Godalming Museum Titanic Key Stage 1&2 loan box
This box explores the true stories of four people who travelled on the Titanic:-
Jack Phillips The Chief Wireless Operator on the Titanic, Jack Phillips, came from Farncombe and learned Morse Code at Godalming Post Office. He stayed at his post as the ship sank, sending the SOS messages which brought the Carpathia to rescue the survivors of the tragedy. Jack’s last radio message was sent just 2 minutes before the Titanic sank and he was lost with the ship. He was just 25 having had his birthday on board the Titanic. Jack Phillips is remembered in the beautiful Arts and Crafts Phillips Memorial in Godalming, on a plaque in Farncombe Church and in a specially commissioned portrait and framed photograph on display in the Museum.
Lucy Snape Lucy Snape was a stewardess on the Titanic. She was born in Crooksbury in 1890 and married a ship’s captain, Edward Snape, in 1909. Her husband died young leaving her with a baby, Margaret. Lucy and Margaret then lived with Lucy’s parents in Well Lane in Sandhills, Witley. Lucy got the job on the Titanic with the help of the local MP. She was paid £3 a month and her daughter travelled with her. Margaret survived the sinking but Lucy died. Two of the other stewardesses, who survived, remembered “Another one who refused to move was a second-cabin stewardess, Mrs Snape, a widow, 21 years of age with a little girl. As she fastened the lifebelts on her passengers she wished them good-bye. Later she told some of the stewardesses that she did not expect to see them again,”
Douglas Spedden and Polar the Titanic Bear 6-year-old Douglas Spedden travelled First Class on the Titanic, with his parents, his nanny and his teddy bear, Polar. The family survived the sinking. Two years later Mrs Spedden wrote a story, “Polar the Titanic Bear”, as a Christmas present for Douglas. In the book she describes the Spedden’s luxurious home life in New York and their travels around the world, as well as the voyage on the Titanic, the sinking and the rescue of the survivors in the lifeboats by the Carpathia.
Edith Rosenbaum and the Titanic Pig Edith Rosenbaum or Russell was a first class passenger on the Titanic. She was a fashion buyer and was travelling on business, bringing clothes from Paris to sell in New York. She had two first class cabins – one for her and one for all the clothes. She eventually boarded a lifeboat (with great difficulty, owing to her fashionable hobble skirt – see pp 24-25 of “Titanic style”) taking her lucky mascot, a musical pig, with her. Edith used the pig to distract and amuse the young children in the life boat. Contents of the box:-
• Titanic, the Ship of Dreams PLEASE HANDLE WITH CARE UNDER SUPERVISION – THANK YOU • DVD – the Olympic (Titanic’s sister ship) Jack Phillips • A Farncombe Lad by Mandy Le Boutillier Specially produced for the museum, to mark the centenary of the loss of the Titanic, this booklet was written by the acknowledged expert on Jack Phillips. Additional copies can be bought in the museum shop • Two Morse Code keys Connect the wires to the battery to make these work. Please disconnect the wires when you pack them away. The blank telegram form can be photocopied so that students can compose and send their own messages (on p.49 of “Polar the Titanic Bear” there is a copy of the telegram Mr Spedden sent to his family from the Carpathia). • DVD – Phillips Memorial Cloister and Grounds, opening, April 1914 A copy of an original film in the museum’s collection. The ceremony was attended by Jack’s family, by his assistant Wireless Operator, Harold Bride, and by Architect Hugh Thackeray Turner and Garden Designer Gertrude Jekyll who had designed the cloister and memorial grounds. In the museum you can see a table napkin from the tea which followed the service. This short film was made by Mr Fudger to show in the Empire Cinema in Station Road in Godalming.
Lucy Snape
• Stewardess costume • Lifejacket This replica lifejacket is based on the few Titanic lifejackets which survive. Douglas Spedden’s mother collected the family’s life jackets from their cabin (see p.39 of Polar the Titanic Bear). Stewardess Lucy Snape fastened her passenger’s lifejackets for them. Edith Rosenbaum described how “a young man threw a life belt over my shoulders, untied, just hanging loosely. I had searched my room for one but was too unnerved to find it. If I would have had to put the life belt to practical use, it would have been to no avail, as the thing was just flung on, not even tied”. In the Loan box you will find the following laminated sheets:- o How the replica lifejacket was made o Comparison with a modern lifejacket o Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) – how the loss of the Titanic saved lives As well as a block of cork. The life jacket and information sheets can help you explore materials and their properties, with students carrying out research and tests and designing, and even making, their own lifejackets. Douglas Spedden and Polar the Titanic Bear • Polar the Titanic Bear, by Daisy Corning Stone Spedden • “Polar” • Toy cane furniture There are photographs and drawings of full size cane furniture in Polar the Titanic Bear and if you look on p.27 you can see Polar sitting in a toy chair very like these) • Doll Look at the picture of the toy shop on p.10 and again at p.27 of Polar to see dolls similar to this one. She also demonstrates how a little girl travelling in First Class might have been dressed. Look at the chapter “Dressed for Display” in the book “Titanic Style” to see the kind of clothes the children travelling first class on the Titanic wore, and pp 126 and 132 – 137 in the same book for clothes worn by children who would have travelled second or third class. Although the doll is dressed in Edwardian style, she is a modern doll - what is she made of? What were dolls made of in 1912? • Spinning top and whip (p.35 and P.58) • Blanket nightgown (p.50) • Polar bear activity This sheet can be photocopied onto card so that students can make their own Polar. You will need 4 paper fasteners for each bear, to join the limbs to the body. Students may like to draw some clothes for their bear before cutting it out – either copying one of the outfits the original Polar wears in the book, or designing their own Edwardian outfit. There are lots of ideas for costume in the books in this loan box, especially in “Titanic Style”. You may like to link this activity to the suitcase activity. Ask students to decide if their bear is male or female, a member of the crew or a passenger, wealthy or poor, travelling for pleasure or business, or an emigrant. They can then research and draw a costume and some luggage for their bear.
Edith Rosenbaum and the Titanic Pig • The Titanic Pig • Edith Rosenbaum’s eye witness account of the sinking • Titanic Style, Dress and Fashion on the Voyage by Grace Evans • Suitcase activity Pack a suitcase for someone travelling on the Titanic. People travelled on the Titanic for many different reasons. Edith Rosenbaum was on a business trip. Jack Phillips and Lucy Snape were working. Douglas’s wealthy family were travelling for pleasure. There were also many emigrants on the Titanic – poor people hoping to make a new life for themselves and their families in America. Who owned your suitcase? Passenger or crew? First or second class or steerage? What will they need? What would you take if you were in their place? This sheet can be photocopied onto card or paper. Students can draw in the contents directly, or draw them separately and stick them on their sheet. On p32 of “Polar the Titanic Bear” there is a good White Star Line “wanted on voyage” sticker they can copy.