The RMS : How did the disaster impact ordinary civilians, families and communities? Essay: Started – 14.08.19 Completed – 01.03.20

On the night of the 14th , the sinking of the RMS Titanic became one of the largest marine disasters to ever be recorded. 1,500 passengers and members of crew died (Wikipedia), most of hypothermia, freezing in the bitter Atlantic waters.

The story of this luxury cruise liners’ tragic maiden voyage is widely known, so much so that in 2012, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington declared ‘Titanic’ the third most recognised word in the world - after God and Coca Cola (Durkee, 2017). The Titanic is not just remembered today because it sank. It is also remembered for its intricate designs built on a colossal scale that still contribute to ship architecture. It is still today referred to as a ‘floating palace’ (Wilson, 2011) because of its grand interior features. Contemporary ships and hotels try to emulate the style that captured so many imaginations originally.

My research has shown me that many historians don’t seem to consider the human side of the disaster, and the impact on families of their loved ones perishing at sea. Nor do they spend time looking at the psychological effect of the ordeal on the survivors. Often it is the disaster, beauty, design or scale of the ship that is concentrated on in many sources I have read. This essay shall focus on the different lives of the people on board and assess how the disaster impacted ordinary civilians, families and communities. I will explore in detail the lives of four passengers and one member of crew that were on board the night of the tragedy.

Irene Wallach Harris (Renee)

Irene Wallach Harris, otherwise known as Renee, was the wife of Henry Harris, a famous Broadway producer. The couple were travelling back from theatrical negotiations in London in a 1st class suite aboard the RMS Titanic to their home in . When the last launched lifeboat, collapsible Lifeboat D, was calling for final passengers, her husband helped find a place for her. Little did Renee know that this would be the last time she would see her husband alive (Wikipedia).

At 2:05am, along with 44 other first, second and third class passengers, the lifeboat slowly rode into the night. Water had begun seeping through a small hole in the bottom of the boat, and the women on board wearing just thin stockings, nightwear and undergarments were at high risk of catching hypothermia (Wilson, 2011). At 7:15am on the morning of 15th April, the lifeboat was met by the RMS Carpathia; the ship that had received SOS messages from the Titanic’s wireless operators Jack Phillips and .

It cannot be said that Renee was overjoyed to have found shelter and a safe place to rest – grief clouded her mind. She was in despair at the sights she saw on the Carpathia, which she found ‘much worse and more difficult to forget’ than the sinking itself (Wilson, 2011). ‘I believe as far as can be made out there are about 150 widows on board, some with children, some with none.’ reported another survivor, Mrs Paul Schabert, in a letter to her father (Wilson, 2011, pp.59). Renee had lost her husband, was alone on a ship full of mourning widows, and had lost most of her personal possessions in the space of eight hours. The Titanic had become the ship of widows.

Widowed women like Renee had to be mentally and physically ready to face the realities of the Titanic sinking, particularly when their husbands or loved ones had died in the disaster. In Edwardian society, men were considered superior to women. Typically, men would sustain families by going to work. In contrast, women would produce heirs and look after houses and husbands. Arguably the helped usher in the modern era of women’s rights. The social constraints on women in the Edwardian era began to change as widowed women had to find ways to make money to support themselves and their family. To help with this, the Titanic Relief Fund was formed, where poverty-stricken passengers could claim compensation money (Wilson, 2011, pp. 63).

Henry Harris’s death had left Renee ‘penniless’ (Wilson, 2011, pp.63). Furthermore, after his death, Renee discovered a series of debts which left her in a precarious financial position. Renee adapted to the sudden change of circumstance by producing new plays and continuing the work her husband had begun at their Hudson Theatre. Through the tragedy, Renee had transformed herself into Broadway’s first female theatre producer – an example of female empowerment.

The first play Renee produced was called ‘Damaged Goods’. It tackled the prevalence of syphilis in the Edwardian middle and lower classes, a taboo subject in the early 20th century (Tress, 2009). Despite her success, she could not raise enough money to save her theatre. She was eventually forced to sell it, an action she was ashamed of and deeply regretted. The loss of her theatre deeply affected the local community as well. After it was sold, it became a sex picture house (Wilson, 2011).

