Ismay Line

J Oldham Wilton

Description

The Ismay Line charts the rise and fall of one of the most eminent British shipping companies - and tells the story of the family behind it. The founder of the White Star Line, T H Ismay, pioneered a revolutionary design of iron steamships, built for him by Harland & Wolff of Belfast. By the time of his death in 1899 he had become the most successful steamship owner in the world. He was succeeded by his son, Bruce Ismay, who in April 1912 was aboard his latest ship, Titanic, when it collided with an iceberg on its maiden voyage. Ismay survived by boarding the last lifeboat to leave the starboard side of the sinking liner: and thus began one of the greatest witch-hunts of modern times. The Ismay Line draws on many previously unpublished family diaries and correspondence and offers a robust defence of Bruce Ismay's conduct. Originally published in 1961, the book has been out of print for many years and is now a sought-after collector's item.

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 26 juin 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781909183247
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
THE ISMAY LINE
The Titanic, The White Star Line And The Ismay Family


by
Wilton J Oldham




Publisher Information
First published in 1961 by
The Journal of Commerce and Shipping Telegraph
Chaplin Books
1 Eliza Place, Gosport
PO12 4UN
www.chaplinbooks.co.uk
Digital edition converted and distributed in 2012 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © Wilton J Oldham
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder for which application should be addressed in the first instance to the publishers. No liability shall be attached to the author, the copyright holder or the publishers for loss or damage of any nature suffered as a result of the reliance on the reproduction of any of the contents of this publication or any errors or omissions in the contents.



Dedication
This book is dedicated to the memory of Joseph Bruce Ismay, born December 12th 1862, died October 17th 1937, aged 74 years.
They that go down to the sea in ships: and occupy their business in great waters: These men see the works of the Lord: and his wonders in the deep
Psalm 107, verses 23, 24



Foreword
Wilton J Oldham – known to his friends as John - was my father. He became very involved with the Titanic and the Bruce Ismay story through his other passion - Rolls-Royce cars.
Having met the Ismay family, he embarked on what was to become a ‘mission’ to prove that the rumours surrounding the behaviour of Bruce Ismay on that fatal night were untrue and at best exaggerated: this he set out to do with full cooperation from the family.
I remember as a six-year-old, when we were living in Cornwall, being woken by a rather fraught mother at 5am to be informed that we were going to stay with Aunt Margaret Cheape (Bruce Ismay’s daughter) at Duncrieve, her lovely house in Scotland. My father was already in the car, revving the engine. This happened on a number of occasions - whenever there was an opportunity to continue with his research. He was an absolute stickler for facts. Eventually the book was published, in 1961, but it has been out of print for many years.
I am sure my father would be delighted that people are now being given another chance to read about this infamous event from another point of view - speaking up for Bruce Ismay.
I hope that you enjoy reading it.
Victoria Jervis



Author’s Note
Sixty years ago there was probably no more successful steamship company than the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, better known as the White Star Line. Its importance and prosperity were almost entirely due to the foresight of one man, Thomas Henry Ismay.
In April 1912 the White Star Line’s latest and largest vessel collided with an iceberg and sank while on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, with a loss of over 1,500 lives. Amongst the passengers was J Bruce Ismay, eldest son of the founder of the line. He was saved in the last lifeboat to leave the starboard side of the sinking vessel and was bitterly attacked by certain sections of the press in Britain and the United States of America, as they held him largely responsible for the disaster; they also severely criticised his personal behaviour that night. The Titanic disaster ruined his life.
It is a quarter of a century since the White Star Line became part of the Cunard Steam-Ship Company; all the achievements of T H Ismay and the interesting early history of the company are more or less completely forgotten. Only the story of the Titanic is told and retold, usually with very unjust comments on J Bruce Ismay.
I have always felt that he was one of the most misunderstood and misjudged characters of the early part of the century. So I made it my business to discover the whereabouts of his family; to them I put my proposition, to write a history of the White Star Line (a thing that has never been done before) and the biographies of Thomas and Bruce Ismay, with the intention of trying to give a true picture of these two men as they really were. Mrs Bruce Ismay and her elder daughter, Mrs Ronald Cheape, received me with great kindness and courtesy, and fully approved the project.
During one of my many talks with the family, I discovered a curious coincidence; the house in which I spent my childhood, 27 Chesham Street, London SW1, was once rented by Mr and Mrs Bruce Ismay, and his sisters later occupied it, and whenever he went to stay with them Bruce Ismay himself slept in the room which was to become my nursery.
This has not been an easy book to write by any means, as everyone I approached has been so kind, that I have been overwhelmed with information. Fortunately Bruce Ismay was a very meticulous person and kept carefully a great many private papers to which Mrs Bruce Ismay has allowed me full access. I have used these old records and letters extensively, in order to allow the main characters in this history to speak for themselves.
Although some may be disappointed with the results of my labours, I hope that this book will give pleasure to most of my readers. I have tried to concentrate on what I call genuine White Star vessels, by which I mean those built by Harland & Wolff; although the others do figure occasionally in the text.
Wilton J Oldham



