Biographies G – H

 

 

 He was born at Montalto Pavese, Italy, on 3 January, 1875, one of 11 children of a local councillor or justice of the peace. Gatti left for England where he married and had a son, Vittorio. He worked in the restaurant business and would send money back to his family in Italy. In London he ran two Ritz restaurants, ‘Gatti’s Adelphi’ and ‘Gatti’s Strand’. On the Olympic and the Titanic he later ran a la carte restaurants with staff from his two London restaurants.

   Gatti died in the sinking and his body was recovered by the Minia and buried in Fairview Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia. While most of his belongings found on his body were returned to his English wife, a single dollar bill was sent to his family in Italy.

Gee, Arthur H, 47. 1^st Class.

Born at Height, Manchester, his family went to live at Schlusselburg,  near St Petersburg, Russia. He returned to England at the age of 14 to attend Manchester Grammar School. He thereafter went to Alsace, Germany, to study calico printing, French and German. He then returned to Schlusselburg to work in its calico printing works, eventually becoming manager.

   Gee married and had a daughter and three sons. In late 1911 he moved with his family to St Annes-on-Sea, Lancashire, While there he enjoyed playing golf. He worked for machinery exporters near Deansgate, Manchester, and was selected to be manager of a print works near Mexico City. He intended sailing from Liverpool, but when offered a berth on the Titanic he accepted it.

   On leaving St Annes he remarked that his dog, which was normally unconcerned at his comings and goings, was remarkably demonstrative as he boarded the train, as if it knew he was going on a long voyage. He wrote from Queenstown that the Titanic was superlative, “… I have never seen anything so magnificent, even in a first class hotel. I might be living in a palace. It is, indeed, an experience…”

   During the voyage he kept a diary in the form of a letter, which totalled eight pages in the end. He got to know Charles Jones and Algernon Barkworth very well and on the night of the 14^th they discussed road building animatedly. He died during the sinking and his body was later found. Barkworth, who survived on Collapsible B recorded Gee’s last moments. His body was transported to Liverpool aboard the Baltic, and he is buried at The Church Cemetery, Irlam O’The Heights, Manchester, alongside his father. The gravestones have since been removed and the area grassed.

Gibson (nee Boeson), Pauline Caroline, 45. 1^st Class.

              Dorothy Winifred, 22.

Pauline Boesen was born on 30 June, 1866, in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 1877 she married a 22-year-old Scottish builder, John A Brown. Their only surviving child, Dorothy was born Dorothy Winifred Brown, in Hoboken, New Jersey on 17 May, 1889. Her father died when she was small and her mother remarried John Leonard Gibson. From 1907 Dorothy became a singer and dancer in a few musicals on Broadway, and in 1909 she became a model and appeared on magazine covers, postcards, etc.

   In 1910 she married George Battier, but separated soon afterwards and then divorced him. By July 1911, after featuring in movie bit parts, she became the leading lady for the American branch of the French company Éclair. Dorothy starred in a series of films before travelling to Europe with her mother on vacation. She was having an affair with Jules Brulatour, the Éclair producer in America, who wired her in Italy to return to complete new films.

   Dorothy and her mother, Pauline Gibson, boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg. On the night of the 14^th she played bridge with New York bankers, William Sloper and Frederick Seward. As she was making her way to her stateroom she heard “a long drawn sickening crunch.” She investigated, “As I started to walk across the boat I noticed how lopsided the deck was.” She fetched her mother and found that Lifeboat 7 was almost empty. They asked Sloper and Seward to join them.

   As the boat reached the sea, water gushed through a hole in the bottom. “This was remedied by volunteer contributions from the lingerie of the women and the garments of men.” She was not unaffected by the tragedy, “I will never forget the terrible cry that rang out from people who were thrown into the sea and others who were afraid for their loved ones.”

   The following month the first film was made about the sinking,  starring Dorothy Gibson as herself. She was initially reluctant to do so, but “the beautiful young cinematic star valiantly conquered her own feelings and forged ahead.” The film ‘Saved from the Titanic’ received excellent reviews. She then gave up acting to begin a career in opera, but that was short-lived.

   In May 1913 her affair with Brulatour was exposed, following a court case when Dorothy had driven his car and struck and killed a man. Brulatour divorced his wife to marry Dorothy in 1917, but they were divorced two years later. In the 1920’s Dorothy lived in Manhattan, then in 1928 moved to France with her mother.

   They were both involved in Fascist politics, but during World War II in Italy Dorothy turned on the Nazis and was arrested by the Gestapo as a resistance agitator.  She was imprisoned in the San Vittore prison, Milan, but was assisted to escaped in 1944, and fled to Switzerland.  

   Dorothy moved to a suite at the Hotel Ritz in Paris. She died there of heart failure, possibly brought on by her imprisonment, on 17 February, 1946, aged 56. Brulatour died at the Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, on 26 October 1946.

   Pauline became a neo-nazi in Florence and her ouspoken anti-semitism so angered her American neighbours in Italy that they asked that she be exiled from their midst. She went to live in Paris where she died in a hotel room on 20 March, 1961, aged 94 years.

