Cousins on the Titanic
Edward Beane, a cousin of my great grandfather D'Auvergne Bane (whose mother, Hannah Bean, was Edward's aunt), was on that famed and fated journey of the Titanic, then aged 27. Luckily he was one of the survivors of this great tragedy.
For me this story is a bit Jack and Rose style romantic; they are my Jack and Rose, but with a happier ending.
Edward Beane had just married in Norwich to Ethel and they were honeymooning second class in the Titanic.
Ethel was put into lifeboat 13 without her man but he leapt into the water and swam to join her, one of the few men in second class to have survived at all.
Edward Beane had just married in Norwich to Ethel and they were honeymooning second class in the Titanic.
Ethel was put into lifeboat 13 without her man but he leapt into the water and swam to join her, one of the few men in second class to have survived at all.
Edward Beane, having the trade of a bricklayer, had newly married Ethel Clarke, and off the two travelled in the Titanic to America, that very fated journey when the Titanic crashed into an iceberg and sank. They were in second class, enjoying a honeymoon trip, and luckily for them both were saved. The Titanic sailed on April 10th 1912. Edward in relation to me is a 1st cousin 3 times removed. He was 27 at this time. He is in the Titanic Survivors Carpathia Passenger List as having been rescued from the shipwrecked Titanic, arriving in New York on 18th April 1912, 8 days after the famous tragedy.
Ethel was chosen to be put into lifeboat 13 without Edward and he leapt into the water and swam about until he could join her, one of the few men in second class to have survived at all.
Ethel was chosen to be put into lifeboat 13 without Edward and he leapt into the water and swam about until he could join her, one of the few men in second class to have survived at all.
Edward and Ethel would, during their lives, give only rare newspaper interviews about their escape from the sinking Titanic.
Edward had already been to New York in 1907, sailing on the ship Philadelphia, but returned three years later to find himself an English bride, joining his family in Norwich in 1910. With his new bride Ethel, a former neighbour, they planned to settle in New York, buying second class ticket number 2908 which cost £26.
The ship, which had been advertised as unsinkable, was so attractive to them as they proudly waved farewell to friends. But already, soon enough, the couple had a fear of foreboding when the Titanic narrowly avoided a collision in the Southampton harbour. The night of the 13th was stormy and dark, but the next day was clear and bright. The ship traveled fast, under orders to make a new record. It was near midnight when the ship struck an iceberg and it was some time before it dawned on the passengers what was happening. At first Edward and Ethel were not alarmed, believing the commotion to be but a drill. Twice a woman returned to tell them it was seriously happening, from which moment they were caught up in the terror of the event. They left their lovely wedding possessions, jewels, linens and embroideries, all their money - £500 and in all 65 wedding presents - and rushed upstairs to the deck.
The crew used rifles to keep all the men back until the women and children could be put in the lifeboats. One man was shot for trying to break through. As Edward said 'A man never knows what he'll do in an emergency or what tricks his nerves will play on him.'
Ethel, dazed and confused, was hustled into a lifeboat. Edward, like the other man, could then find no place on a lifeboat. He jumped in the cold water and swam around for hours, looking for his wife. One of the lifeboats picked him up, so was it the same one Ethel was in? In some accounts he said it was. In another he said they were in different boats and did not realised each other had survived until arrival in New York
Edward says he had obediently stood back with the other men at the crews insistence of 'No, only women!' But he noted that as Ethel's boat pulled off it was only half full. So he jumped into the sea and swam after the boat, and as he has said, eventually it was Ethel's arms that pulled him in. It is thought they were the only newly wedded couple not to be separated for all time by the disaster. Twelve other couples had been honeymooning on the Titanic.
The ship finally went down when they were about a mile distant, the band still playing, and as the boat crashed in its final sinking they heard the anguished cries of those still on board as if one huge human wail. It was years before Ethel could forget that terrible scream. They both preferred to keep as much silence on this terrible event as possible since then, but for discussions with their family and just a couple of newspaper interviews.
Edward had already been to New York in 1907, sailing on the ship Philadelphia, but returned three years later to find himself an English bride, joining his family in Norwich in 1910. With his new bride Ethel, a former neighbour, they planned to settle in New York, buying second class ticket number 2908 which cost £26.
The ship, which had been advertised as unsinkable, was so attractive to them as they proudly waved farewell to friends. But already, soon enough, the couple had a fear of foreboding when the Titanic narrowly avoided a collision in the Southampton harbour. The night of the 13th was stormy and dark, but the next day was clear and bright. The ship traveled fast, under orders to make a new record. It was near midnight when the ship struck an iceberg and it was some time before it dawned on the passengers what was happening. At first Edward and Ethel were not alarmed, believing the commotion to be but a drill. Twice a woman returned to tell them it was seriously happening, from which moment they were caught up in the terror of the event. They left their lovely wedding possessions, jewels, linens and embroideries, all their money - £500 and in all 65 wedding presents - and rushed upstairs to the deck.
The crew used rifles to keep all the men back until the women and children could be put in the lifeboats. One man was shot for trying to break through. As Edward said 'A man never knows what he'll do in an emergency or what tricks his nerves will play on him.'
Ethel, dazed and confused, was hustled into a lifeboat. Edward, like the other man, could then find no place on a lifeboat. He jumped in the cold water and swam around for hours, looking for his wife. One of the lifeboats picked him up, so was it the same one Ethel was in? In some accounts he said it was. In another he said they were in different boats and did not realised each other had survived until arrival in New York
Edward says he had obediently stood back with the other men at the crews insistence of 'No, only women!' But he noted that as Ethel's boat pulled off it was only half full. So he jumped into the sea and swam after the boat, and as he has said, eventually it was Ethel's arms that pulled him in. It is thought they were the only newly wedded couple not to be separated for all time by the disaster. Twelve other couples had been honeymooning on the Titanic.
The ship finally went down when they were about a mile distant, the band still playing, and as the boat crashed in its final sinking they heard the anguished cries of those still on board as if one huge human wail. It was years before Ethel could forget that terrible scream. They both preferred to keep as much silence on this terrible event as possible since then, but for discussions with their family and just a couple of newspaper interviews.
After a night in the lifeboat the ship Carpathia was sighted at 8 in the morning. The rest of the way to America the couple longed for solid ground under their feet and to forget everything. They never went on a ship ever again and could not talk about the event for a long, long time. On arriving destitute in New York one volunteer lady, Mrs Stott, took them on, got them clothing from the Women's Relief Committee and paid their fare to Rochester, New York, where they settled for the rest of their days.
Edward and Ethel's amazing story of their Titanic experience is relevant because it represents only a small percentage of Titanic survivors who were not separated by the disaster. Both Edward and his wife survived despite the women and children first rule. Ethel may even have conceived a baby on the Titanic as 9 months later she gave birth to a stillborn child.
Edward and Ethel's amazing story of their Titanic experience is relevant because it represents only a small percentage of Titanic survivors who were not separated by the disaster. Both Edward and his wife survived despite the women and children first rule. Ethel may even have conceived a baby on the Titanic as 9 months later she gave birth to a stillborn child.