Robert Brown Shirras was born in Belhelvie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the 24th October 1888, the son of Alexander and Ann Shirras (née Taylor). The family home was at 'Whitehills', Belhelvie, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire. His father was a farm servant, and later a gardener’s labourer and Robert was the second youngest of six known children.
In 1910, he had immigrated to Canada and settled in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where he worked as a farm labourer. He returned for a holiday in 1912, and in early 1915, he had moved to Toronto, Ontario, where he found employment with the local firm of T. Eaton and Company Limited. He resided at 37. Mutual Street, Toronto.
In the spring of 1915, however, he decided to return home and help his father in the management of his farm. As a consequence, he booked second cabin passage on the Lusitania and having left Toronto at the end of April, he joined the liner at her moorings in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May 1915.
The liner left New York in the early afternoon to begin her delayed sailing to Liverpool and just six days later, she was torpedoed and sunk just 250 miles from her destination and only twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland.
Robert Shirras was one of the many third class passengers to lose his life on that fateful day, and if his remains were ever recovered, they proved impossible to identify. He has now known grave.
About one week after the sinking, a fishing boat recovered what was described as “a broken box”, containing men’s clothing and some documents. The documents identified the luggage as belonging to Robert Shirras, and concerned the granting of some land to Robert Shirras of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. This referred to the purchase of some land in North Alberta by Robert Shirras in August 1913. These documents, as well as the few items of clothing found with them, was forwarded to his father.
On the 11th November 1915, his father was awarded his estate, which was valued at £46-1s.-0d. (£46.05p), and although his remains were never recovered or identified, he is remembered on his family grave at Oyne Kirkyard, Oyne, Aberdeenshire.
1891 Census of Scotland, 1901 Census of Scotland, 1911 Census of Canada, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Aberdeen Daily Journal, Probate Records, UniLiv D92/2/321, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.