Titanic: Can you help identify man in picture?

This is his story:

I decided to begin researching my family tree about 20 years ago.

As the literature on family research suggested I started by speaking with living relatives.

One of my cousins, Colleen Price-Lloyd, informed me that her mother (my aunt) Ada Elizabeth Hayes had told her that two of her uncles had tragically perished when RMS Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, and believed they were brothers.

I hoped over time I might discover their identity.

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Over the years my research revealed that my grandmother’s parents were Joseph and Elizabeth Bennett, who lived at 3 Deal Street, which was in the Chapel district of Southampton.

They had 11 children, with 10 surviving infancy. One of those children was George Alfred Bennett, born July 23, 1881.

I visited the Hawthorn Centre on Southampton Common to attend a family research day organised by The Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery.

They printed out a list of Bennetts that were buried in the Old Cemetery and I found the following:

Grave Sect No C 175 037:

"Edith Mabel Bennett, date of burial 02/01/1911 age 19, address 3 Deal Street

"Elizabeth Hanna Bennett, date of burial 13/10/1917 age 68, address 3 Deal Street

"Joseph Bennett, date of burial 23/11/1918 age 75, address 3 Deal Street"

I purchased a copy of Titanic Victims discovered in the Old Cemetery – The Common Southampton by Brian J Ticehurst to see if any relatives I had found were mentioned as not having survived.

There were details of a George Bennett who had lived at 3 Deal Street.

As George was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Bennett, whose address was also 3 Deal Street, George Bennett who was on the Titanic must have been my great uncle and brother to my grandmother Ada Annie Bennett.

Can you help identify the man on the left of this image?

So I had found one of my great uncles I was looking for.

George was employed as a fireman, and most men of the engine department worked in a three-watch system, working four hours on and eight hours off.

In Guide to the crew of Titanic by Dominik Tezyk, Dominik produced a diagram which showed George in the third column, which probably meant he worked from midnight-4.30am and midday–4pm.

As Titanic struck the iceberg at 11.30pm British time and George began his shift at midnight, he would have been facing a traumatic situation.

When Sea City Museum opened in Southampton, I paid the museum a visit.

There was a huge map on the floor showing where the crew members were living and whether they had survived or met their fate.

Clearly marked was 3 Deal Street – it was overwhelming how many had perished from Southampton.

In the book by Brian J Ticehurst there was an article From the Atlantic Daily Bulletin 1/1999 by Mrs Priscilla Winn.

Mrs Winn had also been finding out information about a relative her grandfather had always spoken of who was a crew member on Titanic and perished when it sunk.

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At the time of writing, she thought that George was her grandfather’s cousin, but later discovered George was her grandfather’s 2nd cousin and therefore her 3rd cousin once removed.

Priscilla had been advised to obtain a copy of Titanic Triumph & Tragedy by Eaton & Haas which included a lot of crew photographs.

I also obtained a copy and there was indeed a photograph of George Bennett wearing a bowler hat.

Priscilla had been really surprised because he looked very similar to her grandfather’s brother Bob, who she knew as a child.

She wrote to the authors and enquired where the photograph had originated from, and J P Eaton replied informing her that the photograph had been obtained from The London Daily Mirror for April 20, 1912.

The article also stated that Priscilla had visited the Bennett family grave, and having found no mention of George, she wanted to do something to redress this.

With more detective work via the Titanic Society and the publishers of a book that Priscilla Winn had written, I was delighted when she contacted me.

We gave each other family details, and from that I was able to find the relationship between Priscilla and myself. We are 4th cousins.

My husband and I took part in an organised ‘Titanic Walk’ at the Old Cemetery on Southampton Common, and we were shown the grave of Joseph and Elizabeth Bennett, and their daughter Edith Mabel, aged 19.

How tragic that their daughter and son died within 16 months of each other!

Attached to the grave is a plaque, engraved by Priscilla’s husband, Jon, which had been placed on 8 March 1999. The inscription reads:

"IN MEMORY OF GEORGE ALFRED BENNETT SON OF J. AND E. BENNETT FIREMAN ON THE TITANIC – LOST AT SEA APRIL 14/15TH 1912 AGED 30 YEAR"

Titanic (Image: Echo)

My next step was to go back to Southampton Central Library.

Firstly, I looked at The London Daily Mirror dated April 20, 1912, and on page 14 was an article with the heading “HOW THE HEROIC CREW OF THE TITANIC BRAVED THE DANGERS OF A WATERY GRAVE WITHOUT FLINCHING”, and there was the photograph of George Bennett that was used in Titanic Triumph and Tragedy.

Then I found the following death notice which appeared in the Southampton Times on May 4 1912:

"In Loving Memory of George, dearly-beloved Son of Joseph and Elizabeth Bennett of 3 Deal Street, Chapel. Who lost his life at sea on the SS Titanic, April 15th, 1912 aged 29 years."

"No one knows how much we miss him; He was of the best of sons;

"But in Heaven we hope to meet him.

"Tho’ ‘tis hard to say ‘Thy will be done."

There was also an in memoriam notice in the Southern Daily Echo on April 15, 1913, which read:

"In Loving Memory of George, the dearly beloved Son of Joseph and Elizabeth Bennett, who lost his life at sea on the SS Titanic, April 15th 1912 aged 29 years."

This was all very odd because George was born on July 2, 1881. When signing on for Titanic, George gave his age as 23, however census records state he was 31.

Therefore, I am assuming George gave a younger age to gain his employment on Titanic.

After showing the photograph of George Bennett to my cousin Colleen, she remembered having a photograph that had been in her mother’s possession.

She showed me, and it was a picture of two gentlemen of very different stature. I can confirm that the smaller man is George Alfred Bennett.

The taller man has a very striking resemblance to my cousin’s son!! But who is this man? Is it George’s brother, brother-in-law, or a friend? Could he possibly be the other uncle that my aunt Ada believed had perished on Titanic?

Although I will never be able to meet this unknown man in the photograph, I would dearly love to know who he was and whether we have a connection.

Please can anyone identify him from old family photographs, and help me to solve this family mystery?

If you have any information, email ian.crump@dailyecho.co.uk