Biographies I – L

Isham, Ann Elizabeth, 50. 1^st Class.

Ann Isham was born in Chicago on 25 January, 1862. Her father was  a partner of Arthur Ryerson and Robert Lincoln, son of President Abraham Lincoln, in a law firm there. She was the eldest of two boys and two girls.

In 1903 Ann went to live abroad, mainly in Paris with her sister

Frances, who had married Harry Shelton. Ann’s brother, Edward, lived in New York and she boarded the Titanic in order to visit him. She had her Great Dane dog with her and it is believed that she refused to leave it, thereby becoming one of four 1^st Class women to die. A woman was seen in the water with her frozen arms about a dog. No evidence indicates that it was Ann. A memorial to her was erected in Vermont.

Ismay, Joseph Bruce, 49. Ship Line owner, 1^st Class.

He was born at Crosby, near Liverpool, on 12 December, 1862.  His father, Thomas was the senior partner in Ismay, Imrie & Company and the founder of the White Star Line. Ismay was educated at Elstree School and Harrow, then spent a year in France before being apprenticed in his father’s firm. After a year spent touring the world Ismay was sent to New York to work in the White Star Line office. He then became the company agent in New York.

In 1888 Ismay married Julia Florence Schieffelin and they had two sons and two daughters. He returned to England in 1891 and was made a partner in Ismay, Imrie and Company. His father died in 1899 and he became head of the firm. Two years later he was approached by Americans to form an international conglomerate of shipping companies. He agreed with J P Morgan that the White Star Line form part of the International Mercantile Marine Company (IMM), of which he was to become president in 1904.

Ismay was also chairman and director of various mercantile and insurance companies. One evening in 1907 he and Florence dined with Lord Pirrie, a partner in the shipbuilding firm of Harland and Wolff, Belfast. In order to respond to the competition of Cunard Lines, owners of the Lusitania and Mauretania, they decided to build the largest and most luxurious ships in the world. The Olympic would be the first, closely followed by the Titanic.

He accompanied the Titanic on its maiden voyage with his valet, Richard Fry, and his secretary, William Harrison. During the voyage to America he may have encouraged Captain Smith to sail as fast as possible as each day they covered greater distances. The captain handed him an ice warning on the 14^th, but he put it in his pocket. After the ship struck that night he went to the bridge where he was informed that the ship would sink.

Ismay busied himself telling officers what to do until told by Fifth Officer Lowe to get out of the way. As Collapsible C was being lowered he stepped in and was rescued by the Carpathia. On board the latter he used the doctor’s cabin and was whisked away on reaching New York. He testified at the American and British Hearings and was generally regarded as a coward for not remaining aboard the Titanic when so many women and children did. In fact it was senseless to remain aboard when there was place in a boat.

For the rest of his life he divided his time between his London and Ireland homes. Ismay inaugurated the cadet ship Mersy for training mercantile marine officers and founded funds with his donations to benefit the widows and children of lost seamen. He died on 17 October, 1937, aged 74.

Jacobsohn, Sidney Samuel, 42. 2^nd Class

Jacobsohn (nee Cohen), Amy Frances Christy, 24.

He came from Riversdale, Cape, South Africa, studied at the University of Cape Town and practised as a lawyer in Cape Town. Jacobsohn made his way to London. He married Amy Christy (born on 8 April, 1888) and they decided to travel to Montreal, Canada. They were accompanied by her mother and sister, Alice and Julie Christy.

After the collision Sidney ensured that the women were all aboard Lifeboat 12. His body was never identified. The ladies returned to England aboard the Megantic on 11 May, 1912.

Jerwan (nee Thuillard), Marie Marthe, 23. 2^nd Class.

Born on 28 May, 1888, in Switzerland she had emigrated to America in 1909. In July 1910 she married Armin Jerwan, the son of a Turkish clergyman. He worked for a publishing house in New York. She visited her family in Switzerland in 1912 and intended returning on the Olympic, but when it went for repairs she changed to the Titanic. She shared a cabin on the upper deck with a widow, Mrs Ball.

In the opposite cabin were three Frenchmen, Noël Malachard, René Jacques Levy and another. She was reading when the ship struck. She thought that the engines had exploded, as they then stopped. She woke Ada Ball, then went on deck where she saw that the boats were being made ready for lowering.

She returned to her cabin and said to Ada, “Get up, dress, we sink!” Once dressed Ada left with Rev Bateman. Marie dressed warmly, took necessities in a bag, put on her hat and went on deck. She heard her name called and Malachard, Levy and their roommate came over. Malachard said, “We’ll take care of you.”

They assisted her up one deck and into Lifeboat 11. As the boat was lowered they shouted, “Goodbye!” It was the last seen of them. On reaching New York Marie was taken to Sydenham Hospital with Ada Ball, but remained only a day.

