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Jenny |
Julian Bray & Morag Irving 01733 345581
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Let me tell you about Jenny. Jenny was another member of crew who had also worked onboard Olympic before joining Titanic. At night Jenny slept with one of the stokers, and in the daytime patrolled the remote dark areas of the ship. Jenny as you have probably guessed was the ships cat and sadly had just had kittens. 2 dogs survived the disaster but Jenny did not."
As curtain raiser for what will be a year of RMS Titanic celebrations here is a lengthy extract from our lecture notes, from a series of five expanded lectures on RMS Titanic .This extract is taken from lecture four and deals with the people on board. What comes over is a completely different tone and style to recent film and TV productions. Remember, we are looking at lifestyles with 21st Century eyes, all this happened over 100 years ago. Enjoy! Copyright Julian Bray & Morag Irving 2012.
The full series or invidual lectures are normally presented podium style with a lavishly presented PowerPoint which contains many new illustrations and technical data. The second half of the presentation is an audience led Q&A no areas are off limits....
There is something so very special about a
maiden voyage, everything you touch is new, you are the first person to sleep
in the sheets, the crockery and cutlery is brand new and unused. The Champagne is chilled and
ready, the guest list is also sparkling. ...
***
Morag Irving and I were lucky enough to be on the maiden voyage of the Independence of the Seas to Cobh formerly Queenstown in Ireland in
2008. The maiden voyage of the Independence
followed a similar course to Titanic who visited Cobh
on her own maiden voyage in 1912, sadly of course as we now know Titanic’s
maiden voyage was also to be her last voyage. *** Julian Bray
Passengers arrive in Southampton on two
specially chartered trains leaving from London
to meet Titanic. One is reserved for first class the other for second and
third, the railway company has built an extension to the line to take people to
the ship.
55 people who have booked passage fail to
arrive. Among them is the Vanderbilt family, they decide they don’t want to be on a maiden
voyage, although they have paid for their suite. Their luggage is already loaded, and as they
are unable to take it off they send a manservant to accompany the luggage to New York, neither the
luggage or the unfortunate man will arrive.
On boarding Titanic, via the iron gates
leading to the lounge first class passengers remarked they could still smell
fresh paint. Carpets were still being laid just prior to departure, plants and
flowers for the ship were loaded, supplied by a nursery in Southampton,
the ship was alive with activity. Stewardess Violet Jessop tells us how she
dreaded the departure days, she has worked on several other White Star Liners,
working her way up to first class. Friends and families of those sailing send
flowers to the ship. Passengers called for vases, ‘as large as possible Violet’
to put the flowers into, backwards and forwards with arms full of flowers,
which would need daily attention throughout the journey. Why couldn’t they send
chocolates thought Violet?
Entry via third class is a little
different. Passengers are examined by the crew. A medical condition will
prevent entry to America through
Ellis Island. Those refused entry are sent
back to Europe at White Star’s expense. First
class and officers are exempt from this examination. On arrival at New York the process
begins again, with 3rd class and crew attending a muster to ensure
all are healthy, any ill health or even coming from a part of the world
perceived to be a danger will quarantine the
entire ship for up to 3 days. No ship is allowed to dock in the US
until this has been carried out.
Third class single passengers have been
spared the indignity of dormitory accommodation normally provided on liners.
Instead cabins have been designed some to hold 4 persons, but each with hot
water and heating. Third class accommodation is good an improvement on other
ships. Food is plentiful although ‘hearty’ by today’s standards.
Titanic had been docked at Southampton for several days loading goods and taking delivery of
items ready for departure. The clock on the Grand Staircase was fitted in
Southampton, she had arrived with a mirror masking the gap where the clock
would be, time had ran out in Belfast and many of the small niggles were being
ironed out as departure loomed. Mr Andrews who designed the Titanic is onboard
with 6 men from Harland and Wollf to make notes of things that need attention
and list possible improvements. Titanic has benefited from following Olympic,
they are sisters but they are not totally identical. Suites onboard Titanic are
larger than Olympic, boasting the first private decks. The swimming pool is
heated the first heated pool at sea. Part of an open deck on Olympic is
enclosed on Titanic, the Atlantic spray is not welcomed on first class.
