Divorce

I think who you are referring to is the Carter family. Check out William and Lucile Carter's info on this site under the first class list.
Hope this helps!
My best,
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Alex
 
William and Lucile Carter were divorced in 1914. The reasons were not made public at the time, but when Mrs Carter's testimony later became available it was clear that she was not at all happy about her husband's actions on the night of the sinking. According to Mrs Carter, he had followed the principle of 'every man for himself' and left his family to fend for themselves. It's more likely, however, that William's big mistake was ending up as a live husband rather than a dead hero - this didn't go down well in the social circles that Lucile moved in.
 
I've been reading about this lately and I too have come to the conclusion that this guy got trashed before and during the divorce. When I was younger I remember the general story was he abandoned his family. I've been looking around the net to see if I could find any statements his children made on the subject but couldn't find anything. The only thing I found was his son was very upset about having to leave his beloved dog behind. They don't seem to have said anything one way or the other.
 
In the divorce proceeding, Mrs Carter was quoted as saying, "All he said was that he had had a jolly good breakfast, and that he never thought I would make it." (Referring to her arrival at Carpathia).
 
I have often wondered about the Carter divorce and at one stage used to despise William Carter; but now I increasingly feel that he got a bit of unfair treatment overall. He must have seen his wife and children into Lifeboat #4 and the delays in lowering it was not his fault. Collapsible C was on the starboard side and in any case lowered 8 or 10 minutes after #4. There is no evidence that Carter forced his way into #C in any way and if he managed to find a vacant seat and take it, good for him. He has the same right to survive as anyone else and just because the other men in his 'circle' like Astor, Guggenheim, Thayer, Widener, Ryerson etc died does not mean somehow Willaim Carter is guilty to have survived.

I understand that during the divorce proceedings, Lucile Carter Sr complained that her husband was "physically and mentally cruel to her" and on one occasion horsewhipped her. I wonder how much of all that is true? Did Bill Carter dispute any of those accusations?

An interesting comment about Lucile Carter Sr in Bill's ET biography (curiously, not mentioned in hers) is "following the divorce, Lucile Carter swiftly remarried and had another daughter". I wonder what that really means.;)
 
I have not come across any specific complaint on that night apart from Bill Carter's alleged breakfast quip on board the Carpathia. As for waiting for his wife to get dressed, it is just as likely that he got annoyed because she was taking too much time to get ready during what did turn out to be a dangerous situation. A lot of husbands get annoyed over
 
The question is, who was supposed to keep that record? Carter probably spent time with his contemporaries like the Thayers and Wideners - there is some report of him trying to persuade young Harry Widener to find a place in a lifeboat. Most of his male contemporaries died in the disaster.
 
Arun Vajpey said:
I have often wondered about the Carter divorce and at one stage used to despise William Carter; but now I increasingly feel that he got a bit of unfair treatment overall. He must have seen his wife and children into Lifeboat #4 and the delays in lowering it was not his fault. Collapsible C was on the starboard side and in any case lowered 8 or 10 minutes after #4. There is no evidence that Carter forced his way into #C in any way and if he managed to find a vacant seat and take it, good for him. He has the same right to survive as anyone else and just because the other men in his 'circle' like Astor, Guggenheim, Thayer, Widener, Ryerson etc died does not mean somehow Willaim Carter is guilty to have survived.

I understand that during the divorce proceedings, Lucile Carter Sr complained that her husband was "physically and mentally cruel to her" and on one occasion horsewhipped her. I wonder how much of all that is true? Did Bill Carter dispute any of those accusations?

An interesting comment about Lucile Carter Sr in Bill's ET biography (curiously, not mentioned in hers) is "following the divorce, Lucile Carter swiftly remarried and had another daughter". I wonder what that really means.;)
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I have just read the account of William Carter jr. from April 19th 1912. It is interesting since he mention his mother waking him and telling him to dress. He dress himself while his mother and sister also get dressed. He doesn't mention his father. Then he tell about the men being separated from the women. Again he don't mention his father.

