James Richard Rogers was born in Margate, Kent, England, on the 15th October 1873, the son of James Richard and Ellen Wyborn Rogers (née Bailey). His father was a carpenter, and James was one of six known children in the family.
On completing his education he became a printer, and in the early 1900’s, he immigrated to South Africa, where in May 1905, he married Louise “Louie” Sims, who was originally from Wales. Their first child, a son named Frank Arthur James, was born in August 1906.
In April 1910, the family immigrated, after a short stay in England, to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where shortly after their arrival, their son, Frank, was taken ill with diphtheria, and as the family were leaving in a boarding house, was admitted to an isolation hospital. While there, he contracted scarlet fever and measles, and these, combined with his diphtheria, caused his death on the 30th June 1910.
James Rogers, had made complaints about the conditions in the isolation hospital, especially the standard of care being provided to his son and other patients, and following his son’s death, he brought his concerns into the public forum. His reports, having appeared in the press, prompted a public enquiry which exonerated the hospital staff and the city medical officer. As a result of his own personal investigations and experience, James Rogers considered himself an amateur authority on public health and infectious diseases, and set about highlighting the deficiencies, he saw, in the public health system and the treatment of infectious diseases in Toronto.
Believing that the established newspapers were on the side of the officials, and therefore somewhat corrupt, in July 1911, he and his wife published the first edition of what was to become a bi-weekly tabloid, Jack Canuck! The newspaper very quickly found a niche in Toronto society, printing articles about the quality of public water, infant mortality, smallpox, and various other public health, and public interest stories.
Jack Canuck prided itself in ‘truth and justice’, and by January 1912 became a weekly publication. Although James Rogers was the ‘driving force’ and editor, his wife was the legal owner, and in October 1912, the couple incorporated the Jack Canuck Publishing Company Limited, and ‘bought’ the newspaper, thus protecting themselves from personal liability in the event of the newspaper being sued for libel for any article it published. By now, the couple had a daughter, named Thelma Annie, who was born in Toronto in July 1911, and the family lived at 33. Grace Street, Toronto.
After the outbreak of the Great War, James Rogers decided to travel to the Continent to report first-hand on the hostilities there, accompanied by Ernest Cowper, a well-known Canadian journalist and contributor/writer for Jack Canuck.
As a consequence, Mr. Rogers and Ernest Cowper booked second cabin passage on the May sailing of the Lusitania from New York City to Liverpool. They travelled from Toronto by rail, and joined the liner before she left New York, just after mid-day, on 1st May 1915. Six days later, the Lusitania was sunk when torpedoed by the German submarine, U-20, while she was steaming off the southern coast of Ireland, less than a day from arriving in Liverpool
Ernest Cowper later claimed that he and James Rogers saw a U-Boat, some one and a half hours before the Lusitania was struck! His assertion and account of the sinking were widely syndicated at the time, the reports stating: -
I was standing with Mr. Rogers on the starboard side, when all at once we observed the wake of our ship and realised that something was happening. When the vessel appeared to swerve we ran to the other side and then clearly saw away on the horizon, the conning tower of a submarine. She was evidently bent on heading us off, and sent us right into the other one.
I have not the slightest doubt that a cleverly-laid scheme was planned and successfully carried out. The torpedo struck at right angles. When we saw the submarine, Mr. Rogers, who was most unconcerned said “Here's where we get our copy.” Turning round he spoke to some ladies who were near, saying “Keep you heads. Keep cool. I do not believe she will sink.” The last I saw of Mr. Rogers was when I got into the second boat. He was then calmly walking up and down the deck nursing a baby. I have not heard of him since, and I fear he has drowned.
No trace of James Rogers was ever seen again, and on the 25th May 1915, the Queenstown office of Cunard received a cable from New York which stated: -
WHEN RECOVERED FORWARD REMAINS RICHARD J. ROGERS EDITOR JACK CANUCK TORONTO ADDRESS.
James Rogers was aged 41 years at the time of his death.
Although there were also three other people named Rogers, from Toronto, travelling on board the Lusitania, namely Mr. and Mrs. F.A. Rogers, and Miss Elizabeth Rogers, they were not related.
Louisa Rogers continued t
uisa Rogers filed for bankruptcy, sold her home, settled her affairs, and reportedly moved with her daughter to Florida, in the United States of America. Nothing more is known about her after this, and shortly after she left Toronto, it was reported that her lawyers had lost contact with her.
In 1931, compensation for the death of James Rogers was forwarded to a legal firm in Toronto, to be forwarded to Louisa Rogers, but is not known if they were successful in locating her.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of Canada, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Journal, Toronto World, Windsor Star, PRO BT 100/345, UniLiv. PR13/6, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Lawrence Evans, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.