There were ‘impressive scenes’ on this day in 1914 as tens of thousands of people attended a ‘solemn service’ during the unveiling of the Titanic Engineers’ Memorial in Southampton. ‘Tears were upon many faces, and in every heart there was sorrow.’

Sailors marching to the church.

OTD in 1912, five days after the Titanic disaster, a memorial service for those who lost their lives was held in St Mary’s Church. The church was completely packed. Sailors marched from the docks in order to attend. Southampton, a town in mourning, came to a complete standstill for the service.

Catherine died in 1536 and Henry forbade their nineteen-year-old daughter, Mary, from from attending the funeral. Mary became queen in 1553.

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He banished Catherine from court in 1531 and five days after their marriage was annulled in 1533, she was formally stripped of her title of queen when Henry married Anne.

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It was around this time that her husband Henry began pursuing Anne Boleyn. Henry had already cheated on Catherine with Anne’s sister, Mary, in the early 1520s.

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A royal salute at the Bargate announced Catherine’s arrival and she was presented with a gift of wine.

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Huttoft, a wealthy merchant, was one of the richest men in Southampton at the time. During his second mayoralty Henry VIII appointed him as collector of the royal customs at Southampton. It eventually all went wrong for Huttoft but that’s a story for another time.

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Catherine holding a monkey.

Catherine of Aragon was Queen of England from 1509 until Henry VIII annulled their marriage in 1533.

As queen, she visited Southampton during the mayoralty of Henry Huttoft in 1525 or 1526. This portrait was made around that time.

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She was the first Auxiliary Territorial Service soldier in Anti-Aircraft Command to be killed in action during the Second World War. She was laid to rest nearby in the military cemetery at Netley.

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Nora’s grave.

Concrete remains in the woods.

Concrete remains in the woods.

Concrete remains in the woods.

The remains of the anti-aircraft battery in Westwood near Weston Shore. Remembering eighteen-year-old Nora Caveney who was tragically killed here on this day in 1942 after being hit by shrapnel from a German bomb.

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A few days after the disaster, on 18 April 1912, the Gloucester Citizen reported that the Daily Mail had interviewed a woman who lived on York Street in Northam. She reportedly said: "No, my man was not on the Titanic, he is on the Olympic, thank God. Mrs. May, the woman standing at her door across the way there, she has lost her husband and eldest son. The husband was a cook for firemen. Arthur, the son, was only married a year ago, and his wife had a baby six weeks ago. Then there's Mrs. Allen. She lives round the corner. She has lost her husband, and she was so fond of him. 'There was no one like George', she used to say. That young girl in black, the one on this side, is Mrs. Barnes. She has lost her brother. The woman going into the shop is Mrs. Josling [sic]. She has lost a son; and Mrs. Preston, of Prince Street [sic], a widow, has lost a son, too. There is a woman in Bevois Street who gave birth to twins a fortnight ago, and she died from shock when she heard of her husband's death. There are fifteen families who have lost a father or a son in this street, but Mrs. May's case is the worst." Regarding the story about the widow dying of shock, the wife of Frederick William Barrett of 26 Bevois Street did indeed give birth to twins a few weeks before the voyage, however it appears she went on to live for another fifty years. It is likely that in the days after the disaster, rumours and stories like this spread around the town like wildfire.

The Daily Mail reporter crossed the road to speak to Ann May of 75 York Street who had lost her husband and her eldest son. In a 'weary voice', she said: "Yes, it's true, husband and son have gone and left eleven of us. It was the first time Arthur and his father had been at sea together, and it would not have happened if Arthur had not been out of work owing to the coal strike. He tried to get a job ashore but failed, and as he had his wife and baby to keep he signed on in the Titanic as a fireman. His father should not have been on the Titanic, but a bad leg stopped him from going in his own ship the Britannia. Now they are gone and there are eleven of us. The eldest boy, nineteen, makes a few shillings a week by odd jobs, and my youngest baby is six months old." These words demonstrate just how devastating the disaster was. In August 1912, a committee was formed in Southampton to deal with the local Titanic Relief Fund. It was stated at the meeting that the sinking had left 239 widows, 462 children, and 213 dependents in Southampton needing help. The same report stated that the number of Liverpool cases numbered 24 widows, 42 children, and 57 dependents. It would have been extremely difficult for these women both in Southampton and Liverpool, many of them mothers, to suddenly lose not just their husband, but also the family's main breadwinner. Charity and community were vital.

