Born: 9 May 1898, United Kingdom
Died: 3 September 1939
Country most active: International
Also known as: NA
The following is excerpted from a conversation with Dr Nina Baker about her book, Supposed Killed or Drowned by Enemy Action at Sea, about Scottish Merchant Navy women who died as a result of enemy action in the First and Second World Wars.
A particular example of the loss of a ship which has made a big impact in Britain to this day, in a way comparable to “remember the Lusitania” for the Americans, was a ship called the Athenia. So the SS Athenia was another ship owned by the Anchor-Donaldson Line. It was doing transatlantic routes backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards for years. And it was sunk just a few hours after the outbreak of war, long before there was any convoy system. So the war broke out on the 3rd of September 1939. And just a few hours later, the Athenia was attacked. And it was a huge shock to the British public because there were 1,700 passengers on board. And actually the number that survived was quite high, but four stewardesses from the Athenia were lost. So Hannah Baird, Alison Harrower, Jessie Lawler, and Margaret Johnston were four women who sailed on the Athenia and never came back. These were all Scottish women, all from Glasgow.
Hannah Baird was born in the north of Glasgow, another working class area called Milton, but she had been living in Canada. So she’s not on the British National Merchant Navy War Memorial at Tower Hill. She’s remembered instead on the only war memorial I’m aware of in the world that is specific to women merchant seafarers and that is one in Canada. Alison Harrower, she was born in Dundee, but later on she moved to Govan and her last known address was in Govan, this working class shipbuilding area.
Jessie Lawler, she was born in Kinning Park, which is just along from Govan, again, a very working class area. Her tenement is still there. It looks really run down and not in great condition.
The fourth one was the doctor’s stewardess. So this was a woman who’s slightly socially a class up and she was from Springburn, also in the north of Glasgow. We don’t know a great deal about her, but we do have photos of her and Jessie Lawler, but not of Hannah Baird or Alison Harrower. And the last known address for doctor’s stewardess Margaret Johnston was in a tenement over some shops, five minutes walk from where I live in the south of Glasgow, which was really lovely. So all of these women are on the Scottish National War Memorial Roll of Honour. Most of them are on the National Merchant Navy War Memorial at Tower Hill.