Marius Petersen

[Karen Wilson]

I am very anxious to find the Titanic connection for my family. My father was born on Dec 18th 1912 and my grandmother was given money from the relief fund which she used when she married my grandfather in 1913. His name was Petersen and a possible link could be Marius Petersen--a third class passenger who may have been his brother. The only other link could be Samuel Williams (fireman) who lived near my grandmother and, according to your biography, had an illegitimate son also called Samuel. We have been trying to solve this mystery for years and my mum who is 90 is the only link who remembers any of the names involved. I think Sam Williams is more likely and would be most grateful if anyone has any futher information Thank-you.

 

[X----- X-------]

Hello Karen,

A very interesting story and thank you for dropping by. I'll leave this one for someone else, who like me, resides around the Southampton area. I know he'll be more than happy to help you out and possibly help you to make contact with another side to your family.

Over to you Brian T.

Andrew Williams
Hampshire.

 

[Arne Mjåland]

It is quit possible that he was not on the Titanic.
He got refunded 90 % of what he paid for the ticket. See Debbie Beaves book "Who sailed on Titanic". 2 May 1912 the ship "United States" left Copenhagen for New York. Onboard was a passenger named Marius Petersen 24 years old and farmworker, the same age and profession as Marius on the Titanic. This Petersen was born in Ullerslev, Fyn, Denmark. He lived with his father Hans Petersen in Kaerby at Kertminde. There has been found a Marius Petersen on Ancestry.com in Minnesota cencus 1920 where he lived with his brother and sister.

 

[Arne Mjåland]

The Danish family researcher Ruben Hojmark,
[email protected] want to make a case about this mysterious Danish man. To get started he wants;complete name, date of birth and where, name of parents. When he went to America, day of departure and arrival. Where did he travel in U.S.A,? Did he live at relatives? Did he get married, with whom and when? Children? When died he?

 

[Peter Kyhl]

Hi

Everything about Marius Petersen from his birth 1887 to the census 1911 is completly wrong. This Marius Petersen never left Denmark. I have found him in census' 1911, 1916, 1921, 1925 and 1930. He is well and living in Denmark.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Everything about Marius Petersen from his birth 1887 to the census 1911 is completly wrong. This Marius Petersen never left Denmark. I have found him in census' 1911, 1916, 1921, 1925 and 1930. He is well and living in Denmark.

Not necessarily. The name Marius Petersen appears to be quite common in Denmark, and the one you found in all those census might be a different person from the one who did/didn't sail on the Titanic.

The few details available here on ET and in various genealogical sites do tally to a large extent. The Marius Petersen who had booked a ticket on board the Titanic was born on 19th July 1887 in Nysted, Maribo County, Denmark. His mother is listed in all sources as Karen Sophie Petersen but while ET conjectures that she might have been unmarried when Marius was born, on My Heritage site one Hans Petersen is mentioned as the father. https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10455-6366815/marius-petersen-in-denmark-church-records

As can be seen above, his records do not give a date or circumstances of his death.

According to ET, Marius had a troubled childhood and was fostered at least twice with different families. He did emigrate to England in 1911 and worked at a dairy farm in Southall. The ET contributors feel that he did board the Titanic in Southampton and was lost in the sinking but other sources, including the West Middlesex Gazette, claim that he withdrew in the last minute and received a refund.

On Find-a-grave, there is a Marius Petersen born on 19th DECEMBER 1887, exactly 7months after the one above. Marius Chr. Petersen (1887-1969) - Find A Grave...
This one does not have a record of his parent's name or even birthplace, but lived to an old age and died in 1969; he is buried in Denmark. I am wondering if the Marius Petersen that Peter Kyhl found in various census till 1930 was this man.

 

[Peter Kyhl]

Marius Petersen born 19. july in Nysted never left Denmark. He is Marius Petersen born 19. july in Taagense, Nysted in the censuses'. I am Danish and a skilled genealogist and can read all the records. No doubt about it. You can see it in this census from 1930, where he lives in Copenhagen. His mother was unmarried but she was a servant at the farm of Hans Petersens. We also get the information that she was in Nysted 10 month before the birth (at his baptism record). I would really like to see the source for the information on ET.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Marius Petersen born 19. july in Nysted never left Denmark. He is Marius Petersen born 19. july in Taagense, Nysted in the censuses'.

Accepted. Then who is the (other?) Marius Petersen who worked briefly in Denmark as a milk delivery man, emigrated to England in 1911 and was living and working in Southall, London? There is quite a bit of history on ET including names of his guardians, foster parents etc. Also that article in the West Middlesex Gazette about his last minute cancellation of his Titanic ticket and refund and which even claims that after the disaster his 'many' worried friends received a letter from him reassuring that he was all right? Surely, all of that cannot be made-up, especially the newspaper article. I mean if he was just a Dairy Farm worker, why would the paper go into all that trouble to concoct a story?

