Elizabeth Bull (née Farrar), 62, was a British citizen from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She was traveling aboard Lusitania with her daughter Florence Burley (née Bull) her husband Reuben Burley, and her grandchildren Doris and Reginald. The party bought their tickets in New York. The entire party was lost in the Lusitania sinking. Elizabeth Bull was recovered body #78.
Life
Elizabeth Bull, born Farrar, was the wife of John Henry Bull of Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. Her husband was a fruit and seed merchant, and in 1881 the family resided at 182. Albemarle St., Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom. The children they had were Harry Farrer, Frederick Miller, Percy, and Florence. Florence was born around 1877.
Florence married Reuben Burley, and in 1904 the couple moved to Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
In 1914, Elizabeth’s husband John Henry died, so Elizabeth went to Hamilton to visit her daughter and grandchildren. She decided to return to England in the Spring of 1915, and Reuben and Florence decided to take their family over to England for a holiday and accompany Elizabeth on the journey. They booked second cabin passage on the Lusitania. The entire family was lost when the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-20 on 7 May 1915.
Elizabeth’s body was the only one of the family recovered and identified, #78. She was buried on 10 May in Common Grave C, second row, lower tier, in the Old Cemetery, Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland. Elizabeth’s property that was found with her consisted of a gold necklace, five gold rings, a gold brooch, a pair of spectacles, a number of keys, a check drawn from the Bank of Hamilton for £51-17s-1d, 21 British 10 schilling notes, 10 schillings in gold coinage, 13 schillings in silver coinage, three silver American coins, and some British copper coins.
These affects were forwarded to her son, Frederick Miller Bull of 28. Camp Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, on 4 June 1915. Elizabeth’s daughter, Mrs. Meadows, living in Summercoats, Derbyshire, England, went to Queenstown to try and identify her mother and the Burleys, and take any identified remains found home for burial. However, she arrived too late for her mother’s funeral and was unable to locate any of the other bodies.
Contributors:
Jim Kalafus, USA
Peter Kelly, Ireland
Judith Tavares
Thank-you for sharing this information! I am the 2nd Great-Granddaughter of Elizabeth Bull, and I was not aware of some of the information you have listed. Greatly appreciated and I’ll be sure to add it to my family history!
Mrs Meadows was my great-grandmother and her maiden name was Beatrice Bull (so needs to be added to the children of Elizabeth). My grandmother, who was named Gladys Farrar Meadows (I didn’t know exactly where the name Farrar came from, so thank you for that) remembers her own slippers being warmed by the fire ready for the children visiting, but of course they never arrived. We have a gold chain which I understand belonged to her. This has been very interesting to read and fill in gaps.
Elizabeth Farrar and John Henry Bull were parents to 12 children. Some of their children had their mother’s maiden name ‘Farrar’ as a middle name.
Here are the BULL children’s name’s from oldest to youngest: Harry Farrar Bull (1874-1881), Florence Bull (Burley)(1876-1915), Frederick Miller Bull (1878-?), Percy Bull (1880-1944), Beatrice Bull (Meadows)(1882-1949), Albert Bull (1884-1886), Nellie Farrar Bull (1887-1894), Rosa Bull (Wilde)(1888-1976), Harold Farrar Bull (1890-?), Edith Farrar Bull (Dumbrell)(1891-?), Reginald Bull (1893-?) and lastly my great-grandfather Ernest Farrar Bull (1895-1963).
Hi
am very interested in information on Reuben Burley. Who he was and where born I have several Reuben Burley’s in my family, wondering if there is a link?