Titanic Week - A Who's Who of the Titanic Passengers

Thomas Andrews. Went down with the ship.

• 39 years old at the time of the sinking.
• Was the man behind the building of the Titanic and was travelling on her to make note of what needed to be changed or improved on in future ships.
• When he was made aware of the collision, he explored the damage with the captain and declared that the ship was lost.
• He was last seen in the first class smoking room not wearing his lifebelt.
• His body was not found.

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John Jacob Astor. Went down with the ship.

• 47 years old at the time of the sinking.
• He is considered the richest man aboard the ship.
• He is reported to have remained calm during the entire incident, but assured that his wife made it off safely.
• Lightoller refused to allow men aboard his ships until all the women and children were gone, so wouldn't allow Astor to join his wife despite her 'delicate condition'. 
• His body was among those found.

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Madeleine Astor. Survivor.

• She was 18 years old at the time of the sinking. She died in 1940.
• One fact that is well-known about the events of that tragic evening was that she lent out her shawl to keep a young child warm.
• She was rescued on lifeboat 4.
• The child she was carrying at the time of the sinking was born in August and named after his father.

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Margaret Brown. Survivor.

• 44 years old at the time of the sinking. Died in 1932.
• One of the more famous members of the passengers being immortalized in films, books, and plays.
• She is credited with helping women in the lifeboats before boarding lifeboat 6 herself.
• There are lots of different versions of how she acted in the lifeboats, but there is evidence she did not always agree with the men in charge.
• While on Carpathia she continued to help the survivors and continued to do so even after it docked.

Photo Credit

Sir Cosmo Edmund Duff Gordon. Survivor.

• 49 years old at the time of the sinking. Died in 1931.
• For an unknown reason, he boarded the ship under the name Mr. Morgan.
• He was lucky in that Will Murdoch allowed him and his wife to leave in lifeboat 1. 
• He offered to pay the people in his lifeboat for some of their losses which resulted in him being accused of bribing them to not go back for survivors.

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Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon. Survivor.

• 48 years old at the time of the sinking. Died in 1935.
• She boarded the ship as Mrs. Morgan and stayed in a different stateroom than her husband.
• She was saved in lifeboat 1 along with her husband and only 12 other people.
• Her and her husband were the only passengers called upon to testify in the inquiry.

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Benjamin Guggenheim. Went down with the ship.

• 46 years old when he died. 
• Is memorable because he dressed in his finest and famously went down with the ship.

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Joseph Bruce Ismay. Survivor.

• 49 at the time of the sailing. Died in 1937.
• Ismay was the president of the International Mercantile Marine Company who owned the White Star Line.
• It was Ismay that thought of the Olympic-class ships that would maximize comfort for its passengers.
• Ismay appears in many accounts stating that he 'slipped aboard' Collapsible C when the chance presented itself.

Photo Credits

Lucy Noël Martha, Countess of Rothes. Survivor.

• 33 years old at the time. Died in 1956.
• Her parents were with her when she boarded in Southampton, but they only travelled as far as Cherbourg.
• She got off the ship in lifeboat 8 and wound up working the tiller at some point while they waited to be rescued.

These are just some of the many names that have stuck in my mind after reading about the Titanic over the years. It is a very small list compared to the many people who were aboard. To see a more comprehensive list you should visit sites like Encyclopedia Titanica. Once again, I used their site for the ages, deaths, and life boat numbers. The rest is facts that have stuck in my mind.