Titanic (1912)
Message Board

19.
Jan. 8, 2016

My grandmother, Emma Pridmore Macklin, was employed as a Lady's maid in England/Ireland in 1912 and recounted having sailed on the Titanic with her Lady and Lady's husband. My mother recalls my grandmother referring to her employer as Mrs. Henry, who along with my grandmother, disembarked from the Titanic prior to leaving Queenstown. Her husband remained aboard and perished in the sinking of the liner.

My sister and I have been doing research to locate any information about Mr. Henry (or Sir Henry) and have come up empty handed. We have also searched the passenger lists to see if my Grandmother was in fact aboard the Titanic and disembarked in Queenstown. Again, information has been difficult to gather.

I recall hearing somewhere that there were passengers on the trip from Belfast to Southampton and it is my thought that perhaps my grandmother and her Lady were part of that sailing. Unfortunately we have not been able to find any information about that passenger list. Do you have any suggestions on what agency we could contact to verify this story, or how to get more information. We would be very grateful for any assistance regarding this bit of family history.

Thank you,
Jane Trafton-Winch


18
July 13, 2015

New book: Rich Men Poor Men Ryersons on the Titanic
By Phyllis Ryerse

Another relatively unknown story from the Titanic. First class passenger Arthur Ryerson, a wealthy industrialist and CEO of Ryerson steel and William, an unknown cousin serving as a steward on the same ship. Written by a distant relative of both men, the story is compelling and sad. Anyone interested in the story of the Titanic should also have this book in their collection.
(Other related books are Ryersons on the Lusitania and Tragic Sinking of the Ercolano.)

2012 Amberley Publishing (www.amberley-books.com)
127 pages Deluxe Paper.

Click here to order in the U.S.A.
www.amazon.com

Click here to order in the U.K.
www.amazon.co.uk

Also available in Kindle format.


17.
Apr. 14, 2012

The start of my family tree search started through my husband saying could I find if he were related to William McQuillan /Titanic. The men in our family have all been connected to the sea. They were seamen or shore workers on ship building sites in UK going back to his Grandfather & Great Grandfather both born in Ireland. I would like to be able to answer the question as to if William is related. The family did move to West Hartlepool from Ireland. We lived in NZ & now live in Melbourne Australia. I am on Ancestry.

Regards,
Margaret & David McQuillan


16.
Apr. 10, 2012

I am a descendant of Titanic crew member James William Robinson who was a First Class Saloon Steward. He was my great, great uncle, the brother of my great grandmother, his sister Laura Robinson. I live in Auckland, New Zealand and would love to find out some more information about him. Would someone be able to help me with this? I know he was 30 at the time of the sinking and was married. His address was listed as Vine Cottage, Carlisle Road, Southampton. His body was recovered and was numbered 151. He was buried at sea on the 24th April 1912. Please let me know if anyone can help me find out who he was married to, whether he had any children and if there are any photographs of him.

Regards,
Linda Perez


15.
Feb. 12, 2012

I was wondering if you are able to assist me find out more information about my grandfather, George Harris. George Harris was head of the White Star Shipping Lines in Queenstown (Cobh) at the time when the Titanic arrived on her maiden voyage. My father, Gerald Harris, was 4 years old at the time and remembers seeing the Titanic sail out of Queenstown (They lived at Summerhill House, Queenstown overlooking the harbor). My father and my cousin mentioned that my grandfather, George Harris, dined with Capt. Smith in Queenstown (at the White Star Liner Offices) on the day before departure from Queenstown). George Harris was also invited by Capt. Smith to be his guest on the maiden voyage, but George Harris was unable to leave Queenstown at that time. Are you able to confirm these facts or advise me where I might verify this information provided? Thank you for your assistance.

