The Empress of Ireland Museum is the latest addition to the Pointe-au-Père Maritime Historic Site near Rimouski, Quebec, which includes the Onondaga submarine and the 1909 Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse.
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Due largely to the spectacular sinking of Titanic two years earlier, and the gruesome spectre of World War 1, her fate remains relatively unknown to most of us, but the sinking of the RMS (Royal Mail Steamer) Empress of Ireland is one of Canada’s worst marine disasters.
She was a figurehead of the great age of the transatlantic liner; a symbol of luxury, speed and industrial progress. In a spacious decor of rich woodwork and fireplaces, first class passengers were offered a music and writing room, a café, a library and a smoking room. No cabin had a number ending in 13. The Empress of Ireland was also one of the jewels of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company’s intermodal transportation system linking a young Canada to the great cities of Europe and Asia.
Canadian Pacific Railway Company poster circa 1910
– courtesy of Canadian Pacific: Creating a Brand, Building a Nation
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“Twenty knots to Canada”
The Empress of Ireland and her sister ship Empress of Britain were advertised as “Twenty knots to Canada”. They were the fastest ships making the trans-Atlantic run to Canadian ports at the time. Twenty knots was the speed needed to compete with the Red Star Line, the Hamburg-America Line, the Cunard Line, the White Star Line and other passenger ship companies.
The Empress of Ireland has rested on the bottom of the Saint Lawrence River near Rimouski since May 29, 1914.
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The remains of the Empress of Ireland rest on her starboard flank on the bottom of the Saint Lawrence River not far from Rimouski, Quebec. She sank fast, at night, in the fog after a collision with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad on May 29, 1914.
“I don’t think you should run into much fog for the rest of the night.
Good luck commander.”
– the ominous, parting words of pilot Adélard Bernier to Captain Henry George Kendall, May 29, 1914 around 1:20 a.m., less than an hour before the collision.
The Empress of Ireland Museum does a good job of interpreting the life & times of the doomed passenger liner.
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The water was cold and the current swift, and most of the passengers were still getting used to their new accommodations below deck. Of the 1,477 people on board, 1,012 were lost. With multi-media displays and objects recovered from the ship itself, the new museum does a good job of giving us an idea of what it might have been like.
Bilingual, costumed interpretive staff explain the experience of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland
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For some Canadian families the Empress of Ireland story has always been more important than Titanic. Aboard her that night were 167 members of the Canadian Staff Band of The Salvation Army, who were traveling to London for an international conference. All but eight of them perished, almost decimating the Salvation Army in Canada. There is still an annual service held at Mount Pleasant cemetery, in the Salvation Army plot, in Toronto, for living Canadians to remember grandparents lost that night long ago.
Dolly was 9 when she boarded the Empress of Ireland … when her body was recovered, this small wallet was found in her hands.
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Further reading and info:
Beautiful coffee table book: Canadian Pacific: Creating a Brand, Building a Nation
Article from The Financial Post: How marketing the Canadian Pacific Railway built — and branded a nation
I came across this interesting book: Losing the Empress by David Creighton
The Pointe-au-Père Maritime Historic Site near Rimouski, Quebec, includes the Onondaga submarine and the 1909 Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse.
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Pointe-au-Père Maritime Historic Site: http://www.shmp.qc.ca/
More from the Pointe-au-Père Maritime Historic Site: http://www.empress2014.ca/
Parks Canada’s Pointe-au-Pere lighthouse National Historic Site near Rimouski, Quebec.
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I have never heard of this! I am going to read up on it. Thank you for the interesting article.
How rare is the prospectus of the book? The book being ‘The Tragic Story Of The Empress Of Ireland’. I have a first edition copy and a propectus which is a thin version that was distributed to generate interest? I cannot find another example of it anywhere in the world.
Hello,
My family and I are in amazement finding our family history while doing a family tree.
My mother is named after her cousin who died at 3 years of age, and her mother and father also perished when the Princess of Ireland sank. There is a picture of my mother’s cousin, her aunt and uncle that is actually in a history video of the Princess of Ireland and it’s sinking May 29, 1914.
My mother actually has the picture. I had heard the story before of my mother being named after her cousin Miriam Longly who perished with her mom and dad but now I have a picture and video to see the proof of the story. I am truly amazed. My mother was born last name McConkey.
Wish I could get more information on our history on my mother’s side, it’s beyond interesting.
I am Ronald Frederick Fitzpatrick Born in Liverpool !939, Living In South Australia.
I would Like to Find out if one of the Crew (John Fitzpatrick) of “The Empress Of Ireland” is there any Information on him as He Could Be A Member of our Family.
Another Person is also interested, A world Renound Genealcst Colleen Fitzpatrick From California.
My most recent book, in my Winnipeg mystery series is titled, Pick Up Sticks. The story revolves around the tragedy of the Empress of Ireland. Mabel Hackney was a British actress and the wife of the dramatist and actor Laurence Irving. Both died in the RMS Empress of Ireland disaster in 1914. Their last performance was at The Walker Theatre in Winnipeg and Winnipeg audiences were so sad about the news that they erected a large plaque in the theatre, in their honour. Today the theatre is said to be haunted and many believe by Mabel’s spirit. All this is in my book and although a work of fiction, I researched to ensure historical accuracy. If the museum would like a copy, I’d be happy to send. One day I plan to visit the museum.