Out of the Attic: My Great Grandfather, John Baron’s 1909 Diary of his Near Fatal Voyage – Three Years Before Titanic
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My Great Grandfather, John Baron’s 1909 Diary of his Near Fatal Voyage – Three Years Before Titanic
by Deane Baron
Shortly after my father’s passing, I retrieved items from his home, and was amazed to find the original diary of my Great Grandfather, John Baron. The diary was written on his 1909 voyage from England to Canada across the North Atlantic. The diary had been written about in my father’s family history book, “Beyond Rogues Harbour”, but I had found the original diary.
Background to the voyage and diary
At 40 years of age, John Baron had not been able to find secure employment, and a recession was about to trigger the largest emigration from England ever. He and his wife, Emma, wanted a better future for their children, and decided they would have to pull up their roots and go to Canada for a fresh start. His sister and her husband were already in Ottawa, Canada. John would join them and get established. His wife and six children would follow as soon as possible.
He had breakfast with Emma and his children on Friday May 7, 1909, said his final goodbyes, including to his mother, and embarked on the S.S. Tunisia, that would take him across the North Atlantic.
While on the high seas, his mind was seldom off his family. He kept a diary in the form of a letter he would send to Emma and his children, to be sent home once he reached Canada.
Excerpts from the diary
On Wednesday, May 12th: “While I am writing this, great blocks of ice, 50 ft. long and 10 to 20 ft. wide are rubbing and bumping against the ship. We are told that we might cross 40 times and not have another experience like this.”
“We are expecting to get through the ice in another hour or two, and then we shall steam ahead. “
Thursday 6am, the seventh day reality was emerging. “We have had a terrible night, retired about 10 o’clock, but no sleep. Have been bumped and knocked all night by great blocks of ice. Just as we are dropping off to sleep, bang, crash goes the ice against the sides of the ship, making her quiver from one end to the other and making a most terrible noise. Just sounds as though next minute we should have the ice through on to us. Our cabin is right on the side of the ship, We can see ice for miles out of the porthole. (We saw quite a number of seals yesterday afternoon.)”
“After dinner, Thursday, it was discovered that we had sprung a leak and taking in water. We were off Newfoundland, so the Captain headed for St. John’s. You can’t imagine the feelings on board, no panic, but terrible anxiety, as we could feel that the ship did not ride so free as unusual on the water.”
“Arrived at St. John’s about 8 o’clock and anchored. Have been here all night… We have had the diver make an inspection of this ship under water. (He later reported an enormous gash in the bow about 22 feet long 3 inches wide, caused by the ice.)”
“There are 28 feet of water in the hold and we are rigging up a centrifugal pump to empty her.”
On Sunday May 16, weather once again took control of events, and he wrote: “Repairs to ship are finished but we are fog bound. Notice put up that we sail as soon as weather clears. Talk about adventure, we are having it this trip.”
But he also uttered a sigh of relief. “I had hoped to have my Sunday dinner in Ottawa, but here we are. Still, we are not grumbling. We have been taken care of in a most remarkable manner. We might all have drowned, but we are spared. What a job it would have been if she had gone down.”
Source:
Beyond Rogues Harbor, Chapters 7 and 8, by Don Baron, published 1993 by Grand Valley Press (M.J.) Ltd.
©2022 Deane Baron
Published by Dallas Genealogical Society with the author’s permission
