John and Annie Millman Williams were married in Manchester, England in 1896. They emigrated to the US in April 1904. The record of the William's suit against Germany claimed that their infant, David, was their ninth child, but only six are named in the case; Edith; John Edward; George Albert; Ethel; Florence and David.

 

John Williams was employed as a groom until April 1915, when he entered service for Cunard as a steward and departed NYC aboard the Lusitania's final completed Eastbound crossing.  Edith, in later years, said in interview that he was deserting the family; Wiliams, in his testimony, claimed only to be traveling on ahead to set up a home for his family in England.

 

Edith and John were taken back to the US briefly in 1916, but were soon returned to England.

 

John Willliams' U.S. suit against Germany requested $40,000.00 for the loss of his wife and four children, and $250.00 for the loss of their personal effects. His suit was dismissed, for as a UK national he was not entitled to make his claim in the US courts.

 

Edith and John Edward Williams' suits in the US and UK both failed on the same grounds: pain and suffering caused by the loss of a loved one, by 1925 standards, was not cause for a financial settlement. Neither child could prove direct financial support provided by Annie, and their father who was suing in the same court system would not have been likely to admit desertion at the possible cost of his $40,000.00

 

"....the record is barren of any statement of fact which would enable this commission to measure the damages, if any, sustained by the two surviving children of Mrs Williams and resulting from her death.  There is not a scintilla of evidence in the record throwing any light on Mrs Williams' character, purstuits, habits, relations to and influence over her children, or any fact on which the commission could base a conclusion that the surviving children had suffered pecuniary damages resulting from her death. It must be assumed that no such evidence of damages exists. At all events the claimants have wholly failed to discharge the burden resting on them to prove their case."

                         Edwin Parker, March 5, 1925

 

Edith's death certificate lists her birth date as March 27, 1906 in New Jersey, her middle name as "Middleton", and her parents names as being "Harry" and "Elizabeth."  Her married name was "Wachtel" and she was a divorcee.  She had completed 15 years of schooling. She lived in Sacramento CA, and had worked as a registed nurse for 49 years, with Good Samaritan Hosptial listed as her employer.  The immediate cause of her death, on May 12, 1992, was Cardio Respiratory Arrest, and she was cremated, with her ashes scattered at sea near San Francisco.