| Helen Secchi Second Cabin Passenger Saved |
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| [No Picture Provided] | |
| Born | Edith Helen West 1879 Manchester, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 1939 Southport, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom |
| Age on Lusitania | 35 |
| Lifeboat | 13 |
| Rescued by | Stormcock |
| Citizenship | British |
| Residence | New York City, New York, United States |
| Other name(s) | Edith Secchi |
| Spouse(s) | Herbert Secchi (1910 – 1920, divorced) |
Helen Secchi (c. 1879 – 1939), was a British subject living in New York City when she was traveling aboard Lusitania when the German u-boat U-20 torpedoed and sank her on 7 May 1915. Aboard Lusitania, Helen was acquainted with Edward and Millichamp Booth-Jones and her two children, Ailsa and Percival, as well as Norah Bretherton and her two children, Betty and Paul. Helen survived the Lusitania disaster and escaped the ship in lifeboat 13, which was picked up by the government boat Stormcock.
Life
Edith Helen West was born about 1879 in Manchester (or thereabouts) to William and Mary Jane West (née Morgan). William was a high bailiff crown court born about 1843 in Manchester, and Mary was born about 1853 at Manchester. They had married in the third quarter of 1877 in the Chorlton district of Lancashire. As of the 1901 census, Helen lived with her parents at Clothorn Road, Didsbury, Chorlton, and did she did not report an occupation at the time. She had a brother, William (21) and a sister, Gladys (19). At time, two visitors also lived with the household: Maggie Cochran, 26, and Olive Morgan, 6, as well as a servant, Ann Jenkins, 31, indicating that the family was relatively well off.
Helen married Herbert Secchi in Christ Church, Didsbury, Lancashire, on 7 May, 1910. Herbert had been born on 6 April 1884 in Liverpool, England, and was an insurance clerk in 1901 before becoming a shipping buyer/clerk in “calico driut” by 1911 and export manager of the American Woolen Products Company by 1920. Herbert relocated to New York City, and Edith followed on the Cunarder Carmania, leaving Liverpool, England, on 9 April 1913. The Secchi’s address in New York city was 162 West 80th Street. Helen was described as 5’9’’ tall, with red hair and grey eyes.
Lusitania
For her return to Britain in 1915, Helen booked the Lusitania. According to researcher Peter Engberg-Klarström, Helen’s cabin companions were Mrs. Booth-Jones and her two children. Also during the voyage, she became friends with Norah Bretherton and her two children.
When the Lusitania was sinking, Helen saw Edward and Millichamp Booth-Jones in the doorway of their cabin, putting on their lifebelts, but without their two children. Ailsa and Percival were possibly on deck at the time of the attack. Helen became the second person to enter lifeboat 13 after she found a man already sitting in it. The lifeboat soon filled up and the men at the ropes announced, “Lower, for she’s full,” and tell Norah Bretherton and her son Paul, “Get into the next boat.”
Helen insisted that Norah and her son Paul be let in. After a back-and-forth where the men did not want to let the Brethertons in and Helen insisting, the men allowed Norah and Paul into the lifeboat. The lifeboat was lowered safely and picked up by the government boat Stormcock, which towed them into Queenstown, Ireland.
Later life
Helen divorced her husband in 1920 for adultery after witnesses reported Herbert with another woman in a Manhattan hotel. The divorce papers were served on him at the Hotel McAlpin. Helen, who was living at 115 Herkimer St. at the time, won the divorce case and was awarded $50 a week in alimony.
Herbert later remarried to an American woman by 1930, Alice C. Secchi. Edith Secchi died in 1939 in Southport, Lancashire.
Links of Interest
Edith Helen Secchi at Peter’s Lusitania Page
Contributors
Cliff Barry, UK
Peter Engberg-Klarström, Sweden
Jim Kalafus, USA
Peter Kelly, Ireland
Michael Poirier, USA
References
Barry, Cliff and Peter Kelly. “Antiques Dealer and Family Lost in Disaster.” Gare Maritime. Web. Published 7 May 2015. <https://www.garemaritime.com/antiques-dealer-family-lost-disaster/>. Accessed 11 May 2020.
“Mrs. Secchi Wins Divorce.” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 6 July 1920, p. 2.
Engberg-Klarström, Peter. “Secchi, Mrs. Edith Helen.” Peter’s Lusitania Page. Published 16 June 2017. Web. <https://lusitaniapage.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/secchi-mrs-edith-ellen/>. Accessed 11 May 2020.
Kalafus, Jim and Michael Poirier (2005) “Lest We Forget : Part 1” Encyclopedia Titanica Research. <http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/lusitania-lest-we-forget.html> Accessed 12 May 2020.
