Lusitania relic’s pride of place

May 5 2008 by Staff Reporter, Liverpool Daily Post

Lusitania relic’s pride of place

A RARE souvenir of the sinking of RMS Lusitania will take pride of place on display at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.

The cork and canvas lifebuoy will be on display at the museum as it prepares to commemorate the 93rd anniversary of the sinking.

Curator for the museum Dr Alan Scarth said: “The lifebuoy holds great importance for the museum, it’s the only one I have come across. I have always wished for one.”

“It’s a pretty rare souvenir as it is a symbol of the disaster. It is a quite powerful object, it really brings the disaster home to you.”

The buoy was obtained in 1915 by the skipper of a fishing boat from Kinsale, County Cork, who helped to rescue Lusitania survivors. He gave it to fish merchant Arthur Miller, who happened to be in the port at the time.

Mr Miller later displayed it for many years in his office in Passage East, Co. Waterford.

The buoy came to the museum late last year courtesy of Mr Miller’s grandson, Dr A Neiland.

Dr Scarth said: “We were lucky to get the buoy because Dr Neiland was looking for the most suitable place to house the item.

“He was concerned about the condition of the buoy and wanted it preserved. Thankfully he came to us, because we are the most relevant place for this souvenir to be. I think he made the right choice.”

Although the buoy has only been released to the museum on loan, they hope to keep it for longer than originally planned.

There will be a short informal ceremony at 1.30pm, held by Fr Robert Mackley, with a minute’s silence paying respects to the 1,200 people that died on the May 7, 1915.

Dr Scarth said: “The ceremony is just a way of acknowledging the anniversary, we do it every year. Family members of the victims come and this year we will have Dr Neiland coming. The disaster has lasting effects around this area.”

Audrey Lawson-Johnston, 93, is the last living survivor of the sinking.