I love hearing family stories and legends. We have a few in our own family, and although we have to treat them to a certain extent with a pinch of salt, it is always interesting to speculate about where the story came from – after all, there’s no smoke without fire. As this weekend marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic (in case you hadn’t noticed!), I thought I’d write a couple of posts on this topic. This one is about a Titanic survivor.
It was told to me by someone I have been in contact with recently regarding her family history and she happened to mention this story and I asked her permission to publish it here. It made me smile….
I was actually going through the papers to find out more about a Titanic story (since the anniversary is upon us.) It’s just a story that has been passed down but I wanted to check on any leads – mostly out of curiosity. Apparently my Uncle’s father (W. Smith) was quite a character. He and his wife lived in Glasgow. Rumor has it that on one of Mr. Smith’s trips to England (???) he had a fling with a young girl. A few months later this young girl showed up at the home of the Smiths in Glasgow. She rang the doorbell… Mrs Smith was home at the time. This young lady had found out that she was “with child” and wanted to speak to Mr. Smith. Mrs. Smith was HORRIFIED!!! Mr. and Mrs Smith could not afford the embarrassment if this news were to get out to their friends. Soon after, Mr. Smith purchased a ticket for her to go away quietly to have the baby and gave the young woman a large sum of money.
She was set to sail on the Titanic to America. Once she got settled in America, Mr Smith would send her the rest of the money they had agreed on. Mr Smith saw her off thinking his reputation would be saved (somewhat.)
Well, you would think that would be the end of the story… But apparently months (?) later this young woman reappeared on the Smith’s doorstep holding a baby. She had actually been one of the survivors! She told her story to the Smiths, and of course she wanted to go back to England. Mrs. Smith was not happy, but came to accept the fact that this young woman and her baby would be closer than she had hoped.
I do know (from my Aunt.. Dad’s sister) that the Smiths remained married until Mrs. Smith died many years later. Needless to say, their marriage was “strained.”
One can only imagine the look on Mr Smith’s face when this woman turned up on the doorstep – and I can understand why the poor girl wouldn’t want to step foot on a ship ever again!
At some point next week I’m hoping to post something about one of the more unfortunate victims of the disaster – one by the name of Bott, but no relation as far as I know. Watch this space!
Hi, I know this is a long shot but do you know the sex of the child.
I have had a lifetime of rumours that my Grandmother was on the Titanic (although she wasn’t born until May 1912, therefore if true it would be her mother who was the passenger (name unknown)
My Grandmother died in 2008 and would never discuss the truth (maybe a scandal?) and it wasn’t until she died that we found out on her birth certificate that she had been born Smith
Many Thanks for any help you can give Carolyn
Hi Carolyn
Thanks for your question. I have had a look at this website: http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic_passenger_list/ which has excellent biographical details about the passengers and crew. I found two women named SMITH and one named SMYTH, but none of them seem to fit your details, but you might find it useful to search this site yourself. I am wondering whether the name SMITH was a pseudonym. My guess is that the mother was unmarried and perhaps trying to find a new life.
If you would like any further help with this please email me at info@tracingancestors-uk.com
Cheers
Ros
Hi Ros, Thank you for your reply, I had looked at the passenger lists and found the same. However reading the above story seemed like it could be the answer! I take it you think it is unlikely that she would have been given the Fathers name if her parents were not married?
Thanks again Carolyn
In cases of illegitimacy, sometimes the mother’s name is used, and sometimes the father’s. I think it depends on the circumstances – and perhaps how the mother feels about the father! It could be the father’s name – but it would be pretty impossible to find out the parents. But the name SMITH is also one of those names that can be used when someone wants to remain anonymous.
Are there no parents names at all on the birth certificate?
It looks like this might remain a mystery. The only thing you might do is to trawl through all the young women survivors on that site and see if any of the biographies rings any bells!
If you do get anywhere with this, do let me know – I’d be interested.
Ros
Yes I think we are pretty much resigned to the fact that we will never know the truth
Thank you, Carolyn