Tertius Selwyn Warner was born in Whetstone, Leicestershire, England, on the 17th May 1893, the son of Thomas and Agnes Warner (née Spence). He was one of twelve children and his parents were bakers.
Tertius Warner was a professional golfer and in March 1912, his father died, after which his mother immigrated to London, Ontario, Canada, where her son, George, was living. In June 1913, Tertius joined them. Their home was at 503. Central Avenue, London, Ontario.
In the spring of 1915, however, he decided to return to Europe, either in the course of his work or perhaps out of patriotic duty and consequently booked as a second cabin passenger on the Lusitania's May sailing out of New York.
Leaving Ontario, he arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York on the morning of 1st May 1915, in time for the liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. sailing. This was then delayed until just after noon, because she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Cunard liner Cameronia, which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war service as a troop ship, at the end of April.
Six days out of New York on the afternoon of 7th May, and within sight of the coast of southern Ireland, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20. At that time, she was only about 250 miles away from her Liverpool home port and destination. Tertius Warner was killed as a result of this action.
The first that his family knew of his sailing on the Lusitania was contained in a cable sent by his brother George, from Canada, to his sister Mrs. P. Spencer at her home at the Enderby Post Office, Leicester, on the afternoon of Saturday 8th May 1915, which confirmed that their brother Tertius had sailed on the liner. By the time that this arrived, Tertius was already dead.
Nothing more was ever heard of him, however and as his body was never recovered
from the sea and identified afterwards, he has no known grave. He was aged 22 years.
Tertius Warner is commemorated, however, on the family grave in Whetstone Cemetery, near Blaby, in Leicestershire, not far from Enderby, in the area where the family lived. The inscription on the headstone there simply states: -
ALSO TERTIUS SELWYN,
LOST ON THE LUSITANIA
MAY 7TH 1916. AGED 22.
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
The inscription, which actually shows the year of his death to be 1916, is clearly an error made at a later date by the stonemason who executed the inscription.
Following his death, his mother submitted a claim with the Canadian Commission seeking compensation for his loss; however, when the Commission sought to locate her in 1927 to adjudicate on her claim, they were unable to find her and put the case in the “no action” file. It is not known if the case was ever settled.
It is known that his mother passed away in June 1935, aged 84.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, UK Outward Passenger Lists 1890 – 1960, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Canadian Claims Case No. 890, Leicester Daily Post, Leicester Mercury, London Advertiser, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, John and Mary Howlett, Jess Jenkins, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.