Trying to verify family members on the "just missed it" passenger list ...

[Kevin Hills]

There is a family legend that my Great Grandmother and her family had passage booked on the Titanic out of Southampton, arrived from Scotland to do so, but were turned down as they tried to board. Travelling together were the mother Benjamina Halbert, and her children Jessie, Willie, David, Ben, and Isabelle. Here is the story as relayed in a family history:

"There are two versions about the family missing the boat. One that their berths were cancelled because of applications of more more affluent passengers, the other that Isabelle had come down with a heat rash because her mother had bundled her up too warmly. The family was refused boarding passes because they thought Isabelle had the measles."

They did depart on the next available ship, the SS Saturnia.

Is there a copy of an original planned manifest for the sailing out of Southampton which may show their names as at least having been booked to travel? I understand that many people came out of the woodwork at the time and claimed to have "just missed it"; I am hoping to verify if possible the family story. If I am not able to, then I guess it will continue to be a legend!

Thanks, Kevin.

 

[Dave Gittins]

I'm afraid your legend doesn't stand up. There were ample berths in all classes on Titanic. More seriously, Saturnia, of the Donaldson Line, was used to carry migrants from Scotland to Canada. Anybody going to Canada would not have booked on Titanic. The nearest sailing I can find for Saturnia was Saturday 11 May 1912. You may be able to find passenger lists for Saturnia in Canadian records. Don't mix her up with another, later Saturnia, which was Italian owned.

 

[Dave Gittins]

PS. Ancestry.com has a Mrs Halbert arriving at Quebec on Saturnia, with others, in 1912. I'm not willing to join Ancestry.com to take it further. There is evidently more documentation for members only.