Thomas Albert Street

[Encyclopedia Titanica]

Thomas Albert Street : Titanic Survivor

Titanic fireman Thomas Albert Street was born in Shirley, Hampshire, England on 2 February 1887. He was the son of Henry Street (1835-1899), a gardener, and Emma Gates (1845-1925).

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

 

[Karen Jones]

Hi

My grandmother is the daughter of a WILLIAM HENRY Street (born Hants, Southampton on 12/04/1888) As a child she was always told that her father had been on the Titanic when it sank and had survived.

As a child she never really asked about it, and apparently her father was fairly quiet and never really spoke about it. When docking at a town in the north he met his future wife, and left the navy to be with her, where he stayed and they consequently had my grandmother (we have one very old picture of him in his navy uniform).

The family only ever went back to Southampton once to visit an older sister of his, so she also knows almost nothing about the family.

I started to do my family tree a few weeks ago and have managed to trace many of our ancestors, and am only now getting copies of marriage certfificates etc to trace her aunites, unlces and posssibly cousins.

My question is - after catching the end of a documentary on television which spoke of pictures taken of surviving crew - is there any way at all of getting access to these pictures to know once and for all if the only Street listed as a crew member was in fact Thomas Albert or William Henry ?

 

[Lester Mitcham]

Hello Karen,

Welcome to encyclopedia-titanica.

A check of the Crew Sign-on sheets which can be viewed on this web-site: Titanic Crew List | Encyclopedia Titanica look under: Southampton, Crew: Agreement and Account of Crew (PRO Ref: BT100/259) gives only one Crew member named Street. - Engine Department - Book 2 - line 29. - His signature reads A. Streets. - The same signature appears on the List of Crew Survivors alongside the name A. Street on the pages listing their "Balance of Wages due on Discharge".

I hope that helps,
Lester

 

[Karen Jones]

Hi Lester - thanks for this. I had already seen the record of entry and obviously the name / address etc doesn't match. Hence my hoping that someone has copies of the individual pictures taken after they were saved that this documentary mentioned.

I was hoping to be able to show my grandmother a pic so that she could ID him (or not).

Does anyone know what proof of ID they would have needed (if any ??) before being allowed to work ?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

Karen, you're in luck.. See the thread below where there is some discussion about the identity of fireman Street, and a link to some photographs.

The first names of these crewmen

Hi, Does anybody know what the first names of these crewmen? F.A.R. Mason T. Mayzes J.J. Moore A. Street A. Fryer H. Ross J. Pearse W. Fredericks F. Toms and A. Hebb Thanxs Andrew

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

 

[Karen Jones]

Wow - thanks Bob - sorry I was obviously still writing while you were posting

I have pm'd Chris about the pics and am sending them to my grandmother as we speak.

She has advised in previous discussions that she doesn't want to know if he was NOT on board as it would upset her - so I have mailed them just asking if she knows who these 2 men might be ..

I am presuming the pic on the right was the one I was referring to ? As in taken after rescue ?

 

[Karen Jones]

I do have one pic of him myself but it was taken years later - it's hard to tell with the age gap - but the ears are very similar ...

 

[Bob Godfrey]

There was never any attempt made to systematically photograph survivors after the wreck. The pic on the right, which is definitely Thomas Albert Street, was taken I'd imagine from his seaman's registration card in the early 1920s. The left hand pic is cropped from a Press photo of a group of Titanic crew survivors (including firemen) arriving in Plymouth in 1912. At the time the men was not identified by name in any caption, but as Chris pointed out these two faces appear to be the same.
.

 

[Karen Jones]

Thanks Bob.

The programme I was watching was the conspiracy theory one where they were proving that the Titanic WAS the Titanic and not the Olympic. They spoke of how once the survivors were safely ashore they took a group photograph and also individual photos and were "briefed" on what to say to the press. They showed some of the individual pictures, which they described as "rarely seen". Unfortunately I don't know which the channel the programme was on but presume it's been aired before at it was on one of the Sky channels ?

I also found this link which was posted by someone on another thread - not sure if this could be one of the group pictures referred to ??

Mannschaft Crew

 

[Bob Godfrey]

That photo was taken in New York, Karen, and it shows a number of survivors from the deck crew.

Far from being proved, the 'Switch Theory' has been thoroughly discredited by those best qualified to judge its claims, so I wouldn't take that TV documentary too seriously.

 

[Karen Jones]

Yeah thanks Bob - that's what the documentary was doing - it was disproving the switch theory .

It does make me wonder though that if the attached pic - that you've confirmed was them - WAS taken - MAYBE they did take others ? Was just wondering anyway

Out of interest - have all the guys in the pic been identified does anyone know ?

 

[Bob Godfrey]

There are lots of group photos of crew survivors, some posed, some not, taken in New York or Washington (eg witnesses at the Senate Inquiry) or in Plymouth after their arrival back in England. Most were taken by Press photographers who made no attempt to identity the faces as individuals. But I know of no organised attempt to make a collection of individual 'mug shots' prior to the requirement for seamens' ID cards years later. The documentary might have used portraits taken from those cards.

There's a thread here on ET somewhere in which members were guessing at the identities of the men in that particular group photo. Some of them are well-known and easily recognised, but there are a few where the jury returned no verdict! It's pretty certain that they're all deck crew - no firemen.
.

 

[Karen Jones]

Thanks Bob - this is the first photo I've ever seen of any kind of crew - apart with the Thomas Street one you sent a link to earlier. Are any of the others on here anywhere do you know ? I've had a look around and found a few posed ones of the more senior staff - but nothing else of people like the firemen ...

 

[Bob Godfrey]

I daresay you could find more images online, but the best source I know for photos of crew survivors (albeit with many of them unidentified) is the book Titanic Voices. Perhaps your local library could get hold of a copy. The group photo which includes the man thought to be Mr Street is reproduced on page 226, very sharp and clear. It shows him full length, which is ideal for identification. You couldn't wish for a better photo of the man.
.

 

[Karen Jones]

Thanks Bob