The Allison family was a Canadian family of first-class passengers on board the RMS Titanic, which sank on her maiden voyage.
The family consisted of Hudson Joshua Creighton Allison (9 Dec 1881 – 15 Apr 1912); his wife, Bess Waldo Allison (née Daniels; 14 Nov 1886 – 15 Apr 1912); their daughter, Helen Loraine Allison (5 Jun 1909 – 15 Apr 1912); and son, Hudson Trevor Allison (7 May 1911 – 7 Aug 1929).
Of the family, only Trevor survived the sinking. He was rescued by his nursemaid Alice Cleaver.
Hudson J. C. Allison
Hudson Joshua Creighton Allison was born on 9 December 1881 in Winchester Township, Dundas County, Ontario, near the village of Chesterville. He was the third of four children born to Jesse Rose Allison and Phoebe Johnston. His father was a farmer, though he had previous manufactured pumps with a business partner, William Manson, in Metcalfe, Ontario until their partnership was dissolved in 1874. Hudson had one sister, Margaret Rachel Allison, and two brothers, George Richey Barber Allison and William Percival "Percy" Allison. Through his brother Percy, he was the great grand-uncle of actress Sophia Bush.
All four of Hudson's grandparents were Irish immigrants. His paternal grandparents, Andrew Allison and Jannet Richey, arrived in Canada prior to 1829, when they were married in Quebec. By 1832, the family had settled in Dundas County, Ontario; most of their children, including Hudson's father Jesse, were born in Winchester Township, with others born in Williamsburg Township.
Hudson's maternal grandparents, Isaac Johnston and Margaret Humphries, were from County Fermanagh and County Down, respectively. By 1844, when they were married, Isaac was living in Oxford, Grenville County, Ontario, and Margaret was living in Elizabethtown, Leeds County, Ontario. All of their children, including Hudson's mother Phoebe, were born in Oxford. The Johnston family resided in Oxford until the late 1860s, when they moved to Winchester Township, Dundas County. Both of Hudson's grandfathers were farmers.
Hudson received his elementary and high school education in Chesterville. After graduating, he began working as a clerk in the general store of Chester Casselman in that village. When the 1901 Census was gathered in April 1901, he was also boarding with Casselman and his family. Soon after, he travelled to Buffalo, New York to study shorthand. By June 1902, he had completed his studies and moved to Montreal to live and work with his maternal uncle, George Franklin Johnston, who was an insurance manager for the New York Life Insurance Company. Hudson began as a stenographer for his uncle before later becoming an insurance agent with the company. They resided at 4065 Dorchester Boulevard. By June 1904, their address had changed to 4298 Dorchester.
In 1905, he was promoted to the position of instructor, and in this role he became acquainted with land baron Colonel Andrew Duncan Davidson, who sold railway and homestead lands in Western Canada. Davidson convinced Hudson to move to Winnipeg in 1906. He submitted his resignation to New York Life in May 1906.
By June 1906, Hudson was boarding with Andrew Hood and family at 92 Sherbrook St., Winnipeg (southwest corner of Sherbrook and Westminster). He would continue to live there in 1907. Henderson's Winnipeg City Directory for 1907, published in January 1907, has two entries for Hudson; one in which his occupation is stated as real estate, and one in which he is listed as working in the insurance department of the Canadian Loan and Securities Co., Ltd., of which Col. Davidson was president.
Around March 1907, Hudson, his uncle G. F. Johnston, and John Wilson McConnell formed the real estate firm of Johnston, McConnell & Allison, which was based in Montreal. It operated out of the Bank of Ottawa Building on St. James St. In April 1907, the Canadian Western Development Co. Ltd. was formed in Winnipeg with Hudson as one of its directors. The board of the company also included Senator Robert Mackay as president, G. F. Johnston as vice-president, J. W. McConnell as secretary-treasurer, and Markland Molson as a director. While in Winnipeg, Hudson also met fellow real estate businessmen Mark Fortune and Thomson Beattie. Molson, Fortune, and Beattie would later die in the Titanic disaster.
Bess Waldo Daniels
Bessie Waldo Daniels, known as Bess, was born on 14 November 1886 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was the youngest daughter of Arville Fisher Daniels and Sarah J. McCully. Her father, who was at various times a hatmaker, a ship clerk, and a railway clerk, was from Franklin, Massachusetts, while her mother was from Milwaukee. Bess had one older sister, Maybelle Helen Daniels. She also had an older half-sister from her father's previous marriage to Mary L. Bowden named Myrtle Rowena Daniels, who was raised in Massachusetts by Arville's family.
Bess's paternal side had deep roots in Massachusetts, particularly in Dedham, Wrentham, Medfield, and Franklin. Her family can be traced back to at least eleven Puritan signatories of the Dedham Covenant: Samuel Morse and son Joseph Thomas Wight Joseph Clark James Allen/Allin Henry Smith/Smyth Anthony Fisher and son Cornelius Michael Metcalf Nathaniel Colburn Jonathan Fairbanks
Bess' maternal grandparents, James McCully and Rose Dixon, were both immigrants from Ireland. James fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War, reaching the rank of Sergeant in Company B of the 29th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. The McCully family was well reguarded in Milwaukee; after the Titanic disaster, one Milwaukee newspaper wrote that Bess "had the blood of the McCulleys in her veins and it made her brave."
