John George Johnson

[Jayjane]

Hi all, I'm researching our family tree and my great grandfather, John George Johnson, was a Quartermaster for White Star Line. We know this to be true. He lived in Liverpool. I've recently linked to family, who live in the USA.
We have no record of my great grandfather being in the UK from after 1911, in fact his wife, my great grandmother had another child to someone else, in 1914, and then married him in 1916. There is no death record for John George Johnson.
The family I have linked to in the USA is my 3rd cousin. We share the same great grandfather, which is John.
My great Uncle Frankie, John's son, emigrated to America and settled there in the 1920's. He went there with the story that his father, John, had bunked on to the Titanic, to work for a wealthy man. He passed on the story that John was a good swimmer and managed to stay alive and was rescued.
The family in America have always believed that John George Johnson made it to Canada, but then we have no record for him. I'm at a loss at to where to go next with this. Up until now I've been dismissing this idea, but seeing as how we can't find him anywhere else, is it a possibility?
Any help appreciated, thank you.

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

John George Johnson is not on any list so was not aboard the ship.

 

[Jayjane]

John George Johnson is not on any list so was not aboard the ship.

Thanks for the reply. We couldn’t understand why, if he worked for White Star Line, he would have been a stowaway. It didn’t make sense, but the family in America knew their grandad to be a very truthful man, who would not have made up a story about his father surviving the Titanic. He was convinced John George Johnson got to the States that way, and unofficially. No idea where to look from here tbh. He did disappear from the UK and was a seaman. I’ll keep searching, thank you.

 

[Ioannis Georgiou]

There are many families who claimed that a relative was a Titanic survivor. Sounds much better than that the person came over as a normal passenger with another ship having a normal trip over the Atlantic.
In several cases the story is quite the same including that the person survived as he was rescued by the water (a very often made claim). Fact is he is not on any list even not on the Carpathia one.

 

[Jayjane]

Could have been that the young Frankie was told that his father, John George Johnson, went on the Titanic, because the truth was he abandoned his family. There’s no death record for him here in the UK.
Thanks for your help. I’ve searched the lists myself on the net and not come across him, but thought I’d ask the experts on here.

 

[Sauli.]

There were a family story in my girlfriend's family, that their relatives, named Berglund had died in the sinking of the Titanic. They were also convinced. As it turned out, apparently they died on the sinking of the Empress of Ireland. Like ioannis suggested, your relative could have been on another ship.

 

[Sauli.]

Or was it Bergman.. I'm not sure at the moment which one was it, Berglund or Bergman.

 

[Jayjane]

There were a family story in my girlfriend's family, that their relatives, named Berglund had died in the sinking of the Titanic. They were also convinced. As it turned out, apparently they died on the sinking of the Empress of Ireland. Like ioannis suggested, your relative could have been on another ship.

I’ll have to get back to my ancestry research. I’m sure he had been on the Empress at some point. I do have a list of ships I’ve linked him to, somewhere. He more than likely went to America on another ship and may have embellished his story. I know for definite he lived in America for part of his life, but I also know, through ancestry dna research, that I have relatives in Australia, because of him. He certainly got around. Thank you for your response. You’ve got me thinking again.

 

[Jayjane]

I’ll have to get back to my ancestry research. I’m sure he had been on the Empress at some point. I do have a list of ships I’ve linked him to, somewhere. He more than likely went to America on another ship and may have embellished his story. I know for definite he lived in America for part of his life, but I also know, through ancestry dna research, that I have relatives in Australia, because of him. He certainly got around. Thank you for your response. You’ve got me thinking again.

Scrap that, I’m getting mixed up. It was another family member who was linked to the Empress I think. It’s too early for me, I’m not thinking straight. Thanks again.