Giglio, Victor Gaeton A, 24. 1^st Class.

He was born in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, possibly of Italian extraction. As valet to Benjamin Guggenheim he embarked as a first class passenger and shared a stateroom  on the Titanic. Guggenheim’s French chauffeur, Rene Pernot, travelled second class.

   Shortly before the Titanic sank Guggenheim and Giglio returned to their cabin and changed into their finest evening wear, “in order to go down as gentlemen”. All three men were lost in the sinking.

 

Goldsmith, Frank John, 33. 3^rd Class.

Goldsmith (nee Brown), Emiline ‘Emily’ Alice, 31.

                  Frank John William, 9.

Frank Goldsmith was born on 27 January, 1879, while his future wife, Emiline (Emily) Brown, was born on 26 August, 1880. She went to work at a dame’s school whn aged 13. They married on 25 December, 1901, and lived at Stroud, Kent, where he worked as a toolmaker. They had two sons, Frank born on 19 December, 1902, and Albert (Bertie) who died of diptheria near the end of 1911. All of Emily’s eight brothers and sisters had emigrated, so they decided to leave England for Detroit, Michigan.

   Goldsmith’s tools were stored with his baggage in the Titanic’s hold. They travelled in third class with his friend, Thomas Theobold, 34, and Alfred Rush, 15, whom they had promised to take care of. Emily made friends with Rosa Abbott and May Howard who was travelling to Canada.

   Emily and Frankie were saved in Collapsible D (some contend C). Mr Goldsmith had squeezed Frankie’s arm and said, “So long, Frankie. I’ll see you later.” Theobold gave Emily his wedding ring and said, “If I don’t see you in New York, see that my wife gets this.” Alfred Rush had turned 16 the previous day and wouldn’t leave the ship, insisting on remaining with the other men. Neither Theobold, Rush nor Goldsmith survived.

   On board the Carpathia Frankie made friends with the stokers, especially with Sam Collins, a Titanic fireman. They initiated him as a member of the crew. After docking they made their way to Detroit where Emily worked as a dressmaker. Frankie found work later as a milk cart driver. In 1926 he married Victoria Lawrence (1905-1993) and they had three sons. Although they lived close to Tiger Stadium, he never took his children to a baseball game as the noise of the crowds reminded him of the Titanic tragedy.

   During World War II he was a civilian employee of the US Air Force photographic division, while Emily was a volunteer in the Red Cross. She remarried Harry Illman (1881-1963) who had worked with her late husband. Frankie’s family moved to Ashland, Ohio, where he opened the Mansfield Photo Supply Store in 1948. Emily died on board a train near Toledo on 22 September, 1955, aged 75. She is buried alongside her husband in the Ashland Cemetery.

   Goldsmith and his wife travelled to England in 1965. He travelled about a great deal after his retirement in 1973 and wintered in Arizona. He moved to Florida for a second time, where he died of heart failure on 27 January, 1982, aged 79. On 15 April, 1982, his ashes were strewn over the site of the Titanic’s sinking by the United States Coastguard/International Ice Patrol. His book ‘Titanic Eyewitness: My Story’ was republished in 2007.

Goodwin, Frederick Joseph, 42. 3^rd Class.

Goodwin (nee Tyler), Augusta, 43.   

                 Lilian Amy, 16

                Charles Edward, 14.

                William Frederick, 11.

                 Jessie Allis, 10.

                 Harold Victor, 9.

                 Sidney Leslie, 1.

Frederick Goodwin qualified as an electrical engineer and married Augusta Tyler in 1894. They settled at Melksham, Wiltshire, and had six children. They decided to emigrate to Niagara Falls, NY, where his brother, Thomas, had settled. He advised Goodwin that there was employment at the large power station there.

   They booked passage on a small steamer, but the sailing was cancelled due to the coal strike and they were transferred to the Titanic as third class passengers. The entire family was lost in the sinking.

   A baby was picked up by the recovery ship and always referred to as the ‘unknown child’. In 2007 he was identified as Sidney Goodwin, the only member of his family to be recovered.

 

 

 

Gracie, Colonel Archibald, 54. 1^st Class.

Archibald Gracie IV was born on 17 January, 1859 in Mobile, Alabama. He came from a wealthy New York State family, whose mansion would later become the official residence of the mayor of New York. His father, a Confederate general, was killed at the Siege of Petersburg in 1864. Gracie also served in the army, graduating from West Point Military Academy. He served as a colonel in the 7^th Regiment and was an ardent military historian.

   He married and had four daughters, two of whom died young and another shortly after marrying. He wrote a book, ‘The Truth about Chickamauga’, then took a well deserved break, travelling to Europe on the Oceanic. He met one of the ship’s officers, Herbert Pitman, who would become Third Officer on the Titanic.

   He returned on the Titanic and gallantly offered to look after four ‘unprotected ladies’. Three of them were sisters returning from the funeral in England of a fourth sister, Lady Victor Drummond. They were Mrs E Appleton, Mrs R Cornell and Mrs J Brown. They included their friend Edith Evans.