In August 1912, a committee was formed in Southampton to deal with the local Titanic Relief Fund. It was stated at the meeting that the sinking had left 239 widows, 462 children, and 213 dependents in Southampton needing help. The same report stated that the number of Liverpool cases numbered 24 widows, 42 children, and 57 dependents. It would have been extremely difficult for these women both in Southampton and Liverpool, many of them mothers, to suddenly lose not just their husband, but also the family's main breadwinner. Charity and community were vital. The photos here show the crowds and the lists at the White Star Line offices on Canute Road in the days after the sinking. In 2020 I plotted the Southampton crew members on my Interactive Titanic Crew Map: https://historicsouthampton.co.uk/crew/ The Southampton survivors returned home on 29 April, two weeks after the sinking. The lists would have been taken down from the railings outside the White Star Line office as the families were forced to come to terms with their loss. Eleanor, the widow of Captain Edward Smith, had posted a note on the board alongside the lists that read: 'To my Fellow-sufferers, My heart overflows with grief for you all, and is laden with the sorrow that you are weighed down with and with this terrible burden that has been thrust upon us. May God be with us and comfort us all. Yours, in deep sympathy, Eleanor Smith!'

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114 years ago today, in the early hours of the morning on 15 April 1912, two hours and forty minutes after striking the iceberg, Titanic slipped beneath the waves and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. According to the British Board of Trade report, a total of 1,514 people perished in the sinking. Of the 908 crew members on board, over 700 had been living or staying in Southampton prior to the voyage. 542 of them died, meaning that over a third of those who lost their lives in the disaster were crew members who had signed on with a Southampton address. This figure includes those who lived permanently in the town as well as those who were lodging between voyages.

The sinking had an undeniably devastating impact on Southampton. On 20 April, the Morning Leader, a London newspaper, published a long article written by their special correspondent in Southampton. Their headlines read: 'WOMEN MUST WEEP. DESOLATE HOMES OF SOUTHAMPTON. TOWN IN TEARS. OVER 600 DEAR ONES GO FROM ONE CITY. The correspondent wrote: 'This has been a weary day for hundreds of people here; a day of forlorn hope and crushing silence. Since early morning the officials at the White Star Offices in Canute-rd. have been pinning lists of names to their fateful notice board; names that brought tears of gratitude, truly, but they are such meagre lists - so many names are missing - so many tired women, hopeful to the last, have dragged themselves from the crowd only to go back once more to scan the dreadful columns. You in London, despite the vivid cables from New York, can only dimly realise the magnitude of this disaster... here one sees it in all its horror, sees it in the sobbing women, sees it in the side streets of Wolston [sic] and Shirley, where the houses have their blinds down and are silent. In the neighbourhood of the docks the town is stricken with grief which yesterday's perfect sky seemed to mock. Briton-st. is like a tomb; every second house has someone among the missing.' This last sentence is typical of the sensationalism that was common in the press in the days after the sinking. Although there were seven crew members who signed on with a Briton Street address (six died and one survived) there were twenty-eight properties on the street at the time, and two pairs were staying together.

