James Selfe was born in Christchurch, Hampshire, England, in January 1882, the son of John Henry and Catherine Mary Selfe (née Walters). His father was a farmer, and James was the youngest of four known children.
On completing his education he became an upholsterer, and later a carpenter. In 1905, he immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
On the 21st April 1906, he married Marion Florence Carle in Toronto and the couple resided at 203. Ossington Avenue, Toronto. They had no children.
By the spring of 1915, James Selfe found himself unemployed and both he and his wife decided to return to England where they believed there were better employment opportunities for him.
As a result, he booked third class passage for himself and his wife on the May sailing of the Lusitania from New York to Liverpool. The ticket allocated to them was numbered 37927 and they used this to board the liner at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York, on the morning of 1st May 1915, having left Canada some time in April, probably by rail. Once on board, however, the liner’s scheduled 10 o’clock departure time came and went as she loaded passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Lines vessel the S.S. Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop
ship. The great liner finally got under way at 12.27 p.m..
Then, six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, and within sight of the coast of southern Ireland, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, only about twelve to fourteen hours steaming time from the safety of her home port.
Both James Selfe and his wife were killed as a result of this action and as neither of their bodies was ever recovered from the sea and identified afterwards, neither has a known grave. James Self was aged 33 years at the time.
Cunard records spell his name as Self on the passenger manifest but this is erroneous and Selfe was his correct name.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Ontario Canada Marriages 1801 – 1928, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of Canada, UK Outward Passenger Lists 1890 – 1960, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Toronto World, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.