Miss Iris Margaret Burnside

Iris Burnside, 20, was the daughter of Josephine Burnside. She, her mother, and maid Martha Waites were traveling on the Lusitania in May of 1915 to visit relatives in Ireland.  They were at lunch when the ship was torpedoed.  Josephine survived the Lusitania sinking, Iris did not.

Iris was born around 1895, the daughter of Thomas Burnside and Josephine Burnside, née Eaton. Thomas had been an engineer at Ballyclare Paper Mills in Ireland before emigrating to Canada. Josephine was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Eaton.   Her father was the founder of Eaton’s Department Store.  Iris and Josephine were traveling on the Lusitania in May of 1915 to visit relatives in Cullybackey, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, Ireland.

Aboard Lusitania, their ticket was 13062 and they stayed in cabin B-76, which had a private bath.

On the day of the disaster, mother and daughter were eating lunch with friends Frederick McMurtry, George Powell and Walter McLean when the ship was struck.  Josephine’s memory was blurry and she lost track of her daughter.  She remembered trying to get into a lifeboat when the ship sank.  Iris did not survive.

Contributors
Senan Molony, Ireland
Michael Poirier, USA
Hildo Thiel, The Netherlands

References
Molony, Senan.  Lusitania:  An Irish Tragedy.  Mercier Press, 2004.

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