William Henry Eastwood was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on the 20th November 1855, the son of John and Anne Eastwood (née Paterson). William was one of seven known children in the family and his father was a gardener.
He became a domestic servant and butler at an early age before deciding to join the British Mercantile Marine as a professional ship’s steward on ocean-going liners. His first voyage was on the White Star liner S.S. Germanic in 1881.
On the 17th April 1883, he married Mary Hughes in Lilleshall, Shropshire, and by 1915, they lived at 233. Field Way, Garden Suburb, Wavertree, Liverpool. They had seven children; however, one of their children had died by 1911.
He engaged as a trimmer in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool for her last voyage from Liverpool, at a monthly wage of £6-0s.-0d., and he received an advance £1-0s.-0d. when he engaged. It was not the first time that he had served on the liner.
Aged 59 years, he was killed when the liner was sunk on the 7th May 1915.
His body was never recovered and identified afterwards and as a consequence, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine Memorial at Tower Hill, London.
The Liverpool and London War Risks Insurance Association Limited granted a yearly
pension to Mary Eastwood to compensate her for the loss of her husband. This amounted to £24-11s.-0d. (£24.55p.) which was payable at the rate of £2-0s.-11d. (£2.04½p.) per month.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, Lancashire England Church of England Births and Baptisms 1813 - 1911, England Select Marriages 1538 – 1973, 1861 Census of England, 1881 Census of England, 1891 Census of England, 1901 Census of England, 1911 Census of England, Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, UK Campaign Medals Awarded to World War I Merchant Seamen 1914 – 1925, PRO BT 334, PRO BT 351/1/39985, UniLiv. PR 13/24, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 30th March 2023.