Kind regards,
Godfrey Harris


14.
Sept. 13, 2011

I was ten years old when my grandfather took me to see the film A Night to Remember. The events stayed with me and in the mid eighties I purchased Dr. Bob Ballard's book which I found fascinating. A few years later when the new film was announced the Further Education College where I work asked if the staff had any ideas on leisure courses. I immediately thought about writing a course about the Titanic and was given the go ahead. Suffice to say the twenty hour course that I wrote became the most successful leisure course of all time within the college where hundreds attended. The course was delivered on a Saturday morning and due to extra demand various lectures were given at night. It was a testimony of the very wide interest that people showed at that time. I am sure that as each generation comes to pass that interest will never wane and the terrible events of that evening will be told and retold for decades to come.

Bob Edgar
Lecturer, Reid Kerr College, Paisley, Scotland


13.
Dec. 7, 2010

Years ago I was given watercolors of the Titanic and the Olympic by an English woman who received them from the aunt who raised her. Both of the paintings are signed "W. Jeneway."  The Titanic painting (shown below) is dated 1912 and I was told was made as it was leaving on its maiden voyage from Southampton. I believe the aunt lived in Southampton at the time and was present in the departure crowd. The Olympic painting may have a date on it but I cannot tell because of the way it is framed. Both of the paintings show the ships in heavy seas, with waves splashing far up their hulls. The Titanic is seen from the starboard side and the Olympic from the port.

What is curious about the pair is that the "W. Jeneway" signature on the Olympic is quite different from the one on the Titanic. The Titanic signature is very tightly and meticulously drawn while the Olympic signature is larger and uneven. I have not been able to find any other paintings or pictures of these two ships in such heavy and frothy seas. There is a record of a sale by Bonhams on October 18, 2005 that is described as  "Lot No: 822 W. A. Richards 'H.M.S. P.34 1916', signed, inscribed on label verso, watercolour and bodycolour, 18 x 24cm , together with another watercolour by Will Jeneway - 'H.M.H.S. Aquitania', signed and inscribed, 24.5 x 30cm. (2) Sold for £153 inclusive of Buyer's Premium ."

Because of the way the watercolor I have is framed, I do not have a complete signature visible for the Olympic, but...there is no question that that this is the work of your grandfather.  The signature I have is "W. Jeneway", not "Will" but the "W" is identical in both signatures, as is the "n" in Jeneway.  In addition the word "OLYMPIC" on your attachment is identical, and I mean identical in all respects, to the word on the the watercolor I have.  It almost looks like the "OLYMPIC" on your attachment was pasted on to my watercolor!  The only difference is that there is no "HMS" in front of "OLYMPIC" on the watercolor I have.  I would be very curious to know if you know whether your grandfather was right handed or left handed.  I would guess that he was right handed and the signatures we have were written by his left hand, because the signature on the Titanic painting is cursive,  much smaller, meticulous, slanted to the right and neatly underlined.  I cannot imagine how someone could do it with a non-dominate hand.  Most of the "lefties" that I have known have cursive writing that slants to the left because of the curious way they hold a pen. 

The paintings of the Titanic and Olympic I have were originally in separate frames, each about six inches wide and 14 inches tall.  The English woman who gave them to me had them put together in one frame, with the Titanic on the port and the Olympic on the starboard, looking like they might collide.  (Of course in that situation the Titanic would have had the right of way!)  I have never taken the back covering off of the frame but I was told that the every inch of each original painting is still there sans frames.  I am going to try to take pictures of the framed pair, each ship individually, and particularly the two very different signatures.  I do not know how well this will work out because unfortunately the glass in the frame is not the non-reflective type.  If I can come up with anything remotely decent I will send copies to both of you.

I thought you might be interested to know that the English woman who gave me the watercolors was in the British Army during the Second World War and became an American war bride soon after. At some point during her military career she was in charge of public relations for the British Army. She had a number of individual photographs of herself with Winston Churchill, Field Marshall Montgomery, Dwight Eisenhower, John Wayne, and other notable persons of the time.

