John Knox Stewart was born at Grace Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the 21st August 1914, the son of James Maxwell and Christina McFarlane Stewart (née Knox). His parents were Scottish immigrants and the family home at the time of his birth was 47. Jesmond Avenue, Toronto. His father was a cost clerk.
In the spring of 1915, his mother decided to return to Glasgow for a holiday and take John with her so as to introduce him to her family and friends, and consequently she booked second cabin passage for them on the May sailing of the Lusitania from New York to Liverpool.
Having arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May 1915, they boarded the liner in time for her 10.00a.m. departure. This was then delayed until the afternoon as she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war service as a troop ship, at the end of April. The Lusitania finally left port just after mid-day and just six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May; she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. At that point in her voyage, she was within sight of the coast of southern Ireland and only 250 miles hours away from her Liverpool home port and destination.
Mother and son were fortunate to be counted among the survivors, to be safely landed in Queenstown from where they eventually managed to continue their journey to Glasgow.
They remained there until they boarded the St. Paul in Liverpool on the 13th November 1915 and sailed to New York, from where they travelled overland to their home in Toronto.
In the years that followed, John was joined by two younger siblings, however, nothing further is known about him except that he died in Ontario on the 5th July 1989, aged 72 years. He was interred at Culross-Teeswater Cemetery, Teeswater, Ontario.
Ontario Canada Births 1832 – 1915, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, PRO 22/72, PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.