Why did Mrs Allison panic?

[leonard schwartz]

hi
why did mrs allison panic when told the ship woul
-ld sink??anybody no??


leonard

 

[Dennis Smith]

Leonard,
I would have expected most passengers to have felt a tad panicky when they found out the ship was sinking under them. I would just put it down to human nature.

Best Wishes and Rgds

Dennis

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Leonard, I moved this discussion to the General section where it's a tad more appropriate.

 

[Trent Pheifer]

Hey Leonard,

I had always thought she panicked when she could not find Trevor....not because the ship was sinking. She wasn't leaving that ship till she knew her baby was safe. And who could blame her. I always wonder what Rosa Abbott went through, her surviving and her children not. There is many times that survivor guilt.

-Trent

 

[mary mason]

does anyone know if mrs allison had any brother or sisters?

 

[Beth Barber]

I, too, had always thought Mrs. Allison panicked when she couldn't find her baby boy. I would hate to have to go through anything like that. - Beth

 

[Magda Natalia Piotrowska]

Yes I agree with you that Mrs Allison panicked because she couldn't find Trevor. But why didn't she put Loraine into lifeboat??? Didn't she want rescue even one of her children?

 

[Pat Cook]

I'm a bit curious - and I may be missing something here - but where do we get ANY story about Mrs. Allison? Since neither she nor her husband got off the ship and Trevor, being both too young to know plus leaving prior to his folks, couldn't have known. Was this in Gracie's book?

Just curious.

Best regards, All
Cook

 

[mary mason]

i think it was major pecheun(sp?) who said that bess could have got away with loraine but wouldnt leave because she didn't know where trevor was.
i'm sure somone will correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[Colleen Collier]

Hi Pat. Well, I don't know where he read of it, but Don Lynch speaks about it quite clearly on the "A&E video" special. I see that the Gracie book is credited in the back of his first book, so maybe.(shrug.)Who knows how Ken Marschall got his vision for the painting he drew of it either?

I, for one, would not have wanted to be in Mrs. Allison's shoes that night. What a terrible situation --all around-- to have been in.

 

[Mary S. Lynn]

Apparently, Mr. Allison went updeck to check on the situation, and Mrs. Allison was reluctant - for whatever reason - to get herself, Lorraine, and Trevor ready to leave. It seems that she wouldn't budge until her husband returned with "news". She was about 25 years old. Their nanny, Alice Cleaver (not the one portrayed in the Gallagher/Zeta-Jones movie, but the other one) realized the seriousness of the situation, and grabbed Trevor and left, finding safety on a lifeboat, and giving a false name to authorities on the Carpathia and in New York. I don't think it's surprising that the H.J. Allisons (with Lorraine) refused to leave the ship until they had located Trevor. There's speculation about whether or not Mrs. Allison witnessed Alice Cleaver leaving with Trevor. Relatives of the Allisons identified Trevor, though, and he lived with them until he died from food poisoning at the age of 18. Who doesn't wonder why Alice didn't grab Lorraine as well, and lied to authorities? Theories such as Mrs. Allison's tendency towards hysteria, Alice's possible ransom demands, and just plain immaturity and nuttiness abound. Only the Titanic Shadow knows. The Allison's were very wealthy residents of Montreal, and Trevor would have been the heir to the family fortune. Sorry for the very sappy and resource-free interpretation of events, but I am reciting this from memory. The Internet God/s-that-be have allowed me three consecutive days of getting on-line without going through a forum before sticking it to me once again.

 

[Pat Cook]

Well, this gets even curiouser and curiouser, to paraphrase Mr. Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)

I got to wondering about the Allison story and so, thanks to Mary Mason read through Major Peuchen's US testimony (he didn't testify in England). While the Major mentions knowing the family he states nothing more about them. Plus he left the ship before all the lifeboats had been boarded so he couldn't have known about their last moments anyway.

I just scanned Gracie and he states (in speaking of the women in First Class who perished - page 135, Dover edition):

"The first two have already been accounted for (Mrs. Evans & Mrs. Straus), Mrs. Allison and Miss Allison could have been saved had they not chosen to remain on the ship. They refused to enter the lifeboat unless Mr. Allison was allowed to go with them. This statement was made in my presence by Mrs. H. A. Cassebeer, of New York, who related it to Mrs. Allison's brother, Mr. G. F. Johnston and myself."

Well, the story MUST have come from SOMEwhere. And it would have to be from someone who practically went down with the ship and survived (as Gracie did).

Still looking.

Best regards, all,
Cook

 

[Beth Barber]

Hmm - now that makes me wonder if the Allisons did know their son was safely on a boat. I can see if mrs. Allison chose for herself to stay on the ship because her husband wasn't allowed on a lifeboat but how could you sentence your 4 year old daughter to die? Why not let someone else take her - especially if yu would choose to die with your husband than to live with your children. That doesn't make sense to me. - Beth

 

[Colleen Collier]

I knew Cassebeer had something to do with this unsolved mystery!

I too will keep out a watch for a possible answer.

 

[Catherine Hughes]

Indeed, maybe the Allisons let Alice Cleaver take Trevor with her - to better ensure her entrance onto a lifeboat. If Mrs. Allison refused to board a lifeboat because her husband was not allowed to - she probably believed in her heart that Titanic would never sink...that could be why she did not place her daughter on a lifeboat.