Ruby Martin was born in Erith, Kent, England, on the 23rd April 1888, the third daughter of John and Phillippa Martin (née Feast), who, in 1915, lived at Wangford, near Southwold, Suffolk. Her father was the local miller there. Ruby Martin was unmarried and was a children’s nurse.
In 1911, she had gone to Canada presumably in the course of work, and shortly afterwards, she crossed into the United States of America and settled in New York City. In the spring of 1915, however, she decided to return home for a holiday and to see her parents, and consequently booked a second cabin passage on the Lusitania which was scheduled to sail from New York on the morning of 1st May 1915.
She arrived at the liner's berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour, in time for her sailing which was delayed until the early afternoon of the 1st because she had to wait to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the liner Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop ship. At 12.25 p.m., the vessel left her moorings and slid into the North River and then out into the Atlantic Ocean.
Just six days out of New York, on the early afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk off the southern coast of Ireland by the German submarine U-20. At that time, she was only about fourteen hours sailing time away from her Liverpool destination.
Ruby Martin survived the sinking, however and having been rescued from the sea, she was landed at Queenstown, from where she eventually managed to get back to Wangford. Once home, she gave an account of her part in the disaster, to a representative of The Norwich Mercury which was published in the edition of 15th May 1915. It stated: -
At two o'clock at lunch time, she was thrown quite off her feet by a sudden shock. After a lot of trouble, she was able to get a life-belt, and a gentleman who was near, helped her over the ship's side on a rope ladder, but she fell into the sea, and after being in the water for about three quarters of an hour, managed to get onto an upturned boat, where she sat for two and a half hours.
She was then taken off by the Indian Empire, one of the mine destroyers, and taken to Queenstown, whence, after being examined by a doctor, although being badly bruised and knocked about, she was allowed to proceed on her way home, arriving at Fishguard on Sunday morning at five o'clock and thence on to London.
She arrived home at Wangford on Sunday night still suffering from the exposure and battering about. She has lost a lot of valuable presents she was bringing home for the family.
The Indian Empire, one of the mine destroyers, which plucked Miss Martin from the upturned boat, was H.M.S. Indian Empire, a Royal Naval patrol boat, formerly a trawler which had been taken up from trade for war use. She was responsible for rescuing many survivors from the sinking.
Ruby Martin returned to New York City on board the Cameronia on the 26th September 1915. She made a number of return trips to see her parents in later years before she returned permanently to England, where she ran a boarding house in Clacton, Essex.
It would appear that she spent various times in her life in Canada and the United States of America, and she submitted a claim for compensation with the Canadian Commission for the loss of her personal effects in the Lusitania sinking. In 1926, she was awarded her full claim for $644.50.
Ruby Martin lived her last days at 6. London Road, Beccles, Suffolk, and she died on the 12th September 1968, aged 80 years. She left an estate of £1,993.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1939 Register, UK Outward Passenger Lists 1890 – 1960, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895 – 1960, Cunard Records, Canadian Claims Case No. 849, Norwich Mercury, Probate Records, Graham Maddocks, Dick Rayner, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.