Biographies B

Baclini (nee Qurban), Latifa, 24. 3^rd Class.

             Marie Catherine, 5.

             Eugenie, 3.

             Helene Barbara, 9 months.

 Latifa Qurban was born in Syria on 18 May, 1888. She married Solomon Baclini, and had three children Marie, 21.9.1906, Eugenie, 1909, and Helene Barbara on 12 July 1911. Solomon went ahead to New York and they boarded the Titanic in Cherbourg to join him. They were accompanied by Adele Najib, who was going to the USA to be married. Latifa acted as her chaperone as she was in her teens.

   After the collision Latifa shepherded her children and Adele to the boat deck. As they boarded Collapsible C the officer stopped Adele, as she was not a blood relative of Latifa. Mrs Baclini insisted on Adele accompanying them as she said that she couldn’t arrive in New York with her daughters and without Adele. The conversation would have taken place in Arabic or French, as she spoke no English.

   Latifa lived in New York for the rest of her life. Baby Eugenie contracted meningitis and died on 30 August, 1912. She was the second Titanic survivor to die. She is buried in the paupers’ section of the New York Calvary Cemetery.

   David Baclini was born on 28 January, 1913, and is claimed to be the first child conceived by a survivor after the sinking. Barbara married Albert Mueller, but it was found that she had breast cancer, which spread through her body. She died on 28 April 1939, aged 18. She is buried with her parents in St John’s Cemetery, New York City. Her husband remarried and died in 1994. Latifa died on 10 May, 1962, aged 74.

Marie married George Khanisur (1902-1996) and died in New York in 1992, aged 85.

Ball, Ada E, 36. 2^nd Class.

She was born in Bromley, Kent, on 9 May, 1875. She later lived with her parents and sister, Emily, in Hackney, London. In 1896 she married Martin Luther Ball and had two sons. Her sister married Rev Bateman and moved to Jacksonville, Florida. After her husband died Ada moved to Bristol, then decided to join her sister in America.

   Ada’s brother-in-law,  the Rev Robert Bateman, looked after her during the voyage. She shared a cabin on D Deck with Marie Jerwan. On the Sunday they attended a service in the salon, conducted by Rev Bateman and another minister. After the collision they were told by Rev Bateman to don their lifejackets. As she was entering the Lifeboat 10 he called to her, “If I don’t meet you again in this world, I will in the next.”

   According to her, “Brother forced me into the last boat, saying he would follow me later. I believe I was the last person to leave the ship (outside of the woman who was tossed down and the little bit of baby wrapped in blankets). Brother threw his overcoat over my shoulders as the boat was being lowered away and as we neared the water, he took his black necktie and threw it to me with the words, “Goodbye, God bless you.”

   Ada later married William Perine and lived a happy and God-fearing life. She moved to Pittsfield, Mass. She died in Cockeysville, Maryland, on 1 October, 1967, aged 92, and is buried in the Oak Lawn Cemetery, Baltimore. Her account of her experience during the sinking is recounted in the Titanic Commutator Vol 11, No 4, 1987.

Barker, Reginald Lomond, 40. Purser.

He was born in London in 1872 and lived at Mayhaith, Old Shirley, Hampshire. He was a purser and paid at a lower rate than Purser McElroy. On Sunday, 14 April, Barker conducted a short service for second class passengers in their Dining Saloon.

   After the collision, when the water reached C Deck, he stood with Purser McElroy, Dr O’Loughlin, Dr J Edward Simpson and briefly Second Officer Lightoller. They shook hands and said their goodbyes. He died and if recovered his body wasn’t identified.

Barkworth, Algernon Henry Wilson, 47. 1^st Class.

He was a Justice of the Peace from Hessle, Yorkshire. A first-class passenger on the Titanic, he spent a lot of time with Arthur Gee and Charles Jones. On the night of the 14^th they discussed road building, a subject in which Barkworth was intensely interested.

   After the collision he went down to his cabin to fetch some items. He recalled that the orchestra was playing a waltz, but when he returned they had gone. As the ship sank he donned a heavy fur coat over his lifebelt, threw his briefcase into the water and followed it. His coat and lifebelt buoyed him up until he reached the upturned Collapsible B. Barkworth was cautioned not to overturn it, but eventually managed to drag himself aboard.

Bateman, Rev Robert James, 51. 2^nd Class.

The son of a cabinet-maker, he was born in Bristol on 14 October, 1860. He qualified as a physician then travelled to America and became a Baptist Minister when aged 21. In early 1880 he married Emily Jane Hall, after meeting her at a Salvation Army meeting in London, and they had seven children.

   He left the ministry to enter construction activities in Canada with his father, then moved to St Louis, Baltimore and finally to Jacksonville, Florida. At one stage Bateman became an alcoholic, but he managed to conquer it. He became a freemason and by 1910 was the chaplain of the lodge. After his death he was awarded the 33^rd degree. He became a champion of the underdogs of society and rescued many women from the red light districts.

   In 1912 he visited England to inspect various charitable institutions and see his mother’s grave. He then returned to America on the Titanic, travelling with his sister-in-law, Ada Ball. He looked after her and her cabin mate, Mrs Amin Jerwan.

