Adolph Samuel Nussbaum was born in Switzerland on the 12th January 1885, the son of Samuel and Lisette Nussbaum (née Hauser). Nothing is known of his family or early life, or when he came to the United Kingdom.
By 1911, he was residing 2. Ewlyn Terrace, Fairfield Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, and was working as a chef in a boarding house or private hotel.
He married Johanna Wilhelmina Ninna Bergundthal in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, in late 1911, and in 1915, they lived at 38, West Street, Liverpool, Lancashire. Johanna appears to have had an illegitimate daughter, born in London, in 1908, and Adolph and Johanna had three children.
It is not known whether Adolph Nussbaum joined the British Mercantile Marine as a ship’s cook, or whether he just occasionally signed on as a chef on passenger liners, but he served as Soup Cook in the Stewards' Department on board the Lusitania on her final voyage and was killed when she was sunk. He was aged 30 years.
His body was not recovered and identified afterwards and as a result his name is embossed on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
In August 1915, his widow was given the balance of wages owed to him from the Lusitania’s last voyage, reckoned from the 12th April 1915, until the 8th May, 24 hours after she had gone down. In addition, Adolph Nussbaum held a life assurance policy with The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited. Under the terms of the policy the company were to pay out £75-9s.-5d. (£75.47p.) per year to an institution or organisation with the title of “Der Antevormund”. The money was payable at the rate of £18-17s.-5d. (£18.87p.) per month.
Register of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, PRO BT 334, UniLiv. PR. 13/24, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 27th January 2025.