Cecil Hamilton Weir was born in Shanghai, China, in 1884 the second eldest son of Thomas and Cecelia Weir, (née Hamilton). He had a sister named Janey Helena, who was born in 1879, a brother named James, who was born in 1880, a sister named Eliza, who was born in 1886, and another sister named Evelyn, who was born in 1891.
Although born in Shanghai, he was a British subject and his father was a Marine Superintendent with the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company in Shanghai.
His parents were originally from Scotland, and at some stage he was sent to relatives in Scotland to be educated. On completing his formal education, he studied to be a mechanical engineer. He became managing director of G. & A. Harvey Limited, Scotland.
On the 12th October 1911, he arrived in Quebec, Canada, on board the Empress of Ireland, stating it was his intention to travel onwards to New York City in the United States of America; however, on the 27th October 1911, he married May Watson Fulton, who had also arrived in Canada from Scotland in 1911, in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the other side of Canada! Within weeks of their marriage the couple returned to Scotland.
It is not known when they returned to Canada, although their son, Cecil James, was born in Glasgow on the 2nd April 1913.
The family were living in Vancouver, owning their own home at 2107. McLaren Avenue, and Cecil worked in a construction company – Fulton Brothers Limited, of Victoria, British Columbia, which may have been connected with his wife.
In the spring of 1915, he decided to return to Great Britain on the promise of receiving a commission in the British Army. Consequently, he booked a second cabin passage for himself on what proved to be the Lusitania's last ever voyage and leaving Victoria he joined the liner at the Cunard berth, at Pier 54 in New York city on the morning of May Day, in plenty of time for her scheduled 10.00 a.m. sailing. This was then delayed until just after mid-day, by the extra loading of passengers, crew and cargo, from the S.S. Cameronia, which had been taken up from trade by the British Admiralty for use as a troop ship, before she had had time to sail.
Then, six days out of New York, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania, was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, only twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from the safety of her home port. Cecil Weir lost his life as a result of this action and as his body was never recovered and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 32 years.
However, in Faslane Cemetery, Garelochhead, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, there is a family grave with the headstone inscription: -
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
CECIL HAMILTON WEIR
LOST BY THE DESTRUCTION OF THE “LUSITANIA”
7TH MAY 1915, AGED 32 YEARS.
Thus, it is likely that Garelochhead was his home area.
His wife lodged a claim with the Canadian Commission seeking compensation for the loss of her husband on behalf of herself and their son. In March 1925, the Commission awarded May Weir the sum of $12,000 to compensate her for the loss of her husband and a further $436.50 for the loss of his money and personal effects in the sinking. Further, the Commission awarded Cecil James Weir the sum of $10,000 for the loss of his father. Cecil Weir also left an estate of $19,946 in Vancouver.
His son, Cecil, joined the Royal Air Force in 1931, and during World War II, served as a Wing Commander in Bomber Command, and was the sole survivor or his Avro Lancaster bomber when it was destroyed accidently by a bomb from another aircraft of his flight in November 1944 while on a bombing mission on the Osnabruck Canal. He was interned as a prisoner-of-war at Stalag Luft I until the war ended.
After the war, he continued to serve in the Royal Air Force and in October 1964 was assigned to Washington D.C., where he was the deputy to the British representative on the NATO Military Committee and deputy head of the British Defence Staff in Washington. He died suddenly of a heart attack on the 5th August 1965, while in Washington.
British Columbia Marriage Index 1872 – 1924, 1901 Census of Scotland, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Vancouver Daily World, Canadian Claims Case No. 872, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Shirley Hitchcock, Peter Threlfall, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.