top of page
The People
Captain Edward John Smith
Captain of the Titanic. Born on January 27, 1850, in Hanley, Staffordshire, England. Captain Edward J. Smith played a role in one of the most famous disasters at sea in history, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The son of a potter and later a grocer, he attended a school in Etruria, which was supported by the Wedgwood pottery works. Smith stopped going to school around the age of 12. Beginning his life on the sea as a teenager, he signed on to the crew of the Senator Weber in 1867.
John Jacob Astor IV
This American businessman, builder, and investor was the descendent of the first multi-millionaire in the United States, German-American Johan Jakob Astor. He was the richest person aboard the Titanic and was traveling with his second wife Madeline who was five months pregnant. Astor did not survive the sinking of the Titanic but his wife did. According to survivor accounts Astor was last seen on the starboard wing of the boat smoking a cigarette with Jacques Futrelle. Astor’s body was recovered on April 22, by a cable-ship chartered by White Star Line. He was identified by the initials sewn into the label of his jacket.
Benjamin Guggenheim
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this American businessman was aboard the Titanic with a mistress; a French singer by the name of Madame Léontine Aubart, his valet Victor Giglio, chauffeur René Pernot, and Emma Sägesser the maid of Aubart. Guggenheim and his valet had slept through the collision with the iceberg, but were forced to wake and dress once it became clear that the situation was dire. Guggenheim and Giglio helped Aubart and Sägesser along with other women and children into lifeboats and then proceeded to change into their evening wear and go down with the ship “prepared to go down like gentlemen”. If his body was ever recovered it was never identified.
Margaret Brown aka “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”
Margaret Brown was born in 1867 and was a philanthropist and activist who gained a great deal of fame from the sinking of the Titanic. After boarding lifeboat 6, she returned to the sinking ship to look for other survivors. It is not known whether or not any victims were rescued upon return, but after the event she became known as the “Unsinkable Molly Brown”. In her later life she became an activist for a number of causes including women’s and worker’s rights, children’s education, historic preservation, and recognizing bravery aboard the Titanic. During the last years of her life she became an actress. Margaret Brown died in 1932.
Isidor and Ida Straus
Isidor Straus was a German Jewish American and was co-owner of Macy’s department store in New York along with his brother Nathan. Aboard the Titanic with his wife, Ida refused to leave her husband while the ship was sinking. Isidor was told that he would be able to board the lifeboat with his wife, but refused and instead sent his wife’s maid Ellen Bird onto the boat instead. Both Isidor and Ida were last seen sitting on the deck holding hands before a large wave washed them into the ocean. Isidor’s body was recovered by the Mackay-Bennett and brought to Halifax, Nova Scotia before being shipped back to New York. Ida’s body was never recovered.
Thomas Andrews
Born in 1873, Thomas Andrews was an Irish businessman, managing director and head of the draughting department for Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland. Andrews was a naval architect and the person in charge of the plans for the RMS Titanic. When the Titanic struck the iceberg, Andrews was drawing up possible changes to the vessel and hardly noticed the collision. Captain Smith informed him of the situation and Andrews noticed that five of the watertight compartments on the vessel had flooded and the ship was certain to sink. He also informed Smith of the shortage of lifeboats aboard the Titanic. According to survivor accounts, Andrews was permitted to board a lifeboat but instead helped women and children board and sealing his own fate. The body of Tomas Andrews was never recovered.
The Band
The musicians of the RMS Titanic all perished when the ship sank in 1912. They played music, intending to calm the passengers, for as long as they possibly could, and all went down with the ship. All were recognized for their heroism.
Theodore Ronald Brailey, Age 24, London, England, Pianist
Roger Marie Bricoux, Age 20, Cosne-sur-Loire, France, Cellist
John Frederick Preston Clarke, Age 30, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, Bassist
Wallace Hartley, Age 33, Colne, Lancashire, England, Bandmaster, Violinist
John Law Hume, Age 21, Dumfries, Scotland, Violinist
Georges Alexandre Krins, Age 23, Spa, Belgium, Violinist
Percy Cornelius Taylor, Age 32, London, England, Cellist
bottom of page