I'm appealing to our wondrously knowledgeable Titanic buffs--whatever *happened* to the Allison's nanny, the one who took their son to the decks and a lifeboat without letting them know, thereby leaving the Allisons to their fate since Mrs. Allison would not leave the ship without knowing her son was safe? I know this nanny tried to play the press when she first came to NYC, but then there was some sort of backlash against her version of the story versus those who told of the Allisons and their deaths (including Lorraine, the only first-class child to die). Then I can't find out what happened to this woman. Can someone educate me on this subject?

ml

-- Mary Lynne Nielsen (m.nielsen@ieee.org), March 25, 1998

Answers

The Allison's nanny was one Alice Cleaver, whom the Allisons hired in haste after the children's nurse quit suddenly. Ms. Cleaver omitted a small detail on her employment application--three years earlier she had been convicted of murdering her baby son. An incredibly lenient jury recommended a light sentence, though, and an incredibly lenient judge granted it.

After Titanic's encounter with the iceberg, Hudson Allison was one of the last people in first class to recognize the danger of the situation (he had earlier scolded the maid for waking him about a silly iceberg), and left his wife and children to find an officer for information. While he was away, a steward came to their stateroom and ordered everyone on deck with lifebelts on. Mrs. Allison became hysterical, and Alice Cleaver decided to check out. She wrapped baby Trevor in a blanket and took off for the boat deck, where they boarded boat #11.

The Allisons spent the rest of that short night searching for Alice Cleaver and their son; they and their two year old daughter Lorraine perished.

Throughout the rest of the journey to New York, Alice Cleaver never let go of Trevor; the press initially painted her as a heroine, but as the details of her escape gradually emerged, the picture changed. The families of Hudson and Bess Allison blamed Ms. Cleaver for the deaths of their loved ones, with some justification.

Trevor Allison died in 1929 of ptomaine poisoning, at age 17 (approximately).

I know of no further information on Alice Cleaver until the 1940s. In 1940, a woman claiming to be Lorraine Allison surfaced, with a story about her rescue by a man named Hyde, who raised her in the American Midwest with his sister, a Mrs. Gray. She later claimed that Hyde was none other than Thomas Andrews, Titanic's chief builder, who allegedly had been paid by Bruce Ismay to disappear. It turned out that "Mrs. Gray" was an alias used by Alice Cleaver before her arrest in 1909. The speculation was that the claimant, Lorraine Kramer, was in league with Ms. Cleaver to shake down the Allison family; she persisted in her claims until the early 1950s, when she finally disappeared. (Source: Lynch and Marschall, "Titanic: An Illustrated History")

Hope this helps!

-- Kip Henry (kip-henry@ouhsc.edu), March 26, 1998.

A brief follow-up; According to THS historian Don Lynch, Alice Cleaver died in 1984. I don't have any other information, but Mr. Lynch may. If you'd like to e-mail me privately, I can get you his snail mail address.

(My thanks to Joe Clifford for relaying this additional bit of information).

Cheers!

-- Kip Henry (kip-henry@ouhsc.edu), March 26, 1998.

The Allison nurse who rescued Trevor was called Alice Catherine Cleaver. She is not the Alice Cleaver who murdered her infant son 3 years earlier in 1909. This was Alice Mary Cleaver.

A.C Ceaver married and had children. She lived most of her life in England. She died in November 1984 in Winchester, England.

-- William E. Ferguson (wefer1999@yahoo.com), December 25, 2002.

I am an allison. How interesting all of your input is. I know only what I hear. My grandmother is 93 years old and we talk about so much. There is so much to learn.

-- cindy ann allison (auntbeeeee@aol.com), February 09, 2004.