Sir Cosmo Edmund Duff-Gordon, 5th Baronet, was a prominent Scottish landowner and sportsman, best known for the controversy surrounding his escape from the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
The son of Cosmo Lewis Duff-Gordon and the former Anna Maria Antrobus, Cosmo Duff-Gordon became the 5th Baronet of Halkin in 1896, his title stemming from a Royal licence conferred on his great grand-uncle in 1813 in recognition of his aid to the Crown during the Peninsular War. In 1772 his family founded the Duff-Gordon sherry bodega in Spain, which still produces high-quality fortified wines. The Duff-Gordons were, by descent, a Scottish aristocratic family.
Marriage[]
In 1900, Duff-Gordon married the celebrated London fashion designer "Madame Lucile" (née Lucy Christiana Sutherland, then Mrs James Stuart Wallace). This was a slightly risqué union, as Lucy was a divorcee whose sister, Elinor Glyn, was a notorious romance novelist.
On the Titanic[]
Sir Duff-Gordon and Lady Duff-Gordon boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg with ticket 11755 (£39 12s) Sir Cosmo occupied cabin A-16 and Lady Duff-Gordon cabin A-20. The Duff-Gordons signed onto the ship as Mr and Mrs Morgan.
On the night April 14, Titanic had struck an iceberg and it became clear she would sink. The Duff-Gordons approached the First officer William McMaster Murdoch who was supervising the loading of the Emergency lifeboat 1. Sir Cosmo asked if he and his wife could get in and Murdoch replied that he would be glad if they would. A few minutes later around 1:00 A.M., lifeboat 1 was lowered containing only 12 people of whom 7 were crew members.
After the sinking Leading Fireman Charles Hendrickson sked, those in the lifeboat whether they ought to go back to help the people swimming in the water but Lady Duff-Gordon warned they might be swamped by people trying to get on board. Several of the men agreed that it would be dangerous to go back. Eventually, Hendrickson was persuaded by Charles Stengel's suggestion that they should head for a light that could be seen in the distance. So the twelve survivors set off while hundreds more were left dying in the water. As they strode away from the ship the sailors quote Cosmo stating "Let them swim for they don't have the pockets of a rich man weighing them down.".
As they rowed and the cries of swimmers began to die down tempers began to fray among those in the boat. They were still rowing towards a light but it got no nearer and hailing other boats brought no result. Stengel continually shouted directions until Duff-Gordon eventually told him to keep quiet.
Meanwhile, Fireman Robert Pusey complained to Duff-Gordon that they had lost all their belongings (their 'kit) 'and that, in all probability, their pay would end when the ship sank, so the wealthy passenger offered all the men five pounds on their return. This was a pledge he would honour on board the Carpathia.
Later Life and Death[]
Later Sir Cosmo would appear before a packed British Inquiry to defend himself against the accusation that he had bribed the men to secure his escape from the Titanic and that they were thus encouraged not to return to the scene of the sinking to rescue swimmers.
Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon continued in his social and sporting interests in Scotland and later in London, where he lived at 5, Alfred Place, South Kensington.
He was estranged from his wife from 1915 until his death, although they never divorced and remained friends. He died on 20 April 1931 of natural causes and is buried at Brookwood Cemetery, Woking, Surrey. His wife died exactly four years later, on 20 April 1935.
In 2012 a box of documents and letters concerning the Titanic sinking belonging to the Duff-Gordons was rediscovered at the London office of Veale Wasbrough Vizards, the legal firm that merged with Tweedies, who represented the couple. Amongst the papers was a rebuttal of the evidence given against them at the Board of Trade inquiry, and an inventory of Lady Duff-Gordon's possessions that were lost, the total value listed as £3,208 3s 6d. In one letter Sir Cosmo complains: "There seems to be a feeling of resentment against any English man being saved...The whole pleasure of having been saved is quite spoilt by the venomous attacks they made at first in the papers. This, I suppose, was because I refused to see any reporter."
Despite the official vindication by the Board of Trade inquiry, public suspicion that the Duff-Gordons had acted selfishly tainted the couple for the remainder of their lives.
Portrayals[]
A Night to Remember (1958)[]
Sir and Lady Richard in A Night to Remember (1958)
Sir and Lady Richard, based of Sir and Lady Duff Gordon in A Night to Remember (1958)
Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon's name was depicted as Sir Richard and Lady Richard. He was portrayed by Patrick Waddington.
Titanic (1997)[]
Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon with his wife (Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon) in Titanic (1997)
Sir Cosmo & Lucile Duff Gordon in the 1997 Titanic deleted scene: That's out of the Question
Cosmo Duff Gordon was portrayed by Martin Jarvis in the 1997 film Titanic. The actor's wife, Rosalind Ayres, played Lady Duff Gordon.
Ghosts of the Abyss 2003[]
Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff-Gordon do not physically appear in Ghosts of the Abyss although they are briefly mentioned when they escaped in the emergency lifeboat 1.
Titanic (2012) Miniseries[]
Sir Cosmo and Lucile Duff Gordon in the 2012 Miniseries Titanic
Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon with his wife in Titanic 2012 Miniseries
In the 2012 TV miniseries Titanic, the couple were portrayed by Simon Paisley Day and Sylvestra Le Touzel.
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