Ellen Reid was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on the 3rd August 1860, the daughter of James and Catherine Reid (née McRae).
On the 3rd March 1883, she married Edwin Walter Elliott in Montreal, and the couple had two daughters – Edna Ruby Lansdowne, born in 1883, and Beulah Aldythe Abernethy, born in 1885. It is believed that Edwin Walter Elliott died sometime between 1886 and 1901, for in the 1901 census, Ellen is recorded as being a widow.
In 1901, she married Robert Duncan and the couple had one son – Robert Gordon, born in 1904..
Nothing much more is known about her except that in the spring of 1915, she decided to travel to England - perhaps to visit relatives - and as a result, booked as a second cabin passenger on the May sailing of the
Lusitania from New York to Liverpool.
Having left Quebec some time in April, she arrived at the Cunard berth at Pier 54 on the west side of New York City on the morning of 1st May 1915 in time to board the liner for her scheduled 10.00 a.m. departure. This was then postponed until the early afternoon whilst the liner loaded cargo and took on board passengers and crew from Anchor Liner the S.S.
Cameronia which the British Admiralty had requisitioned for war use as a troop ship.
Then, six days later, on the afternoon of 7th May, the Lusitania was torpedoed by the German submarine
U-20, twelve miles off The Old Head of Kinsale in southern Ireland and sank just eighteen minutes later. At that stage of her voyage, she was only twelve or fourteen hours steaming time away from her destination and home port.
Mrs. Duncan was fortunate enough to be amongst some 230 second class passengers who survived this action, although over 375 of them did perish. Having been rescued from the sea and landed at Queenstown, however, she had to be taken to hospital for a few days before she was fit to continue her journey. It is presumed that she eventually made it to her originally intended destination.
She returned to Canada at some later date
Ellen Duncan died at her home, 2015. Gray Street, Montreal, on the 1st April 1939, aged 78 years. She was interred at Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal, two days later.
Montreal Canada non-Catholic Marriage Index 1766 – 1899, Quebec Canada Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection) 1621 – 1968, 1871 Census of Canada, 1881 Census of Canada, 1901 Census of Canada, 1911 Census of Canada, 1921 Census of Canada, Cunard Records, PRO BT 100/345., UniLiv.D92/1/8-10, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.