Edwin Glover was born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, in 1887, the only son of Fergus and Mary Glover (née Clowes). His father was a fishmonger and Edwin had four older sisters and one younger. In 1896, his father died, and his mother found work in a restaurant to support the family.
In 1911, he married Nellie Shaw in Manchester, and in 1914, their only child, a son named Fergus, was born. By 1915, the family were residing at 5. Grove Place, off Grey Street, Ardwick, South Manchester, Lancashire.
It is not known how he came to be a ship’s steward as he trained to be a printer, but he served as an officers' mess steward in the Stewards' Department on board the final voyage of the Lusitania.
When the liner was sunk off the southern coast of Ireland on the 7th May 1915, Edwin Glover was counted among the survivors, and having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, he eventually made it back to his home in Manchester.
Shortly after arriving at his home, he enlisted in the British Army. He originally joined the Lancashire Fusiliers as 35607 Private E. Glover, but later transferred to the 10th Battalion of the Lincolnshire as 32938 Private E. Glover.
Nothing is known of his service except he was sent to the Western Front and died of wounds on the 16th June 1917, aged 29 years. He was buried in Section V, Row H, Grave 23 in Faubourg D’Amiens Cemetery, Arras, France.
His wife married Frank Parsons in Accrington, Lancashire, in 1920, and had another son, named Frank, in 1924.
Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Royal British Legion, PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 3rd December 2023.