The Legacy of the Laurentic

Of the more than 340 men who died when the Laurentic sank, 69 were buried together in a mass grave in St Mura’s Churchyard in Fahan a few days later, with two other men, Richard Morgan and Thomas Hugh Craig, being buried in St Mary’s Churchyard, Cockhill, Buncrana. For many families however, there is no…

Boston philanthropist John J. Cullinane made an emotional voyage to Donegal in May 2013, to visit the site where the Laurentic sank and lay a wreath in memory of Walter Fitzgerald. It was a trip he had long hoped to make, to pay tribute to an uncle he never knew. He carried with him a…

Lieutenant William McNeill, Chief Executive Officer on the Laurentic, was born in the Holm West United Free Church Manse, Orkney Isles on 14th April 1881, while his father was the minister there. He was educated at the Parish School Holm, Orkney and Hillhead High School, Glasgow. William was employed by the Anchor and Cunard Lines…

Lieutenant Richard Morgan was born on the 9th of August 1886 in Liverpool, third son of the late Captain Thomas Morgan and Ellen Morgan (née Gorman). Richard’s father was from Drogheda, Co Louth, Ireland, registered in the Irish Merchant Navy, and spent his career in ‘the coasting trade’ mostly between Ireland and Liverpool, where he…

Engineer Commander Charles Edwin Hurst, RNR was was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire,11th December 1873, fourth son of Owston Hurst, a Cabinet Maker, and Mary Ann Hurst ( née Rhymes). He was educated at the Salisbury Rd Council School and then the Bootle Science and Art Classes, prior to beginning a five year apprenticeship as an…

Able Seaman Robert Edward Mackay Campbell Ingham of the Royal Naval Reserves was born 1885 in Liverpool. He was the second youngest child of Percy, a joiner by trade, and Hannah Ingham (née Jones). In 1891 his family were living in Kirkdale, Lancashire. His father Percy passed away just two years later. It appears that…

Herbert Thomas Astbury Corporal Herbert Thomas Astbury of the Plymouth Division, the Royal Marine Light Infantry was born in Chester, Cheshire in 1882, youngest child of Joseph and Mary Astbury (née Cornes) In 1891 Herbert was living at the Albion Inn, Chester, where his father was the Landlord and his older siblings were assisting him…

Thomas McGarry, Fireman in the Mercantile Marine Reserve, was born in Liverpool in 1878, eldest child of Patrick McGarry, a shoemaker, and Sarah Ann. He was 24 years old and a soldier when he married Bridget (‘Delia’) Moran on January 23rd 1904, in Limerick. Thomas was lost at sea when the Laurentic sank, leaving Bridget…

‘If you were to visit the United Church cemetery in North Harbour, Placentia Bay, on the island of Newfoundland, you would be struck as you enter the gate by a neat, white, well- kept cenotaph to your right, standing alone in the corner, somewhat removed from the headstones that mark actual graves. Prominent on this…

Surgeon Frank Ernest Rock, R.N., who lost his life on the Laurentic, was the first child of Samuel Joseph Rock and Sarah Ann (née West). He was born in Portsea, Hampshire in 1872. He married Alice Maud Fanny Simmonds 31st July 1902 at St Mary Abbots, Kensington. They had two children, Margaret and John. Frank’s…