Possible improvements to Titanic will be
incorporated into her new sister, at the
moment she is to be called ‘Gigantic’ that will change, Mr Andrew’s doesn’t
know this yet, he never will; nor will the other 6 men from Harland and Wollf.
The one time Titanic was seen ‘Dressed all
over’ was Friday 5th April,
Good Friday. Dressed all over is the description given to a ship flying all her
flags. A brand new Renault car is loaded onto the ship in a crate , it belongs
to Mr Carter travelling home to the US
with his wife children and two servants. The Carters would survive the
journey, the car bought for $5,000 would not, nor sadly would Mr Carters two
dogs.
Three hoots on the huge whistles and she
is ready to go, the gangplank is pulled up and 8 crewmen have missed the ship,
2 make a jump for it and are onboard. The other 6 walk away, they have missed
the ship, no wages for them; but, they are the lucky ones they just don’t know
it yet. 6 tugs pull her out of the dock, pushing and shoving. A near collision
with the liner ‘New York’
is quickly avoided.
Father Browne travelling from Southampton to Cobh manages a quick photograph, he will not keep this,
thinking to disregard it a bad image, amateur photography is a popular new pastime.
The photographs from the journey end up
in a bank vault they are valued at over 2 million pounds. On arrival at Cobh crewman John Coffey aged 24 jumps ship. He hides
with the mailbags being taken off, although he has signed on for the round
trip. Cobh is his hometown, maybe he only
signed on to get a free passage home.
In the mailbags taken off at Cobh is a letter written by officer Wilde to his sister.
Officer Wilde writes he doesn’t like this ship ‘I have a queer feeling about
it’ he is correct, Officer Wilde will not complete the journey.
In second class Esther Hart also has
premonitions about this voyage. She takes the measure of sleeping all day and
staying awake fully dressed at night. The Harts are travelling to Winnipeg to start a new
life. This will save her life and that
of her daughter Eva aged 7, Mr Hart is lost. Esther and Eva are deported from
the US
as with Mr Hart goes their only way of support. Eva remains outspoken about
this and the sanctuary of Titanic as a grave site for the rest of her life.
It is sometimes said Titanic is cursed by
the presence of an Egyptian mummy among the cargo. No such item is listed in
the cargo manifest. Although among the strange listed are 10 bags of suspenders belonging to Baring
brothers in Southampton.
The crew came predominately from
Southampton, some had been onboard since she left Belfast, preparing the ship. Many coming from
the same street. The new crew signing on to the ship were glad of the work; as
many had not worked for the 6 week duration of the coal strike, and
unemployment in general was very high in
Southampton, 17 thousand are out of work in the area. The port is filling up
with vessels unable to move as they have no coal. Six other White Star ships
had been emptied of coal in preparation for the maiden voyage.
A planned visit
to Liverpool, where White Star Lines had their head offices had to be
cancelled, due to the coal strike ongoing at the time, coal was too precious
and was saved for the Atlantic run. It is rumoured Olympic arrived in
Southampton from New York
with coal stored aboard in passenger accommodation, some cabins being used to
store coal.
Titanic’s passengers expected and received
the highest level of service, this is what they had paid for no allowance was
made for a maiden voyage with a new crew. A suite on the Titanic would cost an
average £870 pounds in 1912, while a suite on Cunard would cost £450. A third
class passage to New York
was £3. The exchange rate onboard is $4.80 to the pound. Travelling to New York onboard the Olympic almost identical to her
sister Titanic, the Prince of Wales
describes his suite, B53 as ‘too pretty for me’.
