Einar Windeløv

[Mette McCall]

I'm looking for information on Einar Windeløv, 3rd class Danish passenger who perished in the sinking. - I'm writing a book on the Danes aboard.

Here on ET it says that his last residence was Capetown:
Einar Windeløv : Titanic Victim

But for some reason the bio won't open (will notify editor)
I know Einar immigrated from Denmark in either late 1911 or early 1912, so it's a complete mystery to me what he was doing in Cape Town. We know he had an uncle in Hampton Iowa that he was possibly on his way to visit.
What I'm trying to find out is:
1) where the South Africa info is from
2) if I can search a database on any ships from South Africa to Europe during that time period in order to try and find his name
3)If any WSL documents (or other) show the Titanic passengers intended destination (beyond New York obviously).

 

[Bob Godfrey]

The passenger lists circulated at the Titanic Inquiry do indeed have Windelí¸v as previously resident in Capetown, but the plot thickens. According to researcher Debbie Beavis he had arrived in Southampton on the Royal Mail Lines steamer Aragon - from Argentina, where he had been working for at least a year! He was one of 11 passengers on the Aragon bound for the Titanic, and the only one not listed as an alien transmigrant.

 

[Mette McCall]

Dear Bob,

Yes, the plot thickens indeed! Where did you get the info reg. Debbie Beavis? Is it in her passenger list book? I'm of course very interested in finding out more..In the meantime, I established that the "uncle" in Hampton Iowa is a cousin of Einar's dad - so my theory of him going to Iowas is probably less likely. Lester Mitcham informs me that:
Looking at Craig Stringer's CD he say Einar had been born in Finland, was living in London and had found work as a dairyman. - To me reads as if he could have been going to America as a dairyman as I do not think he would have been working as a dairyman in London, unless dairyman had a different meaning that working on a farm?

Einar is on the Southampton Boarding List as a dairyman and as Danish, resident of England.

So now we have Denmark, England, Argentina and Capetown as possible last residence - and no clue of destination yet. I've ordered newspapers from 1912 from Hamton Iowa on microfilm to see if the relative mentions anything about a family member on his way there never making it.
Unfortunately the local papers covering Einar's hometown don't write anything about him - which is sort of strange as he was the son of the town's hotel owner (Windelí¸v's hotel).

 

[Mette McCall]

and btw: we know that the Finland information from Craig Stinger is incorrect as I have Einar's birth data from Danish church records.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Your man was certainly Danish, so I suspect confusion at some point of his birthplace of Nykí¸bing in Denmark with Nykobina in Finland.

As for his being a dairyman in London, that was entirely possible as the word was generally applied not so much to farmers as to those who sold and delivered milk in towns and cities. I would say that it most generally implied the owner of such a business - or perhaps in this case somebody with ambitions in that direction. The employees who delivered from door to door were known simply as milkmen.

Yes, Debbie's info is from her book Who Sailed on the Titanic?(p30).

 

[Mette McCall]

Thanks again Bob! Would it be possible for you to quote exactly what Debbie says reg. Einar (I'll contact her as well) and him coming from Argentina?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

As a writer you'll know that I can't quote at length from Debbie's book, but it's clear that she was using information from BoT passenger lists for incoming vessels. For the Aragon, this included "Einar Windelin (sic), a 21-year old Danish labourer who had spent at least the previous 12 months living in the Argentine". There's nothing more than that in the book, but it would be worth making contact with Debbie in case she has anything more - the date of arrival, for instance. Debbie implies that Einar was not classed as a transmigrant - ie an arrival travelling on a through ticket and expected to tranship at the earliest opportunity. But as the Aragon also brought several transmigrants bound for the Titanic then presumably Einar's time in the UK on that occasion was equally brief.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Mette, in case you need any help making contact there's a link for private messaging on Debbie's membership profile page.

 

[Mette McCall]

Thanks Bob, I've contacted Debbie.
I've just talked to a grand child of Einar's older brother, Aage Windelí¸v. He confirmed that the family did not know much about when and why Einar left Denmark other than it had something to do with a love affair. The family does confirm that he was in South Africa as well though, but again not sure of when and why.
I'm still at a loss as to WSL would list him as a British subject - A Dane traveling from Argentina?
Also, why did several passengers from South America travel to the US - via Southampton? Seems like a very roundabout way to go, wouldn't it have been more logical to sail within the Americas?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Sorry, I gave the wrong impression. Meant to emphasize that Einar seemed not to be listed as a transmigrant; he must surely have been considered an alien, as his nationality was always recorded as Danish.

The Aragon would have set out from Buenos Aires, calling at Montivedeo and various ports in Brazil before crossing the Atlantic to Madeira and eventually to Southampton. Maybe it would have taken longer to get to New York along the coastal route - there were many more potential ports of call in the Caribbean and along the US Atlantic seaboard. Or the services were perhaps less frequent or more costly. Just guessing.

Might be worth bearing in mind that in 1912 Argentina was a nation of considerable wealth and promise - like the US, a destination for young men from Europe who hoped to make their fortune.

 

[Mette McCall]

Bob, thanks as always for your input! Reg. the Argentinian route, I'll try and see if I can dig up more info on Aragon and the route it took, what it was like to sail on this boat, etc. If you have any obvious ideas of where to start my research don't hesitate to let me know. I'll of course share anything I find out too.
Btw our book is now set to come out on April 15 next year.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

The Aragon's advertised route in detail was usually: Beunos Aires - Montevideo - Santos - Rio de Janeiro - Bahia - Pernambuco - (Atlantic crossing)- Madeira - Lisbon - Vigo - Cherbourg - Southampton.

You might want to check out Titanic Survivor by Violet Jessop. The title is misleading - the book actually is a memoir of Violet's long career at sea as a stewardess. It contains very little about the Titanic but it does include her memories of working on Royal Mail Line ships on the South American run a few years previously. Violet had been born in Argentina to Irish parents, so her account of her family's experiences as immigrants might also be relevant.

 

[Bob Godfrey]

One more thing - you probably already have this from Debbie, but in case not the date the Aragon arrived at Southampton with Windelí¸v, Givard and Ponnesil on board was 6 April.

 

[Mette McCall]

Great idea! I have Violet Jessop's book next to me on my desk..Was going to read it for insights into saloon stewards (for the chapter on Charles Valdemar Jensen) but now I see the South American Run chapter - this will definitely be helpful in understanding the Argentinian passage..

 

[Annette Christiansen]

Dear Mette,
I've just seen this today and can provide some additional information - he must have been in Denmark until about december 1910. His occupation was in september 1911 apprentice in a store of some kind.

In my family we have been told, that his father sent him off to USA after an affair with a local young girl (16½ years old). She was sent to Copenhagen to her sister (my paternal grandmother), where she in september 1911 gave birth to a boy. (The boy was raised by her parents and never lived by his mother).

So it is not so strange, that it is not mentioned in the local danish papers, as it was considered a scandal.

Best regards
Annette Christiansen, Denmark