Harry Holman at the age of 15.
Harry Holman was an Able Seaman on the Titanic.
Background[]
Harry Holman came into this world as the first of six children conceived by William Edward Holman and Priscilla Mary Unwin. The two had stemmed from Portsmouth, where Harry made parents out of them in the warmer period of 1883. The family would live in Portsmouth for a good while while the siblings of Harry arrived, starting with Joseph Edward in 1884. Dismally, Harry would only know his brother as an infant. Joseph lived only from July 17 till September 7. They cremated him.
Following the death of Joseph was the birth of Alice Emma in 1887, who preceeded another girl, Nellie Louisa, an 1888-born daughter. The year 1890 saw two boys bless the family at the same time. They were Alfred John and Frederick James, emerging on the same day.
Father William was a sailor and with the Royal Navy. Regrettably, Mr. Holman had a problem with his sight in later years and was invalided out of the Royal Navy at quite an early age, but not before he had been awarded a medal for long service and good conduct in 1879.
He provided for his family by returning to the sea as to do a lower-ranked job, namely that of a trimmer.
One day, the family suffered a severe blow. In the Portsea region, father William was busy at port, helping to break up an old ship in the Chamber Dock, when he was severely injured in an accident involving a crane. He died several months later from his injuries in October 1897 aged 42. At the inquest, it was concluded that it was William’s own fault. The representative of the shipyard claimed that William failed to follow instructions. Unfortunately, William’s family had no money for a solicitor and therefore no one to fight for compensation for the Holman family. His wife Priscilla attended the inquest and must have been distraught when she was sent away empty handed.
Just as fresh as 13 years old, Harry had to help provide for the family along with his younger brother, Joseph. Harry’s first occupation, in 1901, would be a seller of seafruits, predominantly fish. He needed to get up very early in the morning to barter for the fresh fish being landed in Portsmouth Harbour at the fishmarket and with his basket full he would then walk the streets selling to the cooks and housekeepers of the more well-to-do families in Southsea. His earnings would have been meagre but every penny counted, as his mother was left a widow with six children to provide for, including Harry himself.
He wanted to taste more of the sea later and martime jobs would be alluring for him later, working on a variety of ships. As he got older Harry started to crew on steam packets. These were ships that carried passengers, but mainly mail, parcels and some light goods to faraway places.
In 1905, Priscilla was no longer with her family. She had passed away.
In 1907, Harry made the life's promise to Louisa Josephine Chiswell. Jo, as she was known by her close family and acquiantences, was born in Southampton where Harry now had lodgings so he could be available to be signed on to any of the ships in port. He was also with the White Star Line in 1911. Louisa and Harry would remain childless for these years. Harry still kept in touch with his family in Portsmouth and from a letter, written in January 1912, it was established that he had a pet dog and was very close to his sister Emma and her husband Ted. It seems his wife suffered from asthma and was often ill. They had no children.
Harry sailed a great deal of the world and, before he joined the crew of the Titanic, had recently returned from a long journey to South Africa on the SS Dongola.
Titanic[]
On April 6, 1912, Harry was in Southampton were the Able Seamen were mustered. He was 29 years of age.
RMS Titanic, on its inaugrual voyage, was guided away from the piers by tugboats and left Southampton on April 10, for her scheduled trip to New York. Her route would cross the Atlantic Oceans with two stops in France and Ireland.
Titanic was in a tight spot when she had a fatal encounter with an iceberg on the 14th of April. The lookouts had laid eyes on a mass that was soon identified as a large iceberg, taller than the Boat Deck. It was less than half a mile away. Lookout Frederick Fleet lunged towards the telephone after striking the bell three times, to draw attention of the bridge. The information was passed through and she had to turn to port side, around it, fast. Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who had also served on the SS Dongola like Harry, quickly made the wheel go round at the command of First Officer William McMaster Murdoch, who also relayed to the Engine Room to cut off the steam to slow down. The pivotal moment came when steel and ice met. There wasn’t enough time for the Titanic to swing out of the way with the short distance and the ice proved to be very sharp and rigid. It shaved along the starboard side hull over a great length, making interstices on crucial spots below the waterline. The sea could now enter the ship in at least 7 places, filling 6 compartments.
At midnight, April 15, Titanic’s designer was needed to advice her captain. Mr. Thomas Andrews knew the ship through and through and he and the captain had passed each compartment to have a look. With the gathered information, Andrews had worked out that the inflow of water was too much for Titanic. She would certainly founder now, no pumps could buy them enough time. Two hours were left, he calculated.
Knowing that the time would be ticking, the Able Seamen were gathered to receive instructions. They had to undo the fastenings of the lifeboats and level them with the Boat Deck, so passengers could board and taken off the ship.
It’s likely that Holman was among them, doing his bid to make the evacuation as succesful as possible. Many Seamen were rescued as they could man the boats. Holman however was not in one of the boats.
At 2:07 A.M, the last two boats were still not ready and the sea had come up to the Boat Deck, grabbing the collapsibles while Titanic plunged down.
At 2:20 A.M, the Titanic fully slipped into the dark cold waters of the North Atlantic, taking many souls with it, while others were dropped in frigid waters. Some were inside the ship in her last seconds, most died from hypothermia. More than 1503 people passed away, including Harry Holman. How he fared during the night is a story left to be discovered.
Nothing would be left of him after that. There were 335 bodies plucked from the water in the next weeks, but most where forever assigned to a sea grave.
After his death[]
Louisa received £2 a week sometime after the disaster from the Mansion House Relief Fund. This was due to her being too sick to work. She picked up life after her grieving period and outlived all of her husbands. Since Harry, she had 3 new partners, but each time they were taken away from her by death. She had 90 years of life experience when she left the earth in 1957.