Jeanette Elizabeth Mary “Nettie” Moore was born at Stranmillis, a suburb to the south of Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the 10th July 1887, the daughter of William Henry and Mary Moore (née Allan). Her father was a farmer, and Nettie was the second eldest of six children. He family later moved to Newgrove, Ballylesson, County Down.
On the 28th December 1912, she married Walter Dawson Mitchell, the son of The Reverend George Patton and Elizabeth Dawson Mitchell, of Ballylesson Church in the Parish of Drumbo, and that same evening, they boarded the California at
Londonderry and sailed for New York, on route to Newark, New Jersey, in the United States of America, where her new husband took up a position of superintendent with the textile manufacturers, Messrs. Marshall and Co., of Kearney, Newark. Mrs. Mitchell's brother, Mr. John Moore, was working in the textile industry at Manchester Green, Newark, Connecticut, since 1911, and it is probable that he helped secure Walter Mitchell his position and encouraged them both to cross the Atlantic. They both became leading members of the Episcopal Church in Newark in the short time they were there, and resided at 177. Broad Street, Newark.
In July 1914, a son also named Walter Dawson Mitchell was born to the couple.
When the Great War broke out, in August 1914, the textile trade in New Jersey was hit badly and as a consequence, the Mitchell family, including John Moore, decided to return home. As a result, they all set off for New York, where they boarded the Lusitania at the Cunard berth at Pier 54, as second cabin passengers, on what proved to be her last ever voyage across the Atlantic.
The liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. departure for Liverpool was then delayed until the early afternoon, so that she could take on board passengers, cargo and crew from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work as a troop ship. Then, six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland by the German submarine U-20, and sank just eighteen minutes later. At that stage of her voyage, she was only 250 miles from the safety of her home port.
Although both her husband and son were killed, Nettie Mitchell and her brother, John Moore, survived.
He later described his experiences of the sinking to a reporter of The Irish News, which appeared in the edition of 10th May 1915. He said that after being pitched into the sea by a lifeboat which overturned, he managed to cling to an upturned keel until rescued and that: -
He could not describe the awfulness of the scene. He had lost sight of his sister and her husband and was despairing of seeing them again, when he observed them being taken out of the sea and brought aboard the trawler.
Mrs. Mitchell was in a semi-conscious state, and her husband was unconscious. Everything possible was done to restore him, but without success. As for the baby, he (Mr. Moore) did not see it after leaving the liner.
Although Nettie Mitchell eventually was revived, her husband was not so fortunate, and his body, reference number 56, was brought to Queenstown and subsequently brought to Ballylesson Churchyard in the Parish of Drumbo, where his father was Rector, and buried there.
An account of Nettie Mitchell and John Moore’s arrival at Lisburn railway station with the coffin containin
Telegraph edition of 15th May 1915. John Moore also gave a brief account of what happened to the Mitchell’s and himself: -
ULSTER VICTIMS
LISBURN MAN AND CHILD
Amongst the passengers on the Lusitania were Mr. W.D. Mitchell of New Jersey, his wife and baby, and Mr. John Moore, Connecticut, brother of Mrs. Mitchell, who were returning to Ireland on a visit to their parents at Drumbo, Lisburn.
Mr. Mitchell was the second son of Rev. G.P. Mitchell, rector of Drumbo, and grand-nephew of Canon Pounden, Lisburn.
On Saturday evening, rev. Mr. Mitchell received a brief wire stating that his daughter-in-law and her brother were saved, but that his son and the baby were lost.
A second telegram announced that the survivors and the remains of Walter would arrive at Lisburn by the midnight train from Dublin.
Rev. Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Moore attended at the railway station, and when the train came in there was a very pathetic scene when young Mr. Moore and his grief-stricken sister alighted.
Both bore the appearance of having passed through a terrible ordeal, and were suffering the effects of shock. Consequently they were unable to give any account of their awful experience.
Mr. Moore stated that there were an exceeding large number of passengers – he believed about 600 second-class.
Along with Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell he had just finished lunch, and Mrs. Mitchell had gone to the cabin to see after the baby, when there was a great crash. On reaching the deck he found the passengers rushing for the boats. Some of them had lifebelts but he had none, and he managed to get into one of the boats, which, however, was overturned.
He then got hold of a rope which was hanging over the ship’s side, and while clinging to this he got bruised by numbers of men jumping from the deck in their frantic efforts to save their lives. Getting tossed into the water he was able to reach one of the upturned boats, and clung to the keel till rescued by a minesweeper.
Soon afterwards he saw his sister and her husband brought on board. Mr. Mitchell appeared to be unconscious, and efforts were made to resuscitate him both on the ship and ashore, but without avail. The baby, nine months old, was lost.
The remains of Mr. Mitchell were enclosed in an oak coffin, the breastplate of which bore the simple inscription: -
W.D. Mitchell
Died May 8, 1915.
The late Mr. Mitchell served his apprenticeship to the mill managing business in the Island Spinning Co.’s works, Lisburn, and went to New Jersey to take up an appointment with Messrs Marshall & Co. He was twenty-seven years of age, and married two years.
Mr. Moore served his time with Messrs. McGowan & Ingram, Belfast, and had been in Connecticut for the past four years.
The body of their son, Walter, was also recovered from the sea and given the reference number 122. He was buried at Queenstown in mass grave C, first row, lower tier, where he remains to this day. His body was identified by a photograph sent to Nettie while she stayed with an aunt, Miss Josephine Pounden, 44. Kenilworth Park, Rathgar, Dublin.
Walter Dawson Mitchell’s estate amounted to £640-13s-4d, which went to his widow. She benefited from an insurance policy on her husband to the amount of £500, but it is unclear whether this was part of, or an addition, to her husband’s estate. She wrote to the Lusitania Relief Fund, seeking financial assistance, on her return to Ireland, but knowing about the insurance policy, they marked her down for ‘further enquiries’. It is unlikely that they gave her any assistance considering the amount she obtained from the insurance policy.
Within a year, Nettie had found a position as a nurse in the Rotunda Maternity Hospital in Dublin - which is there to this day. She stayed with her aunt, the afore-mentioned Miss Josephine Pounden.
On the 29th March 1922, she re-married. Her second husband being William David Watters, a farmer, and their wedding took place at the parish church at Derriaghy, County Antrim. The couple had two sons – Brian Hunter, born in 1925, and Allen, born in 1926.
Mrs. Jeanette Watters died at Massereene Hospital, Antrim, County Antrim, on the 19th January 1966, aged 78 years. She was buried in Ballylesson graveyard, in the same cemetery as her first husband, but many miles away from her first-born.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1901 Census of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, 1915 Newark City Directory, Thom’s Official Directory 1920 Edition, Irish Post and Weekly Telegraph, Irish News, Newark Evening Star, Probate Records, UniLiv D92/2/194, UniLiv D92/2/221, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.