The speaker at the February lunch was Christine Gatenby who told the story of three members of the Titanic’s crew. James Paul Moody was the 6th officer and earned £8 10s per month. He was born in Scarborough in 1887, the youngest son of a solicitor. His naval education had been at Birkenhead Naval College and HMS Conway. After a seagoing baptism on the sailing ship Boadicea he obtained his masters certificate at the King Edward Nautical School in 1911 and joined the White star Line. He became 6th officer on that company’s Oceanic, the pride of the fleet at that time. However the Oceanic was involved in a damaging collision so he transferred to the Titanic for its maiden voyage in April 1912. When the Titanic hit the iceberg, Moody was towards the end of a 4 hour duty on the bridge. After spending a long time persuading reluctant passengers to board lifeboats, he himself failed to get into one and was last seen trying to free a collapsed lifeboat. It was some time before his death was confirmed. There are memorials to him in Scarborough; one on his mother’s grave in Manor Road cemetery and the other in St Martin’s Church. After his death his family gave a silver cup, the Moody Cup, for cadet dinghy sailing at HMS Conway.
The second crew member was Violet Jessop, a 24 year old stewardess, paid £3 10s per month who established such a good reputation that she was quickly promoted to first class accommodation. She also transferred to the Titanic for its maiden voyage. At the time of the impact she was in her bunk but was soon involved encouraging passengers to get on deck and into lifeboats. She herself was eventually persuaded, probably by Moody, to get into a lifeboat and was eventually picked up by the Carpathia and taken to New York and in due course taken back to Plymouth.
In spite of these experiences she was soon back at sea working on the Olympic until 1914 when she became a junior nurse VAD on the hospital ship Britannic, a sister ship of the Titanic. In 1915 this ship struck a mine in the Aegean and sank quickly. She was again rescued. She had a brief marriage in the 1920’s and her fluent Spanish was put to use in WW2. She returned to sea after the war until 1950 and retired to Suffolk until her death in 1971.
The third crew member was William Pitfield, a greaser, who earned £6 10s per month. He was married and had a home in Southampton. Pitfield was Christine Gatenby’s grandma’s cousin. William, along with 28 of the 33 greasers, died on board Titanic. There are no records and no body was identified. His widow, Haidee gave birth to a baby shortly after his death. The baby survived for only about a year. The Titanic Relief Fund paid for the funeral. His widow remarried in 1919 and had a son and daughter.
There were 2224 people on board Titanic, 710 were rescued, 1514 were lost.
Stanley Samalionis gave the vote of thanks for a fascinating and moving story told in a most articulate manner. Further information about the club’s activities can be found on www.probusbridlington.weebly.com
The second crew member was Violet Jessop, a 24 year old stewardess, paid £3 10s per month who established such a good reputation that she was quickly promoted to first class accommodation. She also transferred to the Titanic for its maiden voyage. At the time of the impact she was in her bunk but was soon involved encouraging passengers to get on deck and into lifeboats. She herself was eventually persuaded, probably by Moody, to get into a lifeboat and was eventually picked up by the Carpathia and taken to New York and in due course taken back to Plymouth.
In spite of these experiences she was soon back at sea working on the Olympic until 1914 when she became a junior nurse VAD on the hospital ship Britannic, a sister ship of the Titanic. In 1915 this ship struck a mine in the Aegean and sank quickly. She was again rescued. She had a brief marriage in the 1920’s and her fluent Spanish was put to use in WW2. She returned to sea after the war until 1950 and retired to Suffolk until her death in 1971.
The third crew member was William Pitfield, a greaser, who earned £6 10s per month. He was married and had a home in Southampton. Pitfield was Christine Gatenby’s grandma’s cousin. William, along with 28 of the 33 greasers, died on board Titanic. There are no records and no body was identified. His widow, Haidee gave birth to a baby shortly after his death. The baby survived for only about a year. The Titanic Relief Fund paid for the funeral. His widow remarried in 1919 and had a son and daughter.
There were 2224 people on board Titanic, 710 were rescued, 1514 were lost.
Stanley Samalionis gave the vote of thanks for a fascinating and moving story told in a most articulate manner. Further information about the club’s activities can be found on www.probusbridlington.weebly.com