   On Sunday, 14 April, Rev Bateman officiated at an evening service in the salon. After the ship struck he woke the ladies and told them to put their lifejackets on. He then accompanied Ada to Lifeboat 10, gave her his coat and tie and said, “If I don’t meet you again in this world, I will in the next.”

   He died in the freezing sea water and his body was recovered by the Mackay-Bennett and returned to Jacksonville, where on 12 May it was interred in the Evergreen Cemetery. A lengthy biography of him appears in the Titanic Commutator Vol 11, No 4, 1987.

Becker (nee Baumgardner), Nellie E, 36. 2^nd Class.

              Ruth, 12

              Marion Louise, 4

              Richard F, 1.                   

Nellie Baumgardner married a missionary, Allen Oliver Becker, and had four children, Ruth (Born 28 October, 1899), Luther, Marion and Richard. The family moved to Guntur, India, where Luther, 2, died in February 1907. Marion was born in 1908 and Richard in 1911. The baby contracted an illness, which had to be treated in the United States so she embarked on the Titanic in a second-class stateroom with her children.

   During the boarding of lifeboats a steward put Richard and Marion in Boat 11 and said, “Well, that’s all for this boat.” Nellie cried, “Please let me in this boat! Those are my children.” She was allowed in, but Ruth was left standing on the Titanic’s deck. Nellie screamed, “Ruth! Get in another boat.”

   Ruth managed to get a seat in Lifeboat 13, where she gave her blanket to one of the stokers, who wore only a sleeveless shirt and shorts from working in the coal bunkers. Though only 12-years-old, Ruth spoke through an interpreter to a distraught German woman who had been separated from her child. They were reunited on the Carpathia.

   Ruth saw that the Titanic was tilted at the bows, “I could look back and see this ship, and the decks were just lined with people looking over. Finally, as the Titanic sank faster, the lights in the cabins and saloons died out. You could just see the stern remaining in an upright position for a couple of minutes. Then with a quiet slanting dive, it disappeared. Then … there fell upon the ear the most terrible noise that human beings ever listened to – the cries of hundreds of people struggling in the icy cold water, crying for help with a cry we knew could not be answered.” Their boat could hold no more. Hours later Ruth was hoisted in a sling to the decks of the Carpathia, numb with cold.

   After the Carpathia arrived in New York Nellie said to reporters, “Don’t ask me anything. Ask Ruth, she’ll tell you everything.” In June 1914 Ruth’s account of the sinking was published in the St Nicholas Magazine (Also Titanic Commutator Vol 10 No 4 in 1986).

   They settled at Benton Harbour, Michigan, until her husband arrived the following year. Nellie’s behaviour became erratic and she would cry when discussing the disaster. Marion contracted tuberculosis and died in 1944, aged 36. Nellie refused to attend Marion’s funeral. She died in 1961, leaving her entire estate to Richard, however made Ruth (then Blanchard) the executrix.

   Ruth attended College in Ohio, after which she taught in Kansas. She married Daniel Blanchard, a former classmate. She never told her children when they were young about the Titanic. She divorced after 20 years and returned to teaching. After retiring Ruth lived in Santa Barbara, California. She then spoke of the sinking and attended conventions of the Titanic Historical Society. In March 1990 she took a sea cruise to Mexico. She died later that year, aged 90, and her ashes were scattered over the position of the Titanic’s sinking.

   Richard married Eva Maria Anderson, who died in St Louis on 11 October, 1942, aged 30. He became a singer and later a social welfare worker. He was widowed a second time before dying in 1975, aged 64. (Photo: Eyewitness Titanic, p 44).

Beckwith, Richard Leonard, 37. 1^st Class.

Beckwith (nee Monypeny), 47.

He was born on 9 November, 1874, while Sarah ‘Sally’ Monypeny, his future wife, was born at Columbus, Ohio, on 21 September, 1865. She married Logan Newsom and had a son William Monypeny Newsom and a daughter, Helen Moneypeny Newsom. After Newsom’s death Sallie married Beckwith, who was ten years younger than her, but had no children with him.

   She did not want her daughter to be courted by Karl Behr, so arranged a grand European tour to get her away from him. Behr followed them and boarded the Titanic for their return to the USA. They were fortunately all allowed to board Lifeboat 5 after the collision.

    Beckwith died on 11 April, 1933, aged 58, while Sallie died on 11 February, 1955, aged 89.

Beesley, Lawrence, 24. 2^nd Class.

Born at Wirksworth, Derbyshire, on 31 December, 1877, he attended Derby School and Cambridge to qualify as a teacher. In 1903 Beesley achieved a First Class in the National Science Tripos. The following year he became science master at Dulwich College. By 1912 he was a widower with one son. He bought a 2^nd Class ticket on the Titanic to visit his brother in Toronto.

   Beesley was reading in his cabin when he noticed a heave of the engines and the vibration on his mattress ceased. A steward told him that it was nothing. He went up to A Deck where boats were being loaded, then on returning to his cabin noticed that the stairs were angled. He put on his Norfolk jacket and put some books in the pockets then returned to A Deck where he found some men being allowed into Lifeboat 13.

