Peter Sloan was Chief Electrician of the RMS Titanic. He died in sinking with other electricians in sinking.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Mr Peter Sloan was born in Liverpool 13 February 1881 to Alexander Sloan (b. 15 February 1853, a travelling draper born in Scotland around 1852, and Jane "Jeannie" McMillan (born around 1843 in Ayrshire, Scotland), who had married 11 March 1880 at Shaw Street Presbyterian Church (in Liverpool) in the West Derby district of Lancashire. At the time of his birth, they lived at 9 Brownlow Street in Liverpool.
Peter and his family appear on the 1881 census living at 9 Brownlow Street, Liverpool. His mother died on 10 November 1881 and his father never remarried.
He and his father appear on the 1891 census living several doors down at 16 Brownlow Street, the home of his aunt and uncle James and Margaret McMillan. Unfortunately, Peter's father passed away on 16 April 1893 when Peter was aged 12, leaving him to be raised by his aunt and uncle. He was still at 16 Brownlow Street by the time of the 1901 census and he was by then described as a civil engineer.
Sloan had received his education at the Liverpool Institute and served his apprenticeship with Messrs C. S. Wilson & Co of Regent Road, Bootle. He joined the White Star Line a mere fortnight after the completion of his apprenticeship and served on various vessels both in the Atlantic and Mediterranean routes. He was shown serving as an electrician aboard the Cretic in October 1905, his ship prior to that being stated as the Celtic; at this time his address was listed as 103 Vine Street, Liverpool. He would still be serving aboard Cretic by 1907.
Sloan’s signature in the particulars of engagement for Cretic in 1907[]
An athletic man, Peter was a member of the Valkyrie Football Club and won a half-mile championship for swimming at Spezia in a game of Italy v England, procuring a gold medal and silver cup. He was on the Baltic at the time of the collision with the Republic and volunteered for rescue work for which he received a silver medal. Promoted to chief electrician aboard the Laurentic, he later transferred to the Olympic and was on board that vessel at the time of her collision with HMS Hawke.
Peter had married in the Fortwilliam Park Church in Belfast, Ireland on 18 August 1908 to Annie Blair (b. circa 1874)2. Annie was the daughter of engine fitter John Blair and the former Martha Mawhinney.
Peter and Annie remained childless and when they appeared together on the 1911 census they were living at 14 Newcastle Road, Wavertree, Liverpool and Peter was described as a marine electrical engineer.
When he signed on to the Titanic on 6 April 1912, Sloan gave his address as 77a Clovelly Road, Southampton. His previous ship had been the Olympic and as chief electrician he could expect monthly wages of £12.
Popular culture[]
A Night to Remember (1958)[]
Peter Sloan in A Night to Remember
In A Night to Remember, Peter Sloan is played by Robert James.