National Museums Liverpool Blog - titanic

A divine Clarice Cliff 'tea for two' set from Age of Jazz.

It's an eclectic selection and there are some great books, my personal favourites being 'When Time Began to Rant and Rage...' which is a fab book of Irish figurative work and totally worth a fiver,  Age of Jazz: British Arts Deco Ceramics as I'm a sucker for a deco teaset, and British Watercolours and Drawings from the Lady Lever's collection.

If you've still not got a John Moores catalogue then now is the time to buy one as they're reduced to £7.50. And if you buy it from the Walker shop you get the John Moores China version for free.

At first families back home in Liverpool were oblivious to the horror that had befallen their loved ones.

On November 23 1942 my grandmother watched from Crosby beach as Liverpool liner SS Ceramic left the River Mersey. Her husband Fred was aboard working as a steward. Clutching her three-month-old baby, Annie Felton waved the ship off, unaware that this would be the very final farewell.
 
The 18,400 ton Ceramic was launched in 1912 by Harland and Wolff in Belfast. She was the first ship built by White Star Line after Titanic and spent her years sailing the Liverpool to Australia route.

She was nicknamed “the relief of Bootle” because she’d offered work to jobless Liverpool seamen taking them off the dole queues.

On this day 70-years-ago (December 6 1942), Ceramic was en-route to Sydney. But she never made the Harbour Bridge. The merchant ship would be torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic off The Azores.

In deep of night U-515 aimed its torpedoes and unleashed hell. Passengers and crew scrambled into lifeboats, but this only prolonged the agony. As lifeboats capsized there was no escape from chaos of storm and sea.

Of the 656 men, women and children aboard, just one survived. U-515 emerged to pluck just one person from the carnage - sapper Eric Munday. It would be 10 months before the fate of Ceramic would be known back in Liverpool.

The sinking remains one of the worst shipping disasters of all time. The definitive story of Ceramic and account of sole survivor Eric Munday is available in a book by Clare Hardy called: “SS Ceramic – the untold story”: www.ssceramic.co.uk

SS Ceramic photograph is from the collections of Merseyside Maritime Museum. Our Maritime Archives and Library holds an extensive collection of maritime books and archives spanning three centuries, including one of the finest collections of merchant shipping records in the UK. www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/

By Dickie Felton

Sean O'Connell climbing out of the submarine after visiting the wreck of the Titanic

My own experience of working with the story of Titanic sees me trying to put myself in the position of people involved in the disaster and imagine as best as I can the situation as it unfolded for those characters, such as Bruce Ismay's daughter, Evelyn. Obviously there are no survivors left alive any longer to be able to tell their story first hand, so the role of these performances is even more important in putting across different viewpoints.

What’s so exciting and unique about Sean’s experience is that he has actually been there and seen the real ship for himself! Only a handful of people from across the world can say they have done the same thing - so to be able to hear about such an amazing adventure first-hand is truly rare.

Sean's talk is at 1.30pm and 3pm on Saturday 1 December at Merseyside Maritime Museum. See the website for full details of the Titanic events programme.

There are still events happening for the centenary year of Titanic’s sinking for people who are interested in the tragic tale of the ship. Ian Murphy, Deputy Director of Merseyside Maritime Museum is speaking at the Titanic Talks event organised by the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool at 6pm on 16 October along with Dr John Foster of Queen’s University, Belfast. Details of the event can be found here and for more information contact: Dorothy Lynch, Development Manager, The Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool, 1 Abercromby Square, Liverpool, L69 7WY.

The Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story exhibition is open until 21 April 2013, at the Merseyside Maritime Museum.

There was a hive of activity last week in the Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story exhibition as we were busy installing a new display of personal items relating to Henry Wilde.

Henry Wilde was a senior officer on Titanic and the museum was honoured when the opportunity to display these never seen before items came to light.
Henry Wilde lived in Walton, Liverpool and worked for White Star for most of his career

The three letters - one to his daughter Jennie from Olympic on 30 March, and two written to Jennie and Nurse aboard Titanic on 9 and 11 April 1912 - detail the preparations before for sailing, and his last minute transfer to Titanic’s crew. The final letters were written on board Titanic and the last was sent from Queenstown during the ship’s stop in Ireland. The letters are very poignant and a heart felt insight into the relationship between a father and his children; he clearly misses them and looks forward to seeing them again. Henry was praised for his part in the launch of Titanic’s lifeboats, but sadly didn’t survive the sinking. His body was never recovered.

The letters really emphasize the human story and personal loss which affected the families as a result of the sinking of Titanic. Many families never saw their loved ones again. The sinking of Titanic shocked the world but would have a longer, devastating effect on the lives of families left behind.

Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story exhibition is open until 21 April 2013.

Thank you to Izzy Stubbs for helping out in the Exhibitions Department last week. Find out about what Izzy got up to:

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As a 15 year old on work experience, I felt intrigued as to what duties I would have to carry out working within the National Museums Liverpool organisation. Over the week I have visited places like the Decorative Art costume storage where lots of clothes, pottery, hats, shoes, toys and more are stored. I especially enjoyed this area of NML because I am currently taking GCSE textiles and I feel as though seeing clothes from as far back as the 18th century has given me a greater understanding of the history behind the beautifully embroidered materials. I also visited the Lady Lever Art Gallery to see the current exhibition, A Pre-Raphaelite Journey (which I highly recommend) and the Merseyside Maritime Museum to see the Titanic exhibition - Titanic & Liverpool: the Untold Story. Even half an hour before closing time the exhibition was still bustling with people!

