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April 2007

The passenger list for the SS Titanic

The passenger list for the Titanic is held in the BT27 passenger list collection at The National Archives (TNA) in Kew, England.

The list is in two parts: one part is for passengers who boarded at Southampton, England on 10th April 1912, the other part is for passengers who boarded at Queenstown (Cobh of Cork), Ireland on 11th April 1912. Please note that in BT27 there is no list for passengers who boarded at Cherbourg, France later on 10th April 1912 before the ship continued to Queenstown.

Both surviving Titanic passenger lists are kept in TNA’s strong room. They are kept under lock-and-key because they are in danger both of being damaged (all strong room items have to be consulted under supervision) and of being stolen.

The Southampton list has been conserved using Japanese tissue and is bound into hard covers, while the Queenstown list is still in its original format.

The master of the Titanic was Captain Edward John Smith. Please note that the BT27 passenger lists give no information about any other crew on board the vessel.

Structure of the Southampton list

This list comprises the following 30 pages. On the top right of each page (with the exception of the folder cover) is a neat foliation number corresponding to the page numbers below and also the image number when viewed online on this website.

1. Folder in which the list itself is kept in TNA strong room.
2. Inside cover of folder, showing dates of repair (by Public Record Office conservators) to the passenger list.
3. Note about the existence of two passenger lists and the lack of a Cherbourg boarding list.
4. Header page. 3rd class British passengers – 29 in total. Occupations and ages given.
5. 3rd class British passengers – 44 in total. Occupations and ages given.
6. 3rd class British passengers – 45 in total. Occupations and ages given.
7. 3rd class British passengers - 12 in total. Occupations and ages given.
8. 1st class British passengers – 46 in total.
9. 1st class British passengers – 8 in total.
10. 1st class British passengers - 5 in total, travelling to Queenstown and Cherbourg only.
11. 2nd class British passengers - 47 in total. Ages given.
12. 2nd class British passengers – 46 in total. Ages given.
13. 2nd class British passengers – 46 in total. Ages given.
14. 2nd class British passengers - 41 in total. Ages given.
15. 1st class Alien Non-Transmigrants from Austria - 2 in total, travelling to Cherbourg only.
16. 1st class Alien Non-Transmigrants from Germany, Sweden and USA – 46 in total.
17. 1st class Alien Non-Transmigrants from Germany and USA - 45 in total.
18. 1st class Alien Non-Transmigrants from USA – 35 in total.
19. 2nd class Alien Transmigrants from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and USA - 20 in total. Ages and means of arrival in UK given.
20. 2nd class Alien Non-Transmigrants from Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and USA – 47 in total. Ages given.
21. 3rd class Alien Non-Transmigrants from Denmark, Germany, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Turkey and USA – 46 in total. Occupations and ages given.
22. 3rd class Alien Non-Transmigrants from China – 8 in total. Occupations and ages given.
23. 3rd class Alien Transmigrants from Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden and USA – 46 in total. Ages and means of arrival in UK given.
24. 3rd class Alien Transmigrants from Austria, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland and USA – 44 in total. Ages and means of arrival in UK given.
25. 3rd class Alien Transmigrants from Belgium and Sweden – 44 in total. Ages and means of arrival in UK given.
26. 3rd class Alien Transmigrants from Bulgaria, Norway and Sweden – 45 in total. Ages and means of arrival in UK given.
27. 3rd class Alien Transmigrants from Austria, Bulgaria, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey – 45 in total. Ages and means of arrival in UK given.
28. 3rd class Alien Transmigrants from Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Russia – 45 in total. Ages and means of arrival in UK given.
29. 3rd class Alien Transmigrants from Finland, Italy, Portugal and Syria – 42 in total. Ages and means of arrival in UK given.
30. Summary sheet.

The word “disregard” is pencilled on pages 10 and 15 in relation to the short-haul passengers travelling to Queenstown and Cherbourg.

Countries given in the passenger list are those of which the passenger was a citizen or subject. This means that the political geography of 1912 should be borne in mind: for example, Austria signifies the Austrian Empire and many of the Austrians appear to have been Croats. In addition, many of the Russians were Jews rather than ethnic Russians.

The following two Southampton list passengers have been struck through and annotated with an x before their names on page 14, which would normally indicate that they purchased tickets but did not travel:

1. George Krins, travelling on ticket 250654 on page 14
2. R Breicoux, ticket 250654 on page 14

However, they have been struck through on page 14 merely because of duplication: they also appear on page 20, where they have not been struck out and they have a tick against their names. These two persons boarded the Titanic.

The following Southampton list passenger has been struck through and annotated with an x marked before her name, which would normally indicate that she purchased a ticket but did not travel:

3. Alice T Teroan, ticket 250541 on page 19

However, this individual is understood to have been struck through in this way because she did not board at Southampton but later the same day at Cherbourg.

The following two Southampton list passengers have been struck through, do not have ticks before their names, and are marked “Rej” (rejected on medical grounds), indicating that they purchased tickets but did not travel:

4. Emma Duyvejonck, ticket 345766 on page 24
5. Henri van den Steen, ticket 345782 on page 25

The following Southampton list passenger has not been struck through but does not have a tick before his name. He is understood to have purchased a ticket but not to have travelled due to illness:

6. Elias Johannessen, ticket 312988 on page 23

The Southampton list is in six different hands:

