Thomas Keith Turpin was born in Maryborough, Queens County (now Portlaoise, County Laois), Ireland, on the 18th January 1885, the son of Horace and Kate Elizabeth Turpin (née Fisher). His father was an eminent solicitor with an office at 39, Fleet Street, Dublin, and the family home was at 3. Coote Street, Maryborough. Thomas was the eldest of five children in the family.
In February 1909, he had immigrated to Canada, intending to go to Calgary, Alberta, but actually went to Victoria, British Columbia, where he found work as a machinist in a carriage works.
On the 13th August 1910, he married Maud Adelaide Otway Hatchell in Vancouver, British Columbia. His wife was also from Maryborough and had arrived in Canada ten days before their wedding.
In the spring of 1915; however, the couple decided to return to Ireland for a holiday. Consequently, at the end of April 1915, they left Victoria and having arrived in New York, they boarded the Lusitania at Pier 54 in the harbour there, as second cabin passengers, on the morning of 1st May.
The vessel left New York in the early afternoon, after a delay to her sailing schedule caused because she had to embark crew, passengers and cargo from Anchor Liner the Cameronia, which the British Admiralty requisitioned for service as a troop ship. Then, and just six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk, within sight of the coast of southern Ireland and only about fourteen hours steaming time away from her Liverpool destination.
Both Thomas and Maud Turpin were lucky enough to be counted amongst the survivors, despite having separated while in the water and re-united when they landed at Queenstown. Both eventually made it back to Maryborough.
On hearing of the sinking, Thomas’ mother, who was in Killarney, County Kerry, a popular holiday location, telephoned a Mr. Freeman, the manager of the Imperial Hotel in Cork City, seeking information. He was obviously known to her, perhaps being a relative or family friend, and he telephoned the Cunard office at Queenstown. At the time of the call, Thomas Turpin was in the office, therefore confirming his safety, but at that time, nothing was known of Maud. She was landed at Queenstown some time after Thomas.
An account of the Turpin’s ordeal was reported in the Irish Independent on the 11th May 1915: -
Mr. T. Turpin, son of Mr. H. Turpin, solicitor, Maryborough, who, with his wife, was returning from Victoria, B.C, said the vessel listed to starboard on being first struck, and remained in that position for about ten minutes, so that the passengers were disposed to think there was not much danger.
The striking of the torpedo was like ‘a bottle being thrown into a basket of other bottles’, and was accompanied by very little sound. He knew nothing of a second torpedo. The deck became to them, as it were, ‘the side wall of a house’, going deeper and deeper, and the boilers began to explode as she sank by the bow, still retaining the list to starboard.
He was anxious to go below for lifebelts, but yielded to his wife’s entreaties that he should not do so. They got two deck-chairs and held on to them. A man tried to take the lady’s chair from her, but Mr. Turpin prevented him. There was a good deal of panic in their part of the vessel, and they knew nothing more until, following a boiler explosion, they found themselves in the water.
Struck on the forehead by some object, Mr. Turpin went down. When he came up, his wife was nowhere to be seen. His deck-chair was gone.
After swimming about for ten minutes or so, he reached an upturned boat,
on the keel of which several people were astride. With their assistance he managed to get up on the keel of the boat, where they all remained for four hours until rescued by a tug boat and brought to Queenstown. While he was afloat on the upturned boat, people on a similar boat about 200 yards away hailed him and told him his wife was safe.
Mrs. Turpin only recollects that after being thrown into the sea, she went under twice, and when she came up the second time she found herself near an upturned boat and was dragged onto the keel by one of the parties upon it.
She, with the others, was rescued by a trawler and brought to Queenstown, arriving some time after the tug which brought in her husband. She is still suffering from the effects of her awful experience. Mr. Turpin looks none the worse of all that he went through, but he still complains that he cannot sleep. ‘The cries of the drowning were heartrending, and they are still in my ears’, he says.
From there, they applied to The Lusitania Relief Fund, for a financial grant to help make up for a deterioration of health brought about by the traumas of the sinking. This fund had been set up after the liner had gone down, by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool and other local businessmen, to help second and third class passenger survivors and the relatives of those who had perished, who were experiencing difficulty as a result of the sinking. It was thought that saloon class passengers were wealthy enough not to need help and each claim was met on its merits.
In late August 1915, the awards committee granted them the sum of £10-0s-0d., in full and final settlement of any claim, so it could not have considered that their health had suffered irreparable damage!
The Turpin’s remained in Ireland, eventually settling in Belfast, County Antrim.
On the 27th August 1945, Thomas Turpin died suddenly, aged 60 years. His address at the time of his death was 40. Sandhurst Drive, Belfast. He was buried in Belfast City Cemetery. Maud Turpin died in Belfast in 1952.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, British Columbia Canada Marriage Index 1872 – 1935, 1901 Census of Ireland, 1911 Census of Ireland, 1911 Census of Canada, Pennsylvania Passenger Lists 1798 – 1962, Cunard Records, Belfast Telegraph, Irish Independent, Thom’s Official Directory 1920 edition, Liverpool Record Office, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/158, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.