Mr. RICHARD
PRESTON PRICHARD, Second Cabin Passenger
[No Picture Provided]
Richard Preston Prichard, 29, was a medical student at McGill
University in
Montréal, Quebec, Canada. He had a brother, Mostyn, who
lived in Ramsgate. Before sailing on the Lusitania, Prichard had put his
papers
in order and told a fellow student where to find his will if anything
happened to him.
Prichard's cabin on the Lusitania
was D-90. During the voyage, he was often seen in the company of Grace French. Prichard had teased her
that
she had a double on board and went to go find her when the torpedo
hit. After the torpedo hit, Grace lost track of Prichard. Alice Middleton, who had a crush on
him but was too shy to speak to him throughout the entire voyage,
remembered that he assisted her in reaching the upper decks during the
last moments of the sinking.
Prichard was lost in the disaster. His brother Mostyn came to
Queenstown to look for his body but found nothing. Subsequently,
his mother wrote several survivors in hopes that they would be able to
tell her what happened to Richard in the last moments. Several
survivors that his mother wrote could not offer details but only
condolences. The letters exchange dropped after a few years and
it seems unlikely that the Prichard family ever found closure.
The Prichard Letters are available through the Imperial War Museum by
e-mailing Tony Richards at <docs@iwm.org.uk>
Although referred to as "Dick Prichard" in Diana Preston's book, he was
more commonly known as "Preston" or just plain "Richard."
Contributors
Jim Kalafus
References:
Preston, Diana. Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy.
Berkley Books, 2002.
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