Week 28: Random #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

 Lamond (Lamont/Lomond) Walker Proudfoot (1884-1915) is not someone I went searching for. He is not a direct ancestor, he is my paternal grandmother's nephew, so my dad's cousin and therefore my first cousin once removed. I came across Lamond's story quite at random, when one day last year, I decided to research my grandmother's siblings and their descendants. 

My dad had been the youngest of 12 children, stretching over some 26 years. His mother, Christina Walker had herself been the 11th child out of 12. The gaps in ages between cousins could be quite large. ( I myself was a late second child so my 'cousins' on my paternal side were also much older than me.) That is probably why my dad never spoke to me about his cousins, so I really do not know if he knew Lamond's story, especially when Lamond had died a year after my dad was born.

Lamond was born the son of a miner in Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland. The 5th out of 13 children, he is noted as being at school in the 1891 census. At the age of 16 in the next census, he is already a miner like his father. This was the job that took him away from Scotland and consequently to his untimely death at the age of just 31.

I found Lamond again at age 24 - he was on the passenger list of the ship Caledonia sailing from Glasgow to New York. His destination was Priestdale in Pennsylvania. He had £30 to his name. He was going to find work in the mines there. He is described on the ship's list as 5ft10 1/2 inches tall, dark hair, grey eyes and having lost a finger on his left hand. I can only suppose this could have been a mining injury. 

However, he must have felt homesick or at least wanted to come back to Scotland to see his family, possibly bring them some money. He came back to Scotland sometime in the next couple of years as I found him leaving Scotland for New York again in March 1912. This time he is heading to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and has £50 with him! Pittsburgh was the centre for mining in that area and no doubt he found it easy to get a job there.

Source: Ancestry.com

It is a great pity that he didn't decide to stay there. In 1914, World War I broke out. For whatever reason, Lamond decided to go back to Scotland in late April of 1915. He booked passage on a ship heading for Liverpool. He never reached there. His ship was the RMS Lusitania.

On the 7th of May the Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-Boot, 11 nautical miles off the south coast of Ireland, with a loss of almost 1200 lives. Lamond was one of them.

Before they had left New York, passengers had been warned that the voyage could be dangerous. Germany had just declared unrestricted submarine warfare against any UK ships. All it took was one torpedo and the ship sank within 18 minutes of being hit.

The utter chaos and panic when the ship was hit cannot be imagined. There are tales of lifeboats leaning too far off the ship to be of any use, of others tipping up as they were lowered, others crashing on deck. Men, woman and children lost their lives that day in what must have been horrific circumstances. Many Americans were on board the ship and that is why the sinking of the Lusitania is by some thought to be instrumental in the USA entering the war. Most of Europe condemned the sinking of what was seen as a passenger liner. However, it does appear that the ship, as well as carrying passengers, was also carrying ammunition such as machine gun cartridges and shell casings, perhaps making it a legitimate target in German eyes. 

From Newspapers.com The Times 8 May 1915

I had heard of the Lusitania before, but I didn't know much about what happened, far less expected to find a relative had been on board. Especially a relative that I only came across quite randomly in my research. I would have loved to share this with my dad and find out if anyone ever talked about it. But at least I know Lamond Walker Proudfoot existed now and I have told part of his story. 

                        Source: Ancestry.com Scottish National Probate Index 1876-1936 for Lamond Walker Proudfoot