Prudence Mary Rose was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, on the 28th February 1856, the daughter of Matthew Gettley and Prudence Mary Rose (née Hodgkiss). Prudence was the second youngest of five children, although only her brother, Charles, and she lived to adulthood. Her father died in 1862, and her mother married a man named James Kerkhoff in 1866.
In the early 1870’s the family immigrated to New York City in the United States of America, and on the 30th September 1886, she married Charles E.H. Robinson, a native New Yorker, and in early 1915, the family home was in Tulpehocken Street, Germanstown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Her husband had been the Philadelphia representative of The Walkover Show Company and in the spring of 1915, he was selected to go to England to run the company’s interests in London.
Thus, he booked a saloon passage for himself and Prudence Robinson on the May sailing of the Lusitania through the Philadelphia office of his company, and the couple left home for New York, in the first leg of their journey at the end of April.
Arriving at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 on the morning of 1st May 1915 in time for the steamer’s scheduled 10 o’clock departure, they boarded with ticket number 74681 and were escorted to their accommodation in room B6, which was under the personal supervision of First Class Bedroom Steward William Williams, who came from Liverpool.
The liner’s departure for Liverpool was then delayed until the early afternoon, because she had to take on board passengers, cargo and crew from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work as a troop ship at the end of April. Then, six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland by the German submarine U-20, and sank just 18 minutes later. At that stage of her voyage, she was only 250 miles from the safety ofof her home port.
Both Prudence and Charles Robinson were killed as a result of this action and as neither of their bodies was ever recovered and identified afterwards, neither has a known grave. Prudence Robinson was aged 59 years at the time.
Bedroom Steward Williams, who had looked after Prudence and Charles Robinson in room B6, did survive the sinking, however and eventually made it back to his Liverpool home.
After the War, Charles Rose, Prudence Robinson’s sole brother, and heir, filed a claim with the Mixed Claims Commission for compensation for her death. As he was not deemed to be dependent on her, his claim was refused. He did, however, her estate of £600 in England.
The Cunard Steam Ship Company published a list of casualties in March 1916, and this stated that Prudence and Charles Robinson were British. However, a later, one upgraded in February 1917 and usually a more reliable source, shows them to be citizens of the United States of America. This source also names shows Annie to be Mrs. Robinson's forename, which was not the case.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Birmingham England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919, New York U.S. Extracted Marriage Index 1866 – 1937, 1861 Census of England & Wales, 1871 Census of England & Wales, 1875 New York State Census, 1880 U.S. Federal Census, 1900 U.S. Federal Census, 1905 New York State Census, 1910 U.S. Federal Census, U.S. Passport Applications 1795 – 1925, Massachusetts Passenger Lists 1820 – 1963, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Mixed Claims Commission Docket No. 223 & 224, New York Times, Probate Records, PRO 22/71, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.