William Lee was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, in 1894, the son of James and Mary Ann Lee. As his name is so common, it has proved impossible to identify anything about him or his family.
He engaged as a trimmer in the Engineering Department on board the Lusitania at Liverpool on the 12th April 1915, at a monthly wage of £6-0s.-0s. and joined the vessel at 8 a.m., on the morning of the 17th April, before she left the River Mersey for the last time ever.
He was killed, three weeks later when the vessel was and sunk.
His body was not recovered and identified afterwards and as a consequence, he is commemorated on the Mercantile Marine War Memorial at Tower Hill, London. He was aged 21 years.
According to surviving records, he was stated to have been residing at 67. Bebington Hill, Liverpool, when he engaged on the Lusitania; however, no such place existed, and it is more likely he was lodging at 67. Bebington Street, or 67. Bevington Hill.
Cunard Records, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, PRO BT 100/345, PRO BT 334, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.
Revised & Updated – 2nd March 2024.