She and Armin had no children. She visited Switzerland for six months in 1964. She fought cancer for many years and died at the City Hospital in Queens on 14 September, 1974, aged 86.

Jessie, a young Scottish girl lay dying on 14 April, 1912. In her delirium she had a vision of a ship sinking in the Atlantic, people drowning and a man named ‘Wally’ playing a violin. A few hours after she died Wallace Harley and his band played as the Titanic sank. (See ‘Sowden’ who recorded her dying vision).

Jessop, Violet Constance, 24. Stewardess.

 

 

She was born in the Pampas, near Bahia Blanca, Argentina, on 2 October, 1887, the daughter of Irish immigrants. She was to have five brothers and a sister. Violet contracted tuberculosis as a child, but survived. After Violet’s father died the family returned to Britain where her mother worked for the Royal Mail Line. When her mother became ill, Violet became a stewardess with the Line, then changed to the White Star Line.

She worked on the Olympic, then was convinced by friends to change to the Titanic. She was a devout Catholic who believed in prayer’s power. She had a great regard for Thomas Andrews, who was always prowling about the ship, trying to improve things for everyone, including the crew. In her memoirs Violet used pseudonyms for many people, among them her cabin-mate, Ann Turnbull, who was possibly Mrs Elizabeth Leather, 41, or more probably Evelyn Marsden, 28.

She was in her bunk when the ship struck. Her cabin mate said, “Sounds as if something has happened.” They dressed hurriedly and were told by a bedroom steward that the ship was sinking. Then Violet went to her section of passengers. “…They were unemotional. Probably thinking as I did that it was all too fantastic … Suddenly orders came down, striking a deeper chill to the consciousness. Everybody to the boats, but just as a precautionary measure, of course. We continued to fix lifebelts, reminding people to put on warm clothing, take blankets and valuables…

“I was ordered up on deck. Calmly, passengers strolled about. I stood at the bulkhead with the other stewardesses, watching the women cling to their husbands before being put into the boats with their children. Some time after, a ship’s officer ordered us into the boat (Lifeboat 16) first to show some women it was safe. As the boat was being lowered the officer (6^th Officer James Moody) called, ‘Here, Miss Jessop, look after this baby.’ And a bundle was dropped on to my lap.”

Eight hours later they were picked up by the Carpathia. “I was still clutching the baby against my hard cork lifebelt I was wearing when a woman leaped at me and grabbed the baby, and rushed off with it. It appeared that she put it down on the deck of the Titanic while she went off to fetch something, and when she came back the baby was gone. I was too frozen and numb to think it strange that this woman had not stopped to say ‘Thank you’.”

Violet served as a Red Cross nurse during World War One and was on board the Britannic when it hit a mine and sank in the Aegean in 1916. She claimed that she had survived because of her auburn hair. “I leapt into the water but was sucked under the ship’s keel which struck my head. I escaped, but years later when I went to my doctor because of a lot of headaches, he discovered I had once sustained a fracture of the skull.” All her brothers served during World War I. One of them, Phillip, was killed in action.

Violet had a brief marriage in her late thirties, but no children. She served on the Olympic until 1922 and then the Majestic until 1925. Thereafter service followed in the Red Star Line on the Belgenland, Lapland and Westernland until September1934. She joined the Royal Mail Company for the South American cruises on the Alcantara until June 1939. During the Second World War Violet did Spanish censorship at Holborn. Her mother, Katherine, died aged 82 in 1942. After the war she did clerical work for Sandersons with her sister, Eileen, then returned to the Red Star Line’s Brazil Run on the Andes.

In 1950, aged 63, she retired to a 16^th Century cottage in Great Ashfield, Suffolk, where she wrote her memoirs of 42 years at sea. In 1958 she was interviewed for Woman Magazine when the film ‘A Night to Remember’ was released.

Following a fall at her home Violet was hospitalised. She died in May 1971, aged 83, and is buried in the Hartest churchyard, close to her sister Eileen. Her memoirs were edited by John Maxtone-Graham and published in 1997 as ‘Titanic Survivor’.

Jones, Charles Cresson, 46. 1^st Class.

Born on 22 January, 1866, he became a resident of Bennington, Vermont, where he was the superintendent of a large estate. He was a first class passenger, who enjoyed the company of Algernon Barkworth and Arthur Gee, especially on the evening of the 14^th when they discussed road building at some length.

When the Titanic sank Jones was one of the victims. His body was found and buried at the Old Congregational Church Cemetery, Bennington, Vermont.

Joughin, Charles John, 32. Chief Baker.

He was born at Birkenhead, Liverpool, on 3 August, 1878. Joughin trained as a baker and transferred as chief baker from the Olympic to the Titanic. When he realised that the ship was sinking he fortified himself with alcohol in his cabin. While there he saw Dr O’Loughlin searching for something. He then went on deck and threw deckchairs into the water to hang onto.