The Titanic is the last word
in style and comfort. Spies from rival liner company Cunard board to look over
the new ship, they report the main staircase is too big and could be made a
single throughway. They dislike the black and white linoleum at the bottom of
the stairs. Many of the luxurious furnishings on Titanic including the Turkish
baths are copied into future Cunard liners.
Crew rely on passengers to tip them at the
end of the voyage, and help supplement the wages, some frequent travellers avoid doing this; they
become known to the crew. 684 of the crew lost are from Southampton.
Their pay is stopped the day Titanic sinks. A fund is started to help them, the
King donates £250, Queen Alexandra £200. Woolworth’s in New York has a special counter manned by
crew waiting to go home, all profits are given to them. Olympic unable to get
to her sister in time starts a fund among her passengers £1,700 is raised for
Titanic’s crew.
Captain Edward Smith was at the pinnacle of
his career, his nickname among regular travellers was ‘The Millionaires
Captain’. Regulars on White Star Lines would alter their travel arrangements in
order to travel under the command of Captain Smith. The captain’s table is
small and intimate, it seats only 6; it will be used only once. White Star’s
first class clientele was predominantly American, and Captain Smith was no
stranger to the New York
route. Previously he had commanded the Olympic, also taking her out for her own
maiden voyage, this was to be his last trip before retirement. Edward Smith was
born in that traditional English sea faring county of Staffordshire,
first going to sea aged 16.
His first command was as a Naval Reserve in the
Boer War, this entitled him and subsequently Titanic to fly the blue flag of
Naval reserve, ordinarily it would be red. This was to be his last voyage,
retiring after 30 years with White Star. It is sometimes said Captain Smith had
an exemplary record of safety at sea, not quite true. Olympic under his command
had crashed into a naval ship the Hawke in 1911 and Olympic had to return to Belfast for repairs, some
of the parts intended for Titanic have been cannibalised for Olympics’ repairs.
The captain’s salary was £1,250, to put
this into context, Captain Lord of the Californian’s salary was £240 annually.
Captain Smith lived in Southampton,
in Winn Walk, although his house has now given way to a block of flats.
Everyone who served under him went on to speak well of him and the families of
some of those also lost attended his memorial and subscribed to a fund in
remembrance of him. The American inquest into the Titanic disaster found
Captain Smith reckless and apportioned a large amount of blame to him. The British inquest found both Captain Smith and the
White Star line free of any charge of negligence.
Violet Jessop the stewardess in first class accommodation. She
had worked her way up to the position, serving on Olympic and other White Star
liners. 17 hour days were normal for stewardess and stewards, the pay for this
is £2 a month. Violet doesn’t want to join Titanic, but she has friends among
the crew; they persuade her to join them. Life below stairs is not without
humour, the crew form a family.
Crew
quarters on Titanic are much better than other ships, bathrooms have been
provided, rooms are still shared and the space is cramped, but the bathrooms
are a major step forward. Maids and menservants
travelling with families are given their own dinning room. Some accommodation
for servants is included for free when booking a suite on Titanic.
Violet will survive the Titanic disaster
and went on to also survive the sinking
of the Britannic, Titanic’s sister ship where she worked as a nurse during the
First Word War. Violet wrote about her
experiences, in her book ‘Titanic Survivor’, well worth a read if you find it. Violet
points out some of the mistakes made in
‘A Night To Remember’ the 1950’s Kenneth More film about the Titanic. Ladies
are shown in the film wearing the huge cartwheel hats popular in 1912 at table
and indoors. Violet points out they would never be worn indoors, but always
removed! The same mistake is made in the James Cameron film.
Alice Cleaver was a lady with a past, she
was hired by the wealthy Allinson family of Montreal who needed a children’s nurse at
short notice for their journey home on the Titanic. The Allinson’s have 2
children, Trevor and Helen. Unknown to the Allinson’s though, Alice had just been released following a three year sentence for the the infanticide
of her child.
