Cecil William Norbert Fitzpatrick was part of the Engineering Crew on the Titanic.
Background[]
On April 26, 1890, Cecil William Norbert Fitzpatrick saw light for the first time. He came into the world in Kilkenny, Kilkenny County, Ireland. The Irish, known for their myths, legends and superstitious belief, had a unique case on their hands.
Cecil was apparently born with his amniotic sac intact which is often considered a sign that the baby could not drown in all of his life, according to the Irish folklore. Whether his parents would believe the tales is another thing, but they were Roman Catholics. His father, Robert Fitzpatrick, was an Irish-born constable in a prominant police department, a native from Co Cavan. His wife was an Englishwoman, a native of Lancaster, named Mary Getrude Ryan. She worked as a school teacher. They said yes to eachother in 1885 in Kilkenny.
Cecil had one elder brother, also named Robert, who had arrived in 1888. Following Cecil were two girls: Evelyn Joseph and Gabrielle May, conceived in 1892 and 1894 respectively.
Cecil saw his future at sea and seeked out adventure at a young age. By 1911, he was no longer present at home but worked for the White Star Line on their vessels.
Titanic[]
In April 1912, the young Cecil came over from the Oceanic to the Titanic to work on this new, grand luxury liner as a Mess Steward for the Engineering Department. Although his function was that of a steward, which normally was categorized as 'victualling crew', the Mess Stewards didn't serve passengers and were considered part of the Engineering Crew. The Mess Stewards were basically cooks and waiters in one. They were always busy preparing food for the Engineers, Electricians and Boilermakers while also taking care of their eating places. For the lower-ranked jobs such as firemen and trimmers, there were two Mess Men at work. Cecil had 3 colleagues serving the higher ranked Engineers.
Before he left the mainland, he stayed in district Freemantle in Southampton, from where he got onto Titanic as her Maiden Voyage started in this important harbor. He was 21 years old and single as he set off.
On the late night of April 14, Cecil was resting in his cabin. He was in deep sleep but was rudely awakened by an incident. It felt as if something had hit the ship. He could also tell that she was stopped. This iceberg collision didn’t seem to be a problem at first, so Cecil got back to resume his night’s rest, to just have another rude awakening again a good while later. A colleague patted him on the cheek to draw his attention and told him all hands needed to go to the highest deck. He got up and was busy putting his working clothes on, as he saw water seeping onto the hallway. It must have been at least half an hour after midnight, on April 15 when he became active. His cabin must have been on E-Deck, where most of the crew were housed.
Later, on the Boat Deck, he fulfilled his duty as normal steward to take responsiblity for his passengers and help the anxious crowd to get to a lifeboat. It was very late when he reported two seperate incidents of indiviual passengers being shot dead during the evacuation, on either side of the ship. They were trying to get a place into a boat and the Officers told them to stay back but they didn’t listen. It was not long after that, that he was either swept into the sea by a sudden wave or jumped by himself, when the ship suddenly took a dive.
As far as the superstition surrounding his birth goes, it did work out for Cecil personally. He swam for a while and had the luck to come across the upturned Collapsible B. He climbed on to it. The men on Collapsible B had to retain their balance for a while until other boats came to their aid. Cecil was picked up by lifeboat 12. A Second Class passenger, Lillian Bentham, lended him her fur coat to keep Cecil warm during the transfer.
The Carpathia navigated the ice fields to arrive two hours after the Titanic had sunk and the crew rescued 706 survivors from the ship’s lifeboats. She brought the Titanic surivors to New York when she was done collecting everyone in the boats. The ship arrived in New York on the 18th of April. Despite his sighting of the shooting onboard the ship and being the sole surviving Mess Steward, Fitzpatrick was not present at the American nor the British Inquiry.
Later life[]
Fitzpatrick got back to England and waved the sea goodbye forgood and ended his marine career here. He took two different jobs in Ipswich, Suffolk. He was a cashier and building contractors' assistant in the years after Titanic. He fell in love with a Yorkshire girl, Elsie May Moody. In August 1914, he became her husband. The wedding took place in her native town of Kingston upon Hull.
While he did survive the Titanic, he had to go through hard times just a few years later as he went to war. Elise would have to miss him for some years as he was called upon his services by the Royal Garrison Artillery, as there was a war to be found. World War 1 broke out. He was a gunner. Luckily, he escaped unscathed and upon being reunited with Elsie, they created their own family. Two boys and two girls sprung from their love. Patricia May was the first to arrive in 1920, then came Robert Cecil in 1922. They had a brother in 1923: Anthony Evelyn and they had a sister in Anne Moody, who appeared in 1925.
He was employed by a company in cleaning services. while, for the largest part of his life he lived in Leeds. Titanic was never a happy topic for him, although under special circumstances he would open up about, though he preffered to keep it quiet. Some newspapers were lucky enough to be granted a word from him about his own experiences with the every fascinating ship, that remains unsinkable in history.
Fitzpatrick was present as the screening of a new Titanic movie back in 1953. He had befriended a former crew member of the Carpathia as well when they went to the movie theater together. His name was Ernest William Varley.
Cecil Fitzpatrick’s life ended at the age of 74. His date of death was July 11, 1964, still living in Leeds, Yorkshire. Elsie lived on for 2 more years after that. She was in Surrey when she passed away.
Patricia May Fitzpatrick, their daughter, was still alive as of 2011.