There was total of 126 children on board the RMS Titanic when she began her maiden voyage. Unfortunately, out of those 126, 56 children were drowned, only one being from the first class and the remaining 55 were third class passengers. The identity of one of Titanic’s youngest victims remained a mystery for 99 years. In 2011 a pair shoes that had been reportedly stored in a police officer’s drawers were matched up with the feet of one of the Titanic’s youngest victims: Sidney Leslie Goodwin.
The origins of the Unknown Child:
Titanic survivors arrived in New York on April 20th, 1912, just five days after the Titanic sank. The survivors arrived via Cunard Liner R.M.S Carpathia. As soon as the vessel docked in New York other ships volunteered to go back to wreck site and see if they could recover any more bodies or potential survivors. One of these ships was the Mackay Bennet. Which was the first reported ship to have left New York Harbor. The crew had picked up an estimated 328 bodies from the waters, including the leader of Titanic’s band Wallace Hartley. However, among the corpses in the water they found the body of a toddler. The crew recovered the body and took it back to Newfoundland’s in Halifax. Most of the bodies brought back were identified and given a name on their headstone. However, no one seemed to able to identify the child’s body. The crew thought it fitting to give the child a funeral service and burial, on top of the child’s coffin a sign was placed with the words ‘Our Babe’ inscribed on it.
The CS Mackay Bennet crew published the description of the child as:
NO. 4 – MALE – ESTIMATED AGE, 2 – HAIR, FAIR.
CLOTHING – Grey coat with fur on collar and cuffs; brown serge frock; petticoat; flannel garment; pink woolen singlet; brown shoes and stockings.
No marks whatever.
PROBABLY THIRD CLASS
Finding the Unknown Child
For years the identity of the child remained a mystery and it wasn’t until 2002 when Dr Ryan Parr and historian Alan Ruffman tried to solve the mystery once and for all, they had comprised a list of the 5 boys that they believed was the Unknown Child. The pair managed to narrow it down to two boys, the first was Finnish toddler Eino Viljami Panula and the second was Sidney Leslie Goodwin.
The first suspect was Eino Viljami Panula. Panula was only 13 months old, travelling with his family when he was lost in the sinking. since 2004, after examining a set of teeth from the toddler’s body. Many believed this was Titanic’s ‘Unknown Child’. however, after a pair of shoes that had apparently been locked in a draw for nearly 100 years, the identity of the Unknown Child was challenged again. The shoes had been kept by Clarence Northover, who had been working as Sergeant at the time of the Titanic disaster. Dr Ryan Parr re-opened the case a declared that the shoes were deemed to big to fit the feet of a 13-month-old.
After re-evaluating the case permission to excavate the grave of the other potential unknown child was given. The grave of Sidney Leslie Goodwin was excavated, and match was made between the shoes and the toddler’s feet.
Who was Sidney Goodwin?
Sidney Leslie Goodwin was born on 9thSeptember 1910 Melksham, Wiltshire, England. To his parents Fredrick Goodwin and Augusta Tyler. Goodwin was the youngest out of five siblings: Lillian, Charles, William, Jessie and Harold. According to Encyclopaedia Titanica “Sidney appears on the 1911 census living at Watson’s Court, Watson’s yard, High Court Melksham. By 1912 it seems the family were back living, at least temporarily in London at 10 Vernon Street, Fulham.”
Originally the Goodwin’s had planned to travel by another White Star steamship. However, at the last minute were transferred to Titanic. although it’s never been confirmed some of those passengers other than the Goodwin’s had been planning to travel on the S.S Oceanic, a not too distant cousin of Titanic. Due to the national coal strike that coincided with the maiden voyage of Titanic, many were transferred to Titanic. So it could a possible theory that the Goodwin’s had originally planned to sail on the Oceanic.
The Goodwin’s boarded the Titanic as Sidney’s Father Fredrick had hoped to develop a career in electricity. The Goodwin’s traveled as third-class passengers. Their tickets would have cost approximately £47 in today’s money. There unfortunately, is not a great deal about what the Goodwin’s did whilst traveling on the Titanic, but none of the family survived. It’s more than likely that by the time the Goodwin’s had reached the boat deck all of Titanic’s 16 lifeboats and four collapsible lifeboats had left the doomed ship.
As always I’ll leave a few external links on the Unknown Child, feel free to ask any questions or add anything If you’d like
Have a titanic week, Millie
Encyclopaedia Titanica on Sidney Leslie Goodwin: https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/sidney-leslie-goodwin.html
Live Science on the mission to find the ‘unknown child’: https://www.livescience.com/13859-titanic-unknown-child-identification-sidney-goodwin.html
The Gaurdian: The Unknown Child Victim Given a Grave: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/07/duncancampbell
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