birmingham England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754 – 1937, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, Cunard Records, Canada WWI CEF Attestation Papers 1914 – 1918, Canadian Claims Case No. 801, London Advertiser, Probate Records, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/124, UniLiv D92/2/384, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.