   He boarded the boat at 1.25 and it was lowered but almost swamped by an outflow of water from the ship’s hull. They reached the sea and  drifted under Lifeboat 15, which was being lowered, but managed to stop it by shouting, then cut the falls and drifted away Beesley tried to comfort a crying baby, then found that he and the baby had mutual acquaintances in Ireland.

   After his rescue Beesley wrote a book, ‘The Loss of the Titanic’, which was successful. During the filming of ‘A Night to Remember’ he attempted to remain on the ship as the sinking scene was filmed. He enjoyed watching cricket on TV and died on 14 February, 1967, aged 89.

Behr, Karl Howell, 26. 1^st Class.

He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 30 May, 1885. After attending Yale University he was admitted to the Bar in 1910. Behr became a champion lawn tennis player and was part of the US Davis Cup team in 1907. That year he and Beals Wright were runners up in the Wimbledon Men’s doubles championship.

   Behr was courting Helen Monypeny Newsom, a friend of his sister. Her mother, Mrs Beckwith tried to discourage the relationship, so took Helen on a ‘Grand Tour’ of Europe. Behr followed on the pretext of a business trip and was with them on their return on board the Titanic.

   After the collision he joined Helen and Mr and Mrs Kimball on the starboard boat deck. Whereas Third Officer Pitman was responsible for the loading of Lifeboat 5, Bruce Ismay was urging passengers to board. Mrs Kimball asked him if they could all go together and he replied, “Of course, madam, every one of you.” Behr and his friends were accordingly all rescued. On the Carpathia Behr was one of the committee that decided to honour Captain Rostron and his 320 crew members. 

   Behr and Helen were married in the Church of the Transfiguration in March 1913. They were to have three sons and a daughter, Karl, Peter, James and Sally. Behr was to win the Davis Cup with Richard Norris Williams, another Titanic survivor. He became a banker and served as vice-president of Dillon, Read & Co in New York, and on the boards of Fisk Rubber Company, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, National Cash Register Company, the Interchemical Corporation, Behr-Manning Corporation of Troy, NY, and the Witherbee Sherman Corporation.

   Behr died on 15 October, 1949, aged 64, and is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery, Morristown, New Jersey. Helen later married Dean Mathey, one of his tennis partners and best friends. She died at Princeton, New Jersey, in 1965, aged 72. 

Bell, Joseph, 51. Chief Engineer.

He was born at Farlam, near Brampton, Cumberland, in May 1861 and educated at Carlisle. After serving an apprenticeship at Newcastle-upon-Tyne he commenced his seagoing career in 1883 with a Liverpool Line. Bell joined the White Star Line in 1885 and served on vessels travelling to New Zealand and New York.

  Bell became chief engineer on the Coptic when he was 30. He lived in Liverpool and had a wife, Maud, and two boys and two girls. He served for 20 years, including on the Olympic before being transferred to the Titanic, where he was on ‘stand by’ during its construction in Belfast. He was a member of the Institute of Marine Engineers and of the Royal Naval Reserve.

   His eldest son accompanied the Titanic from Belfast to Southampton, then disembarked. Bell didn’t survive the sinking as was the case with most of the engineers who kept the generators running as long as possible.

Bidois, Rosalie, 42. Maid, 1^st Class.

Rosalie was born in Jersey, Channel Islands, on 10 May, 1865. She was a maid to Mrs Madeleine Astor and boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg with them. She was rescued with Madeleine in Lifeboat 4.

   Rosalie later married Francois Courtinade, but they soon separated. She died in Manhatten on 24 September, 1938, aged 68.

Bird, Ellen, 31. Maid, 1^st Class.

One of 11 children of a shepherd, Ellen was born at Old Buckenham, Norfolk, on 8 April, 1881. Mrs Ida Straus had been unsuccessful in finding a French maid and was let down at the last minute by an English one, so hired Ellen.

   After the Titanic collided Ida Straus gave Ellen her jewellery, as she intended remaining with her husband. She then took the jewellery back but left Ellen with a fur coat, saying that she wouldn’t be needing it. At the encouragement of her employers Ellen boarded Lifeboat 8 and was saved.

   In New York she tried to return the coat to the Straus family, but was told by the oldest daughter, Sara Straus Hess, that as Ida had given it to her she should keep it. Ellen then worked for Frederic Spedden’s family in New York. He and his family had travelled on the same ship as the Strauses to Europe in January 1912, and returned with them on the Titanic.

   Ellen remained with them until her marriage to a hotel employee, Edward Beattie. He is also described as a yacht captain. They never had any children. Ellen lived at Newport, Rhode Island, until her death on 11 September, 1949, aged 68. She and her husband are buried at Acushnet Cemetery, Massachusetts.

Bishop, Dickinson H, 25. 1^st Class.

Bishop (nee Walton), Helen, 19.

He was born on 24 March, 1887, in Dowagiac, Michigan. He became a wealthy widower when he inherited shares in the local Round Oak Stove Company from his wife. He married Helen Walton, from a wealthy Sturgis, Michigan, family on 7 November, 1911. They honeymooned in Algiers, Egypt, Italy and France and boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg for their return trip.

