William Howard was born in London, England, the son of James and Ann Esther Howard (née Foster). The exact location within London, and the date of his birth cannot be determined, but it is believed he was born between 1875 and 1877. His father was a railway porter.
William became a blacksmith, and on the 25th December 1902, he married Edith May Ayers in the Parish Church of St. Andrew, Haverstock Hill, Kentish Town, London. Their son, Henry Christian, was born in 1903 or 1904.
It is thought that William travelled to New York City sometime in 1905, in search of work, and saw opportunities in mining. In 1909, his wife and child travelled to be with him while he was living and working in Buffalo, New York, and then accompanied him when he went to work as the superintendent of construction on the Mill Creek sewer works in the city of St. Louis, Missouri, in 1912. Before he took up the position in St. Louis, he and his brother, Percy, were working on a contact in Mexico, and when he moved to St. Louis, Percy moved here with him. All four of them lived together at 3036 Easton Avenue, St. Louis.
In August 1914, his wife and son returned to England, and took up residence at 24, Southampton Road, Kentish Town, London. The reason for their return is not known, but perhaps Edith Howard was homesick, or maybe she decided on an extended holiday to visit family and friends. Whatever the reason, in the spring of 1915, William Howard decided to travel to London to bring them back to St. Louis.
As a consequence, he booked himself a third class passage home on the May sailing of the
Lusitania and joined her on 1st May 1915, at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York before her scheduled 10.00 a.m. sailing. This was then delayed until the early afternoon, as she had to embark passengers, crew and cargo from the Anchor Liner the S.S. Cameronia, which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for use as a troop ship at the end of April.
Six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May 1915, he was dead, killed after the
Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20, off the coast of southern Ireland, only about 250 miles from her Liverpool destination. William Howard was aged 39 years.
His body was not recovered from the sea and identified afterwards, but on 19th May, a cable was received at the Cunard office at Lynch’s Quay in Queenstown, which stated: -
DESCRIPTION WILLIAM HOWARD THIRD CLASS LUSITANIA. HEIGHT FIVE FEET FOUR INCHES, FAIR HAIR EYES BLUE. BLUE SERGE SUIT TWO TOES ON EACH FOOT JOINED TOGETHER BY SKIN. FAIR MOUSTACHE WITH MARK ON ARM. AMERICAN ADDRESS 3036 EASTERN AVENUE ST. LOUIS. WIRE HIS WIFE MRS. W. HOWARD 24 SOUTHAMPTON ROAD, KENTISH TOWN LONDON IF REMAINS IDENTIFIED.
Unfortunately, this description, full though it was, was not matched up with any of the unidentified recovered corpses and as a result, William Howard does not have a known grave.
Some time after the sinking, his widow applied to The Lusitania Relief Fund for financial aid to help her over her loss. This fund, administered by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool and other worthy members of the city business houses, did consider her case but it is not known whether or not they made her an award. In addition, in July 1916, it was reported in a St. Louis newspaper that a local firm of lawyers was preparing to file a $25,000 lawsuit against the Cunard Steam Ship Company Limited for the loss of William Howard in the sinking, however, it is not known if this lawsuit was filed, and if so, what outcome resulted.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, London England Church of England Births and Baptisms 1813 – 1917, London England Church of England Marriages and Banns 1754 – 1932, 1881 Census of England & Wales, 1891 Census of England & Wales, 1901 Census of England & Wales, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Liverpool Record Office, PRO 22/71, UniLiv D92/2/37, UniLiv D92/2/447, UniLiv.PR13/6, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.