William Frederick Webster was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the 3rd April 1912, the eldest son of Frederick George and Margaret Webster (née Arthur). His father, who was a plumber, had originated in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, and his mother in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Both of his parents had immigrated to Canada in 1910.
He had twin brothers, Frederick George and Henry Harrison, who had been born in January 1914.
In the spring of 1915, William’s parents decided to return to Great Britain for a holiday and having left Toronto at the end of April, they arrived at Pier 54 in New York harbour on the morning of 1st May in time to board the Lusitania as second cabin passengers for what became a delayed sailing, which began just after mid-day.
No doubt enjoying the opulence of their surroundings on the voyage, their pleasure came to an abrupt halt just six days later. Then, the Cunarder was torpedoed and sunk just twelve miles off the coast of southern Ireland and only 250 miles from her Liverpool destination.
The family catastrophe was outlined in the book The Tragedy of the Lusitania written in 1915 by Captain Frederick D. Ellis, in which he stated: -
They reached the deck with the others who were dining when the torpedo struck. Webster took his son by the hand and darted away to bring lifebelts. When he returned, his wife and babies were not to be seen, nor have they since been seen.
William was only three years old at the time and having been rescued from the sea he eventually made it, with his father, to his ancestral homeland.
His father re-married in 1919 and William resided in Birkenhead, Cheshire, and later in Southampton, Hampshire, with his father and step-mother, and also his step-sister, Marguerite, who was born in 1920.
His father worked as a plumber on trans-Atlantic liners, but in 1929, he obtained a position as a plumber in a shipyard in New York. In 1930, William followed his family to New York City and became an electrician. In 1934, he applied to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, and in 1937, his application was granted.
On the 5th September 1940, he married Alice Evelyn Wohlfarth in New York City and the couple had three children. He was employed as an electrical engineer for Ray Electric Inc. of New York, and around 1958, he moved his family from New York City to a home at 88. Magnolia Place, Wayne, New Jersey.
William Webster died at Chilton Memorial Hospital, Pequannock, New Jersey, on the 18th April 1972, aged 60 years.
Ontario Canada Births 1832 – 1916, New York U.S. Marriage License Indexes 1907 – 2018, New Jersey U.S. Death Index 1901 – 2017, 1930 U.S. Federal Census, 1950 U.S. Federal Census, New York U.S. State and Federal Naturalization Records 1794 – 1943, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Aberdeen Daily Journal, Herald News, Tragedy of the Lusitania, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Stuart Williamson, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.