Understanding J. Bruce Ismay

The True Story of the Man They Called 'The Coward of Titanic'

Clifford Ismay

• Editore: The History Press
• Anno: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781803990712
• Argomento: History
• Categoria: Historical Biographies

Coward. Brute. Yellow-livered.

For over 100 years, J. Bruce Ismay has been the scapegoat of the Titanic disaster. He is the villain of every film and TV drama: a fit and able-bodied man who sacrificed the lives of women and children in order to survive. Some even claim that it was his fault the Titanic sank, that he encouraged the captain to sail faster.

But is this the true story?

In Understanding J. Bruce Ismay, Clifford Ismay opens up the family archives to uncover the story of a quiet man savaged by over a century of tabloid press. This is a must-read for any enthusiast who wishes to form their own opinion of the Titanic 's most infamous survivor.

1

THE ISMAY FAMILY

To understand Joseph Bruce Ismay, it may be necessary to look back in time, not only into his life but also to examine his family history. Many Ismay family members have their roots in Cumbria, or Cumberland as it was known before English county boundary changes in 1974. The Ismay family can be traced back to at least the turn of the sixteenth century, and possibly as far back as 1066, with the Norman invasion of Britain. The surname Ismay is derived from the name of an ancestor, ‘the son of Ismay’, with the name originally being a rare girls’ name in thirteenth-century France. The name managed to survive, later becoming a surname.

For the purpose of this chapter, we shall begin in the ancient parish of Uldale, Cumbria. Uldale is a small village located in an isolated area, among the fells of the northern edge of the English Lake District and overlooks the River Ellen which flows into the Solway Firth at Maryport.

Originally, a ninth-century Norse-Irish settlement existed there. The name Uldale comes from the Old Norse language ‘úlf’, meaning ‘wolf’. Dale-wolves once roamed the fells here in abundance.

A certain Daniel Ismay lived in the village with his wife, Ann. He was born in Bromfield, a small hamlet 10 miles to the north-west of Uldale. He had met and fallen in love with Ann Cowx, the daughter of John Cowx, a prominent Uldale family. Daniel and Ann, already heavily pregnant with her first child, were married in St James’ Church, Uldale, on 12 November 1754, with their first son Thomas being born two months later.

In the eighteenth century, Uldale was a small village with a population of around 350 inhabitants. Villagers were mainly employed in farming, copper mining and quarrying for limestone. Daniel plied his trade as carpenter in and around Uldale for a great many years, during which time Ann gave birth to seven sons and five daughters. The last four born were all boys, but sadly, none of these four boys lived past their fifth birthday.

Thomas was the eldest of the seven brothers and attended the local grammar school, which was located close to his home to the south-east of Uldale village. As a young boy, his passion was carving pieces of wood which he would find lying around in his father’s workshop. Mostly he carved small boats, inspired by pictures he found in his favourite books, and he became very good at it.

At that time, farming was the main business of the Ismay family. However, like his father, Thomas’ profession was a carpenter, working alongside his father for several years. In July 1777, Thomas married Elizabeth Scott, soon after her birthday, both being 22 years of age. Soon after their marriage, Thomas and Elizabeth, who was heavily pregnant with their first child, decided to seek a new way of life and relocated to the seaside town of Maryport, Cumbria, an upcoming town which was 18 miles to the west of Uldale and situated on the shores of the Solway Firth. It was here that their first child, Henry, was born.

After several years plying his trade as a carpenter in Maryport, Thomas was enlisted as a soldier with the British Army, becoming involved with the British invasion of Guadeloupe. Thomas was subsequently captured by the French and remained a prisoner in Guadeloupe until his death in 1795, at just 40 years of age.

By the end of the eighteenth century, Maryport had a population of just under 4,000 inhabitants. The main income in the town was from importing timber from America and exporting coal to Ireland. There were three main shipbuilding yards situated on the town’s River Ellen, which, being a narrow river, necessitated most ships to be launched broadside. Therefore, ships built in Maryport were typically between 30 and 450 tons, of timber construction and mainly designed for the American, Baltic and West Indian trade routes.

One of Maryport’s first shipbuilding yards was owned by Joseph Middleton, and one of his ships, the Vine, a three-masted schooner built in 1812, was built for and first mastered by Henry Ismay, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth. In January 1800, the 23-year-old Henry married Joseph Middleton’s eldest daughter, Charlotte.

Henry had been employed as Master Mariner throughout much of his adult life. His regular trading route was between Liverpool and Newfoundland, with regular stops at Queenstown in Ireland for supplies. He loved the challenging life that his profession demanded and largely remained at sea until his retirement when, along with his beloved wife, he took on a small grocery shop in Maryport’s High Street, where he traded for many years as grocer and flour dealer.

Joseph Ismay, the third son of Henry and Charlotte, was christened on 27 April 1804 in the Presbyterian Church, Maryport, the town in which he would later work as a shipbuilder, ship owner and timber merchant. Following in his father’s footsteps, Joseph entered into the seafaring world at an early age, finding employment as a foreman shipwright at the Middleton yard, which was now owned by his uncle, Isaac Middleton.