When notice was given to put on lifebelts and assemble on the
promenade deck Mrs Allinson appeared to suffer what we might now term a panic
attack, the family go back to their suite to collect lifejackets. Mrs Allinson,
Helen and Mr Allinson were never seen again. Alice took baby Trevor Allinson to the deck
where she found a seat in a lifeboat for herself and Trevor. On arrival in New York the family can not understand how Alice has survived and the
others have not. Photographs of Alice holding
baby Trevor are doctored to soften Alice’s
appearance.
Some years later the wider Allinson family
are contacted by a woman claiming to be the lost Helen. The story given is baby
Helen is rescued by Mr Andrews who has a new identity and has taken Helen to
live in the Mid West. As proof of identity ‘Helen’ has family jewels that Mrs
Allinson took on the voyage. It is thought ‘Helen’ is no other than Alice
Cleaver who later disappears into history.
Alice is not the only
shady character onboard. Card sharps regularly ply the transatlantic route,
rich pickings on this voyage. In the warm lounges in front of blazing fires
after several courses and well refreshed they challenge unwitting passengers to
card games. They have to board under false names as they soon become
recognised. The effects of Mr E Gilbert Dambon are found to contain gold
watches, a ruby ring, diamond ring, a jewel case, $266 dollars in notes and a
cheque for $1,315 dollars. No family is ever traced for Mr Dambon. Was he a
card sharp or a jewellery thief? We will never know.
Mr Hoffman is onboard with his two small
sons, Michel and Edmund. But again nothing is as it appears. Mr Hoffman is Mr
Navrail who has abducted his two sons following the breakdown of his marriage.
His sons arrive in New York Mr Navrail is lost. No one now knows who the two
boys are. While they are in New York
fellow passenger Edith Russell looks after the boys. Photographs are taken and
placed in European newspapers in an effort to find their family. Eventually
their mother sees the picture and arranges to travel to the US to pick them
up. Edith Russell is a fashion writer who goes on to become a well known war
correspondent.
Colonel J Jacob Astor boards with his wife
and several servants. J Astor is among
the richest men in the world, he is the Bill Gates of 1912. The title Colonel came from Astor’s
participation in the US/Spanish war. The Astor family own the Astor Hotel among
700 other properties, the hotel will become the Waldorf Astoria. Even today,
Bill Clintons daughter, Chelsea, holds her wedding in what was J Astor’s old
home. The Astor’s have spent the winter
in Europe, following Jacobs divorce and rapid
remarriage. Madeline Astor is 18 years old and in a ‘delicate’ condition, J
Astor is 47 with a 19 year old son. J Astor is a ‘celeb’ the newspapers adore
him, he sells newspapers. The divorce fills miles of newsprint, with the church
questioning Astor’s rights to marry again.
Astor vanished for 16 days in the Caribbean, causing much speculation before re appearing.
He is a man born out of his time, he invents bicycle brakes and writes what is
to become science fiction. At the time he is perceived as an eccentric.
He is going home with Madeline. The
Astor’s are among 8 other honeymoon couples onboard, only one of the honeymoon
couples will survive. Jacob Astor will not survive, his body is identified by
his initialled handkerchief, a diamond ring and the 2,400 dollars found in his
jacket.
The Astor family send their yacht to Halifax Nova
Scotia to pick up his body. The child Madeline is
carrying is a boy, he will be called John Jacob Astor after his father. Madeline re
marries twice, but both marriages end in divorce, the last marriage is to a
prize fighter she dies in Palm Beach
in 1940 aged only 47.
What happened in their lifeboat during the
course of that night was to spell social
disaster for another couple. Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon and his wife Lady Lucille
Duff Gordon were travelling to Chicago
to discuss business matters. Lady Duff Gordon had gone ‘into trade’ something
looked down on by the upper classes at the turn of the century who none the
less had been marrying into trade and money for the past hundred years or so.
