Charles Barnes was a Fireman on the Titanic.
Background[]
Carles Barnes’ background is clouded in mystery. There’s good indication that this was not his real name, but a false identity he used when he sailed with Titanic.
His real name was Robert Barnhouse. George Barnhouse and Susan Willis received him as his biological parents on the 8th of December 1870 in Barnstaple, Devon, Engeland, the place were Susan had grown up as well: Martha and Elizabeth. A large household awaited him. Five other children had gotten there before him since Thomas William in 1862. The next line of kin would be Mary Ann in 1864, before Susan gave birth to George junior in 1865. Robert had two more sisters, born in 1866 and 1867 respectively: Martha and Elizabeth. He had five more younger siblings. The first was a girl. She carried the name Ellen Louisa since 1872. Charles John was brought forth in 1874. Then it was the turn of Sarah in 1876. Arthur Sidney then showed up in 1878. The off-spring ended with Alice Maude in 1881.
He was resident in Bristol by 1891 and seemingly had a sweetheart whose first name was Daisy. Further background information on her is unavailable. They were not officially bound by law. Robert meanwhile was a horsetrainer.
A Southampton local in 1901, he had seemingly found two people who wanted to look after him. They were the pair of William and Edith Curtis. They owned a sweet shop and upon visiting, he had hurt himself when the place was on fire. This landed him in hospital in 1908. He had burnt hands and therefore, he couldn’t work consistently for long periods. He did seafaring, but there were periods where he was not active at sea, but at the house of Edith instead, who had been mothering over him for 20 years since the incident, as if he was not different than their own natural children. She had a sympathy for him and her husband William didn't mind either. During this period of beeing overseen by two elder people, he must have adopted the alias.
Arthur Sidney, his younger brother, occasionally visited the Curtis’ home to see how things were with his sibling. Arthur would later describe Robert as very eccentric. He always kept his cards close to his chest and you could expect the unexpected with him. It appears as though most of his ties with his original family were severed at young age. According to his caretaker, Edith, he was illterate and she had to manage some of his finances and do most of the writing for him.
Charles, as he was now referred to, was with the White Star Line in 1911, usually as a Trimmer. Between 1910 and 1911, he seemed to struggle with laying of the booze, but he overcame this temptation later. In 1912, Charles did a crossing with the Oceanic before he would set foot on the next vessel, which was a special one, given its name, status and size.
Titanic[]
In the early morning of April 10, Charles found his way to the docks of Southampton to put himself forward as candidate for the Engineering Crew. They accepted him as a Fireman, but he gave a birthdate of 1883, 13 years later than the proper one, as well as a wrong native town: Bristol. Once onboard, he would run the first shift, which was from 12:00 P.M to 4:00 P.M. as well as from 12 A.M. to 4 A.M. He had his large dormitory in the bow, on F-Deck. This massive accomodation could house 53 Firemen.
Charles must have had time for himself on the night of April 14, it would be about 20 minutes before he would go on duty. Meanwhile, Frederick Fleet, the sailor in the crow's nest, sounded the alarm three times when he observed an iceberg directly in front of the ship. He relayed the warning by telephone to the bridge, where Sixth Officer Moody answered. First Officer Murdoch had discovered the iceberg as well and had started an evasive maneuver and with the telegraph, he made the men in the Engine Room reduce her power. However, the distance to the iceberg had become so small that successful avoidance was no longer possible.
The Titanic chafed the nearly 300,000-ton iceberg with her forward starboard side. The result was a series of damage to the hull, running from the bow to the pivot point, somewhere between the fifth and sixth watertight bulkhead. Because water flowed into the front six compartments, the ship would sink irrevocably, as Thomas Andrews, her designer, had formulated in the analysis of her breaching to the captain around midnight.Pumps were used to extend her life as long as possible, while the captain had set up the evacuation with the 20 lifeboats, that had to be swung out at 12:05 A.M, April 15.
There is no record of Charles’ actions during the night.
With the clock striking 2:20 A.M, Titanic’s fight was over. With the eyes of many in the boats fixed upon her in anguish and terror, the Titanic plunged to her ocean bed, 12,000 feet below. Wether Robert had attempted to save himself is left up for imagination, but if he did, he didn’t manage it. With the confusion surrounding his real name, it was impossible to identify him. The ocean had likely taken him away.
There were some Firemen rescued. There were also plenty who had stayed behind and felt responsibility to keep stoking to have the lights and electricity work till the last moments. These selfless actions led to a mostly orderly evacuation but to the death of many of the hearthy men. On the night of the disaster it was very cold, and the water temperature was below freezing point. Most of the victims died of hypothermia when Titanic had left them in the Atlantic, with many lifeboats not helping more people into their vacant spaces.
After his death[]
The Torquoy Times shed more light on his story as his name was involved in a case, which was described in the edition of April 25, 1913. Authorised by the retired George Barnhouse, 74 years of age and from Stentiford’s Hill, Torquay, a Mr. E. Hutchings attended to see if he could make Barnhouse' needs and demands met. George wanted to see £70 out of White Star’s banknotes to make up for the casualty as he was adament that Robert's job at sea would maintain his father's life. The White Star Line meanwhile had sent one of their bureaucratic bloodhounds to represent them in court, a Mr. Hiscock.
Edith Curtis’, seemingly Robert’s surrogate mother, had disputed George’s claims. She brought forward that Robert wasn’t able to write or read but she gave conflicting statements. Apparently, he once had uttered to Edith that his parents had kept him deliberately poor and that he didn't have anything to give to them. His debts were only at Edith, who was a safe pair of hands for Robert for many years.
Hiscock had to conceide that the man was connected to the stoker, but the remaining question would still be how reliant on his son George really was. Not so much, was the verdict of the White Star Agent. Curtis and father Barnhouse disagreed about this fact as well and their words were conflicting regarding the many characteristics and actions of Robert.
Brother Arthur was also given the word, but he was not so certain about anything regarding Robert, as he was unpredictable, as Arthur explained, but he had been told by Robert that he and his father had met up in Southampton and had written eachother as well.
The judge was mild and still believed £5 for the old man would be sufficient as his testimony appeared ‘earnest’.