Encyclopedia Titanica

Sultānah Būlus

Mrs Sultānah Būlus (née Rizq) was born in Sar’al, Syria (now Lebanon) around 1872.

She was married to Harry Būlus (b. 1865), a farmer, and they had several children. Her husband had emigrated to Kent in Ontario, Canada several years previously 1 and worked as a bus driver for the Rankin House Hotel there but made several trips back to Lebanon. By 1912 Sultānah was still working the family farm but decided to join her husband in Canada and would be bringing her two younger children with her, Nūr al-'ayn (b. 1902) and Akar (b. 1905).

Sultānah and her two children departed from their home village in mid-March 1912 before travelling to Marseille, France via Beirut and onward to Cherbourg. They boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg on 10 April 1912 as third class passengers (ticket number £2678 which cost £15, 4s, 11d). Travelling with them were a number of others from their locality, including Kātrīn Yūsuf, née Rizq, and her two young children 2 and Bākhūs Rafūl-Būlus.

Sultānah Būlus and her two children were lost in the sinking. Their bodies, if recovered, were never identified.

Notes

  1. The 1900 census has him living in Kent, Ontario (listed as Harry Bolas) and declares that he had initially emigrated in 1880.
  2. It is highly likely that Sultānah Būlus, née Rizq and Kātrīn Yūsuf, née Rizq, were related, perhaps even sisters or at least cousins.

References and Sources

Elias, Leila Saloum (2011) The Dream and Then the Nightmare: The Syrians who Boarded the Titanic, the Story of the Arabic-speaking Passengers. Atlas, 2011. ISBN 978-9933-9086-1-4
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Titanic Passenger Summary

Name: Mrs Sultānah Būlus (née Rizq)
Born: circa.1872 in Sar'al, Syria
Nationality: Syrian Lebanese
Marital Status: Married to Harry Būlus
Embarked: Cherbourg on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 2678, £15 4s 11d
Destination: Kent, Ontario, Canada
Died in the Titanic disaster (15th April 1912)
Body Not Identified

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