William Edward Lowe Bessant was a Fireman on the Titanic.
Background[]
William Edward Lowe Bessant originated from Totton, Hampshire, were his parents Walter Lowe and Ellen Bessant received him on Tuesday 8th August 1871. They both stemmed from Eling in Hampshire. Their love was not officially confirmed by law and the mother’s maiden name was picked as the family name. Four sons had been given to the pair before him.
The first to arrive was George, in 1856 before they begot James in 1858, Walter junior in 1860, Frank Albert in 1864. With the birth of Rosa Leah in 1869, William had an elder sister as well. William saw his younger siblings appear in 1872, 1874 and 1876 respectively: Bertie, Edith Kate and Annie Louisa. Annie Louisa would never get to know her mother properly. Aged only 39, Ellen passed away that same year. In 1881, father Walter had seemingly made things work with another woman who had lost her partner herself. She was listed as living with the family and was named Harriet Laver.
With his father’s new address in Eling, Hampshire in 1891, William was no longer part of the household and it could be that he had chosen the maritime life as a career at that point. William went on to make his own family with Emily Ellen Cull, his wife since 1874, pledging his vows to her on the first of March that year, in her native town Netley Marsh. The ceremony was held the Saint Matthews Church.
The task of raising children that had sprung from their love began with George Henry in 1894, followed by Charles William in 1897. His parents gave him a sister in 1900: Gladys Lillian May. With the happiness of another daughter, came also the grief of losing their firstborn that same year. They had to let go of George Henry. In 1901, their family could be found in Shirley, Southampton.
They expanded their family with Florence Ellen Maude in 1906, Leonard Stanley in 1908 and as the last of their kin, they welcomed Albert Edward in 1910. In 1911, they must have taken up home in the Sontonian district of Freemantle. Now the eldest son, Charles was old enough to start a career and had begun to work as a gofer. His father had landed himself a function with the Union Castle Line.
Titanic[]
William's career had led him to the White Star Line, the company he worked for in 1912, when he went from the Oceanic to join the group of Firemen on the Titanic, on April 6, when most of them were mustered. He had his household still in Southampton and had reached the age of 40. He was assigned to the First Watch, which meant he had to work every day from 12:00 A.M. to 4:00 A.M as well as 12:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. His accomdation would be on F-Deck in the bow.
On the night of April 14, everything was calm on the Titanic and her surroundings were as well. The seas shallow and no breakers or waves, very little wind and no moon up in the sky, only stars. Her last Boiler Rooms were lit and the Firemen absolutely toiled away to get her up to an even greater speed. She was doing excellent time and everythign appeared under control. when a sudden iceberg reared its head. She had been on course for this iceberg for a good while but all of the easy conditions were working against her and her crew, of who the lookouts were the first to catch onto Titanic’s dangerous path. The ship had approached the giant pinnacle, so far that the measurements taken by the bridge weren’t helping but doomed her instead. With the rudder sharply moved to starboard to get Titanic’s nose to the port side, away from the iceberg, her starboard brushed againt this floating wall of frozen water. Even the velocity was decreased but it only slowed her turning. It was inevitable for the ship to have a collision, but this was not an ordinary one. The Titanic chafed parts of her hull open against it. The gaps that had emerged could make her lowest compartments fill up with water.
Bessant’s shift would start at midnight, but the situation had obviously changed. Her captain and shipbuilder had both noticed this as well and they would not take this lightly. Through personal inquiry, they had found answers later on, at midnight. The blueprints of Titanic were on the bridge and Thomas Andrews, her designer, had taken a look at them. He revealed a chilling and ugly truth: Six of the forward compartments of Titanic had taken a hit and filled rapidly with water. She could not stay afloat with more than 4. No matter what they did, Titanic would founder for sure. The pumps would buy them some time, but they had a few hours left. The Captain gave the command to his Officers to oversee the launch of the lifeboats.
The people that were safe in the lifeboats, 18 of them lowererd in the water by the davits, were fixated on the Titanic, whose sinking process had been gradually at first, rows of portholes disappearing one after another until her her forecastle head was burried deep into the water and the water crashed unto the Boat Deck, sliding her last two boats off. In less than 10 minutes, her propellors were visible and her stern began to rise into the air. At 2:18 A.M, it was at 45 degrees minimum, which was her breaking point. The collosal ship was soon in two uneven halves, which were both swallowed up by the Atlantic two minutes later.
Some people had jumped into the waters. Most of the hundreds of victims stemmed from hypothermia and had stayed on the ship as long as they could. William’s story would never come to light. How he died and what he did. Courageous as some of the engineering Crewmen were, they sacrificed their lives so others could escape without panic. Electrians, engineers and also stokers remained behind to keep the electricity functional, which was crucial for the lights and the lifeboat winches. William wasn’t on a lifeboat, he could have lost his life in the merciless waters or inside the ship to drown.
As they could not locate William’s body, a lot will remain unclear about his demise.
After his death[]
Emily remained loyal to William even in death, at least officially. She would not give herself to a new husband. Coincidentally, Emily also had left life on earth on the same day as her husband, but 22 years later: On April 15, 1935, she was last seen alive.