Richard ‘Ric’ Chamberlain was born in Kirkby, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on the 3rd October 1857, the illegitimate son of Sarah Chamberlain. He was raised on his grandfather’s farm in Kirkby.
On completing his education, he worked as a farm servant before joining the British Mercantile Marine as a waiter on ocean-going vessels.
On the 27th July 1884, he married Sarah Louise Rawlings in Liverpool, and in 1915, they lived at 7, Grote Street, Edge Hill, Liverpool, Lancashire. They had no children; however, they adopted a girl named Irene Scott, who was born in 1905.
Richard Chamberlain engaged as a night watchman in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania on the 12th April 1915 at Liverpool at a monthly wage of £4-5s-0d. (£4.25p.) and reported for duty on board the liner at Liverpool Landing Stage, on the morning of the 17th April, in time for the Lusitania’s last ever voyage out of the River Mersey to New York. It was not the first time that he had served on ‘The Greyhound of the Seas’.
Having completed the liner’s crossing to New York without mishap, Richard Chamberlain was still serving on board on the early afternoon of the 1st May, as the Lusitania left New York on the start of her return voyage to Liverpool. Then, six days into the voyage, on the afternoon of the 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine, U-20, within sight of the coast of southern Ireland. At that time, she was only about fourteen hours steaming time away from the safety of her home port. Night Watchman Chamberlain lost his life as a result of this action. He was aged 57 years, although when he engaged, he stated that he was 52!
Afterwards, his body was recovered from the sea and landed from the Royal Naval patrol boat H.M.S. Heron at the fishing village of Kinsale and given the reference number 5. At the inquest held on the death of Lieutenant Robert Matthews, one of the Lusitania’s passengers, on the 8th May, Sergeant Michael Power of the Royal Irish Constabulary at Kinsale also gave evidence of identification of Chamberlain’s body although he did not know his identity at the time. He stated: -
He was also one of the crew, about 50 years of age, with grey hair and a beard. He was bald. He wore a striped blue shirt ..... . He wore spectacles and cotton drawers. he had teeth lost in the front of his mouth. There were the initials “F.E.L.T” on the back of his coat in red thread. He had two pence and some keys on a brass chain in his pocket. There were no other marks of identification on body or clothes.
The inquest was convened on the initiative of local Coroner John J. Horgan in The Market House in Kinsale itself and the verdict of the coroner’s jury, on all the bodies landed was eventually that: -
We find that this appalling crime was contrary to international law and the conventions of all civilised nations and we therefore charge the officers of the said submarine and the Emperor and Government of Germany under whose orders they acted with the wilful and wholesale murder before the tribunal of the civilised world!
On the 10th May 1915, Chamberlain’s body was buried in St. Multose Churchyard, Kinsale. The cortege formed up at the Barrack Square in Kinsale and consisted of three coffins, that of Night Watchman Chamberlain, fellow crew member Night Watchman George Cranston, and that of an unknown female victim, later identified as second cabin passenger Mrs. Margaret Shineman.
The procession was led by a detachment of the Connaught Rangers and was followed by a few surviving crew members and members of the Kinsale Urban Council and Kinsale Harbour Board. He was buried in Grave M3, next to Night Watchman Cranston.
The inscription on the kerbstone of the grave states: -
GEORGE CRADUCK AND RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN
VICTIMS OF THE LUSITANIA OUTRAGE 7 MAY 1915
Night Watchman Cranston is clearly buried under the wrong name, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has stated that it will rectify this, in due course.
Despite his having an actual grave location, however, the records of the Commission also showed Richard Chamberlain to have been lost at sea and consequently, his name is erroneously recorded on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
Following information given to the Commission by Graham Maddocks, the grave was inspected by one of its officers. Whilst he was satisfied that Night Watchman Chamberlain was adequately commemorated, it was decided that the grave will be inspected at regular intervals in the future to monitor its condition. It is possible, however, that if Night Watchman Cranston is given a Commission headstone, then one might also be erected for Chamberlain.
Consequently, if the bronze panels at Tower Hill ever have to be replaced in the future, Chamberlain's name will be erased from the replacement. The records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission state that his Mercantile Marine rank was Watch.
In August 1915, his family received from Cunard, the balance of pay owed to him in respect of his service on the Lusitania’s last voyage, which was reckoned to be from the 17th April 1915 until the 8th May, 24 hours after the liner had gone down.
The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited granted a yearly pension to Sarah Chamberlain to compensate her for the loss of her husband which amounted to £38-11s-10d. (£38.59p.), which was payable at the rate of £3-4s-4d. (£3.21½p.) per month.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Catholic Baptisms 1741 – 1919, Liverpool England Church of
England Marriages and Banns 1754 – 1935, 1861 Census of England, 1871 Census of England, 1881 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Birkenhead News, Cork Examiner, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 334, UniLiv.D92/1/8-10, 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 – 4th January 2023.