Bess' parents were married on 24 December 1877 in Milwaukee. The family lived at various addresses on Reed St. in Milwaukee in the 1870s and early 1880s. When Bess was born, the family was residing at 289 Lapham Blvd., where they remained until January 1889, when they moved to Hartford, Connecticut. Arville was employed there by the New York and New England Railroad until about 1893 or 1894. By July 1894, the family had returned to Milwaukee. City directories show them living at 334 21st Ave. in 1895 and at 371 18th Ave. from 1897 to 1902. By 1906, the family was residing with Bess' maternal grandparents, James and Rose McCully, at 91 Farwell Ave., where they were still residing at the time of Bess' marriage to Hudson Allison in December 1907.
Bess graduated from the Eighth District School (1210 Mineral St.) in Milwaukee in 1901. She then attended both the West Division High School (2300 W Highland Ave.) and the South Division High School (1515 West Lapham Blvd.).
Marriage and children
Hudson met Bess while he was travelling by train to Montreal in 1907. Their engagement was announced that September, at which time Hudson was still living in Winnipeg. The couple were married on 9 December 1907, Hudson's 26th birthday, at Westminster Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They resided in Montreal after their marriage.
Both Hudson and Bess were active community members. They were prominent members of the Douglas Methodist Church, located at the corner of St. Catherine and Chomedy Streets in Montreal. Shortly after the new Trinity Methodist Church in Chesterville was completed in 1909, Hudson donated a bell in memory of his late father. Hudson was a avid supporter of the Montreal YMCA, having contributed to their building fund in 1909. He was elected a life governor of the Montreal General Hospital in February 1911, and of Montreal's Western Hospital in January 1912.
Hudson's career prospered in the years following his marriage, and Johnston, McConnell & Allison's success continued. By March 1910, Johnston, McConnell & Allison were involved in the British Canadian Lumber Corporation, of which Hudson would become a director by June 1911. In January 1911, he became a director of Cardiff Collieries Ltd., a coal mining company. By April 1912, he was also president of the British Empire Securities Company.
During their marriage, Hudson travelled to and from the United Kingdom at least five times for work, often bringing Bess with him. In 1910, they sailed on the Empress of Ireland, which would sink four years later, killing over one thousand people. Hudson's second-to-last overseas trip, spanning from February to April 1911, was in relation to a major lumber deal in British Columbia with the British Canadian Lumber Corporation that was worth $20 million. He and his uncle, G. F. Johnston, represented Johnston, McConnell and Allison. They were in England when the 1911 UK Census was taken; they were staying at the Carlton Hotel in London. On Hudson's return, his ship docked in New York. The incoming passenger list noted him as being 5'11" in height and of tan complexion, with brown hair and grey eyes. His destination was 646 Roslyn Ave. in Westmount, where he would arrive just two weeks before his son's birth.
The Allisons had been living at 464 Roslyn Ave. since at least June 1909; an announcement of the purchase was published the following month. The couple had two children while living there. Their daughter, Helen Loraine, was born on 5 June 1909. Their son, Hudson Trevor, was born on 7 May 1911. When the 1911 Census was taken in June of that year, the Allisons had two domestic servants and a coachman living with them: Scottish-born Catherine or Cathelaine Sinclair, 22, and English-born couple Edith and Alfred Creasey, 35 and 34, respectively. The Allisons would reside at Roslyn Ave. until November 1911. Shortly after, they put it up for sale, and the property was sold in March 1912.
In July 1910, Hudson purchased land at the east end of Chesterville with the intention of building a summer home and establishing a stock farm. The land, part of Lots 19 and 20 in Concession 3 of Winchester Township, adjoined his father's property where Hudson had grown up. The house was completed by July 1911, when the family briefly resided there. Hudson's brother Percy managed the Allison Stock Farm.
In November 1911, the Allisons purchased 665 Belmont Ave. in Westmount, which had been built in 1909. The family would shortly after travel to England, and they intended to move into their new home when they returned to Canada. On November 11th, Hudson, Bess, Loraine, and Trevor boarded the White Star Line's SS Megantic in Montreal, arriving in Liverpool, England on November 18th. They were accompanied by Bess' mother Sarah (Mrs. A. F. Daniels), her sister Maybelle (Mrs. W. A. Nieman), and nephew Allison Nieman. Bess's relatives would return to the United States in February 1912, two months before the Allisons. Mrs. Daniels was to prepare the Allisons' Belmont Ave. home for their arrival.
While in England, the Allisons lived at 152 Abbey Road in West Hampstead, London. About two weeks prior to leaving England, Hudson and Bess hired new household staff. This included Sarah Daniels (33; no relation to Bess) as Bess' maid; Alice Cleaver (22) as Trevor's nursemaid; Amelia Mary "Mildred" Brown (18) as their cook; and George Swane (19) as their butler.
Some sources state that the family travelled to Epworth, Lincolnshire during their trip, and that Trevor was baptized there. However, the Douglas Methodist Church in Montreal recorded Trevor's baptism as taking place on 8 November 1911, several days before the family sailed to England.
Titanic The Allison family delayed their return to Canada in order to sail on the Titanic. They boarded the ship in Southampton along with their four servants, Sarah, Alice, Mildred, and George. The Allisons' ticket number was 113781. Sarah and Alice may have been included on this ticket; their names do not appear on the outward passenger list. Mildred and George's tickets were 248733 and 248734, respectively.