News of Southampton's plight quickly spread. In Canada, the Ottawa Free Press published the following headline just one day after the sinking: 'HOME TOWN OF THE CREW STUNNED'. Their reporter stated that 'Distressing scenes have been witnessed throughout the morning at the White Star offices here which have been thronged by the relatives of the crew of the Titanic. The town is absolutely stunned by the news of the disaster which is the greatest blow that Southampton has ever sustained... No family in the city or its vicinity has not lost a relative or friend. The crowds gathered outside the White Star Line offices on Canute Road for days after the sinking, with some waiting all day and all night for news about loved ones. The Salvation Army set up a stall to provide tea and coffee to the anxious families. On 24 April, the Daily Mirror posted a photo of some of the lists put up outside the offices, with the caption: 'Owing to the inaccuracies in the lists telegraphed from New York of the survivors of the crew, joy was in many cases turned into grief, as the names of a number of those drowned were included among the survivors. The photograph, taken at Southampton, shows how the lists had to be corrected.'

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Photograph of a crowd waiting for names outside the White Star Line offices on Canute Road after the sinking.

Photograph of a crowd waiting for names outside the White Star Line offices on Canute Road after the sinking. The lists are up on a board on the railings.

Daily Mirror photograph of the lists put up outside the White Star Line offices in Southampton.

The view today of the former White Star Line building on Canute Road.

I did a long post over on Facebook today to mark the anniversary of the sinking of Titanic and to try to give an idea of the dreadful impact it had on Southampton. It’s too long for Bluesky so please find the text below.

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The main hospital building itself was damaged by fire and demolished in the 1960s, except for its chapel, which still stands today as part of the wonderful Royal Victoria County Park.

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However, patients at the huge military hospital were able to enjoy the fresh air of the pier, so it still served a purpose. By the 1950s the pier had fallen into disrepair and it was demolished.

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and the arrival of the hospital’s own railway line that same year rendered it mostly redundant as a landing place.

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Photo of the pier, early 1900s.

Same view 2025.

The pier at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Netley was completed in 1866. The original intention was to be able to unload sick and wounded soldiers directly from vessels in Southampton Water, however, the length of the pier made this difficult…

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Amazing effort once again, Paul 👏

@titanic1912.bsky.social

Although widely known as Hampshire, the county’s official administrative and legal name was actually the County of Southampton until 1959.

The map of Hampshire by Christopher Saxton was made around 1575; he calls Hampshire ‘Southamtoniae’, a Latinised version of the county name.

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For centuries, Hampshire was also known as the County of Southampton, as well as Southamptonshire. For example, the will of my great x10 grandfather opens with: ‘The last will and testam[ent] of Nicholas Masters late of the p[ar]ish of Brokenhurst [sic] in the county of Southton, blacksmith…’

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Hampshire was written as ‘Hantescire’ in the Domesday Book in 1086 and the abbreviation ‘Hants’ is derived from this.

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Saxton’s 1575 map.

Anglo-Saxon Southampton was known as ‘Hamwic’ and ‘Hamtun’. The surrounding area therefore became known as ‘Hamtunscīr’ and is where the word ‘Hampshire’ comes from.

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Aerial view of the two streets, divided by the Bargate.

An interesting aerial view of Southampton High Street and Above Bar Street, probably early 1920s.

Channon doing his famous windmill celebration.

On this day in 1966, seventeen-year-old Mick Channon made his league debut for Southampton FC at the Dell. Channon scored that day and he would go on to score 228 goals for the Saints in all competitions. He is still the club’s all-time leading goalscorer.

'It was a relief to every one when Titanic at last passed the bend, and glided slowly away to sea, with the Royal Mail liner Tagus following her, like a maid of honour holding the train of a queen.'

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Unbeknown to him, the hundreds of people on the quayside, and the passengers and crew on board, it would be the last Southampton ever saw of her.

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'It was a thrilling start for the maiden voyage of the largest steamer in the world.' The correspondent watched on as 'the mighty Titanic at last steamed away down Southampton Water like a proud Queen of the Seas an hour late, but not at all worried.'

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A disaster had been narrowly averted, and Titanic's propellors began pushing her forward once more.

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'What was said to have happened seemed a fantastic absurdity until I saw the frayed end of a steel wire hawser (cable) as thick as a man's wrist, laying on the quay. "It snapped like the crack of a gun," a man told me who saw it break. Broken hemp cables hung down the New York's side.'

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