George Gumery was a Messman for the Engineering Crew on Titanic.
Background[]
George Gumery was brought up in the Balsall Heath area, the inner part of Birmingham since December 20, 1887, when he made parents out of his father George Gumery, who he was named after, as well as Harriet Annie Sherry, shortly named Hetty. No child had come before him or would appear after them. The boy was raised by two Birmingham natives, that had promised eternal faith to eachother in 1886, with George senior being a candy maker. Hetty was close with her elder sibling Elizabeth Emma Sherry, who stayed with them and was confirmed to be with them in at least 1891.
Both women helped out in a sweet shop as well in 1881, some years after the death of their parents in the 1870. It is cogent that George and Hetty met this way, through the same business. The happiness between the two was however short-lived, when, as young as 34 years, Hetty left the earth in 1899. The reason she departed from life so early is possibly her ill health. That might have also been a reason that George would never have any brothers and sisters. George junior would be in his early teens during the tragic occurance.
Luckily for them, the household was now partly also in the hands of Elizabeth, who didn’t have an offical partner nor did she mind to tend to the needs of the two men while arranging the maintance of the homestead. The new lady in the house would see George come and go, as he followed classes at the Tindal Street Boys School and was a leading light in the formation of the Old Boys' Association. He was also engaged on the Sunday, at the Congregational Church, where he did bible studies. After that, he showed interest in performing arts.
In 1909, with George in his early twenties, he would also have to miss his father from one point, as he ceased to exist at a young age too.
In 1911, aunt Elizabeth had left Birmingham for a while was and was a lessee in Selly Oak, Worcestershire. She would spent her time sewing to make ends meet.
Titanic[]
In 1912, George tarried at a place in Southampton. It were important times at the nautical town. The largest ship the world had ever seen, would make her way from Belfast to here. George ended up at the ship by a twist of fate. There had been a National Coal Strike in early 1912 which ended on the 6th April but there was not enough coal available to fuel the Titanic as far as New York, so coal was taken from the Saint Louis and other White Star Line ships in order to allow their flagship to sail on schedule. The Saint Louis was meant to be George’s ship, the ship that he had also left before looking for another position on her. With the Saint Louis grounded, George tried his luck at the giant steamer. He would prepare food for the Engineers with three coworkers as their Mess Steward. Two of them were above him in rank in terms of earnings, with three pounds, 15 shillings for George and Cecil Fitzpatrick. John Coleman would get 6 pounds per month, Stanley Blake must have been the second messman, being contracted for a wage of 5 pounds per month.
He was told to report to the dockyard area the following morning, on the 10th April 1912 at 6.00, the day the ship embarked from Southampton on her Maiden Voyage to New York, with two intermissions in France and Ireland. Then, it would be the large Atlantic Ocean.
The North Atlantic Ocean was an important shipping lane. threat. Titanic hurried along, as all but 5 boilers were lit on the night of April 14, Titanic’s last night. By happenstance, the currents had brought an iceberg directly in her path, while she was actually already on a more southern route than was normal.The lookout crew picked up on it when it was very hard to distinguish from the horizon earlier. Three strikes could be heard from the crow’s nest as one lookout lifted the receiver of the phone that was linked with the bridge. One Officer was filled in while the other began to shout the command to get the ship’s rudder shifted fully to starboard. Titanic’s bow had to adjust itself to port. The officer then via telegraph to get the ship cut back speed and go backwards.
Titanic lacked the few seconds to finish her rotation and get around the iceberg entirely. Her drastic course chance only started to really show when her starboard bow made a sweeper acrros an underwater spar of the iceberg. This ice was so strong that it poked holes in the bodywork of Titanic, on pivotal places, endangering the liner’s buoyancy. The contingence had her captain haste himself out of bed. When he knew what had come to pass, he took the stairs down to the affected areas to study and check the nature of the abrasion thoroughly with the man who designed the ship, Thomas Andrews.
At midnight, April 15. Thomas Andrews summarised his findings to Captain Smith. They would not have a hope to discharge or decreased the amount of water making hay inside the ship. Titanic would sit lower and lower in the water, with her compartments in the front being put down and overcome. This process would last a few hours before the ship would be usurped entirely. The Captain could not linger around with this confirmation. The crewmen were designated to their posts. They had to crank the davits and get the lifeboats in position and stand by to receive passengers.
Gumery was outside of working hours when the Titanic had struck the iceberg. His story and feelings were lost with the sinking. Only Cecil Fitzpatrick, who was very inactive for the first half hour, could get a place on a lifeboat and keep his life to tell his story later.
Two lifeboats still hadn’t been when the sea came over the Boat Deck and created a whirlpool while making Titanic dive down fast. She was in her final stage, with a large head trim that got steeper by the minute. The aft part of Titanic became clear of the water while the forward part got lower. In the next minutes, she heaved her propellors above the surface and to many passengers that would live, she looked like she was bending under her massive rake. All electricity was gone and Titanic was plunged in darkness, before being devided in two parts. The front part made its way down very rapidly, before the stern was perpendicular to the water. Two minutes after the break-up, it followed the rest of the ship. The people in the lifeboats where to witness the horror unfolding before their eyes. Along with 1500 others, George Gumery’s life was claimed by the disaster. There was nothing left of him since.
After his death[]
Following the death of George Gumery, the Titanic Relief Fund was of opinion that Elizabeth Emma Sherry could be financially backed since the loss of her nephew and they conferred a dispensation of ₤15 to her.
Elizabeth concluded her life in 1935, back in Birmingham.