Mrs.
FREDERIC WARREN PEARL (AMY LEA DUNCAN), Saloon Class Passenger
image: Cleveland Plain Dealer,
Tuesday 11 May 1915, Page 2.
Amy Pearl, 34, was born Amy Lea Duncan to Mr. and Mrs. John Paterson
Duncan. Amy had a brother named Stuart Duncan, and their mother
lived at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York, United
States. Amy
married Surgeon-Major Frederic Warren Pearl
and by 1915 they were living at 123 East 36th Street, New York City
with their children Stuart, Amy, Susan, and Audrey.
In the spring of 1914, Warren and his family were vacationing through
Europe. Their daughter Susan was born in Folkestone, England, and
there they recruited Nurse Alice Lines.
When war broke out in
August, the Pearls were in Stockholm, Sweden and Warren secured
passports for Petrograd, Russia (formerly St. Petersburg and later
Leningrad) in hopes of applying his military experience there.
Their plans had to change in Helsingfors, Denmark under threats of
bombardment.
As Stuart was getting to be that age where he was to start school,
Warren left for England hoping to enroll Stuart at Eton. Pearl
was returning to Denmark via Belgium when two German officers arrested
him in Lübeck under suspicion for being an English spy.
Warren sent a telegram to his wife Amy, in Skager, Denmark,
saying: "COME AT ONCE. IN TROUBLE. WARREN."
Amy had to demand to see the
American Consul before she was allowed to see Warren. Warren told
Amy that the Germans thought
his reasons for traveling through Germany were unlikely and asked Amy
to
plead with the American Ambassador in Denmark for his freedom.
Two weeks later Warren Pearl was released and ordered to leave for
Copenhagen by steamer. He was reunited with his wife and
children. In the absences of both Warren and Amy, Alice Lines had
hired Danish girl Greta Lorenson to help look after the children.
Amy was expecting another child. She wanted it born in the United
States the Pearls arrived home on a German steamer, the Frederik VIII, in early December of
that year. The baby was born in New York and christened Audrey.
In the spring of 1915, Warren was instructed to report to the
American Embassy in London, England. He thus booked passage on
the Lusitania with his wife,
children, and nurses. At the time, Amy was pregnant with a fifth
child, a son to be named Vivian. The night before sailing they
had a
farewell dinner party in a private room at the Plaza Hotel.
On the Lusitania, the Pearl's
stateroom was assigned staterooms E 51, 59, and 67 on the starboard side*, close to that of Lindon
Bates, Jr., and they were
friends. The Pearls attended Sunday services and before
Thursday's concert were at cocktails. Throughout the voyage he
had drilled his wife and nurses with what to do in case of an emergency.
At about 2:15 p.m. on Friday, Amy was on deck with Lindon Bates when
the torpedo hit. Warren was in the stateroom. Warren headed
up the stairs and met Amy as she was coming
down. They sent Greta, Alice, and the children up to the Boat
Deck and followed. They put on their lifejackets. They
claimed that there was no panic on the Boat Deck. In the crowd
the nurses and children were
separated from Warren and Amy. Some time later Warren and
Amy spotted Greta and Susan standing by a boat swung out and ready to
be launched.
The ship was listing to starboard and soon righted herself. The
Pearls and Lindon Bates separated to continue to look for the missing
children.
Warren saw two boats were lowered on the starboard side and a third
boat suspended perpendicularly in mid air, but there was still no
confusion thus far. He met back with Amy and word came to "lower
no more boats," "everything all right," and "aid coming." Warren
and Amy split again to to find the children. Not finding them,
Warren went back to see if Amy had found them. They were not with
her, so Amy asked Warren to try again to find them. The Lusitania was on a fairly even keel
by that time and a boat filled with people crashed inboard, crushing
people on deck. Just then the Lusitania
made a plunge to starboard and water rushed over the forecastle.
The missing children were still not found and Warren found two planks
for him, Amy, Greta, and Susan.
The sea came charging at them, throwing everyone on deck into the sea
as the ship plunged underneath. Amy was swept into the sea by the
wave and pulled onto the bottom of an overturned boat that had about 50
people. Discipline was excellent, and an engineer took charge of
the boat and controlled those who were excited. After about two
and
a half hours on this boat, Amy was hoisted on board a tramp steamer,
where
she "received every possible kindness and tendance." Upon landing
in Queenstown, she was
taken
to Admiralty House, where Admiral Sir
Charles
Coke, K.C.. V.O. and his family took care of her.
Amy was reunited with Warren and later found someone
matching Alice Lines' description. Warren and Amy found Alice,
Stuart, and Audrey all safe, but could not find any trace of Greta,
young Amy, or Susan. Young Amy and Susan's death notice was
published in the Monday, 17 May
1915, issue of The New York Times, page 9.
Warren, Amy, and Alice attended the open sessions of the Mersey
Inquiry, and a sixth child, Amy Susan Pearl, was named in rememberance
of the
daughters they had lost.
Warren Pearl died on 2 January 1952, and Amy Pearl on 1 February 1964.
* Warren Pearl's testimony says
that he was in a portside room when the explosion occured so here are
number of possibilities of what he actually meant:
1) The Pearls moved into port side cabins after the Cromptons moved out
and onto D deck.
2) Warren was visiting Dr. James Houghton
at the time, whose cabin was on the port side.
3) Warren was in the men's lavatory, on the port side.
4) The port side notation is an error and he really meant
starboard. If smoke and flames blew into the room from the
torpedo impact and the torpedo struck the starboard side, it's only
logical that the Pearls' staterooms would be on the starboard side.
Contributors:
Paul Latimer
Michael Poirier
Judith Tavares
References:
Deposition of Major F. Warren Pearl.
Hickey, Des and Gus Smith. Seven Days to Disaster.
G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1981.
The New York Times,
Monday, 17 May 1915, page 9.
Preston, Diana. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy.
Berkley Books, 2002.
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