William Edward Hine

William Edward Hine was born on 6 January 1876 in Winslow, Buckinghamshire, England and his birth was registered in the first quarter of that year. 

He was the son of Henry Hine (1851-1917) and Mary Ann Lambourne (1853-1882), both Buckinghamshire-natives who had married in late 1873. He had two known siblings: Rose Louisa (b. 1873) and Emily Elizabeth (b. 1874), and possibly another sister named Lizzie (b. 1878).

On the 1881 census William and his family were listed as living at Station Road in Winslow and his father was described as a plate layer (on the railways). His mother passed away the following year aged 28. His father was remarried around 1885 to a lady named Sarah, also a Buckinghamshire-native, and they had two children, Frederick (b, 1886) and Frank (b. 1890).

William was educated at Magdalen College School in Brackley, Northamptonshire under the tutelage of Reverend I. Woodhams. On the 1891 census he, his father, siblings and step-family were living at Goose Green, Brackley and William was by then described as a fishmonger.

By the time of the 1901 census William had left home and was boarding at 9 Maygrove Road, Hampstead, London and was described as a bakers' assistant. He was absent for the 1911 census, perhaps at sea, but his father and stepmother were still living at Goose Green, Brackley, Northamptonshire.

When William signed on to the Titanic on 4 April 1912 he gave his address simply as Lyndhurst in Hampshire; he gave his age as 38 and birthplace as London and his previous ship as the Olympic. As third baker he could expect monthly wages of £4, 10s. Also aboard was his brother-in-law Frederick Charles Godwin, a greaser, who was married to his sister Emily.

William Hine, who was unmarried, was lost in the Titanic disaster, alongside his brother-in-law. His body, if recovered, was never identified. He is remembered on a plaque at the St Mary's Church, Eling, Totton.

GODWIN--In ever loving memory of my dear husband, of Ringwood Road, Totton. Also in ever loving memory of my dear brother, William Hine, of Lyndhurst. From his sorrowing sister, E. Godwin. - Hampshire Independent, 11 May 1912

His father passed away in Wycombe, Buckinghamshire in 1917.