Renee Harris died in 1969, aged 93. Despite her hard work and ambition, she died in poverty living off an ‘actor’s benevolence fund’ (Wilson, 2011, pp. 77). I think this woman was no ‘victim’ of Titanic. Instead of giving up to the terrible things she had seen, she tried to live life to the fullest. A true survivor.

Michel and Edmond Navratil

Another account of survival I have been studying are the dramatic events of the ‘Navratil Orphans’; Michel Jn. and Edmond Navratil. They were travelling in a 2nd class cabin with their father, Michel Sn. These two small young French boys born in Nice were aged just two and four during the voyage. Not long after their birth, the boy’s parents made the decision to divorce, with their mother being awarded full custody of her children. Their father was furious at this, and decided to abduct Michel and Edmond during the Easter holidays.

Between 1880 and 1920, America was becoming the cultural, financial and industrial centre of the world. This encouraged more than 20 million immigrants from to seek fresh opportunities in ‘the New World’ (History.com Editors, 2009). Michel Sn. felt like this was a good chance to build a new life with his children. Whilst Marcelle Navratil desperately searched for her sons, they were boarding the Titanic, waving to the crowd that stood in awe at the sheer size of the largest moving object on Earth. Marcelle contacted the French police, supplying names and evidence but Michel Sn. had bought tickets for his children under the names of Louis and Lola (Dimuro, 2017).

The journey across the Atlantic was going smoothly. Michel Jn. later recorded that ‘my brother and I played on the forward deck and were thrilled to be there’. However, when the Titanic struck the iceberg, the ‘unsinkable’ ship was swamped with water. The small family returned to the deck and looked for a lifeboat. When the final lifeboat, collapsible Lifeboat D, was being launched, their father placed them inside it amongst other passengers including Renee Harris. Michel remembered “My brother and I were put in a boat that was already almost full of passengers. My father charged me to give my mother his affection and he left us. I did not know I would not see him again.” (Masters, 2019).

In his memoirs, Michel shows how terrifying and exciting it must have been for a young child to have experienced the sinking. He wrote: "I remember the moment the lifeboat was lowered from the Titanic. The noise when it fell in the water. And the moment when it started to move away from the ship. I remember waking up in the boat after I fell asleep. The sea was whitish, almost livid and there was a ship in the distance." (Masters, 2019)

After being rescued by the Carpathia, the two boys were cared for by a fellow 1st class survivor - Mrs George Tyler (Wilson, 2011, pp. 285).

Whilst in her care, many newspapers and journalists published their photographs, trying to find any living relatives. Their story quickly spread to Europe. ‘The Orphans of The Deep’ (Wilson, 2011) were reunited with their mother Marcelle in May 1912, after she saw her sons’ photograph in a magazine. They travelled back on the Oceanic to France where they lived the rest of their lives.

Both boys had lived happy lives cared for by their mother. Both married and had children with well- established jobs. Edmond became an interior designer and Michel Jn. became a teacher of Philosophy (France-Presse, 2001). The success of their lives is believed to be due to their mother’s strength and determination - that ‘they had had enough experience of fame’ (Wilson, 2011, pp. 287). She wanted them to have some normality in their childhood.

I think this shows the maturity and perseverance of Marcelle, who was only 21 at the time of her divorce and the abduction and disaster. She understood what Edmond and Michel Jn. needed, putting their needs and requirements before the curiosity of the press who were hungry for every dramatic detail of the disaster and survivors. For me, Marcelle is as much a survivor as her sons. She persisted to give them a safe, stable life where they could flourish as people – not just as passengers of the Titanic. The disaster severely impacted the family from the death of the children’s father, however they never let it show, determined to continue with life.

Bridget Donohue – One of the Addergoole 14

During my visit to the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool I met a man also interested in researching the Titanic. He was checking lists of passengers whilst holding a piece of paper and a pencil. I asked him what he was doing, and he replied that he was checking if all of the Addergoole 14’s names had been commemorated on the lists. Since then, I have been intrigued by the story of the Addergoole 14, a group of 3rd class men and women passengers from County Mayo, in Ireland.

