Lt.
ROBERT MATTHEWS, Second Cabin Passenger
[No Picture Provided]
Lt. Robert Matthews had left England for Canada in 1904. He ran a
labor bureau, married, and had two daughters. Matthews was given
a
commission as a militia lieutenant of the 60th Rifles of Canada
headquartered
at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in 1913. His home life was unhappy and
one
year later Matthews left his family and his commission and spent that
winter
in a northern Manitoba farm with a woman who is known to history only
as
Annie.
After unsuccessfully trying to secure a commission in the 46th
Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, Matthews decided to
sail to England on the Lusitania
with Annie. Matthew's
mission may have been to enlist while in England, or to try to seek a
new
life in the home country with Annie. Matthews is registered as
being from Winnipeg, Manitoba, perhaps considering the city to be a
"better address" than Moose Jaw (Bailey/Ryan, 112). Annie was
registered as his wife, which she was still not.
Beginning with Colin Simpson, many researchers have made the mistake of
naming Robert and Annie Matthews as transfers. Simpson says that
Matthews and the Palmer family were transfers from the Queen Margaret when the Queen Margaret was a cargo ship and
not a passenger liner. As the transfer from the Queen Margaret never happened,
subsequent researchers have made the mistake of naming the Matthewses
and the Palmers as Cameronia transfers, which was
requisitioned the morning the Lusitania
sailed.
Aboard the Lusitania, Annie won the second place prize for the
potato race on the afternoon of 4 May. She was awarded a badge
which she then
gave to Robert.
Both Robert and Annie died in the sinking of the Lusitania.
Robert's body was recovered by the Heron, and was body #1
recovered by Kinsale. Inside his pocket was Annie's badge.
His body was then requested by the military and buried in Cork on
10 May.
In Simpson, Matthews is erroneously listed as being from the 6th
Winnipeg Rifles. The Winnipeg Rifles were actually a part of the
90th Regiment. Much has also been made for the case that Matthews
was part of a contingent of Canadian troops transferred from the Cameronia,
but a look at the Cameronia transfer list shows mostly couples
and families, not organized troops.
Contributors:
Paul Latimer
Judith Tavares
Hildo Thiel
References:
Bailey, Thomas A. and Paul B. Ryan. The Lusitania
Disaster: An Episode in Modern Warfare and Diplomacy.
The Free Press, 1975.
Preston, Diana. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy.
Berkeley Books, 2002.
Simpson, Colin. The Lusitania.
Little, Brown, and Company, 1972
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