George1912#
Member
We can’t find any info on our relative. Any ideas? If this man has used his ticket I would not be here!
Relative Avoided Titanic Disaster
- Thread starter George1912#
- Start date
Seumas
Member
There are thousands (and that's not an exaggeration) of these "I nearly sailed on the Titanic" stories. Only a handful can be confirmed.
That article mentions his brother dying in the disaster. I looked for "Taylor" in the passenger lists.......
There were two in first class but both survived, one in second class (albeit ship's musician and would not have been immigrating or travelling with a brother) who perished, whilst third class has no "Taylor".
Sorry, but this one is not true, in fact it's one of quite a number of cancelled passage/fake survivor stories from Australia and New Zealand.
That article mentions his brother dying in the disaster. I looked for "Taylor" in the passenger lists.......
There were two in first class but both survived, one in second class (albeit ship's musician and would not have been immigrating or travelling with a brother) who perished, whilst third class has no "Taylor".
Sorry, but this one is not true, in fact it's one of quite a number of cancelled passage/fake survivor stories from Australia and New Zealand.
George1912#
Member
There is much more to the story not shared. I am pretty sure this one is accurate. This article is very old and the story repeated a few times when he was alive.
Thomas Krom
Member
While there were no passengers with the last name Taylor outside of first class passenger Elmer Zebley Taylor (1864-1949) and his wife Juliet Cummins Taylor (1862-1927) as correctly mentioned by Seamas there were a number of Taylors on that were part of the ships crew. Here is a brief list of all of them:
Third class steward Bernard Cuthbert Taylor (1889-1912)
Able bodied seaman Charles William Frederick Taylor (1871-1912)
Fireman George/James Taylor (1888-1931)
Fireman John Henry Taylor (1862-1912)
Fireman J/T. Taylor (1870-1912)
Turkish Bath attendant Leonard Taylor (1893-1912)
Fireman William Henry Taylor (1883-1914)
First class saloon steward William John Taylor (1881-1912)
Violinist Percy Cornelius Taylor (1872-1912) (the instrument he played is debatable).
The plan of the brothers Taylor are unclear if they were intending to travel as passengers, or as crewmembers in the article if the story is indeed accurate. As far as documentation goes, the only person that currently is listed as being born in Leicester is the master-of-arms of the RMS Carpathia at the time (a man named John Brown). Personally, I can't deny I'm a bit skeptical of the story as far as documentation goes, however I do look forward to see more information coming from your side. Keep in mind however, that telling and repeating a story isn't always true. Just look at Helen Kramer her story. The Titanic her story has countless claims like this, and most of them aren't true sadly. If every story was truthful the ship would have been fuller then her passenger's certificate would allow.
I hope this might could offer some leads in the right direction.
Third class steward Bernard Cuthbert Taylor (1889-1912)
Able bodied seaman Charles William Frederick Taylor (1871-1912)
Fireman George/James Taylor (1888-1931)
Fireman John Henry Taylor (1862-1912)
Fireman J/T. Taylor (1870-1912)
Turkish Bath attendant Leonard Taylor (1893-1912)
Fireman William Henry Taylor (1883-1914)
First class saloon steward William John Taylor (1881-1912)
Violinist Percy Cornelius Taylor (1872-1912) (the instrument he played is debatable).
The plan of the brothers Taylor are unclear if they were intending to travel as passengers, or as crewmembers in the article if the story is indeed accurate. As far as documentation goes, the only person that currently is listed as being born in Leicester is the master-of-arms of the RMS Carpathia at the time (a man named John Brown). Personally, I can't deny I'm a bit skeptical of the story as far as documentation goes, however I do look forward to see more information coming from your side. Keep in mind however, that telling and repeating a story isn't always true. Just look at Helen Kramer her story. The Titanic her story has countless claims like this, and most of them aren't true sadly. If every story was truthful the ship would have been fuller then her passenger's certificate would allow.
I hope this might could offer some leads in the right direction.
Seumas
Member
George you will need much, much better material than a local provincial newspaper and a baseless family legend. That kind of thing is not proof.
There is not a scrap of evidence that your relative was ever on the ship. The passenger and crew lists are solid.