Lucille had a very successful and profitable
dress designing business, with outlets in Paris,
London and New York.
The Duff Gordon’s were to be among the
first passengers who appeared on the boat deck. They left the ship in lifeboat
number one with 3 other passengers and 7 members of crew, a total of 12 people
in a lifeboat designed for 35 people. The first lifeboat to leave the stricken
ship.
During the course of the night Cosmo
learned the crews wages stopped the minute the ship sank. He made the
charitable or highly unfortunate gesture of writing each crew member in the
lifeboat a cheque for £5, roughly 3 months wages.
This was to be severely
criticised in the press, was it a charitable gesture or a bribe to cover up the
fact the lifeboat never went back to look for survivors? It is to say the least
a strange thing to do in a lifeboat surrounded by ice in the middle of the Atlantic to sit and write cheques. But, the shock of what
had just happened did strange things to people that night. We are only now
finding out about Post traumatic stress disorders.
Onboard Carpathia the ship which rescued
the survivors the Duff Gordon’s continued to make some very serious errors of
judgements. They grouped together the crew of lifeboat 1 for a souvenir
photograph which shows a smiling happy group. This is onboard a ship filled
with widows and grieving families.
The press had a field day with this. In an
effort to claw back some dignity the Duff Gordon’s made a request to appear as
witness’s at the British Board of Enquiry. They were to be the only passengers
who appeared at the British enquiry. The enquiry then was not as we understand
an enquiry now, the whole thing would be over in a month; now we would expect
everyone to be interviewed and the process to take years. The room was filled
with public ticket holders when Lady Duff Gordon spoke. Although exonerated
from any blame by the enquiry the events of the night spelled social disaster
for the couple. Lord Mersey in his conclusions to the official report writes he
‘regretted none of the lifeboats especially number one had attempted to save
the drowning’.
Their business interests failed with World
War 1 and they spent the rest of their lives living abroad ostracised from
society. Lord Duff Gordon in particular said to be highly distressed at the
turn of events.
Onboard Carpathia the Marconi operators
work tirelessly to send lists of surviving passengers. They ignore all incoming
messages, even one from the US
president William Taft, enquiring after his friend Archie Butt who was
travelling first class. Mr Marconi has made a deal with the newspapers and has
imposed the news blackout. The operators are part of the deal and will earn a
years wages for their part. Marconi operators although listed as crew as with
several others were not employed by White Star, their employer was the Marconi
company.
As no response is made to his
repeated requests eventually President Taft sends a US
gunboat to meet Carpathia as she
approaches New York.
Over a megaphone President Taft learns his friend has been lost. Mr Marconi
becomes a little strange as the years go by. Towards the end of his life he
declares himself a supporter of Mussolini and refuses to travel in a lift with
anyone he doesn’t know personally.
I mentioned premonitions made about the
Titanic. Perhaps the strangest of all is a book called ‘Futility’ published in
1898. It is a work of fiction about a ship called ‘Titan’, Titan is 800 feet
long, Titanic is 882 feet. ‘Titan’ sails in April, Titanic sails in April.
‘Titan’ hits an iceberg on her maiden
voyage and the majority of her passengers are lost, sadly we know how Titanic’s
own journey ended. We are fully aware of the dangers of icebergs now, but that
simply wasn’t the case before the disaster occurred. Hindsight is a wonderful
but hard fought thing.
Finally, let me tell you about Jenny. Jenny
was another member of crew who had also worked onboard Olympic before joining
Titanic. At night Jenny slept with one of the stokers, and in the daytime patrolled
the remote dark areas of the ship. Jenny as you have probably guessed was the
ships cat and sadly had just had kittens. 2 dogs survived the disaster but
Jenny did not.
Contributor: Media, Aviation, Politics & Travel Expert, Broadcaster Julian Bray
UK Landline: 01733 345581 Mobile: 07944 217476
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