Robert Grainger was born in Old Machar, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the 30th July 1884, the son of John Mackie and Rodina McKenzie Grainger (née Grainger). Some years after his birth, while he was still a child, his family moved to Bath, Somerset, England, where his father found employment as a cabinet maker. Robert was one of eight children in the family.
By 1901, the family had relocated to Liverpool, residing at 9. Lower Breck Road, on the outskirts of the city. By this time, Robert was working as a groom and domestic coachman and his father was working on Lord Derby’s estate as a carpenter/joiner.
On the 30th March 1904, Robert married Mary Jane Davies (née Catterall) in Liverpool. Mary Jane was a widow with one child, a son who was adopted by her late husband’s brother and his family. Robert and Mary Jane had two children - Margaret and Marian.
At some point Robert joined the Mercantile Marine as a waiter and served on trans-Atlantic liners.
He engaged as a waiter in the Stewards' Department on board the Lusitania, at New York on the 30th April 1915, at a monthly wage of £4-6s.-0d. (£4.30p.), just in time for her final voyage across the Atlantic. It is not known by what liner he had travelled to New York.
Although his engaging was to prove a fateful decision for him, he was lucky enough to survive the sinking, which happened exactly one week later! He was aged 30 years at the time.
Then, on the 7th October 1915, having recovered from the ordeal of the sinking of the Lusitania, he enlisted in the Army Service Corps of the British Army at Liverpool and became a motor driver. His service was cut short, however, while serving in France in 1916, when he became ill and was found to be coughing up blood. It transpired that he had been diagnosed as suffering from consumption while in New York in mid-1912 and ignored medical advice to spend some ti
from such illnesses were sent to recuperate. On being taken ill in France, he was diagnosed as having chronic lung disease and was certified as being medically unfit for service. He was discharged from the Army on the 28th November 1916. At this time, he was residing at 14. Grey Rock Street, Liverpool.
Robert and Mary Jane separated sometime after 1911, although they never divorced. Robert met Elizabeth Parker (née Monkhouse), who was also a widow, and in 1918 she bore Robert a son they named Gordon. In 1922 a second son was born to the couple, named Sidney. There is no evidence of them ever formally getting married, although they lived as a married couple. Robert’s wife, Mary Jane, entered into a relationship with a man named Robert Richards and had at least three more children, all boys.
After completing his military service, Robert Grainger became a motor mechanic and driver and never returned to the sea.
Robert Grainger was residing at 32. Makin Street, Walton, Liverpool, when he died on the 22nd July 1952, aged 68 years. He was buried on the 25th July 1952 in Anfield Cemetery, Liverpool.
Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, England & Scotland Select Cemetery Registers 1800 – 2022, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, 1921 Census of England, 1939 Register, Liverpool England Crew Lists 1861 – 1919, Cunard Records, UK British Army World War I Service Records 1914 – 1920, UniLiv. D/92/6/1, PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Margaret Humphreys, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 12th December 2023.