   Gracie was an exercise fanatic and enjoyed reading and socialising. He lent a copy of his recent publication to Isidor Straus, who had served in the Civil War. On joining the writers’ group ‘Our Coterie’ he met Helen Candee, Edward Kent, Edward Colley, Hugh Woolner, J Clinch Smith and Mauritz Bjornstrom-Steffanssom.

   On Sunday morning the 14^th Gracie attended church service at which was sung ‘Oh God, our help in ages past.’ He then spent some time with the Straus couple, who returned his book. His dinner companions that evening were Clinch Smith and Edward Kent. They adjourned to the Palm Room for coffee and to listen to the ship’s orchestra.

   He slept for three hours and was woken by the collision. Gracie dressed and went on deck but saw few people. At the foot of the stairs he met some men and learned of the collision. Clinch Smith handed him a piece of ice ‘as a souvenir.’ They noticed a tilt in the deck so Gracie returned to his room to pack. He donned a Newmarket overcoat and returned on deck, but Steward Cullen sent him back for his lifejacket. He returned to A Deck to find the ladies he had promised to escort. He pointed out a bright white light on the horizon, presumably that of a ship.

   Gracie escorted the ladies to Lifeboat 2 and left them in charge of 6^th Officer Moody. The ladies then became separated from Mrs Brown and Edith Evans. Soon after midnight Gracie met Fred Wright, the racquet coach, and jokingly cancelled his lesson for the following morning. He distributed blankets with Steward Cullen, then with Hugh Woolner and others tried in vain to convince Mrs Straus to leave her husband. 

   A group of men tried to take over Boat 2, so 2^nd Officer Lightoller drove them out. Gracie and Smith then helped to load 36 women and children. They then proceeded with Lightoller to load Boat 4, which included Madeleine Astor and John Ryerson, 13. At 2 am Gracie lent his pocket knife to the crew who were attempting to remove the canvas covers from the Collapsible Engelhardt boats, which were lashed upside down to the roof of the officers’ quarters.

   As Collapsible D was being filled Gracie found Mrs Brown and Edith Evans wandering about, so hurriedly escorted them to the boat. Gracie and Smith were working on the collapsibles when the water came over the bridge. They hurried aft and came across a mass of humanity coming up from steerage. A wave rushed along the deck and engulfed Smith, but Gracie caught a rung of the ladder to the roof of the officers’ mess and pulled himself up, but was sucked down as the ship sank. He managed to kick himself free and swam under water until he bobbed to the surface.

   At the time his wife in New York dreamed that he was fighting for his life! He swam over to the overturned Collapsible B and was pulled aboard. Lightoller took command and had the men stand and lean in varying directions to keep it stable. Gracie’s hair was frozen and he tried to borrow a cap, but it was refused. After an eternity Boast 12 came for them and Gracie managed to crawl across. On the Carpathia he found that he was covered in scratches, had a wound to his head and was black and blue for days.

   Gracie wrote his account ‘The Truth about the Titanic’, but he died before it was published on 4 December, 1912, never having fully recovered from the trauma. Many survivors attended his funeral at Woodlaw Cemetery, New York. He was the third survivor of the Titanic to die.

Guggenheim, Benjamin, 46. 1^st Class.

He boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg, with his mistress, Leontine Aubart, valet Victor Giglio and chauffeur Renè Pernot. After the collison Steward Etches dressed him in a thick sweater and lifebelt. Guggenheim later returned with his valet and they changed into their evening wear. He later remarked, “We’re dressed up in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen.”

   He then wrote a final message for his wife, “If anything should happen to me, tell my wife I’ve done my best in doing my duty.” Guggenheim, Giglio and Pernot were all lost, whereas Ml Aubart and her maid were saved.

Hall, Louise,

         William (Bill), 11.

Louise was married to a publican in Thirsk, Yorkshire, but in love with another man. She decided to escape to America with him and took her son, Bill, 11, along. She used to stash money behind the bar and tell Bill not to tell his father. She left her two daughters with her husband when they left to board the Titanic.

   Bill was asleep when the ship struck and was woken by a cabin boy. He went back to sleep and a matron got him up 15 minutes later. She dressed him and took him up on deck, to the noise of the steam vents. “The roar. You have never heard anything like the roar. It was like 40 or 50 trains,” he said later. He couldn’t find his mother and was thrown into a lifeboat. “I lost mum. I did not know where she was. I never saw her again.”

   He recalled people jumping off the ship into the icy sea as the ship sank. “It went very quietly, gracefully under the water. Then there was a quietness, and then a terrible noise of 1,500 people screaming in the water. They had life jackets on but the water was so cold they were freezing to death. I’ll never forget that.”

   Bill was taken to the USA, then sent home to his father. He migrated to Australia in the early 30’s, married and lived with his wife, Peg, in Rose Bay. He worked for the Royal Sydney Golf Club for over 25 years. Bill died in Sydney in 1997, aged 96.

These particulars couldn’t be verified and the Halls do not appear among the list of passengers.