Joughin proceeded to the stern where he stood on the outside of the ship and rode it down, “I got to the starboard side of the poop: found myself in the water. I do not believe my head went under at all. I thought I saw some wreckage, swam towards it and found collapsible boat (B) with Lightoller and about 25 men on it. There was no room for me. I tried to get on but was pushed off, but I hung around. I got around to the opposite side and cook Maynard, who recognised me, helped me and held on to me.” He gave the foregoing statement to the British Board of Enquiry.

His body was submerged in the icy water for hours until the death of a passenger meant he could be hauled aboard. He was also aboard the SS Oregon when it sank in Boston harbour. He served on American Export Lines ships and during World War II on troop transports. He had married Nellie Ripley and had a daughter, Agnes. Nellie died in 1943 and he in Paterson, New Jersey, on 9 December, 1956, aged 78.

Julian, Henry Forbes, 50. 1^st Class.

Henry Julian was born on 9 May, 1861, in the city of Cork, Eire. When aged about 13 his family moved to Bolton, Lancashire, England. He studied chemistry at Owen’s College, Manchester, and later at South Kensington, London.

In October 1886 Julian went to South Africa to work as a metallurgist and analyst. He later became a consulting engineer and mine manager at Barberton, Johannesburg and Kimberley. He remained there for seven years, in which he patented a gold and silver extraction apparatus. He set up a company to market the product.

In 1893, aged 32, Julian went to Germany to work as a technical adviser on mining and metallurgy. He also co-wrote a book on ‘Cyaniding gold and silver ores’. He visited the USA, Canada, Mexico and the West Indies, crossing the Atlantic 13 times. In 1895 he moved to South Devon and lived near Teignmouth. Julian kept a house in London, was a founder member of the Royal Automobile Club and a committee member of the British Association. He also joined the Torquay Natural History Society and the Devonshire Association – both founded by his future father-in-law, William Pengelly..

On 30 October, 1902 Julian married Hester Pengelly in Torquay, where they made their home. He had to attend a business meeting in San Francisco, so booked on the Olympic, but due to the coal strike was changed to the Titanic. Helen was meant to accompany him but due to a bout of influenza had to remain behind. He wrote to her from Southampton, Cherbourg and Queenstown, mentioning that half the officers and stewards were familiar to him and that he had met his old friend, Col John Weir aboard.

When the Titanic sank he was mentioned as one of the men who assisted women and children into the lifeboats, before going down with the ship. His wife received condolences from the former queen, her Majesty Queen Alexandra, from the queen herself and later from King George V: “his Majesty sincerely sympathises with you in your irreparable loss, and feels deeply for you, and for all those to whom the loss of the Titanic has been the cause of such great sorrow. The King remembers very well his visit to your house in Torquay, and how much also he was interested in the interesting geological collections.”

There are two memorials to Julian in Torquay, one at St Mary Magdalene Church, where he had married, and the other on his wife’s tombstone. She died in 1934 and is buried alongside her parents in the Torquay Cemetery in Hele Road.

Kelly, Anna Katherine, 21. 3^rd Class.

Born in 1891 in County Mayo, Ireland, she was travelling to join her cousins in Chicago. Anna boarded the Titanic as a third class passenger at Queenstown. She accompanied a group of passengers from her county led by Katherine McGowan.

Anna claimed that on the night of the 14^th stewards did not wake steerage passengers in time. Those passengers who became alarmed and went on deck were told to return below as there was no danger. Anna was saved in Lifeboat 16 after, as she claimed, the Bourkes from County Mayo vacated and made room for her. Later she recalled, “…the wild scenes on the boat just before it went down.”

Anna was hospitalised in New York, then travelled to Chicago with fellow survivor Anna McGowan, 15. They still wore their nightgowns, old shoes and coats, so were given some funds raised by the mayor for survivors. Anna became a nun and assumed the name of Sister Patrick Joseph Kelly. She revisited Ireland once, then resided in Adrian, Michigan, where she died in December 1969, aged 78.

Kelly, Fanny Maria, 48. 2nd Class.

She was born Fanny Maria Tozer at Wandsworth in 1864, the daughter of a veterinarian Charles and Annie Tozer. She had a sister, Mary Louise, who later married a Langley, then Constantine Hazzapulo, then a Hamilton. Fanny worked as a housekeeper in London,

In January 1883 she married Richard Henry Kelly, a diamond merchant. She was then known as Nellie. A son, Richard Charles Kelly was born in June 1883. He husband died in 1896. On the Titanic she shared a cabin with Hilda Slayter. During the sinking she suffered from diabetes and was assisted by Hilda up a vertical outside iron ladder at the aft welldeck between B and A decks.

