Johanna Palldottir

Johanna Palldottir (1901 census has her last name as Jakobsson) was just a baby when her parents Pall Sveinbjorn Jakobsson and Sigridurd Gudrun Jensdottir immigrated to Canada.  Records indicate that they landed in Quebec City, Quebec from New Glasgow, Scotland in July 1887 on the Buenos Ayrean.

Sigridurd had been previously married to Pall’s brother, Thorstein.Sigridurd and Thorstein had five children together, however one child died in infancy, and when the a plague struck Iceland and killed hundreds of people, Thorstein and their youngest child (a son) also died. Surviving children of Sigridurd and Thorsteinn were Elin Elizabeth, Holmfridur and Matthildur.

Pall and Sigridurd immigrated to Canada around in 1887 with the children and Pall's mother Gudrun Hjaltadottir.  In Canada, Pall and Sigridurd had four children, Gestur, Bergthor, Thorstein, Matthildur.

Johanna Palldottir worked as a cook on the cargo vessel, "Princess". The once glorious steamer was converted in 1887 to a cargo vessel, and travelled Lake Winnipeg carrying bulky items such as railroad ties, and hauling barges.

By accident one day in searching for more information on the "Princess", I came across the following wiki reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Princess from the Frances Russell's book : Mistehay Sakahegan: The Great Lake. He details the history of the vessel, and its accident on August 24, 1906.

On August 24, 1906, SS Princess was carrying a cargo of 1,600 boxes of fish, and a full crew, when it encountered a storm. As the captain tried to turn the vessel to safety, the waves damaged the hull, and three of the crew, including Johanna were trapped below. The story goes on to say that "The passengers and crew quickly moved in to two small lifeboats, but Captain Hawes, 17-year-old cabin servant Flora McDonald of Selkirk and 19-year-old cook Johanna Palsdottir never made the last boat". Six lives were lost that day, including 19-year old sailor Johann Jonsson, Loftur Gudmundsson of Gimli, and Charles Greyeyes, a native Canadian.

The tragic loss of Johanna and the other crew members affected many people and communities, particularly, her only child, Palli, who was a baby at the time. Palli was raised by Johanna's family and grew up to spend a large part of his life on Lake Winnipeg as a commercial fisherman.