HistoricaLeigh: A tragic family of Elm Road

October 29, 2018 by Carole Mulroney

In 1911, No 181 Elm Road was inhabited by Gladys Lanser and her son and daughter. Her husband was not present but Gladys had married William Gilbert Lanser, a Mariner.

On 24 July 1913 the family, sailed from Liverpool on the White Star Line ship 'Ceramic', emigrating to  Australia. They arrived in Sydney on 9       September 1913.  Sadly their new life in Australia was to be short lived and sad as just 6 years later William was  lost in a shipping accident.  He was Chief Officer of the Warrigal which      foundered in a cyclone with all hands off Norfolk Island around 18 March 1919.  The incident is recorded in a series of stamps issued by Norfolk Island commemorating local shipwrecks, issued in 1982

In the subsequent claim for compensation  Ida was awarded £500.  She never remarried and died in Manly, New South Wales in 1962.