Joseph Ismay married Mary Sealby, daughter of John Sealby, a prominent gentleman of Maryport, immediately taking his new bride to live in the small house that he had purchased some three years earlier. This house was situated in Whillan’s Yard, which was a narrow thoroughfare between two of the main streets in the town and was very close to his father’s house on High Street. Being a narrow thoroughfare, all the houses were small and cramped together, and consequently, conditions in this tiny house were quite restrictive, but it made an acceptable first home for the young couple.

Four years later, their first son, Thomas Henry Ismay was born. He was destined to become one of the most prominent ship owners of his time.

2

YOUNG THOMAS HENRY ISMAY

Thomas Henry Ismay has been described as the greatest shipowner of the Victorian era. He was born in 1837, the year in which Queen Victoria took the throne, and died in 1899, just two years before her death. He was the first son of Joseph Ismay and was born in the family home in Whillan’s Yard, Maryport, on 7 January 1837. Four years later, the family had increased to four children. Charlotte and Mary were twins, and three years later another sister, Sarah, was born.

This small three-roomed house was now overcrowded, and so they bought a larger house near the family’s shipbuilding yard. Their new home was named Ropery House, so named because all the ropes connected with the shipyard were laid out nearby. The house had four main rooms and three attic rooms, thereby making an ideal home for the expanding family. It was here that their fifth child, John Ismay, was born, when Thomas was 10 years old.

Soon after moving to Ropery House, Thomas’ father, Joseph, began his own business as a timber merchant and shipbuilder, he was also Maryport’s first shipbroker and had a share in four ships trading with the port. One of the firms he traded with was Imrie Tomlinson, of Liverpool, with which his son Thomas would later be apprenticed.

As a young boy, Thomas spent many hours at the quayside. He loved to talk with the sailors and enjoyed watching the ships entering the port and leaving for lands afar. Although he was very young, he demonstrated his keen interest in anything to do with the sea and ships, even joining the sailors in the habit of chewing tobacco, soon becoming known as ‘Baccy’ Ismay.

Thomas had a happy childhood, but he had to assume a degree of responsibility at an early age. When he reached the age of 12, his father Joseph became very ill and journeyed south to Malvern, in the hope that treatment at the town’s legendary and fashionable spa would aid his recovery. During his father’s time away, the young Thomas helped look after his mother and his younger brother and sisters, as well as keeping the garden in good order, the produce of which would help provide a welcome meal at the family table. He also assisted with his father’s business in the hope that all would be ready for his father’s return.

His parents soon realised the boy’s true potential, so when he left the local school, they arranged for his further education to be completed at Croft House School, Brampton, near Carlisle, almost 40 miles to the north of Maryport. This was considered, at that time, to be one of the best boarding schools in the north of England and drew pupils from all over northern England, Scotland and Ireland. The young Thomas probably travelled to school on the newly opened Maryport–Carlisle Railway, the construction of which began the year he was born. It had only been in operation since 1841 and at that time was considered by many people to be an advanced form of transportation.

The school was run by a Mr Joseph Coulthard, his wife, two sons, a daughter and four assistant masters. It comprised two large houses, standing about 200 yards apart. In one were the residential quarters and in the other, classrooms.

The curriculum taught was considered progressive for that time and mainly consisted of English, arithmetic, classics, modern languages, philosophy, deportment, penmanship, drawing and music. Philosophy included astronomy, chemistry, physiology, botany and geology, while deportment included dancing, drill and gentlemanly bearing. While he was at this school, Thomas loved nothing better than to build model boats in his spare time and rig them according to their class. Once they were complete, he would sail them on a nearby pond, much like his great grandfather Thomas had done.

An account of Thomas’ days at Croft House was written by one of his contemporaries, half a century later:

Thomas Henry Ismay was, along with myself, and many others, a pupil at Croft House under the late Mr Coulthard, and survivors of that company will remember well the dark-complexioned lad, with dark piercing eyes, whose hobby was the sea, whose ambition was a seafaring life, and who never seemed so happy as when engaged in fashioning a miniature sailing vessel with a pocket knife out of a block of wood, rigging it with masts and sails all according to the orthodox rig of its class and then sailing it on the pond at Irthington. Anything affecting the sailing of ships touched him in a tender place and awakened those instincts which were destined to make his name famous throughout the world. Ismay finished his education at Croft House taking the general course of the school which was regarded as a very good course and far ahead of general notions of education in those days. I doubt whether any of his school-fellows or teachers would, in his school days, have predicted that such a future was in store for him.

