Titanic: The Canadian Story

by Alan Hustak, John P. Eaton (Foreword)

This is the untold saga of the 130 passengers aboard the ill-fated luxury liner who were bound for Canada. Author Alan Hustak began his research ten years before the blockbuster movie came out. He conducted hundreds of interviews across the country with direct descendants and relatives of Canadians who sailed on the Titanic's maiden. In the process he unearthed historic photographs and stories which contribute another dimension to the familiar tale. Hustak's chronicles are more poignant than fiction, such as the tale of Quigg Baxter, the young Montreal hockey player who risked all to smuggle his Belgian fiance aboard, the Fortune family from Winnipeg which failed to heed a clairvoyant's warning; and Harry Markland Molson, the richest Canadian aboard who was persuaded by Toronto millionaire Arthur Peuchen to extend his stay in England and sail home with him on the Titanic. Hustak discloses the scandalous behaviour of second class passenger Joseph Fynney and tells of the young honeymooners Bert and Vera Dick of Calgary who started an enduring legend about the disaster. Some books insist the Titanic's last victim, found in a lifeboat a month after the disaster, was from New Jersey; others say he was from Chicago. In fact he was Thomson Beattie of Winnipeg. These stories and others have been overlooked or ignored by American and British historians and enthusiasts who have written about the Titanic. The Canadian Story begins where other Titanic accounts end.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Canada

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago back when it first came out right after the movie sparked the second Titanic mania in my lifetime, the first being her discovery. I knew some of the stories, the Allison family from that awful TV miniseries and Danielle Steel's terrible book, reading her again as an adult with knowledge of history is infuriating. I also knew about Charles Hays because of the beautiful Chateau Laurier that he was going to open later in April. I knew of a few others such as Peuchen because he was a prominent figure in Titanic story, and Eva Hart cause she appeared in everything and James Cameron even alluded to her in the movie in the scene where Rose gets into a lifeboat and there's a man telling his daughters to hold mummy's hand and be a good girl. But it was when I listened to Daughters of Fortune last year that I remembered this book and decided to read it again. Titanic is intertwined with Canada. From White Star Line's Lord Pirrie to the cemeteries in Halifax. We look at the passengers in all three classes who were either Canadian or as in the case of the Hart family headed to Canada. I remember most the story of Quigg and his secret fiancee, was surprised that the famed Countess of Rothes was heading for Canada. Also surprised it was a Molson who was the richest Canadian, I thought Charles Hays had that distinction. While it mostly looks at first class passengers there is mention of the second and third class, from a group of Syrians in third class to several upper class people transferred to Titanic in second class from first class on other vessels. It's a short book a very quick and very engaging read. It might be somewhat outdated as it follows the line that she sank the way the movie said when some dispute that now and it also said the Allison nanny killed her own baby which I think has been proven false as it was another Alice Cleaver that was responsible for that, but still a very good read and I'm glad I picked it up again to remember some of these lesser known stories.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I have Alan Hustak here to love Quigg and Berthe (and the rest of the Baxter family's) story as much as I do.

[Lorraine Montgomery]

I've had a copy of this book by journalist Alan Hustak for some time now and for some unknown reason never got into it.  But after reading the story last week of the eight musicians that played as the Titanic went down, my appetite was whetted for more.   Titanic: The Canadian Story was a delightful surprise.  It grabbed me right from the start and flowed from one Canadian passenger to the next with an ease and pace that kept me intrigued.

With pictures of all the Canadians who were returning from Europe, their family backgrounds and financial status — mostly wealthy people in first class like Major Arthur Peuchen of Toronto, Harry Markland Molson, the Fortune family of Winnipeg, the Allisons with their two young children, and the honeymooners Bert and Vera Dick of Calgary — the characters virtually come alive.  There were others on board heading for Canada from Britain, Ireland, and parts of Europe.  A few were in second class but mostly in third or steerage.

Hustak has done exhaustive research and included excerpts from letters, postcards, interviews, as well as other sources of documentation, and describes the circumstances that put them on the Titanic — many were supposed to return on other ships put were switched because of a coal strike that prevented them from leaving dock — their time on shipboard, and what can be pieced together of the disaster itself and its aftermath — body retrieval, burials, tributes, attempted fraud, and mistaken identity.  He includes a list of those buried in the three cemeteries in Halifax, Nova Scotia including many unidentified.  He also includes a list of all the Canada-bound passengers, those lost highlighted in bold print.

This is a story well-told with a different perspective bringing new insight to the most famous disaster of the 20th century.  It was a very fast read because the story just kept pulling me along with its interesting tidbits and beautiful prose.  For anyone who considers themselves a Titanic "buff", this book provides an important link to the Canadians who might have otherwise been forgotten.

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 4 out of 5]

With it being the 100th anniversary, there has been lots of attention this year to the sinking of the Titanic.

This is an interesting book because it tells the stories of the 130 Canadians who were on board. There isn't a lot of detail about them, just enough so you know who they were and why they were on the Titanic.

The book starts with the building and launch of the Titanic, then tells us who the Canadians on board were, what happened when the Titanic hit the iceberg and started sinking, and what happened to the bodies when they were brought to Halifax.

It is a high level coverage of the story with just the right amount of detail for me.

Blog review: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2012/07...

[Lynn Hayward-Bisbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been to the cemetery in Halifax and heard stories about the deaths and burials. I’ve had this book for about 4 years and finally read it. It was so interesting to read about the Canadians and to hear the Titanic’a story from their perspective. The author gave the facts and wove them to tell the story in such a way that the book was easy to read. In fact, I read the entire book in one day. Very well written.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very well researched and contained a lot of interesting information. I wish that each passenger's story had been told from start to finish in one segment, as it was hard to remember who was who when the many passengers' stories were split up over several chapters.