Robert William Whaley was born in Elsdon, Northumberland, England, on the 17th July 1882, the son of John Robert and Mary Annie Whaley (née Hall). He was the eldest of eleven known children in the family, and his parents were farmers.
On the 7th January 1902, aged 20 years, Robert enlisted in the British Army for a term of one year. After basic training, as 43670 Private Robert Whaley, Imperial Yeomanry, he was sent to South Africa on the 8th May 1902, where he served with the 136th Company, 30th Battalion. On his return to England, he was discharged on the 9th January 1903.
On the 28th May 1904, he arrived in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on board the Tunisian, stating he intended to settle in Winnipeg. Manitoba. It is not known if he ever went to Winnipeg; however, he settled in Victoria, British Columbia, where he found
employment as a linesman with a telephone company.
On the 10th October 1912, he married Candace Emma Melinda Kent, always known as “Emma”, in Victoria. The couple resided at 538. Harbinger Avenue, Victoria, and on the 31st May 1913, their son, Robert Ernest, was born. Just six weeks later, on the 12th July, Emma Whaley died at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Victoria, aged 22 years. In May 1914, Robert sent his young son to England to be cared for by his mother in Elsdon.
In the spring of 1915, Robert Whaley booked second cabin passage on the Lusitania to sail across the Atlantic to England, to visit relatives in Newcastle upon Tyne, in Northumberland. Leaving Victoria by rail at the end of April, he joined the liner at Pier 54 in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May 1915 and was on board when she left there for the last time at 12.27 p.m.. The liner was supposed to leave at 10 o’clock, but was delayed while she embarked passengers and some of the crew and the cargo from the Anchor Lines vessel the S.S. Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty as a troop ship at the end of April.
Six days later, on 7th May 1915, Robert Whaley was one of the lucky ones who survived the torpedoing of the Lusitania by the German submarine U-20, when she was only hours away from her Liverpool destination and in sight of the coast of southern Ireland. She sank within 20 minutes.
Having been rescued from the sea, he was landed at Queenstown, from where he eventually got to Newcastle!
He later gave a brief account of his rescue to a press representative and this was published in The Manchester Guardian edition of Monday 10th May 1915. It stated that: -
He saw men trying to lower a boat with 20 or 30 people in it, but owing to the list, it smashed into the side of the ship and many of the occupants fell into the water. He did not think that any of them were rescued as they fell from a great height.
He was pulled down by the suction, but rose to the surface only to find that his foot was entangled in the aerials of the wireless equipment, from which he shook himself free with difficulty.
Following his ordeal, Robert Whaley’s health suffered as a result of shock and exposure from being immersed in the Atlantic Ocean for a lengthy period and he received medical treatment for a number of months. By September 1915, he had recovered sufficiently to offer his services to the British Army.
On the 21st September 1915, he enlisted in the Territorial Force as 2906 (later 127073) Sapper R.W. Whaley, 63rd Northumberland Division Signal Company, Royal Engineers.
Mr Whaley received a letter from Mrs. Prichard, whose son, Richard Mostyn Prichard, was another second class passenger on the voyage and of whom nothing had been heard of after the sinking. Mrs. Prichard wrote to as many survivors as she could obtain addresses for, seeking any information on her son. Robert Whaley wrote: -
Retford,
Nov. 28th
Dear Madam,
I must apologise for not replying to your letter sooner but I have been confined to the Military Hospital here in Retford, so naturally your letter was quite a while in finding me, & when it did reach me, I was not in a very good position to answer it.
I met your son several times while on the Lusitania, in fact, he & I sat directly opposite each other while in the dining room. During the way over he wore a dark suit, navy blue, I should say, but I am sorry to say Madam, that I never saw him at the time of the accident, or disaster, or at any time afterwards.
The boat in which I was rescued was in charge of the Chief Officer, (Mr. Roberts, I believe his name was, but I would not be sure of this). This boat was very full, having nearly seventy persons aboard, & I, along with several others, was detailed off to another boat, which had in it only two men, stokers from the Lusitania. Your son was not on this boat, of that I am confident, there was one young man who passed away, almost directly after being laid in the boat, but it was not your son.
We were picked up by the “Indian Empire”, & personally I do not think we towed any small boats into Queenstown. I was very cold & wet & paced the deck the greater part of the way in, but I do not remember seeing any small boats in tow. As to any of the other passengers who were saved, & who might be able to give you any information, I am sorry that I can give you no assistance. There was one lady, who sat next to your son at the dining table, among the saved, & who would no doubt recognize the photograph, but I have not the slightest idea what her name was, or where she was going. I know that her mother, who was lost, was an Irish lady, so in all probability she stayed in Ireland. Now Madam, if there is anything else you would like to ask me, I will only be too pleased to tell you all I know, if it will help you in any way.