Albert Caldwell found that his route was blocked by an ‘infirm’ woman, probably Fanny. They boarded Lifeboat 13 and Hilda sat next to Lawrence Beesley. On March 1, 1920, Fanny went into a diabetes coma and died in London, aged 56 . Her son married Myrtle Dorothy Curtis in 1920 and visited the USA. They went to Australia in 1924 where he died in Sydney in 1948.

(From detailed research done by Mr C R Caldwell).

Kent, Edward Austin, 58. 1^st Class.

He was born on 19 February, 1854, and lived in Buffalo NY. A friend of Helen Candee, he joined the Titanic at Cherbourg as a first class passenger. They were both in the writer’s group ‘Our coterie’.

On 14 April after the collision they were running upstairs to the boat deck together, when she asked him to keep an ivory and gold miniature of her mother. He thought it unlikely that he would survive, but slipped it into his coat pocket anyway. He, Woolner and Steffanson escorted her to Lifeboat 6. Later, when Gracie was looking for Helen, Kent told him that she was safely in a boat.

He made no effort to save himself by jumping when the ship sank. His body was recovered a few days later and the miniature found in his pocket and returned to Helen Candee. He is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, and there is a memorial plaque to him inside the First Unitarian Church in Buffalo.

Kenyon, Frederick R, 41. 1^st Class.

Kenyon (nee Stauffer), Marion, 31.

Fred Kenyon was born on 14 March, 1871, and lived in Pittsburgh, Penn. He married Marion Stauffer, born on 5 July, 1880, who was nine years younger than he. During the voyage they befriended Dr Leader and her cabin friend, Margaret Swift.

The three ladies were rescued in Lifeboat 8, while Kenyon stood back and was lost. Marion never remarried. She moved to Southern California, where she died on 3 October, 1958, aged 78.

Kink, Anton, 29. 3^rd Class.

Kink (nee Heilmann), Luise, 26.

Luise Gretchen, 4.

Kink, Vinzenz, 26.

Kink, Maria, 22.

Anton Kink was born in Mahrensdorf, Syria, on 7 March, 1883. In 1906 he went to work in Switzerland, where he met Luise Heilmann from Enzberg, Germany. She had been born on 21 March, 1886. They had a daughter, Luise, on 8 April, 1908, and were married a month later, 5 May 1908.

They lived in Zurich, where Luise worked as a storekeeper. Anton’s siblings, Maria, and Vinzenz Kink, born 25 July, 1865, came to live with them after the death of their parents. Their father had died in 1889 and their month in 1911.

They all decided to emigrate to America, specifically to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They boarded the Titanic in Southampton. Anton and Vinzenz shared a cabin on G Deck in the bow with Albert Wirz, Josef Arnold, Leo Zimmerman and a Bohemian man. The women shared a cabin in the stern with three other women.

The men were woken by the collision, ran out to the Well Deck and saw the iceberg receding. They returned to their cabin, dressed, packed and donned their lifejackets before water poured into their cabin. On their way to tell the women Vincenz was lost in the crowd. Anton woke his wife and the women then dressed. He and his family managed to reach the Boat Deck, but lost Maria in the crowd.

Luise and her daughter boarded Lifeboat 2 while Anton stood back. He recalled, “A sailor took my child and handed her in to one of them. My wife was also helped in by the sailors. I was touched upon the shoulder and asked to step back, whereupon my wife and child cried at the top of their voices at my being left behind. I ducked down, broke through those standing about and jumped into the boat as it was lowered.”

They were among the first to be rescued by the Carpathia, whereas Anton’s brother and sister were lost. They spent four days at St Vincent’s Hospital. Anton’s uncle from Milwaukee sent them money and on 22 April they journeyed to him. Anton received compensation for the deaths of his siblings and the loss of all their luggage. He worked in a factory, then rented a farm.

They were divorced in 1919. Anton returned to Graz, Syria, where in 1920 he married Josefa Stranzel, 22. A child, Fritz, was born in June 1921, and they ran a food shop until 1924. They emigrated to Brazil, where he became ill and lost his money. He returned to Graz, where he died in 1959, aged 76. His widow died in 1984 and his son in 1985.

Luise never learnt to speak English well. She became a recluse, yet married a Mr Kroepfl. She would never speak of her experiences, and if asked would burst into tears. In 1974 she said, “Being in the lifeboat, waiting for the Carpathia, never had I thought, I would live to grow as old as I’m now.” Her daughter took care of her until she died on 9 October, 1979, aged 93. She is buried in the Sunnyside Cemetery, Milwaukee.

Luise Gretchen Kink stayed on the farm with her mother and left school while young in order to earn money. In 1932 she married Harold Pope and they had three girls and a boy. She was later divorced and Al Kenyon became her companion. She worked into her eighties, fighting tuberculosis, arthritis and breast cancer.

