Hugh Calderwood was a Trimmer on the Titanic.
Background[]
Hugh Calderwood was begotten by the spliced pair of John Calderwood and Matilda Smyth. Matilda could see her son for the first time in one of the last years of the 1870s, possible 1879, but could also have been welcomed in 1882. he made himself known to the world in Belfast. William Henry was the elder brother that proceeded him, in 1874.
Following Hugh were Lizzie and Smyth, who shared their birthdate, July 29, 1884. There was also Ellen, but due to the unestablished birthday of Hugh, we cannot be certain if she was an elder or younger sister, but she appeared around 1881.
The family must have lived off mostly from John’s reasonable variety of drudging jobs, being a blue collar worker as well as stoker and jack. His origins are very indistinct, but it’s known that Matilda had Irish blood, as she was from the Northern part that belonged to England and where Belfast is sited, the birthplace of both Hugh and the Titanic. Matilda could not express herself through the written word, nor could she interpret any letters on paper.
With Smyth and Lizzie being dropped, the Calderwoods were domiciled in Belfast, situated elsewhere in the western part of the city’s Woodvale district in 1901, but without John, as he had departed from life. Smyth, the youngest of Matilda, had not gotten older than 1904 when his life expired too, at just 19, in 1904. In 1911, Matilda could be found in Belfast’s Smithfield zone, all by herself.
Hugh was on his own soon enough before then and probably hadn’t envisioned a future outside the land just yet as he strived to become a chippy. He would discover love in the last stages of the 1800s, with a nuptial ceremony coming up on October 27, with at least Lizzie and William attending. The bride was Isabella McDowell, who had also sprung from County Antrim. This is where the special day of vows took place, with Hugh being roosted in Rasharkin for some time before the two made the big promises. Isabella’s rents had taken them in their shack in Dunminning somewhere in or before 1901. They were christians, named James and Sarah McDowell.
Hugh and Isabella brought 2 girls and one boy into the world, with John dawning first in 1901, Sarah Ann popping up in 1903 and Martha McCormick showing herself in 1905. There must have been cracks being formed in their bond, as by 1911, Isabella had another house in the same street of Dunminning, with Hugh having tracked back to Belfast, roofed by Ellen, who also had to raise a daughter. She was in the same situation as Isabella, who had pretended that her husband had died, probably to elude the spite of society.