The Passengers Of The Titanic

The drama and tragedy of the Titanic’s sinking has spawned all manner of myths about those who left Southampton on the 10th of April 1912, and for four days luxuriated in the ship’s modern facilities, extravagant interiors, and plush cabins. Among them were many magnates and tycoons, such as J.J. Astor, the richest man onboard, and the American businessman Ben Guggenheim. Conspicuously absent, however, was J. P. Morgan, who cancelled his booking at the last minute, and five days later would find his greatest business competitors eliminated…

Just as intriguing though, and often overlooked, were the Titanic’s second class passengers: middle-aged men with their teenage mistresses, a father who had his kidnapped his children, excited migrant families, and Joseph Laroche, a brilliant engineer and the only black man on board, for whom the Titanic provided the chance to start a new life- the same was true for many others.

Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the dazzling, eccentric and endlessly fascinating First and Second Class passengers of the Titanic, whose extraordinary lives shine all the brighter for the terrible danger and tragedy waiting for them on the icy horizon…

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

[raybo]

I discovered this podcast last month and I’m hooked. The substance is substantive, but stylistically it’s next level- The cadence and harmonizing you two pull off is sublime

[tommonk]

I just can't understand why there aren't 500, 000 subscribers to this podcast....

[BlergleslinkVettermoo]

OK, this is getting good. Finally we have a historian brave enough to stand up for the iceberg!

[AndrewHomewood-xw]

My great great grandfather, James Wood Second Class Steward died on the Titanic. Although we know something of his life prior to joining the White Star Line, these episodes have been fascinating in setting the scene for his final days and hours.

[thelazychefuk]

I never knew about the Cornish miners or the hotels for them! Was nice to hear you mention Truro!

[henrynoel]

I nearly lost it when I heard you say that Milton Hershey deserved to go down.

[frasegfunk]

Awesome!! I love this story telling and history lesson, its fantastic, thank you Gentlemen brilliant channel 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[karlbaresic]

I can't believe how little discussion there is about the middle classes aboard the Titanic, good job guys!

[mattgee]

Gentlemen you are fantastic storytellers, i thank and salute you.

[marywoolley-nbct]

I totally agree Tom, ‘ripping’ is due a revival 👏🏽

[ayanghosh]

Though there were no Indians on boards, there were two India-born passengers on board. One was Henry Ryland Dyer, Senior Assistant Fourth Engineer, born in Jhansi in 1887, and the other was 12-year old Ruth Elizabeth Becker. Like all the other Engineers on board the Titanic, Henry went down with the ship and his body was never found, but Ruth Becker survived, along with her mother and two younger brothers. Another passenger who lived in India at the time was Mary Dunbar Hewlett, who survived the sinking and returned to India. She died at Nainital in 1917. Annie Funk was sent to India as the first female Mennonite missionary in December 1906. In 1907 she opened a one-room school for girls in Janjgir in Chhatisgarh and learnt Hindi. Though she had the opportunity, she didnt board the lifeboats. In her memory, her school in India is called the Annie Funk Memorial School.

[christopherpetergoodman]

Michel Marcel Navratil did not die in the1980's he died on the 30th January 2001 aged 92. William Alfred Gaskell was born in the second quarter of 1893 (almost certainly in April) and he died on the 15th April 1912. He was baptised in St James Church, Toxteth on 3 May 1893. So he was not aged 16 he was aged 19 (give or take a few days).at his death. Looking at my family history I discovered that the First Officer of the Titanic (Henry Tingle Wilde) was my maternal grandmother's 1st cousin. I came across a photograph of a lady from Liverpool (it says aged 50 on the back of the photo) and I thought about throwing it away because I did not know of any family in Liverpool, but fortunately I didn't because I now realise that it is a photo of my great-grandmothers sister, mother of Henry Tingle Wilde. I also recall I have photos of him as a child. The photographs are from Liverpool because his father Henry Wilde moved to Liverpool to work in maritime insurance.

[plantagenant]

Fascinating series....and quite depressing hearing about all those who lost their lives.

[benjaminblakemore]

You guys are just awesome 😂😂😂😂❤❤❤❤😂😂😂😂

[Elitist]

Neither the paupers in Third nor the plutocrats in First, but the solid, respectable middle class in Second.
Dominic, don't you write for the Daily Mail?

[craigfairweather]

In Japan I saw and heard the large melodion (a mechanical music playing machine that could play many different elaborate compositions in a music box fashion) that was due to be installed on the Titanic when it arrived in New York.

[martiwilliams]

Very informative and enjoyable. Thanks to you both!

[murraymusic]

I love your podcasts, but can I make the point that 'steerage' as such did not exist on Titanic. By 1912 third class was called precisely that and where ships carried passengers 'steerage' that was effectively '4th class'. Steerage passengers essentially paid for the crossing. No food or other provisions would be provided - although I am aware that 4th class existed on the German Imperator class. Third class passengers, as you have previously alluded, were actually well-treated on Titanic, as they were on all the major immigrant carriers, in large part due to the increasingly strict rules for entry into the USA - unfit or unwell passengers would be denied entry and the responsibility for transporting rejected passengers back to Europe would fall at the expense of the shipping company that brought them.

[rdager]

Having got to know a number of former White Star crew, retired and settled in New Zealand and Australia, I find it hard to understand how White Star avoided bankruptcy!

[mark.J]

I've been wanting to comment for awhile on your channel, I've found doing so is not as easy as I wish. How do you say what you want to communicate in as few words as possible, without getting lost in the events of a given episode? Brevity? Brevity is good, but also dangerous because it rests upon broad assumptions.
I appreciate what you do, appreciate your love of history, but most importantly I appreciate how you've dedicated yourselves to the width and breath of 'things'
Like watching the waves wash ashore on the beach, watching the horizon each wave upon the beach seems the same, watching just that shoreline you will miss the storms on the horizon or the rogue wave about to change something forever. Or, caught up in the interaction of the shoreline crabs and the waves, you won't ponder what it means that for centuries sailors were mocked for speaking of rogue waves.
You put in a more than admirable effort to see and speak from your toes to the horizon, not easy to do and I recognize the work, wisdom, and empathy required to attempt what you attempt to do.
Thx.