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Titanic in the Classroom |
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Backgrounds and InvestigationsEditor's Note: Remember this database was originally created Department of Education & Children Services, Southern Australia www.decs.sa.gov.au
Introductory
Background-Passengers and Crew
Introductory
Background--The
Passengers and Crew
Word.doc Users are also interested in questions that relate to country of origin, occupations and age - both of passengers and crew. While pursuing one line of questions, another, completely different, line of investigation may capture the interest of the user - a quite legitimate sequence of events and part of the fascination in dealing with data relating to real people and events.
An Introductory Investigation--The Passengers and Crew
It is hoped that other questions will suggest themselves as the students progress through those outlined above - remember these are only starting points and be prepared for students to become passionately interested in their own lines of investigation as the fascination with the data increases.
Background
1--A first
look at the passengers
The Titanic carried a wide cross section of humanity and the passenger data file provides a fascinating glimpse of the Edwardian era. The wealthy were always accompanied by their attendants - servants, nurses, maids and chauffeurs. In fact there were so many on these Transatlantic liners that special lounges were provided to save other passengers the embarrassment of accidentally ‘befriending’ someone else’s attendant! The second and third class passengers were made up of a wide variety of nationalities with a wide variety of occupations - some travelling to the United States to start a new life in the ‘New World’ and others returning from visiting relatives in Europe.
Investigation 1--A
first look at the passengers
In general it can be assumed that any wealthy person was likely to travel first class, so this subset of the passengers can be examined to discover something of the world of the Edwardian wealthy. Remember however that the servants were not regarded as 1st, 2nd or 3rd class passengers.
As mentioned above, some employees did travel on their own tickets - listing the occupations of all of the passengers will provide clues as to which to concentrate on.
In some cases whole families were migrating to the new world - these can usually be located because words like ‘father’, ‘mother’, ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ have been used in the comment field.
Assignment: Make a chart of the nationalities of each passenger by class. What can you determine from your data?
 Background 2--Some criminals will sink to any depths! If you were a passenger on the Titanic, and had good eyesight, you may have seen this notice tucked away opposite the first page of the printed passenger list:
Obviously there were many rich ‘victims’ on board the Titanic and probably a large number of gamblers and card-sharks. In fact one of these dastardly criminals was very active. Walter Lord in his book ‘The Night Lives On’, relates this series of events: "George Brayton had been in the Titanic’s smoking room stalking a prospective victim when the ship struck and by the time the Carpathia docked in New York he was already at work again! Henry Stengel was walking along the deck on the second day after the rescue when he saw Brayton looking very downcast. When he inquired Brayton told him that he needed money for the fare to Los Angeles. Stengel advised him to contact White Star, which he did. Later Stengel received a phone call from Brayton telling him of his success and later in the conversation, Stengel invited Brayton to his home for dinner. During the evening Brayton mentioned a big deal pending in New York, which would come to a head as soon as his brother-in-law, an executive with Western Union, got back from a trip to Mexico. Several weeks later Stengel received another phone call from Brayton, reporting that the brother-in-law was back and in a position to make some money. He’d like to cut Stengel in on the deal. Stengel rushed off to New York, where he, Brayton, and the brother-in-law ended up in a room at the Hotel Seville. Here the brother-in-law explained that he was in charge of the ‘RD’ Department of Western Union. This was the department responsible for flashing the results of horse races, and he was in a position to withhold the results for at least eight minutes – allowing a wonderful opportunity to bet on a sure thing. It would cost Stengel just $1000 to get in on the scheme. Stengel later said that at this point he sailed into the brother-in-law, and when Brayton pleaded with him not to ‘squeal’, Stengel began punching him too. Finally the scuffle ended, but by the time the police were called, the con men had slipped away." There were also a known number of Australian criminals on board as evidenced by this extract from the May 25, 1912 edition of ‘The Argus’: CRIMINALS PERISH
The Melbourne police have received information that among the victims of the Titanic disaster were three well-known Australian criminals. Two of the criminals were confidence men, and one is said to have performed some very clever work in Europe after having left Australia a few years ago. The third man had served several sentences for housebreaking in different states of the Commonwealth, but is said to have been a versatile criminal, who could safely take a hand at almost any kind of daring work. According to the information received by the police, this man had joined forces with the other Australians, who, no doubt, expected a good haul on the voyage in the Titanic, which carried a great number of wealthy passengers. Investigation 2--Some criminals will sink to any depths! Let’s try to identify some potential victims! There would certainly have been some among the millionaires, but there were many other rich people on board - a look at a list of occupations of the passengers will reveal others that might have been potential victims.
Unfortunately no records exist to tell us who the Australians were, however, we do have some information about the American gamblers and card-sharks on board.
Stengel and Brayton obviously survived.