   When the Titanic struck Bishop was reading in their stateroom while Helen slept. They were called and went on deck, where an officer told them that they could return to their stateroom as there was no danger. After they returned they were called by their friend, Albert Stewart, who was concerned at the list of the ship. They dressed and went on deck again, then returned for Helen’s muff, a tubular covering for the hands. She regretted having to leave her dog, Freu Freu, in the stateroom but realised that “there would be little sympathy for a woman carrying a dog in her arms when there were lives of women and children to be saved.”

   They donned lifebelts and went topside where they were loaded into the first boat away, Lifeboat 7. She was reportedly the first person aboard. She later recalled the order for “all brides and grooms to board”. Three other newlywed couples also boarded. There were only three crew members aboard so Helen helped with the rowing. She recalled that the French aviator, Pierre Marechal, never took his monocle from his eye and that the Alfred Nourney, who posed as a German baron, Von Drachstedt, refused to row and just smoked.

   Helen attempted to raise spirits by telling the occupants of the lifeboat of a prophesy made by a fortune teller in Egypt. She would survive a shipwreck and an earthquake before an auto accident would kill her. She added, “We have to be rescued for the rest of my prophecy to come true.”

   After being picked up by the Carpathia and reaching New York they both testified in the Senate hearing. Bishop said that he had noticed the sailors trying in vain to close the locks on the watertight doors. On 8 December, 1912, Helen gave birth to a son, Randall, who died two days later. A rumour was spread that Bishop had entered the lifeboat dressed as a woman in order to secure a seat.

   During a vacation in California they were jolted by an earthquake. The third part of the prophecy came true when, on 15 November, 1913, their motor car struck a tree and Helen fractured her skull. A steel plate was inserted, but she was unstable and they divorced in January 1916. She died two months later, on 16 March, 1916, aged 23. Bishop married Sidney Boyce of Chicago on 14 March. The Dowagiac News reported her death and his marriage on the front page of the same edition.   

   He served in the US Army during World War I, then lived in Ottawa, Illinois, for many years. He died following a stroke on 16 February, 1961, aged 73, and is buried in the Ottawa Avenue Cemetery.

Björnström-Steffanson, Mauritz Håkan, 28. 1^st Class.

Born on 9 November, 1883, Steffanson was the son of one of the pioneers of Swedish pulp industry. After studying at Stockholm’s technical university he worked in a sulphite plant, then went to Washington on a Swedish government scholarship. He may have shared a first class cabin on the Titanic with Hugh Woolner, 45.

   At the time of the collision he was drinking a hot lemonade in the first class smoking room. He barely noticed the slight jar, but donned his lifebelt when told to do so by an officer, then report on the boat deck.

   Steffanson assisted Woolner in guiding women to Lifeboat 6, including Helen Candee, 52, who was Gracie’s responsibility but the latter had his hands full with four other ladies. They later heard pistol shots fired by Purser Herbert McElroy, trying to get men out of Collapsible D. They assisted in pulling men out then completed loading.

   At 2 am they were at the forward end of A Deck when Collapsible D was lowered before them. As the sea rushed up the deck Steffanson jumped on the railing and leapt into the boat’s bow. He was followed by Woolner, whom he assisted into the boat.  Later on the Carpathia a committee was formed to honour the bravery of Captain Rostron and his crew. The committee comprised Frederic Seward, Karl Behr, Molly Brown, Mauritz Björnström-Steffanson, Isaac Frauenthal, George Harder and Frederic Spedden. The captain received a silver cup while each of the 320 crew members received a medal.

   Steffanson was introduced to Mary Pinchot Eno by fellow survivor Helen Candee. He married Mary in 1917. They had no children. Steffanson retired as a wealthy man in the 1930’s. His wife died in 1953 and he followed on 21 May, 1962, aged 78. His home on 57^th Street was one of the few private homes left in Manhatten. His nephew, Thord Steffanson, who died in January 1977, aged 68, was his principal beneficiary. 

Bowen, David John ‘Dai’, 26. 3^rd Class

David ‘Dai’ Bowen (David Huxtable).

He lived at Trehebert, Glamorgan, Wales and was originally a collier. He took up boxing as a lightweight and was trained by George Cundick, who had boxed with the British army in India. Bowen turned professional and got married. Cundick arranged a series of boxing competitions for him and another Welsh boxer, Leslie Williams. They were both 3^rd Class passengers on the Titanic. Williams’ body was recovered and buried at sea. Bowen’s body was never found, but his family had a gravesite memorial erected to him in Treordy cemetery.

 Boxhall, Joseph Groves, 28. 4^th Officer.

He was born at Hull, Yorkshire, on 23 March 1884. The son of a sea captain and grandson of a mariner, he had two sisters. He joined his first ship in June 1902 and by January 1905 had his First Mate’s Certificate. His Master’s Certification followed in September 1907. The following year he joined the Oceanic as Sixth Officer. While serving on her he met Charles Lightoller, the future Second Officer of the Titanic.

   On 26 March Boxhall and other junior officers (Pitman, Lowe and Moody) joined the Titanic for her sea trials. At 11.40 pm on Sunday 14 April he was walking to the bridge when he heard the lookout’s bell and Murdoch calling out orders to Hichens to put the wheel hard over. After the Titanic struck the iceberg Captain Smith sent Boxhall to inspect the bow. He returned to say that he could find nothing amiss.

