Rose Emily Elsie Lohden, always known as “Elsie” was born in Holbourn, London, England, on the 26th June 1902, the daughter of Henry John and Sarah Louise Rose Lohden (née Arnold). She was an only child, and her father was a photo engraver.
In 1905 or 1906, the family immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada..
In early 1915, Elsie’s mother decided to make a return visit to London, taking Elsie with her, and as a consequence, they both booked as second cabin passengers on the Lusitania. Leaving Toronto at the end of April 1915, they arrived in New York in time to board the liner for her sailing which began just after mid-day on 1st May 1915.
When the liner was torpedoed, six days later, mother and daughter were able to get into a lifeboat with the help of fellow second cabin passenger Vincente Egana and having been eventually picked up by the Queenstown harbour tender The Flying Fish they were landed at that town.
From there, they finally made it to London from where Elsie’s mother told of their ordeal to a reporter from the local press. The story was syndicated in many newspapers afterwards and The Western Mail of Monday 10th May 1915 reported it thus: -
Mrs. Lohden and her daughter E1sie were rescued in the nick of time by a young Spaniard Vinceti (sic) Egana who showed most remarkable chivalry and heroism. After carrying fainting women in his arms to the deck from which the boats were being lowered, Egana rushed back again and again to render further assistance “There were tears in his eyes,” said Mrs. Lohden. “and his one concern was how many he could save before he thought of his own life.
He spoke not a word of English; his1anguage was the language of chivalrous looks and absolute unselfishness. I think I am right in saying that he and Captain Turner were the last men on the Lusitania. Jumping into the sea, he swam round in the hope of saving other souls. I was overjoyed when we picked him up.
Rose and Elsie Lohden remained in England until August 1916, when they returned to Canada, via New York City, on board the Philadelphia. They were accompanied by her maternal grandmother, Sarah Arnold, who was by now a widow, and was to remain in Canada for the remainder of her life.
Her mother filed a claim with the Canadian Commission seeking compensation for the loss of their personal possessions in the sinking, and was eventually awarded her full claim of $714.87 some years after the war.
Elsie Lohden married George Cyrus Green on the 22nd April 1931, and the couple had one child, a daughter named Shirley Elsie, who was born in October 1931. She died in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, on the 24th November 1987, aged 85 years.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Ontario Canada Marriages 1826 – 1938, 1921 Census of Canada, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Canadian Case No. 765, Bradford Daily Times, Illustrated London News, Western Mail, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.