There will be another of Bessie’s letters to Mr Bruce next time. Although she had told her friend, Margaret, ‘but I am not going to write to him myself’ she couldn’t resist the temptation.

Today I’ll be giving a few more bits of information that my friend has uncovered for me.
(If you’re new to this blog, and you’d like to find out what this is all about, it’ll probably help you to scroll down to the first post about the Mystery Challenge,in which I’m asking readers to help me find out more about the love letters from 1920’s China.)

I’d not have known that it was even possible to search for an individual name on an ocean liner voyage, let alone one in the early part of the last century, but here is the name, Douglas Gordon Bruce on the passenger list for ‘The Empress of Australia”, sailing from Quebec to Southampton on 30th May 1928.

The list shows that he was returning from China (via Canada) given under the heading: Country of last Permanent Residence. His age is recorded as 36, which tallies with what we’ve learned from earlier censuses and other documents. He gives his Occupation as ‘Merchant’ and this seems to fit in with his employment by The Asiatic Petroleum Company (South China)

I’ve extracted this picture of him from a business group-photo taken in China a year later (April 1929) The final column of the Passenger List is headed ‘Country of Intended Future Permanent Residence’, and is divided into seven possible destinations: England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Irish Free State, Other Parts of the British Empire, and Foreign Countries. His row was marked under Other Parts of the British Empire.

As I would have expected, he was travelling 1st class – Mr Bruce would have had a position to maintain, and I can imagine him enjoying the “First-class dining room, which was situated amidships on the Upper deck to avoid noise and vibration”. (This picture was taken from a site that gives useful information about the Canadian Pacific Company and this ship is the Empress of Canada, not the actual one that brought him back to England in 1928.

The trouble with the internet is its potential for time-wasting! I’ve been sidetracked into discovering some fascinating facts about the ships of the Canadian Pacific Company – it includes “A Personal Account of the Sinking of Empress of Canada 13th March 1943” by a survivor, with a footnote about how it brought back memories of the Titanic for him, “There was only one difference that really stuck in my mind – the ‘Titanic’ sank in icy waters, and the ‘Canada’ sank in shark-infested water – but, thank God so many of us survived.’.

It also seems that Mr Bruce has had some kind of a connection with The Empress of Canada, but I’m not yet sure if this would have been the ship, or the Railway train, as both forms of transport carried the name of Canadian Pacific.

This is one of several photos in an envelope inscribed in pencil: “Empress of Canada 1919” above the name:’D G Bruce Esq’
but the link above informs me that this ship’s maiden voyage was to Hong Kong via Falmouth - Suez canal on the 5th May 1922.

I’m pretty sure that the man in the cap is ‘our’ Mr Bruce, and the man sitting on the edge of the platform could be his friend, Mr Meyer.

I’ve borrowed this picture from Google images because I think the platform and background look rather like those in the picture above. The text at the base of this picture states: Dominion Jubilee Camp Tour. en route to Victoria B.C. July 12th 1927.It’s from a website called Guiding Mosaic.It adds that this was a Specially Chartered Canadian Pacific Train, for the very first National camp for Girl Guides across Canada in July 14-21 1927 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Confederation. I’ll resist the temptation of adding Canadian Girl Guides in the 1920s to my list of side-tracking websites.

Next time: Bessie breaks her promise and sends another letter to D G Bruce.