Courtesy: Graham Parkinson, UK
Alfred Samuel Allsop was born in Chorlton, Manchester, Lancashire, England in the second half of 1876.
He was the son of George Foster Allsop (1833-1896) and his wife Elizabeth, née Walker (1837-1917). His father, a commercial traveller, was a native of Manchester whilst his mother hailed from Co Tyrone, Ireland and they had married in the former's home town in 1860. They had possibly met in Melbourne, Australia and had two children whilst there, Ada (b. 1856) and Henry (b. 1858) before returning to Britain, marrying and having a further nine (that are known of) children: Florence (b. 1861), Anne Elizabeth (b. 1863), George Frederick (b. 1864), Agnes (b. 1866), Albert Ward (b. 1867), Annie Gertrude (b. 1872), Arthur Ernest (b. 1873), Beatrice (b. 1875) and Edith Clare (b. 1880).
Alfred first appears on the 1881 census when he and his family are living at 96 Brunswick Street, Chorlton, Manchester and they would have moved to 29 Broughton Lane, Broughton, Lancashire by the time of the next census in 1891. Alfred's father died in 1896 in Salford and the family later moved to Great Clacton in Essex. On the 1901 census Alfred was not at home but his mother and several siblings were listed as living at Mountpelier, Marine Parade in that town. He was listed elsewhere as a visitor at Rosslyn Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool and was described as an electrical engineer.
He had served his apprenticeship with H. H. Hall & Co. of Liverpool. This was followed by employment; with Campbell & Isherwood of Bootle, Hame Electric Company of Liverpool and the Northern Electric Company of Liverpool. He joined White Star in August 1904 as assistant electrician aboard the Celtic and later served on the Majestic and Oceanic before joining the Titanic.
Alfred was married in All Saints Church, Princes Park, Liverpool on 17 October 1908 to Hilda Barnes (b. 1886 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire) and the couple had a son, Philip Alfred, in Southampton on 2 February 1911.1
Alfred would be absent from the 1911 census but his wife and son were listed as visitors at 15 Suffolk Avenue, Shirley, Southampton.
When he signed on to the Titanic¸on 6 April 1912, he gave his address as 134 Malmesbury Road, (Freemantle, Southampton). His previous ship had been the Oceanic and as an electrician he could expect monthly wages of £11.
Alfred Alsopp died in the sinking. His body, if recovered, was never identified.
His estate, worth £152, 6s, 7d, was administered to his widow on 10 May 1912 and she and her son also benefitted from the Titanic Relief Fund.
Allsop, Alfred Samuel, of 134 Malmesbury Road, Freemantle, Southampton. Ships Electrician. Administration London 10th May 1912 to Hilda Allsop widow. Effects £152.6.7d.
Hilda Allsop, it seems, never remarried but what became of her is uncertain. She may have died in the 1970s, possibly in London2. His son Philip died in London in 1985.
Comment and discuss
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I am hitting some confusion about the true rank of my great uncle, Alfred Allsop. Most lists have him down as 'junior Electrician.' The families documents have him as '2nd Electrician', whilst the Manchester Evening News April 14th 1912 has him as 'Chief Electrician.' He had worked for White Star in the electrical capacity for a number of years, and had designed the later famous 'Allsop Electric Lifeboat Crane', alas no good to him! That leads me to suspect that he was not, at 34, a junior. Can anyone throw light on this?? Dave.
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Hallo, David. There were 6 electrical engineers in Titanic's crew. The Chief Electrician was Peter Sloan. Directly under the Chief (ie his 'junior') was Alfred Allsop as 2nd Electrician. The other 4 were Assistant Electricians. The level of responsibility may be gauged by the pay scales - The Chief would have received £12 for the voyage, the 2nd £11, and the four asistants £8 each. Alfred's pay was higher than that of the Chief Surgeon or of any of the deck crew below the rank of 2nd Officer. Among the engineers in general the ranking system can be confusing, and 'juniors' were often quite senior! The Junior Assistant 2nd Engineer, for instance, was several ranks senior to the Senior 5th Engineer. .
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Cheers Bob, that clears that up!! Gone forever the family arguments. It just goes to show how everybody can be correct. I belive that Alfreds post was in the main switchroom. That would be in the stern of the ship, I am told, over the engines. Do you know if that part of what little remains of the stern section is intact, & has it been 'explored'??? It would be nice to think it was still complete.
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The switchboard was mounted on a raised gallery at the forward end of the generator room, which was aft of the turbine engine room and very deep in the hull. Not much chance of exploration in that area, I'm afraid, but there were detailed plans of the arrangement and a photo of the switchboard (before installation) in The Shipbuilder special issue on the Olympic Class liners. See here: .
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An interesting point, Dave, is that the body of Herbert Jupe, one of the four Assistant Electricians, was later recovered from the sea. That means he was on deck wearing a lifebelt when the ship went down, and the electricians did not all die at their posts in the bowels of the ship as is commonly portrayed. Also the description of Jupe's body gives an idea of how these men were dressed - uniform jacket over a brown boiler suit.
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My Grandfather often mentioned Herbert Jupe, whome he had met on several occasions. It is just possible that Herbert was on deck to work the electric cranes that must have been used to launch the two collapsible boats. My Grandfather & Alfred were boyhood friends, & lived near to each other in Manchester. Alfred had secured a placement for him as a cabin attendant on the Titanic, but he missed the boat-train connection from Manchester owing to fog....otherwise this post may not have been written!! His name was George Lionel Payne. I'm not sure of the validity of that story, but the old man often repeated it until his death aged 91 in 1984. Thanks for the link, Bob, just added it to my files. I have a full size picture of Alfred, in uniform. If you would like a copy let me know an 'e' address I can use.
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Thanks, Dave, I'd very much like to have a scan of the photo and to talk more about Alfred. Your own profile page doesn't accept private messages, but mine does (click on my name in the left-hand column on this page). If you make first contact that way we can then switch to normal email which can handle attachments.
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I believe Alfred Allsop was my grandmother's cousin. I heard about him as I was growing up and would like to find any relatives. What a great site! I am really enjoying it.
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The above thread is slightly old and from now onwards this is going to be quite a common occurrence coming from my own corner. I wonder if David Parkinson is prepared to discuss a few other matters of importance as I have a number of burning questions to ask about Samuel and Hilda. I will be writing privately over the weekend but in case there's a lapse on my part, I may need a kind off alarm clock call as a reminder.
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