In 1988, on her 80^th birthday, she visited the RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. She also visited Ruth Becker (Blanchard), a Titanic survivor. She died of lung cancer on 25 August, 1992, aged 84, and is buried alongside her mother. She is featured in the Titanic Commutator, Vol 12 No 2, 1988.

Kirkland, Charles Leonard, 57. Reverend, 2^nd Class.

He was a Presbyterian minister from Glasgow, Scotland. On his way to visit his sister in Saskatchewan, Canada, he was accompanied by Frank Maybery and travelled second class. Neither of them survived.

Laroche, Joseph, Philippe Lemercier, 25. 2^nd Class.

Laroche (nee Lafargue), Juliette Marie Louise, 22.

Simonne Marie Ann Andrée, 3.

Louise, 1.

Joseph Laroche was born in Cap Haitien, Haiti on 26 May, 1886. He went to Beauvais, France in 1901, aged 15, in order to study engineering. He graduated seven years later, then in March 1908 married Juliette Lafargue, 18. She had been born in Paris on 20 October, 1889, the daughter of a widowed wine seller A daughter, Simonne, was born on 19 February, 1909. A second daughter, Louise, followed on 2 July, 1910. She was premature and suffered from various medical problems.

Laroche found that as a Negro many higher paying jobs were unavailable to him. As they needed money for Louise’s medical bills they decided to go to Haiti, where he could earn more. In March 1912 Juliette found that she was pregnant again, so they decided to leave before her condition made travel impossible.

Laroche’s mother bought them steamship tickets on the La France, but the line’s policy regarding children caused them to transfer to the Titanic’s second class. They entrained from Paris to Cherbourg, and boarded there. Laroche is believed to have been the only black passenger on the Titanic. He died in the sinking but his family were saved in Lifeboat 14.

Juliette died in Paris on 10 January, 1980, aged 90. Neither Simonne nor Louise ever married. They died respectively in Paris on 8 August, 1973, aged 64, and 25 January, 1998, aged 87.

Latimer, Andrew L, 55. Chief Steward.

He was born at Castle Cottage, Lancaster, Lancashire, on 31 January, 1857. Andy Latimer worked for the Dominion Line until it was taken over by the White Star Line. He married Emily Hewitt in February, 1880, and had three children, Minnie, Margaret and George.

On 1 April, 1902, he married Jennie Hamilton, lived at Liverpool and had four children, Andrew, Jack, William and Jean. Latimer became chief steward of the Teutonic, Cedric,

Adriatic, Olympic and Titanic. His body was never recovered.

Leader (nee Farnham), Dr Alice, 49. 1^st Class

Alice Farnham was born in New York on 10 May, 1862. She married John Leader and they were childless. She shared a cabin on the Titanic with a friend, Margaret Swift, and they were rescued in Lifeboat 8.

She wrote a letter while on the Carpathia to a Mrs Babcock:

“… Margaret and I are safe, although we have lost everything. One of our party, also, Mr Kenyon was lost. He was such a charming man – so honourable and good. I sat talking to him a little before the accident – and a little later he was dead. His wife is crushed by the blow. I can say one thing, nothing would part me from my husband in time of danger. After floating about for four hours we were taken on board this steamer that was bound for Naples – but she is now taking us to New York.

“It is terrible to see the people who have lost their families and friends – one lady has lost $15,000 worth of clothing, and no one has saved anything. Many of the passengers have only their night clothes with coats over them.

“I shall never forget the sight of that beautiful boat as she went down, the orchestra playing to the last, the lights burning until they were extinguished by the waves. It sounds so unreal, like a scene on the stage.

“We were hit by an iceberg. We were in the midst of a field of ice; towers of ice; fantastic shapes of ice. It is all photographed on my mind. There was no panic. Everyone met death with composure – as, one said, the passengers were a set of thoroughbreds…”

She returned to work in New York and was a frequent visitor to Orlando, Florida, where a married sister lived. Alice died in Florida on 20 April, 1944, aged 82, and was buried in Attica, New York.

Leather (nee Edwards), Elizabeth May, 41. Stewardess.

Mrs Leather had previously worked on the Olympic before joining the Titanic. She was asleep at the time of the collision and didn’t wake until 45 minutes later. She found that her passengers had already left for the Boat Deck, so followed them. She was rescued in Lifeboat 16.

She was mentioned in the journal of Lever Brothers at Port Sunlight (near Liverpool) as the sister of their Mr Leston Edwards. They added that Fred Clarke, one of the Titanic’s musicians, had been an ally of their philharmonic orchestra and that Christopher Head, the former mayor of Chelsea, had visited them the previous October to discuss town planning.

Lee, Reginald Robinson, 42. Lookout.