Can it be that there is a mix-up here of dates and places of birth and two men with the same name? And if there WAS a Marius Petersen who booked a place in the Maiden Voyage of the Titanic, did he really cancel his ticket in the last minute or - as it says here on ET - sail as planned and was lost in the sinking?

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Above is a copy of the actual excerpt that appeared in the April 19th 1912 edition of the West Middlesex Gazette. That paper no longer exists but I have e-mailed the British Newspaper Archives for information about the source.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

I believe I have found the solution to the mysterious Marius Petersen story. As I suspected, the bios of two completely different men with the same name appears to have been somehow gotten mixed up.

Peter Kyhl is absolutely right in that the Marius Petersen born in Nysted, Denmark on 19th July 1887 to an unwed mother named Karen Sophie Petersen (the surname might have been tagged on later) probably never left Denmark and had nothing to do with the Titanic. I do not know what his profession was but he was not a dairy worker and certainly did not live and work in Southall at any time. So, that part of the bio of Marius Petersen, Titanic victim, here on ET is wrong.

There was another Marius Petersen born in early 1888 (exact birth date unknown) in Stuebelkobing, Falster, Denmark. HE appears to have worked as a milk delivery man and by 1911 was a dairy worker in Southall, Middlesex, living at the same address mentioned here on ET. That man WAS a passenger on the Titanic and was lost in the sinking.

Marius Petersen

The Titanic: Deceased Passengers. [Page 70]. Marius Petersen. Male aged 24. Travelling... | The National Archives (look at the top of the list)

Ealing and the Titanic - Ealing News Extra (look at the bottom paragraph of the article. For those not familiar with London suburbs, Ealing & Southall are in the same general area)

Marius Petersen's details appear at the top of this list

FamilySearch: Sign In (Look at the family tree)

All the above sources confirm that Marius Petersen (born 1888) was a 24 year old dairy worker from Denmark who sailed as a Third Class passenger on board the Titanic and was lost in the sinking. Since the sources include Geni-com and the UK National Archives, there is a high probability that the information is correct.

Therefore, the insert in the West Middlesex Gazette (see my previous post) claiming that Petersen did not sail on the Titanic at all but cancelled his ticket & got a refund appears to be a fabrication or wishful thinking on someone’s part.

If one thinks about it, that newspaper clip appeared on the 19th April 1912 issue of the West Middlesex Gazette, just 4 days after the Titanic sank. A bit too early, I would have thought for Petersen's colleagues worry about him, then receive a reassuring letter from Holland AND the events being mentioned in a local newspaper.

 

[Peter Kyhl]

I have found Marius Petersen from Taagense in Nysted in the census of 1911. He is actually a dairy worker in 1911. He is a dairy worker on a small island called Femø just north of hus birth island of Lolland. In the census' from 1916-1930 he is a male nurse on hospitals or mental hospitals.

If he is the one going to UK in 1911. He was never on Titanic, since he is well and alive after.

I have been looking for Marius Petersen (the name could also be Pedersen) in Stubbekøbing born around 1888 (No city is called Stuebelkobing). No boy is born in 1887-1888-1889 by the name Marius Petersen/Pedersen. Unfortunately no source is given og Familysearch. I will try to look for the family and see if they have a son by that name.

Both names Marius and Petersen are very common in Denmark, which makes it so much harder.

I have searched the old papers (they are online) but no one have any information about him other than he is on the list of victims.

 

[Peter Kyhl]

Nothing on the Familysearch three seems to be right. No Robert Petersen was born in 1869 in Stubbekøbing and no Peter Rasmussen was buried 1915 in Stubbekøbing. Maybe the family lived near Stubbekøbing and not in the town. Maybe they mix him up with the other Marius Petersen because he was from the same area of Denmark. The name Bockleman is not Danish and I can't find anyone with the name in Denmark.

 

[Peter Kyhl]

The reasons why it is believed Marius Petersen/Pedersen never boarded are (according to the book "De Dansk Fortællinger, the Danish tales" by Jesper Hjermind and Mett McCall) on the boardinglist with people boarding in Southampton Marius has a dot beside his name as the only one. The rest have like a check sign. He was also repaid 80 % of the tickets prize together with Frederick Miles and William Gillespie. It is also not certain if they was onboard. Together with the note in the newspaper about his survival and the fact thet no family ever sued for money after Marius Petersen. It seems more likely to me. He was not onboard.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

Both names Marius and Petersen are very common in Denmark, which makes it so much harder.

I have searched the old papers (they are online) but no one have any information about him other than he is on the list of victims.

