John Reginald Rice

Mr John Reginald Rice, "Jack", was born in Hull, Yorkshire, England on 16 June 1886.

He was the son of John Rice (b. 1855) and Annie Jacques Hardy (b. 1855). His father was originally from Plymouth, Devon and his mother from Hull and they had married in 1884. One of only two children born to his parents, his brother Leonard Mounteagle (b. 1892) died after only a few months of life.

On the 1901 census John and his family are residing at 3 Knight Hill Road, Lambeth, London and his father is described as working in the Marine Department of the Board of Trade. The family had moved north to Liverpool by the time of the 1911 census and were listed as living at 37 Kimberley Drive, Great Crosby ; his father was still working for the board of trade and John was listed as a clerk for the Cunard Shipping offices although when he defected to White Star is not certain. Although unmarried, he was engaged to student Elsie Thompson (b. 1 April 1892) of 6 Fairholme Road, Great Crosby.

When he signed on to the Titanic, on 9 April 1912, John gave his address as 37 Kimberley Drive, Crosby. His previous ship had been the Celtic and as a clerk in first class John would earn monthly wages of £5.

John Reginald Rice died in the sinking. His body recovered by the Mackay-Bennett (#64) and he was buried at Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, Nova Scotia on 8 May 1912.

© Bob Knuckle, Canada.

His father John died on 27 January 1913, still a resident of 27 Kimberley Drive at that time. On 15 April 1914 a memorial appeared in the Liverpool Echo from his fiancée:

RICE--IN ever-loving memory of Jack Reginald Rice, whose precious life was lost in the wreck of the steamer "Titanic", April 15, 1912.
The happy hours we once enjoyed--how sweet their memories still;
If, dear, your eyes were opened, what a change you would see.
Elsie, Fairholme Road, Crosby

On 14 April 1917 Elsie placed another memorial in the Liverpool Daily Post:

RICE--In ever-dear memory of Jack Reginald Rice, whose life was lost in the wreck of the steamer Titanic, April 14 (sic), 1912.
His Fiancée, E. Thompson, Great Crosby

His mother Annie returned to her birthplace of Hull where she died on 24 July 1919. His fiancée Elsie was married in 1918 to Charles Tunstall Taylor, a baker. Widowed in 1955, Elsie herself died in Cheltenham in 1986 aged 94.