He was born in Bensington, Oxfordshire in 1870, one of six children of a schoolmaster. In about 1886 they moved to Hampshire. He joined the White Star Line and served as a lookout on the Olympic, transferring to the Titanic. Lee was in the crow’s nest with Frederick Fleet when they sighted the iceberg.

Lee was rescued in Lifeboat 13 and subsequently testified at the Board of Trade Inquiry. He died while serving on the Kenilworth Castle on 6 August, 1913, aged 43, and is buried at the Highland Road Cemetery, Southsea.

 

Leitch, Jessie Wills, 31. 2^nd Class.

She came from London and accompanied her brother-in-law, the widower Rev John Harper and his daughter, Nina, as second class passengers. After the collision she and Nina escaped in Lifeboat 11, whereas Rev Harper went to his death while comforting the distraught passengers on the sinking Titanic.

Jessie and Nina returned to England a week after reaching New York. She died in 1963, aged 82.

Lightoller, Charles Herbert, 38. 2^nd Officer.

He was born at Chorley, Lancashire, on 30 March 1874. At age 13 he began a four year apprenticeship on ships. Within a year he had survived a storm at sea and been shipwrecked on an uninhabited Indian Ocean island. He then fought a fire at sea and for his efforts was promoted Second Mate.

   From 1895 Lightoller worked on steamships off the West African coast, but nearly died of malaria. In 1898 he joined the Yukon Klondike gold rush, but was unsuccessful so became a cowboy in Alberta. He ended up as a hobo and cattle wrangler, working his passage home which he reached in 1899. The following year Lightoller joined the White Star Line. He met an Australian passenger, Sylvia Hawley-Wilson, and they were married in Sydney.

He spent time on the Majestic, under Captain Edward Smith, on the Atlantic run. He moved to the Oceanic as Second Officer, then to the Majestic as First Officer, before returning to the Oceanic as First Officer – and being transferred to the Titanic as such. When Captain Smith made Henry Wilde his Chief Officer, it meant Murdoch became First Officer and Lightoller Second Officer.

On the evening of 14 April he was on duty on the bridge from 6 to 10 pm. He remarked to Captain Smith how cold it was becoming and was told as the captain left at 9.20 pm, “If in the slightest degree doubtful, let me know.” At 9.30 pm Lightoller instructed Sixth Officer Moody to instruct the men in the crow’s nest to keep a sharp lookout for floating ice and to pass the message on to the following watches. At 10 pm he handed over to Murdoch and set out on an inspection of the ship.

He was dozing off at 11.40 pm when he felt the vibration of the ship scraping against the iceberg. He and Third Officer Pitman met and decided to await orders. These were brought ten minutes later by Fourth Officer Boxhall. Lightoller took charge of the even numbered boats on the port side. He began loading Lifeboat 4, then found that the windows on A Deck were locked, so loaded Lifeboat 6. Captain Smith gave permission to lower away with 25 people aboard, including Maggie Brown and Major Peuchen.

After loading and lowering Lifeboats 8, 12, 14 and 16 Chief Officer Wilde asked Lightoller for firearms, which were in his custody. He issued them, then found the A Deck windows open, so continued loading Lifeboat 4, which included Madeleine Astor, but excluded her husband. He also refused Jack Ryerson, 13, but allowed him to stay when Mr Ryerson asked him to.

He was told that men had taken over Lifeboat 2, so brandished his gun and forced them out. Then, assisted by Col Gracie and Clinch Smith he loaded 36 women and children and it was lowered at 1.55 am. While loading Collapsible D, Col Gracie arrived with two women. Lightoller was told by Wilde to go with her but he replied, “Not damn likely.” While it was being lowered two men, Woolner and Steffanson, jumped into it from A Deck.

While cutting the ropes on Collapsible B the Titanic gave a lunge, so Lightoller dived into the sea. He was sucked against the grating of one of the ventilation shafts and pinned there until a blast of hot air blew him to the surface. He found himself alongside the upturned Collapsible B, so climbed aboard with 30 other men, mainly crew. Bride informed him that the Carpathia was steaming to their rescue.

While the Carpathia picked up boats the men on Collapsible B transferred to other boats. Lightoller found himself in Lifeboat 12, with 74 others. He was the last Titanic survivor taken aboard the Carpathia. He was called on to testify at the American Hearing, as the most senior officer to survive. In 1913 he served as First Officer of the Oceanic and was shipwrecked on 8 September 1914.

In June 1915 Lightoller was the observer on the first seaplane to locate an enemy fleet from the air. He was given command of a torpedo boat, HMTB 117. On 31 July 1916 he attacked a Zeppelin with his Hotchkiss gun, for which he earned the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).

He was off watch on the Falcon when it collided with another ship and sank. He then commanded the destroyer Garry, which rammed and sank a German submarine U-110. He was awarded a bar to his DSC and promoted lieutenant commander. After the war he became Chief Officer of the Celtic, then resigned to run a guesthouse and speculate in property.