Maybe they mix him up with the other Marius Petersen because he was from the same area of Denmark.

The reasons why it is believed Marius Petersen/Pedersen never boarded are (according to the book "De Dansk Fortællinger, the Danish tales" by Jesper Hjermind and Mett McCall) on the boardinglist with people boarding in Southampton Marius has a dot beside his name as the only one. The rest have like a check sign. He was also repaid 80 % of the tickets prize

It seems more likely to me. He was not onboard

This complicates the picture even further if the Marius Petersen born on 19th July 1887 was a dairy worker. I was going by the information that you supplied that Marius Petersen of Nysted never left Denmark. But in the above post you have acknowledged that he might have travelled to England in 1911 but was definitely not on the Titanic. Then there is the information that his name on the passenger list was not ticked and that he received 80 to 90% of the ticket cost as refund. OK.

Although 'Marius Petersen' was and is a very common name in Denmark, I think the chances of there being TWO young men with that same name, aged around 24 years, with an uncertain family background, from the same general area of Denmark and both being dairy workers is stretching coincidence to almost impossible levels. Therefore, we are forced to do a 360-degree turn on my conjecture and consider the following possibility in a chronological manner.

- Contrary to my belief yesterday, we are talking about only one person, Marius Petersen born in Nysted on 17th July 1887 and son of Karen Sophie Petersen.
- He had a slightly troubled childhood and was fostered at least twice (ET information)
- He went on to become a dairy worker in Denmark near his hometown. (Your information)
- Sometime in 1911 he travelled to England to work in a dairy in Southall. During that time he lived at 73, West End Road, Southall (the address on his ET bio and all those other links on genealogical sites)
- He booked a Third Class passage on the maiden voyage of the Titanic and was issued ticket No: 342441. His name appeared on the Titanic passenger list (ET information; you have also seen this)
- He cancelled his ticket in the last minute due to personal reasons and eventually got a 80-90% refund. But as this happened very close to departure time, his name remained on the Titanic's Third Class passenger list.
- But as he did not actually board the ship in Southampton, a dot (rather than a tick) was placed next to his name on the passenger list.
- With the Titanic on its way without him on board, Petersen did not go back to Southall (if he planned to travel to the US, he would have left his Southall job and vacated the house) but went to Holland for personal reasons, probably in preparation to return to Denmark.
- While he was still in Holland he heard about the Titanic's sinking and immediately wrote a letter to his friends in London reassuring them that he had cancelled his ticket and was all right.
- He soon returned to Denmark and settled there to a quiet and relatively obscure life; he trained as a male nurse and was working in a hospital by 1916 (your information)
- During the collation of names of Titanic survivors after the disaster, it was noted that Third Class passenger Marius Petersen (whose name was till on the passenger list) was not on board the rescue ship Carpathia. In all the post-disaster confusion and chaos, they did not realize the significance of the 'dot' (instead of a 'tick') next to his name and wrongly assumed that he was one of the victims of the disaster. That assumption continued over time as no one corrected it.
- Back in Denmark, Marius Petersen knew nothing about the above mistake and just continued his living his quiet life. Since Marius Petersen is such a common name in Denmark, no one put two-and-two together and realized what had happened.
- Marius Petersen lived out his life in Denmark and probably died a natural death (do you have information when and where?)
- But his name as one of the Titanic Third Class passenger victims of the disaster remained and during the following decades was considered as such, including in some books on the subject (with the exception of that Danish work you mentioned).
- With the advent of internet, his name remained as one of the Titanic victims and based on what was known about his pre-1912 life, and got filtered into various genealogy sites.
- More recently, a few people, especially those who had read that Danish book, found out about the refund that Marius Petersen had received on his Titanic ticket and started asking the right questions.

I know that all this is a lot of conjecture, but it could explain everything that has appeared everywhere about Marius Petersen. Yes, he did NOT sail on the Titanic, having cancelled his passage and did not go to America as your census checks have shown. But he did briefly leave Denmark in 1911-12 to work in Southall before changing his mind about going to America and returned to Denmark where he lived out the rest of his life. (if you have or can find out any more information about his life after 1912, please share it with me)

What do you think?

 

[Peter Kyhl]

Hi Arun. I agree this could be the right man but I need some hard evidence that Marius Petersen from Nysted left the country. When the archives opens again I will go to the National Archive and see what I can find. The name Pedersen/Petersen is so common in Denmark as Smith or Jones in USA. Often people from Denmark had more names like Marius Andreas Ferdinand Petersen but they only appear on lists as Marius Petersen. Many left out the other names when they went away or even changed names to more English names.

I don't know when Marius Petersen died but I haven't been able to find him in the census 1940. I will start to look after his death between 1930 and 1940.

You sum everything up very well. I will update here when I find something.