   Shortly afterwards the carpenter and postal clerk informed Captain Smith that the lower mail sorting room was filling with water. Boxhall was then sent to fetch Second Officer Lightoller and Third Officer Pitman. He then worked out the ship’s position for the captain to hand to the Marconi Operator, Jack Phillips, to send out a distress signal. At 12.45 am Boxhall and Quartermaster George Rowe began firing distress rockets. Rowe continued doing so until they ran out at 1.25 am. They attempted to contact a ship on the horizon with a morse lamp, but in vain.

   Boxhall was given responsibility for Lifeboat 2, which was lowered at 1.45 am. When the Titanic went under he asked the passengers whether they should return for survivors as they were less than two thirds full, and was told no. During the night he set off green flares and assisted with the rowing. Once aboard the Carpathia he informed Captain Rostron that the Titanic had sunk.

   He was called on to testify at the Senate Hearing, where he mentioned the proximity of the other vessel which hadn’t responded to their signals. He suffered from pleurisy on his return to England, then joined the Adriatic as her Fourth Officer. He joined the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) and was promoted Lieutenant in 1915 and Lieutenant Commander after the First World War.

   Boxhall married Marjory Beddells on 25 March, 1919. Though childless their marriage was a happy one. He then returned to the White Star Line and served as Chief Officer before retiring in 1940. He was asked to act as technical adviser to the 1958 film ‘A Night to Remember’. As he had health problems he co-opted his friend Commander Grattige, who had commanded the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, to assist him. Although a quiet, taciturn man, he gave a BBC interview in 1962.

   He died on 25 April 1967, aged 83. His remains were cremated and his ashes scattered over the position he had calculated of the sinking.

 

Brereton, George Andrew, 37.

He was born on 11 November, 1874, in Medelia, Minnesota, the son of an Irish father and German mother. He lived in Los Angeles for some time before he became a professional gambler on ships. Brereton used the alias of George Arthur Brayton and Bradley to passengers. He was in the First Class smoking room, lining up a victim, when the ship collided with the iceberg.

   Brereton managed to escape, possibly on Lifeboat 9. On the Carpathia he struck up a conversation with Arthur Stengel, whom he tried to inveigle in a horse-racing scam after their return to New York. He killed himself on 16 July, 1942, aged 67.

Brewe, Dr George Jackson, 45. 1^st Class.

 Born in Galway, Ireland, he studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and qualified as a physician. He came to live in the United States, initially in New York then in Philadelphia. He married an English woman, Anne Gregory, and specialised in nervous disorders. Dr Brewe was lost when the Titanic sank and his widow was inconsolable.

 Bride, Harold Sydney, 22. Telegraphist.

He was born in London on 11 January, 1890, the youngest of five children, and lived at Bromley. He worked in his family’s business to pay for training as a Marconi wireless operator. He completed his training in July 1911, then went to sea on various ships, including the Lusitania and La France.

   Bride became engaged to Mabel Ludlow on 16 March, 1912. He joined the Titanic as assistant to Jack Phillips. They sent out passengers’ messages, then, during the night of 13/14 April had to repair the set.

   Bride woke up after the collision and joined Phillips in the wireless room. Captain Smith then came in and told them to be ready to send a distress signal. Shortly after midnight he brought them the ship’s position and Phillips began sending the CQD. Bride then said, “Send SOS, it’s the new call, and it may be your last chance to send it.” Bride then took the message to Captain Smith that the closest ship was the RMS Carpathia, which would reach them at daybreak.

   He relieved Phillips at the set, who returned after a while to say that the forward part of the ship was under water. Bride then collected some valuables and clothing. He returned to see a crewman attempting to steal Phillips’ lifejacket. He grabbed the man and Phillips knocked him out. They left the wireless room to find water flooding the boat deck.

   “From aft came the tunes of the band. It was a ragtime tune. I don’t know what … Phillips ran aft and that was the last I ever saw of him alive.” Bride assisted in launching Collapsible Lifeboat B, then was washed off the roof of the officers’ quarters and found himself underneath the overturned Collapsible B. He swam out and joined about 15 men on its upper side.

   “There was just room for me to roll on the edge. I lay there not caring what happened. Somebody sat on my legs. They were wedged in between slats and were being wrenched. I had not the heart to ask the man to move. It was a terrible sight all around – men swimming and sinking. I lay where I was, letting the man wrench my feet out of shape. Others came near. Nobody gave them a hand. The bottom-up boat already had more men than it would hold and it was sinking.”

   Bride’s feet were frozen, however he survived the ordeal on the slowly sinking Collapsible until rescued the following morning. According to Bride, “One man was dead. I passed him and went up the ladder, although my feet pained terribly. The dead man was Phillips. He had died on the raft from exposure and cold, I guess. He had been all in from work before the wreck came. He stood his ground until the crisis had passed, and then he collapsed, I guess …”.

   On the Carpathia Bride helped the wireless operator, Harold Cottam, send out personal messages from survivors. He was met in New York by Guglielmo Marconi. The New York Times gave him $1,000 for his story. He later testified in the American and British Enquiries.