The panic and confusion often meant that the strangest people rubbed shoulders in the lifeboats.
Background 3--Alas an Alias! (and other stories) There were a number of passengers traveling on the ship who were not traveling under their real names and hence the heading for this particular investigation. In some cases it is quite obvious why the person concerned was using an alias, in other cases we can but speculate. Now onto a different tack entirely - in fact several different tacks. There were a large number of families traveling on the ship, some which survived and some which were decimated. The enquiry held after the tragedy went to great pains to try and establish the lack of discrimination between classes, but it is a salutary exercise to critically examine the data on this issue. In fact the newspapers of the time made much of the survival rates of the different genders and different classes. There were a number of cartoonists who were scathing in their condemnation for peoples’ actions and decisions on that night. Walter Lord in his book ‘The Night Lives On’ makes the following observation: ‘On the Titanic, a man’s life could depend on which side of the Boat Deck he happened to step out on.’
This was a reference to the
fact that different officers were in charge of the lifeboats on each side of the
ship and that they may have interpreted Captain Smith’s orders differently. Passengers: Miss Allen (now Mrs. J. B. Mennell), Mrs. Appleton, Mrs. Cornell, Mrs. Douglas and maid (Miss Le Roy), Miss Madill, Mrs. Robert and maid (Amelia Kenchen). One old man, third class, foreigner, and family: Brahim Youssef, Hanne Youssef, and children Marian and Georges. The rest second and third class. Bade good-bye to wife and sank with ship: Mr. Douglas. Crew: Fourth Officer Boxhall, Seaman Osman and Steward Johnstone, cook. Total: 25
Investigation 3--Alas an Alias! (and other stories) Use the passenger information to find those passengers traveling under an alias. Remember that alternative names are enclosed in brackets - ‘(‘ and ‘)’ so these can be used in this search.
The introductory passenger investigation showed how to locate family groups, so refer back to that if unsure as to how to proceed here.
To investigate the issue of gender raised by Lord requires very close checking of the data.
Background 4--The “Black Squad” The Crew List signed by Captain Smith on 10th April, 1912, shows the crew divided into three departments:
Soon after the disaster Lord Beresford wrote a letter to The Times praising the efforts of some sections of the crew of the Titanic whom he felt had been overlooked. The following are the opening paragraphs of his letter: “In the late appalling disaster to the ‘Titanic’, perhaps the greatest in maritime history, attention has rightly been called to the bravery, resolution, and chivalrous gallantry of Captain Smith, the officers, seamen, band, and passengers, who were true to the spirit of manly duty of the English-speaking races in a sudden and terrible emergency.
Many comments have been justly made regarding the heroism on deck, but nothing has been said of the heroism below.
I respectfully submit that unintentionally the dauntless heroism of those employed in the engine and boiler room (such as the carpenter and his crew), have been passed over without comment.
Nothing
can exceed the heroism of the captain, officers, and seamen of the ship; but
officers and seamen are the first to offer a whole-hearted tribute of unbounded
admiration to those working below, as they well know how often the real grit and
courage of the officers and men of these departments is called upon in moments
of emergency. It is stated that the lights were burning until a few minutes before the ship took her final plunge. “This proves that the officers and men below remained at their posts when they must have known that death - the most terrible and painful that it is possible to conceive - awaited them at any minute, either by the bursting of a steampipe or water rising in a compartment.”
This letter was written by the parents of one of those lost engineers: Dear Sir,
I have been informed by Mr. F. Blake Superintendent Engineer of the White Star line, Trafalgar Chambers on the 10th that the body of my Beloved Son Herbert Jupe which was the Electrical Engineer No. 3 on the Ill Fatted Titanic has been recovered and Burried at Sea by the Cable Steamer “Mackay-Bennett” and that his Silver Watch and Handkerchief marked H.J. is in your possession. he bought him half of the same when he was at Belfast with the R.M.S. Olympic to have a new blade put to one of Her Perpellors. We are extreemly oblidged for all your kindness to my Precious Boy. He was not Married and was the Love of our Hearts and he Loved his Home. But God gave and God has taken him. Blessed be the Name of the Lord. He has left an aceing Void in our Home which cannot be filled. Please send along the Watche and Handkerchief marked H.J.
Yours truly
C.Jupe His mother is 72 last April 4th. His Father is 68 Last Feb. 9th. After the tragedy, many memorials to the various crew were erected - chapter twenty of ‘Titanic:Triumph and Tragedy’ has photos of the following:
What was it about the disaster that prompted memorials to these particular crew members? How did other crew fare in the disaster? Is there a memorial in your town or city? Investigation 4--The “Black Squad” The entries in the field ‘Department’ were taken from the White Star crew list mentioned earlier.
