Source of the Data

Editor's Note: Remember this database was originally created Department of Education & Children Services, Southern Australia  www.decs.sa.gov.au 

The possibility of a database began with the discovery of a passenger list in Lord’s book, ‘A Night to Remember’ and gathered momentum with the discovery of the reprint of a 1913 book ‘Titanic, a Survivor’s Story’ written by Colonel Archibald Gracie.  This volume contained contemporary records compiled by the author on the decks of the Carpathia - but more of that later.

It soon became apparent that Lord’s list was based on an official White Star list and was full of inaccuracies - an interesting point in itself!  Nevertheless, the decision was made to enter this data, using Gracie’s work, as the basis for lifeboat allocations and to alter the original as new information came to light.

The initial crew list was obtained, again from a contemporary source that has been reprinted - Titanic indeed has spawned a healthy trade in the reprint business! This was a 1912 publication titled ‘The Deathless Story of the Titanic’ and contained not only crew and passenger lists but also contemporary newspaper reports - resplendent with Edwardian phraseology and pathos!  This list, again, was full of inaccuracies, but again the decision was taken to use this as a starting point and to update it as more accurate information was (hopefully) unearthed.

The turning point came when enquiries in the UK resulted in the obtaining of photocopies of original documents from the Public Record Office which, being handwritten and often containing a clerk’s interpretation of a person’s name still left some gaps and potential inaccuracies in the data.  At about the same time the publications of the chief historian of the ‘Titanic Historical Society’ became available and these two sources provided much of the missing information.

However, it would be foolish to contend that the data is one hundred percent accurate or one hundred percent complete.  To wait until this were so would have meant that the database would never have been finished!  If users of this software package have any documents or information that would add to the accuracy of the data, they would be gladly accepted.

Walter Lord’s concluding remarks to the preface of ‘A Night To Remember’, while made with relation to the facts pertaining to the tragedy, could equally apply to this database:

“It is a rash man indeed who would set himself up as a final arbiter on all that happened the incredible night the Titanic went down".