Miss Agnes Wild

Miss Agnes Wild, 21, of Paterson, New Jersey, United States, was a British national traveling on Lusitania with her sister Evelyn.  Both sisters survived the sinking in a lifeboat, and were picked up by a fishing boat and the government boat Stormcock. Evelyn later testified at the Mersey Inquiry.  The sisters’ cabin on board Lusitania was D-89.

Early life

The sisters were the daughters of Mary Elizabeth and James Higson Wild, a silk designer. They were originally from Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom, and listed on the Macclesfield census in 1911, living at “Brook Bank”, 175 Chester Road, with their father and older sister Mabel. In May 1912, the family traveled from Liverpool to New York aboard the Cunarder Carmania and relocated to Paterson, New Jersey, United States, which has a close connection with Macclesfield through the silk industry.

Lusitania

Agnes’s account of the disaster is detailed through the Macclesfield Courier and Herald of Saturday 15th May 1915:

Two Macclesfield Ladies’ Experiences

Two of the survivors were Macclesfield ladies named Miss Agnes and Miss Evelyn Norbury Wild, the second and youngest daughters of Mr J. H. Wild, designer and card cutter, late of “Brook Bank”, Chestergate, and now of Paterson, America. Mr. Wild and his family left the town some three years ago, and the two young ladies were about to spend a short time in this country and for this purpose they had embarked on the Lusitania.  They embarked on the first of May, and had an uneventful voyage across the Atlantic until they came in sight of the Irish coast.

Miss Agnes Wild, seen by our representative on Monday morning at the Queen’s Hotel, Macclesfield, detailed her experiences as follows:

Throughout the voyage the threat of the Germans to blow up the Lusitania had been the common topic of discussion among the passengers, but no one seemed to take the matter seriously.  Only half an hour before the thing actually occurred she was chatting with one of the officers and three of the engineers of the boat about the same matter, and they simply laughed at the idea of the vessel coming to any harm as they were then in sight of the Irish coast and steaming at the rate of 17 knots an hour. The sea was beautiful, bright and clear, and no one dreamed of anything untoward happening at that time. Shortly after conversing with the officers, the ladies referred to went down to the saloon to lunch, and whilst they were thus engaged they heard a tremendous explosion, which caused the ship to stop dead and give a kind of a stagger. When this occurred every one of the passengers seated at the tables looked at each other as if asking what it all meant, and then a cry went round that they had been torpedoed and this was the signal for a regular stampede towards the main stairway. The two sisters Wild were not far from the main stairway, but before they could reach it there was a wild rush which prevented anyone getting clear away. Miss Wild said that she heard someone say that the ship had been struck, and then the commotion became something awful, and those wedged in the crush about the main stairway could scarcely move. Fortunately she was acquainted with the stairway leading by a back way from the saloon along by the cabins to the main deck, and along this she dragged her sister, urging on her all the time to keep cool. Along the passages they did not meet a soul, and they were able to gain the main stairway a long way ahead of those who were in the saloon with them at the time the boat was struck. When they reached the stairway it was a scene of terrible confusion, where everybody was trying to get up first. By dint of struggling they managed to get up on to the main deck, and although only a few minutes had elapsed since the first alarm, the boat was beginning to list fearfully.

A MIRACULOUS ESCAPE

On reaching the deck they found that all the people were rushing towards the part that was the furthest from the water, but she saw that they were unable to get the boats into the water from that side, so she and her sister made for the lower side of the vessel, which at that time was very near to the water, and there they found that there were very few people. Amongst the few that were there was Mr. Ernest Cowper, a well-known American[sic, Canadian] journalist, with whom they were acquainted. As there appeared to be no prospect of getting away from the boat at that side, Miss Wild dragged her sister towards the first-class deck, and as she did so the vessel gave a still greater list and she fell almost into the sea. She had just about given herself up as lost when she was rescued by a stoker, who was standing near, and she was put into a lifeboat, although she had no distinct recollection of it at the time. The next she remembered was that her sister was handed into the same boat, and that her sister was wearing a lifebelt. She had then time to notice that she had a lifebelt herself, but that did not matter, as she was safely in the boat by then.

JUST IN TIME

There were about 38 in the lifeboat, but there was no one in command, and the utmost confusion seemed to reign on the decks above. The vessel was then rapidly sinking, and when most of the other lifeboats had cleared away it seemed to strike someone in their boat that they were still attached to the vessel by means of the painter, which nobody had thought of cutting away. It was only at the last moment that someone in the boat seemed to have the presence of mind to cut away the rope which held them still bound to the Lusitania, and they just managed to get clear before she sank.

A QUARTER OF AN HOUR IN SINKING

Miss Wild said that there seemed to be considerable misapprehension as to the time which elapsed between the vessel being struck and sinking. As a matter of fact, she said, it was not more than a quarter of an hour. She said that she was wearing her wristlet watch at the time, and when the first shock was felt she looked at her watch and she did the same when the Lusitania settled down and sank, and she found there was exactly a quarter of an hour between the two times. Theirs was the last boat to leave the side of the ill-fated vessel, and as they cut away she could plainly see people clinging to the ropes at the stern of the vessel as she settled down, and their boat was only a very short distance away when the Lusitania heeled over and took a dive bow first into the depths.

HOW THEY WERE LANDED

The sea was perfectly calm at the time, and their boat hovered round the spot to try to rescue anyone they could see. They picked up one old lady about 75 years of age, who was being kept afloat by means of a lifebelt which she was wearing. They afterwards picked up several others, and then they began to row away. There were very few of those in the boat who were able to give any assistance with the rowing, and the sisters Wild both rendered assistance in this direction. After about three hours’ rowing, they came across an Irish fishing boat with four men aboard, and they took them in tow until they were picked up by the Government boat “Stormcock”, by which they were taken into Queenstown harbour. In Queenstown they saw many of the rescued who had been landed, and also many of the dead whose bodies had been recovered, and she said that it was a dreadful sight to see people visiting the morgue to identify the dead. After visiting the Cunard Offices and reporting themselves, they resumed their journey and landed in Macclesfield on Sunday night. They lost all their belongings, except the clothes they were attired in at the time the vessel was struck.

A shorter version of events follows from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Monday 10 May 1915, page 2:

The Misses Agnes and Evelyn Wild, sisters of Paterson, N.J., were at luncheon when the torpedo struck the vessel.  They rushed on deck.  Agnes said:

Sisters Cling to Each Other in Fear

“We clung to each other, determined not to be separated even if we went to the bottom.  We were at once thrown into a boat, together with thirty-six others.  We were, after several hours, picked up by a fishing boat and four fisherman towed us for several hours, intending to take us to Kinsale.  Before we arrived, however, a government boat [Stormcock] picked us up and took us to Queenstown.

“Of course, we were drenched to the skin, cold and penniless.  We went into a shop, where they fitted us out from head to foot without charge.  We are only beginning to realize what we have passed through.”

Later life

Agnes married a man by the name of Stewart.  On 30 May 1950, Agnes passed away at age 56 in Paterson, New Jersey, just a few months after Evelyn.  Both sisters are buried in Mt. Laurel Cemetery in New Jersey.

Contributors:
Paul Latimer
Michael Poirier
Rosie Rowley, Macclesfield Historian 

References:
“Sisters Cling to Each Other in Fear.”  Cleveland Plain Dealer, Monday 10 May 1915, page 2.

“Two Macclesfield Ladies’ Experiences.” Macclesfield Courier and Herald, Saturday 15 May 1915.