• Hand A: compiled pages 4-7 (3rd class British passengers). He used a rubber stamp for class and destination port, and recorded occupations and ages. He also compiled page 30.
• Hand B: compiled pages 8-10 and 15-18 (1st class British and Alien passengers). He did not use a rubber stamp and did not record occupations or ages. He is the only clerk to record passengers’ names in reverse word order (i.e. surname then forename).
• Hand C: compiled pages 11-14 and 19-20 (2nd class British and Alien passengers). He did not use a rubber stamp, did not record occupations but did record ages.
• Hand D: compiled pages 21-22 (3rd class Alien Non-Transmigrants). He used a rubber stamp for class and destination port, and recorded occupations and ages.
• Hand E: compiled pages 23-25, 27 and the lower half of 29 (3rd class Alien Transmigrants). He used a rubber stamp for class and destination port, did not record occupations but did record ages.
• Hand F: compiled pages 26, 28 and the upper half of 29 (3rd class Alien Transmigrants). He also appears to have entered the last three names on page 7. He used a rubber stamp for class and destination port, did not record occupations but did record ages. The penmanship of Hand F is poor and his spelling is suspect (e.g. Norwegian is spelt “Norweigan” on page 26). This is a problem which is only exacerbated by the difficult Bulgarian and Scandinavian names he had to record. Many of these names were wrongly copied down by Hand F and are spelt incorrectly in the list.

Structure of the Queenstown list

This list comprises the following 7 pages:

1. Header page. 3rd class British passengers – 29 in total. Occupations and ages given.
2. 3rd class British passengers – 35 in total. Occupations and ages given.
3. 3rd class British passengers – 39 in total. Occupations and ages given.
4. 3rd and 2nd class British passengers – 13 in total. Occupations and ages given.
5. 3rd and 2nd class Alien Non-Transmigrants from USA – 11 in total. Occupations and ages given.
6. Recapitulation sheet.
7. Summary sheet.

No 1st class passengers boarded at Queenstown.

All the British passengers were Irish. All the Alien passengers were Americans.

The following 2 Queenstown list passengers have been struck through and do not have ticks before their names on the pages cited, which would normally indicate that they purchased tickets but did not travel:

7. Frank Dwan, ticket 336439 on page 3
8. Patrick Fox, ticket 368573 on page 5

However, they have been struck through on these pages merely because of duplication: Frank Dwan also appears on page 2 and Patrick Fox also appears on page 4, on which pages they have not been struck out. These two persons boarded the Titanic.

The following 12 Queenstown list passengers have been struck through and do not have a tick before their names, indicating that they purchased tickets but did not travel:

9. Mary Jordan, travelling on ticket 30944 on page 1
10. Margaret Gilligan, ticket 43131 on page 2
11. James Tynan, ticket 38850 on page 2
12. Norah Callaghan, ticket 364853 on page 2
13. Annie Jordan, ticket 364854 on page 2
14. Michael F O’Sullivan, ticket 366715 on page 3
15. Mary Dunne, ticket 366984 on page 3
16. Mary Martin, ticket 367167 on page 3
17. John Concannon, ticket 382644 on page 3
18. Delia Forkan, ticket 386588 on page 3
19. Bridget Courtney, ticket 368363 on page 5
20. Margaret Courtney, ticket 368363 on page 5

The Queenstown list is in two different hands:

• Hand G: compiled pages 1-3 and the upper halves of pages 4 and 5 (3rd class passengers).
• Hand H: compiled the lower halves of pages 4 and 5 (2nd class passengers).

Other remarks on the Titanic passenger list

Completing of the lists

It is not at all clear when the various annotations to the lists (such as strikings through, and ticks and crosses against names) were made. It seems probable that at least some of these marks were made back in port at the shipping line’s offices, or even at the Board of Trade offices, after the ship had set sail, rather than before or while the passengers boarded. The reason for this is that the Titanic embarked from Southampton on 10th April 1912 but the Southampton list is rubber stamped on page 30 with the date 9th April, indicating (unless the date stamp had not been rolled forward from the previous day) that the usual Customs House paperwork for the voyage had been completed the day before.

On the other hand, the Queenstown list is dated on page 1 with the date 13th April 1912, two days after it set sail on 11th April. The rubber stamp is that of the Board of Trade Surveyors’ Office, not the Customs House.

Anomalies

As well as the anomalies regarding individual passengers, the spellings or mis-spelling of their names and various inaccuracies relating to their ages, there are some other interesting anomalies.

For instance, Olympic and Liverpool were originally written on the header of page 6 of the Queenstown list (the recapitulation) – these are crossed out and replaced with Titanic and Queenstown.

Additionally, at least one passenger – the Rev Charles Leonard Kirkland - appears on both lists. See page 13 of the Southampton list and page 4 of the Queenstown list. He is understood to have sailed from Queenstown.

As mentioned earlier, the word “disregard” is pencilled on pages 10 and 15 of the Southampton list in relation to the short-haul passengers travelling to Queenstown and Cherbourg. “Disregard” might have been used by the Board of Trade in normal circumstances to show that these passengers ought not to be included when counting long-haul passengers from UK (this being one of the original purposes of the passenger lists included within The National Archives’ BT27 collection). However, in the known circumstances surrounding the voyage of the Titanic, more probably these notes were made by Board of Trade officials when trying to determine who may or may not have been on board the vessel when it sank – those passengers who disembarked at Queenstown and Cherbourg could clearly be excluded.

Further reading

Researchers interested in the Titanic will find no shortage of reading material. Particularly recommended are Debbie Beavis’s Who Sailed On Titanic? (Ian Allan Publishing Ltd, 2002) and Eaton & Haas’s Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy (Patrick Stephens Ltd, 1994).

For continually evolving facts and discussion about the Titanic, the premier website is Encyclopedia Titanica, which may be visited at www.encyclopedia-titanica.org. Find My Past and Ancestors On Board would like to acknowledge their debt to Encyclopedia Titanica, as one of the sources of the basic details included in the Notes fields in the transcriptions for Titanic passengers. Researchers seeking more information on any individual passenger should search on Encyclopedia Titanica in the first instance.

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