Ireland was a hard place to live in during the early 1900s. Many families were extremely poor and could only afford the most basic of accommodation. They would live in small, cramped homes, with three rooms hosting as many as ten to twelve family members. Parents, teenagers and young children would all work in exhausting, hard-labour occupations like agriculture. In very difficult conditions, they would work to earn money for their families (Titanic Museum Belfast, 2018).

Families would dream of a voyage to a new future on an elegant cruise ship. Salespeople would knock on doors, persuading the poor to purchase tickets for voyages, with brochures and leaflets showing fantastic new lives in America. Newspapers would also publish advertisements of cruise liners with pictures and ticket prices to promote sales. Companies profited the most from steerage passengers, and would visit people more vulnerable, poor and desperate for better lives. This demonstrates how travel companies did not care about targeting the vulnerable; they only cared about the financial profit of ticket sales. An Irish inheritance law passed in the early 1900s meant that only one child could become heir to a family’s plot of land. Often families had ten children, and this law meant certain poverty for most of them. The only option was to connect with a European relative living overseas. When the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic was announced, many poor Irish working families bought tickets (Titanic Museum Belfast, 2018).

Bridget Donohue came from precisely this background in Addergoole. She was 21 years old when she decided to travel on the Titanic. Bridget had a difficult childhood. Her mother had died aged 40 after catching a fever, and she was left to care for her four other siblings: Michael, Mary, David and John. (Encyclopaedia )

Soon after her mother’s death, her father was remarried to Ellen Cauley and Bridget gained three more half-sisters and a half- brother. Bridget was now responsible for nine siblings, as well as having a job at McHale’s Corner Store in Lahardane – the biggest town in County Mayo (Encyclopaedia Titanica).

When Bridget decided to leave Ireland to go to Chicago, Illinois, (Encyclopaedia Titanica) to live with her cousin, she promised to buy the storeowner’s daughter, Maura McHale, a ring. She carried a piece of string with Maura’s finger measurement half-way across the Atlantic. This now lays in the bottom of the Ocean in her dress pocket. Bridget, like many 3rd class passengers, was not considered important enough to have a place on a lifeboat. Her body has never been recovered.

Bridget’s family never actually received news of her death. When an official list of the dead was published, her name was not included. This gave them hope, but also added to the heartbreak. Bridget’s name was incorrectly recorded as ‘Burt’. The Donohue family did not learn of their daughter’s death for some time.

Of the Addergoole 14, only 3 survived. These three survivors never returned to live in Ireland again. For the small village of Addergoole, that at the time only had 96 people living in 22 houses, the sinking brought devastation to the community. Addergoole was the place with the largest proportion of losses in the world (Rainey, 2012). The Titanic disaster was never discussed, a forbidden subject, much like the household of many other passengers. It was not until they started holding a daily bell service almost a hundred years later for the Addergoole 14 that they were spoken about (Rainey, 2012).

County Mayo is still affected by the deaths to this day. The loss of life in Addergoole is typical of the 3rd class experience. They were far more likely to die than those in 1st and 2nd class; indeed more than two-thirds of 3rd class passengers perished in the tragedy.

Arthur Lawrence

The last life story that I explored was Arthur Lawrence, a saloon steward and member of the Titanic crew. He was born in 1875, in Poplar, London.

Arthur was the son of Arthur Lawrence Sn. – a railway clerk - and Mary Ann Edwards. He was the fifth of nine children. In 1891, when Arthur was 15, he left school to become a shopworker, formally called an ‘errand boy’. In 1899, aged 24, he became a ship’s steward. He worked on a range of different ships, including the Cymeric, Gothic, Britannic, Majestic and Teutonic before returning back to the Cymeric (Encyclopaedia Titanica, 2011). During his time aboard the ships, the census documents show that he lived in a boarding house in Smollett Street. This was the address of John and Margaret Hughes and their five adult children. Arthur was in a relationship with Elizabeth Ellen (born 1869), one of their children. She was a café worker.

Arthur and Elizabeth were married in the November of 1903 at Christ Church in Liverpool. They still lived in the same home, however his status was now recorded as a ‘seaman’. They had one child - a son called John Arthur born in 1904.

