Titanic Lives

I picked up Richard Davenport-Hines’s book in our local library. It gives a fascinating insight into the background of those who embarked on the ill-fated liner in 1912, including some who, unluckily, had been transferred onto Titanic from other planned sailings, as well as a few who fortuitously missed the departure by a whisker.

Working from his Falkland Road, Egremont studios, my grandfather photographed White Star liners on the Mersey, though never Titanic herself, as she made her maiden voyage from Southampton. However, he did leave in his archive a postcard of the famous image of her leaving the wharf side at the start of the fateful voyage. It was the only photograph in the collection that had not been taken by Priestley and Sons. Its inclusion there gives some indication, I think, of the momentous nature of the loss that was felt by all who had any connections with the shipping line.

My wife’s family also had a White Star Line connection. Great grandfather, Henry Isaac Thorpe, was their chief victualling superintendent, based in Liverpool. Though he died prematurely a year before the disaster, he had previously worked as a purser on the trans-Atlantic route, including on the SS Majestic. The picture of her below, taken at Liverpool landing stage just prior to sailing, was by Priestley and Sons. In his professional capacity, Henry Thorpe would have known Captain Edward Smith, who went down with the Titanic and Bruce Ismay, the company’s chairman, who did not.