I now believe Mr. Carter did actually go to the cabin and woke his wife and left again. She alone got the children up and dressed. After she left the cabin she joined the other ladies from her circle. We know they were separated from the men who left the group since the Thayers later were sure Mrs. Thayer had left Titanic a long time ago when they found out she was still onboard. Maybe Mr. Carter never found his family. We know he met Harry Widener who could have told him his wife and children already were in a lifeboat with his mother, Mrs. Thayer, Mrs. Astor and so on. It would then make sense he didn't look for them anymore and later left in lifeboat C only minutes after they left in lifeboat 4.
 
Peter Kyhl said:
I now believe Mr. Carter did actually go to the cabin and woke his wife and left again.
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That sounds very likely. Unlike us, none of them had the benefit of hindsight and only knew that the ship was in danger and could sink. Carter and others like him would not have known how long they had, if any help was coming etc. Under those circumstances, the head of a family going to alert his wife and children to get prepared for evacuation and then leave again to check for further details makes perfect sense.
Peter Kyhl said:
Maybe Mr. Carter never found his family. We know he met Harry Widener who could have told him his wife and children already were in a lifeboat with his mother, Mrs. Thayer, Mrs. Astor and so on. It would then make sense he didn't look for them anymore and later left in lifeboat C only minutes after they left in lifeboat 4.
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I think one of the reasons for that is Lightoller's shenanigans with Lifeboat #4. He unthinkingly lowered the boat to A-deck, not considering the locked windows and from what I have read, those rich First Class ladies trooped from the boat deck to the A-deck and back again a couple of times. Perhaps there were other men who had trouble finding their families because of that.

I agree that Harry Widener might have told William Carter that the latter's wife and kids were safely on board Lifeboat #4 and that might have what prompted him to save himself. The problem that Bill Carter faced after the disaster was 3-fold. First, among the likes of Astor, Thayer, Widener, Ryerson, Guggenheim, Rothschild etc, only he stood out by surviving. That would have caused more than a few eyebrows in his social circles back in America, making life difficult for him. Second, he was with Bruce Ismay in the same lifeboat and so invariably would have been affected by some of the post-disaster fallout that the Chairman had to suffer. Third, his own wife's attitude and comments did not help very much.

My feeling is that the Carters' marriage was already on the rocks when they boarded the Titanic. After the ship collided with the iceberg and started to sink, Bill Carter did his duty in alerting his family. I don't believe that it was his fault that they got separated from each other; but as you say, he must have learned from young Harry Widener that they were safely on board a lifeboat. But the mocking attitude of his wife on board the Carpathia could have been the straw that broke the camel's back and IMO Bill Carter's sarcastic rejoinder was justified. The 3 days on board would have given both of them to think about the future and come to personal decisions but my sympathies are with Bill. Lucile Carter comes across as a selfish, self-indulgent b***h who, judging by events later, had already transgressed her vows. In the period leading up to the divorce, Lucile is supposed to have said something about getting rid of "a wet dishrag of a husband" but while he was no paragon of virtues himself, IMO it was Bill Carter who should have been glad to get rid of a worthless spouse.
 
Yes I don't blame him either for leaving his family. We don't know the exact words said between them and he could have left going to get more information with the intention to return and collect the family.

The strange thing in Master Carter's account is he never mention his father. At the end he finish by saying he is happy his mother and sister survived but no word on the father.

The divorce is a tricky one. I also feel Lucile Carter was the unsympathic party of the divorce. I would love to read all the papers from the divorce.
 
Peter Kyhl said:
I would love to read all the papers from the divorce.
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Were they not impounded and not made public for a few years? The version that appeared later accusing Bill Carter of cruelty and unpredictable behavior is considered by many to be a put-up job.

Lucile Carter's behavior even after her marriage raised a few eyebrows in the more conventional circles. But that's her business; what makes me dislike her is the self-indulgent attitude, lying when it suited her etc. She claimed first that she never saw Bill again after he left them in their stateroom but the story she reportedly told her family was something else altogether. See The Evening Star report from 19th April on her ET bio.

I had a Finnish friend and fellow Titanic enthusiast in the 1990s and early 21st Century. He had an interest in the Carter family and had done some research on them. He always strongly felt that Lucile Carter was an obnoxious woman and the divorce was the best thing that could have happened to any man who had the misfortune of being married to her.
 

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