John Edward Inman

Biography

John Edward Inman was born in Natland. He was the third child of William Jackson and Isabella Margaret and the older brother of James Francis. At the time of John’s birth in 1888 William was 41 and Isabella 22 and they already had two other sons. William was a stoker at the gunpowder factory and at the time the family lived in the four roomed Powder Works Cottage, Natland.

Nothing is known of John’s life except that on the 26th April 1913 he appeared on the passenger list for the Cunard ship Caronia which left Liverpool for New York. The manifest showed that 24 year old John Edward Inman was a blacksmith by trade. Where he lived in North America is not currently known.

How They Died

RMS Lusitania arriving in port, photographed between 1907 and 1913. The four-funnelled Cunard liner is shown low in the water with steam rising from her funnels.
RMS Lusitania arriving in port, c. 1907–13 — eight years before the ship that carried John Edward Inman home was sunk off Kinsale. Photograph by George Grantham Bain, Library of Congress Bain Collection (no known copyright restrictions).

On the 7th May 1915 the S.S. Lusitania inbound from New York was torpedoed near the Irish coast. The Lusitania sank within fifteen minutes with very severe loss of life including that of third class passenger Mr. John Edward Inman who was then aged 26. It is not likely to ever be known but it is possible he was returning to the country of his birth to enlist in the army.

Where They Rest

Many unidentified bodies were interred in a churchyard at Cobh, Ireland but along with his brother, John’s name is recorded on the Natland War Memorial.

Life timeline

  1. Born at Powder Works Cottage, Natland

    Third son of William Jackson (41) and Isabella Margaret (22) Inman. The family already had two other sons. Father was a stoker at the gunpowder factory; the family lived in the four-roomed Powder Works Cottage.

  2. Younger brother James Francis ('Frank') Inman born in Natland

    Frank, the youngest of six children, would later die in 1920 from tuberculosis contracted in army service. The two brothers are commemorated together on the Natland War Memorial.

  3. Sailed from Liverpool to New York on the Cunard ship Caronia

    Manifest shows him aged 24, occupation blacksmith. Where he settled in North America is unknown.

  4. Killed when the R.M.S. Lusitania was torpedoed off the Irish coast, aged 26

    Inbound from New York, the Lusitania was struck by a single torpedo from German submarine U-20 and sank within 18 minutes off the Old Head of Kinsale, County Cork. 1,198 of the 1,962 people aboard died, including 128 American citizens — a death-toll that helped tip US opinion towards entering the war. John may have been returning to the country of his birth to enlist.

  5. Many unidentified victims buried at a churchyard at Cobh, Ireland

    Three mass graves at the Old Church Cemetery, Cobh, hold many of the unidentified Lusitania dead. John's name is recorded on the Natland War Memorial alongside his younger brother James Francis.

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