As I said, there are thousands (actually thousands, no joke) of false stories of people who either lied about surviving or claimed that they had cancelled their passage or missed the ship. Read about a handful of them here:
Unlisted Titanic Passengers and Crew
Tales of fake Titanic passengers and crew; people who for one reason or another falsely claimed to have survived the sinking of the Titanic.
Cancelled Passages Aboard Titanic
John P. Eaton finds the people that were fortunate enough to cancel their journeys on the Titanic
Fairmaiden
Member
That’s my great grandad - he used to live in the house behind where I lived. I know a bit about him. His brother travelled on the Titanic and sadly didnt make it as far as I know.
Arun Vajpey
Member
Can you clarify this please? If your great-grandfather was George Taylor, then his brother would also have been a Mr Taylor. There were two Mr Taylors as passengers on board the Titanic; one was 1st Class passenger and an American named Elmer Taylor and he survived the sinking with his wife, possibly on Lifeboat #5. The other was Percy Taylor and although he was categorized as a Second Class passenger, he was a member of the Titanic's band, a cellist. He died in the sinking with the rest of his musical colleagues.
There were several crew members who were Taylors;
Fireman George "James" Taylor, who was one of those who survived on board Lifeboat #1 and testified at the British Inquiry.
Able Seaman Charles Taylor who died in the sinking.
Fireman John Taylor who died in the sinking.
Another fireman "J Taylor" who also died in the sinking.
Fireman William Taylor who survived on Lifeboat #15.
3rd Class Steward Bernard Taylor who died in the sinking.
Saloon Steward William Taylor who died in the sinking......and
Turkish Bath Attendant Leonard Taylor who died in the sinking.
None of these men were from Leicester
Last edited:
Thomas Krom
Member
There is a debate which instrument he played, as the first source that states he was a cellist gives a different name, this article here goes into detail.
Arun Vajpey
Member
Interestingly, there is a barely visible line in that obituary of Mr George Taylor, Fairmaiden's great-grandfather who supposedly cancelled his plans to be on the Titanic, that says that he had a "musical interest". The only Titanic victim who had a brother named George Taylor was the musician Percy Cornelius Taylor but he appears to have been a Londoner all his life.
Fairmaiden
Member
I believe it may have been Arthur? I’m not sure- but George definitely didn’t go and his brother did. Maybe it was Percy? He lived I Sapcote and the Belgrave when he lived in Leicester. Music ran in the family so maybe one of the musicians? I’m trying to find out.
Fairmaiden
Member
Fairmaiden
Member
Sorry- Great great Uncle John!
Arun Vajpey
Member
If so, it could not have been Fireman John Henry Taylor who was 50 years old at the time and not only had no Leicester connections but no brother named George. He died in the sinking.
But there was another Fireman victim of the disaster named only as "J Taylor". Nothing is known about him - first name, date of birth or where he was from. I hope someone can shed more light on this because there is a possibility - no more at this stage, mind you - that he was your Great Great Uncle John.
Fairmaiden
Member
That’s still something! I’m scoring ancestry as well to find out!
Arun Vajpey
Member
I have sent you a PM asking for more information. If that's available, research will be easier.
Just click on the envelope icon on the blue taskbar and it will open up.
However, looking at the extended newspaper clip that you posted, it says that George Taylor's brother and his family (specifically mentioning wife and children) died in the sinking. That makes it unlikely, if not impossible, that "Fireman J Taylor" is who we are looking at. Also, there was no Mrs Taylor or children with the surname Taylor who died in the sinking.
Can it be that the man who died in the accident was George Taylor's step-brother and so had a different surname?
Just click on the envelope icon on the blue taskbar and it will open up.
However, looking at the extended newspaper clip that you posted, it says that George Taylor's brother and his family (specifically mentioning wife and children) died in the sinking. That makes it unlikely, if not impossible, that "Fireman J Taylor" is who we are looking at. Also, there was no Mrs Taylor or children with the surname Taylor who died in the sinking.
Can it be that the man who died in the accident was George Taylor's step-brother and so had a different surname?
Similar threads
