| Harry Allport 2nd Saloon Steward Saved |
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| [No Picture Provided] | |
| Born | Harry Ride (Ryde) George Allport 9 May 1880 Stepney, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 5 November 1966 (age 86) Orange County, California, United States |
| Age on Lusitania | 34 |
| Citizenship | British (English), later United States |
| Residence | England, United Kingdom |
| Spouse(s) | Mary (?) (? – ?) |
Harry Allport (1880 – 1966), 34, was the 2nd saloon steward aboard the Lusitania. He survived the sinking. His name is sometimes transcribed as Harry Ryde George Allport.
Early life
Allport was born on 9 May 1880 in Stepney, London, England, United Kingdom. His parents were Joseph Ride (or Ryde) and Mary Grace Angel (née Leaver) Allport, who had married 2 May 1880 in the Stepney district of London, only one week before Harry’s birth. Joseph had been born in late 1850 in Liverpool and Grace had been born in Guernsey in the Channel Islands in 1863, meaning that Joseph had been 29 and Grace 17 when they married and had Harry. Sadly, Grace died less than a month after Harry was born. Harry was believed to have been christened in the Church of England on 19 June 1880 in St. James’ Church, Ratcliff, Middlesex.
Harry’s father Joseph was a sailor and three brothers named Thomas, Richard, and Harry (literally Tom, Dick, and Harry). Tom and Dick died in shipwrecks. (Uncle) Harry was shipwrecked in Alaska for a year. He contracted tuberculosis and died after a second career as a harbor master in San Francisco, California.
As Joseph was often away from home, Harry was raised by his grandparents and was educated at St. Michael’s in Liverpool. Joseph remarried to Emily (Eastman) Eastham of Lambeth, England, in 1887. Joseph and Emily had two sons, Gerald and Norman, both born in 1889 in New Zealand, Norman being born on 27 November of that year. Despite being half-brothers, Harry only met them once before 1900 when Joseph brought them to visit London. By that time, Harry had already become a sailor.
Down under
About 1893, when Harry was around 13, Joseph asked Harry to moved from England down to Auckland, New Zealand, to be with the family. Joseph was working as storekeeper on the boats coming and going from New Zealand. Emily earned her living by enlarging and painting portraits.
About 1895, he ran away from home and went to Australia. He was arrested in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, on 27 May 1896 when he was 16 for wandering the streets without having a job or a place to stay. He had no prior police record. Described in the police record as “ragged and dirty, pleasant, quick,” he claimed that his father had already died (records show that Joseph didn’t die until 1940 at the age of 90) and that his stepmother couldn’t keep him, so he left.
Harry worked on a boat as a cabin boy and had saved some money, so he paid his passage to Sydney. There, he looked for work and found it at Adam’s Cafe as drink waiter, where he was compensated for meals. After Mr. Adams got married, another man took charge of the cafe and sent Harry and two others away. Harry claimed not to know where his stepmother was, and that he had no relations in Australia. He lived with Mr. Evans, a jeweler, for about a week, who proposed that Harry should go to the police. After some time he returned to England and worked as a sailor.
Lusitania
Harry Allport worked as a 2nd saloon steward on the Lusitania and survived the sinking. The Lusitania Resource does not have his personal account of the sinking, so if anyone comes across it, please let us know.
He also won two medals in World War I as a British merchant marine.
Later life
According to researcher Peter Engberg-Klarström, Harry married to Mary Allport and lived in Southampton and New York.
Harry traveled to the United States aboard the Mauretania on 3 January 1931 when he was 50, and then traveled to the United States again on the second Mauretania (launched 1938) in 1947 at age 66, this time moving there permanently. Harry Allport became a naturalized United States citizen in California on 11 November 1954 when he was 74.
Sometime before 1940, Harry’s father Joseph lost contact with him, and when Harry’s half-brother moved to Canada and eventually California, Joseph made several visits from England. They looked for Harry in San Francisco, where he was believed to be living, but they never found him.
Harry lived to be 86 and died on 5 November 1966 in Orange County, California, United States.
Contributors
Joseph Allport (great-nephew of Harry Allport, 2nd Saloon Steward)
Helen Bell, Australia
Peter Engberg-Klarström, Sweden
References
Bell, Helen. “Harry Ride George ALLPORT (1880 – 1966)” Bells. Web. 17 April 2018. <https://www.bellsite.id.au/helen_tree/HTMLFiles/HTMLFiles_08/P2083.html>. Accessed 19 May 2020
Engberg-Klarström, Peter. “Allport, Harry Ryde George.” Peter’s Lusitania Page. Web. 21 June 2017. <https://lusitaniapage.wordpress.com/2017/06/21/allport-harry-ryde-george/>. Accessed 19 May 2020.
Harry Ride Allport was a saloon steward who survived the attack on the Lusitania. I understand that he won two medals in WWI as a British merchant marine. Were the merchant marines considered to be combatants? Does anyone know how I can find out which ship(s) he served as a crewman during the War?