William Ernest Inch was born in Stoke Newington, Middlesex, England, on the 26th September 1887, the son of Richard Bawden and Caroline Waterman Inch (née Smith), of 97, Lonsdale Avenue, Wembley, Middlesex, England. He had a twin brother named Herbert Reginald. His father was a blacksmith.
In February 1911, he had immigrated to Canada, where he settled in Montreal, Quebec. He found work as an engineer, and returned to England for a holiday in the summer of 1912. In September 1912, he returned to Montreal, however, he didn’t stay there long, for he crossed the border into the United States of America, and settled in New York City, where he found work as a machinist with the firm of William Bakers Limited, Woolworth Building, New York City.
In the spring of 1915, he decided to return to Wembley for a two months’ holiday. As a consequence, he booked as a second cabin passage on the May sailing of the
Lusitania and joined the liner at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 on the West Side of the city in time for the liner’s scheduled 10.00 a.m. departure for Liverpool on 1st May 1915.
This departure was then delayed until the early afternoon, to take on board passengers, cargo, and some of the crew from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty for war work as a troop ship at the end of April. Then, six days out of New York, on the afternoon of 7th May, she was torpedoed twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland by the German submarine
U-20, and sank two miles further in to the shore. At that stage of her voyage, she was only 250 miles from the safety of her home port.
William Inch was lucky enough to survive this action, - only one of some 230 second cabin passengers to do this, and having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, he eventually made it to his Wembley home at 9.30 a.m. on Sunday, 9th May. The following day, he gave an account of his experiences to a representative from local newspaper
The Harrow Observer, which reported: -
He said that the catastrophe occurred when the second sitting of passengers were
(sic) at lunch. He and a lady passenger were on deck writing. The ship’s newspaper had been circulated and they were chatting and joking over the Germans’ threats when suddenly the vessel was brought round in an arc and immediately the afterwards, the torpedo struck the boilers, but without exploding.
The ship immediately began to sink and the unfortunate people in the second sitting of diners must have been drowned like rats in a sewer. The crew and passengers, especially the women, behaved with admirable calmness, coolness and courage, the only screaming being that of children on board.
Many were speechless with fright, others numbed with fear, but Mr. Inch, like the majority, hardly noticed the danger, his mind being so fully occupied with doing all that was humanly possible for the women and children. He said he felt no fear and repeatedly urged his friend not to worry, as he was sure that the vessel would not go down. He went on to say that he owed his rescue to her appeals.
He had put her in the last boat and was busy getting other ladies and children to safety, when she called to him to jump. He had previously divested himself of unnecessary clothing, so that when the end came, he could make a swim to something, a boat or piece of wreckage. The boat was now nine to ten feet away and he successfully jumped without upsetting it or injuring anyone. It was only by a miracle that the boat escaped destruction.
When the vessel sank, the boat was in between the masts, and if the Marconi mast had not broken, the boat with its wet hungry and exhausted freight would never have escaped. There were from 80 to 85 persons in this boat when it was rescued by a fishing trawler some four hours after the Lusitania sank. Those who did not row, rendered great service reviving those who were picked up half dead and did nobly, hampered as they were, by lack of stimulants etc.. Everything that Mr. Inch had, with the exception of some money which he had in his pocket, was lost and his friend, like so many, lost everything.
Mr. Inch said that he did not see the submarine but it rose, sufficiently to hoist the German flag, which it kept hoisted for some five minutes. He saw none of the crew. He has only admiration for the way in which both passengers and crew alike did all that was possible to save human life. Many lives were lost in the heavy suction when the ship went down and it was only with great difficulty that the boats were able to get clear of the whirlpool. When asked about the warning issued to passengers at New York, Mr. Inch said he saw none.
A lot of Mr. Inch’s account conflicts with the known facts of the sinking and may be explained by the confusion experienced by many passengers and crew for a long time afterwards.
William Inch returned to New York on board the St. Paul in September 1915 and continued to work for William Bakers Limited.
In 1921, William Inch again returned to England for a holiday, and to visit his family, and appeared to be travelling in the company of Mrs. Emmie Hill, and her daughter, Sylvia. Mrs. Hill was also a second class survivor of the sinking of the Lusitania, and it is possible that she had met Mr. Inch during or after the voyage. It could be that she was the un-named passenger he had been on deck with when the torpedo struck.
Again, in 1924, Mrs. Hill and her daughter accompanied William Inch on another return visit to England, and shortly after their return to New York City, William Inch and Sylvia Hill, seventeen years his junior, married in Arlington, Massachusetts. By 1925, William and Sylvia Inch were residing at 141. Longview Avenue, White Plains, Westchester County, New York, where Mrs. Emmie Hill, and her husband, Richard, resided with them. The couple had two sons – Elmer Leslie and Kenneth
William Inch died in June 1973, aged 85 years, and was laid to rest in Kensico Cemetery, Westchester County, New York
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Massachusetts Marriage Index 1901 – 1955, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1925 New York State Census, 1930 U.S. Federal Census, 1940 U.S. Federal Census, UK Outward Passenger Lists 1878 – 1960, UK Incoming Passenger Lists 1890 – 1960, Canadian Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Massachusetts Passenger Lists 1820 – 1963, U.S. Border Crossings from Canada to U.S. 1895 -1960, Cunard Records, U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards 1917 – 1918, U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards 1942, Harrow Observer, Graham Maddocks, Paul Courtney, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.