Engineer Lieutenant Thomas Jamieson, Royal Naval Reserve, was born in Bootle in 1884, the only son of John and Elizabeth Jamieson (nee Gibson). Both of his parents were Scottish and his father was also a marine engineer.
At the time of serving in the Mercantile Marine Thomas lived at 32, Worcester Road, Bootle with his widowed mother. On leaving school he had taken up an apprenticeship with Messrs. T. Summer and Sons of Liverpool in October 1899, where he remained until April 1901, when he had to leave as a result of bad health. He resumed his apprenticeship in January, 1903, with the White Star Line and was able to complete it in March, 1906. His first posting was to Laurentic’s sister ship Megantic, as Junior Engineer. He was later transferred to Laurentic in 1908, and became 3rd Engineer, serving onboard the Laurentic until she was lost on the evening of 25th January, 1917. When he was at home, he was a member of The Liverpool Branch of The Marine Engineers Association.
We don’t know if Thomas managed to get to a lifeboat when the Laurentic sank. His body was never recovered. He was commemorated on the war memorial plaque commemorating all members of the The Liverpool Branch of The Marine Engineers Association who lost their lives during that war. The memorial is now missing.
A number of memoriam notices for Thomas were placed in the local newspaper at the time of the tragedy, including this poignant notice placed by his fiancée.
Jamieson – January 25, at sea, on H.M.S. Laurentic, Engineer-lieutenant T. Jameson (Tom), R.N.R. – Sadly missed by his sorrowing fiancée, Elizabeth D. C. Thomson.
Liverpool Echo on the 1st of February 1917
ENGINEER LIEUTENANT T. JAMIESON, R.N.R.
Engineer Lieutenant Jamieson was also a Bootle boy and started his apprenticeship with Messrs. T. Summer and Sons, of Liverpool, in October, 1899, with which firm he remained until April, 1901, having to leave the trade owing to ill-health. He resumed again in January, 1903, with the White Star Company and finished his apprenticeship in March, 1906, after which he joined the Megantic, as junior, and was transferred to the Laurentic in 1908.
Journal of Commerce 10th February 1917
Sources:
Peter Threlfall, WW1 historian
Census Census Returns of England and Wales 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911. The National Archives of the UK
National Archives – Royal Naval Service Records
General Register Office England and Wales www.gro.gov.uk
The British Newspaper Archive http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
The Legacy of the Laurentic 