Miss Dorothy Douglas Braithwaite

Dorothy Braithwaite (1890 – 1915), 24, a British subject from Montréal, Québec, Canada was on the Lusitania to see her sisters in London, who had been widowed on the same day.  She was in the saloon (first class) lounge and music room when the torpedo hit. She went to the port side boat deck, where she was separated from Frederick Orr-Lewis, Marguerite, Lady Allan, her daughters Gwen and Anna, and Robert Holt. Dorothy was lost in the Lusitania disaster. Her body, if recovered, was not identified.

Life and Lusitania

Dorothy was born on 5 May 1890 and had two sisters. A researcher named Diane (last name?) submits the following from a book, quoting a letter:

“Among them was Miss Dorothy Braithwaite, of Canada, coming to Lady Drummond here in London.  Both of Miss Braithwaite’s sisters had been widowed on the same day, their husbands being killed in action, and when Miss Braithwaite heard of this she sailed immediately to come to her young widowed sisters. She was a beautiful girl, not more than twenty [sic], and very frail.”

Dorothy’s ticket for Lusitania was 12934, and her cabin was D-63. She celebrated her 25th birthday on board the Lusitania, on Wednesday, 5 May.

At the time of the torpedo’s impact, Dorothy Braithwaite was in the lounge with Frederick Orr-Lewis, Marguerite, Lady Allan, her daughters Gwen and Anna, and Robert Holt.  They gathered on the portside where Sir Lewis’ valet, George Slingsby, and Lady Allan’s maids Emily Davis and Annie Walker joined them.  Dorothy separated from them in the crowd and was last seen near lifeboat 14.

Afterwards Harold Boulton found her in the water and she died holding his hand.

The New York Times had erroneously printed her name on the survivors list, saying that she was from Morristown, New Jersey.

Contributors:
Michael Poirier
Judith Tavares

References:
The New York Times, Saturday, 8 May 1915, page 4.

The New York Times, Sunday, 9 May 1915.

The New York Times, Monday, 10 May 1915.