Her future husband was aboard the USS Yorktown during the Battle of the Coral Sea and went on to become a Navy commander of I believe two aircraft carriers.  I do not remember the name of the first one but the second one was the USS Valley Forge.  There was a really large photograph of the Valley Forge under his command heading out to sea with a full complement of support ships and aircraft overhead that hung in the couples living room in the McLean, Virginia. It would be a great photograph for your collection if I could track it down. 

The commander's name was Elbert Stever, who grew up in Hammondsport, NY on Keuka Lake, one of the Finger Lakes and home of Taylor Wines.  It was also the place where Curtis airplanes were built for a period of time when Stever was growing up. This was what led to his interest in naval flight he once told me. After he retired from the Navy sometime in the late 1960's he went to work for Grumman.  He died in 1990 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 

The couple never had any children. His wife, Lilian, was an animal lover who at one point had 30 cats and 7 dogs living in the house with them. For many years she would throw a Christmas party at Bethesda Naval Hospital for the staff of the Internal Medicine department.  At that time the department was headed by John Eisold, who became one of the youngest peace time Admirals when he was appointed as Attending Physician to Congress in 1994.  Admiral Eisold told me that he made a promise to her husband that he would personally take care of Lilian for the rest of her life.  And he did.  He would leave his office in the the Capitol to drive up to Bethesda to take care of Mrs. Stever.  I know because many times I would drive her from McLean to Bethesda and wait with her there until her doctor visit was over, after which we would drive back to her home in McLean.  It was partly in appreciation for those sojourns to Bethesda that she had the two watercolors put into one frame and gave them to me. Lilian Stever died in January, 2009 and was buried next to her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.

Bob Pannier

Reply 1
Dec. 9, 2010

The information is very interesting. The reason for the two signatures is that William was ambidextrous. He could paint and write with both hands simultaneously. I have attached a photo of one of his paintings of the Olympic similar to your description and a close up of the signature to see if they match yours. This is one of our original watercolours. I can't think who the aunt may have been but will ask surviving family members of his children's generation if they know anything.

William did not sail on the Titanic as he caught Scarlet Fever and was taken off the ship just hours before it sailed. His paintings of ships were prolific and his brother sold them to passengers, often with little calendars pinned to the bottom of them. Many were also signed Will Prince as his Christian names were William Albert Edward. If ever you decide to sell your pictures, please contact me as William has a huge family and I am sure someone might be interested in buying it/them as we don't have many that are signed 'Jeneway'. Thank you for the information you have provided.

Best regards,
Barbara Foley

 

12.
Feb. 19, 2011

I am hoping you have an idea of how I could see my grandfathers name on a list of passengers for passage on the Titanic to New York in  1912. Apparently he missed the ship. I don't doubt that his story is fact but it would be fun to have a little proof. I have looked on the Titanic web site but I guess they didn't print the passengers names that missed the ship. I'm sure you have heard many stories similar. I am writing a Memory Book and this would be an interesting part.

The story is that my grandfather Christopher Campkin bought a ticket for the Titanic and missed the ship. He then bought a ticket from Liverpool to Quebec City for May 18, 1912 on a ship called the "Victorian". He arrived safely and lived in Canada for the rest of his life. He was born on August 16, 1883. I would appreciate your help with this.

Thank you very much,
Susan Elizabeth Ward


11.
Jan. 29, 2011

I was 12 when I went to my first Titanic convention in 1982. I also went to the convention in 1985. This is when the Titanic historical society was still active. I was wondering what you think the value ($), if any can be really put, on all my convention materials which includes all living survivors signatures from 1982 (on convention brochure) and those who came to the 1985 convention that were not at the 1982 one. I also got the signature (I had her sign the 82' brochure) in 1986, of Mary Davis Wilburn who was the oldest living survivor but was not at either convention and preferred to stay out of the titanic spot light.

Thank You,
Fred Rueckert
Menifee, California


10.
Dec. 9, 2010

I just happen to stumble on this website while searching for photos of the Titanic. What a great site! The pictures of the ship, the crew and the passengers are wonderful! I will continuously check back for updates!

