Robert Dearbergh, 48, was the retired vice-president of Earp-Thomas Farmogerm Company at 29 West 42nd Street in New York City, New York, United States. His address in New York City was 117 West 58th Street. Dearbergh was traveling aboard Lusitania to England with Commander J. Foster Stackhouse. Dearbergh’s ticket was 46018 and he was in cabin D-18. Both Dearbergh and Stackhouse perished in the sinking of the Lusitania.
Life
Dearbergh had three brothers and three sisters. One of the brothers later moved to Australia. Another brother, who lived in Osterhills, Hertfordshire County, England, was named Frederick.
Dearbergh was a British subject and was spending his retirement on science and exploration. He was traveling on Lusitania with Stackhouse to try to acquire Robert Falcon Scott’s ship, Discovery, for fundraising purposes. They would bring the ship to the United States and exhibit her to raise funds for Stackhouse’s expedition in the Pacific.
The morning of the sailing, on Saturday, 1 May 1915, Dearbergh and Stackhouse had stopped by the studio of Henry R. Rittenberg, where Stackhouse picked up a portrait of Stackhouse that Rittenberg had completed. Rittenberg asked why they were still sailing on the Lusitania in light of the German warning. Stackhouse replied that Lusitania was “too fast to be torpedoed . . . Besides, there are too many Americans on her, and they would not dare.”
Dearbergh and Stackhouse were lost when the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk on 7 May 1915. Dearbergh’s body was recovered, #202.
Dearbergh left property in the United States amounting to $100,000.
Contributors
Judith Tavares
References
“Fifty New Yorkers Lost in First Cabin.” The New York Times. 9 May 1915. Web. 3 August 2011. <http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F10914FF345A12738FDDA00894DD405B858DF1D3>.
“R. E. Dearbergh had $100,000 Here.” The New York Times. 16 February 1916. Web. 3 August 2011. <http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F30E12FC345C13738DDDAF0994DA405B868DF1D3>.
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