Printed ticket, completed by hand. 21.7x54 cm (8½x21¼"). Four sections, perforated divisions.
Original ticket for the final, ill-fated, voyage of the R.M.S. Lusitania, sailing from New York to Liverpool, departing May 1, 1915. The ticket was sold to the Coughlin family, parents John and Catherine, their son John (3) and twin infants Margaret and Bernard (both 11 months). The ticket lists the ages of Margaret and Bernard at 11 months, various on-line resources list Margaret at 2½ years of age. John and Catherine were both natives of Ireland and had been residing in Butte, Montana, where John was employed as a miner. John became a naturalized United States citizen in 1900, the two were married in Butte in 1905. The family left Butte for Ireland to return to their ancestral home. The ticket is divided into four parts: the stub from the travel agents ledger (this portion has a 1917 manuscript notarized statement on the rear from Fall River, Massachusetts travel agent Jeffrey Sullivan attesting to the authenticity of the retained stub); the ticket itself, printed in red and completed in black ink, listing all five family members as travelers, date of travel, etc.; U.S. Department of Commerce form for alien passengers traveling from the United States to a foreign port, again completed with the family information; and the "Embarking Check," likewise completed . The stub has the stamped number of 26830, the remaining three parts originally had the printed number of 35781 but this has been changed all all parts to 26830 in the same ink and hand as the remainder of the provided information. The ticket was purchased April 29, 1915 for travel on May 1, 1915. When the RMS Lusitania embarked for Liverpool, German U-boat activity was intensifying in the seas around Great Britain and the German embassy in the United States had warned travelers of the dangers of travel on the Lusitania. True to the warning, on May 7, 1915 the Germans breached the international "Cruiser Rules" and fired a torpedo at the civilian ship eleven miles off the coast of Ireland. The ship sank in less than twenty minutes. Of the 1,962 passengers and crew, there were 1,191 casualties and 764 survivors. Of the Coughlin family, father John and daughter Margaret perished, the mother Catherine and sons John and Bernard were rescued. According to reports, the father and boys were on deck at the time of the torpedoing, the mother and daughter were below, the two boys somehow made it to a life boat, the father did not; mother and daughter were washed overboard and became separated in the waves, the girl perished and the mother was rescued from the water approximately 3 hours later. Our research has been unable to locate any other Ticket from this final voyage having appeared at auction.
Condition:
Some creasing and light wear, the four sections of the ticket, separated by perforations, have been rejoined with small bits of tape on the reverse of the document; very good.