Arthur Herbert Morgan was part of the Engineering Crew of the Titanic, as a stoker.
Background[]
Arthur Herbert Morgan was brought up in his native town Southampton in Hampshire, an important town in the seafaring traffic of England. He was begotten by Charles Morgan from Brantford, Dorset in 1885. Arthur’s mother was Caroline Wood.
Charles, a man who finished the covers of books as a daily job, stemmed from Blandford in Dorset and had created a large family and Arthur had 6 half-siblings from his fathers first marriage to Eliza Bampton, who had had died in 1880. They were all boys: Charles was the first to arrive in 1868, followed by George in 1870. They had a younger brother in 1871: William Joseph. Next was Henry James, who was dropped in 1875. Frank Albert followed him in 1877. In 1878, they had to let go of their third boy, William Joseph. He passed away and at the arrival of another son, they decided to also call him William.
With his second wife, who he wed in 1881, Charles senior made 5 children, again all boys. Arthur was the second, with Harold Caleb being his older brother. The younger brothers were Frederick Morgan, conceived in 1888, Leonard, delivered in 1890 and Edward, who came into this world in 1894. In 1898, the family had another mourning. Their teenage (step)son and brother, Harold Caleb, had passed away.
From 1908, still a very young man Arthur had pledged to devote his life to his sweetheart Eleanor Earley, who was at least 3 years younger, after which they got a home in Southampton, where they would stay. Initially, they had one son: Francis Arthur, who was given life in 1909. Death and sorrow were still around the corner, as the poor Arthur had to see two people dear to him leave. In 1910, he had to say goodbye to his dear father, who was 69 when he lived his last days. Worse yet, Arthur’s young son was taken from in 1911.
Titanic[]
Mr. Morgan was at the shipping business in 1912. It appears that the RMS Titanic, the new ocean liner from the mighty company of the White Star Line, was the first ship on which he would ever work. He was officialy employed in Southampton on April 6. He would work as a Fireman. The Titanic set sail on her Maiden Voyage on April 10, leaving Southampton port with most of her crew onboard.
The passage on Titanic quickly became routine in the next few days. The steamer was given a bit of extra poke and the boilers were heated up even more on April 14. Perhaps a form of complacency had come over the ship, but they could not longer afford that when they were going through a treacherous icefield at night. Two lookouts were in the crow’s nest next to eachother, keeping watch, but they could somehow not detect the large iceberg until she was right in front of them. Quickly, they rang the bell and phoned the bridge, where First Officer Murdoch had also seen the berg and took a quick turn to port whilst drew the telegraphs to full astern. Titanic had not enough time to veer to the left and stop in time so she grinded against the iceberg with her starboard side.
Her iron hull was under a big load and the hardened ice made dents and holes below the water line on various places. The damage trail was long and now Titanic had to take the weight of seawater in 6 compartments. This water climbed into the ship at a steady rate.
A concerned Captain Smith and equally miffed Thomas Andrews, the man who built her, spoke eachother at midnight on April 15. The outcome of their inspection moments early was. Titanic could not go on like this, she wasn’t built for surviving this kind of damage. Andrews gave her a few hours. For Captain Smith, this was the signal to gather his men and uncover the lifeboats.
In two hours and 20 minutes, all lifeboats were off the ship. Some stokers did find a place in a lifeboat, but not Arthur Herbert Morgan. He was one of many victims caused by the sinking of the Titanic. Titanic’s sinking process gradually sped up when her forecastle had sunk down and the water was on the Boat Deck. The balance shifted forward and she raised her rears out of the water. The stress was took much to take for the hull which cracked and Titanic was carved in two, after which she rapidly slipped beneath the calm sea, which was still very cold so many people who were still onboard in her final 2 minutes, were put into the waters and many died from hypothermia. Details about Mr. Morgan’s whereabouts, actions and how he died are missing.
After his death[]
It were tough times for the widowed Caroline Morgan, who had already been dealing with the loss of her husband Charles and her firstborn. Now, her other eldest son was dead too. There was no body brought back to the shore either.
The same goes for the now widowed Mrs. Eleanor Morgan, who had given birth to a daughter in 1912, Mary, who Arthur would never meet and was orphaned very soon, as Eleanor herself lived her last year in 1912. A possiblity was that it was a maternal death.
Caroline Morgan still got quite old despite all the sorrow, she was born in 1848 and lived on till 1933.