Sunday, 15 April 2012

The Titanic disaster: 100 years later

Advertisement, Manitoba Free Press, July 29, 1911

Today, of course, is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic that claimed 1,517 lives. There were at least 23 passengers with Manitoba connections on board - only four survived.


Manitoba Free Press April 20, 1912

Back in 2008 I posted The Titanic's Manitoba Connections at my This Was Manitoba blog. In March of this year I dug back into the newspapers and other online archives for a major update and expansion of the post.

It is impossible to exaggerate the horror of the occasion. The implacable calmness of the merciless and all-engulfing ocean; the absolute isolation from any possibility of escape for the majority; the darkness of night and 2,200 human souls in the full vigor and healthfulness of life, the agonizing farewells between the few that were being saved and the many that were doomed to be entombed in the cold, dark waters – truly a grim experience and a terrible catastrophe.
The Voice (Winnipeg), April 19, 1912 (source)


George E. Graham, 38, Winnipeg.
Buried in Ontario.

William Dibden, 18, England.
Destination Neepawa. Body not recovered/identified.

Charles Henry Davies, 18, England.
Destination Neepawa area. Body not recovered/identified.

Thomson Beattie, 36, Winnipeg.
Body recovered one month after sinking, buried at sea.

John Hugo Ross, 36, Winnipeg.
Body not recovered/identified.

The Hart Family, England.
Benjamin, 43, Ester,45, Eva, 7, England
Destination Manitoba. Parents died, bodies not recovered/identified. Eva survived, returned to England.

Hickman Brothers
Leonard, 30, Eden MB. Lewis, 24, Stanley, 20, England - destined for Neepawa. Lewis mistakenly buried in Neepawa as Leonard. Gravestone commemorates all three.

Ambrose Hood, 21, England.
Destination Neepawa area. Body not recovered/identified.

J.J. Borebank (36), Winnipeg.
Body not recovered/identified.

Percy William Deacon, 20, England.
Destination Manitoba. Body not recovered/identified.

The Anderssons, Sweden.
Anders 39, Alfrida 39, Sigrid 11, Ingeborg 9, Ebba 6, Sigvard 4, Ellis 2.
Destination Winnipeg. Bodies not recovered/identified.

The Fortunes, Winnipeg
Mark Fortune 64), Charles Fortune 19. Bodies never recovered identified.
Wife Matry and three daughters survived, returned to Manitoba.

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