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Stephen Curnow Jenkin was a passenger on the Titanic.

Early life[]

Stephen Curnow Jenkin was born on November 5, 1879 in St. Ives, Cornwall, England. His father and mother were John Jenkin and his wife Catherine "Kate" Michell Curnow, both from St. Ives. Stephen had at least 3 elder siblings: Annie, William, John and two younger sisters: Katie and Dorothy May. His brother John died early after birth.

Cornwall was one of the world's biggest exporters of copper and tin, but while Cornwall's mining industry declined, the demand for its miners' skills increased all around the world, including in the United States.

In 1903, Stephen and his brother William emigrated from Cornwall to Michigan with his brother and had found work in Houghton's copper mining industry.

In the summer of 1911, Stephen, who had become an American citizen, went back to St. Ives on holiday to visit relatives. In 1912 he was ready to return home.

Titanic[]

Stephen initially had planned to take voyage to the United States on another ship, but the coal strike foced him to transfer and he found a way to get a ticket for the Titanic. He joined her on April 10 in Southampton in Second Class. He was 32 years old at the time. He was one of 12 Cornish miners to take passage on this ship, many of them hoping to build a new life in America. Four of those were from St. Ives, bound for Michigan.

He was however rather worried and felt uneasy, which is why he left valuables such as his watch at his parents’ house. He sent three postcards to them in all three cities where Titanic stopped: Southampton, Cherbourg and Queenstown. In his letters he reported how beautiful the ship was and how he surprisingly hadn’t become seasick yet, which was a statement to how comfortable the new liner really was.

On April 14, 20 minutes before midnight, Titanic had an unfortunate encounter with an iceberg, which she hit. The damage was great enough to cause her to sink. On April 15, after midnight, evucation started when the captain had gathered that she would not stay afloat. Eventually the ship sank at 2:20 A.M. How he fared during the fateful and tragic night, is unknown, but Stephen Curnow Jenkin became a victim in this disaster, and his body was never found.

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