Chapter 1


T H Ismay as a young man
Birth of Thomas Henry Ismay, his early childhood in Maryport, schooldays at Brampton, Carlisle, and apprenticeship in Liverpool
Thomas Henry Ismay has been described as the most ‘Victorian’ of the great shipowners of the last century, inasmuch as his life spanned practically the whole of the Victorian era; he was born in 1837, the year the Queen ascended the throne and died in 1899 only two years before her long life drew to its peaceful close at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, where she had spent so much of her time in her last years.
The Ismay family had originally come to Maryport in Cumberland from Uldale, a small hamlet twelve miles away, where they were known as ‘statesmen’, (a North country expression meaning small farmers). The earliest date on which the name Ismay can be traced is on the Rolls of Dun draw, also near Maryport, in 1646.


Ropery House, Maryport, the boyhood home of T H Ismay
At the beginning of the century Maryport was a clean well-built seaport on the mouth of the River Ellen, 28 miles southwest of Carlisle. It was a modern town built in the Georgian style with well-designed squares and terraces. Pennant wrote in 1774 “Maryport is another new erection, the property of Humphrey Senhouse, Esq., and so named by him in honour of his Lady. The second house was built in 1750, now there are 100 houses and 1,300 souls all collected together by the opening of a coal trade on their estate”.
Ships varying from 30 to 300 tons were built there and there were wooden quays and piers where ships were overhauled and received their lading. In 1841 the Chapelry consisted of 1,195 houses and 5,311 inhabitants and there were 121 vessels using the port, their principal employment being the import of timber from America and the export of some 3,800 tons of coal weekly to Ireland, from the neighbouring collieries, some of which ran under the sea. The port originally came under Whitehaven, but in 1838 the power of registering vessels was granted to Maryport. There were three shipbuilding yards and, owing to the narrowness of the river, it was one of the few places where vessels were launched sideways. They were built of wood for the American, Baltic and West Indian coastal trades. Also in the town were three brass and iron foundries as well as a rope works.
One of the first shipbuilding yards was owned by Joseph Middleton and one of his ships was captained by a certain Henry Ismay. In 1800 this young man married Charlotte, Joseph Middleton’s eldest daughter. When Henry Ismay retired from the sea he and his wife took a small grocery shop in the High Street; their second son, Joseph, was employed as a foreman shipwright in the Middleton shipyard, which was now owned by his uncle, Isaac Middleton.
He married Mary Sealby, daughter of John Sealby who also lived in the High Street and who was described as ‘gentleman’ in Maryport’s Parson and White Directory. Joseph Ismay took his bride to live in one of a row of cottages in what was known as Whillan’s Yard, which he had bought in 1833. This was a narrow thoroughfare forming a right of way between two other roads; the houses were very small and cramped together and overlooked the graveyard of a nearby church. It was here that their first son, Thomas Henry Ismay, was born. This boy was destined to become one of the foremost shipowners of his day, who years later entertained royalty on board the splendid ships owned by the firm he founded and made great, the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, known to the world as the White Star Line.
Four years later the family had increased to four children, as Thomas was followed by twin girls, Charlotte and Mary, and three years after them another sister, Sarah. They now found the little house in Whillan’s Yard rather overcrowded, so they bought a double-fronted Georgian house down by the shipbuilding yard. It had a curious name, Ropery House, so called because it was on the road which ran in front of it that all the ropes connected with the shipyard were laid out. It had four main bedrooms and three attics and so made a comfortable home for the expanding family. It was here that their fifth child, John Sealby Ismay was born, when Thomas was ten years old.