Thomas Ormrod was born at Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on the 18th April 1875, the son of Thomas and Mary Ormrod (née Doyle). His father was a cooper, and James was the eldest of three known children in the family. His mother died in 1877, and his father later married Margaret Adams and they had three more children.
On completing his formal education, Thomas Ormrod became a general labourer, and
on the 25th December 1899, he married Ann Jane Evans. The couple had six children – Mary, John, Thomas, George, James, and Ann, and by 1915, the family lived at 89A St. Domingo Road, Everton, Liverpool. His wife was expecting their seventh child in the summer of 1915.
Sometime in the early 1900’s, Thomas Ormrod joined the British Mercantile Marine, and he engaged as a greaser in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania, at Liverpool, on the 12th April 1915, at a monthly rate of pay of £7-0s.-0d. He joined the vessel on the morning of the 17th April 1915, before she slipped her moorings and sailed out of Liverpool for the very last time, and just three weeks later, he was dead - killed after she was torpedoed and sunk. He was aged 40 years.
His body was never found and identified afterwards and as a result, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine War Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
In August 1915, the balance of wages still owed to him in respect of his service on the Lusitania was also paid to his widow, Ann. It covered the period from the 17th April until the 8th May 1915, 24 hours after the great ship had foundered. In addition, The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited granted her a yearly pension which amounted to £74-14s.-2d. (£74.71p.) which was payable at the rate of £6-4s.-7d. (£6.23p.) per month.
His widow, Ann, gave birth to a daughter, she named Lucy – the name the Lusitania was affectionately known as, in July 1915.
His older brother James Ormrod also served as a greaser on board the ship and was also killed when she was sunk.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Liverpool England Church of England Baptisms 1813 – 1919, Liverpool England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754 – 1935, 1881 Census of England, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Grave Commission, UniLiv. PR 13/24, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 334, PRO BT 351/1/107403, Graham Maddocks, Philip Brown, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 31st January 2025.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.