In 1929 Commander Lightoller bought a discarded Admiralty steam launch, renamed it the Sundowner and it was used for family trips around Europe and England. In July 1939 he and his wife surveyed the German coastline for the admiralty, in the guise of an elderly couple on vacation. On 1 June, 1940 he, his eldest son, Roger, and an 18-year-old sea scout carried 130 men off the beaches of Dunkirk. They took a further122 troops from a destroyer. Despite being bombed and strafed they arrived safely in Ramsgate.

Lightoller worked in the Small Vessel Pool until the end of the war. His youngest son, Brian, was a pilot killed in a raid on Wilhelmshaven on the first day of the war. His eldest son, Roger, joined the RN to command Motor Gun Boats. He was killed on the North French Coast near the end of the war. After the war Lightoller, aged 72, ran a boatyard building motor launches for the London River Police.

He died on 8 December, 1952, aged 78, was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Garden of Remembrance in Southsea, Hampshire.

 

Lindahl, Agda Thorilda Viktoria, 25. 3^rd Class.

She was born in Sweden and emigrated to the USA with her family around 1905, a year after her father died. Her mother had left two-year-old Helge behind in Sweden. Agda worked as a waitress for a rich family, then returned to Sweden to fetch her young brother. She lived with her uncle in Stockholm for three months before returning on the Titanic. Her brother refused to travel, so Agda went alone. She died in the sinking.

Lindeberg-Lind, Erik Gustaf, 42. 1^st Class.

Born on 18 June, 1869, he was from the estate of Jordanstorp, Sörmland, Sweden. As a young man he emigrated to the USA, where he joined the navy and rose to be a commander. Lind made his fortune, was married and divorced, then returned to Sweden. He bought back the Jordanstorp manor which his father had lost. He married Elsa Teresia Karsten, who had a son Ake Raoul from an earlier marriage.

In order to repair the manor and cover bad investments he borrowed from a loan shark. Lind decided to return to the USA to amass another fortune. He boarded the Titanic as Edward Lingrey, as he didn’t want his former wife to recognise him.

As the ship sank Mauritz Hakan Bjornstrom-Steffanson recalled that they had jumped from the ship together. While Steffanson landed in Collapsible D Lind disappeared. The White Star Line refused to accept that Lingrey was Lind, however Steffanson’s assurances over five years that he was, eventuated in damages being paid to him.

 

Lindell, Edvard Bengtsson, 36. 3^rd Class.

Lindell, (nee Persson), Elin Gerda, 30.

He was born in 1876, worked in a shoe factory and lived at Helsingborg, Sweden. He married Elin Gerda Persson and they decided to emigrate to the United States. They boarded at Southampton. They met fellow Swedes aboard, among them August Wennerstroem and Gunnar Tenglin.

When the ship sank they helped each other up the sloping deck until it became too steep, then slid down while holding hands, ending up in the water near Collapsible A. Wennerstroem and Lindell managed to climb aboard. Wennerstroem saw Gerda and took her hand but was too weak from the cold to pull her onto the boat.

She eventually drifted away. According to him, “Edvard’s hair turned all grey in lesser time than 30 minutes.” Lindell died soon after, losing Gerda’s wedding ring which he’d been holding. He was probably pushed over the side to make the boat lighter, as his and Gerda’s bodies were never found.

Lindström (née Posse), Sigrid, 55. 1^st Class.

Sigrid Posse was born on 18 December, 1856, to the late Major and Count Knut Lage Posse. Her uncle was the late Swedish Prime minister, Arvid Posse. She married Carl Lindstroem, an ex-captain of the Swedish grenadier guards. Although she lived in Stockholm, she was on her way from Paris to New York to visit her sister, Mrs Norbert.

Sigrid boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg. She met Mauritz Bjoernstrom-Steffanson, who later escorted her to Lifeboat 6 as the ship sank. She later sued the White Star Line for six thousand francs of lost cloth. She was widowed in 1917 and died in 1946, aged 89.

Lines (nee James), Elizabeth Lindsey, 51. 1^st Class.

Mary Conover, 16.

Elizabeth James was born in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1861. She married Dr Ernest Lines, who became president of the New York Life Insurance Company. They lived in Paris, France, for many years. Her daughter, Mary, was born on 27 July, 1895, in Mt Vernon, New York. Mary was educated in Paris and Italy.

Elizabeth and her daughter were travelling to New York to attend the graduation of her son from Dartmouth.College. On Saturday, 13 April, they were taking coffee after lunch when Captain Smith and Bruce Ismay sat at a nearby table and discussed whether to light the last boilers.

During the night of the 14^th they were appraised of the danger by Mr White. The officer who tied their lifebelts said, “We are sending you out as a matter of precaution. We hope you will be back for breakfast.” They were saved in Lifeboat 9.

