Archive

Mr. Henry John Spinner (also known as Harry) from Worcester, was a glover travelling in third class on the Titanic to Gloversville, near New York in America, probably to work there. Aged 32, he had been born in 1880 in the Arboretum, Worcester where he had lived with his family before later moving with his...

Samuel Ernest Hemming, originally from Bromsgrove, was a member of the crew, working as a lamptrimmer on the Titanic. Samuel was one of the first people to realise the ship was sinking after it hit the iceberg. He was rescued on a lifeboat and spoke in the American investigation before returning home to his family...

Henry Samuel Morley and Kate Phillips – Second-Class Passengers Henry Morley travelled as a second-class passenger on the Titanic and sadly died in the sinking. He was listed as a passenger from Birmingham, but had shops in many places including Worcester, where one of his shop assistants was Kate Phillips. They eloped together on the...

Mr Leopold and Mrs Mathilde Weisz – Second-class Passengers Second class passengers Mr. Leopold Weisz and his wife Mrs. Mathilde Françoise Weisz travelled together on the Titanic, not as tourists, but to emigrate to Canada where Leopold had already been working and intended to continue. Early life According to his gravestone, Leopold Weisz was born...

In this series we look at the Worcestershire people who sailed on RMS Titanic, and the stories we can tell through the records. We start with Francis Millet, First Class Passenger. He was an internationally famous painter born in the United States and part of a group of artists based at Broadway in Worcestershire where his had most recently lived with his family. A letter he sent to a friend from the Titanic is part of the archives here.

The famously ill-fated Titanic sank in April 1912. 2,208 people sailed on the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, and the ensuing disaster on 15 April 1912 sadly resulted in the deaths of 1,503 people. It may be surprising to know some of the people aboard came from land-locked Worcestershire. An exhibition about the Titanic will be...

Late 16th Century German stoneware jar The annual Festival of British Archaeology is about to start, and as part of this we are offering another of our Behind the Scenes tours here at Explore the Past, where you will be able to go into our Finds Room and handle a selection of artefacts discovered in the...

Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service holds archives that can shed light on national and international events.  This letter was written on board RMS Titanic by Frank Millett, an American painter, sculpter and writer and sent to Alfred Parsons, a painter and illustrator, who lived in Broadway, Worcestershire. In the letter Millett describes the ship.. ‘As...