Edward Beane

Mr Edward Beane was born in Hoveton, Norfolk, England on 19 November 1879.

He was the son of George Beane (1857-1914), a brewery worker, and Mary Ann Cox (1855-1945). Both his parents hailed from Norfolk and had married on 29 November 1877 and Edward was one of ten children, his siblings being: Sarah (b. 1878), George Herbert (b. 1881), William (b. 1882), Charles Archie (b. 1884), Caroline Augusta (b. 1886), Ernest Christmas (b. 1887), May Christine (b. 1890), Robert (b. 1892) and Bertie Stanley (b. 1893).

Edward first appears on the 1881 census living with his family at Armes Street in Heigham, Norfolk but they would have moved to 231 Northumberland Street, Heigham by the time of the 1891 census and just down the street by the time of the 1901 census, then living at 188 Northumberland Street. Edward was described as a bricklayer on the latter record and was still in that profession and still living with his family by the time of the 1911 census, then living at 43 Bond Street in Norwich. He had spent time living in New York, having departed England on 13 April 1907 aboard the Philadelphia but had returned home aboard Adriatic, arriving in Southampton on 22 December 1910, with the intention of finding a bride.

Edward was married in early 1912 to Ethel Louisa Clarke (b. 1889), a dressmaker and furrier and a former neighbour who also spent time living in Northumberland Street. The couple made plans to settle in New York and they boarded the Titanic at Southampton as second class passengers (ticket number 2908 which cost £26).

On the night of the sinking Edward and his wife managed to escape in lifeboat 9, Mr Beane being one of a very few number of second class males who survived. He would later claim that his wife was placed in the lifeboat which was lowered and he leapt off the deck into the ocean to swim to her lifeboat.

The couple settled in Rochester, New York and lived at 44 Michigan Street in that city for the rest of their lives and never returned to England. Edward continued to work as a bricklayer and was a member of the Bricklayers' Union. Edward and Ethel welcomed two sons: Edward (1913-1982) and George (1916-1998) and during the rest of their lives spoke about the Titanic on seldom occasions, only giving the odd newspaper interview.

Edward Beane died in the Rochester State Hospital on 24 October 1948, just shy of his 69th birthday. He and his wife are buried in White Haven Memorial Park.