Arthur Clegg was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, in 1872, the son of James and Anna Clegg (née Pike). His father was a warehouseman. Arthur was a professional steward in the British mercantile Marine.
On Christmas Day, 1902, Arthur Clegg married a widow named Mary Hookes (née Griffiths) in Liverpool. Mary was a ship’s stewardess, so it is likely he met her while both served in the Stewards Department of a liner. In 1915, the family lived at 47, Chatsworth Avenue, Aintree, Liverpool.
On the 12th April 1915, at Liverpool, he re-engaged as a first class bedroom steward in the Stewards' Department on board the Lusitania. This rank allowed him a monthly rate of pay of £4-5s.-0d. (£4.25p.).
The liner crossed the Atlantic Ocean without incident and having docked in New York on the 24th April 1915, eventually left there on the early afternoon of the 1st May, for her return to Liverpool. For this journey, Clegg was responsible for the nine saloon passengers in rooms B76, B78, B80, B82, B86, B90 and B92, which included Welsh coal millionaire, David Thomas, and his daughter, Lady Margaret Mackworth.
Then, six days later, on the afternoon of the 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine, U-20, within sight of the coast of southern Ireland. At that time, she was only about 250 miles away from the safety of her home port. James Clegg lost his life as a result of this action, as well as four of his saloon passenger charges, and as his body was not recovered from the sea and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. As a consequence, his name is embossed on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London. He was aged 42 years.
In August 1915, his widow, Mary, received from Cunard, the balance of pay owed to him in respect of his service on the Lusitania’s last voyage. This was reckoned to be from the 17th April 1915 until the 8th May - 24 hours after the liner had been sunk. In addition, The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited granted a yearly pension to Mary Clegg to compensate her for the loss of her husband which amounted to £52-16s.-10d. (£52.84p.), which was payable at the rate of £4-8s.-1d. (£4.40½p.) per month.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Marriages, and Banns 1754 – 1935, 1881 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, UK Campaign Medals
Awarded to World War I Merchant Seamen 1914 – 1925, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 334, PRO BT 351/1/25543, UniLiv. PR 13/24, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Lawrence Evans, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 8th January 2023.