The Family of George Leo and Ellen Swarbrick: Miscellaneous Information

According to Elsie Banks (nee' Swarbrick), her parents brought her to England aboard the Empress of Ireland in about 1915. She said that the ship was sunk on the return voyage by a German U-boat.

However, the ship was actually sunk before the start of the war and the sinking was the result of an accident. The Empress of Ireland left Quebec at 16:30 on 29 May 1914 bound for Liverpool carrying 1477 persons. At 01:55 on 30 May 1914, in the St. Lawrence river near 'Father's Point', she was struck in thick fog by the Norwegian ship 'The Storstadt', and sank within 15 minutes. Captain Kendall R.N.R. was one of only 463 survivors. The ship belonged to Canadian Pacific Railway and was christened in 1906 and made regular trips between Quebec and Liverpool.

As far as Elsie's voyage to England is concerned, I have calculated the time period to be December 1913. Her father George Leo left his job in Tacoma in mid-November 1913 and Elsie recalled that she was aboard ship on Christmas Day and still had the doll she was given by Father Christmas on that voyage. As the ship was sunk in May 1914, the family must have made the crossing during the Christmas season of 1913. Elsie would have been 2 years 4 months old. [See update 2012 below]

UPDATE 2009:

Thanks to the ships passenger lists now available to search and view on-line at www.ancestry.co.uk, I have been able to pinpoint the dates and ships that Elsie and her parents used to travel to and from North America.

George Leo Swarbrick set sail from Liverpool on 19 March 1908 aboard the SS Corsican and arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 9 days later, on 28 March - with his final destination stated as Tacoma, Washington, USA. He is listed in the manifest as an Iron Moulder, age 29, born in Preston, England. His nearest relative in the country of departure was listed as his wife, of 5 Gaskell Road, Penwortham, and he was going to join a friend, F. Gifford, at 813 South F Avenue in Tacoma, Washington. Fred Gifford was an old friend from Preston who had emigrated to Tacoma a few years before. Leo had purchased his own ticket and had $15 in cash.

Ellen Swarbrick and her 2 year old son Cyril set sail from Liverpool on 22 April 1910 aboard the SS Empress of Britain and arrived at Quebec, Canada 7 days later, on 29 April. Ellen was listed as a 32 year old "wife" from Penwortham, England. Her nearest relative in the country of departure was her father, Thomas Blackburn, of River View Terrace, Penwortham, and she was going to join her husband, George Leo Swarbrick at 813 1/2 South Yakima Avenue, Tacoma, Washington. It was her first trip to the USA and she had $15 in cash.

After the death of their young son in Tacoma, Leo, Ellen and their baby daughter Elsie returned to England.

UPDATE 2012:

Thanks to further passenger lists made available at www.ancestry.co.uk, I have found the details regarding George, Ellen and Elsie's return to England - and it is rather surprising.

Although Elsie said her family travelled on the Empress of Ireland, which would have sailed from Canada to Liverpool, the family actually departed New York aboard the White Star liner 'SS Cymric' arriving in Liverpool on 31 December 1913. Therefore, Elsie was at sea on Christmas Day 1913, just on a different ship.

George, a labourer, age 30; Ellen, a housewife, age 28; and Elsie, a child aged 2½ years, were steerage (third class) passengers. Their last country of permanent residence was the USA and they were intending to reside permanently in England.

As a 2½ year old child, Elsie would have had little or no memory of the voyage and would have been relying on stories told to her by her parents as she was growing up. These stories can get skewed in the re-telling and it was actually Elsie's uncle, her mother's younger brother Thomas, who returned to England aboard the Empress of Ireland. He sailed from St John. New Brunswick, Canada to Liverpool - arriving on 9 December 1910.

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NOTE:
1:	The above information is based on the recollections of Elsie (Swarbrick) Banks and the above mentioned ships passenger lists.