Margaret Allan was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, on the 24th July 1887, the daughter of Gavin Browning and Janet Allan (née Barr). Her father was a storeman, and the family home was at 55. George Street Paisley, Renfrewshire.
In 1908, Margaret gave birth to a daughter, named Jeanette, whose father was most likely Andrew Faulds from the nearby town of Johnstone.
In 1911, Margaret immigrated to New York City, leaving her daughter in the care of relatives, and on the 3rd June 1913, she married Andrew Faulds in North Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York. The couple resided in Yonkers, Westchester County, New York.
In 1915, Robert and Margaret Faulds decided to return to Scotland, to visit relatives and no doubt see their daughter. Consequently, they bought third class tickets for the May sailing of the
Lusitania and boarded the liner at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 in New York on May Day morning in 1915, in time for her scheduled 10.00 a.m. departure. The liner sailing was then actually delayed until 12.27 p.m. by having to embark cargo, passengers and crew from the Anchor Liner Cameronia, which had been requisitioned at the end of April by the British Admiralty as a troop ship.
Then six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed and sunk, by the German submarine
U-20, off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland. Despite the fact that nearly two thirds of all steerage passengers were killed as a result of this action, both Margaret Faulds and her husband managed to survive and having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, they eventually got to Glasgow.
Once there, they lodged at the home of the Peacock family, who were relatives, at 662, Yoker Road, in the district of Yoker. From there, they successfully applied for financial help from The Lusitania Relief Fund. This had been set up after the sinking by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool and other local members of the business community, to give financial assistance to those second and third class victims of the sinking or their relatives, in the case of death, who had suffered monetary loss, as a result of the sinking. It was assumed that saloon class passengers would be rich enough not to need assistance! Margaret and Andrew Faulds were eventually awarded a single and final payment of £10-0s-0d from the Relief Fund.
On the 17th July 1920, Margaret, and her husband and their daughter, boarded the
s.s. Columbia at Glasgow and disembarked in New York City twelve days later. On this occasion, they travelled to 1477. Stratford Avenue, Bridgeport, Connecticut, where her husband’s mother and his siblings were now living.
The family next moved to 292. Woodworth Avenue, and later Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, Westchester County, New York, and Andrew Faulds worked as a machinist at a boiler company.
Andrew Faulds died in Yonkers on the 30th March 1942, aged 55 years, and sometime later, Margaret moved to Dade County, Florida, where she died on the 8th May 1968, aged 80 years. She was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery, Hastings-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York.
New York County Marriage Records 1907 – 1936, U.S. Social Security Death Index 1935 – 2014, 1891 Census of Scotland, 1901 Census of Scotland, 1925 New York State Census, 1930 U.S. Federal Census, 1940 U.S. Federal Census, New York Passenger Lists 1820 – 1957, Cunard Records, Liverpool Record Office, Daily Record, The Miami News, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.