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The landing stage in Liverpool
circa 1901. It was from here that many thousands embarked for a new life in
North America. The ship in the photo was the SS Celtic, one of the largest
transatlantic liners in the White Star line. It has been estimated that over
nine million emigrants sailed from Liverpool bound for the U.S. Canada and
Australia.
A distant relation called Alice Fletcher (1866-1933) left here with
her husband Richard Tillotson (1868-1957) and their five children for Canada.
We are related to them through one of the sons of Joseph Fletcher (1755-?) and
Mary Bilbrough of Bolton Percy, Yorkshire. Anyway... Richard, Alice and their
offspring decided to leave England in 1904... from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova
Scotia (Canada). They sailed on the SS Canada, although I am not precisely sure
which sailing they took, and there are two: T497 Canada Liverpool England
1904-02-26 Halifax N.S. 1904-03-04. and T498 Canada Liverpool England
1904-03-31 Halifax N.S. 1904-04-09. But I know definitely that they sailed in
March of that year. I really need to check the passenger lists to confirm this.
I was in contact with a descendant of Alice Fletcher: Janice Joynt of Calgary
who said of her grandmother: "Alice Fletcher was from around Leeds in
Yorkshire, her ancestors were sea captains, she was certified by the 'Ambulance
Society' in England and worked as a midwife and she was a very talented singer.
Alice died in October of 1933 of cancer in Saskatchewan. My father Harry
Fletcher Tillitson (b. 1899) was 3 years old when they arrived in Halifax. They
farmed in Saskatchewan near Inchkeith."
The five children of Alice and
Richard were: Alice, Harry, Elizabeth, Emma, William and Thomas. Richard
Tillotson came from a prestigious background... one of his ancestors was John
Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury (1630-1694).
All Rights Reserved / Copyright David John Drew 2013.
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