Robert James Clarke was born in Bootle, Lancashire, England on the 12th September 1899, the son of John and Mary Elizabeth Clarke (née Foster). Robert’s father and older siblings were ship’s stewards in the Mercantile Marine, and Robert followed on in the family tradition. In 1915, the family lived at 77, Sidney Street, Bootle, Liverpool. There were six children in the family.
He engaged as a stewards' boy in the Stewards' Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool on the 12th April 1915, at a monthly rate of pay of £2-10s-0d., (£2.50p.) and joined the vessel on the morning of the 17th April, before she made her last ever exit from the River Mersey. It was not his first voyage on the ship, and he was probably introduced to the sea by his father, who also worked for the Cunard Steamship Company as a steward on the Mauretania.
Having survived the disaster, he was sent back to England nursing a bandaged hand, and arrived at Lime Street Railway Station, Liverpool, where he was met by his father and reporters from the local press.
He gave them an account of his experiences which was reported in The Bootle Times on the 14th May 1915. He stated that he was in the glory hole, presumably deep down below decks, when the ship was struck. When she began to list, he went up to the boat deck and (presumably because of his age), he was put into a lifeboat with about 50 others. Then, apparently, the falls were accidentally cut, and the boat plunged some 80 feet, spilling all its occupants into the sea. This was probably Lifeboat No. 17.
Clarke was left hanging onto one of the ropes, which badly bruised his hand, and as
the ship continued to list, he was able to gain a footing on the edge of the side plating and eventually drop into another lifeboat, which was also full. This lifeboat turned turtle three times and its occupants were also thrown into the water.
He said that floating wreckage, which consisted of a lifebelt, an oar, and a deck chair, kept him and four other men afloat for an hour and three quarters, before they were all rescued by the Government tug Brock, and eventually landed at Queenstown. He was of the opinion that the Lusitania had been hit by two torpedoes, the first in the No. 1 stoke hole and the second in the engine room.
He also stated to the Bootle Times reporter that he was told to get into the first boat by Assistant Superintendent Caterer W.H. Winter who told him: -
Get into the boat sonny, you are only a bit of a kid yet.
When Clarke urged Mr. Winter to get into the boat himself, Winter replied: -
I've got plenty of work to do shoving out the next boats. Good-bye, boys, and good luck.
The Assistant Superintendent was not amongst the survivors, and his corpse was eventually recovered from the sea.
Another account, published in The Barrow News on the 15th May 1915 also tells of his experiences, although it names him as Robert Black. There was no person named Black serving as a crew member on the Lusitania’s final voyage, however, and it is most probable that the newspaper article refers to him. It stated: -
Another member of the stewards’ department Robert Black, a bell boy, said that he was reading in his bunk when the ship was violently shaken from stem to stern by the torpedo. “I ran on deck and found the huge vessel already heeling over. I slid down the ropes and was taken on board one of the lifeboats which was just leaving the ship.”
After he had returned to Liverpool, he was officially paid off from the Lusitania’s last voyage and received the balance of wages owing to him, which amounted to £2-17s-8d. (£2.94p.). This was in respect of his sea service from the 17th April 1915 until the 8th May - 24 hours after the liner had gone down!
Cunard records show Robert Clarke's surname to be spelled Clark, which is incorrect.
According to his family, while Robert was awaiting rescue from the ocean, he vowed to devote the remainder of his life to serving the Lord. Thus, after spending a few more years at sea, he became a clergyman of the Episcopal Church and moved to the United States of America where he became a vicar of The Church of Good Shepherd, in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Robert Clarke married Margaret Iona Emma Hellstrom on the 23rd August 1932 in Great Neck, Nassau County, New York, and they had three children – Margaret, Mary, and Lillian.
Reverend Robert James Clarke retired from active live in 1968, and died at Parkwest
Manor Nursing Home, State College, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on the 8th June 1974, aged 75 years. He was buried at the Buck Mountain Episcopal Church, Earlysville, Virginia, U.S.A.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919, New York State Marriage Index 1881 – 1967, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, 1921 Census of England, 1940 U.S. Federal Census, 1950 U.S. Federal Census, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, UK Campaign Medals Awarded to World War I Merchant Seamen 1914 – 1925, U.S. World War II Draft Cards Young Men 1940 – 1947, Barrow News, Bootle Times, Crosby Herald, Liverpool Echo, The Record, PRO BT 350, PRO BT 351/1/25268, Graham Maddocks, Cyndi Morrison, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 8th January 2023