Allan Swallow was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, in 1898, the only son of George Henry and Mary Rebecca Swallow (née Ramsbottom), later of 3, Albion Street, Buttershaw, Bradford, Yorkshire. His father was a motor driver, and Allan was the eldest of three children, his younger sisters being Elsie and Ellen.
After completing his formal education, Allan Swallow worked in the offices of the local firm of Lingard’s, a well-known firm of Bradford drapers, until June 1913, when at the request of his aunt who lived in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, he left Bradford to help look after her. Once in Hamilton, he continued to work as a clerk.
Because of the war, however, and despite the pleadings of his parents not to travel across the Atlantic, he decided to return to Bradford. Consequently, he booked as a third class passenger on what became the Lusitania’s final ever voyage and wrote to his parents to inform them of his intention.
Unfortunately, his letter only arrived at their home on Saturday 8th May, by which time Allan Swallow was already dead.
His local newspaper The Bradford Daily Telegraph first reported that he was missing on Saturday 8th May 1915: -
He had previously expressed his intention of coming home but his parents had requested him to postpone it until it was safer. They had no idea he was on the Lusitania until this morning, when that received a letter from him saying that he had decided to travel by the Lusitania in company with a young man from Sheffield.
In the letter he expressed confidence that they would be quite safe from submarines as the boat was well protected. No tidings of him have been received and his parents are naturally in great grief.
No sign of Allan Swallow was ever seen or heard of again. He was aged 17 years.
Register of Births, Marriages and Deaths, West Yorkshire Non-Conformist Records 1646 – 1985, 1901 Census of England & Wales, 1911 Census of England & Wales, UK Outward Passenger Lists 1890 – 1960, Canadian Passenger Lists 1865 – 1935, Cunard Records, Bradford Daily Telegraph, Leeds Mercury, PRO BT 100/345, Deaths at Sea 1871 – 1968, Graham Maddocks, Geoff Whitfield, Michael Poirier, Jim Kalafus, Cliff Barry, Paul Latimer, Norman Gray.
Copyright © Peter Kelly.