Canada bound 1914

In 1914, just before the outbreak of the Great War, a 20 year old woman set sail from Liverpool to Canada.  She had grown up on the estate of a large stately home. She was already an experienced parlour maid and she was now venturing to join the staff of a wealthy industrialist in Ontario. Her eldest brother was already working for him, and he paid for her passage. Her mother thought she would never see her again. In fact, for the next 70 years she travelled that sea route many times to visit her home village, bringing her new husband to meet her siblings.

This young woman was my great aunt, and she emigrated alone on the RMS Alaunia. The Alaunia had only been launched a few months earlier, and was one of three ships built for Cunard in 1913 on the Clyde. Her maiden voyage was in December of 1913. Two months later my great aunt sailed with her to start her new life. She must have been very mindful of the iceberg terror when sailing into Canadian waters; icebergs that had sunk the Titanic only two years earlier. Her future husband with his mother and 6 siblings had been booked on that fateful Titanic maiden voyage, but never made the trip. A few weeks before sailing, the eldest son had a serious fall and his leg was so badly damaged it was amputated. This delayed their emigration and ultimately saved all their lives. My great aunt sailed all the way to Canada to meet and marry a man from London's East End.