My favourite exhibition that I have visited this week would most definitely have to be the Rolf Harris exhibition, Can you tell what it is yet? This can be seen at the Walker Art Gallery.

Before I visited the exhibition I didn’t have much of an idea of as to what Rolf painted but afterwards had a wider knowledge! As soon I walked into the exhibition, I was blown away by the sight of the exotically painted grand piano - I was tempted to start playing it myself! Some of my favourite paintings are Snappy Snaps, St Ives (which brought back funny memories from the times I have visited), Greek Fishing Village, The Lion King – Uneasy Truce and Millennium Dawn.

What I like most about each of Rolf’s paintings is the way he paints the angle of light which makes us feel like were actually there with his pictures. Also, I enjoyed seeing “Rolf’s Studio” with the sculpture that had formed out of his paint pallet!

Overall, my experience working within NML has been brilliant and I have a clearer understanding of the different jobs within the Exhibitions Department and how much effort (which is a lot) is needed to make an exhibition happen. I definitely want to volunteer again in the near future and will certainly be taking my family to see the outstanding Can you tell what it is yet? exhibition!

Earlier this year I met with Theatre in the Rough at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. They are a charity which promote new writing for the stage by young people aged 13-25 from across Merseyside.

The group were developing a series of plays about Titanic and Liverpool, and the Maritime History department were approached by their artistic director -acclaimed Liverpool playwright Chris Fittock. We provided support for the group including a Titanic presentation for these budding new writers, drawing upon the themes from our exhibition Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story.

You can see the result of their work at Theatre in the Rough’s 5 day festival which takes place 3 -7 July at Old Christ Church, Waterloo, Liverpool. The locally curated event features drama, live music and an exhibition and is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England. For further information please see their website.

We were delighted to have been a supporter for Theatre in the Rough and wish them well for their festival. Don’t forget that you can still see our exhibition Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story which is currently running at the Merseyside Maritime Museum until 2013. You can also follow the museum on facebook and our twitter.

We had a special visitor at the Maritime Museum yesterday. 91 year old Ellen Jones is the daughter of Titanic crewman Thomas Jones. She came in to the Merseyside Maritime Museum to see our exhibition Titanic and Liverpool: the untold story and look at a postcard in the Maritime Archives collection sent by her father to her mother Clara.

Able seaman Thomas Jones was born in Anglesey and was living in Liverpool when he signed on for Titanic’s maiden voyage. He was put in charge of lifeboat number 8 which had been ordered away carrying only 27 people, as other passengers had chosen to remain on Titanic believing it would not sink. Jones and a few others in the boat wanted to return to pick up other survivors, but they were overruled by the rest of the people in boat number 8.

One of the people in boat 8 who wanted to go back with Jones for other survivors was the Countess of Rothes, who later sent him a silver watch. Jones and the Countess continued to write to each other until her death in 1956. As a child Ellen said that she thought that this was nothing out of the ordinary and that “everyone knew a Countess!”

Ellen met with Dawn Littler and Ian Murphy from the Maritime Museum and spoke to them about her father who is featured in the museum’s exhibition. She said that Thomas Jones continued to work at sea and in later life was stationed on the light ship in Liverpool Bay. Thomas Jones died in 1972.

Titanic and Liverpool: the untold story is at the Merseyside Maritime Museum until 21 April 2013.

Walking to the office this morning there is already a sense of anticipation and excitement for the Sea Odyssey event which starts today until Sunday. I saw the diver puppet half submerged in Salthouse Dock.

The event was inspired by May McMurray’s letter which is part of the Merseyside Maritime Museum archives and library collection. May wrote a letter to her father William McMurray and sadly he never received it. It was returned to the family unread. The letter is currently on display in the Titanic and Liverpool: the untold story exhibition.

This weekend marks the end of another successful week for the exhibition which in three weeks has received over 100,000 visitors and we are all delighted by the overwhelming positive response from visitors. The curators have also been contacted by many relatives of crew and passengers who were on board Titanic.

To keep up to date with developments at the Merseyside Maritime Museum you can follow our twitter page and join our facebook.

Titanic & Liverpool: the untold story exhibition opens from 30th March 2012- 21 April 2013

We are appealing for string quartets of all ages to play this Saturday and Sunday

Do you play an instrument? No matter how old or young, or how long you’ve been playing, we’d love you to get involved in our Titanic Playathon this weekend at the Museum of Liverpool.

This Saturday and Sunday, we’re hosting a poignant tribute to the brave Titanic Orchestra, who courageously played as the Titanic sank on 15 April 1912.

Local string quartets are invited to take part in the Titanic Playathon which is aimed at sustaining constant live music throughout opening hours at the Museum.

Whether you’ve been playing for just a few months, but you’re a dab hand at 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', or you’re an accomplished group of musicians who can play 'Nearer my God to thee', we’d love you to be involved.

From 10am – 5pm on Saturday, and during longer opening hours on Sunday from 9am – 5pm to tie in with the city’s Sea Odyssey Giant Spectacular, performers will be able to take the baton and play in the Museum of Liverpool’s spectacular Atrium.

Our senior Education Manager at the Museum of Liverpool, Julia Bryan says: “The musicians who played on the Titanic were engaged by the agents Black Brothers of Liverpool, and we want to do something to mark the anniversary of the sinking that will serve as a reminder of the unselfish deeds of these men on that night.

“We’d love local people to get involved with the event and particularly welcome young performers and string quartets to come along and help us keep the music of the Titanic orchestra alive, in memory of the eight members of the orchestra, all of whom died that night.”

If you would like to come along and play, contact julia.bryan@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk for more information and to book a slot.