Hannah, Borak, 27. 3^rd Class.

He was born on 10 April, 1885, and lived at Hardin, Lebanon. An unmarried farm labourer, he boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a third class passenger. Hannah’s destination was Port Huron, Michigan. He was saved in Lifeboat 15.

   A few days after the Carpathia docked he arrived at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, with other survivors, Thelma Thomas and her son, Essed. They were interviewed at length by the local news reporter. At Port Huron on 16 July Hannah married Elizabeth Hassey (1893-1981). He changed his name to Bert Johns, worked in factories, then opened a fruit store. Hannah later ran a tavern. He died on 2 February, 1952, aged 67.

Harder, George Achilles, 25. 1^st Class.

Harder (nee Annan), Dorothy, 22.

He was born on 22 October, 1886, in New York City. After graduating from the Pratt Institute he joined the Essex Foundry. He married Dorothy Annan, who had been born in New York on Independence Day 4 July, 1890.

   They were one of eight honeymoon couples on the Titanic, having boarded at Cherbourg. They were rescued in Lifeboat 5, having taken from their cabin only Dorothy’s fur coat, a bottle of brandy and a button hook for her shoes. A photograph taken on the Carpathia shows them in discussion with Mrs Hays (some contend Sally Beckwith). Harder was one of the committee who decided on rewards for Captain Rostron and his crew. He later testified at the US Senate Investigation.

   Like other men who had survived the Titanic sinking Harder found it difficult to live it down, when over 100 women and children had died. Dorothy suffered with kidney problems and died on 1 December, 1926, aged 36.

    Harder’s second wife, Elizabeth (1901-1980) was his junior by 15 years.Harder died on 26 May, 1959, aged 72 and is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, a few hundred feet from the grave of Wyckoff van der Hoef who had perished in the disaster.

Harper, Henry Sleeper, 48. 1^st Class.

Harper (nee Haxtun), Myra, 49.

He was born in New York City on 8 March, 1864. Harper’s grandfather had started the renowned Harper & Brothers publishing firm in the 1810s. After graduating from Columbia University in 1888 Harper worked for the family business. He married Myra Haxtun but they had no children. They enjoyed foreign traveling. In about 1902 he was aboard a ship which collided with an iceberg off the Grand Banks.

   Early in 1912 they went on a tour of  Europe and Asia. While in Egypt Harper hired a dragoman (guide/interpreter) named Hammad Hassab, who would accompany them on the Titanic from Cherbourg. They also brought their Pekinese dog, Sun Yat-Sen.

   After the collision the Harpers went to the boat deck and sat in the gymnasium. They then exited onto the starboard side where they were all permitted to board Lifeboat 3. When later questioned about the dog in the lifeboat Harper said, “There seemed to be lots of room and nobody made any objection.”  When rescued by the Carpathia Harper commented on how small its one smokestack was in relation to the Titanic’s four.

   Myra died on 27 November, 1923, aged 60. Harper later married Anne Hopson and they had a son, Henry. He returned to the family publishing business in 1928 and served on its board of directors, as well as in various clubs. They had a summer home at Winter Harbor, Maine. He died after a two year illness on 1 March, 1944, aged 79.

   Henry jnr graduated from Cornell University and moved to Alexandria, Virginia. He married and had three children. Anne lived with her son until her death on 6 January, 1976, aged 91. She was interred in Woodlawn Cemetery, New York City, alongside Henry and Myra Harper.

Harper, John, 39. Reverend, 2^nd Class.

            Annie Jessie ‘Nina or Nan’, 6.

He was born on 29 May, 1872, at Houston, Renfrewshire, Scotland. He entered the ministry and lived at Denmark Hill, Surrey. From November 1911 to January 1912 Rev Harper had preached at the Moody Baptist Church in Chicago and had been so popular that the church had asked him to return in the spring.

   He brought his cousin, Jessie Leitch, and daughter, Nina, on the Titanic as second class passengers. Nina was born on 1 January, 1906, the day her mother had died. They were en-route to Chicago.

   After the collision Rev Harper woke Nina, wrapped her in a blanket and carried her to A deck where he handed her over to a crewman. She was put in Lifeboat 11 with Jessie Leitch. Rev Harper watched them leave, then consoled the doomed passengers as best he could in their final minutes and went down with the ship.

   Nan recalled sitting on her aunt’s lap and watching the Titanic sink, the lights go out and the screams of the dying. In New York she said, “I left Papa on the big boat, and he told me to go with Aunt Jessie. Now I want Papa.” Jessie and Nan returned to England a week later. Now orphaned, she was raised by her father’s brothers.

   Much later she married Rev Pont of St John’s Rectory, Dumfriesshire. When she was 72 she was asked whether she would like the Titanic raised. She answered, “I don’t see much point in it after all this time.” Jessie Leitch died in 1963, while Nan passed away on 10 April, 1986, aged 80.

Harris, Henry Birkhardt, 45. 1^st Class.

Harris (nee Wallach), Irene ‘Rene’, 35.

