Beata Ferrier (née Stevens) (1882 – 1947), 32, was a British subject traveling second cabin aboard Lusitania with her husband Hubert and daughter Sheila. They lived in Penticton, British Columbia, where Hubert was a fruit grower. Hubert and Sheila were lost in the Lusitania sinking. Beata survived.
Mary Beata Elizabeth Hayter Stevens (known as Beata) was born in Nainital, India, on 11 September 1882. Her father was George Buckley Stevens, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Bengal Staff Corps. Her mother was Ada Emma Vivian, the daughter of George William Vivian, a civil engineer who spent his working life in Australia and India. Beata moved with her mother and siblings to England before the age of 8 after the death of her father and her mother’s remarriage.
Beata emigrated to Canada, sailing from Liverpool on the ship Lake Manitoba. She arrived in Quebec on 2 May 1912. She then took the Canadian Pacific Railway to Penticton, British Columbia. Beata’s family does not know if Hubert and Beata originally met in England or Canada. They married at St. Saviour’s Anglican Church in Penticton, British Columbia, on 3 April 1913. Their daughter Sheila was born on 14 April 1914.
Beata’s family does not know why the Ferriers were returning to England in 1915. Hubert and baby daughter Sheila were lost in the Lusitania disaster. Beata survived and was treated at hospital for exposure and shock. She was released to Queens Hotel on or about Tuesday the 11th. Sheila’s body was recovered and identified as #123. Hubert Buxton Ferrier’s body was either not or recovered not identified.
According to Beata’s family, as a result of the tragedy, Beata became a ‘nervous wreck’ and never recovered. She died in 1947.
Contributors:
Lynne Banister (niece-in-law, once removed, of Beata Ferrier)
Hildur Panula-Heinonen
Judith Tavares
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