William John Boston

[Encyclopedia Titanica]

William John Boston : Titanic Victim

Biography of William John Boston : Titanic Victim

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

 

[Pboston]

William John Boston was my paternal grandfather.  His only child, William Ashley Boston, was my father and only 8 months old at the time of his father's death aboard Titanic. The family information is that William went to sea after trying his hand in several of a number of the family-owned businesses, including a bakery, a burlap sack factory, and the family's horse-breeding stables because of his severe asthma.  In those days, the causes of asthma were unknown but it was reputed that going to sea alleviated the condition. WIlliam's father and grandfather also suffered the condition, as did my father, as do I also.  Recent genetic information indicates that our familial type of asthma is probably the result of a single point mutation that occurred two generations before William was born.Family lore has it that William had been promoted to a chief petty officer position of some sort before his transfer from the Olympic to the Titanic, but there is no documentation to confirm or refute this.My father passed away on February 4th, 2007 at the age of almost 96 years.  As a young man, he attended a Quaker technical college in Liverpool (that he referred to as “Old Swan”) studying chemistry, which was paid for by the Titanic Widows and Orphans Fund.

 

[David Briscoe]

Hello, my Name is Gaynor Briscoe nee Beattie. My paternal grandfather was James Ashley Beattie who was brother to, as we knew her as Aunty Nell, who was wife of William John Boston. She always talked of her son who went to America to find fame in the movie industry. I remember her living at my fathers family home 68 Thomas Lane. Knotty Ash. Liverpool 14. She used to tell us about her son going to America, changing his name to Rex Ramer and acting in films.

 

[Kat27Bro]

Hello, my Name is Gaynor Briscoe nee Beattie. My paternal grandfather was James Ashley Beattie who was brother to, as we knew her as Aunty Nell, who was wife of William John Boston. She always talked of her son who went to America to find fame in the movie industry. I remember her living at my fathers family home 68 Thomas Lane. Knotty Ash. Liverpool 14. She used to tell us about her son going to America, changing his name to Rex Ramer and acting in films.

Oh this is so interesting. 68 Thomas Lane was my home when I was born in 1979. My Mum and Dad initially rented the house from Mr Beattie, before buying it. Its so interesting to read this