He was Jewish and born on 1 December, 1866, in St Louis, Missouri,  while Irene Wallach was born on 15 June, 1876. They were married on 22 October, 1898, but had no children. Harris managed theatrical personalities such as Lily Langtree, Amelia Bingham and others. In 1903 he managed the Hudson Theatre, in 1906 the Harris Theatre and in 1911 the Folies Bergere.

   Harris was a Mason and a Democrat, trustee of the Hebrew Infant Asylum of New York, treasurer of the Actors’ Fund of America and associated with the Howard Athenaeum of Boston. During 1910-11 he had 18 companies on tour. He was President of his own company and a Director of Theatre Managers of Greater New York. He did not survive the sinking, while Rene escaped on Collapsible D.

   Rene discovered that her late husband was broke. She tried to pay off his debts and run his businesses, but by the 1930’s she lived in poverty. She remarried three times and died on 2 September, 1969, aged 93.

Harrison, William Henry, 40. Secretary, 1^st Class.

He lived in Wallasey, Cheshire, had a wife Ann Elizabeth and was secretary to J Bruce Ismay, manager of the White Star Line. He boarded the Titanic with Ismay’s valet, Richard Fry. Harrison died in the sinking and his body was recovered by the MacKay Bennett. He was buried at Fairview Cemetery, Halifax.

Hart, Benjamin, 43. 2^nd Class.

Hart (nee Bloomfield), Esther Ada, 45.

         Eva Miriam, 7.

Eva Hart was born on 31 January, 1905. The family travelled second class on the Titanic. Hart was a builder who decided to emigrate from Ilford, Essex, to Winnipeg, BC, Canada. After boarding Eva recalled, “… everybody was very excited, we went down to the cabin and that’s when my mother said to my father that she had made up her mind quite firmly that she would not go to bed in that ship, she would sit up at night … she decided that she wouldn’t go to bed at night, and she didn’t.”

   Esther was convinced that there would be a catastrophe, as calling the ship unsinkable was blasphemy. Eva recalled, “My father was so excited about it and my mother was so upset … The first time in my life I saw her crying … she was so desperately unhappy about the prospect of going, she had this premonition, a most unusual thing for her …”

   When the ship sank Hart fetched Eva, leaving her teddy bear behind. He told her that he would be all right and would

take another lifeboat. As he lifted her into Lifeboat 14 he said, “Hold mummy’s hand and be a good girl.”  Esther and Eva left, never to see him again. Eva was interviewed often in later years.

   Eva was a Justice of the Peace and was awarded the MBE. Her autobiography ‘Shadow of the Titanic’ was published by Greenwich University Press. It tells the story of the disaster and how it affected her life. She died on St Valentine’s Day, 14 February, 1996, aged 90, at the St Francis Hospice in Chadwell Heath, London.

Hartley, Wallace Henry, 33. Orchestra leader.

He was born in Coln, Lancashire, in 1879, but later moved to Dewsbury, England. Hartley became a violinist and led orchestras in Harrogate and Bridlington. He worked on the Mauretania before becoming bandmaster of the Titanic. He had a fiancé in Boston Spa, Yorkshire, and stayed with her during the week before boarding the Titanic.

   After the collision he led his orchestra in playing ragtime music on the deck, until it was too steep for them to stand. He and all the members of his orchestra were lost. Hartley’s body was recovered on 4 May, 1912, and returned to Liverpool. He was buried at his boyhood hometown of Colne, Lancashire.

Hassab, Hammad, 27. Manservant, 1^st Class.

He was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1885. Hassab became proficient in English and acted as a dragoman (guide cum interpreter) in which capacity he was employed by Henry Sleeper Harper. He was brought onto the Titanic as a joke by his employer as his services were no longer required.

   He was a handsome man, yet no one approached him. He was rescued with the Harpers in Lifeboat 3. On 18 April he sent a Marconigram to his brother, Said Hassab, in Cairo saying ‘all safe’.

Hays, Charles Melville, 55. 1^st Class.

Hays (nee Gregg) Clara Jennings, 52.

Hays was born at Rock Island, Illinois, on 16 May, 1856, while his future wife, Clara Gregg , was born at St Louis, Mo, on 13 October, 1859. Hays went to work for the Atlantic & Pacific Railway when he was 17. He married Clara Gregg, 22, in St Louis in 1881 and they had four daughters. In 1889 he was appointed general manager of the Wabash Railway Network, Seven years later, aged 40, he moved to Montreal to become general manager of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway.   

   Hays convinced the Canadian prime minister that a second transcontinental railroad was necessary. Construction commenced in November 1902. By 1911 the Grand Trunk was $100 million in debt. Hays went to England for a directors’ meeting, at which he proposed spending their way out of debt by building a chain of luxury hotels across Canada,  beginning with the Chãteau Laurier in Ottawa.

   His daughter Orian and her husband Thornton Davidson joined them from Paris. Hays met with J Bruce Ismay of the White Star Line to discuss speeding White Star passengers across Canada on his transcontinental railway. Ismay invited Hays and his entourage

to be his guests aboard the Titanic’s maiden voyage. This included the Davidsons, Clara’s maid, Anne Perreault, and his secretary, Vivian Payne.

