Family Life
John Law Hume was born on the 9th August 1890, in Dumfries, Scotland. He was the only son of Andrew Hume, who was a respected music teacher, his choice of instrument was the violin, a skill that Andrew would pass onto his son. John had two sisters: Nellie and Kate Hume. John had grown up in Dumfries. Due to his tall and lanky physique he gained the ironic nickname of ‘Jock’. But he had little time for sports, Jock took after his father, Andrew and started learning the violin.
Mary Costin
In the summer of 1909, Jock and his family attended the annual Rood Fair, he of course had spent most of the day entertaining audiences with his violin. Whilst at the fair, Jock’s sister Nellie introduced him to a young girl by the name of Mary Costin. By trade Mary worked in a glove factory. But not long after their meeting at the Fair, Jock and Mary became romantically involved. Whilst Mary’s family readily accepted the musician, John’s family were not impressed. John’s Father Andrew openly admitted that he did not like his son’s relationship. As Mary came a working-class background, Andrew thought she was common, this was a cruel judgement, before his success as a music teacher, Andrew, had been a van driver. But still, Andrew and his wife Alice, continued to shun Mary and would not even let her enter the house.
John did not pay attention to his parent’s disapproval of Mary and they continued to court. By early 1912, John was now working onboard steamships as a musician. When he was not at sea he did not return to his father’s house, but now lodged with Mary and her mother, Susan. Before John left for Southampton. Mary had told him that she was expecting his child, but when John’s father, Andrew discovered the news he wanted nothing to do with his new grandchild. To prepare for this John had promised Mary that when he returned from Titanic’s trans-Atlantic voyage to New York, the couple would be married.
The Titanic Connection
John was not directly employed by the White Star Line; he was under the direction of C.W & F.N. otherwise known as ‘Black’s’. This was a talent agency located on Castle Street, Liverpool. The employers were responsible for finding musicians work aboard ships. Until 1912, musicians were paid £6 and 10 shillings, with an added 10 shillings for a uniform allowance. However, due to cuts John would have received £4 and was not provided with a uniform allowance. This would also mean that John was not listed as part of the ship’s crew and instead was listed as a second-class passenger. John Hume boarded Titanic at Southampton on April 10th, 1912.
Titanic’s eight-piece band shared a cabin located on the aft entrance of E-deck. Two cabins were allocated to the band, that could hold four passengers in each. Although, their accommodation was not a scratch on the cabins provided to the first-class. The second-class cabins were certainly not to be looked down at. Each member would have had their own bed, with a shower that provided hot and cold water. The location of the second class was only a stretch away from Titanic’s communal facilities such as; the squash racket court, the barber shop and the specially designed swimming pool, that circulated fresh water from the sea. It is unlikely that the band used any of these facilities, due to their busy schedule. The job of the musician was taxing they often provided concerts at lunch, afternoon tea, dinner and then a post-dinner concert, which would finish just before midnight. As the band were an eight-piece group, they would often split into smaller groups. For example, a trio might perform in the ship’s Parisian café, whilst a duet would perform in the second-class social areas. When they were not performing, they would retire to their cabins to practice.
The White Star Line Songbook catalogued over 300 pieces of music, the musicians were expected to be able to play every song listed, without the aid of sheet music. John ‘Jock’ Hume accepted the challenge.
Whilst on the ship John struck up a friendship with serving nurse Violet Jessop, it is likely the two became friends due to their similar ages. Violet was 23 and John was 22. Originally, she had mistaken John for the bandmaster, but recalled how much she enjoyed walking past their accommodation, as she often heard them practicing. At one evening dinner, John allegedly told Jessop that was going to play ‘a real tune.’ To round the evening performance off.
April 14th, 1912,
It is not difficult to trace the actions of Titanic’s band during the sinking. The musicians had been given instruction to play whilst the lifeboats were being loaded. At first many passengers could not understand why a lifeboat drill was being carried out. But many of the ship’s crew understood that Titanic was fatally wounded. Whilst helping others put their life preservers on, Violet Jessop had passed John Hume in a second-class corridor. According to Yvonne Carroll’s book Hymn for Eternity John told violet that he would play some music “Just to cheer things up.” Perhaps the band were also aware of the ship’s unavoidable fate as first-class passenger Mrs. Futrelle recalled the band playing Irving Berlin’s piece, Alexander’s Ragtime Band with “The fear of death in their faces.”
The band’s final piece still remains a divided subject, whilst some had sworn they had heard Nearer My God to Thee and the latter favoured Song D’Autumn as the band’s own requiem. But the consensus acknowledges that the band did not stop playing until just after 2:00 am on April 15th. Unfortunately, all eight members were lost in the sinking of the Titanic.
life After Titanic
John Law Hume died at the age of 21. His body was recovered by the CS Mackay-Bennett, he was recovered still wearing his uniform. John’s body is listed under headstone 193 at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
When news of the Titanic disaster reached Hume’s native home of Dumfries, his partner, Mary Costin was one of the first to hear of her fiancé’s death. Mary had decided that she would tell John’s parents, that their son had died in the sinking. surprisingly, John’s parents had listened to Mary’s news. Not long after John’s body was identified, Andrew refused to give Mary a memento to remember her fiancé by.
Mary had also told Andrew and Alice that she was pregnant with John’s child. Andrew refused to acknowledge or offer support to his grandchild. Realising that she had no means to support herself or her child, Mary applied to the Titanic Relief Fund to receive a weekly allowance for her daughter Johanne. To receive the bursary Mary had to prove that John was the biological father, as each applicant was reviewed and needed to prove a legitimate relationship to the deceased. The relief fund was a regimented organisation, many families were under surveillance from lady visitors and matrons, to ensure the money was being handled correctly. Specifically, this was only the case for Southampton as many of the residents of the town had been affected to some degree by the tragedy. Mary was exempt from weekly visitors from the relief fund as she lived in Scotland, she was successful in her application. By some mistake, the money that was intended to be given to Mary ended up being delivered to Andrew Hume, who was adamant that she should not be entitled to the money as she was not legally married to his son. Mary would not give in, she took Andrew and John’s sister Kate to court over the matter and was eventually successful, in 1913 the court awarded Mary the money from the Titanic Relief Fund.
Above: John's fiance, Mary Costin (right) pictured with John and Mary's daughter, Johanne.
John Hume Memorials:
There are several tributes and memorials that was erected in tribute to the Titanic’s orchestra. Located in the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall a bronze plaque was unveiled to remember all eight musicians who so bravely gave their lives. In Southampton, the musician’s memorial can be found just outside of Andrew’s Park, it is directly opposite the engineer’s memorial. John’s name is inscribed on the stone with the music notes of Nearer My God to Thee written underneath. Back in John’s hometown, a memorial was unveiled in 1913 in memorial of the two Dumfries residents who were lost in the sinking, it stands in Dock Park, Dumfries.
As always, I’ll leave some external links about the life and times of John ‘jock’ Law Hume, please feel free to ask any questions and let me know what you think.
The life of John Law Hume according to Encyclopaedia Titanica: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/jock-hume.html
The Band’s Still Playing: http://titanicsband.blogspot.com/2012/05/john-law-jock-hume.html
Shorthand Social on John Law Hume: https://social.shorthand.com/TitanicMystery/jCPwZ7AjHGc/john-law-hume
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