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Map showing location of Southampton in the United Kingdom
Photograph showing the offices of the White Star Line in Southampton

Southampton, Canute Chambers. Here in the aftermath of the sinking of the Titanic, crowds gathered outside the offices of the White Star Line waiting for news of their loved ones.

Titanic Memories - remembrance sites in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Southampton, Hampshire

Albert George Ervine was an assistant electrician and the youngest member of the thirty-five strong engineering staff. He had signed on the Titanic with his close companion Alfred Pirrie Middleton; neither wanted to sail without the other and they had both written to the White Star Line requesting positions aboard the liner. Alfred Middleton had been brought up in Co. Sligo, in sight of the North Atlantic. He too, showed exceptional aptitude in electrical engineering in Glasgow and Ireland. Ervine wrote to his mother from Queenstown that he was on duty 'morning and evening from 8 to 12; that is four hours work and eight hours off', so would have been at work when the collision occurred. He was one of six electricians whose skill and ability would be called upon on 14th April and helped ensure power was maintained for the wireless set and the lights right up and until she sank. All the engineers died, among them Alfred Middleton and Albert Ervine, Ervine four months short of his nineteenth birthday.

On 22nd April 1914, in East Park Sir Archibald Denny Bt, LL.D., President of the Institute of the Marine Engineers unveiled the bronze and granite memorial which was draped with a Union Flag in a ceremony witnessed by 100,000 onlookers. The dedication on the memorial, from the New Testament, John 15:13, reads "Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for a friend".

A further memorial was erected through public subscriptions on Southampton Common to the crew of the Titanic, specifically the firemen, sailors and stewards who died. The honorary treasurer of the fund, Mr. Bullions Moody, unveiled the memorial on 27th July 1915. Built of Portland stone, the memorial also served as a drinking fountain. Moved to Holy Rood Church due to vandalism, it was unveiled in its new location on the sixtieth anniversary of the disaster. The church itself is a memorial to the Merchant Navy.

In 1990 a plaque was re-dedicated to the Titanic Musicians. The original memorial was held in the Old Library, but that was destroyed during the Second World War. Through the endeavours and hard work of local Titanic historian Brian Ticehurst a replica of the memorial was unveiled on the corner of London Road and Bedford Place. The unveiling took place in the presence of survivors Millvina Dean, Bertram Dean, Edith Haisman and Eva Hart on 7th March 1990.

The Titanic carried its own post office, staffed by John R Jago Smith, James B Williamson, H L William Gwinn, John S March and Oscar S Woody; they were amongst the first to die in the sinking. The plaque, erected to their "honour and memory", in the High Street Post Office in Southampton recognises that they "died on duty in the foundering of the S.S. Titanic April 15. 1912. "Steadfast in Peril"."

The Titanic Passenger and Crew Memorial at Southampton Docks was unveiled on 10th April 1993 the inscription reads "In memory of the passengers and crew of R.M.S. Titanic which sailed from the nearby Berth 43 on her maiden voyage on 10 April 1912 and sank on 15 April 1912 with the loss of over 1500 lives".

The grave of the Captain of the Carpathia, Arthur Henry Rostron, lies in West End Cemetery. The inscription on his grave reads "In Loving Memory of my dear husband Sir Arthur Henry Rostron, K.B.E., R.D., R.N.R., Died Nov 4th 1940, aged 71 years, Also of Ethel Minnie, the beloved wife of the above. Died July 7th 1943, aged 69 years. Sir Arthur Rostron, Captain of RMS Carpathia. Saved 706 souls from SS Titanic, 15 April 1912." On the side of the grave a further inscription reads "Their bodies are buried in peace but their name liveth for evermore".

Other sites in Southampton include the former South Western Hotel (now a Grade II listed building), near to the docks. Here, many passengers - including Joseph Ismay and Thomas Andrews - stayed after catching the boat train from London, before boarding the Titanic on the morning of April 10th 1912.


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