Elizabeth’s husband predeceased her. She died at her home in Essex County, Massachusetts, on 17 December, 1942, aged 81. When she was 23 Mary married Sargent Holbrook Wellman in 1919. They lived at Topsfield, Massachusetts and had two sons and a daughter. Mary died on 23 November, 1975, aged 80.

Long, Milton Clyde, 29. 1^st Class.

The only son of Judge Charles and Mrs Hattie Long, he was born at Springfield, Massachusetts, on 19 October, 1882. He was travelling alone as a first class passenger on the Titanic when on the 14^th, while having after-dinner coffee he met Jack Thayer, 17. He told Jack that the previous June he had been aboard the cruise ship Spokane when it struck a rock in Seymour Narrows, British Columbia. It was beached and he only got his feet wet when jumping ashore.

When Jack’s parents arrived they parted and he went for a walk on deck. After the collision he joined the Thayer family and at the end he and Jack jumped from the boat deck. Long went first and disappeared.

His body was recovered and sent for burial in the Springfield Cemetery, Springfield, Mass. Jack Thayer survived by clambering aboard the upturned Collapsible B. An article on Long was published in the Titanic Commutator of February 1997.

He had given his vest pocket watch to the family’s chauffeur before leaving for Europe. The watch was taken to Ed Kamuda, president of the Titanic Historical Society, for repairs and today rests in his museum at Indian Falls, Mass.

Longley, Gretchen Fiske, 21. 1^st Class.

Gretchen was born on 1 September, 1890, and lived in Hudson, New York. She travelled to Europe with her aunts, Kornelia Andrews, 63, and Anna Hogeboom, 51. They returned on the Titanic. She opened a farewell letter when she reached her stateroom. It read: Good weather, Refreshments, Every desire, Tommies to burn, Chocolate ice cream, Heavenly evenings, Entire meals, No regrets. The first letters spell out ‘Gretchen’. They were rescued in Lifeboat 10.

Gretchen later married Dr Raymond Leopold. She died aboard a ship on 11 August, 1965, aged 74, and was buried at West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cnwyd, Pennsylvania.

Lord, Stanley, Captain of the Californian.

When ice was first sighted he hove to for the night. Lord went to bed with instructions to be called in case of problems. His officers were in awe of his temper so, although they told him of the strange ship they could see and the white rockets being fired, none of them insisted that he do anything about it. He never made any entries in the log about the rockets having been seen, a fact which both the Senate Hearing and the Board of Trade questioned him. They concluded that had he then had the radio switched on they would have heard the distress messages from the Titanic and would have been able to reach the ship in time to save all the passengers.

They both condemned him for failing to come to the aid of the Titanic. Lord spent the rest of his life trying to clear his name. He died in 1962, but his family continued trying to exonerate him.

Lowe, Harold Godfrey, 29. 5^th Officer.

Born on 21 November, 1882, in Conwy, Wales, Lowe ran away to sea when aged 14. He served along the West African coast for five years, then joined the White Star Line. Fifteen months later he was appointed Fifth Officer to the Titanic. On April 14 he helped chart the ship’s course at noon. He went to bed at 8.30 pm and was woken by voices much later. He dressed and went out on deck, where it was apparent that the ship was sinking. “I should say she was 12 to 15 degrees by the head.”

He assisted First Officer Murdoch loading lifeboats on the starboard side. While loading Lifeboat 5 White Star President Bruce Ismay got in his way, so he shouted, “If you will get the hell out of that then I shall be able to do something! Do you want me to lower away quickly? You will have me drown the whole lot of them.”

   Lowe then went to Lifeboat 3 but couldn’t find enough people to fill it. ”There were only little knots around the deck. Little crowds.” He then went to the port side and assisted Sixth Officer Moody load Lifeboats 14 and 16. He loaded 58 people in 14, and later said, “All women and children, bar one passenger, who was an Italian and he sneaked in and he was dressed like a woman – he had a shawl over his head. I only found out at the last moment.” He took another male passenger to help with rowing, Charles Williams, a world-class tennis champion.

As they were being lowered he fired his revolver alongside the boat to scare off would-be boarders. They rowed about 150 yards, then after the Titanic sank and the cries subsided Lowe re-distributed passengers among boats and went back for survivors. He only found four alive, including a Japanese man who floated on a broken door. His was the only lifeboat that went back. He rigged a sail and towed a collapsible, then came across another and took off 20 men and a woman.

In September 1913 Lowe married Ellen Marion Whitehouse and they had two children, Florence and Harold. During World War I Lowe was made a commander in the Royal Naval Reserve. He retired to North Wales, where he died on 12 May, 1944, aged 61. He is buried at Llandrillo Yn Rhos, Colwyn Bay, North Wales.