S.S. Corinthian Passenger Manifest Cover Page
John William Holmes and his wife Florence immigrated to Canada from the United Kingdom in April of 1903 with their three young sons Alfred, Harold and Arthur. They sailed from Liverpool aboard the Steamship Corinthian, one of the Allan Lines (Later absorbed by Canadian Pacific Steamships) mail packets, to Montreal.
Immediately below are scanned copies (from poor photocopies of what appears to be an abused microfiche) of the Passenger Manifest cover, a summary of the manifest, and the page of the manifest with John's and his family's entries. Their entries have been slightly enhanced for clarity.
Copies of the manifest material were given to me by Wilma ("Billie") Holmes, wife of Ralph (my uncle), who worked in co-operation with Aunt Myrtle (Harold's sister) for many, many years assembling the material that makes up the bulk of this web site.
Further down this page is a picture of the S.S. Corinthian in her glory days, and some historical material on her.
The in spite of the poor quality of the copy we have to work with, you can still make out the text:
1903
No.2
S S Corinthian
sailed from
Liverpool 16 April
Arrive 30 "
ok
47 Cabin
422 Steerage
469 Total
There is a set of web pages at the University of
Waterloo that document "Young Immigrants to Canada". One of these pages
describes the passage to Canada on Allen Line steamships. The Corintian
is not specifically mentioned but the experiences would have been typical.
Go to
http://www.ist.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/allan.html#N_5_ to learn
more.
(But please return here when you're done!)
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On one of the web pages at the University of Waterloo there is a cryptic entry for this particular passage (April 30, 1903) that indicates some young boys may have been on board as part of an ongoing process of bringing homeless or orphan children to Canada.
( http://www.ist.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/ships3.html )Here we see that one James Barclay, Purser signed for the ship's Master.
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Here we see the listings for
all from Yorkshire and bound for Winnipeg.
- J. W. Holmes, age 32, a "Stove Fitter"
- Mrs. (ditto mark) age 32, "wife";
- Alf (ditto mark), age 6, "child";
- Harold, (ditto mark), age 4, "child";
- Arthur, (ditto mark), age 3, "child";
A noteworthy point is the ages shown for the boys does not coincide with the family records. According to family records Alfred was almost 8 years old, Harold was 5 1/2, Arthur was nearly 4 1/2 when they landed. did they get a cheaper rate for 6 and under? Did the booking agent merely guess their ages?
John Holmes' profession or occupation is listed on the passenger manifest as "Stove Fitter", and on his marriage certificate as "Fire Range Fitter", literally, a kitchen stove maker or installer. In the late 1800's and early 1900's this would have been a fairly technical and "newfangled' career, perhaps on a par with "webmaster" these days!
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Another Brief account I found on the internet has this to say:The "Corinthian" of 1907 was the second ship of that name owned by the Allan Line of Liverpool. Built in 1900 by Workman, Clark & Co Ltd, Belfast, she was a 6,227 gross ton ship, length 430ft x beam 54.2ft, one funnel, two masts, single screw and a speed of 13 knots. There was accommodation for 50-1st, 150-2nd and 400-3rd class passengers. Launched on 19/3/1900 she left Liverpool on her maiden voyage to Quebec and Montreal on 24/5/1900. On 23/5/1903 she transferred to the Glasgow - Quebec and Montreal service and in 1908 she was rebuilt to 7,333 tons with accommodation for 280-2nd and 900-3rd class passengers. In April 1908 she commenced her last Glasgow - Quebec - Montreal voyage and on 9/5/1908 sailed on her first run from Montreal to Quebec and London. She left London for Quebec and Montreal on 10/9/1914 and on the return voyage was used as a Canadian Expeditionary Force troopship. She later continued on the London - Canada service and in 1917 went to Canadian Pacific when they took over Allan Line. On 21/11/1918 she commenced her first voyage after the armistice from London to St John NB but on 14th Dec. she was wrecked in the Bay of Fundy with no loss of life.
[North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.1,p.321]
A recollection of a Digby Neck fisherman who requested anonymity, as told to one Jean Sandel
In 1918, the Corinthian was enroute from St. John, N.B. to Great Britain loaded with supplies...mostly ham, bacon, beef and flour. She was enroute as the First World War ended.
She grounded on the Northwest Ledge, three miles northwest of Westport in the Bay of Fundy (there were rumours that this may not have been accidental!).
The year had been a hard one for the Western Nova Scotia fisheries and when the folk discovered what the Corinthian was carrying in her hold, they went out in boats and salvaged the cargo of food. This salvage saw them through the winter. Shortly after the "salvage operation", she broke up and what cargo was left floated ashore.
The Corinthian was the vessel in which Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson went abroad to fight in World War I. He was heard to say once on the radio that he often wondered what had happened to her.
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