People on board

WATERS, Maureen

Maureen was born in 1897 at Mount Verdon Terrace, Ballintemple, Cork, to John J. Waters, a Wine and Spirit Merchant, and Elizabeth Lynch. She was the second youngest of seven children, and though younger, was friendly with Cora England and her family. She was at school in the 1911 census.

Maureen on the left, with her two sisters Nellie (in the middle) and Lallie, on holiday at Youghal, Co. Cork, c. 1912.

On 1st October 1918 she enrolled with the (WRNS) Women of the Royal Naval Service, giving her occupation as ‘Shorthand Typist’. Also enrolling on the same day in Cork, and with the same occupation, was Lilian Barry, and Josephine Carr, also a Shorthand Typist, had enrolled on the 16th September. The three Cork women were travelling together on the RMS Leinster on the 10th October, presumably to their first posting, as was the newly wed Cora Daly, née England.

Maureen wrote a very detailed and vivid account of the events to her parents, which was published in the Cork Examiner. She recounted how she and Lilian Barry were on deck, where they met Cora and her husband Louis Daly, while Josephine Carr stayed below. Maureen, Cora and Lilian got a place in a lifeboat and were rescued, as eventually was Louis Daly, but Josephine died and her body was never found. Maureen returned to Cork, but it is not known how she spent the rest of her life. Her death in 1973 in Bishopstown, Cork, was reported in the newspaper, as was her will, in which she left over £25,000 to her sister Esther.

Maureen (on the extreme right) pictured with a big group of family and friends, on holiday at Youghal, Co. Cork, c. 1912.