   Bride met Lucy Downie, broke off his prior engagement, and married her on 10 April, 1920. He served as a wireless operator on the steamship Mona’s Isle during World War I. He and Lucy had three children, Lucy, John and Jeanette. In 1922 they moved to Scotland where he became a salesman. Bride lived in relative obscurity and died on 29 April, 1956, aged 66.

Brown, Thomas William Soloman, 60. 2^nd Class.

Brown (née Ford), Elizabeth Catherine, 40.

             Edith Eileen, 15.

Thomas Brown was born in 1852, the year that the Birkenhead sank, when the immortal soldiers stood on its deck so that women and children could be saved. Elizabeth Ford was born in the Cape Colony, South Africa, in 1872. In her early twenties she married Brown, who had previously been married, and they had a daughter, Edith, on 27 October, 1896. Another daughter died of diphtheria when eight years old. Brown was a successful hotelier, running an establishment in Cape Town, then in Worcester.

   The business declined, so he decided to make a new start in Seattle, where Elizabeth’s sister lived. They boarded the Titanic as second class passengers. Elizabeth and Edith occupied a four-berth cabin with two other ladies, while he was in another. On the night of 14/15 April Brown placed his wife and daughter in Lifeboat 14, then stepped back, lit a cigar and awaited his fate. His body was never found.

   Elizabeth and Eileen were rescued by the Carpathia. They stayed in New York briefly, then visited her brother-in-law and sister, Edward and Josephine Acton, in Seattle. After a short visit they returned to South Africa, where Elizabeth remarried and settled in Rhodesia.

   Edith remained in Cape Town with friends. In May 1917 she met Frederick Thankful Haisman and they were

married six weeks later. She had the first of 10 children in August 1918. They later moved to Southampton, then returned to South Africa before finally retiring to Southampton. Edith died on 20 January, 1997, aged 100. Before her death she had numerous interviews about the Titanic.

 

 

 

 

Brown (nee Lamson), Caroline Lane, 59. 1^st Class.

Caroline Lamson was born in New York City on 8 July, 1852. She was to have three sisters. She married John Murray Brown and became a resident of Belmont, MA. A sister died in England so she and two other sisters, Mrs Cornell and Mrs Appleton, attended the funeral. They returned on the Titanic, where at Cherbourg they were joined by Edith Evans and Col Archibald Gracie, who offered his services to the unaccompanied ladies.

   After her sisters had escaped the sinking ship in a lifeboat, Gracie found Caroline and Edith and rushed them to Collapsible D which Lightoller was loading. Edith turned to Caroline and said, “You go first, you have children waiting at home.” Caroline stepped into the boat, but Edith hesitated and the collapsible was lowered without her.

   Caroline was reunited with her sisters on the Carpathia, as well as with an uncle and aunt, Mr and Mrs Marshall, who were passengers on it. Caroline died in Concord, Massachusetts on 26 June, 1928, aged 75, and is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Brown (nee Tobin) Margaret ‘Molly’, 44. 1^st Class.

Margaret Tobin was born in Hannibal, Missouri, on 18 July 1867. She had two brothers, a sister and two half-sisters. At age 18 she followed her married sister, Mary Ann Landrigan, to Leadville Colorado. Known as Maggie, she shared a cabin with her brother, Daniel, and worked in a local Drapery store. On 1 September 1886 she married James Joseph (J J) Brown, a miner and son of Irish immigrants.

   They had two children, Lawrence Palmer born in 1887 and Catherine Ellen (Helen) born in 1889. Maggie joined the early feminist movement and assisted in establishing the Colorado Chapter of the National American Women’s Suffrage Association. When the Sherman Silver Act was repealed in 1893 J J Brown concentrated on extracting gold from the Little Jonny Mine. He was successful, was given a seat on the board and became extremely wealthy.

   In April 1894 the Browns bought a house in Pennsylvania Street, Denver and built a summer house in the foothills. Maggie set about conquering Denver’s exclusive society. She enrolled in the New York Carnegie Institute where she studied languages, literature, drama, music and culinary arts. She mastered French, German and three other languages. She became a member of the Denver Women’s Club and Denver Woman’s Press Club and gave generously to local charities.

   Meanwhile J J had an affair with a married woman. They separated in 1909, he to mining properties in the west and she to Europe. Her daughter, Helen, was a student at the Sorbonne. They were staying with the Astor party in Egypt when Maggie heard that her grandson, Lawrence Palmer Brown Jr, was ill. Helen remained behind in London while Maggie booked passage on the Titanic for America.

    She claimed that the collision threw her out of bed. As she left her cabin she grabbed  an Egyptian statuette, which she carried with her for good luck. After seeing a panic-stricken man she went on deck and helped Mrs Bucknell into Lifeboat 8. She then went to see what was happening with the boats on the other side. Suddenly she was grabbed and thrown into Lifeboat No 6, with Quartermaster Hichens in charge. He and Fred Fleet were the only males aboard. He complained that they were doomed, would be sucked down, that there was no water or food aboard, etc, so she took charge and organised the women to row.

