William J Mellors

[Mike Poirier]

I sat down to read Bob Bracken's article on 2nd class passenger William J. Mellors and was most impressed. Not much was known about his life, and not only does this article tell his full actions aboard Titanic, (which includes letters he wrote home on Titanic stationary), it gives a full view of his political adventures afterwards. He truly was one of the more interesting individuals aboard and I hope others enjoy his story when they have a chance to read it. Especially those interested in Titanic memorabilia. There are pictures of the stationary and the postcard he sent home.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

My point is that I do not believe any second class passengers moved forward at all,

I just realized that Second Class passenger William Mellors could be an exception to that situation. I found a couple of statements in the book On A Sea of Glass that suggest that he was already well forward on the boat deck in the vicinity of Collapsible A before the wave hit. On p229 of the book there is information based on a letter written by survivor Eugene Daly to his sister Maggie in Ireland less than a week after the disaster. Although eventually rescued on Collapsible B, Daly's description of his activities while helping to fee a collapsible lifeboat in those last frantic minutes has made the authors deduce that he was referring to Collapsible A at the time and not the lifeboat that he was actually saved on. Among the people who were with Daly at the time was William Mellors; even though Mellors was a Second Class passenger and Daly Third, they both survived and had 3 days on board the Carpathia to introduce themselves to each other.

Also, on p231 of OASOG there is more information that strongly suggests that Mellors was already well forward on the boat deck when the wave hit. In a private letter written to Dorothy Ockenden on 9th May 1912, Mellors said that he was near Collapsible A (the same lifeboat that he was rescued in) when the wave flung him onto a stanchion, badly injuring his ankle.

PS: On those pages of OASOG, only the relevant information is present. The actual references are in the Endnotes for that chapter.

 

[Peter Engberg-Klarström]

I just realized that Second Class passenger William Mellors could be an exception to that situation. I found a couple of statements in the book On A Sea of Glass that suggest that he was already well forward on the boat deck in the vicinity of Collapsible A before the wave hit. On p229 of the book there is information based on a letter written by survivor Eugene Daly to his sister Maggie in Ireland less than a week after the disaster. Although eventually rescued on Collapsible B, Daly's description of his activities while helping to fee a collapsible lifeboat in those last frantic minutes has made the authors deduce that he was referring to Collapsible A at the time and not the lifeboat that he was actually saved on. Among the people who were with Daly at the time was William Mellors; even though Mellors was a Second Class passenger and Daly Third, they both survived and had 3 days on board the Carpathia to introduce themselves to each other.

Also, on p231 of OASOG there is more information that strongly suggests that Mellors was already well forward on the boat deck when the wave hit. In a private letter written to Dorothy Ockenden on 9th May 1912, Mellors said that he was near Collapsible A (the same lifeboat that he was rescued in) when the wave flung him onto a stanchion, badly injuring his ankle.

PS: On those pages of OASOG, only the relevant information is present. The actual references are in the Endnotes for that chapter.

I just checked what I have on Mr. Mellor and I must confess I cannot find any actual reference to him having been on the forward part of the deck. In his claim for compensation he does not mention anything which implies he was forward either.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

The references that I have quoted are in the book On A Sea of Glass, that is very well researched and has relevant appendix and endnotes to indicate the sources of information wherever possible.

The part about Eugene Daly and William Mellors helping to free Collapsible A along with Murdoch, Moody, Edward Brown, Thomas Whiteley and Cecil Fitzpatrick is on p229. The source is Endnote #460 on p418 which mentions a letter that Daly wrote to his sister Maggie a few days after reaching New York.

More convincing is the entry that William Mellors was near Collapsible A when he was knocked on to a stanchion by the "wave" and injured his ankle (p231). The source for this is Endnote #481, also quoted on p418, and is about a private letter that Mellors himself wrote to someone called Dorothy Ockenden on 9th May 1912. That would be first hand information.

 

[George Jacub]

The quote in On A Sea of Glass reads:
"Near Collapsible A, William Mellors was knocked into a stanchion by the wave, seriously injuring his ankle, and he found himself 'whizzing through the air at an awful pace." 481

The reference in Mellors' letter to Dorothy Ockenden reads:

"At this time it was almost impossible to walk on the deck without you caught hold of something owing to the ship heeling right over.We were trying to fix up a collapsible boat when she gave the first signs of going under.
"There seemed to be a tremble run through the whole of the ship and the next thing we heard were loud reports inside which I think were the water-tight doors giving way and before you could say Jack Robinson there seemed to be mountains of water rushing through the doors, and I was swept away from where I was right against the collapsible boat, and I simply clung on for all I was worth, whilst all this was going on she was going under water and it seemed as if thousands of men were dragging me under with her, when suddenly her (the forward) nose on which I was seemed to suddenly rise from underneath the water and I and a few more that were close by cut the ropes that held the boat to the falls (davits).
There was suddenly an explosion and I found myself whizzing through the water at an awful pace, having been blown away by the explosion."

Letter from William Mellors to Dorothy Ockenden

www.encyclopedia-titanica.org

Mellors does say he was forward near a collapsible boat. But there is no mention of an injured ankle in his Ockenden letter and I have no idea where that came from.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

We were trying to fix up a collapsible boat when she gave the first signs of going under

I think that statement is significant. All Collapsible boats were in the bow section and the only two that needed fixing were #A and #B. Since it is now accepted that Mellors was rescued on Collapsible A and that lifeboat needed considerable manpower to drag uphill etc, it seems evident that Mellors was referring to #A.

His statement also tallies with Eugene Daly's letter to his sister.

Mellors does say he was forward near a collapsible boat. But there is no mention of an injured ankle in his Ockenden letter and I have no idea where that came from.

The letter was written on 9th of May 1912, by which time his injured ankle had probably healed. Considering that there were so many other injuries including some degree of frostbite to almost everyone on board Collapsible A, perhaps Mellors thought that his ankle sprain was not that significant to specifically mention.

 

[George Jacub]

The letter was written on 9th of May 1912, by which time his injured ankle had probably healed. Considering that there were so many other injuries including some degree of frostbite to almost everyone on board Collapsible A, perhaps Mellors thought that his ankle sprain was not that significant to specifically mention.

Just for the record, the information about Mellor's injury came from Algernon Barkworth in a newspaper
story in the Evening Banner, Bennington, (Vermont), April 26, 1912.

''Mr. Barkworth explained that Mellor had been a second cabin passenger, whom he had taken into his stateroom on the Carpathia. Mellor had a terrible experience while the ship was sinking in being hit by a wave that rushed over the forward deck and swept him against a stanchion. He had a foot frozen and his other ankle was seriously injured. He used to be a valet for Sir Frederick Schuster and was coming over here to better himself..."