The family moved to Essex in 1911, where Elizabeth ran a sweet shop and Arthur was a seafarer. In 1912, a fantastic opportunity arose for Arthur to work on the ’s huge new ship, the RMS Titanic. The White Star Line were originally not completely sure whether they would give Arthur a position (Appendix 3). He was not given his position until the morning of the trip, meaning his family had not seen him since he had left home to try and find work.

Arthur originally signed onto the Titanic at Belfast for the trip to Southampton, and his position was as a saloon steward. In the dining room, he would clear tables, change the linen, and lay tables for the next meal (Encyclopaedia Titanica, 2011). His monthly wages were £3 15s, compared to the most senior officer, the Captain Edward Smith, who earned £1,250 per year and a £200 bonus. This shows the difference in salaries between senior officers and junior ship workers.

As family letters show (Appendix 1 and 2), they all expected to see each other again before the voyage. However, Arthur would never see his family again. He died the night the Titanic sank into the depths of the Atlantic. His body was recovered and taken to Halifax in Canada, and later repatriated to Liverpool for reburial. His wife Elizabeth never remarried.

Arthur Lawrence is important to me because I received copies of letters (Appendix 1, 2, 3) and photographs (Appendix 4) that were retrieved from his body and inherited by his grandson who now lives in Canada. These were shared with my Uncle Mick who volunteers at the National Maritime Museum in Liverpool. He used to work for the Merchant Navy, and has a keen interest in the sea and our naval history. Over coffee and biscuits, he talked of meeting Arthur’s grandson on his tugboat, the Brocklebank. The family of Arthur Lawrence has always kept his letters private as they felt they were too personal to go on public display. However, my Uncle was allowed to take photographs of these artefacts for his use and to share with others who might be interested to hear about Arthur’s story. He shared them with me.

Arthur’s letters are precious and unique. They show that passengers, crew and families were unaware of what might happen to the ‘unsinkable ship’. One example of this are his wife’s vague and scribbled words. In the letter, written by their child John, she reassures Arthur ‘don’t worry about your cigarette case there will be another one waiting for you when you get back’ (Appendix 2). I wonder if she would have written this if she had known these would be her last words to her husband.

I find it heart-breaking to read their son John’s words ‘My dear dada, I wish you had come home for I do want to see you today’ (Appendix 1). These words suggest to me that John would have been devastated by his father’s death. Furthermore, I cannot imagine that the family were financially stable enough to survive without Arthur’s income. Elizabeth’s sweetshop would not have guaranteed a sufficient income.

What I find really shocking is that the Lawrence family did not even receive Arthur’s final payment from the White Star Line. Failing to complete the journey meant that his working contract and payment was terminated as soon as the ship was submerged into the water. This was a common case with the deaths of the crew on board the Titanic.

I think Arthur Lawrence and the many members of crew who perished will be remembered for their bravery during the sinking.

Statistics

Throughout history, people have been undermined, discriminated against or exploited because of their gender and race. There were huge gaps in status, gender, class, social wealth and nationality of the passengers travelling on Titanic – which directly affected their chance of survival. The huge numbers of crew that died contrasts with the high number of passengers that were saved in 1st class (Rank, SM). This demonstrates the inequality in status between passengers on board the Titanic. Moreover, the rule of the sea to ‘save ’ had a huge influence on the number of women and children that survived. I have produced the graph below to show these statistics:

The numbers of men, women, and children that died on the Titanic (out of 1517 passengers) 800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0 First class Second class Third class Crew

Men Women Children

There were 913 members of crew on board the Titanic, but only 24% survived - 696 members of crew died (Fowler, 2019). At sea, it was expected that crew would be the last to leave a sinking ship. This included everyone from the Captain to the lowest stoker. Captain Smith never left the Titanic as it sank. The majority of crew members who survived only lived because they were rowers on lifeboats.

There were 23 female crew in comparison to 693 male crew. This statistic shows the limited options available to women at sea in the early 20th century (Fowler, 2019). Every one of the 23 women who were crew were restaurant staff – a relatively unskilled job. In contrast, the men had lots of different roles from senior officers to chefs, cooks, stewards, firemen, and stokers.

