Dreams of Those Aboard the Titanic: What Were They Feeling?

What was going through the passengers minds as they boarded the Titanic almost 100 years ago ?

The idea of a new life in another country would have been exciting yet the sadness of leaving loved family members behind would leave them with mixed emotions .

As I stood on the docks of Southampton when over there in 1999 I was first of thinking of the time I was there at age 5 with my family leaving our country to set out across the world with dreams of a new life.

Mum & Dad were leaving behind all their families in Wales to set off for a new life with a son age 7 & 2 daughters age 5 & a baby on the Fairsky .

I then thought of the Titanic which has fascinated me since we watched a black & white clip of it in New Zealand at school at about age 9.

The people on the Titanic were setting off for a new life in a whole new way of life or returning home to family .

Unlike us on ships today they had the horrible disadvantage of being put in different sections according to class and it was a lot of the 3rd class passengers who were basically locked downstairs that were to perish that sad day in 1912.

Last year for our anniversary we did a cruise to Tasmania on the Sun Princess.

At most ports the ship docks in the port & you just walk off , however at Port Arthur the ship stays out of port & they lower the lifeboats to take you into sure.

To determine who goes in what lifeboat they get you to line up for tickets .

We were fortunate and I think in about number 11 so we had a good amount of time in Port Arthur to look around.

While waiting for our turn we were watching the lifeboats being lowered & it gave you a bit of a feeling of what it would be like on the Titanic seeing the lifeboats come down & would you get a seat ?

Could you save your family ?

Were there enough lifeboats ? Unfortunately there were insufficient lifeboats to go around all the passengers due to a cost cutting exercise which cost so many people aboard the Titanic there lives.

 Titanic history tells us that gates did exist which barred the third class passengers from the other passengers. However, these gates weren't in place to stop a third class passenger from taking a first class passenger's seat on a lifeboat. Instead, the gates were in place as a regulatory measure to prevent the "less cleanly" third class passengers from transmitting diseases and infections to the others. This would save time when the ship arrived in New York, as only the third class passengers would need a health inspection.

At the time of the sinking, some stewards kept gates locked waiting for instructions, while others allowed women and children to the upper decks. As a result of poor communication from the upper decks, the dire reality of the situation was never conveyed. The crew failed to search for passengers in the cabins and common areas, and the fact that some third class passengers did not speak English, also presented a problem. As a result, many of the third class passengers were left to fend for themselves. Only 25 percent of the third class passengers survived the disaster.

The Passengers were from a large range of places and many had dreams of a better life in America ,

which is the same as today.

There were many servants on board as well , some might have oreferred to have stayed at home but needed the position.

Some dreamt of owning a shop while others were looking for marriage to a wealthy person.

Behr boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a first class passenger; he occupied cabin C-148 (111369, £30). He had been pursuing Helen Monypeny Newsom, a friend of his sister. In fact, part of the reason he was on the Titanic was to continue his courtship of Miss Newsom.

In March, 1913, just short of a year after the catastrophe, Karl and Miss Newsom were married in the Church of the Transfiguration.

They had 4 children & Karl later went into banking; he was vice-president of Dillon, Read & Co., bankers, of 28 Nassau St., NY. He was also on the board of the Fisk Rubber Company, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, and the National Cash Register Company. At his death he was a director of he Interchemical Corporation, the Behr-Manning Corporation of Troy, N.Y., and the Witherbee Sherman Corporation. His clubs included the Downtown, University and Yale, and the St. Nicholas Society.

Miss Erna Alexandra Andersson, 17, from Kulla Bay, Strömfors (Ruotsinpyhtää), near Lovisa, Southern Finland boarded the Polaris at Hangö to Hull and then travelled on to Southampton where she boarded the Titanic as a third class passenger . She was destined for New York.

Erna was rescued in collapsible D. After her arrival in New York she was quartered in the Union League Home together with Maria Backström.

She stayed in New York and worked as a domestic helper. She visited Finland about 1913 then returned to USA. She married a Finn named Johansson and settled down, in (?) Houghton, Michigan.

Name: Miss Amelia Mary "Mildred" Brown
Born: Friday 18th August 1893
Age: 18 years 7 months and 28 days.
Marital Status: Single.
Last Residence: at 152 Abbey Road London England
Occupation: Cook (Personal)
2nd Class passenger
First Embarked: Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 248733 , £13
Cabin No.: F33
Rescued (boat 11

Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
Died: Wednesday 30th June  1976

Miss Amelia (Mildred) Brown was cook to Hudson Allison and family and travelled second class as did their chauffeur George Swane. During the voyage she shared a room (F-33) with Selena Rogers Cook, Elizabeth Nye and Amelia Lemore.

On the night of April 14th Mildred was very reluctant to get up even when Swane and her room mates encouraged warned her of the danger. Only when Miss Rogers exclaimed that she was surely the only person on the entire ship to remain in bed, did she sti

Mildred was rescued in lifeboat 11 and wrote to her mother from the Carpathia. The letter is postmarked Grand Central Station, New York, 10 a.m., April 19th 1912.