   After being picked up by the Carpathia Maggie used her linguistic skills in listing the survivors from 3^rd Class. She also helped to raise more than $10,000 for destitute survivors. Maggie presented Captain Rostron with the Egyptian statuette as a thank-you present. She chaired the Titanic Survivors Committee which gave a loving cup to Captain Rostrom and a medal to each of the Carpathia’s crew. She was dubbed the “Unsinkable Mrs Brown’ by the Denver Post and returned home a heroine.

    She unsuccessfully ran for political office in 1914, then helped organise an international women’s rights conference in Rhode Island. During World War I she entertained troops by acting in roles associated with Sarah Bernhardt. Her son served as a captain in France.

   J J died on 5 September 1922. Maggie spent her remaining years travelling in Europe and the East Coast. She dedicated a statue to Mark Twain in Hannibal and it was rumoured that she would marry the Duke of Chartre. She became estranged from her children, and stayed at New York City’s Barbizon Hotel with her nurse. In 1932 the French government invested Maggie with the Legion of Honour.

   She died on 26 October, 1932, aged 65, and is buried alongside J J in Long Island’s Holy Rood Cemetery. Her home in Denver has become a tourist attraction since the play and movie ‘The Unsinkable Molly Brown’. The name Molly was invented by the media for the Broadway Play. In 1984 Historic Denver published a booklet, ‘Molly Brown – Denver’s Unsinkable Lady’.

Browne, Francis Patrick Mary, 32. 1^st Class.

He was born in County Cork on 3 January 1880. While studying theology an uncle offered to pay for a trip on the Titanic. He was a prolific photographer who took many famous pictures on the trip to Queenstown. He was there ordered to return by the Jesuit Order so disembarked.

   After the Titanic sank he sold his pictures to many newspapers but retained the negatives. Browne was ordained as a priest in 1915. During World War I he served as a chaplain officer to the Irish Guards, was wounded five times and awarded the Military Cross and Bar and the Croix de Guerre.

   Father Browne returned to minister in Dublin. On one occasion he did a world trip and took thousands of photographs, which were discovered recently by the Jesuits. He died in Dublin on 7 July 1960 and is buried there.

Buckley, Daniel, 21. 3^rd Class.

He was born on 28 September 1890 and moved with his family to County Cork. He and some friends became 3^rd Class passengers in the bow of the Titanic. After it struck the iceberg he saw water on the floor so made his way to the boat deck, forcing his way through a gate and boarding a lifeboat. When the men were ordered out of the boat Buckley remained hidden and was concealed when a lady, probably Mrs Appleton, put a shawl over him.

   After arriving in New York he worked in a Manhattan hotel. In June 1917 he joined the army – in the 69^th Regiment which was composed of mainly Irish men. This was later merged into the 165^th. On 15 October 1918 while assisting to retrieve wounded soldiers on the Meuse Argonne front Buckley was killed by a sniper’s bullet. He was reinterred in Ireland in 1919.

Bucknell (nee Ward), Emma Eliza, 59. 1^st Class.

Emma Ward was born on 28 August, 1852. She married William Robert Bucknell, who founded Bucknell College (later University) in Philadelphia. Her children were a son, Howard, a doctor in Atlanta, a daughter, Margaret (Countess Pecorini), Mrs J Day and Mrs S F Wetherill.

   While awaiting the Titanic on the tender at Cherbourg she said to Molly Brown that she had “evil forebodings” that something would happen to the ship. Molly laughed. Emma boarded with her maid, Albina Bazzani, 32. They were rescued on Lifeboat 8. On the Carpathia Emma reminded Molly of her prophetic words.

   She spent her winters at Clearwater, Florida. She died on 27 June, 1927, aged 75, at Upper Saranac Lake.

Burke, Jeremiah, 19. 3rd Class.

He was the youngest of seven children on a farm at Ballinoe, Upper Glanmire, White’s Cross, County Cork. Two of his sisters were in America and he decided to follow them. His mother gave him a bottle of holy water to take on the Titanic with him. His cousin Nora Hegarty, 18, accompanied him as she wished to become a nun in the USA.

   They boarded at Queenstown. On board the cousins became acquainted with Eugene Daly. As the ship sank Jeremiah emptied out the holy water and wrote a message, “13.4.1912 from Titanic. Goodbye all: Burke of Glanmire, Co. Queenstown.” He sealed this in the bottle and hurled it into the sea. He and Nora were lost in the sinking.

   In May 1913 a man walking his dog found the bottle near the Cork harbour, at Dunkettle a few miles from Jeremiah’s home. He brought the pencilled message and bottle to the police who passed it on to the Burke family. Jeremiah’s mother died shortly after the message was discovered.

   The bottle and message is preserved in John Burke’s house in White Cross, Cork. It was featured on Irish TV in 1998. It can now be seen on display at the Titanic Exhibition in the Cobh Heritage Centre. It was donated by one of Jeremiah’s nieces, Mary Woods, a local councillor in Cork.

Burns, Elizabeth Margaret, 41. Nanny, 1^st Class.

She was born on 15 December, 1870, in Newark, New Jersey. Elizabeth graduated from the Roosevelt School for Nurses in 1898. Eleven years later she became the private nurse or nanny to Robert Spedden. He called her ‘Muddie Boons’ due to his difficulty with words. She boarded the Titanic with the Speddens and was rescued in Lifeboat 3.

