Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Dramatis Personae
Author’s Note
1. The Lords Act
2. The Sash My Father Wore
3. Southampton
4. A Contest of Sea Giants
5. A Safe Harbour for Ships
6. The Lucky Holdup
7. A Decent Wee Man
8. A Kind of Hieroglyphic World
9. Its Own Appointed Limits Keep
10. Two More Boilers
11. A Thousand Uneasy Sparks of Light
12. Going Up to See the Fun
13. Music in the First-Class Lounge
14. Vox faucibus haesit
15. Be British
16. Over the Top Together
17. The Awful Spectacle
18. Grip Fast
19. Where’s Daddy?
20. Extend Heartfelt Sympathy to All
21. The Spinner of the Years
Picture Section
Footnotes
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
About the Author
By the Same Author
About the Publisher
THE COUNTESS OF ROTHES
LUCY-NOËLLE-MARTHA LESLIE, Countess of Rothes
NORMAN LESLIE, 19TH EARL OF ROTHES, her husband
MALCOLM, VISCOUNT LESLIE, their eldest son, later 20th Earl of Rothes
THE HONOURABLE JOHN LESLIE, their youngest son
GLADYS CHERRY, the Earl’s cousin and the Countess’s travelling companion
CLEMENTINA and THOMAS DYER-EDWARDES, the Countess’s parents
ROBERTA (‘CISSY’) MAIONI, the Countess’s lady’s maid
THOMAS ANDREWS
THOMAS ANDREWS, Managing Director of the Harland and Wolff shipyard
HELEN ANDREWS, his wife
ELIZABETH ANDREWS, their daughter
WILLIAM, 1ST LORD PIRRIE, Thomas’s uncle, Chairman of Harland and Wolff
THE STRAUSES
IDA STRAUS, a philanthropist
ISIDOR STRAUS, Ida’s husband, a former congressman for New York and co-owner of Macy’s department store
ELLEN BIRD, Ida’s lady’s maid
JOHN FARTHING, Isidor’s valet
| JESSE STRAUS CLARENCE STRAUS PERCY STRAUS SARA HESS MINNIE WEIL HERBERT STRAUS VIVIAN SCHEFTEL |
|
Ida and Isidor’s children |
THE THAYERS
JOHN BORLAND THAYER, Second Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad
MARIAN THAYER, his wife
JOHN BORLAND THAYER III (‘JACK’), their eldest child
MARGARET FLEMING, Marian’s lady’s maid
| FREDERICK THAYER MARGARET THAYER (LATER TALBOTT) PAULINE THAYER (LATER DOLAN) |
|
The Thayers’ younger children |
DOROTHY GIBSON
DOROTHY GIBSON, an actress
PAULINE GIBSON, her mother
GEORGE BATTIER, Dorothy’s husband
JULES BRULATOUR, a movie producer and Dorothy’s lover
LEONARD GIBSON, Dorothy’s stepfather
OTHER RELEVANT PASSENGERS
RHODA ABBOTT, a Salvation Army officer, travelling in Third Class
MADELEINE and COLONEL JOHN JACOB ASTOR IV
ALGERNON BARKWORTH, a landowner from Yorkshire
LAWRENCE BEESLEY, a science teacher, travelling in Second Class, subsequently author of The Loss of the S.S. Titanic
MAJOR ARCHIBALD BUTT, Military Aide to President William Howard Taft
CHARLOTTE DRAKE CARDEZA, a socialite from Pennsylvania
ELEANOR CASSEBEER, returning home to New York
LUCY, LADY DUFF GORDON, a fashion designer
ELIZABETH EUSTIS and MARTHA STEPHENSON, sisters and neighbours of the Thayers
COLONEL ARCHIBALD GRACIE IV, an historian and friend of the Strauses
J. BRUCE ISMAY, Managing Director of the White Star Line
FRANCIS (‘FRANK’) MILLET, a painter, author and sculptor
ALFRED NOURNEY, a car salesman travelling under the pseudonym of a German baron
EMILY and ARTHUR RYERSON, friends of the Thayers, returning home after their son’s death
FREDERIC SEWARD, a New York-based lawyer and a bridge partner of Dorothy Gibson
WILLIAM SLOPER, an American stockbroker, who also played bridge with Dorothy Gibson
ELEANOR and GEORGE WIDENER, prominent members of Philadelphia Society and friends of the Thayers
RELEVANT MEMBERS OF THE CREW
HAROLD BRIDE, the Titanic’s Junior