RMS Titanic on her maiden voyage
Image: RMS Titanic, Inc
Source: RMS Titanic, Inc
Question: Recently I visited Titanic: the artefact exhibition and noticed that there were Australians aboard the Titanic. Could you tell give me some details about them?
Answer: There were six Australians aboard Titanic – four crew and two passengers:
Evelyn Marsden, 28
Born in South Australia. Crew – stewardess. Escaped on lifeboat #16. Soon after the sinking married Dr William James, another employee of the White Star Line. They returned to Australia, living in Adelaide and Sydney. Evelyn died in 1938.
Donald Campbell, 25
Born in Melbourne. Crew – third-class clerk, victualling (food provision). Little is known about his background. He died in the sinking and his body was never recovered.
Alfred Nicols, 42
Born in Sydney. Crew – boatswain. Like Donald Campbell, little is known about him. Previously worked on Titanic’s sister ship Olympic. He died in the sinking and his body was never identified.
Leonard White, 31
Born in Sydney. Crew – saloon steward. Like the other Australian male crew, little is known about him. He previously worked on the ship Osterley and gave his address as Southampton when he signed onto Titanic. He died in the sinking and his body was never recovered.
Arthur McCrae, 32
Born in Adelaide. Mining engineer. Second-class passenger. Educated at Sydney Grammar School and Sydney University. Worked at mines in West Africa and Siberia. Travelling en-route to Canada to visit friends. His body was recovered and buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Charles Dahl, 45
Born in Finnmark, Norway. Joiner. Third-class passenger. Moved to Adelaide in 1882. Spent 30 years in Australia before deciding to return to Norway, via London. While in London, he decided to travel to the US on Titanic. Rescued in lifeboat #15. Spent time in New York and North Dakota before returning to Norway, where he died at 76.
More detailed information on these, as well as all the passengers and crew can be found on the website Encyclopedia Titanica.