Robert Charles Niemann was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on the 29th February 1884, the son of Charles and Mary Jane Niemann (née Murray). Robert’s father, who was a labourer and safe maker was German, and his mother Irish. Robert was the eldest of ten children in the family.
After leaving school, Robert worked in a restaurant before he joined the British Mercantile Marine as a waiter on passenger ships.
In 1915, he lived at 18, Arnold Grove, Toxteth, Liverpool, which was the home of his married sister, Evelina Price. His father had died in 1904, and in 1915, his mother maintained the family home at 1. Spekeland Vale, Edge Hill, Liverpool.
He engaged on board the Lusitania as a waiter in the Stewards' Department on the 30th April 1915 at New York, at a monthly rate of £4-5s.-0d. (£4.25p.), for what was to be her final voyage across the Atlantic.
He survived the sinking, which took place just seven days later. He was aged 31 years at the time.
In the book The Last Voyage of the Lusitania, published in 1958, Robert Niemann is quoted frequently as an eye witness crew member; however, his surname is incorrectly spelt as Wiemann.
Following his survival from the sinking of the Lusitania, Robert Niemann decided not to return to sea, and found a position as an engineer’s fitter at the Ford car manufacturing plant at Trafford Park, Manchester, Lancashire.
In the summer of 1919, Robert married Elizabeth Howard in Chorlton, Manchester, and a year later, their first child, a daughter named Marion Florence Niemann was born. The family resided at 13. Mackworth Street, Hulme, Manchester.
After the birth of their first child, because of the German connotations of the name Niemann, the family changed their name to Barnes, and in 1922, their second daughter, Dora Lillian Barnes, was born. Tragically, their eldest child, Marion, died in 1923.
The family later moved to 113. Sewerby Street, Moss side, Manchester.
Robert Charles Barnes (formerly Niemann) died in Manchester on the 15th June 1963, aged 79 years. He was buried in the same grave as his eldest daughter, Marion, and his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 1952, in Southern Cemetery, Chorlton, Manchester.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, 1921 Census of England, 1939 Register, Cunard Records, The Last Voyage of the Lusitania, UniLiv. D92/6/1, PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 26th January 2025.