John Bradley and Florence Cumings

Primary Link
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/florence-briggs-cumings.html
Michael,

A huge thank-you for the Project Gutenberg link - I've never seen this before and it's a wealth of literary information - including the Titanic book that you and Teri (and Fiona) have cited.

To get an ENTIRE book on the Titanic is a rare treat indeed (it's worked out as 194 pages in Word) - I had to find it under "Marshall, Logan" as opposed to "Logan, Marshall" - but it's well worth the time looking it up.

Many thanks,

bob
 
Teri, this book is on ebay quite often in various conditions from broken spine to pristine (with varying prices too)It appears not to be too hard to find.
 
For anyone looking for a faithful reprint of "The Sinking of the Titanic and Other Great Sea Disasters" (cloth cover and all), it's $24.00 at www.visionforum.com (search on keyword "titanic"). Makes for a great display book, because it looks like an original, except that it's in pristine condition.

Parks
 
Phil,

I will be sure to ask my co-worker who his grandmother married as her second husband.

Something interesting to note: On www.titanicinquiry.org they have the spelling listed as Cummings, not Cumings. This link though, when you click on it, takes you straight to your article here on ET. I guess titanicinquiry.org has a typo.

My co-worker informed me today that the information he gave me originated from his mother. He said she will be flying in for the holidays so he'll get with her on the name and the spelling at that time. I didn't ask the date she is to arrive, but I'll find that out tomorrow and I'll be sure to post my findings.

Michael, Kate and Parks,

Thank you very much for posting different locations to find this book, I do appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Teri
 
Phil,

When I asked him what his grandmother's second husband's name was, he started mentioning his cousin, a bookstore which I think the cousin owned, and some other family things which I could not write down because I had no paper and pen with me and we were in the middle of a hallway which wasn't the best place to be discussing Titanic matters. I went back to my desk and wrote him an email asking him the same question about his grandmother so that I could get it all in writing and understand it better, but he had already opened his mail for the day and won't respond to my email until Monday at which time I should have it in writing and can hopefully post the info here to the Board.

Teri
 
It's really hard being without my computer.

This is what my co-worker wrote verbatim:

John Bradley Cummings was my Grandmother's
Cousin. He was not my grandfather. His wife visited my Grandmother a few years after the Titanic sank. John would be my cousin.

Teri
 
There were a couple of threads, Brian, but they were very old ones and have been archived so no longer open for posting.

[Moderator's Note: The "couple of threads" referred to by Bob G. have now been merged into this one. MAB]
 
Other than that she was present at Madeleine Astor's very select lunch for Captain Rostron after the disaster, I've hitherto known very little about the activities of Florence Cumings. It has been suggested that she was rather a 'homely' woman; certainly not a social dynamo like Eleanor Widener or Lucile Carter.

So I've been intrigued to discover that this somewhat shadowy lady harboured something of a passion - or, at least, at interest - in the stage. Certainly, the references to her in the Society columns of 'The New York Times' have her involved in 'theatrical' activities of one sort or another. In July, 1908, she was holidaying at the seaside resort of Monmouth Beach. Whilst in town, she got involved in the local amateur dramatic society and was listed as one of the patronesses of a charity double-bill at the Country Club Casino. Directed by Arthur W. Byron and acted by 'the young people of the area', the titles of the plays selected were 'My Lord in Livery' and 'The Village School Teacher'. The press (optimistically?) forecast a 'rare treat' for audience members.

Then, in December, 1910, the J. Bradley Cumings were both members of a party that Mrs Oswald Hering conducted to a revival of 'The Importance of Being Earnest', with supper at The Plaza afterwards. It is amusing to see that, the previous night, the rather elderly Sarah Bernhardt had performed as Marguerite in 'Camille' at The Globe - a part she had been pegging away at for all of forty years!

One wonders if Mrs Cumings was pleased to find Henry and Rene Harris as passengers aboard the 'Titanic' too.
 
That would be extremely interesting, I should love to see it. Brian Ahern (where are you, Brian?!) has, I think, seen a picture of Mrs Cumings already and commented on another thread that she was rather more 'matronly' than he had expected. I gather that she was quite family-oriented: ten years after the 'Titanic' disaster, when she had remarried to become Mrs Chester O. Swain, 'The New York Times' has Florence hosting a lunch party for her son and his fiancee, Katherine Hurd, at her Madison Avenue home, prior to their wedding in June, 1922.
 
florence_swain_copy1.jpg
 
Wow, thank you for getting those images on-line so speedily! Actually, Mrs Cumings looks pretty much as I'd imagined she would. Not a dazzling beauty, by any means, but quietly distinguished in her way - certainly the face of a lady. I like her refined mouth and quizzical eyebrows!

Plus, judging by the costume, this photograph was taken circa 1925-30 (certainly a good decade after the 'Titanic' disaster) so she'd have looked much younger back in 1912. Besides, an experience like the one she went through is bound to take a toll...

Regards
 

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