Kathleen Kaye was born Hannah Ermine Kathleen Kirschbaum in Brighton, Sussex, England, on the 30th June 1898, the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Kirschbaum (née Casper). Her father was a wholesale jeweller, whose family had emigrated from Krakow, Poland, in 1855. His ancestor, Jacob Kirschbaum, had been a ritual slaughter and a prominent member of the Jewish society in Poland. The family had, at times, anglicised their family name to “Kaye”.
In 1913, Kathleen had left England for Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for a stay at the home of her aunt, a Mrs. Davis. In the spring of 1915, she decided to return home to her parents and as a consequence, at the end of April, she left Toronto by rail for New York where she joined the Lusitania as a second cabin passenger in time for the liner’s final departure from New York harbour, which began, after a delay, just after mid-day on 1st May 1915. The delay was caused by the fact that she had to take on board passengers, some crew and the cargo from the Anchor Lines ship Cameronia which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work at the end of April.
Kathleen Kaye survived the sinking, six days later on 7th May 1915, by the German submarine
U-20, and having been pitched into the sea, was lucky enough to be picked up by one of the collapsible boats under the control of crew members Leslie Morton and Joseph Parry. At the time of the sinking, the
Lusitania was only about ten miles off the coast of southern Ireland and about 250 miles from her Liverpool home port and destination.
Morton and Parry were clearly impressed by her efforts as stated in The Last Voyage of the Lusitania, by Adolph and Mary Hoehling, (although the Hoehlings wrongly identify Joseph Parry as
William Parry and Kathleen Kaye’s place of visit) :-
Kathleen Kaye, the fourteen year-old-girl (sic.) who had been en route home from a visit to New York, handled an oar like a man. When not rowing, she helped fill the boat, comforted survivors, and administered first-aid.
In a paragraph published in The Retford, Worksop, Isle of Axeholme and Gainsborough News on 14th May 1915, it was reported that Miss Kaye heard the shout
Mothers and children first.
The occupants of the collapsible boat were eventually picked up by the Royal Naval tug
Stormcock and landed at Queenstown, from where Kathleen Kaye eventually returned safely home to London.
Both Kathleen Kaye, and her aunt in Toronto, Mrs. Davis, submitted claims for compensation with the Canadian Commission after the war. By that time, Kathleen Kaye was in England, and whatever claim she made, presumable for the possessions she lost as a result of the sinking, was dealt with in England, and therefore her claim was struck out. Her aunt had submitted a claim for $100, which related to clothing she was sending to an unidentified person in England, and which was being conveyed by Kathleen Kaye; however, she failed to appear before the Commission when summoned to do so on the 24th May 1924, and as a result, her claim was disallowed.
In 1933, Kathleen Kaye again travelled to her aunt in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and then decided to travel to California by sea, presumably from British Columbia. During this voyage, she encountered an American artist, named Carl William Brandien, who was impressed by Kathleen, especially by the fact that she was embarking on an adventure with very little money! The couple decided to travel together and discover the world.
They styled themselves as the “Vagabonds”, and their trip, they called the “Vagabondage”! They started their adventure in the American West, before travelling to Hawaii, the South Pacific, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Europe. They packed all their belongings into knapsacks as they travelled, and their adventures were widely reported in newspapers around the world.
In early 1937, the couple had reached New York City, where they married on the 27th January. Carl Brandien was twelve years older than Kathleen, and following their marriage, they travelled to Florida, where Kathleen became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1944.
Kathleen died in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on the 24th September 1963, and as her husband was a U.S. Army veteran, having served during World War I in France and Tunisia, the couple were entitled to be interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, and thus Kathleen was laid to rest there in Section 34, Site 716-A. When her husband died in 1965, he was interred beside her.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, New York Extracted Marriage Index 1866 – 1937, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, New York State and Federal Honolulu Hawaii Passenger and Crew Lists 1900 – 1959, Naturalization Records 1794 – 1943 Florida Naturalization Records 1847 – 1995, U.S. Veterans’ Gravesites 1775 – 2019, Canadian Claims Case No’s 792 & 882, British Jewry News, Edmonton Journal, Fort Lauderdale News, Last Voyage of the Lusitania, Retford Worksop, Isle of Axeholme and Gainsborough News, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.