Mr. JOSEPH AISTON,
Second Cabin Passenger
[No Picture Provided]
Joseph Aiston was born in Blaydon-on Tyne, Winlaton parish, County
Durham, United Kingdom in September 1896, the ninth of eleven
children. His records appear on the 1901 British census.
Joseph emigrated to the United States in 1912. Unable to take up
his booking on Titanic
because his papers had not come through, he traveled third class on Lusitania. He was detained on
Ellis Island until he was rescued by his eldest brother William, who
was by then a US citizen.
Joseph lived in Brooklyn, New York, and worked in the shipyards.
When war broke out, the Anglophile community in which lived raised money
for British troops and ambulances. Joseph decided to go back to
England in May of 1915 to join the British Army. He was unable to
go before
this, as he had lost the tip of a finger in an accident at work and was
waiting for his compensation claim to be settled. Aiston booked
second cabin on the Lusitania.
Aiston was on the deck after lunch when the Lusitania was struck, and believed
that two torpedoes had hit the ship. He got a lifejacket from
those available on deck, and he was on the deck when the ship went
down. He was in the water for some time, clinging to a log,
before being picked up by a lifeboat and then transferred to a fishing
boat and taken ashore.
He subsequently joined the army (Essex Regiment) and served in
Palestine. In 1923, he married the younger sister of his brother
William's wife and eventually settled in Worcestershire. He died
in March 1974 leaving a widow, a daughter and four grandchildren.
Contributors:
Sue Hancock
Lena Kaltenbrunner
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