“We were having a lesson on the Titanic and I know I put my hand up and said that my father went down on the Titanic. (the teacher) said ‘What did he do?’ I said, ‘He was a First-Class Bedroom Steward.’ ‘Oh, we’re not interested in that, it’s only the engineers, they have a memorial.’ Out of the 725 residents of Southampton that boarded Titanic only around 125 came back, they left behind their wives and children. Over 500 homes around Hampshire had lost someone on the ship. Northam is a suburb of Southampton that links with St Marys. Northam School was catastrophically affected by the sinking.
Northam Girls’ School and the Titanic Orphans:
“Old Northam where I lived, was plunged into mourning. Nearly every house in Northam had lost a son or a husband, it’s true every blind was drawn in Northam.” 125 of children attending Northam School had lost a relative on the Titanic, many of the girls had lost either a father or brother. Several the children attending the school had left orphans as a result. Northam School resumed for the summer term on April 15th, 1912, but A 1912 school report remarked that a handful of the girls did not return. the Headmistress, Annie Hopkins commented “A great many girls are absent this afternoon owing to the sad news regarding the Titanic. Fathers and brothers are on the vessel; and some of the little ones have been in tears all afternoon.” the school only remained open on the 16th of April and closed again the day after.
Northam was not the only school affected by the foundering of Titanic. Grove Street School in St. Mary’s was also impacted. Dorothy Cross recalled that her grandmother had once sat in on a class that had been learning about the Titanic. “They went into this one class and grandmother said, ‘Stand up any child who has a relative on the Titanic.’ and the whole class stood up.’ Other schools included London’s Fourth Avenue Girls’ School, Manor Park.
The Titanic Orphans took up residence at the Seaman’s Mission, Southampton. The Christian Practice could be found at Queen’s Terrace, St Marys, Southampton. Whilst the Seaman’s Mission is still a functioning, global, charity, the Southampton branch was closed in 2016.
The Scene at Canute Road
It is plausible that some of the Northam School children had gone down to the docks with their mothers, to see if their father had returned. An issue of the Daily Mail that was printed on the 18th of April 1912, had overheard a child asking “What are we waiting for Mummy? Why are we waiting such a long time?” The mother responded, “We are waiting for news of father.” Unfortunately, many women and children waited anxiously outside the White Star Line offices on Canute Road, Southampton. it is even noted that many women stayed outside the office all night, in hope of hearing any further news.
The painful scene at was described by an issue of the Daily Mirror entitled Widowed Southampton. The article depicts “The gloom which settled over Southampton.” after hearing the news of the sinking. The article adds the visceral reaction of many women, who understood that their husband or son was not coming home. Women and men were recalled having been in hysterics all over the town. Another Daily Mirror article titled The Crew and the Swells published in the days following the disaster, described a woman looking for her husband’s name on the survivor’s list, “she staggered against a pillar and, burying her face in her handkerchief, gave way to piteous heaving sobs and tears.”
A lady by the name of Mrs Saunders had lost her son on the ship, “I bought two or three papers a day in the hope of seeing his name among the saved, but it seems that I shall never see him again.”
The Titanic Relief Fund and Northam
The week following the Titanic disaster saw the establishment of the Titanic Relief Fund, this was an organisation that aimed to support the families that had been devastated by the sinking. A handful of students at Northam School were entitled to the bursary. Records state that female students, who had lost a father or brother were entitled to £3 and 5 shillings, boys were entitled to £8 and 15 shillings, this would have applied to boys such as George and Arthur Hawksworth (aged 12 and 8.) The brothers, who attended Foundry Lane County Middle School, had lost their father. Infants, presumably fell in the age bracket of 0 to 4 years, were given £2 and 6 shillings. These benefits likely went on the student’s uniforms, textbooks and writing equipment. The children affected by the Titanic were kept a close eye on by teachers and lady visitors from the Relief Fund. Many schools in Southampton and Freemantle kept written logs on what benefits the child would receive. The families were visited weekly by a matron who hand delivered their benefits, as if the mothers were not capable of picking the money up themselves.
The Titanic Relief Fund was disbanded in 1956, many of the children who had received help from the fund, had grown up, left school and no longer needed the financial support.
As always, I’ll leave a few external links about the Titanic Relief Fund and the impact the disaster had on schools in the Hampshire County.
Feel free to ask any questions,
Millie.
Sources:
BBC: Southampton’s Lost Titanic Generation: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-17535757
Wikipedia: Northam, Southampton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northam,_Southampton
Works consulted:
Titanic Voices (1998),Donald Hyslop, Alastair Forsyth, Sheila Jemima, Extract: Marjorie Eames Geddes, page 276; Northam Girls’ School Log, page 169, Overheard Canute Road (Daily Mail 18th April 1912), page 196, Mrs Saunders Southampton Times 20th April 1912, page 172. City Heritage Oral History, page 172.
Titanic: The Unfolding Story (2011), Haynes Publishing 2011,Widowed Southampton, (Daily Mirror, April 17th 1912), page 78, The Crew and the Swells, page 72.
Women and Children First? The Administration of the Titanic Relief Fund in Southampton, 1912-59., The English Historical Review, Volume CXXVII, Issue 524, February 2012, Pages 83–109.
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