   Sunday night Hays discussed advances in transport in the Smoking Lounge and expressed concern that “the trend to play fast and loose with larger and larger ships will end in tragedy.” Twenty minutes later the Titanic hit the iceberg. While putting his wife and daughter in Lifeboat 3 he assured them that the ship would stay afloat for at least another ten hours.

   His body was recovered on 26 April and buried on 8 May at Montreal’s Mount Royal Cemetery. That day at 11.30 am at all sidings and crossings of the Grand Trunk Railway System five minutes of silence was spent in tribute to him. The town of Melville in Saskatchewan and Hays in Alberta are named after him and a statue in his memory erected at Prince Rupert, BC. In 1919 the Grand Trunk Railway was liquidated and later absorbed by the Canadian National Railways.

   Clara was asked to sue the White Star Line, but replied, “When one is a guest, one does not sue one’s host.” She thereafter spent much of her time at her summer home in Cushing Island, Maine. She died in Montreal on 1 February, 1955, and is buried alongside her husband.

Hays, Margaret Bechstein, 24. 1^st Class.

She was born in New York on 6 December, 1887. Margaret boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg with her former school friends, Lily Potter and Olive Earnshaw. Their self-appointed escort was a Cornell graduate, Gilbert Tucker, 31, who had met them on their travels and fallen in love with Margaret.

   After the collision Margaret and Olive woke Lily and told her, “We have hit an iceberg but the steward told us we should not worry and should go back to bed.” They nevertheless got dressed and met Gilbert Tucker, who helped them into lifejackets. Margaret had her little Pomeranian dog wrapped in a blanket and on the boat deck Clinch Smith joked, “Oh, I suppose we ought to put a life preserver on the little doggie too.” They boarded Lifeboat 7.

   On the Carpathia Margaret, who was fluent in French, volunteered to look after two small French boys, Michel and Edmond Navratil. After docking, they stayed in Margaret’s home until their mother was located and brought to America. Margaret kept in touch with Tucker, but chose to marry Dr Charles Easton the following year. They lived at Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, and had two daughters.

   Dr Easton died on 4 October, 1934, and Margaret in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 21 August, 1956, while on vacation with a daughter and granddaughter. She is buried at St Mary’s Churchyard, Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

Head, Christopher, 42. 1^st Class.

He was born on 25 December, 1865. Head was a London barrister and a senior member of Lloyd’s Underwriters, who he married Mrs Hill Trevor (nee Chapman).

   He served as mayor of Chelsea, London, from 1909 to 1911. He was closely associated with the artistic life of the borough and took a leading part in the discussion at Mansion House on the memorial to King Edward VII. Head had an interest in maritime insurance and boarded the Titanic as a first class passenger. He died in the sinking.

Hegarty, Hanora ‘Nora’ , 18, 3rd Class.

Nora wished to become a nun in America, where she had two girl cousins. Thier brother, Jeremish Burke, 19, accompanied her. When the Titanic sank he scribbled a note saying goodbye to all and put it in a bottle, which washed up on Ireland’s shore 13 months later. Both of them died in the sinking.  

Hemming, Samuel Ernest, 43. Lamp trimmer.

Born in 1869 he lived in Southampton and had in 1903 married Elizabeth Browning (1881-1940) and had several children. At 7.15 pm on 14 April he reported to Second Officer Lightoller on the bridge that the ship’s navigation lights had all been lit. Lightoller asked him to close the fore scuttle hatch as light from there could interfere with the lookouts’ abilities to spot ice.

   After the collision Hemming reported to Chief Officer Wilde that air was escaping from the forepeak tank, which was filling, but that the storeroom was still dry. Wilde then reported to Captain Smith on the bridge.

   After the Titanic sank Hemming was in the water and was picked up by Lifeboat 4. He died in Southampton on 12 April, 1928, aged 59.

Hichens, Robert, 29. Quartermaster.

The son of a fisherman, he was born at St Peter’s Square, Newlyn,  Cornwall on 16 September, 1882. He was the eldest of nine children. On 23 October, 1906, he married Florence Mortimer at Manaton, Cornwall.

   He served as quartermaster on a number of ships on the Union Castle and British-India Lines. He signed on to the Titanic as one of six quartermasters. Hichens was at the wheel when the lookout’s warning came of an iceberg ahead. He hard a’starboarded as ordered but the ship struck the iceberg a glancing blow. At 12.23 am he was relieved by QM Perkins.

   Hichens proceeded to the Boat Deck, where Second Officer Lightoller told Lookout Fred Fleet to get into Lifeboat 6, which Hichens would command. According to Molly Brown he whined continually that they would be sucked under, had no provisions, were doomed, etc, so she took charge of the women rowing the boat.

   Hichens said that he gave the tiller once to Mrs Meyer, who made the other ladies nervous, so he steered the boat all night. He strongly denied her accusations that he had wrapped himself in the boat’s blankets, used strong language and drank all the whisky.

