Beesley in a 10gallon hat

[Pat Cook]

Wow - the Ellis Island Records site has proved something of a goldmine for me. Not only found Lawrence Beesley but his brothers Lewis Henry Beesley (2 trips), Frank Meredith Beesley (2 trips, 1 with his wife, Annie Kathleen) and Arthur Campbell Beesley (2 trips). And, also interesting I think, with the exception of 1 sailing, they all came over here on White Star liners. Arthur's journey on the Celtic, May 1912, is mentioned in Lawrence's book, as many of you know.

Can't wait to get into the PRO site...

Best regards,
Cook

 

[George Behe]

Hi, Pat!

Here's a suggestion: try searching for 'alternate' spellings of Beesley (e.g. Beasley, Beesly etc.) It's not impossible that slight transcription errors might 'hide' a few pertinent name entries in the passenger manifests.

All my best,

George

 

[Geoff Whitfield]

Cook, sensible words from Behe for once! I have "done" Lusitania's passengers and a few of them turn up with spelling variations.

Geoff

 

[Pat Cook]

Way ahead of youse guys - but thanks for the tip, anywho (This was how I was able to find Lawrence Beesley's daughter's photo on Ebay.)

Best regards, as always,

Cook

 

[Pat Cook]

Curiouser and curiouser.

Still on the trail of this Beesley feller - Herbold, heads up! This one is a'comin' yore way.

Keeping in mind that Lawrence had a son in 1903, born in Cambridge, named Alec, I found this on the Ellis Island Records:

Alexander Beesley, born in Cambridge, England, sailed First Class at the age of 10, in 1913 aboard the Kronprinz Freidrich Wilhelm, which departed November 30 from Southampton and arrived in New York on December 8. His destination? Pasadena, California. Ticket paid for by his father, Lawrence, in Pasadena, California.

No other Beesleys or MacBeths (mother's maiden name) on the ship. However, there is a notation just above his of a woman who was probably (but not positively) accompanying him, which reads:

Winifred Donnell-Green (the records text reads “Daniell-Green” but that’s not what it looks like to me), age 27, Irish nurse, from London, England, states: “Going with First Class Passenger”. Also reads that the ticket was paid for “by his -------“ (can’t make this word out).

Also I discovered why Lawrence's name doesn't show up on the Carpathia/Titanic list when you search for it. Unless you know his name and go down the list closely, page by page, you'd never be able to decypher it, which obviously they couldn't. I finally found it on page #0143. The best way to see it is search for Charlotte Collyer; her name only appears once and it's on this same page - Lawrences is at the bottom. The writing is BARELY there - looks like they were just about out of ink.

Looks like Lawrence may have been on another tour as he did in 1912 after finishing his book.

More news when it happens.

Best regards,
Cook

 

[Pat Cook]

Scratch Winifred as Alec's nurse - Molony pointed out that the written phrase "paid by his ---" is actually "paid by Miss ----". And the best I can find is Miss Winslow, according to the scribble, whom Winifred was accompanying.

Shows you what you do with a spare Saturday off.

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

Cook,

That Titanic/Carpathia list is a big botch up is it not? The Duff Gordons are listed as the "Duff-Jordans" and Ninette Aubart's name is also screwed up as are several others I remember.

Randy

 

[Pat Cook]

Hey Randy!

It is a bit of a jumble in spots. My guess is there was a bit of a rush coupled with the frenzied nerves and unbelievability which would probably make a lot of people shake when they tried to write or even think clearly, that kind of thing.

Still, it's amazing to be able to look over it, even 90 years later.

Best regards, from one Tex to 'nother,
Cook

 

[Mike Herbold]

Pat:
Congratulations on a great find. Love that Ellis Island site. I'll go to the Pasadena Library tomorrow to see if I can turn anything up. A terrible thought for me: that is Pasadena, California and not Pasadena, Texas, right?

 

[Mike Herbold]

Pat:
When I asked the Pasadena question, I wasn't able to access the original manifest. Since then, it works, and it is clearly California.

But to make things a little more confusing, did you see the manifest for Alec Beesley, age 9, which also shows the ship as the Kronprinz Freidrich Wilhelm arriving NY on December 8th, but ex-Bremen on November 30th? That listing is lined out with the notation that he did not sail, but seemed to indicate he was to originally sail with a Daniel Connell to Chicago.