I hope you will excuse pencil, but in the army the facilities for writing letters are not the very best.
Believe me,
Yours truly,
R.W. Whaley.
2906 Spr. R.W. Whaley
63rd N.D Signal Coy.
Royal Engineers
Retford
Notts.
Mr. Whaley was mistaken when he stated that his lifeboat was under the command of the Chief Officer, as Chief Officer John T. Piper did not survive the sinking. The one lady, who sat next to your son at the dining table, was undoubtedly Miss Martha “Meta” Moody, from Limavady, County Londonderry, who is known to have been positioned at
the dining table beside Mr. Prichard, and whose mother was lost in the sinking.
Mrs. Prichard must have replied, and sought answers about the young man who had died shortly after having been brought on board the lifeboat, for a second letter from Robert Whaley stated: -
Retford,
Dec. 13th
Dear Madam,
Your letter of Dec. 5th to hand a few days ago. I fancy there was not very much the matter with me, so was not kept on the sick list very long, & was discharged out of the hospital soon after I wrote to you.
As you say, it was rather difficult to recognize faces, especially after they had been in the water for some time, but this young man I speak of, was lying directly behind me, & I had every opportunity of scanning the features closely, so that I can at least satisfy myself that this was not the body of your son. I can not remember very much about the man’s features, only that he had dark hair, also that he had a life-belt, and as far as I can remember, was fully dressed. I saw so much of your son on board that I feel sure I would have recognized him again had I seen him. There was a man baling the water out of our boat, but who he was, or what he was I do not know, also a stout lady, & although I do not remember it, I have no doubt but what she did try to revive this poor man, as she appeared to be very cool & collected. I do not think there was a lady on this boat that wore a fur coat, at least I do not remember seeing one, & as it was a lovely warm day, I think this would be rather improbable. You ask what became of this man’s body. After being satisfied that he had expired, the man in charge of the boat gave orders to shove the body overboard, to ensure the safety of the other survivors, as we were picking up so many, & in danger of being swamped. This order was carried out.
There was one old gentleman picked up in this boat, along with his daughter, & both survived, also a very old lady who also lived. You ask about how long I was in the first boat, I would not be sure of this, but I should judge about half an hour. One of the two men who were in this (second) boat was a stoker I am sure, as he & I pulled on one oar all the afternoon, as he told me he had just come off duty, & was laying in his bunk when the torpedo struck her, & the other man, I am nearly positive, also was a stoker. He was naked when we first got into the boat, & the lady sitting next to me, (I fancy this is the lady you speak of, as she was dark & stout) gave him her coat. I remained on the deck of the Lusit. until she was nearly gone before I jumped & I managed to get into the small boat very soon after she had disappeared beneath the water.
Might I ask if you, or any one that knew your son, searched for his body in Queenstown, as I understand the number of bodies to be picked up was very small in comparison to the number that were on board.
Trusting this information will help you a little more.
I remain,
Yours sincerely,
Robt. W. Whaley.
2906 Spr. R.W. W.
63rd N.D Signal Coy.
Royal Engineers
Retford
Notts.
No trace of Richard Preston Prichard was ever found.
Robert Whaley remained in England until the 2nd April 1918, when he was transferred to the No. 1 Light Railway Signal Company, Royal Engineers, in France. He returned from France in May 1919, and was demobilised on the 25th July 1919. He had been promoted to corporal in 1918, which was his final rank.
Before he was officially demobilized, he returned to Canada, when he boarded the Orduña at Liverpool on the 18th June. Presumably he was able to do this due to leave being owed to him. On returning to Victoria, he resided for a time at the Vernon Hotel on Douglas Street in the city.
He submitted a claim to the Canadian Commission for compensation for the loss of his personal belongings and injury to his health and medical expenses. In May 1926, the Commission awarded him $417.50 in compensation for the loss of his personal effects, and a further $1,000 to compensate him for the damage to his health and medical expenses.
On the 6th March 1926, Robert Whaley married Sybil Edna Dash in Victoria, and they had no children; however, Robert’s son from his first marriage eventually moved from England to live with them. The family eventually moved to Vancouver, where they resided at 2892. West 34th Street in the city.
Robert Whaley died in Vancouver on the 24th October 1952, aged 70 years. He was buried in Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, British Columbia Canada Marriage Index 1872 – 1935, British Columbia Canada Death Records 1872 – 1990, National School Admission Registers & Log Books 1870 – 1914, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1921 Census of Canada, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Imperial Yeomanry Service Records 1899 – 1902, British Army Service Records 1914 – 1920, Canadian Claims Case No. 875, IWM GB62, Manchester Guardian, Vancouver Sun, Victoria Daily Times, Public Record Office, Graham Maddocks, Joe Devereux, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.