William Martin Davey was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England, on the 6th January 1863, the son of William Cuming and Mary Ann Davey (née Cumbe). His father was a surveyor for Lloyd’s Register of Shipping. The Davey family moved around England quite a lot, due to William Davey’s work as a surveyor, and lived at various times in Liverpool, London, and Devon.
On completion of his formal education, William became an apprentice engineer, and subsequently qualified as a consulting engineer, and naval architect. He designed various engines and boilers for ships.
On the 6th July 1893, he married Elizabeth Cumbe Heard, who was his first cousin – both William and Elizabeth’s mothers being sisters! They were married in Stoke Damerel, Devonport, Devon, and they had one son, named Arthur, who was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, in 1898.
The family lived at 4, Caroline Place, Claughton, Birkenhead, Cheshire, as Mr. Martin-Davey practised as a consultant engineer at a business in Liverpool, not far away, across the River Mersey. He was also very active in local politics for the Conservative Party and was chairman of the Junior Conservative League and the Grange Ward Conservative Committee. He was also a prominent member of The Constitutional Club in Birkenhead and was adjudged a very good political speaker.
Sometime around 1900, or shortly afterward, William Davey began to style his surname as Martin-Davey, as did his wife and son. The reason for this is not known, but it could have been for business reasons, or to make himself and his family seem more important in social circles.
In 1912, William Martin-Davey was offered a consulting engineer’s position with the Union Steamship Company, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and left England for there, with his family. The family home was at 4435, 12th Avenue, West Point Grey, Vancouver. In early 1915, however, he was offered a similar position in Devonport, in Devon, England and he decided to return to Britain, to take it up. It
was his intention to stay for a few days in Birkenhead with an old family friend, a Dr. Dalzell, before beginning his new job
Consequently, he booked passage for all three of the family as second cabin passengers on the Lusitania, which was scheduled to leave New York for Liverpool, on the morning of 1st May 1915.
Accordingly, the family left Vancouver at the end of April and having travelled by rail across the continent, arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour in time for the sailing. This was delayed until just after mid-day, however, as the Lusitania had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the recently requisitioned Anchor Liner Cameronia, which was needed by the British Admiralty for war service. When the liner was sunk, exactly six days later, all three members of the family perished.
Of the three, Elizabeth Martin-Davey's body was the only one that was recovered from the sea and identified. Nothing more was ever seen or heard of William Martin-Davey or his son Arthur. He was aged 52 years.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919,1871 Census of England & Wales, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, UK Mechanical Engineer Records 1847 – 1938, Belfast News-Letter, Birkenhead News, The Province, Probate Records, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.