Roy Ivor Lintott was born in Brighton, Sussex, England in 1892, the son of Alfred Charles and Emily Lintott (née Sheppard). His father was a watchmaker and jeweller, and the family home was at 67. St. James’s Street, Brighton, above Alfred Lintott’s business premises. Roy was one of six children, although by 1911, two of his siblings had died.
In August 1908, aged 16 years, Roy accompanied his older brother, Percy, to Quebec, Canada, on board the Victorian. Their destination was Claresholm, Alberta, Canada, where they intended to find work as farmers. About a month later, Roy returned to his home in Brighton and became an apprentice dental mechanic, while Percy remained in Canada.
Roy returned to Canada in September 1912 and settled in Calgary, Alberta, where he resided at the corner of Nineteenth Avenue and Fourth Street.
In the spring of 1915, he decided to cross the Atlantic to Europe, either on a holiday, or perhaps to carry out his patriotic duty because of the war and as a consequence, he booked a second cabin passage on the May sailing of the Lusitania, from New York to Liverpool.
Having left Calgary by rail at the end of April, he arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54, in New York harbour in time for her scheduled 10.00 a.m. departure. This was then delayed, because she had to embark passengers, cargo and some crew from the Anchor Lines steamer Cameronia, which had been requisitioned for service as a troop ship by the British Admiralty at the end of April.
She finally left her moorings and slipped into the North River just after mid-day and six days later, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, off the southern coast of Ireland and only about 250 miles from her Liverpool home port.
Roy Lintott was not listed amongst the survivors and as his body was never found and identified afterwards, he has no known grave.
Administration of his estate was granted to his mother, Emily Lintott, at London, on 11th September 1915, his effects amounting to £275-11s-0d, (£275.55p).
His brother Percy, lodged a claim with the Canadian Commission seeking compensation for his death, however, his claim was dismissed by the Commission on the grounds that Roy had no dependants.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Canadian Claims Case No. 795, Probate Records, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/433, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.