| Date | 23 March 2012 |
|---|---|
| Source | Slough Observer |
| Reference | VP-0019 |
| Volume | Views of the Past |
| Collection | Views of the Past |
Transcript
Titanic tribute to all perished
Views of the past by Elias Kupfermann
NEXT month sees the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and everywhere you turn, Titanic fever is hitting the nation, be it new books, museum exhibitions or a period television blockbuster.
Over the next couple of weeks I will introduce you to some people from Windsor and Maidenhead who both perished and survived the disastrous sinking in April 1912.
The first is a victim from Windsor, Owen George Allum. It is not known exactly when Owen had come to Windsor, but by 1912 he was living at 7 Gerald Villas, Vansittart Road, Windsor. He worked as a telegraph boy in Windsor Post Office in the High Street.
In April 1912, he purchased a third-class ticket (no. 1,223) for the Titanic’s maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. The purpose of the trip was to visit his father, who had separated from his mother.
Owen was to become one of 1,489 victims of the sinking on April 14, 1912. He was one of 529 third-class passengers who were unable to be rescued from the sinking ship.
His body was one of the very few recovered from the Atlantic Ocean. At the time of his death, Owen was wearing his best grey tweed suit and was carrying his most valued possessions, which included a gun metal watch and chain, hairbrush, two knives, cigarette case and a wallet. Instead of greeting him in life in New York, his father waited for his body to arrive and accompanied it back to England.
Owen was brought back to England the next month and was subsequently interred in Clewer Parish Churchyard on May 22.
His gravestone, which survives today, gives a lasting tribute both to Owen George Allum and acts as a cenotaph to all those who perished in the sinking of the unsinkable’ Titanic and who still lie within the Atlantic Ocean.
It reads:
Here Rest In Christ
Owen George Allum
Shipwrecked on the Titanic and Drowned At sea
April 14th, 1912, Aged 17 years.
Nearer My God To Thee
As a postscript, scenes from the 1955 film, A Night to Remember (which chronicles the Titanic’s maiden voyage) were filmed on the lake at Black Park near Slough.
Images
