Mr James McHarg was born in Ballantrae, Ayrshire, Scotland on 27 September 1880. He was the eldest child (of at least eight¹) of baker James McHarg and the former Mary McQuisten, both Ayrshire natives.

McHarg was raised in different locations in Ayrshire before settling in Ayr by 1901, at which point he was already a baker, like his father. In September 1907 he went to sea as a ship’s baker, the Campania being his first ship.

In April 1912 he was chief baker aboard Carpathia when that ship rescued the survivors of the Titanic disaster.

In January 1913 he married Amy Quayle, a young widow who had been a stewardess on some of the same ships as James, including the Carpathia at the time of the Titanic rescue.  The following year Amy was an inmate at a workhouse in Liverpool, with her eventual whereabouts remaining unclear.

James continued aboard the Carpathia and was still listed as Chief Baker in June 1918 barely a month before the ship was torpedoed and sunk, it remains to be confirmed but seems highly likely that he was aboard the Carpathia when she was sunk.

He was still based in Liverpool in 1939 when he was described as a widowed night watchman, but this was presumably between voyages because the following year he was listed on several crew lists for the Scythia as a night pantry steward. He had by then accrued over 32 years of service.

Where and when James Mcharg died is presently uncertain. There is a possibility that he relocated back to Ayrshire where he lived out his days.