The survival rates of the various departments may have prompted Lord Beresford’s letter:
As students work through the above questions, a number of related side-issues may suggest themselves as being worthy of further investigation:
Background 5--When is a crew member not a crew member? Word.doc The Crew List signed by Captain Smith on 10th April, 1912, shows the following numbers and allocations:
Deck
Department
Engine
Department
Steward’s
Department However, other records are at odds with this list. There were a number of additions and deletions - both well before sailing, and at the very last minute. John Podesta, a fireman, described his experience in ‘Titanic, Triumph and Tragedy’: "I got up on the morning of April 10th and made off down to the ship for eight o’clock muster, as is the case on all sailing days, which takes about an hour. As the ship is about to sail at about twelve o’clock noon most of us firemen and trimmers go ashore again until sailing time. So off we went [with] several others I knew on my watch, which was 4 to 8. My watch-mate, whose name was William Nutbean and I went off to our local public-house for a drink in the Newcastle Hotel. We left about eleven fifteen making our way toward the docks. Having plenty of time we dropped into another pub called the Grapes, meeting several more ship-mates inside. So having another drink about six of us left about ten minutes to twelve and got well into the docks and toward the vessel. With me and my mate were three brothers named Slade: Bertram, Tom and Alfred.
We were at the top of the main road and a passenger train was approaching us from another part of the docks. I heard the Slades say, “Oh, let the train go by”. But me and Nutbean crossed over and managed to board the liner. Being a long train, by the time it passed, the Slades were too late, and the gangway was down leaving them behind. So it seemed they did not have to go."
The officer in charge of the gangway heard the men call out, but knew that there were extra men waiting on board for just this opportunity and so, even though he could have waited, he ordered the gangway lowered and signed on extras. There were others on board who certainly were not paying passengers, but neither were they considered crew - in the strict sense of the word. One group was the staff of Gatti’s à la carte restaurant. They were recruited from among the employees of his two London restaurants (Gatti’s Adelphi and Gatti’s, Strand) and were paid a nominal wage of 1 shilling for the voyage. Walter Lord, in ‘A Night To Remember’ says: “The staff of the first-class à la carte restaurant were having the hardest time of all. They were neither fish nor fowl. Obviously they weren’t passengers, but technically they weren’t crew either. The restaurant was not run by the White Star but by Monsieur Gatti as a concession.
Thus, the employees had no status at all. And to make matters worse, they were French and Italian - objects of deep Anglo-Saxon suspicion at a time like this in 1912.”
The wireless operators were also ‘different’. They were employed by the Marconi Company, but also signed the ship’s articles. The members of the orchestra were in a different category again. They were employed by a Liverpool firm (C.W. and F.N. Black) who had contracts with all of the steamer companies to provide musicians. Until 1912 they were paid 6 pounds and 10 shillings a month plus a monthly uniform allowance of 10 shillings. Then the rates were cut to 4 pounds a month and no uniform allowance! The Amalgamated Musicians Union protested to Bruce Ismay (Managing Director of White Star) that their members were being paid less than union scale. His response was to remove them from the crew list and carry them as passengers, which meant that once they reached an American port they would have to appear before immigration officials and produce $50 in cash to prove that they weren’t destitute! Walter Lord in ‘The Night Lives On’ recounts that on April 30, 1912, Jock Hume’s father received this short note from Blacks: Dear Sir:
We shall be obliged if you will remit us the sum of 5s. 4d., which is owing to us as per enclosed statement. We shall also be obliged if you will settle the enclosed uniform account.
Yours faithfully, C.W. & F.N. Black
The uniform account included items such as: lyre lapel insignia (2 shillings, sewing White Star buttons on tunic (1 shilling) and the total bill was 14 shillings and 7 pence. Lord goes on to recount the shabby treatment meted out by both Blacks and White Star when approached for compensation. There were two other groups that were in a similar position to the orchestra, though for different reasons. They were the Postal clerks and the Harland & Wolff ‘guarantee group’. The clerks were needed to sort the mountain of mail in the post office mail room forward on F deck. The guarantee group was lead by Thomas Andrews (Managing Director of Harland & Wolff) and their task was to assist the crew with any special tasks that might arise on the maiden voyage of a new and untried ship. Investigation 5 When is a crew member not a crew member? Using the figures on the background sheet, tally the number of crew in each ‘department’.
John Podesta obviously survived, but what about his mates?
Reread the extract from ‘A Night To Remember’ referring to Gatti and his staff.
The other ‘special cases’ mentioned are the orchestra, the Marconi operators, the Post Office clerks and the ‘Guarantee Group’.