April Powell
Nashua, New Hampshire


9.
Nov. 20, 2010

Awesome Titanic Photos for a titanic buff like me. I have never seen such a good collection of photos of the Titanic from construction to disaster. Thanks for a such a great collection of Titanic Pictures. 

Regards,
David Rolfe
Sydney, Australia


8.
July 31, 2010

Tena koe ( greetings) from New Zealand. I am a relative of Frederick Fleet- born Liverpool ("Highton"- now Huyton) England 15/10/1885. His mother abandoned him when he was 5 and she was 21. I have been researching for my family tree and passenger departure lists show Alice Fleet-( b 1869) Fred's mother setting sailed from Liverpool in 1890 to arrive in Boston. She settled in Springfield, Massachusetts with her then boyfriend- William Burnett. Alice and William married three years later- that same year they had a daughter, Elizabeth. Fred was brought up in orphanages and foster homes in Liverpool. He was trained as a deck hand age 12 before being trained up to become an abel seaman. There were periods where he was a newspaper seller.

Kind regards,
Julie Gregory (nee Fleet)


7.
Feb. 4, 2010

I thoroughly enjoy this site, one of the best out there for us naval architecture junkies! the section on the titanic features some of the best (and rare) photos of the ship before she sank almost 100 years ago! by far my favorite site keep up the good work!

Justin Severn
Aberdeen, Maryland


6.
Jan. 16, 2010

I have enjoyed your site about the Titanic very much, it is good to be remembered, about building "indestructible" ships even now in 2010 with all the modern navigation-safety and warning instruments it can happen in just a split second. 

Thanks a lot,
A. Minneboo
Retired Chief Engineer Merchant Navy and yachts


5.
Nov. 16, 2008

Escribo en español, ya que mi inglés es muy malo. Las fotografías de esta página son muy buenas, con alta definición y calidad. Los datos también son muy precisos. Estoy escribiendo un libro sobre el TItanic y me ha ayudado mucho tu trabajo. La fotos ya las tenía, pero no de tanta calidad.

Un saludo y gracias,
Jose

"I write in Spanish, because my English is very bad. The photos on this page are very good, with high definition and quality. The data is also very precise. I am writing a book about the Titanic and your work
has helped me a lot. The photos I had, but not in such good quality.
Greetings and thanks."



4.
Aug. 17, 2008

I would just like to say what a well thought out site this is, it is very interesting. The photographs of the inside of the Titanic are so good, I watched a documentary on the Titanic, and the Turkish baths you feature in one of the photographs, well the tiles could still be seen by the camera that was underwater, very interesting.


3.
July 9, 2008

I really liked the Titanic pictures and information. I am glad you keep the history alive. It was a truly tragic event that might have been avoided if a few decisions were made differently like having enough lifeboats and perhaps taking a slower but more southerly route for example. We must learn from our mistakes and our successes and the only way to do that is to study our history. 

I also see from one photograph that the MacKay family was involved in the rescue of bodies. My family is from Nova Scotia and Scotland before that. My great grandmother was a MacKay. I wonder if she was related. I shall have to look that up. Thank you for your excellent work.

Sincerely,
Bonnie Fulcher
Ocean County, New Jersey


2.
Sept. 25, 2007

What a beautiful tribute to Titanic .. I have just started cruising through this site and the photos and paintings are beautiful. Thank you for posting this site to the internet.

Rayma


1.
June 3, 2007

ENFIN UN SITE TRES COMPLET SUR LE TITANIC ET TRES BIEN FAIT FELLICITATION ET MERCI POUR CE MOMENT D'HISTOIRE OUBLIER.
MERCI ENCORE............

(AT LAST A SITE COMPLETE ON THE TITANIC, WELL DONE AND THANK YOU FOR THIS HISTORY MOMENT NOT TO FORGET. THANK-YOU AGAIN. ........... )


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Page published June 25, 2007