Annie Ross was born in Inver, near Fearn, in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland, in 1884, the daughter of Donald and Margaret Ross (née Mackintosh). Her father was a fisherman.
On completion of her education she entered domestic service and eventually moved to Glasgow. According to family legend, she also was a member of a dance troupe that performed traditional Scottish highland dances at various events, and it was through dancing that she met Peter Kenneth MacHardy, a married man, who was the father of three children, and a professional dancer with the troupe.
Annie and Peter fell in love, and then in early 1905, Annie discovered she was pregnant. The couple decided to emigrate to the United States of America, and Peter left Glasgow on board the Astoria on the 21st of July, arriving in New York ten days later. He quickly found work as a railway ticket agent in New York City. Annie remained in Glasgow and gave birth to their child, a girl named Catherine Annie, on the 31st August, and then, on the 28th September, both mother and daughter boarded the Numidian at Glasgow. On their arrival in New York City on the 8th October, Peter MacHardy, no doubt, was waiting for them, and after meeting his new-born daughter for the first time, he brought them to the home he had found for them at 111. East 14th Street, in New York City.
At some stage, probably in 1908 when she returned to Scotland to visit her family, she left her daughter to be reared by her parents in Inver. On her return to New York, Annie found employment as a waitress with Macy & Company, and although they lived together as a married couple, it was not until the 29th August 1911 that Peter MacHardy and Annie were legally married in Manhattan, New York City. By then,
they were living at 3326. Fort Independence Street, Kingsbridge, New York, and shortly after their marriage, Peter MacHardy applied to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, which was finalised in 1912. When Peter MacHardy became a naturalized U.S. citizen, so did Annie by virtue of her being his wife.
In the spring of 1915, she decided to return to Scotland and pick up her now, ten year old daughter, and take her back to New York to live with her and her husband. Consequently, she booked passage across the Atlantic to Liverpool on the Anchor Liner Cameronia.
However, at the end of April 1915, the British Admiralty requisitioned the Cameronia for war work and on 1st May 1915, all her passengers and cargo and some of her crew were transferred to the Lusitania at Pier 54, in New York harbour. Annie MacHardy joined the liner on the morning of 1st May as a second cabin passenger and had her last glimpse of her adopted country, as the vessel left the port just after mid-day and edged her way out into the North River and her destiny off the southern coast of Ireland.
Just six days later, Annie. MacHardy was killed, after the liner had been torpedoed and sunk off The Old Head of Kinsale by the German submarine U-20, within hours of reaching her Liverpool home port and destination.
As it was necessary to bury all the recovered bodies as soon as possible, because they could not be hygienically stored in the increasing heat of May, they were all photographed in the temporary mortuaries in Queenstown before being buried. Anxious relatives of those missing were then invited to identify their loved ones through these photographs.
In June 1915, Annie MacHardy’s husband sent a photograph of one of the dead, (unnumbered) to Cunard in New York, which he claimed to be his late wife. He also enclosed a description of her and her jewellery and asked that the items be returned to him at the family home. The details stated:-
Age 31 years
Height 5 ft. 5 in.
Weight 125 to 139 lbs.
Dark brown hair (turning grey on top)
Gold and blue enamel brooch (N.Y. Scottish Society on it)
Wedding ring 9 ct
Embossed Oriental designed brown leather change purse
Had 9 sovereigns in stocking, also American currency in chamois bag
However, he must have been mistaken in his identification, as no trace of Annie MacHardy’s body was ever found and identified and as such, she has no known grave! It is not known after such a passage of time, which recovered body he thought might have been hers!
Sometime after her death had been accepted, an application for financial aid was made on behalf of Annie MacHardy’s daughter, to The Lusitania Relief Fund, which was administered by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool. This fund had been set up in the city, not long after the sinking, to help second and third class survivors and the
relatives of those killed who had incurred financial difficulties as a result of the outrage.
The contact name and address for correspondence in this matter was given as Alex. Rose, 1, Hill Street, Inver, Fearn, Ross and Cromarty, Scotland and it is almost certain that Mr. Rose was Annie MacHardy’s brother, Alexander. The records of the Relief Fund held in The Liverpool Record Office state: -
Mother drowned - Father of child - illegitimate - undertakes to support.
On 21st February 1924, Peter MacHardy was awarded $4,000.00 by the Mixed Claims Commission for the loss of his wife.
New York City Marriage Records 1829 – 1940, 1891 Census of Scotland, 1901 Census of Scotland, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 157, Aberdeen Daily Journal, Ayr Advertiser, Liverpool Record Office, PRO 22/71, UniLiv.D92/1/8-10, UniLiv D92/2/351, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.