Background 6--More about the crew Many of the crew came from Southampton and in ‘Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy’, page 212, there is a photograph with the caption: “Entire streets in Southampton are filled with sorrow as in one house after another the sad news arrives”. The photo shows wives and children standing by front doors and has type written captions. The captions are:
No. 42, Mrs. Preston, son On the facing page is another photo with the caption: “Every one of these children from the Northam School (Southampton) has lost at least one family member” - there are 138 children in the photo! There are many amazing and interesting stories about individual crew members.
Survivors from other
disasters
A Lucky Escape “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 with Lightoller and about twenty-five 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.”
Lord, in ‘A Night To Remember’ gives a long account of Joughin’s bravery that is well worth reading, but closes with this account of the above events: “He bolted out of the pantry towards the stern end of A deck, just behind a swarm of people, running the same way and clambering down from the boat deck above. He kept out of the crush as much as possible and ran along in the rear of the crowd. He vaulted down the steps to B deck, then to the well deck. Just as he got there, the Titanic gave a sickening twist to port, throwing most of the people into a huge heap along the port rail.
Only Joughin kept his balance. Alert, but relaxed, his equilibrium was marvellous, as the stern rose higher and corkscrewed to port. The deck was now listing too steeply to stand on, and Joughin slipped over the starboard rail and stood on the actual side of the ship. He worked his way up the side, still holding on to the rail - but from the outside - until he reached the white-painted steel plates of the poop deck. He now stood on the rounded stern end of the ship, which had swung high into the air some 50 metres above the water.
Joughin casually tightened his lifebelt. Then he glanced at his watch - it said 2.15. As an afterthought, he took it off and stuck it in his hip pocket. He was beginning to puzzle over his position when he felt the stern drop under his feet - it was like taking an elevator. As the sea closed over the stern, Joughin stepped off into the water. He didn’t even get his head wet.
He paddled off into the night, little bothered by the freezing water. For over an hour, he bobbed about, moving his arms and legs just enough to keep upright. ‘No trick at all,’ he explains cheerfully today.”
The luckiest man of the
night “I went down with the ship and sank about two fathoms. Swam about twenty minutes in the water and was picked up by No. 4. About 1,000 others in the water in my estimation. Saw no women. Recovered consciousness and found Sailor Lyons and another lying on top of me dead.” Two passengers, Mrs. Stephenson and Miss Eustis gave an account to Colonel Gracie which he published in his book. The following extract from that account relates to Dillon: “We implored the men to pull away from the ship, but they refused, and we pulled three men into the boat who had dropped off the ship and were swimming toward us. One man was drunk and had a bottle of brandy in his pocket which the quartermaster promptly threw overboard and the drunken man was thrown into the bottom of the boat and a blanket thrown over him.” It would seem that in those days too, a journalist’s story was only as accurate as the source of information! Davie, in ‘The Titanic, The Full Story of a Tragedy’ sums it up nicely “The drunk was a fireman from Belfast, Paddy Dillon, and he was the luckiest man of the night. He found the brandy somewhere, rapidly became drunk, toppled over the Titanic’s side, and was immediately picked up.” Investigation 6--More about the crew Use the crew data to find the crew members referred to in the photo captions given and then research issues such as:
Use the crew data to find the crew members described in the reports and stories and then research issues such as:
Again, it is highly likely that other issues will arise as users follow the lines of investigation suggested above. Background 7--Some Australian Mysteries There are many unsolved mysteries surrounding the Titanic and it seems only fair that South Australia should contribute to these! While searching through the back issues of The Advertiser (the South Australian daily paper), an article was located in the 29/12/70 issue entitled ‘They sang as their ship sank’ (included as an extra resource). The article described the funeral of a Mr. John Beattie Butler who was described as the last Australian survivor. In attempting to find out more about him, the following extra information was discovered: He was born in Rosewater on the 24/3/1887, died on 25/12/1970 and was cremated at Centennial Park on 30/12/70. His occupation was listed as Boiler Attendant. Whilst tracking down Mr. Beattie Butler, I was told of a grave in the cemetery at Aldinga, a small coastal town in South Australia that had an inscription that mentioned the Titanic. A trip to Aldinga revealed that the grave in question was that of Mary Janet and Colin McRae. However the headstone also recorded the fates of their children, and third on the list was this inscription: Alan 1889 - 1912 (Missing SS Titanic) The puzzling, but by now not surprising, thing is that neither of the above names appear on either the passenger or the crew lists! All current lists have been compiled from original lists that were hand written. If that handwriting was either particularly bad or particularly ‘flowery’ with many loops and twirls then exact spellings of names can be difficult to make out. Also remember that the clerks often wrote the name in the way that they thought it should be spelled or the way that they heard it pronounced. All of these factors conspire together to make the task of the modern historian interesting if not difficult! Investigation 7--Some Australian Mysteries There does not appear to be any exact match in either the passenger or the crew lists for either of these people.
The newspaper article raises a number of other issues:
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