After only one year at Croft House, Thomas’ father died suddenly, aged only 46. It was Thomas’ great-uncle, Isaac Middleton, who arranged for Thomas to be apprenticed with the shipbrokers Imrie Tomlinson, who Isaac knew well, as he and Thomas’ father had conducted business. It followed that at the age of 16, Thomas began his apprenticeship at 13 Rumford Street, Liverpool. At that time, there was a regular sea route trading between Maryport and Liverpool, and it is likely that this mode of transportation was chosen for his journey.

From that moment, Thomas could be considered to be the architect of his own fortunes. His father had been successful as a shipbuilder in Maryport, but Thomas arrived in Liverpool with very little capital, yet his young mind was full of ambition and aspiration, enough to position him at the gateway to his career.

While serving his apprenticeship, Thomas had established a good relationship with Liverpool merchants, mainly because of his honesty and the prompt attention he gave to their affairs. After three years with the firm Imrie Tomlinson, Thomas decided to gain some experience of life at sea and of the world, and so embarked on a series of voyages which lasted almost a year. His first voyage was arranged with Jackson & Co. of Maryport, sailing from Liverpool to Chile on board their vessel Charles Jackson, a three-year-old barque of 352 tonnes. Under the command of his uncle, Captain George Metcalf, Charles Jackson sailed from Liverpool on 4 January 1856, destined for South America, a journey that took almost a year.

Interestingly, several years later, Charles Jackson came under the ownership of T.H. Ismay & Co. for a short time, before being returned to the ownership of her builders, R. Ritson & Co. During his time away, he had many adventures and thoroughly enjoyed his experience. On his return to Liverpool, in the autumn of 1856, Thomas set about putting his affairs in order.

At 20 years of age, Thomas had already become a very astute businessman and was ready to make his mark. As Thomas had only been 13 years old when his father died, his uncle Joseph Sealby was made a trustee of his father’s estate. Apparently, Sealby had assigned part of the family business to his son John, particularly the management of two ships partly owned by Thomas’ late father, and now by Thomas – the ships being named Mary Ismay and Charles Bronwell.

Thomas visited Charles Bronwell while she was moored in Liverpool and asserted to the captain of the vessel that he did not consider his cousin, John Sealby, a competent person to manage the ship. This resulted in several heated exchanges between John Sealby, Thomas Ismay and ultimately Joseph Sealby, trustee of the estate. Joseph soon decided that he no longer wished to have further business with his nephew and sold his shares to Thomas. His divisive strategy had worked, and Thomas had successfully freed himself from his trustees.

While still working for the firm Imrie Tomlinson, Thomas met a retired sea captain named Philip Nelson, who was also a son of Maryport. Nelson had an interest in anything to do with ships, and his firm was known as Nelson & Company. During the year 1857, Nelson and Ismay decided to create a shipbroking business together. This partnership became known as Nelson, Ismay & Company, but as Thomas was under 21 years of age, the articles of agreement could not be signed until January of the following year.

Together, they took offices in Drury Buildings, 21 Water Street, Liverpool. Nelson was extremely cautious in all he did, whereas Ismay was full of youthful enthusiasm for the very latest design in ships. Iron in shipbuilding was not yet popular, but the youthful Thomas was convinced that the day would come when practically all ships would be built of iron.

Two years into the partnership, they commissioned their first ship, Angelita. Registered in 1859, Angelita was built by Alexander Stephen & Sons, a Scottish company specialising in the development of steam power and the use of iron for shipbuilding. Angelita was a small brigantine of 134 tonnes, which proved profitable for the company, with orders being placed the following year for two larger vessels, Mexico, a 187-ton schooner, and Ismay, a 447-ton barque. It was Ismay’s insistence that all three ships would be iron-built, and eventually – with some reluctance – Nelson agreed. The three new ships were built at Stephenson’s Kelvinhaugh yard in Glasgow and given the yard numbers 21, 29 and 30.

However, at the beginning of 1862, following the loss of Angelita, Nelson and Ismay decided they could no longer work together, and the partnership was dissolved by mutual consent on the first day of April 1862. Thomas agreed to take responsibility for all debts due to and owed by the firm. When the partnership with Nelson ended, Thomas moved his business to 10 Water Street, Liverpool and became known as T.H. Ismay & Company.

Around the time that the order had been placed for Angelita, Thomas met Margaret, the eldest daughter of ship owners Luke and Ma...

Indice dei contenuti

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword by Tad Fitch
• Introduction
• 1 The Ismay Family
• 2 Young Thomas Henry Ismay
• 3 Purchase of the White Star Line
• 4 Declining Health
• 5 Joseph Bruce Ismay
• 6 Presidency of International Mercantile Marine
• 7 RMS Olympic, First of the Olympic Class
• 8 RMS Titanic
• 9 Carpathia Rescue and Bruce’s Homecoming
• 10 Bruce Ismay’s Retirement from International Mercantile Marine
• 11 Life in Ireland
• Appendix 1  Extracts From the Archives
• Appendix 2  Maryport-Built Sailing Ships of the Nineteenth Century
• Appendix 3  White Star Line Handbook
• Acknowledgements
• Notes
• Bibliography