Mrs Brown
29 Hanover Gdns
Kennington
London SE
England

My dear Mother
At last I have made myself sit down to write. I don't know how the time has gone since the wreck But I can't help thinking how lucky I was to be amongst the rescued. There were 2000 people about that on board and only about 700 were rescued. If happened at 11.30 Sunday night. Our boat ran into an iceberg and within 1 1/2 hours the vessel had sunk I couldn't believe that it was serious and would not get up until Swain [sic] came and made me that was the last / saw of him poor fellow. No sooner was I on deck that I was bustled to the first class deck and pushed into one of the boats and I found nurse (Alice Cleaver) and the baby (Trevor Allison) were there. It was awful to put the lifebelt on it, seemed as if you really were gone.
Then came the lowering of the boats I shut my eyes in hopes I should wake up and find it a dream. Then came the awful suspense of waiting till a vessel happened to pass our way. The wireless telegraphy had beer used and this vessel that was southward bound came miles out of its way to pick us up. By the time we had got out of reach of the suction we stopped to watch her go down and you could watch her go too. It went in the front until it was standing like this then all the lights went out. Shortly after we heard the engines explode and then the cries of the people for help. Never shall I forget it as long as I live. I don't let myself think of it. We were on the water from 12 till 6 in this small boat. Thank goodness it was a calm clear night or I don't know what would have happened. We were nearly frozen as there were Icebergs all round us.
Ever since I have been on here I have felt in a stupor. Everything seems too much trouble and I don't care what happens to me. I found Sallie (Sarah Daniels) had got on alright but poor girl she keeps worrying about her things, of course we have lost everything bar what we stand up in. I had my watch on my arm in fact it hasn't left it since we sailed and my money was in my pocket. I have not seen Mr and Mrs Allison. I suppose they have gone under but there is just the hopes that they may have been picked up by another- boat but still I am not going to worry about that as they have several friends on board and then there are the partners of the firm. We have been offered a home until they can find us a place suitable. This vessel has turned back to New York with us. I have slept on the Dining Room floor both nights. We had a most awful thunderstorm last night and today it's that foggy. I shall be glad to be on terra firma again. We had a bad start. The New York broke adrift and ran into us at Southampton Harbour.
Well I won't write any more now. Will you let Neil read this and Aunt Em or anyone that you think as I don't feel like going all over it again. Don't worry about me as I shall be well looked after and I have made several well-to-do-friends.
Lots of love to all,
From your ever loving daughter
Millie

Name: Mr Neshan Krekorian
Born
Age: 25 years
Last Residence: in Turkey
Occupation:
First Embarked Cherbourg on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 2654 , £7 4s 7d
Cabin No.: [F] E57
Destination Canada
Rescued boat 10
Disembarked Carpathia} New Yorkon Thursday 18th April 1912
Died: Sunday 21st May 1978
Cause of Death: Cause Not Disclosed

Buried: Victoria Lawn Cemetery St. Catharines Ontario Canada

Mr Neshan Krekorian, 25, was born 12 May 1886 (1), in the village of Keghi, in what was then Turkish occupied Armenia (2). He was a Christian, and after Turkish Muslims renewed an ongoing vendetta against Christians, Krekorian and several of his compatriots, Orsen Sirayanian, Ortin Zakarian, Mapriededer Zakarian and David Vartunian decided to flee the country and emigrate to Canada. He was heading for the home of Mr Paul Martin, 108 Princess Street, Hamilton, Ontario.

One source (AH) suggests that Krekorian did not have a ticket on Titanic, and had to bribe a travel agent in Marseilles to get aboard, although the contract ticket list indicates that he held ticket number 2654 which cost £7, 4s, 7d. Either way, he boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as a third class passenger . Krekorian later complained about being "cooped up like a chicken" in their third class cabin (E-57 on F-Deck).

On the evening of April 14, Krekorian played cards, and around 11 o'clock kicked off his shoes and crawled into his bunk with his clothes on. He felt a draught and noticed his porthole was open. When he went to close it, he noticed ice floes in the water. "Even though it was the first time in my life I had seen icebergs, I didn't think much of it because they were barely noticeable," he said later.

Once the iceberg hit, Krekorian managed to make his way up to A-Deck just as lifeboat 10 was being jerked down the Port side, ran down the deck, made a leap for it, and landed in the boat. Able Seaman Frank Evans later testified that Krekorian "deliberately jumped in and saved himself." Krekorian survived, but caught pneumonia. He was hospitalized in New York, and when he finally made it to his destination in Brantford, Ontario, was in hospital again for a couple of weeks.

In 1918 he moved to St. Catherines, Ontario, he married Persa Vartanian (3) on 12 July 1924, and they had four children.

Krekorian worked all his life on a General Motors Automobile Assembly line.

The Titanic was his first and only time on a ship. Whenever he went anywhere near a large body of water, his daughter said, "his face betrayed his thoughts, He would gaze at the water, and instantly you knew he was reliving that night."

He died in St. Catherine's on 21 May 1978.