Elizabeth Tirzah Todd was born in Leadgate, County Durham, England, on the 19th December 1866, the daughter of Edward and Emma Maria Todd (née Oxley). She was the eldest of nine children and her father was a butcher.
On the 2nd May 1890, she married Thomas Peacock in Sacriston, County Durham, and they had four children, two of whom died before their first birthday, only Winifred and Thomas Edward Todd, surviving.
Thomas Peacock was a mining engineer and after a spell on the Gold Coast, West Africa, and then in Tynemouth, Devon, he immigrated to the United States of America in 1905, where he settled in Chicago, Illinois.
In February 1906, Elizabeth and their two children followed him to Chicago. Her husband later took up a position in Jerome, Arizona, bringing the family with him. In 1910 the family paid a visit to Newcastle, travelling back to America in February 1911 on the Lusitania.
On the 26th December 1914, however, Thomas Peacock died, and Elizabeth decided to return home for good, with Edward, where her husband left an estate of £700 to her. It was an ironic coincidence that the ship that they booked passage on, as second cabin passengers, was also the Lusitania! Having arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York in time for the liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. sailing, mother and son had to wait until 12.27 p.m., before the liner sailed, as she had to take on board passengers, crew and cargo from Anchor Liner the S.S. Cameronia which the British
Admiralty had requisitioned for use as a troop ship at the end of the previous month. Then, six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20 off the southern coast of Ireland and only hours steaming time away from her Liverpool destination.
Although separated during the events of the sinking, both Elizabeth Peacock and her son survived this action. Mrs. Peacock was put into Lifeboat No. 13 by her son, which was one of the few successfully lowered into the sea. She was quite badly bruised, however, by other survivors jumping into the boat on top of her. After some time in the sea, she and her fellow lifeboat companions were rescued by the tug Flying Fish and eventually landed at Queenstown.
Both she and her son eventually got back to Newcastle, on 10th May 1915, via Holyhead and Manchester, to the home of Mrs. Peacock's brother-in-law and sister, Doctor and Mrs. H.F. Wynne Boland, of Burnbrae, Burnopfield.
Elizabeth Peacock and her son then gave interviews to representatives of the local press and one of these was printed in The Chester Le Street Chronicle on 14th May, 1915 and stated: -
Mrs. Peacock has suffered a good deal from her awful experiences. She was placed in boat No. 13, but was much bruised by other passengers jumping upon her. Her son dived overboard, and when he rose to the surface, swam to the nearest empty boat. More people got into the boat and they went around and picked up some 42 survivors.
At that time, hundreds of people in the water were clinging to wreckage. The men were very willing to help, and stood by and gladly assisted the women and children to get to the boats. There was a great deal of commotion, but the crew were most orderly and perfectly calm. There were not more than five or six boats got off. The rest were collapsible boats, which floated when the ship went down.
When the torpedo struck the Lusitania young Peacock who is only 17 years of age, at once sought out his mother and assisted her to a boats. With great thoughtfulness, said the lady her son took her past two other boats that were loading at a difficult angle owing to the list of the ship, into one which was considered safer - a circumstance wherein the judgement of the youth was afterwards proved - in as much as both of the other two boats capsized. Mrs. Peacock said that she subsequently discovered that the boat she was in was number “13” an instance in which superstition proved incorrect; her son also assisted into the boats a Miss Clare of Liverpool and a little girl of six years of age.
Elizabeth Peacock must have been mistaken about the name of the Liverpool passenger, as there was no person on board with the surname Clare or any close derivation of it. The account continued: -
When the boat was released, a lot more jumped into it on to the top of Mrs Peacock who had been given a place to lie in the bottom of the boat,
young Peacock remaining behind with other male passengers. Meanwhile he had noticed a boat which had been cut down from the slings floating astern empty; he kept his eye on the same knowing that the Lusitania might go down any minute and when the list became worse he thought it better to make his way into the water.
He climbed down one of the empty slings of the davit; unfortunately his foot caught in one of the ropes of the pulley and when the ship sank he was pulled under the water to a depth, he thought of about twenty feet, as far as he could estimate.
His foot, however, was freed in the action and his life-belt quickly brought him to the surface again. A big burst of air from the vessel also helped him, he said a very considerably. He at once commenced to swim towards the empty boat and that he had marked in his eye previously; he thought if he could get to it, he might not only save himself, but others who were floating about. He himself was an expert swimmer, having a done up a lot, he said, when he lived at Tynemouth.
The current however appeared to be carrying the boat away from him, so he took his life-belt off and swam without it. It was only, however, after three hours in the water that he succeeded in reaching the boat, by swimming and floating. Shortly after he gained the boat a sailor also swam to it and the two of them after bailing out the water - it was half full - rowed towards a trawler in the distance. This trawler in the meantime had picked up about thirty other survivors who were swimming about. Mr Peacock still possesses the watch that he had on him when he was drawn under and which is standing at 2.55 - a corroboration of the time officially given of the time of sinking of the ship.
In fact, the liner had sunk at about 2.30! The account continues: -
The boat that his mother was in was first taken in hand by a fishing boat until it met an armed trawler - the same boat which picked up the old lady of 70, referred to in other reports. This armed trawler took them into Queenstown, arriving there at about nine o'clock in the evening. From there she despatched a telegram to Dr. Boland at Burnopfield, saying that she had arrived there alone, but that her son had been lost. At 1.30 a.m., however, a second telegram arrived saying that both had been saved, the son having also been landed at Queenstown in the meantime and after some difficulty, had found his mother at a small hotel in the place.
They travelled to Newcastle on Sunday and arrived at Burnnopfield on Monday morning. ..... They have lost all their effects, including their jewellery, plate, and over £100 worth of valuable pictures. They had with them quite a lot of valuables, as it was possible that they might not return to America, consequent upon the death of Mrs Peacock's husband, last Xmas. Mrs Peacock says that her life was undoubtedly saved by the presence of mind and courage of her son; otherwise she would probably have been in one of the boats which capsized.
Despite her reticence to return to America, in July 1915, Elizabeth Peacock must have decided that she did not want to stay in England after all and she and Edward both returned to Arizona.
Prior to leaving England, Elizabeth Peacock applied for financial help from The Lusitania Relief Fund, which had been set up not long after the sinking by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and other local businessmen, to give financial help to those survivors or relatives of the killed who had fallen upon difficulties as a result of the outrage.
The awards committee made no grant to her, marking her application “No apparent need - Has returned to Arizona”. Thus indicating that they reached their decision after she had departed.
By 1920, Elizabeth was residing with her daughter, Winifrid, in Los Angeles, California. Her daughter had married John Mahoney, an auditor for a motor company. She resided with the family for the remainder of her days, moving with them to Riverside, California.
She died in Riverside, California, on the 14th December 1952, aged 85 years. She was only five days away from celebrating her 86th birthday when she died. She was buried in Olivewood Cemetery, Riverside, California.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, England Marriages 1538 – 1973, 1871 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1920 U.S. Federal Census, 1930 U.S. Federal Census, 1940 U.S. Federal Census, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Liverpool Record Office, Chester Le Street Chronicle, Newcastle Daily Chronicle, Yorkshire Post, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.