   Elizabeth later lived at the Central Club for Nurses in New York, where she died as a spinster on 29 May, 1921, aged 50. 

Buss, Kate, 36. 2^nd Class.

She was born at Sittingbourne, Kent, on 28 December, 1875, and had four sisters and two brothers. After schooling she worked in her brother, Percy’s grocery shop. She became engaged to Samuel Willis, who resided in San Diego. Kate booked passage on the Titanic. He luncheon companions included Dr Ernest Moraweck, who removed soot from her eye.

   On deck Kate met Marion Wright and shared a steamer rug with her. She wrote a letter on Titanic-headed paper to her brother Percy and posted it in Queenstown. She enjoyed the performances by the orchestra and noticed that the cellist, probably John Woodward, would smile at her whenever they finished a piece.

   On Sunday, 14 April, she attended the service conducted by Rev Ernest Carter and noticed that some people had tears in their eyes as they sang the hymns. She was lying in her bunk reading a newspaper when the collision occurred. To her it sounded like a skate on ice. She went out and met Dr Moraweck, who promised to investigate.

   Kate then went to Marion Wright’s cabin and woke her. They went on deck where Douglas Norman told them that the ship had hit an iceberg. They looked down at the well deck, where some passengers had congregated with their belongings. A passenger pointed out how protective they were of their property and Kate replied that their trunks possibly contained all their worldly possessions. Norman then took them below to dress warmly.

   Kate and Mrion boarded Lifeboat 9, but Norman was prevented, despite Kate’s protests. When the boat was alongside the Carpathia she was the last to climb the rope ladder as she was afraid of heights. When they reached New York she was afraid that those without people to meet them woule be taken to Ellis Island, so hid in the crowd. She was eventually found and taken to a women’s hostel. She applied to the American Red Cross and was granted $250 as relief.

   She reached San Diego and married Sam Willis on 11 May, 1912. They had a daughter named Sybil. They retired to Pasadena to be near her. Willis died in 1953 and Kate then followed her daughter to Oregon where her son-in-law had a ministry. Kate was always emotional when discussing the Titanic. She died on 12 July, 1972, aged 96. 

Butt, Major Archibald Willingham, 45. 1^st Class.

Born on 26 September 1865 in Augusta, Georgia, he graduated from the Uniiversity of the South, Tennessee, in 1888. He became a reporter in Louisville, then represented  Southern newspapers in Washington. He was appointed secretary of the Mexican Embassy, with a former Confederate officer and US senator.

   In 1898 he served in the Spanish-American War as a lieutenant, from 1900-1906 in the Philippines, then in Cuba, where he was one of the ‘Rough Riders’. He became military aide to President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908. When President Taft and Roosevelt fought, Butt’s health deteriorated as he attempted to remain neutral. He took six weeks leave to recuperate and sailed to Europe with this friend, Francis Millet.

    Neither of them survived the sinking of the Titanic on their return. The Millet-Butt Memorial Fountain was erected in Washington in memory of them.

Byles, Thomas Roussel Davids, 42. Padre, 2^nd Class.

Born in Yorkshire on 26 February, 1870, to a Leeds congregational minister, he was educated at Fleetwood, Lancashire, from 1885-9. he then attended Balliol College, Oxford, and graduated BA in 1894. While at Oxford Byles converted to Catholicism. He then became a master at a boys’ school and catholic seminary, St Edmunds College, Ware, Hertfordshire,

   In 1897 Byles wrote ‘A School Commentary on 2^nd Epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians’. He was subject to occasional fits, nevertheless travelled to Rome to study for the priesthood. He received a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1901 and was ordained in June 1902. From 1905-12 Father Byles was the Roman Catholic Rector of Ongar, Essex. One of his sisters became a missionary in China.

   His younger brother, William, also a catholic, planned to marry Katherine Russell in Brooklyn and asked Byles to officiate at the wedding. Another brother, Winter, lived in America and also planned to be at the wedding. Byles travelled second class in the Titanic. He sent a letter to his housekeeper from Queenstown and mentioned meeting two other priests on board.

   On Sunday morning, 14 April, Fr Byles held a catholic service in the second class lounge, then delivered a sermon in English and French to third class passengers. Father Peruschitz followed in German and Hungarian. They both preached on the need to have “a lifeboat in the shape of religious consolation at hand in case of spiritual shipwreck.”

   After the collision Fr Byles helped third class passengers up the steps and into boats, heard confessions and prayed with those who couldn’t escape. Some newspapers reported that he was offered a seat in a lifeboat, but refused it. His body, if recovered, wasn’t recognised.

   His brother William had another priest officiate at the wedding. The bride and groom than went home to change into mourning clothes and returned to a mourning mass at the church. Later that year they went to Europe where William saw  a relative, Sir W Byles, at the House of Parliament. While Katherine waited in the parlour a young man approached her and said, “Hello Mrs Byles. I am here to give you a tour. My name is Winston Churchill.”

   They travelled to Rome and had a private audience with the Pope, who declared Father Byles a martyr for the Church. A door was installed at the Roman Catholic Church in Chipping, Ongar, Essex, by his brothers in memory of Fr Byles.