   He had Major Peuchens, Fred Fleet, an Italian boy and 38 women to assist in rowing. He testified at both the American and British Enquiries. His brother lived in South Africa and it was rumoured that he spent some time there.

   By 1919 Hichens was Third Officer on a small vessel out of Hull. Toward the end of the 1920’s he moved to Torquay, Devon, with his family and engaged in boat chartering. A friend, George ‘Harry’ Henley sold him a boat, which was repossessed by a creditor when Hichens reneged on a debt. His wife and children left him and he turned to drink.

   In November 1933 Hichens purchased a revolver and set out to kill Henley. He became intoxicated in a nearby pub, then accosted Henley at the latter’s home and shot at him, wounding him in the head. Henley retaliated and punched Hichens, who was found lying on the footpath when the police arrived. Hichens was imprisoned until 1937. He died aboard a cargo ship on 23 September, 1940, aged 58. Florence died of a brain tumour in Southampton in the early 1960’s.

Hocking (nee Neads), Elizabeth ‘Eliza’, 54. 2^nd Class.

                Richard George, 22.

                Ellen ‘Nellie’, 20.

Eliza Neads was born in the Isles of Scilly on 11 April, 1858.  She had three sisters. Her family moved to near Penzance, Cornwall, in about 1860. She married Willliam Hocking in mid-1880 and had seven children, among them Richard George, born 26 July, 1889, and Nellie, born 5 November, 1891. Two of her sons, Sidney and George, emigrated to the USA in the early 1900’s and lived in Akron, Ohio. George worked as a watchman at the Diamond Robber Company.

   After the death of her husband in South Africa (possibly

in the Anglo-Boer War) Eliza married a Mr Guy. When he died she reverted to her previous surname as he had treated her badly. She decided to move to America and George returned to fetch her. Her sister, Ellen Wilkes, 47, accompanied them as well as George’s sisters, Nellie Hocking, 20, and Emily Richards, 24. The latter brought her two sons, William, 3, and George, 9 months. Nellie was travelling to New York State to marry George Hambly.

   They had a wonderful send-off at Penzance, when the YMCA choir, of which George had been a member, sang them onto the train. When they changed trains at Exeter Eliza realised that she had lost her handbag, but fortunately George had the tickets and some gold sovereigns. They boarded the Titanic, second class, while her sister travelled in third class. George shared a cabin with two Penzance friends, Harry Cotterill and Percy Bailey.

   Nellie spent time on board with Nora Keane, Edwina Troutt and Susan Webber. She remarked to Nora that the previous night she had heard a cock crowing, a sign in Cornish folklore of impending disaster. Though told that she was imagining it, Nellie was adamant. Two days into the voyage Eliza celebrated her 54^th birthday.

   After the collision Eliza went to wake her daughter, Emily Richards, saying, “There is surely danger. Something has gone wrong.” She, her two daughters and two grandchildren were rescued in Lifeboat 4. Eliza had asked George to enter their lifeboat but he replied, “No, these men are good to stand back for you, and I must stay back and let their wives and mothers go.” George remained behind and perished.

   Eliza’s sister, Ellen Wilkes, who had been in 3^rd Class, was rescued in Lifeboat 16. They were met in New York by her son, Sidney, who took them to Akron. Eliza was killed there in a streetcar accident on 15 April, 1914, aged 56. She was interred in Glendale Cemetery. She had died exactly two years after the Titanic sank.

   Nellie had married George Hambly and lived for the rest of her life in Schenectady, New York State. She died on 14 October, 1963, aged 71. A plaque in memory of George Hocking and Harry Cotterill was erected at St John’s School, Penzance. After the school’s closure it was moved to St John the Baptist Church.

Hogeboom (nee Andrews), Anna Louisa, 51. 1^st Class.

Anna Andrews was born in Livingstone, NY, on 5 May, 1860, where she later married John Hogeboom. She travelled with her spinster sister, Kornelia Andrews, 63, and niece, Gretchen Longley, 21, through France and Italy from November 1911. They boarded the Titanic at Southampton to return to Hudson, NY.

   They were rescued in Lifeboat 10. Mrs Hogeboom later settled in East Orange, New Jersey and died on 6 October, 1947, aged 87.

Hogg, George Alfred, 29. Lookout.

He was born in Hull on 7 March, 1883. Hogg went to sea when 16-years-old and was to become a quartermaster on six ships. He married and had two children. When he joined the Titanic Hogg was made a boatswain’s mate and lookout.  He was to be on duty from 12 pm on the 14^th, when the mishap occurred. He rushed on deck from his bunk but found nothing untoward, so got dressed.

   Hogg and Evans relieved Fleet and Lee as lookouts. He later said that not one of the lookouts had ‘night glasses’, even though he had requested them “If we had had glasses, we might’ve seen the berg earlier.” After 20 minutes he saw people running about with lifejackets on, so telephoned the bridge but got no reply. He then went to the boat deck and assisted in removing boat covers. First Officer Murdoch ordered him to ensure that the plugs were in Lifeboat 7. He did so and as he got out Murdoch told him to stay and load passengers. The boat was lowered with about 42 persons aboard.

