Zhang Beichen
Member
And another question: did the servants pay for his/her ticket himself or his/her employer? The passengers list shows that the ticket price of George Swane was 13 pound.
How did the servants lived in 2nd class went to the 1st class?
- Thread starter Zhang Beichen
- Start date
Arun Vajpey
Member
I believe that the employers would have paid for the tickets of maids, valets, nurses etc travelling with them in 1st Class, as well as other staff whose services were not required during the voyage and so placed elsewhere. George Swane would have been one of the latter group and Hudson Allison would most certainly have paid for the chauffeur's 2nd Class Ticket.
Richard C Elliott
Member
Why on earth do you think servants would pay for their own tickets? If your employer required you to accompany them on a journey would you pay your own expenses? Of course not!
Arun Vajpey
Member
The situation might be slightly grey on some occasions for a travelling "companion". During my research into Finnish 2nd Class passenger and Titanic victim Martta Hiltunen, I learned something interesting. Although she is not listed as such, Martta was going to work as a housekeeper/maid/companion for Anna Hamalainen, a fellow Finn and travelling companion on board the Titanic, for about a year after reaching America. But she was not Anna's employee in the conventional sense; the two women, both Savonian Finns, had met less than a year earlier at a time when Anna Hamalainen just had a baby and was planning rejoining her husband in Detroit. Anna had lived in America before, was familiar with the set-up and could speak English, whereas Martta was venturing out of Finland for the very first time without any definite plans and could not speak English.
Martta Hiltunen applied for and received her passport on 21st March 1912 and this included a permit to live and work in the United States for at least 5 years. Anna Hamalainen and she then bought tickets for a passage on the brand-new White Star liner Titanic, scheduled to depart from Southampton on its maiden voyage on 10th April 1912. Anna’s ticket number, which included her infant son Wiljo in it, was 250649 and Martta’s was 250650. My source told me that although there was no direct evidence, it was extremely likely that Anna had paid part of Martta's fare to America. This arrangement suited both women; for Anna, there would be company and help during the voyage with the baby and later while settling down in Detroit. For Martta, it would provide room and board for a year while she learned English and got used to the American way of life before going off on her own. Sadly, Martta Hiltunen, her plans and her dreams went down with the Titanic.
Martta Hiltunen applied for and received her passport on 21st March 1912 and this included a permit to live and work in the United States for at least 5 years. Anna Hamalainen and she then bought tickets for a passage on the brand-new White Star liner Titanic, scheduled to depart from Southampton on its maiden voyage on 10th April 1912. Anna’s ticket number, which included her infant son Wiljo in it, was 250649 and Martta’s was 250650. My source told me that although there was no direct evidence, it was extremely likely that Anna had paid part of Martta's fare to America. This arrangement suited both women; for Anna, there would be company and help during the voyage with the baby and later while settling down in Detroit. For Martta, it would provide room and board for a year while she learned English and got used to the American way of life before going off on her own. Sadly, Martta Hiltunen, her plans and her dreams went down with the Titanic.
