Robert William Norman Leyson was a passenger on the Titanic.
Background[]
Robert William Norman Leyson came from London and stemmed from a Welsh family with the father being a prominant figure in law. His name was also Robert. Robert Thomas Leyshon, as the attorney was called, wed Jessie Gertrude Richards in Swansea in 1876. Both had their origin in Glamorganshire, with Robert being conceived in Neath and his wife in Swansea.
The son who bore his name was born in 1887, on the 31st of March in Kensington. The child was perceeded by 5 siblings, all girls. Their names were: Jessie Gladys, who was the first to arrive in 1877, Ethel Gwendreth, who appeared in 1879, Helen Mary, who was next in 1880, Esther Kate who saw the light in 1881 and lastly, Emma Maude, born in the year 1884.
Robert had only one brother, born after him in 1891: Thomas. Roberts wereabouts between 1901 and 1911 are obscure, as the rest of his family were residents of Bloomfield in Sketty. In 1911, as a boarder and a mining engineer, Robert was lately working in London, while he also was a member of the Sketty cricket club and had joined the masons in the Cambrian Lodge of Neath on January 16, 1912.
In April, he wanted to visit his brother Leyson in New York. The aim of his voyage was to go to British Columbia for a mining enterprise. The coal strike led to cancellation of the ship he would sail on, so this brought him to a new ship, just fresh from her delivery trip. A large, luxurious liner of the White Star Line.
Titanic[]
Robert was 25 years old, when he showed a Second Class ticket to board Titanic. It was Wednesday, April 10, when Titanic propelled herself forward from the Southampton harbor, from where Norman’s voyage started.
On April 14, Titanic experienced a calm voyage and the circumstances seemed very good, with a lack of wind, no waves, but also no moon. The icebergs were hard to be seen. At 11:39 P.M, the Titanic’s lookouts spotted an object which became larger very quickly: an iceberg.
This dangerous, large obstacle had to be avoided at all cost, which the Officer on the bridge tried, but it had been too close for the Titanic to be steered clear entirely. Titanic’s hull got scratched and small incisions were created.
On April 15, midnight, Thomas Andrews had to advise Captain Smith, as he had designed the ship. After they had taken a look at the damage while descending down to the part where the hull had been breached, they had to make a conclusion. Andrews said the ship couldn’t hold and Smith immediately sent his men to the lifeboats after hearing that. The evacuation began.
Leyson became one of the many male victims in Second Class as the ship went to the bottom of the Atlantic. There weren’t enough lifeboats and many men were refused a spot.
After his death[]
His body was hauled aboard the Mackay-Bennett within a week, her crew listing him as body nr. #108. Among his items was a silver case with the initials R.W.N.L. They gave his body to the ocean instead of taking him to land, despite him being from Second Class. There is a commemorative plaque for Norman Leyson in the Cadoxton parish church near Neath.