Lewis Frank Yardley was born in Ladywood, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, in 1883, the son of Elijah and Ann Yardley (Née Lewis). His father was a grocer and the family home was over his father’s shop at 77. Ledsam Street, Birmingham. He was the second youngest of seven known children in the family.
On completing his education, he became a salesman, specialising in millinery.
In 1909, he married Louisa Lewis, and by 1915, the family home was at 44. Alexander Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham. The couple had one child, a daughter named Beatrice Helen.
In March 1914, he crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Canada, and went to Toronto, Ontario, in search of work. Then, in the spring of 1915, he decided to return home, because of the war in Europe, and as a consequence, he booked second cabin passage on the Lusitania with A.F. Webster & Son of Toronto. He left Toronto by rail at the end of April 1915 and boarded the vessel at Pier 54 in New York Harbour on the morning of 1st May 1915. He occupied berth 2 in cabin E98. Also sharing this cabin were Thornton Jackson, Charles H. Stevens, and George Nicoll.
When the Cunarder was struck, just six days out of New York and only hours away from her Liverpool destination, he was killed. He was aged 32 years. As his body was never recovered from the sea and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. His fellow passengers in cabin E98 perished also.
Later that summer, his widow applied to The Lusitania Relief Fund, for financial help. She was residing at this time at Riversleigh, 4. Powis Road, Astleton, Preston. This fund had been set up immediately after the liner had gone down, by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool and other local business dignitaries to help second and third class passenger survivors and the relatives of those who had perished, who had come upon hard times as a result of the sinking.
In August 1915, the awards committee decided to delay a decision on any payment, because Mrs. Yardley was employed in a local Post Office and was likely to receive £100-0s-0d., from an insurance policy on her husband’s life. They eventually awarded her £0-3s-0d per week until December 1915, and thereafter stopped payments to her, presumably because she was in employment, but awarded her child £0-5s-0d. per week.
Lewis Yardley left his estate of £97-18s.-6d. (£97.92½p) to his wife.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Birmingham England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Liverpool Record Office, Probate Records, Birmingham Mail, Smethwick Telephone, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv D92/2/200, UniLiv D92/2/11, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.