Mrs. Henry Augustine Bruno (Annie Thompson)

Annie Bruno, née Thompson, 43, was a British subject living in Montclair, New Jersey, United States traveling aboard Lusitania with her husband Henry Bruno.  Henry was traveling for business, and Annie was to visit friends while in Europe.  When the Lusitania was sinking, Annie and Henry entered a port-side lifeboat that upset or was dragged under and were lost. Both of their bodies were recovered.

Life and Lusitania


Annie and Henry Thompson resided at 123 Elm Street, Montclair, New Jersey, United States.  Even though the couple had lived in the United States for several years, they retained their British citizenship.  They had two sons, Henry A., Jr., of Greenwich, Connecticut, and Frank of Montclair.  Henry A., Jr., the elder of the two sons, was the advertising manager for the Greenwich News and Graphic in 1915.

Annie and Henry were members of the First Baptist Church in Montclair.  Henry had business in England, being a marine partner in the insurance firm Rogers and Carr in New York City, and Henry and Annie booked passage on the Lusitania.  Annie had planned to visit friends until Henry was ready to return to America.  Prior to sailing, the Brunos were in Greenwich and stayed with their son at the Elms on Putnam Avenue.

Aboard the Lusitania, their ticket number was 46146 and they stayed in cabin A-17.

During the sinking, George Kessler saw Henry and Annie Bruno (erroneously printed as Mr. and Mrs. BERTH) get into a lifeboat; however, as neither of the Brunos survived, one would probably surmise that their lifeboat swamped or was dragged under.

As of Tuesday, 11 May both Brunos were still missing.  Some had hoped survival was possible because “the first class cabin occupied by the Montclair couple was on the side of the ship not struck by the torpedoes [port side].”

In the Wednesday, 12 May 1915 edition of The Greenwich Press, Henry, Jr., in an interview declared “that his mother expressed a feeling as of a premonition of evil before she sailed.”

Per the list of interments in the Old Church Cemetery in Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland, Mr. Henry A. Bruno was body #212, age 45 years, grave #590. Mrs. H. Bruno was body #147, age 45 years, Common Grave B.

Contributors
Carole Lindsay
Judith Tavares

References
Greenwich News and Graphic.  Tuesday, 11 May 1915, page 1.

The Greenwich Press.  Wednesday, 12 May 1915, page 1.

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