People on board

FINNION, Edward

Edward Finnion was born on the 12th of December 1897 in Churchland, in the townland of Cartrongeeragh, just outside Longford town. He was the eldest of the seven children of James Finnion, a Farmer, and Mary Farrell. There is considerable confusion over the spelling of the family name; when James and Mary married it was Finnan, Edward’s birth was registered as Fennon, the 1901 census was Fannin while the 1911 census was Finnen. There was also considerable variety on the birth certificates of the other children. Edward’s war records use Finnion.

In the 1901 census James Finnion’s father Edward, then aged eighty, was the Head of Household while his wife Mary Farrell was listed as Farm Servant. They were living in a three-roomed 2nd class house, and Edward was the Landholder. In 1911 a Thomas Farrell, possibly Mary’s father, was the Landholder.

Edward enlisted in Mullingar in the Leinster Regiment (Royal Canadians) which was headquartered in Birr, Co Offaly. The limited records available for Edward do not indicate when he enlisted, or if he served at the front. In 1918 he was in the 3rd Reserve Battalion which was in Portsmouth from November 1917. He was presumably returning from leave when he travelled on RMS Leinster on the 10th of October 1918. He did not survive the sinking nor was his body recovered but his name is recorded on the Hollybrook Memorial in Southampton.