Eight Harland and Wolff workers were killed during the construction of the Titanic five of whom have been identified. In addition to the fatalities there were 28 serious accidents and 218 minor accidents recorded by the firm. Compensation paid out for these incidents amounted to £4849 3s 5d.
|
Name |
Age |
Address |
Occupation |
Date of Death |
Cause of Death |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Samuel Joseph "Sam" Scott |
15 |
Templemore Street
|
Catch Boy
|
20 April 1910
|
Accidentally fell 23 feet from a ladder or staging while at work. Fracture of skull. Died instantly.
|
|
|
John Kelly
|
19 |
Convention Street
|
Catch Boy [1]
|
23 June 1910
|
Accidentally fell from ship 401 while at work at Queen's Island 23 June 1910. Shock following injuries.
|
|
|
William "Billy" Clarke
|
27 |
Coulter Street
|
Driller
|
7 November 1910
|
Died from Broncho pneumonia two days after a fall from staging. He was buried at Carnmoney Main Cemetery, Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland (Section B, Plot 31, in an unmarked grave).
|
|
|
James Dobbin
|
43 |
25 Fremel Street [2]
|
Shipwright
|
1 June 1911
|
Crushed by timber strut when the Titanic was launched on 31 May 1911 [3]. See The Untimely Death of James Dobbin.
|
|
|
Robert James "Bob" Murphy
|
49 |
6 Hillman Street
|
Rivet Counter
|
13 June 1911
|
Shock following compound fracture of skull resulting from an accidental fall on 13 June 1911 [4]. He is buried at Carnmoney Main Cemetery (hidden graveyard), Newtownabbey, County Antrim, Northern Ireland (Section J, Plot D22). His son Robert Murphy died during the construction of the Olympic.
|
Yesterday afternoon, just before the ending of work for the day at six o'clock the Queen's Island, a rivetter named Robert Murphy. Hillman Street, when employed on-the Titanic, missed his hold and fell from one the upper decks, a distance of fifty feet. Assistance was immediately forthcoming, and the injured man was conveyed in the ambulance to the Royal Victoria Hospital. In that institution it was discovered that he was suffering from a fracture to the base of the skull. Recovery from the first was quite hopeless, and he expired some time after admission. What makes the accident a peculiarly sad one is the fact that the son of the deceased man, Robert Murphy, was fatally injured some time ago when working on the Olympic.
Belfast News-Letter - Wednesday 14 June 1911
Notes
1. Identified in other records as a "heater-boy"
2. Cameron (1998) gives the address as Merret Street, Belfast.
3. The death certificate gives the date of the accident as 1 June 1911 and the date of death as 2 June 1911.
4. His son, Bob Jr. had been killed while working on the construction of the Olympic.
References
Stephen Cameron (1998) Titanic: Belfast's Own. Wolfhound Press, Dublin. ISBN 0 86327 685 7
Harland and Wolff Director's minute book, Public Record Office, Belfast (D2805/MIN/A/2)
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