1st class passenger 63% survived the sinking (Fowler, 2019). This is very different from the crew because their position in the social hierarchy was respected and hypothetically entitled them to a place on a lifeboat. Additionally, the majority who died in 1st class were men. This was because the Edwardian etiquette at the time meant women and children should be given lifeboats first. This was why the Titanic was often given the name the ‘Ship of Widows’ (Wilson, 2011, pp.52). Many men from well-known and important society families perished, including Benjamin Guggenheim, John Jacob Astor IV and the ship constructor and designer (Tikkanen, A).

2nd class passengers were a lot less likely to survive than those in first, and 76% of third-class passengers died. Consequently, 1st class passengers had a 37% greater chance of survival than 3rd class passengers (Fowler, 2019).

I also discovered that British men were much more likely to die on Titanic than men of other nationalities. It has been suggested that this is because the Edwardians believed that manners like queuing or letting a woman take a seat, were the norm in society. British men would fail to put themselves first even in times of adversity. I find these statistics shocking.

Conclusion

My research for this project has helped me to understand how the disaster of the Titanic impacted ordinary civilians, families and communities. It has shown me that gender, nationality and social class all directly affected a passenger’s chances of survival. These statistics, while interesting, do not give an insight into the stories of the individual people and their lives, or their experiences on the Titanic. This has been the focus of my project and the main aspect of the disaster that I find fascinating.

Whether through Irene Harris selling her iconic theatre, or Michel and Edmond Navratil surviving the press’ twisted stories to create drama. Through the wrongly-recorded death of Bridget Donohue or Arthur Lawrence’s family’s loss of stability after his death, the disaster of the Titanic still remains known to the world. The significance of the event still influences many people today, and the majority of people living both in our country and the U.S have heard of the disaster. An appreciation of the high number of people that perished has influenced the development of modern shipbuilding. World-wide, safer structures have been designed to prevent another disaster like this from occurring. Evacuation procedures, lifeboats, life vests and the belief in safety not style is now paramount in the world of travel.

At the time, the sinking of the RMS Titanic symbolised much more than death and survival. A new age of women’s rights was ushered through after the death of ‘model housewives’. Inequalities in gender, race, background, wealth, social status and occupation were beginning to be recognised. The social constraints of Edwardian society were beginning to break down already, but the news of men dying at sea, and women being made widows meant that the pace of change became quicker.

The country’s lack of attention to mental health, and the lack of support to the mental health issues of survivors was woeful. This is shown in the number of suicides of survivors from what is likely to be Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some survivors felt guilt at surviving over others who died. Others felt shame and hid themselves away. This is demonstrated through the story of J. Bruce. Ismay, the chairman of the White Star Line, who became a virtual recluse after taking a place in a lifeboat. Today, he would not be shamed for his actions, and he would be helped through support networks such as counselling.

Many innocent people died. Families lost husbands, wives, children, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, aunties, uncles, friends… The sinking of the RMS Titanic was the worst in maritime history. However, the disaster has made us a stronger, equal, more united society for the perseverance shown by survivors and families who lost relatives. As Kilroy Oldster said “Examination of our past is never time-wasting. Reverberations from the past provide learning rubrics for living today (Oldster, 2015).”

Reference List

Appendix 1: The first part of the letter from John Lawrence to his father Arthur Lawrence

Appendix 2: The second part of the letter from John and Elizabeth Lawrence to Arthur Lawrence

Appendix 3: The White Star Line letter from the company to Arthur Lawrence

Appendix 4: The copies of two professional photographs of Arthur Lawrence

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Durkee, A. (2017) 17 things you might not know about the sinking of the Titanic. Available online at https://www.mic.com/articles/173933/17-things-you-might-not-know-about-the-sinking-of-the- titanic#:~:text=In%202012%2C%20Smithsonian%20reported%20the,after%20God%20and%20Coca% 2DCola. (accessed 14th August 2019).

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Wilson, A. (2011) Shadow of the Titanic: The extraordinary stories of those who survived (UK, Simon & Schuster).