The shadow of the events of the Titanic disaster still lingers over the city of Liverpool. Many support that Titanic was even a ‘Liverpool-born ship’ due to her port of registry being Liverpool. According to the Liverpool Echo " Around 70 members of crew and 13 passengers had links to Liverpool, when it comes to crew the figure was one in eight, including engineers, stewards and musicians.The city remains a prominent place in the Titanic timeline and it’s with this self-guided tour that will allow you to explore Titanic’s Liverpool.
1) 174 Tunstall Road, Liverpool
Now more commonly known as ‘Smithdown’ This was the last place of residence of Fredrick Preston Clarke who was one of the eight musicians who sailed and played on the Titanic. Clarke lived here with his family. Unfortunately, Clarke, like the other seven musicians did not survive the sinking of the Titanic. Now, there is no plaque of recognition of Clarke living on this street.
1) Scotland Road
This road is related to the Titanic through several ways. Firstly, many workers for the White Star Line and Cunard lived on this street. It was known as a Maritime Quarter. Another tie between the road and Titanic is the main crew passage. on the RMS Titanic the crew passage used by various members of serving staff and crew was named after Scotland Road, as it was only used by crew members it made sense to name it after a street where many sailors and stewards had lived. Scotland Road supplied many of the Black Gang that would work on Titanic, they were named this because the workers located in the boiler rooms were often covered in ash and gave the appearance of having no real skin tone or colour.
Another piece of history that comes from Scotland Road is that this street was the home of Liverpool singer Cilla Black.
1) 24 Grey Road, Walton, Liverpool
This house was the last known residence of Henry Wilde who was the Chief Officer on the RMS Titanic. Wilde boarded Titanic at Southampton after Captain Smith re-shuffled the Officers. Wilde did not survive the sinking of the Titanic. Out of the six officers serving on Titanic only three survived: Second Officer Charles Lightoller, Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall and Third Officer Herbert Pitman. However, like Clarke there is no plaque or recognition that Wilde lived here.
1) 4 Glenwyllin Road, Waterloo, Liverpool
This was the last known address of Charles Andrew Latimer, the Chief Steward on the Titanic. Latimer was originally born in Lancaster but moved to Liverpool whilst serving with the White Star Line. Latimer was lost in the sinking whilst on the Titanic he had served as the Chief Steward, this essentially meant that he had control over all the other members of staff and it’s most likely that Latimer would have instructed other stewards to issue the life jackets to the passengers in both First, Second and Third Class.
Enfeild House, Crosby, Liverpool.
This was the house of the former Manager of the White Star Line: Thomas Ismay, not to be confused with this son Joseph Bruce Ismay. Thomas Ismay had been a key figure in the re-establishment of the White Star Line on the 18th January, 1868. Originally the White Star Line had been founded by Henry Therefall Wilson in the 1840s but due to excessive loaning and spending the company was forced into bankruptcy. Thomas Ismay had allegedly bought the company flag and house for £1,000 and re-established the company as a shipping line and cruise company. This would become the Ismay family home and residence of Titanic's owner Joseph Bruce Ismay.
Marine Terrace, Crosby, Liverpool
Between 1898 to 1907 this was the residence of Titanic's Captain Edward John Smith. Smith was very popular amongst White Star passengers and even gained the nickname the 'Millionaire's Captain.' Originally, Captain Herbert Haddock was supposed to skipper the Titanic on her maiden voyage however, he stepped down. With Smith being appointed the Captain he had re-shuffle in officers which included the removal of David Blair as Titanic's sixth officer. Captain Smith did not survive the sinking.
As always I’ll leave a few external links to Titanic’s connections with Liverpool, the second part of this article will be published next week, which will include locations such as the Albion House and the Liverpool based companies that supplied the Titanic with her china and even musicians.
Titanic and Liverpool at the Merseyside Maritime Museum: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/visit/floor-plan/titanic/liverpool.aspx
8 Things you didn’t know about Titanic’s connections with Liverpool: https://theguideliverpool.com/8-things-you-didnt-know-about-liverpools-connection-with-titanic/
Titanic Addresses in Liverpool: http://www.g8jyv.co.uk/titanic.html
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