Deaths of Shipyard Workers

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.

Rivetter’s Terrible Fall. 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)

Comment and discuss

J. Lans

"I had this one marked and I thought the guy was behind me, so I said "Okay, give me a bolt." I didn't turn around because I was on my knees. When I finally turned I found he was not there. So, where is he? Lying on the ground. He just burst into nothing. I never heard him go." From Pappy. Working on little houses that cover the electrical on the short end of the crane.
liam (3114)

thomas adams 82 wilton street belfast.platers helperfell from staging in ship yard at queens island while trying to save himself from injurydied royal victoria hospial 9th april 1906i believe he worked on the titanic but unsure of this but assume it right time period for that
Kerry Aldridge

My Gt Grandfather died as a result of the injuries sustained during the construction of the Titanic. John William Kirton was a boilerman and died in 1913 in Belfast Union Workhouse Infirmary (death certificate Cerebral haemorrhage and cardiac failure). His skull was fractured during an incident in the boiler room.
Tracy (4308)

My great uncle, John Kelly was one of the eight who died - he was 19 years old. I visited Belfast in 2017 from Australia where I live. His grave in City Cemetery on the Falls Rd is unmarked but close to Samuel's, I wonder if they knew each other? I have an 18 year old son and cannot imagine loosing him. May they all rest in peace.
Clive Sweetingham

It is known that on June the 11th 1911, Rivet Counter Robert James Murphy, whilst working on Titanic, fell 50 feet to the slipway when some staging gave way. He then subsequently died from his injuries on the evening of June 13th 191.It is widely published that his son, Robert James Murphy Jnr., also had a fatal accident, six months previously, whilst working on Olympic.At the inquest of Robert James Snr, as reported in the Belfast Newsletter of Saturday 17th June 1911, the Coroner is reported as saying “A fact that made that inquest a singularly pathetic one was that the deceased’s son had been killed about six months ago on the same ship”On the 6th of December 1910, Robert James Murphy Jnr., a 22 year old apprentice shipwright, who at the time was living with his father in Hillman Street, appears to have slipped from a ladder (or a plank) and fell 70 feet through a ventilation hole into the engine room. He died from a fractured skull.Reporting the funeral, The Belfast Telegraph of Friday 9th December, states “…. When he fell a distance of 70 feet from the deck to the engine room of the White Star liner Titanic …”So these two reports suggest that Robert James Murphy Jnr. Died whilst working on Titanic, and not Olympic?