Frederick McMurtry, 45, was a British citizen and salesman from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. McMurtry was eating lunch with Josephine and Iris Burnside, George Powell, and Walter McLean when the Lusitania was torpedoed. Josephine Burnside was the only survivor of the group. McMurtry and the others were lost.
Life
Frederick McMurtry was born on 17 May 1871 in Elizabethville, Ontario, Canada, the son of James Charles McMurtry and Annie E. McMurtry (née Craighead). McMurtry had an adopted sister named Mildred. The McMurtry family had emigrated from Milford, County Carlow, Ireland some time around 1800.
Frederick married Gertrude Mabel Reeve, the daughter of John T. Reeve and Hannah Simpson of Toronto, on 29 July 1897. She had been born 29 July 1876 in Churchville, Ontario. They had two children, a son named Louis Burney McMurtry, who was born 13 March 1898 in Toronto, and a daughter named Florence Veda McMurtry born 8 October 1900 in York County, Ontario.
McMurtry was a salesman in Toronto, and as of the 1901 census, he and his family were living in Toronto.
In 1914, Gertrude’s sister Mary Louisa Reeve Stork was lost in the sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland. She was 55 years of age.
Lusitania
With Fred and Mabel Pearson, Frederick McMurtry was a passenger aboard Lusitania‘s first eastbound crossing in 1907.
For Lusitania‘s last voyage, McMurtry’s ticket was 13061 and he stayed in cabin D-59.
Frederick McMurtry was was eating lunch with Josephine Burnside and her daughter Iris and George Powell and Walter McLean when the torpedo struck Lusitania. Josephine was separated from her daughter in the confusion during the sinking and survived. McMurtry and the others were lost. His body was either not recovered or not identified.
Afterword
Frederick’s son Louis fought for the British in World War I and became a second lieutenant in the 213th Squadron of the Royal Air Force. His plane was shot down on 13 October 1918 in Belgium. He is buried in the Oostrozebeke Communal Cemetery.
McMurtry’s widow, Gertrude, lived until 4 December 1939 and died in Pickering, Ontario.
Their daughter Florence did not outlive her mother by long. She died on 2 October 1940 in Toronto.
Links of interest
McMurtrie, McMurtry Clan Family Records
Contributors
Senan Molony, Ireland
Michael Poirier, USA
Eric Sauder, USA
Zachary Schwarz
Hildo Thiel, The Netherlands
Geoff Whitfield, UK
References
“Louis Burney McMurtry.” Canada at War. Web. 13 July 2011. <http://wwii.ca/memorial/world-war-i/99786/second-lieutenant-louis-burney-mcmurtry/>.
“CF-202”. McMurtrie, McMurtry Clan Family Records. Ancestry.com. 1997. Web. 13 Jlu 2011. <http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mcmurtriecfr/sam/cf-202.html>.
Sauder, Eric. RMS Lusitania: The Ship & Her Record. Tempus Publishing Ltd, 2005.
“RMS Lusitania.” Wikipedia: Die freie Enzyklopädie. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Web. 13 July 2011. < http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania >
On http://www.rmslusitania.info/people/saloon/frederick-mcmurtry/ you say
Frederick McMurtry was born on 17 May 1871 in Elizabethville, Ontario, Canada, the son of James Charles McMurtry and Annie E. McMurtry (née Craighead).
Since James Charles McMurtry was born in 1869 he could not have been Fred’s father. He was his brother.
Here is the family –
1. William McMurtry 1830, b. 22 September 1830 in Darlington, Ont, Can, d. 24 October 1914 in Midland, Ont, Can
Father: John McMurtry 1804, b. 14 February 1804 in Milford, Co Carlow,
IRL, d. 2 October 1900 in Perrytown, Ontario, CAN
Mother: Elizabeth Frank, b. 3 July 1811 in Wrelton, Yorks, Eng, d. 7
July 1888 in Peterborough, Ont, Can
A millwright
See 1861 Census, says a merchant.
See 1871 Census, living Hope Twp, Durham, Ont, Can.
See 1881 Census, living Midland, Simcoe North, Ont, Can.
Spouse: Mary Ann McBurney, b. 16 February 1834 in Hope Twp, Ontario, CAN, d. 2 March 1886 in Midland, Ont, Can
Married 30 September 1852 in Elizabethville, Ontario, CAN.
Children:
1 John McMurtry 1854, b. 9 February 1854 in Ontario, Can, d. 8 July 1862
2 William Thomas McMurtry, b. 11 December 1855 in Ontario, Can,
m. Minnie Eva James, 19 January 1884 in Midland, Ont, Can, d. 4 February 1920 in Simcoe Co, Ont, Can
3 Elizabeth McMurtry 1858, b. 5 July 1858 in Ontario, Can, m. Francis U
Tamblyn, 25 May 1880 in Midland, Ont, Can, d. 1942
4 Ann McMurtry 1860, b. 14 July 1860 in Ontario, Can, m. Samuel Rowell,
16 February 1882 in Midland, Ont, Can, d. 1904
5 Samuel Francis Lockburn McMurtry, b. 8 April 1862 in Hope Twp,
Ontario, CAN, m. Margaret Alwilda Froats, 17 April 1886 in Midland, Ont, Can, m. Evaline Anderson, 18 August 1921 in Hastings Co, Ont, Can, d. 19 April 1928 in Simcoe Co, Ont, Can
6 Margaret Jane McMurtry 1864, b. 11 September 1864, m. Thomas
Brodie, 11 January 1908 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Can
7 Mary Ellen McMurtry 1866, b. 31 July 1866, d. 16 November 1883 in
Simcoe Co, Ont, Can
8 James Charles McMurtry, b. 29 March 1869 in Hope Twp, Ontario, CAN,
m. Annie Elizabeth Craighead, 1 January 1896 in Midland, Ont, Can, d. 3 September 1931 in Simcoe Co, Ont, Can
9 Frederick Archibald McMurtry, b. 17 May 1871 in Elizabethville,
Ontario, CAN, m. Gertrude Mabel Reeve, 29 July 1897 in Toronto,
Ontario, CAN, d. 7 May 1915 in off Irish coast
10 Sarah Bertha McMurtry, b. 21 December 1872 in Durham Co, Ont, Can,
d. 18 April 1874 in Durham Co, Ont, Can
11 Bertram Scott McMurtry, b. 26 November 1874 in Perrytown, Ontario,
CAN, m. May Emma Martin, 16 September 1902 in York Co, Ont, Can
Descendant families report created by Gene 4.3.4, Fri, Jul 6, 2012