empress of ireland Memorial Service.

[Captain Kong]

Empress of Ireland memorial service
http://www.liverpoolshipsandsailors..../07/empress-of
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My brother is one of the Standard Bearers.
Cheers
Brian

[Keith at Tregenna]

On the 28th of May 1914, the R.M.S. (Royal Mail Ship) Empress of Ireland was docked in Quebec. Loaded onboard were 1,100 tons of general cargo, including 252 ingots of Silver and 2,600 tons of coal necessary for the voyage.

The Empress was under command of Captain Henry George Kendall.

Even though he had 25 years sea time and 12 years with CPR, he was new to this ship.

He was promoted and put in command of the Empress of Ireland at the beginning of the month and this was to be his first time down the St. Lawrence River in command. He was with the pilot Adélard Bernier, a crew of 420, of which 53 were sailors and 6 Officers.

There were 1,477 people aboard when the Empress of Ireland weighed anchor at 16h30 for Liverpool, England. With a decor rich in wood panels, fireplaces, flowers, full of pagentry, first class offers a music and writing room, a library, a café, and a smoking parlour. No stateroom carries the number nor adds to 13.

Meals were served in the grand dining room on the sheltered deck. Among the 87 1st class passengers were Mr. Lawrence Irving, a well know actor, his wife Mabel Hackney, and Sir Henry Seton Karr, a very rich English gentleman returning from a hunting trip in Canada.

For the 253 Second class passengers, the Empress of Ireland had comforts comparable to 1st class on many other ships. The men had a smoking parlour, the ladies a music room. Meals were served in a dining room equal to 1st class with a restrained decor.

In 2nd class, there were no aristocrats but 170 members of the Salvation Army including an orchestra of 39 musicians on route to a convention in London.

In third class, life was agreeable but could not compare to the other two. Life was a lot more tolerable than 20 years previous. The 717 people in 3rd class formed a very diverse group, of these, 300 were temporarily laid off Detroit Ford workers returning to Europe. Also there were many failed immigrants returning to their homelands.

More at: http://www.empress2014.ca/seclangen/tragedy.html

[Charlie Hannah]

Good post Brian!