Lost family member - possible unknown Titanic passenger?

[stridert]

I am hoping someone on this site might be able to help me track a lost family member. It is quite possible that she may have been a Titanic victim.

My Gran Aunt (Eileen Holt) was 19 years old at the time of the Titanic disaster. She was born in America while her father Arthur Holt was working there. In the mid 1890's they returned to live in Dublin (Ireland). Her Father was a retired British Military official (Having served in Nigeria). Eileen worked in Dublin until 1912, when she decided to leave home. One night in 1912, she told her little sister (my Grandmother - Olga Holt - who was 7) that she was leaving home and that she would return some day and bring her back "the biggest doll in the World".

She was never seen or heard from again.

Her father (who was quite prosperous and had connections), spent most of his savings on hiring Pinkerton agents in America in the hope of tracing his missing daughter. After years, this was abandoned.

In recent years, myself and my family have tried all genealogy sites, tracing sites and census records for the UK, Ireland, USA and Canada to try and find any record. None has been found. The last record is the 1911 census in Dublin, Ireland.

It was always believed that she had tried to go to America (as she had been born there). It is also possible that she may have traveled with the Dublin "Abbey Players" (stage entertainers). Their records do show that some members were performing in America until 1915.

I have checked ship records and newspaper records in the U.S. and can't find her name mentioned.

It is as if she vanished off the face of the Earth in 1912. My late Grandmother had always wished she could have found out what had happened to her older sister. I hope someone who see's this may be able to give us a clue. Due to her having English, Irish and American roots, and vanishing in 1912 when she left home, it is very possible she may have sought passage to the U.S. at that time. Could she have been unlucky enough to have chosen the Titanic?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[stridert]

One further query, can you advise me regarding the following: -

Although there were numerous unidentified bodies, were all of the boarded passengers and crews identities known? i.e. is it just that the known names could not be put to certain bodies (who are now lost), or is it that not all passengers names were known in the first place?

An answer to this will help a great deal.

Thank you.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Passenger ticket lists and crew signing-on sheets have been preserved, so all of the names are known. The name you've mentioned does not appear in either list. Have you tried the search engine at the Ellis Island web site, which documents all passenger arrivals in the US up to the mid-1920s?

 

[stridert]

Thank you Bob, that helps answer our question, and it also closes one possible avenue. I have checked the Ellis Island records you mentioned and there is no record of "Eileen" or "E" Holt, though I was thinking that as she was born in America, would she have had to go through immigration?

Also, If she secretly married and changed her name, we may never be able to trace her. I will continue my search. Thanks again for the reply. (Michael Punch)

 

[Bob Godfrey]

The records at the Ellis Island Foundation are taken from incoming ships' manifests, so they include all arrivals whether or not they needed to be screened as steerage immigrants. Best of luck with your search, Michael.

 

[stridert]

Thanks again Bob, I really appreciate your responses and good wishes. Hopefully someday myself or a family member may be able to find out her life story and maybe some descendants. (Michael)

 

[hazel mccully]

Could this be her?

Ireland, Civil Registration Deaths Index, 1864-1958 about Eileen Holt
Name: Eileen Holt
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1894
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1913
Death Age: 19
Registration district: Dundalk
Death Country: Ireland
Volume: 2
Page: 631
FHL Film Number: 0101605

 

[stridert]

Thank you so much for looking this up Hazel. I am not certain if it is her, as she should have been born before April 1893 (Due to being 18 in the April 1911 Census in Dublin). The birth age mentioned says about 1894, so it could be possible. I will check this out fully to see one way or another. Dundalk is not too far from Dublin, so it is feasible and I would not say the name was that common in Ireland (especially with a very close birth age). Thanks again, and I will keep my fingers crossed

(Michael)

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Good work, Hazel. Michael, it looks like your search is probably over. I daresay that you know there were only two other Eileen Holts in the 1911 Census of Ireland, one being aged 16 and the other a young child. The 1911 census date was 2 April, so if Eileen's birthday fell very early in the month or late in March she could well have been 17 in late March or even early April of 1911. The death registration is in the 2nd quarter of 1913 which begins in April, but registration of a death was commonly a few days or even weeks later than the death itself. The death certificate is the document you need (and a birth certificate if you can find one), but in Ireland many records were destroyed during the period of 'the troubles' which began in 1916.

 

[stridert]

Thanks again Bob. I have to rule out the Eileen Holt who was born in Waterford in Dec 1894 first as my Gran Aunt was born in America. As you say, if I can track a birth or death certificate, it will really help, but with so few early Irish records left after the fire that destroyed the majority it may be hard.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Mike: If, for the sake of argument, the Eileen who died at Dundalk in 1913 was your Eileen, then the authorities were clearly able to record her name and age (perhaps from a document like a contract of employment ) but could find no other evidence of who she was (ie family connections). So even the death cert might not be helpful. You might need to eliminate the Waterford girl by looking for evidence that she was still alive after that date - a marriage record for instance.

 

[stridert]

Thanks Bob for all the advice. I will update this thread if I do find her or if I at least eliminate these lines of inquiry. (Mike)

 

[Bob Godfrey]

I'd certainly be interested to know how this turns out, Mike. Glad to be of some assistance, but if this line of inquiry produces a result it will be thanks to Hazel, who will have proved to be more effective than the Pinkerton agency!

 

[mrgn6csnjmdn]

Michael,
You might want to try Ancestry.com. It's a very extensive site,and if you know
the American city your aunt was born, you just might get some info on her.
The cost to join the site is fairly inexpensive..I'm thinking around 20 U.S. dollars,
if I remember correctly. Good luck in finding your aunt, and receiving some kind
of closure.

 

[stridert]

@Bob, No problem, I will update you and Hazel on our findings when I have some news.

@mrgn6csnjmdn, Thanks for the advice. I am already a user of the site (with worldwide annual membership for the last few years). I find it very useful, but as you say, you sometimes need the right search criteria (e.g. birth cities or residences etc..) before it will show you the relevant results. I am still trying to find out exactly where her father worked in the U.S. when she (and one of her sisters) were born. This is really important as most of the U.S. records are split into counties/states and if you don't enter it accurately, you will not get a result. If I can get her birth cert, it may give additional names and a precise date of birth. Hopefully I will be able to get this info in the near future.

Anyway, all the help/advice is greatly appreciated. All the best to you all, Mike

 

[Icaria]

passenger by the name of holt on the ship

I

@Bob, No problem, I will update you and Hazel on our findings when I have some news.

@mrgn6csnjmdn, Thanks for the advice. I am already a user of the site (with worldwide annual membership for the last few years). I find it very useful, but as you say, you sometimes need the right search criteria (e.g. birth cities or residences etc..) before it will show you the relevant results. I am still trying to find out exactly where her father worked in the U.S. when she (and one of her sisters) were born. This is really important as most of the U.S. records are split into counties/states and if you don't enter it accurately, you will not get a result. If I can get her birth cert, it may give additional names and a precise date of birth. Hopefully I will be able to get this info in the near future.

Anyway, all the help/advice is greatly appreciated. All the best to you all, Mike

Hi,
My paternal grandmothers' maiden name was holt. My father once said a relative of his mother went down on the titanic. And something about picture dealing or restoration ..though that may be a false lead. Dad born in 1912 . Or was it 13 is no more so can't offer more. I recal some years ago someone contacted me researching into a family history of HOLT in Canada. Nothing found out re the titanic ..one other tenuous connection is my dads Christian name ..ARTHUR