The Fortune Family Descendants

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Kelly Cathleen Price

Guest
I am the great niece of Robert Fortune, the only male member of the Fortune family to carry-on the family name (recall he did not journey to Europe with his family). I'm looking for any living Fortune family members; specifically other descendants of Robert Fortune. Robert married Stella Price, my grandfather's sister and moved to Vancouver in c. 1919.

I believe that Mabel Fortune named her only son, Robert Driscoll, after my great-uncle. Following, I would also be interested in knowing of his whereabouts or his family's whereabouts. I have recently found in my grandmother's possession a precious heirloom that belonged to Charles Alexander Fortune whom perished on the Titanic. Our family lore records a tale of Charles handing this item to his mother, Mary, as she stepped onto Lifeboat 10. Reportedly, he made her swear to always remember him with it. She was so heartbroken (apparently Charles was the favorite offspring) that she gave it to my grandfather, Clarence Alfred Romer Price. Apparently my grandfather as a young man cut a similiar figure to Charles, and he also shared almost the same initials (which was convenient as the item is monogramed). Another interesting fact I discovered is that Alice Fortune apparently had quite a liking for my grandfather, and allegedly wrote him many love-letters. Perhaps Mary gave this rememberance of her beloved son to my grandfather in hopes that he would marry Alice and become her son-in-law? We really have no idea but would like to explore more.

I should like to share this story and our many familial hypothesis as well as others I have come across in my family archives with the Fortune descendants. Any help would be appreciated.

best,
Kelly
 
There are fortune family descendants in Nova Scotia, (Newton Brett) and in Toronto. I interviewed most of them for my book, Titanic the Canadian Story. Bob Driscoll's son at last word was in Vancouver. I can't help with Robert's descendants. If this is of help I 'll dig through my files and get numbers for you tomorrow.
 
Welcome Kelly. What an interesting story. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Alan Hustak is definately the man to contact on the Fortune family.
smile.gif

Hope you stick around for a long time, and retell more stories!
sincerely,
Colleen
 
I am the grandson of Alice Elizabeth Allen (nee Fortune) who survived the Titanic. I have just joined this forum, and become a member of the editorial board for Alice. When Alan Hustak refers above to Fortune descendants living in Nova Scotia, he is probably referring to me, since I grew up in the summer home (later retirement home) of my grandmother in Chester, Nova Scotia. At the time she died, in 1961, I was in Kingston at RMC, at the beginning of a career in the Canadian Navy, most of which was spent in Halifax. I am now 10 years retired from the Navy and living in Bedford, NS.

I have noticed a number of minor discrepancies in the Fortune biographies compared to the family history (mostly verbal heresay) which I grew up with, and I will be investigating these as time permits. The most obvious one is the name of Alice's daughter (my mother) which is Mary Marjorie Allen, not Mary McDougald Allen.

I look forward to discussing the Fortunes with others in the future.
 
Hi Robert
Good to see you on the board. Your family's story I think is one of the more interesting. Did you ever read Sloper's account re: your family?
Best
Mike Poirier
Currently on QM2
 
Michael
Hello and thank you for the lead. I would very much like to read Mr. Sloper's memoires, especially since it was my grandmother who seems to have beguiled him. Notice also Kelly Price's allegation about Alice and her grandfather. I had no idea the old girl was such a femme fatale! Do you have a specific lead to offer to Sloper?

Marilyn
Hello and thank you for the lead to Mary Fortune's mausoleum. I was not aware of it.

Regards to you both

Bob Rutherford
 
Hi Robert,

Welcome to ET! It's always good to see another descendent of a Titanic survivor. I have visited Mary's stone in the mausoleum and also Ethel's grave in the cemetery. If you're interested, I'd be happy to e-mail you photos of them.

Great to see that you've signed up for the editorial board on Alice! Hopefully some of the errors can be replaced with new information. I'm also on some editorial boards myself, including ones for Mary and Ethel Fortune.

I'm hoping to get out to Chester one of these days, to visit Alice's grave.

Best regards,

Jason
happy.gif
 
You're welcome, Jason.

The Fortunes are among the passengers that interest me the most. Partly because of their attractiveness and the large size of their family. And partly because Mark and Mary Fortune's rags to riches story highlights the opportunity that lay in the dominions for hardy, hardworking sorts.
 
I agree, Brian, the Fortune family are very interesting for the reasons you stated. Ethel and Alice led very interesting lives up until their deaths.
 
Most, if not all, of the biographical data on Mark Fortune and his family originated here on ET, so it has come round full-circle, so to speak. However, the census data and esp. the info on the Winnipeg house are news to me. I went on the Weekes family website to thank the anonymous individual who assembled all that data. It tuns out they are planning a big family reunion in Eastern Ontario in Jun 07, and the Fortune data supports daughter Clara (the one who did not go to Europe and thus was not on Titanic) who married Heber Hutton, a member of the Weekes clan.
 
Hi Robert,

Good to see you posting again!

That's interesting news about the family reunion later this year. I had never heard of Clara Fortune until reading the info on the site that Brian posted, so that's fascinating.

By the way, I owe you an e-mail.
 

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