Major Arthur Peuchen

[Arthur McConnell]

I am Arthur Peuchen's great-great nephew and would be really interested to hear from anyone with any new information about him. Especially what happened in the years AFTER the Titanic disaster.
Many thanks

 

[Vicki Logan]

In the passenger biography section there is some good information on Arthur Peuchen's life after the Titanic.
Vicki Logan

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Hi Arthur,

Welcome aboard! I'm very interested in your great great uncle and I've discovered some new information, as I'm working on an article on his life for this site.

I'm not ready to discuss it on here at this time, but I'd be happy to on the e-mail. My e-mail is [email protected].

Best regards,

Jason

 

[Marilyn Lena Penner]

Hello Mr. McConnell,

I too am interested in your great uncle. I live in Toronto and have visited his grave several times. It's not the easiest one to find, but, according to Mike Filey's book Mount Pleasant Cemetery : an illustrated guide (pub. 1999), its Plot V, Lot 58. A very small stone in a very damp place in the cemetery. His wife Margaret, daughter Jessie (Mrs. Henry Lefroy), son G. Alan (I forget if it's Godfrey or Geoffrey) and grand daughter Helen Lefroy are buried around him.
[if anyone has information on them, I'd appreciate that too. Alan was badly injured during World War I, according to his father's obituary, but I cannot find out if he was in the Queen's Own Rifles - the militia regiment his father was in here in Toronto or a British Regiment or another Canadian regiment.

This is the entry by Mike Filey. There was a lengthly article about Lt. Col. Peuchen in Maclean's magazine approx. ten years ago and I'll try to find it in the reference library. I know that he did become Lieut. Col. and commanding officer of the Queen's Own Rifles in May 1912. There was speculation in the newspapers at the time that he might be passed over since he survived. He was not in command when they went overseas during the first world war, yet he was listed in the Army lists as 'on reserve' during that time period.

http://www.mountpleasantgroupofcemeteries.ca/about_us/fileys_stories/Peuchen_Arthur%20Godfrey.asp

Alan was 'clerk messenger' at the Ontario Dept. of Education according to the 1960 Might's Toronto City Directory. He was listed as residing at 1483 Yonge St., Suite #2 then, and at 62-65 St. Clair Ave #115 in 1977. The Yonge - St. Clair area is near Mt. Pleasant Cemetery and was a pleasant neighbourhood back then, but a far cry from the mansions on Jarvis Street where he grew up at the turn of the century. Jessie lived in the new Lawrence Park subdivision (Yonge Street and Lawrence Ave., north of the city limits then) at the time of her father's death, but I'm afraid I can't find anything about her.

I'll see if I can root out anything else from the library. The Queen's Own Rifles maintains a museum at Casa Loma in Toronto. There are two pictures of Peuchen on display - one in the 1890's when he was a captain, one in 1913 when he commanded the militia. In both, he was one among a group of officers.

Marylinusca

 

[John Clifford]

I also hope to travel to Alberta, probably in spring 2005, as I also would like to find out the locations of his properties, near Hinton and Calgary.

Marilyn, I will have to scan and post some of my pictures of Peuchen's gravesite, taken during my trip to Toronto, last July.
Jason Tiller and I also visited the graves of the two Fortune women, and crewmember Emma Bliss.

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

Hi Marilyn,

Welcome aboard! I also live in Toronto and I've been in touch with Arthur over the last several months, discussing his great great uncle. In fact, I met him and his wife a couple of months ago in London, England. They were here last month and they visited Casa Loma, and Peuchen's grave which I took them to see, as I have also visited it several times. I agree, his grave is very small compared to some of the large ones in that plot. I visited Casa Loma last summer, when my friend John Clifford was here and we saw the pictures of Peuchen. I was very pleased to see them, especially the one taken when he was a Captain, as I had not seen that one before.

As noted above, I'm working on a biography of his life for this site and I have found a lot of new and interesting information, but I'm not ready to discuss the details on here until it is released.

Peuchen's son's first name was Godfrey and he served with the Royal Field Artillery as a lieutenant in London, England. Jessie married an officer from the same regiment. I have information saying that he was to command the Home Battalion of the Queen's Own Rifle's in the first World War, so your statement about him being listed as a reserve is interesting. May I ask who your source is for that?

The article in Maclean's magazine on Peuchen was published six years ago and it was very well done. I have a copy of it, so if you need the date for it to look it up, I'd be happy to provide it for you. It was also published in the Titanic Commutator which is a quarterly journal done by the Titanic Historical Society down in the States.

I've seen that book on Mount Pleasant Cemetery and it gives a great history of it. I have been in touch with a gentleman of the Queen's Own Rifle's from Casa Loma, who provided me with the Maclean's article and some other terrific info. The reference library is a wonderful source of information, as I've found a lot on microfilm from the old newspapers regarding Peuchen and his experience on the Titanic. I'd be happy to give you the dates for those as well. One of these days, I have to get back there, as there is more info to gather.

Thank you for that info about where Jessie and Godfrey resided, I was not aware of it. That's interesting about where Jessie lived before her father died, as I live in the same area. I have not been able to locate much information on her or on Godfrey.

Feel free to e-mail me, if you'd like to talk more about Peuchen. My e-mail is in my last post.

Best regards,

Jason

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

To the gentleman who e-mailed me a few weeks ago, regarding Arthur Peuchen's summer home 'Woodlands' and the reported hauntings that supposedly occur there, I lost your e-mail with your phone number.

Please e-mail me again, as I am very interested in hearing more about this.

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

The Toronto Star just completed a five day feature on the Titanic for the centennial, with Arthur Peuchen as the focal point. I did a telephone interview with the writer, just over a week ago. In the last link which was in today's paper, I am mentioned and quoted:

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1143937--maj-arthur-godfrey-peuchen-of-toronto-was-with-wealthy- friends-on-titanic

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1143951--toronto-titanic-passenger-arthur-godrey-peuchen-had-qua lms-about-capt-edward-john-smith

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1144942--lifeboat-boarding-from-titanic-calm-in-first-cla ss-chaotic-in-steerage

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1143967--no-sunday-lifeboat-drill-the-day-titanic-struck-the-ice berg

http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1145608--toronto-titanic-survivor-maj-arthur-peuchen-was-scorned -once-back-home