Titanic Records On Line.

[Jim Brady]

200.000 of the Titanic's records have been put on line. http:Ancestry.co.uk - Titanic
Regards.
Jim.B.

[happy daze john in oz]

TITANIC ARTEFACTS EXHIBITION

On this the 100^th anniversary of the sinking ofTitanic I thought it appropriate to re-post this updated thread I first posteda couple of years ago
This is my account of one of two visits I made to thisexhibition whilst it was in Melbourne.

The exhibition tells with the aid of story- boards thehistory of the Titanic from conception to design, building, launch, fit out,maiden voyage, disaster, rescue and finally the official enquiry. One suchstoryboard has the name of Violet Jessop on it but with little information.After my first visit I wrote to the museum curator explaining the life of thislady and how she was the only crew member to have sailed in three ill-fatedWhite Star liners and survived. On my second visit I saw the storyboard withher name had been removed.

With each section there are artefacts and photographs manyincreased to life size. All through the tour music of the day is played in thebackground, adding to the feeling of actually being there. The entrance to theexhibition is set in a manner that gives the visitor the concept of howboarding the ship would have felt at that time. Recreation of the soundsassociated with sailing day, ticket inspection for embarkation, the feeling ofanticipation takes over and one could almost be convinced that they areactually boarding Titanic.
One of the ships three whistles is prominent as the firstartefact on show, and on the day she sailed from Southampton on that fatefulvoyage it would no doubt have blown loud and clear.

Once inside the story begins to unfold beginning with theinitial concept and the persons involved such as the directors of White Star,Harland and Wolfe ship builders, and Ismay. Artefacts such as bolts andfittings from one of the lifeboats davits are there, and story- boards tell ofhow she was designed to carry 32 lifeboats but ended up with just 16 plus twoinflatable. Cost being of the utmost importance, but of course as we were alltold, why do you require lifeboats on an unsinkable ship?
Photographs of the dockyard and the men working on her witha display of portholes, and wrenches from the engine room as well as two largepieces of coal, part of the 8,000 tons she carried using one pound of coal tomove her forward by one foot.

There is a fully fitted first class cabin showing how thepassengers of the day were feted with the best the ship had to offer. Outsidein glass cases a number of artefacts such as a bath plug complete with chain, achina hand basin, first class tap fittings as well as some personal items suchas a fountain pen and eye dropper.

Moving forward, more personal items are on show, bringing arange of emotions to the fore as one gazes upon them, these were the belongingsof some poor soul who on that night perished in the icy waters of the NorthAtlantic.
The recreated grand staircase complete with glass dome andclock set at the time the iceberg hit, such craftsmanship went into this withmuch intricate detail, one could well imagine the ladies of the day in alltheir finery gently gliding down them on the way to the first class dinningsaloon. Such elegance and grace as wasthe manner of the times, and did befit a grand ship such as this.

But the mood is suddenly changed to one of grief and despairas seeing, set out with such care, a white stewards jacket with his namewritten in indelible ink along the collar, Broome, a first class steward, whoalso met his end so prematurely that night. Like so many other crew with familyand friends ashore not realising they had only a few days previously said whatwould in the event be their final goodbye.
Raw emotions took hold as I considered this proposition andconsidering how they may have coped with the devastating news? Or how indeedthe man himself felt knowing he would never set foot on land again.

A collection of paper money and coins all in reasonablecondition considering how long they have been under water are on display, alongwith a number of leather wallets and purses, travel tickets and insurance coverpapers.

The ladies of the day may well have perambulated to the nextsection with the part reproduction of the first class Verandah café featuringmany pieces of china, glass and silver. China and crystal so fine and in suchpristine condition one would be forgiven for imagining these had just beendelivered from the manufacturer. Such intricate and beautiful designs on thechina as to make one realise that no expense had been spared on the fit out ofthis ship. An earthenware pot complete with stones from the Olives it held satthere as if waiting for someone to refill it.

A walk to the next section brings one to a corridor set out,as it was as first class accommodation complete with appropriate lightfittings. Story -boards here tells of comments by some who survived that night.

There is a reconstructed steerage class cabin with four bunkbeds and a constant background noise similar to that of the engine room to givea feeling of how it must have been for those travelling third class. Here alsoa large life size photo recreation of part of the 57 boilers in the boilerrooms as well as life size photos of some stokers and trimmers.

Then the more personal items such as a toothbrush stampedwith the name of Boots The Chemist, Gillette razor blades still in the paperwrappings, a cut throat razor, the pocket watch of a Cape Town hotelier by thename of Dickson, who having fallen on hard times decided to go to the U.S. tostart again. His family made it to safety but sadly he did not, the trilby ondisplay, did it belong to him?
A leather boot with paint on it thought to have beenbelonging to an engine room crewmember, untimely ripped from his foot when theseas rushed into the engine room bursting boilers and snuffing lives as ifsimple candles.

There is a galley section showing the menus served on thelast night to second and steerage class passengers and it is very extensive. Itwas reported that the food and service in second class was so good that manypassengers thought they had gone into the first class saloon by mistake. Menucopies showed that they all ate well on that final night, Roast Lamb withMinted peas for tourist class, a last supper for so many. Again a large numberof items from the deep. One of particular interest a collection of au gratindishes, laid out as they were on the seabed. Originally in a wooden box, whichhad rotted away, they were found in the sand in the same manner as in that box.This leads into the seabed section, which has further items such as necklacesships officers buttons, leather bag, hairbrushes, hand mirrors and otherpersonal effects.

A replica of an iceberg that on that night sat waiting likea robber in the dark, waiting to rob the ship of its very life. The icebergthat struck like a coiled viper, intent on taking its’ victim.
Complete with gun port door a two-ton piece of the shipsside from section D in amazingly good condition, including the glass still inplace. A number of boards with the names of all who survived and perished.Special mention of persons such as Molly Brown, Captain Smith and the two radioofficers who stayed to the last. A record of the rescue by the Carpathia, andof the enquiries into the sinking.

There is a life size photo of Captain Smith, a man on hislast voyage in more ways than one. He was to have retired earlier but came backfor one last voyage. Was he a hero, or the villain of the piece? Did he make anerror of judgement, or was he blindly following company orders? Something noneof us will ever know.

I came away from there feeling that all the books I hadread, all the movies I had seen about the Titanic now made sense. There is amicroorganism in the deep ocean slowing eating the ship away and it is thoughtthat within 40 to 60 years there will be nothing of he left. It is for that reasonso many artefacts have been brought to the surface, and whilst I agree it willbe good for future generations to see these I had a feeling of guilt. The shipsartefacts I could cope with, but the personal items left me with the feelingthat a grave had been robbed.

It is my fervent hope, that man in all his vanity, hadlearned from that disastrous night and that ships of today have been designedto withstand such events. But then again more recent events have shown thatvanity in all it’s fateful forms will be the downfall of so many. Will we everlearn?

[Doc Vernon]

Remember this well John

Cheers

PS They are showing 2 Films on Saturday Pay TV Fox Classics ,the Original "Titanic" followed by 'A Night To Remember"
I really enjoyed both ,so i will again be watching!
Cheers

[Jim Brady]

I remember going to the theatre to see "A Night To Remember".I was in the queue for 2 hours it was women and children first.
Regards.
Jim.B

[Captain Kong]

Thanks for that account of the exhibition John, I think it is the same one that I saw in Singapore`s Marina Bay, three weeks ago, very interesting.
Cheers
Brian.