   On reaching the sea, “I asked a lady if she could steer and she said she could. I said ‘You may sit here and do this for me and I will take the stroke oar.’” After the Titanic sank they rowed back. “I met another boat on my way, and they said to pull over. They said, ‘We have done all in our power and we can not do any more.’ I laid off then.” They rowed about a quarter of a mile then attached to another boat, to which they transferred a man, four women and a baby.

   When the Carpathia was sighted Hogg said, “It’s all right now, ladies. Do not grieve. We are picked up.” When alongside he put a bowline around the ladies to have them pulled up. “Everything was done as far as I could see. Everybody did their best, ladies and gentlemen and sailormen … I think all the women ought to have a gold medal on their breast, God bless them. I shall always raise my hat to a woman after what I saw.” Like most crewmen he had believed the Titanic to be unsinkable.

Hold, Stephen, 44. 2^nd Class.

Hold (Nee Hill), Annie Margaret, 28.

 The son of a Royal Navy Warrant Officer, Hold was born at Porthoustock, Cornwall on 24 January, 1868. The family moved to Plymouth, Devon, in about 1873, aqnd his father died before 1881. That year Hold moved to Sacramento, California, where he became a chauffeur. In 1909 he returned to Porthoustock, where he married Annie Hill. She had been born there in 1884, the daughter of the coxswain of the local lifeboat.

   They returned to Sacramento, where Hold was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows! They returned to Porthoustock and Plymouth in November 1911 to visit their mothers and relatives. He wrote to his employers from Liverpool that they were returning, then switched to the Titanic, possibly due to the coal strike. Hold was lost in the sinking, while Annie was saved in Lifeboat 10. He left $4,000 in his will to Annie.

   She lived in Sacramento, then returned to Cornwall where she worked as a bookkeeper. Annie lived in the St Keverne area, where she suffered from severe rheumatism, due to the exposure in the lifeboat, for the rest of her life. She remarried Joseph Bailey. Annie died on 1 March, 1960, aged 78, and is buried in the churchyard of St Keverne.

Homer, Harry, 40. 1^st Class.

Harry Homer was born on 28 November, 1871, in Knightstown, Indiana. His father, Richard Homer, had been born in London in 1819 and died in Indiana in 1902. Harry worked as a cattleman and lived in Indianapolis.

   He was a gambler, nicknamed ‘The Kid’ so boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg under the name of E Haven. He was rescued in Lifeboat 15. His surviving relatives live in Albuqurque, New Mexico.

Hosono, Masabumi, 42. 2^nd Class.

He was a civil servant from Tokyo and the only Japanese person on the Titanic. Her began a letter to his wife in English, but completed it in Japanese after the sinking. He was woken by a knock on his door, but was ordered to the lower decks as a foreigner.

   He recalled, “All the while flares signalling emergency were being shot into the air ceaselessly, and hideous blue flashes and noises were simply terrifying. Somehow I could in no way dispel the feeling of utter dread and desolation. I tried to prepare myself for the last moment with no agitation, making up my mind not to leave anything disgraceful as a Japanese. But still I found myself looking for and waiting for any possible chance for survival.”

   He made his way to the Boat Deck, where an officer shouted, “Room for two more”. A man jumped into Lifeboat 13 and he followed. “I myself was deep in desolate thought that I would no more be able to see my beloved wife and children, since there was no alternative for me than to share the same destiny as the Titanic. But the example of the first man making a jump led me to take this last chance.

   ”After the ship sank there came back again frightful shrills and cries of those drowning in the water. Our lifeboat too was filled with sobbing, weeping children and women worried about the safety of their husbands and fathers. And I too, was as much depressed and miserable as they were, not knowing what would become of myself in the long run.”

   Hosono was attacked in Japan for surviving when so many had died. He was fired from his job, Japanese newspapers referred to his cowardice, textbooks cited his survival as shameful and a professor of ethics said that he was immoral. He died a heart-broken man in 1939, aged 69. His granddaughter recently made his diary public.

Hume, John ‘Jock’ Law, 21. 2^nd Class.

He was born at Dumfries, Scotland, on 9 August, 1890. Hume became an accomplished violinist and a member of the Titanic’s band. He played with them as the ship sank. His body, with that of Hartley and Clarke was found and he was buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His girlfriend at home found that she was pregnant but his father wanted nothing to do with her. She had a daughter but received little compensation for his death as his father took it all.

 Hutchinson, John Hall, 26. Carpenter.

He was born in Hampshire and served on the Olympic before joining the Titanic as a Joiner. He met Miss Marie Young, a 1^st Class passenger, who was returning to the USA with expensive poultry. Each day he accompanied her to inspect the birds. She rewarded him with some gold coins and he said, “It’s such good luck to receive gold on a first voyage.”

   He may have been the carpenter who reported to Captain Smith on the bridge that the forward compartments were flooding. He died in the sinking and his body wasn’t recovered.