Samuel Sharp was born in Swarkestone, Derbyshire, England, in 1861, the son of George and Maria Sharp (née Bates). His father was an agricultural labourer, and the family resided for many years with Samuel’s maternal grandparents.
On completing his education, he became a wheelwright, and in 1882, he married Mary Jane Mills in Melbourne, Derbyshire. The couple had two sons, Harry, born in 1889, and George, who was born in 1899, and the family lived at South Street, Melbourne. Residing with them for many years was John Bird, who was a nephew of Mary Jane Sharp, and who might have been adopted by the family.
In late 1914, Samuel Sharp had been employed at Donington Hall, near Derby, preparing it for use as a prisoner of war camp for captured Germans, and on completing his work, in February 1915, the entire family decided on a holiday and boarded the Lusitania at Liverpool, and travelled to New York City, from where they made their way to Crooksville, Ohio, where John Bird had settled a number of years previously.
Whereas the family travelled for a holiday, the eldest son, Harry, decided to stay in Crooksville with John Bird, and thus, Samuel, his wife, and youngest son, set out to return to their home in England. Consequently, they booked third class passage on the Lusitania, for the trans-Atlantic crossing which was scheduled to begin at 10.00 a.m. on 1st May 1915.
This was then delayed as she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work as a troop ship and she finally left the port just after mid-day. Just six days
later, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed and sunk twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland and only hours away from her home port.
All three family members were lucky enough to survive this action, however, and having been rescued from the sea, they were landed at Queenstown, from where, eventually, they all made it back to their home in Melbourne. Samuel Sharp was aged 54 years at the time of the sinking.
Later on, he applied to The Lusitania Relief Fund (administered by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool), for financial help to help cover property lost in the sinking and was later awarded £5-0s-0d., to replace the tools of his trade.
The address to which correspondence to the family was sent, was 244, Belvedere Road, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, and it is likely that this was the home of relatives or friends.
Cunard records state that the family name was Sharpe, but all other records pertaining to the family spell their name as Sharp!
Samuel Sharp died in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, on the 25th March 1925, aged 64 years. His wife, Mary Jane, died in 1934, and his son George, died in 1978. The eldest son in the family, Harry, remained in Crooksville, Ohio, for the remainder of his life, dying there in 1963.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1871 Census of England & Wales, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal, Derbyshire Daily Telegraph, Liverpool Record Office, PRO BT 100/345, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.