Frederick Charles Tyers

Frederick attested in the Militia (4th Bn Derbyshire Regiment) on 15 July 1902 but purchased his discharge for £1 on 17 July 1902. On 18 May 1904 he enlisted in the Royal Regiment of Artillery (RHA/RFA) on a 12 year engagement (3 years with the Colours, 9 years in the Reserve) but was discharged by purchase (£10) on 21 May 1904 after four days service. Frederick went on a business trip to America in 1915 and was returning from New York to Liverpool onboard the Cunard Company liner, RMS Lusitania, when the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat, U-90. Frederick was one of 1,266 passengers and 696 crew who died. His father arranged for his son's body to be returned to Nottingham; the funeral was held at Nottingham Church (Rock) Cemetery on 17 May 1915.

RMS Lusitania: The Cunard liner made her maiden voyage in 1907 from Liverpool to New York and within a month held the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic crossing. This was an honour shared frequently with her sister ship, the Mauretania. On the voyage from New York in May 1915 her captain (Captain William Thomas Turner) was warned by the British Admiralty that there was submarine activity off the south coast of Ireland - merchant ships had already been sunk - and was advised to adopt evasive tactics. The warning was not heeded and the ship was struck by a torpedo on the afternoon of 7 May. The first explosion was followed by another and the ship sank within 20 minutes. The ship was carrying a cargo of rifle ammunition and shells. Nottingham Evening Post, 8 May 1915 (extract): ‘Stories By Lusitania Survivors. Some Remarkable Escapes. Safety Of Local Passengers. We this afternoon received the following telegram from Queenstown from Mr Mitchell, a passenger by the Lusitania: ‘Nottingham survivors of Lusitania include AJ Mitchell, Raleigh cycle foreign representative, and Fred Tyers Mansfield-road.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, 10 May 1915: ‘A Nottingham Victim. Mr Fred Tyers Among The Lost. The hope that no Nottingham name would figure in the list of the Lusitania’s dead has unfortunately been dispelled, for Mr. FW Tyers, of The Hollies, 383 Mansfield-road, Carrington, has received notification from Queenstown of the death of his so, Mr Fred Tyers, who was a passenger by the lost liner. First came a message from the Cunard Company, saying, “We understand Fred Tyers has been notified.” and next the police authorities at Queenstown wired, “Your son’s body recovered, buried to-morrow (Monday).” The shock occasioned to Mr Tyers and the family by the receipt of these tragic messages was intensified by the fact that Mr Fred Tyers had previously been reported among the rescued, another local local survivor being under the impression that he had seen him in one of the boats. The circumstance that he was neither seen nor heard of at Queenstown upon the arrival of the boats was disquieting, but the family hoped on. Only this morning Mr Tyers received a number of letters and telegrams congratulating him upon the escape of his son, while most pathetic of all there arrived from the ill-fated young man himself a picture postcard to his youngest sister, Miss Alice Tyers, from Bridgport, Connecticut, immediately before he left for New York to join the Lusitania. The message was evidently written in the highest spirits. It referred to the many places of interest which the writer had seen, and expressed the great enjoyment which he had derived from his trip. The heat was intense, the thermometer standing at 95 [Fahrenheit] in the shade, hotter than at any period during the last 25 years at this particular season. “I could,” wrote Mr Tyers in conclusion, “fill a book a foot thick with what I have seen.” It was his first trip to the United States, where he had gone on the business of his firm, The Portable Furnace and Patents Co. Ltd, Oak-street, Carrington, of which he was a director. His special object was to introduce to the notice of the Americans a new invention in cutting machinery, and he had been away since the beginning of March. It will be observed that the telegram from the Queenstown police stated the intention of the authorities to proceed with the interment of the late Mr Fred Tyers at Queenstown, but Mr Tyers sen. at once wired that he intended to have the body brought to Nottingham for burial, and arrangements are now being effected with this object in view.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, 11 May 1915: ‘The Lusitania Holocaust … A Nottingham Victim. Recovery of the Body of Mr Fred Tyers. As we announced on Saturday, a telegram received by us from Mr John Mitchell, one of the Nottingham survivors, mentioned that Mr Fred Tyers, of 383, Mansfield-road, was also saved, but this proves not to have been correct, for his parents have now received a wire from the Queenstown police stating: “Your son’s body recovered,” Mr Tyers, sen. Wired to Queenstown that he wished the body to be brought to Nottingham and arrangements were made for this to be done.’ www.britishbnewpaperarchive.co,uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 12 May 1915: ‘Tyers. Drowned at sea, on the 7th inst., through the sinking of the Lusitania, Frederick Charles, eldest and beloved son of Mr and Mrs FW Tyers, The Hollies, 383, Mansfield-road, Nottingham, aged 29 years.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, 13 May 1915: ‘Local & General News. Through the good offices of a friend in the district, the body of Mr FC Tyers, the Nottingham victim of the Lusitania crime has been secured from the general burial at Queenstown, and will be brought to Nottingham for interment. Mr Tyers’ father has left for Queenstown to make arrangements for the removal of the coffin. The body, it is expected, will have to be embalmed.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 14 May 1915: ‘Tyers. Drowned at sea, on the 7th, inst, through the sinking of the Lusitania, Frederick Charles, eldest and beloved son of Mr and Mrs FW Tyers, The Hollies, 383, Mansfield-road, Nottingham, aged 29 years.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ’Deaths’, 15 May 1915: ‘Tyers. On the 7th inst. Frederick Charles, eldest and beloved son of Mr and Mrs FW Tyers, The Hollies, 383 Mansfield-road, Nottingham, aged 29 years, drowned at sea. ‘A victim of the foul outrage which sank the Lusitania.’ Friends, kindly accept this intimation. American papers please copy. Funeral on Monday at 3.30 Church Cemetery.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘Deaths’, 17 May 1915: ‘Tyers. On the 7th inst. Frederick Charles, eldest and beloved son of Mr and Mrs FW Tyers, The Hollies, 383 Mansfield-road, Nottingham, aged 29 years, drowned at sea. ‘A victim of the foul outrage which sank the Lusitania.’ Friends, kindly accept this intimation. American papers please copy. Funeral on Monday at 3.30 Church Cemetery.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, 18 May 1915: ‘Local & General News. A dense throng of people assembled at the Nottingham Church Cemetery yesterday for the funeral of Mr Frederick Charles Tyers, the Nottingham victim of the Lusitania disaster. Mr Tyers, who at the time of the torpedoing of the vessel was returning from America on business, was the eldest son of Mr and Mrs FW Tyers of The Hollies, Mansfield-road, and was aged 29 years. The Rev. J Brailsford (New Radford) officiated. Four employees acted as bearers, and a number of others also followed. There were many handsome floral tributes.’ (www.britishnewspapersarchive.co.uk) Nottingham Evening Post, ‘In Memoriam’, 8 May 1916: ‘Tyers. In loving memory of Frederick Charles Tyers, who was lost in the Lusitania crime, May 7th, 1915. In the midst of life we are in death. Mother, father, sisters, and brothers.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)